116 Description of Mr. PerJciyis^ Jiew Steam Engine. 



The engine which we have now described, is at present 

 perfornning actual work in Mr. Perkins' manufactory. It 

 is calculated as equal to a ten-horse power, though the cyl- 

 inder is no more than two inches in diameter, and eight- 

 een inches long, with a stroke of only twelve inch- 

 es. Although the space occupied by the engine is not 

 greater than 6 feet by 8, yet Mr. Perkins considers that the 

 apparatus (with the exception of the working cylinder PP, 

 and piston PQ,) is perfectly sufficient for a 30-horse en- 

 gine. When the engine performs full work, it consumes 

 only two bushels of coal in the day. 



On the application of Mr. Perkins'' principle to Steam-En- 

 gines of the old construction. 



Great as the invention is which we hav^e now described, 

 yet we are disposed to think that the application of the prin- 

 ciple to old steam-engines is not less important.* When we 

 consider the enormous capital which is at present embod* 

 ied in Great Britain in the substantial form of steam en- 

 gines, and the admirable elegance and skill with which 

 these noble machines impel and regulate the vast popula- 

 tion of wheels and pinions over which they reign, we feel 

 as if some vast innovation were proposed upon our estab- 

 lished usages, by the introduction of Mr. Perkins' engine. 

 The very idea that these potentates of the mechanical 

 world should be displaced from their thrones ; that their 

 strong holds should be dismantled ; their palaces demolish- 

 ed, and their whole affairs placed under a more economi- 

 cal management, is somewhat startling to those who dread 

 cha;ige, and admire institutions that both work and wear 

 weli. Mr. Perkins, however, has saved them from such a 

 deirradation. He has allowed them to retain all their hon- 

 ors and privileges, and proposes only to invigorate them 

 with fresh influence and power. 



In this new system, the old engines^ zvith their boilers, are 

 retained unaltered. The furnaces alone are removed. Mr. 

 Perkins constructs a generator consisting of three horizon- 

 tal tubes of gun-metal, connected together, filled with wa- 



*This invention appears to have been fully established by direct experi- 

 ment, whereas the new engine, with all its great promise, is still only ofider' 

 gping trial. 



