SECTION OF STEAM TRANSPORTATION. 131 



that iii the winter of 1703 and 17G4 James Watt, who was then twenty- 

 seven years old, and was a mathematical instrument maker and general 

 mechanician for this University, became interested in steam through a 

 toy model of Newcomen's engine, which had been placed in his hands 

 for repairs. This period is described by an eminent writer as "the era 

 of all other the most eventful in the history of the steam-engine.' 7 * 



This model is still preserved in the Hunterian Museum, connected 

 with the University, and the knowledge of the fact that I have held it 

 in my hands and moved the valves that Watt repaired will always be 

 held as the most precious remembrance of my tour abroad. 



It is rather a curious coincidence that the walls of the same institu- 

 tion that witnessed Watt's successful experiments with steam a century 

 and a quarter ago should now contain the work-shop and laboratory of 

 one of the most distinguished electricians of the age, who has labored so 

 successfully in investigating and utilizing the new power which bids 

 fair to supersede the inventions which immortalized that great inventor. 



watt's monument. 



A few feet from the Newcomen model stands a white marble statue 

 of the great inventor in a sitting posture, sculptured by Chan trey in 1825. 

 The inscription ou the pedestal reads — 



This Statue of 



James Watt, 



Fellow of the Royal Societies 



of Loudon and Edinburgh, 



and Member of the Institute of France, 



is presented by his son 



to the University of Glasgow 



in gratitude for the encouragement 



afforded by its Professors 



to the Scientific pursuits 



of his father's early life. 



In Greenock, Scotland, is a small museum which contains a number 

 of letters written by Watt in regard to his inventions, a few models and 

 relics, besides a statue by Chantrey, similar to the one at the Hunterian 

 Museum at Glasgow, and a library containing a number of valuable 

 books. 



The curator has kindly promised to send the National Museum a 

 small map of the town, showing the location of Watt's birthplace, and 

 a photograph of the house in which he first saw the light. 



Kelvin Grove Museum. — In the Kelvin Grove Museum, Glasgow, is a 

 most interesting pyramid of models of the hulls of the early steam- 

 boats: the Vulcan (first iron boat), 181G; the Comet (first successful 



*The Steam-engine and its Inventors, by Robert L. Galloway, page J^9. 



