300 Literary and Philosophical Society, 



to time been treated by many able writers advocating the 

 claims of the different parties alleged to have been the 

 first inventors of the means of using this power to super- 

 sede that of the wind for propelling ships. Some of these 

 writers have given a national importance to the questions 

 of originality among the experimenters who claimed 

 priority in the different parts of Europe and America, where 

 trials had been made of their several schemes with various 

 results. On these results, and their subsequent influence 

 on steam navigation, many sharp controversies formerly 

 appeared ; but of late years these seem to have subsided 

 into the quiet assumption, on behalf of each nation, that 

 its claimants were fairly entitled to the honour of having 

 been the first discoverers of steam navigation. Accord- 

 ing with this impression two letters have appeared in 

 the " Times " respecting the first introduction of steamers 

 into the English waters : the first of which was copied 

 from the " Dumbarton Herald," and the second, in reply 

 thereto, is signed " Investigator," whose statements of the 

 facts of the case are given in the " Engineer " of December 

 12, 1862, thus : — ** Seeing that there has been a discussion 

 and that there still remains an uncertainty as to who has 

 the right to claim the honour of placing the first steam- 

 ship in English waters, I beg to submit the following 

 statement of authentic facts for settling the matters in 

 dispute. The ' Margery ' was built at Dumbarton by the 

 late Mr. William Denny, for Mr. W. Anderson, merchant, 

 Glasgow, and when launched was christened the '• Margery ' 

 after his eldest daughter, who named her, who is still alive, 

 and a resident in London. At the close of the year 18 14, 

 Captain Curtis was sent by a London company to Glasgow, 

 to negotiate with Mr. Anderson for the purchase of the 



