26 



JOUKNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 



was attached, thus causing the lifting of water in the pump. This 

 was not a steam, but an atmospheric engine. 



James Watt's attention was directed to the Steam Engine, by 

 having to repair a model of it for the University of Glasgow. 



In 1769 he obtained his first patent, and in the specification he 

 describes the principles involved. In another patent, dated 1782, 

 the perfect Steam Engine was described. Erom that date, the use 

 of the Steam Engine for mining purposes rapidly increased. 



In 1808, Eulton in America applied the Steam Engine to the 

 purposes of inland navigation. Bell, in 1812, was the first to 

 introduce steam navigation in Great Britain on the Clyde. 



Coasting vessels soon followed. In 1824, the Sir Erancis Drake 

 commenced running from Plymouth to Portsmouth and the Channel 

 Islands. In 1837, ocean steamers began to run regularly between 

 Great Britain and the United States. I^ow there are two lines of 

 steamers to the East Indies and China starting in opposite direc- 

 tions, making regular voyages round the world. 



The Steam Engine for locomotives, first employed 1825, has 

 now been extended to every quarter of the globe ; and by the aid 

 which it has afi'orded in the production of materials and in the 

 provision of means of action, has enabled railways to be carried 

 over and under rivers, over and through mountains, until even the 

 crossing of the sea is become a project for serious consideration. 

 The application of the Steam Engine in the working of iron and 

 other metals, in the manufacture of cotton and wool, of paper and 

 for printing, for agricultural operations, and for many other pur- 

 poses were glanced at. 



The feasibility of great improvements was suggested by the 

 fact, that although a pound of coal is capable of producing power 

 sufiicient to lift ten million pounds a foot high, as yet the highest 

 duty accomplished has not exceeded one and a quarter millions. 



Some of the possibilities of the future suggested : Deeper 

 mining for minerals with improved engines; the improvement of 

 the ventilation of mines, and the certain prevention of colliery 

 explosions ; locomotives for tramways and common roads ; improve- 

 ment of health and enrichment of the soil by sewage utilization : 

 but in order to the utilization of the power at hand in the Steam 

 Engine, there must be greatly extended education throughout all 

 classes of the population. 



