PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION", 541 



an air engine would be profitable for a farmer. There are very 

 few farms of 100 acres on which there is not a stream that could 

 be put to good use in driving a water engine at a little expense. 

 If you could change the air, which drives a mill at one time 

 with great force, and at another time with little force, into a 

 constant, steady current, it would be a great advantage. I have 

 very little love for horses, and would like to have them driven 

 out of the streets of the city. I think we will one day have a 

 power combining the advantages of air and steam. 



Mr. Johnson. — Mr. Kennish, of No. 4 Cedar street. New York, 

 has a hydrantic motor which can be seen at the yard of the 

 Brooklyn Water Works near the Navy Yard. Six gallons of 

 water is used for a revolution, and sixty revolutions is said to 

 yield ten-horse power. 



Mr. Stetson. — I think small wind-mills deteriorate about 100 

 per cent, per annum. Small engines, in my opinion, are a failure. 

 I saw fifty-four windmills at work in a harbor near Cape Cod. 

 The same power which may succeed for farm purposes will not 

 succeed in farm buildings or on sewing machines. 



Mr. Rowell. — Could not some small animals be made to drive 

 the sewing machines ? I have seen a dog drive a churn. A 

 friend of mine had two Newfoundland dogs which did light saw- 

 ing for him two hours each day. He fed them on the sweepings 

 of a cracker bakery, and scraps of fat, at a cost of six cents per 

 day for each dog. When fed on meat they would not work. 



Mr. Bruce. — I can't see why they do not bring the hog into 

 requisition. 



Mr. Dibben.^ — There are points on our coast where windmills 

 can be used with advantage, but in the interior of the country 

 we would not probably have a breeze sufiicient to drive a wind 

 mill for an hour more than once a week. You cannot go into 

 any small town of 500 persons in the interior of the State of 

 New York, or any other State, in which you will not find a man 

 who has not a claim or patent for some windmill. The cheapest 

 and most practical power for driving the sewing machines in a 

 family is the foot. The trouble with the sewing machine is the 

 stopping and starting. If there was any great trouble in driving 

 sewing machines we might look for some other power besides the 

 foot. 



Mr. Van der Weyde. — In Holland they have windmills in con- 

 stant use for every kind of work. Ninety-nine per cent, of the 



