368 



SCIENTIFIC NEW!?. 



on the machine invented by Messrs. Nieps, and called by 



them a pyreolophorus. By this word, compounded from 



wv?, fire, 'utohoc^ wind, and <P^w, to carry, the inventors 



intended to point out the moving powers of the machine, 



which are wind from a pair of bellows, and air suddenly 



A power equal expanded by fire*. Their object was to discover a physical 



to the steam power equal to that of the steam engine without consuming 



engine with less 



consumption of so much fueL 



fueI - To form an idea of the manner in which they produce 



Its mode of ac- . , t . . ' . 



tion. ^ nc l ca " in to action the sudden expansion of air, suppose a 



copper receiver to be firmly fixed to a horizontal table. To 

 one of its sides is fitted a tube, by means of which a body 

 of air is conveyed into the receiver. This air meets in its 

 way a few grains of combustible matter, which it projects 

 on a flame, where it enters into ignition. The inflamed 

 matter, entering into the receiver, expands its contained air 

 with great force, which is exerted against the sides, and 

 pushes forward a piston, sliding in a second tube, fitted to 

 one of the sides. This piston drives before it a column of 

 water, or any other body exposed to its action ; after which 

 the piston returns of itself to its former place, and the ma- 

 chine, recovering its former state, is again ready to act as 

 before. All these effects take place in five seconds of time. 

 Experiments ^ n a *" a " ma ^ e D y the inventors, a barge loaded with nine 



with it. hundredweight, and its bow presenting a resistance of six, 



square feet to the water, ascended the Saone with a velocity 

 double that of the stream. In another trial made by the 

 committee, the pressure exerted on a piston of 3 inches 

 square was equal to a weight of 57000 grammes (I261bs); 

 the interior capacity was 21 cubic inches; and the con* 

 sumption of fuel was only 0*32 of a gramme (5 grains). 



The inventors mean to carry their first attempts nearer to 

 perfection: but even in the present state of the machine, 

 its violent concussions, the shocks it gives to what supports 

 it, and the celerity of its motions, leave no doubt of the in- 



* This principle has already been employed in our own country, 

 and we understand its powers were found to be very great ; but 

 Spme obstacles occurred, that prevented it from being followed up. 

 From the account given by Messrs. Nieps, however, it was not pre- 

 cisely in the same way as their contrivance, but On a simple and 

 more scientific principle. \V. N. 



tensity 



