4G0 Report on the Trials of Implements at Oxford. 
difSculfc to speak in too favourable terms of the ' tliorouglily substantial 
manner in wliicli this cnii;ine was manufactured. There is no doubt that tlie 
strength of its parts was such that it coukl work with perfect safety very much 
in excess of its nominal power. The work also was exceedingly good. Taking 
all the circumstances into consideration, we awarded it the second i^rize (Jl. lOs.) ; 
or rather, looking at the fact that there are two first prizes, it would be more 
correct to say that we jnit it in the third place of merit. 
Xo. G. The next exhibitors in the class were The Reading Iron Works Co., 
who exhibited a 10-horse Horizontal Engine (4010), having a cylinder 8f 
inches diameter only, and a length of stroke of 1 foot 8 inches. The exhibitors 
elected to run 105 revolutions per minute. This engine was carried upon a 
complete cast-iron bed-plate, planed all over, supporting two plummer-blocks 
with sideway and vertical adjustments for their brasses. The crank-shaft was of 
wrouglit iron, forged — not bent. The cylinder was steam-jacketed round tlie 
body, and derived its steam from the boiler side of the stop-valve. The cylinder 
covers have air spaces, but are without steam. Tliere is an expansion valve, 
which could be adjusted when the engine was standing. A governor with an 
ordinary throttle-valve, and a feed-pump worked off an eccentric. There 
were no other special jwints to note in this engine, but the proportion and. 
workmansliip were admirable ; and on trial the engine ran for 3 hours 18 minutes 
54 seconds, and consumed 4'22 lbs. of coal per horse-power per hour. The 
price of this engine with the boiler is stated in the catalogue to be 202Z., or 38?, 
less than the jirice of Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth's ; and, looking at the 
fact that tlie time during which this engine ran was only 4 minutes 42 seconds- 
less than that of Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth's — that its consumption of 
coal was only lb. per horse-power per hour more ; and setting this slight 
superiority against the benefit to the customer of the reduced price as com- 
pared with Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth's, we felt bound to divide the 
first prize into two, and to give one (as already stated) of 11/. 5s. to Clayton 
and Shuttleworth, and another, also of 11?. 5s., to the Eeading Iron Works 
Company Limited. 
No. 7. 3828. — The sixth and last engine of this class was that exhibited by 
W. S. Underbill, Newport, Salop. This was a Horizontal Engine of 10-horse 
power, having a cylinder lOf inches diameter, and a stroke of 1 foot 2 inches. 
The exhibitor elected to run at 97 revolutions per minute. The engine was 
carried on a frame bed-plate, provided with two bearings having sideway ad- 
justment, the cuts in the brass being at angles. The cylinder and covers were 
steam-jacketed, deriving their steam from the slide jacket. The expansion 
valve was of peculiar construction, as it contained within it the throttle-valve, 
which thus moved backwards and forwards with the expansion valve, the 
valve stalk being also the throttle-valve spindle, the spindle slid through the 
eye of the lever worked by the governor ; and being (in the eye) of a D shape, 
vibrated as the lever rose and fell. The expansion slide was provided with an 
end i)ipe whicli worked telescopically over the steam-pipe internal to the jacket ;. 
and thus steam entered into the eccentric slide at the back of the throttle- valve. 
But the telesco])ic pipe not being tight, as the sliding joint, sufficient steam 
passed through that joint to fill the jackets. The variation of the expansion 
was made by hand when the engine ■was standing. There was no feed-pump 
worked by this engine, but a small donkey-engine was bolted to the side of the 
cylinder, to be worked by steam out of the jacket. The Exhibitor imagined 
that by placing the throttle-valve so close to the cylinder he would get a more 
efficient regulation. This, however, appears to us to be an extremely micro- 
scopic advantage, as the contents of steam between the throttle-valve, as ordi- 
narily placed, and the cylinder would not, as a rule, suffice for a quarter of a 
revolution of the engine. On trial, Mr. Underbill's engine ran for 2 hours 23 
minutes, and the equivalent consumption of coal was 5"87 lbs. It should be 
