128 
Report on the Trials of Sheaf- Binders 
Petit Bourg on July 29th. The drill which I have endeavoured 
to describe gave the following results : — 
The produce of the two outside rows (Nos. 1 and 10) weighed 
258^ grammes. 
The produce of the two middle rows (Nos. 5 and 6) weighed 
264 grammes. 
Total of ten rows, 2565 grammes. 
Average per row, 256 grammes. 
In last year's Report, Otto's Gas Engine was described at some 
length. For some reason — probably as not being strictly an 
agricultural implement — no medal was awarded, although the 
invention was deservedly eulogised as a great advance upon 
previous attempts in this direction. At Bristol, Crossley Brothers, 
who manufacture these engines, exhibited a machine with 14*1 
indicated horse power. This is another advance. Hitherto gas 
has been considered suitable only for small powers. Mr. Anderson 
has furnished me with the following report upon the three gas 
engines exhibited at Bristol : — 
Crossley Brothers (5549 to 5552) showed the " Otto Silent Gas Engine," in 
which a mixture of gas and air is exploded at one end of an ordinary steam- 
engine cylinder, at every alternate revolution. The explosive mixture is 
fired by means of a small permanent gas jet. The gas is admitted by a slide- 
valve working across the rear-end of the cylinder : the exhaust is actuated by 
a cam motion, and the governor regulates the admission of gas. A large 
number of these engines are now in successful operation, and they have 
attained to a considerable size. No. 5552, rated as 8-horse power, has a 9-inch 
cylinder and a 16-inch stroke, running at IGO revolutions jDer minute. 
The indicator-diagram, taken in the yard, gave a maximum pressure at the 
moment of explosion of 162 lbs. per square inch, a mean pressure of 69s lbs., 
and consequently 14'1 indicated horse j)Ower. 
Messrs. Thompson, Sterne and Co., of the Crown Works, Glasgow, exhibited 
No. 5858, a hydrocarbon engine, which depends for its action on the expan- 
sion produced in compressed air by the combustion of petroleum. It consists 
of an air-pump, an oil-pump, and a working cylinder. The air-pump com- 
presses air into a receiver, whence it is admitted into one end of the cylinder 
at the same time that the oil-pump injects a sufficiency of oil to develop 
the greatest pressure without causing the smoke due to imperfect combustion. 
The distribution of the oil and air is mana^ied by tappet valves, and ignjtiou 
is effected by a permanent flame in the inlet orifice. The whole apparatus, 
though at first sight complicated, is not really so, and is arranged in a very 
compact and accessible form. The advantage of using oil instead of gas is 
very considerable, as it enables the engine to be used when gas cannot be 
obtained, and in this respect commends itself as a useful source of power for 
the farm and dairy. It works under 80 lbs. iiressure, and is said to con- 
sume a little less than \ of a gallon of oil per horse-power per hour. The 
engine shown at Bristol was of 5-horse power, measured on the break. Its 
price was lOOZ. at Glasgow. 
The greatest novelty in this direction was shown by Messrs. Louis Simon^ 
and Son, of Nottingham, in Article 5919, the " Patent Eclij^se Gas Engine," 
which has some features in common with the hydrocarbon engine. Com- 
