WATER. 



in fttuations Wtiere there it plenty of water and convenience 

 for a refervoir a lower body of water may be conveyed into 

 a ftream above by the help of a fingle tube, one end of 

 which is placed in the water to be raifed, and the other mud 

 be introduced into the fmaller aperture of the conical tube 

 adapted to the refervoir ; a conilant ftream will then rife, 

 fo long as water below can fupply the tube. 



Mr. Whitehurjl's Machine for raifmg Water by iu Mo- 

 mentum Fig. 7, Plnte IVater-works, is a reprefentation of 



the firft machine on this principle, which was exec'ited in 

 the year 1777., by the ingenious Mr. John Whitehurft, at 

 Oulton in Chefhire, at the feat of Mr. Egerton, for the fer- 

 vice of a biew-houfe and other offices, and which purpofe it 

 was found to anfwer effeftually. This firft form of the 

 momentum machine would be a ufeful application in many 

 fimilar fttuations. The circumftances attending this water- 

 work are as follow : A reprefents the fpring, or original re- 

 fervoir, which fupplies the water, the upper furface coincides 

 with the horizontal line B C, and the bottom of the refer- 

 voir K, into which the water is to be raifed ; D is the main- 

 pipe, one inch and a half in diameter, and nearly two hundred 

 yards in length ; E, a branch-pipe, of the fame dimenfions, 

 for the fervice of the kitchen-offices. It is to be obferved, 

 that the kitchen-ofiices are fituated at leaft eighteen or 

 twenty feet below the furface of the refervoir A ; and that 

 the cock F is about fixteen feet below it. G reprefents a 

 valve-box, and^the valve within it ; H is an air-veffel, and 

 O, O, are the two ends of the main-pipe, inferted into the 

 air-veflel H, and bending downwards, fo that in effeft the 

 pipes communicate with the loweft part of the vefTel, and the 

 air cannot efcape when the water is forced into it, but it 

 muft be comprefled by the column of water ; W is the fur- 

 face of the water m the air-veflel. It is well known from 

 theory that, when water is difcharged from an aperture, under 

 a prelTure of fixteen feet perpendicular height, it will move 

 at the rate of thirty -two feet in a fecond ; the velocity of 

 the water from the cock F will be nearly as much, making 

 fome allowance for fritlion and refillance ; and although 

 the aperture of the cock F is not equal to the diameter of 

 the pipe D, yet the velocity of the water contained in the 

 pipe will be very confiderable ; confequently when the cock 

 is opened a column of water two hundred yards in length is 

 put into motion, and if it is fuddenly flopped by the fliut- 

 ting-cock F, its momentous force wUl open the valve g, 

 and condenfe the air in veflel H ; this aftion will be repeated 

 as often as water is drawn from F. It is needlefs to fay in 

 what degree the air is thus condenfed in the inilance before 

 us ; but it will be fufficient to obferve, that it was fo much 

 condenfed as to force the water up into the refervoir K, and 

 even to burft the veflel H, in a few months after it was firft 

 conftrufted, although it was apparently very firm, being made 

 of flieet-lead, about nine or ten pounds weight to a fquare 

 foot. Whence it is reafonable to infer that the momentous 

 force is much fuperior to the Cmple preflure of the column 

 in the refervoir K, above the level line C B, and therefore 

 equal fo a greater refiftance (if required) than a preflure of 

 four or five feet perpendicular height. It may be neceflary 

 farther to obferve, that the confumption of the water in 

 the kitchen-offices is very confiderable, becaufe water is fre- 

 quently drawing from morning till night all the days of 

 the year. 



From this account which is publifhed in the Philofophical 

 Tranfaftions for 1775, it is clear that Mr. Whitehurft was 

 luUy aware of the power of the momentum of running 

 water, and though he applied it only to raife water to a 

 fmall height, he knew it might be carried to a greater 

 extent. 



Montgolfier' s Hydraulic Ram. — We have given the ac- 

 count of Mr. Whitehurft's machine, becaufe it fliews the 

 firft origin of a moft valuable invention, which was after- 

 wards pratlifcd in France by M. Montgolfier, the inventor 

 of the firft balloon with heated air. Mr. Boulio;i took a 

 patent in England for Montgolfier's machine in 1797; he 

 afterwards called his machine belter hydraulique, that is, hy- 

 draulic ram, becaufe of the fliock which the water makes 

 wh^n its motion is fuddenly ftopped. In his publication in 

 the Journal des Mines, vol. xiii. he fays, " This invention 

 is not originally from England, but belongs entirely to 

 France ; I declare that I am the fole inventor, and that the 

 idea was not furnifhed to me by any perfon. It is true 

 that one of my friends, with my confent, fent to Mefirs. 

 Watt and Boulton copies of feveral drawings of this ma- 

 chine with a detailed memoir on its applications. Thefe 

 arc faithfully copied in the patent taken out by Mr. Boul- 

 ton in England, dated December 13, 1797, as that gentle- 

 man has avowed." Wc do not wifli to detract from the 

 merit of M. Montgolfier, as we believe that Whitehurft's 

 machine was unknown to him, but we muft ftate the 

 hydraulic ram an Englifh invention. To have an idea of 

 this invention, it is proper to ilate its phyfical principle of 

 aftion, which is as follows. 



When water is running with a rapid current through a 

 pipe or clofe channel, if the end at which the water iflues 

 be fuddenly ftopped, the water (by its acquired motion, 1 

 momentum, or impetus,) will aft upon the fides or circum- 

 ference of the pipe, and endeavour to efcape with a force 

 proportioned to' its quantity and velocity. If the materials 

 of the pipe are ftrong enough to refift that impetus, the 

 water may be made to iffue with violence and velocity, at 

 any aperture which is opened in or near the clofe end of the 

 pipe ; therefore if an afcending pipe be joined to that 

 aperture, a portion of water will afcend in it. The machine 

 being provided with proper valves, to prevent the return 

 of the water fo elevated, the operation may be repeated in 

 a conftant fucceflion, and will form a kind of perpetual 

 pump. 



The fame effeft will be produced by a different arrange- 

 ment of this apparatus, mix. a pipe open at both ends, with 

 a valve and afcending-pipe, fuch has as been defcribed. Let 

 this be fo attached to fome kind of machinery, that it can be 

 fwiftly moved along, in the direftion of its length, through 

 ftanding water ; then, upon clofing the hinder part of the 

 pipe fuddenly, a portion of water will be forced up in the 

 afcending-pipe, in the fame manner as in the former cafe, 

 and for the fame reafon, becaufe the water will be relatively 

 in motion with refpeft to the pipe. 



The fame principle may be readily extended to raife 

 water by fuftion from a lower level than that on which the 

 machine is placed, and this by either of the means above- 

 mentioned. Suppofe a fuftion-pipe, which communicates 

 with water at a lower level, be joined to the main-pipe 

 through which the water flows, and that the junftion is 

 near that end of the pipe where the water enters into it. 

 Suppofe alfo that the water has acquired a rapid motion 

 through the pipe, either by the current of water running 

 through the pipe, or by the pipe moving through the water ; 

 then let the mouth or end at which the water enters be fudden- 

 ly Ihut by the machinery, and the water by its momentum 

 will continue its motion relatively to the pipe, and will 

 tend to exhauft the content of the pipe. This aftion will 

 draw or fuck up water through the afcending-pipe from the 

 lower level, fo as to fill up the vacuity in the main-pipe, oc- 

 cafioncd when the water therein perfeveres in its previous 

 motion. 



The 



