3o8 Literary and Philosophical Society. 



of 2,470 tons burden. This boat has been the type from 

 which all the ironclad batteries and rams have since been 

 constructed, with various modifications, by later inventors. 



' Thus it appears that the continuous rotative motion of 

 the paddle-wheel and the screw propeller are the only 

 means yet discovered for navigating by steam-power with 

 safety and effect. 



' In the specifications of Mr. Fulton's inventions, he 

 gives drawings and descriptions — (i) of the chain-float ; (2) 

 of the duck's-foot paddle ; (3) of the screw, fan, or smoke- 

 jack propeller ; and (4) of his paddle-wheels ; with which 

 several plans he had made experiments in France, which 

 led him to throw aside the three first, and to adopt the 

 paddle-wheel as the best in practice according to the then 

 powers of construction ; for it is well known that it was 

 many years after the first screw steamer was constructed 

 (the '' James Watt," running from London to Havre) before 

 a safe screw propeller could be made, for large ships, equal 

 to the paddle-wheels. 



* Having witnessed the triumphant success of Fulton's 

 steamboats on the Hudson River, and their rapid increase 

 for navigating the other American rivers, I undertook, in 

 181 1, the task of inducing some of the leading engineers 

 and capitalists of London to engage in the introduction of 

 steamboats, on Fulton's plan, to run on the Thames and 

 other waters in this country. Believing that they must 

 soon be adopted and become of great importance to Eng- 

 land, as they were so rapidly becoming in the United 

 States, I had obtained from Mr. Fulton (through a mutual 

 friend) a full description and the drawings of his inven- 

 tions and discoveries relating to steam navigation, with the 

 result of his labours in America. But I found it impos- 



