204 
THE WATER RAM. 
THE WATER RAM. 
This valuable, self-sustaining pump, first in¬ 
vented by Whitehurst and improved by Bolton, 
both of England, and subsequently brought exten¬ 
sively into notice by Montgolfier, of France, 
about the middle of the last century, has been 
suffered to remain in comparative obscurity and 
neglect, till within the past few years. But 
the utilitarian spirit of the present age, which 
is ever busy in securing new inventions, as 
well as bringing into use such discoveries of a 
preceding age as are worthy of attention, has seized 
upon this as one capable of contributing largely to 
the convenience of mankind. It has recently been 
much improved in its principles and manner of con¬ 
struction, and is now adapted to the wants of many 
of our farmers, manufacturers, and other citizens, in 
supplying water for farm houses, barnyards, irri¬ 
gating gardens or fields, supplying hydrants, rail¬ 
road stations, and large establishments, hotels, 
asylums, &c., with running water. We have 
given some explanations of it in preceding volumes 
of our journal, but for the purpose of more par¬ 
ticularly describing and bringing it within the com¬ 
prehension of all our readers, we subjoin a fuller 
account of it than has heretofore appeared. 
Fig. 48.—The Water Ram. 
Explanation -—H is the brook, spring, or foun¬ 
tain; C, the supply, or drive pipe; G, the pipe 
which conveys a part of the -water from the drive 
pipe to the place where wanted; A, the air cham¬ 
ber of the ram ; E, top of brass valve; D, water 
wasting through the valve by which the power of 
the ram is secured. 
The object to be accomplished in its use, is to 
raise a part of the water from a spring or running 
stream, to a height above the point from which it is 
taken, by the power contained in a portion of the 
same stream which is thus suffered to escape. The 
relative proportions between the water raised and 
wasted, is dependent exclusively upon the relative 
height of the source of supply, and that to which 
it is required to be raised, and were it not for the 
friction of the water in the machine, these could 
he ascertained with the same certainty as the rela¬ 
tive distance from the fulcrum of the weight and 
poise in the steelyards or patent balances. 
a general rule, about 20 per cent., or one fifth 
of the water may be assumed for the friction of the 
water and machine, and the remainder of the power 
may be considered as expended in raising the fluid 
for use. Thus, if the ram be placed under a head 
of five feet, six gallons of water, used or wasted as 
driving power, may be expected to raise four gal¬ 
lons to a height of ten feet; or of ten gallons 
drawn from the spring, four gallons will be elevat¬ 
ed five feet above the spring. If the head remains 
the same, for six gallons wasted, one gallon will be 
elevated twenty feet, (a) 
The increase of head largely augments the 
power of the ram. Thus, if the head of water be 
ten feet, six gallons expended or wasted in power r 
will raise four gallons twenty feet, or one gallon 
forty feet above the ram, or the lowest point 
for the escape of the water. Thus it will be seen,, 
that by depressing the outlet we greatly increase 
the power of the ram, although we raise the water 
from a lower point than if the head were lessened. 
The application of this principle, and a desire to 
avail ourselves of it to the fullest extent, would in¬ 
duce many to sink their rams to the lowest point 
possible, so as to secure the greatest quantity of 
water for use from the smallest supply. But un¬ 
fortunately, the intractability of matter, frequently 
interposes insuperable obstacles to the application 
of principles. We can assign no definite limits to 
the works of Deity; yet if the usual materials, 
muscle, tendon, bone, &c., be used for an animal 
much larger than the mastodon, they would be 
found inadequate to the object, and the monster’s 
limbs and body must fall, self-crushed from his 
own superincumbent weight. So, too, in works 
of art. The immense timber vessels constructed in 
Quebec, many years since, for conveying their own 
hulks to England, were found wholly inadequate 
to encounter the opposing waves, and notwithstand¬ 
ing their great strength, were dashed in pieces, 
where an ordinary vessel, or an eggshell, would 
have floated in safety. 
In applying these remarks to the water ram, we 
find that on the principles of its present construc¬ 
tion, if the head be much increased beyond ten feet, 
the brass valve is thrown upward against the. mer 
tallic cap with so much violence, as soon to wear 
it to such extent as to require repair, while with a 
less pressure it may be used for years ; and raising 
the water to a height much exceeding one hundred 
feet, may require an iron tube of great strength, 
where, for a less height, lead pipe of ordinary 
thickness will suffice. It may be that a substitute 
of gutta percha for one of the metallic parts of the 
valve, or some other mode of applying the princi¬ 
ple, as by a rotatory, or other valve, may hereafter 
be adopted, which will measurably diminish one of 
the foregoing objections. 
In considering the principle upon which the wa¬ 
ter ram works, it will readily be perceived, that it 
requires to be fed directly from a fountain or run¬ 
ning stream, where the water is accumulated by a 
dam, and that it cannot be made to work by simply 
placing it in a current, however swift or violent this 
may be. In bringing the water from a considera¬ 
ble distance in pipes, they should be so large as to 
allow the fluid to move freely in the pipe, so as at 
all times to supply a constant pressure, undiminish¬ 
ed by the accumulated friction of a long passage 
