li 



the present proprietors of the factory, but others doubtless will be for ever 

 lost. 



In applied electricity Mr. Appold pointed out difficulties in the use of 

 that agent as a motive power for clocks, and. attempted to prevent irregu- 

 larity in their performance, but without, however, attaining the degree of 

 perfection which his exact mind alone could tolerate. His great v/ork in 

 connexion with electricity is of a purely mechanical nature, as he devised 

 a most efficient break to regulate the speed of laying electric cables at the 

 bottom of the sea. From the great value of this apparatus the name of 

 Appold will be ever associated with this department of engineering, as the 

 successful laying of the Atlantic and other cables has in no small degree 

 depended upon this invention, although others have subsequently made 

 improvements upon it. This contrivance is an adaptation of a labour- 

 regulating machine, invented and patented by him some time previously, 

 for use at prisons, so that the labour which every prisoner performs may 

 be exactly apportioned to his strength. 



Hydraulic science was a particularly favourite subject with Mr. Appold. 

 His centrifugal pump stands boldly forward as an invaluable instrument for 

 raising large quantities of water to a moderate height. The construction of 

 this pump was a special instance of an invention arrived at by thoughtful 

 investigation. The experiments were made at considerable cost to himself in 

 his factory, and after accurately watching the results, he applied his mind 

 to a right consideration of their bearing, and thus produced a pump which 

 for its particular purposes surpasses every invention which preceded it. In 

 the Great Exhibition of 1851 a centrifugal pump was exhibited, the merits 

 of which are fully described in the Reports of the Jurors, and in the Exhi- 

 bition of 1862 a much larger one was shown. The Appold centrifugal 

 pump is largely used in Egypt and in the West Indies for the purposes 

 of irrigation. It is also beneficially used for draining tracts of ground 

 lying belov/ the level of the natural outfall ; and Whittlesea Mere, and a 

 great portion of the Bridgwater marshes were drained by: -its instrumen- 

 tality. 



Mr. Appold also devised a pump for raising the thick viscid printing ink 

 used for the * Times ' newspaper, which apparatus has been employed for 

 some time, and well illustrates his success in adapting his contrivances to 

 the requirements of the case. 



His wonderful power of intelligent observation was well displayed during 

 the attempts to launch the Great Eastern steamship at Blackwall by means 

 of hydraulic pumps, when his skilled eye detected that the labourers were 

 working irregularly, and sometimes the labour which they apparently gave 

 was a mere sham. He immediately communicated with -Mr. Brunei, who 

 gave him leave to fix a test upon each pump to show the work performed. 

 This was highly appreciated by the great engineer. 



Mr. Appold was peculiarly happy in devising valves in connexion with 

 large pumps, and many such now in use at the large waterworks were 



