THE WATER RAM. Q9 



The force of water has hitherto been applied only by Wyfer may he 

 means of >t4icels, or of pumps, more or less complicated in ^j'je^rnMviiig^ 

 their construction; and, notwithstanding the improvements power: but the 

 made in machines of this kind, the cost of their erection has |"'j^a"^y'jnl^' 

 been so great, and the supply they have furnished so small, stances, touex- 

 that princes and great towns alone have been able to avail ^ 

 themselves of them. A private individual, even of considera- 

 ble wealth, cannot afford an hydraulic machine : and agri- 

 culture, in which irrigation is so frequently necessary, has 

 derived no assistance from such engines. 



With regard to sterim engines, as their construction will Steam eng^ines 



, , "■ , , ,. ,. , •, /"111- too dear, un!r.-;s 



scarcely be deemed less comphcated than that oi hydraulic f^^,. j^,.j>.g ^^.^,j,jj,;^ 

 machines moved by wheels, and as fire is often more expen- fnd uhere coal 

 sive than a stream of water as a first mover, they can be used 

 for raising water with advantage only in large works, and where 

 coal is plentiful. 



These vvere t!ie reflections which led me to seek after other Investigation 

 means of applying the power with which we are furnished by [Iga','^^ ""^ 

 nature in falls of water, for the purpose of raising, at little ex- 

 pence, a part of the same water to any height that may be 

 required. 



In this inquiry economy being my object, it may be pre- beffanse most 

 sumed that J turned my attention entirely to the most simple <;'''^'»«""*Jal- 

 means I could invent; for by simplicity alone could I hope 

 to succeed. Consequently I was obliged to give up the sys- 

 tem of wheels, and of pumps, in which so many have ex- 

 erted their abihties to little purpose. 



What indeed can v^e expect from the common hydraulic Defects of hy= 

 machines? They display a complicated and of course ex- pl^'^" '^ '"^" 

 pensive assemblage of materials of various kinds, the cost of 

 which is frequently increased, as well as their etfect injured 

 by the strangeness of their figure. Is not the machinG of 

 INIarly in its kind the opus magnuvi of mechanists, a kind of Machine of 

 monstrosity, whether we consider the multitude of its parts, '**' ^" 

 the immense sums of money it cost, or the small quantity of 

 water it raises ? 



The better to avoid the defects inherent in the nature of The water en- 

 these machines, I chose one founded on principles totally S.'"*^ ^^ *'^^ ^^*' 

 dilicrent, principles that completely exclude the defects I 

 wished to avoid. An exhibition of these principles, and the 

 O 2 theory 



