Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

to its mechanism and combinations, 73. Obtains with Cawley a
patent for the atmospheric engine, 64. Resumes the old method of
raising water from mines by ordinary pumps, 65. The means pro-
posed to effect this, 66. First conception of the atmospheric engine,
66. Description of his construction of atmospheric engine, 67.
Suggestion of a better method of condensation than the application
of cold water on the external surfaces of the cylinder, 69. He aban-
dons the external cylinder, 69. Applied the working-beam, cylinder,
and piston to the atmospheric engine, 322.

New Orleans Harbour, 503.

[ocr errors]

Novelty," description of the, a locomotive engine, 349.

Ogle, his steam carriage, 438. His evidence before the House of
Commons, 439.

Otto Guericke, his suggestion relative to atmospheric pressure, 73.
Oxley made the first attempt to drive water-wheels by the steam en-
gine, 182.

Paddle-wheel described, 472. Defect of, 474. Feathering paddles,
474. Galloway's paddle-wheel, 476. Field's split paddle, 478.
Paddle-wheels of American steamers, 495.
Papin, Denis, conceived the idea of rendering atmospheric pressure
available as a mechanical agent, 37. Description of his contrivance,
37. His discovery of condensation of steam, 45. Quotation from
his work relative to this discovery, 45. Explanation of this import-
ant discovery, 46. Discovers the method of producing a vacuum by
the condensation of steam, 178. His projected applications of the
steam engine, 178. His proposition for the construction of an engine
working by atmospheric pressure, 62. Abandons the project when
informed of the principle and structure of Savery's engine, 62. His
engine described, 62. This project nothing more than a reproduction
of the Marquis of Worcester's engine, 63. The fallacy of his project
exposed by Hooke, 64. His project for producing a vacuum under a
piston by condensing the steam, published in the "Acta Erudi-
torum," 64.

Parallel motion, 195.

Physical science, the rapid progress of, 8.
Pistons, 242. The common hemp-packed, 242. Woolf's method of
tightening the packing of, without removing the lid of the cylinder,
244. This method further simplified, 244. Metallic, 244. Cart-
wright's engine, 245. Cartwright's piston, 247. Invention of the
indicator by Watt to measure the mean efficient force of, 274.
Piston rod and beam, methods of connecting in the double-acting engine,
193.

Pneumatic institution at Clifton, Watt one of the founders of, 310.
Potter, Humphrey, his contrivance for working the valves, 71.
proved by the substitution of a plug-frame, 72.

Power, proportion of, to tonnage in marine engines, 480.

Power and duty of steam engines, 287.

Priestley, Watt's letter to, relative to the composition of water, 307.

Im-

M M

Pump, an illustration of force attained by a vacuum, 43.

Puppet clacks, or button valves, 144.

Rack and Sector, 194.

Railways, speed of coaches on, compared with that of stage-coaches on a
common road, 7.

Railway transport, effects of, 328. 330.

Railways and stone roads compared, 420.

River navigation, extension and improvement of, 492.

"Rocket,” description of the, a locomotive engine, 345. Engines con-
structed in the form of, subject to two principal defects, 354. These
defects remedied, 355. Improved by the adoption of a more con-
tracted blast-pipe, 356.

Roebuck, Dr., Watt's partnership with, 130.

Rotatory motion, method of producing by sun and planet wheels, 187.

Safety-valve not adopted by Savery, 57.

Invented by Papin, 57.
Description of, 57. First applied to Savery's engine by Desagu-
liers, 58.

"Sanspareil," description of the, a locomotive engine, 347.
Savery, Thomas, obtains a patent for an engine to raise water, 47.
Circumstance which led to his discovery of the condensing principle,
47. An account of his engine, 49. Description of the working
apparatus in which the steam is used as a moving power, 51. His
engine described in a work entitled "The Miner's Friend," 56.
Mentioned by Dr. Harrison in his "Lexicon Technicum," 56.
Quotation from his address to the Royal Society, 56. Quotation
from his address to the Miners of England, 57. Mentioned by
Bradley in his "Improvements of Planting and Gardening," 57.
The safety-valve not adopted by him, 57. The safety-valve first
applied to his engine by Desaguliers, 58. Farey on the steam engine
quoted, 58. Further Improvements made by Desaguliers, 58. De-
fects of his engine, 59. His engine applied to the drainage of mines,
59. Further defects of, 60. The first to suggest the method of
expressing the power of an engine with reference to that of horses,
61. Failure of his engine in the work of drainage, 61. The
tendency of high pressure to weaken and gradually destroy the
vessels, 72. The power of his engines restricted, 73. The atmos-
pheric engine superior to, 73. The boiler, guage-pipes, and regulator
borrowed from his engine, 73. Proposes to apply his engine as a
prime mover for all sorts of machinery, 180.

Scott, Sir Walter, his sketch of the character of Watt, 314.

Sculpture, Watt's invention of machine for copying, 318.

Sea-going American steamers, 496.

Sea-water, effects of upon boilers, 450.

Seaward's slides, 235. Indicator of saltness, 454. His method of
blowing out, 454.

Self-regulating damper, 281. Furnace, 283.

Separator, 430.

Single-acting engine, description of Watt's, 133. 144.

Single clack-valve, 227.

Single cock, 238.
Slide-valves, 229. That contrived by Mr. Murray, 229.
Smeaton, John, investigates the atmospheric engine, 76.

Applies him-

His estimate

self to the improvement of wind and water mills, 181.
of the horse power of engines, 288.
Solomon De Caus, description of the apparatus of, 17. M. Arago claims
for him a share of the honour of the invention of the steam engine,
21. Republished, with additions, the work of Isaac De Caus, 22.
Somerset, Edward, Marquis of Worcester. Invention of the steam
engine ascribed to him, 23. Description of his contrivance, 23.
His "Century of Inventions,” 24. Brief account of his engine
described in this work, 31. His contrivance compared with that of
De Caus, 33. Many of his inventions have been reproduced and
brought into general use, 34.

Steam cannot be applied immediately to any useful purpose, but requires
the interposition of mechanism, 11. Elastic force of, recognised by
the ancients only in vague and general terms, 14. The power of,
formerly made to minister to the objects of superstition, mentioned
by Arago, 15. Anecdote showing the knowledge which the ancients
had of the mechanical force of, 15. The discovery of the conden-
sation of, by Papin, 45. Mechanical power obtained from the direct
pressure of the elastic force of, suggested by De Caus and Lord Wor-
cester, 73.
Latent heat of, 107. The mechanical force of consi-
dered, 115. Watt's early experiments on, 87. Discovery of the

Re-

expansive action of, 157. Expansive action of stated by Watt in a
letter to Dr. Small, 157. Its principle explained, 158. Mechanical
effect resulting from it, 161. Properties of, 168. Common and
super-heated steam, 168. Pressure and temperature of, 171.
lation between the temperatures of common steam and its pressure
and density, 172. Effects of the expansion of common steam, 173.
Mechanical effects of, 173. Methods of equalising the varying force
of expanding steam, 174. Method of producing a vacuum by the
condensation of, discovered by Papin, 178. Applied to move ma-
chinery, 179. Steam guage, 270. Heating by steam brought for-
ward by Watt, 303. A machine for drying linen by, invented by
Watt, 303. Mode of escape of, from the engines on the Liverpool

road, 429.

Steam case or jacket, invented by Watt, 124.

Steam engine, a subject of popular interest, 3. The effects which it
has produced upon the well-being of the human race considered, 4.
Presents peculiar claims upon the attention of the people of Great
Britain, 5. The exclusive offspring of British genius, 5. The
virtues and powers which it has conferred upon coals, 6. Water the
means of calling these powers into activity, 6. Used in the drainage
of Cornish mines, 7. Comparison of its power with human labour, 8.
Investigation of the origin of, 10. A combination of a great variety of
contrivances and the production of several inventions, 12. Before
the discoveries of James Watt was of extremely limited power, 12.
Invention of, ascribed to the Marquis of Worcester, 23. Account of
Savery's, 49. Farey quoted, 58. Improvements made by Desa-

guliers, 58. Applied to the drainage of mines, 59. Humphrey
Potter's contrivance, 72. Advantages of the atmospheric engine over
that of Savery, 73. Progress of the atmospheric engine, 75. De-
scription of Papin's engine, 62. Smeaton's improvements, 76. First
experiments of Watt and subsequent improvements, 83. Watt's ex-
periments on the force of steam at high pressure, 83. Watt discovers
the great defects of the atmospheric engine, 85. Waste of heat in
atmospheric engine, 89. Dr. Black's theory of latent heat, 93. De-
scription of Watt's experimental engine at Kinneal, 131. Description
of his single-acting engine, 133. Disadvantages of the atmospheric com-
pared with the old engine, 150. Expedients to force the atmospheric
engines into use, 152. Watt's exertions to improve the manufacture
of, at Soho, 155. Efficiency of fuel in the new engines, 156. Horn-
blower's engine, 175. Woolf's engine, 176. Watt endeavours to bring
to perfection the application of, to the drainage of mines, 178.
Papin's projected application of, 178. Savery proposed to apply
his steam engine as a prime mover for all sorts of machinery, 180.
Jonathan Hull's application of, to water-wheels, 180. Steam engine
used for driving water wheels, 182. First attempt of this kind
made by Oxley, 182. Stewart's application of, to mill work, 182.
Wasbrough's application of the fly-wheel and crank, 183. Reasons
why Watt's single-acting engine was not adapted to produce con-
tinuous uniform motion of rotation, 184. Watt's second patent, 186.
Valves of double-acting engine, 189. Condensing jet, 191. Me-
thods of connecting the piston-rod and beam in the double-acting
engine, 193. Rack and sector, 194. Parallel motion, 195. Con-
necting rod and crank, 202. Fly-wheel, 205. Throttle-valve, 207.
Adaptation of the governor, 209. Double-acting engine considered
as a whole, 216. Process of its operation investigated, 217. The
eccentric, 225. Cocks and valves, 227. Single clack-valve, 227.
Double clack-valve, 228. Conical steam-valves, 228. Slide-valves,
229. Murray's slide-valve, 229. D valve, 230. Seaward's slides,
235. Single cock, 238. Four-way cock, 239. Pistons, 242.
Gross effect and useful effect of engines, 285. Power and duty of,
287. Horse power of, 288. The means whereby mechanical power
is expended in working the engines enumerated, 290. Common
rules followed by engine makers, 292. Duty of engines, 294. Duty
distinguished from power, 295. Proportion of stroke to diameter of
cylinder, 295. Cornish system of inspection, 297. Improvement
of the Cornish engines, 298. Historical detail of the duty of
Cornish engines, 299. High-pressure engines, 321. Leupold's
engine described, 323. Construction of the first high-pressure
engine by Messrs. Trevethick and Vivian, 324. First application of
the steam engine to propel carriages on railroads, 328. Computation

of how much corn could be saved by the substitution of steam engines
for horse power, 332. Marine engines, form and arrangement of,
441. Difference between marine and land engines, 443. Mr.
Howard's patent engine described, 464. Humphrey's engine de-
scribed, 470.

Steam navigation to India, 483. First established in America, 487.

Circumstances which led to it, 488. Attempts of Fitch and Rumsey
to apply the single-acting engine to the propulsion of vessels, 489.
Stevens of Hoboken commences experiments in, 489. Experiments
of Livingstone and Fulton, 489. Fulton's first boat, 490. The
Hudson navigated by steam, 491. Extension and improvement of
river navigation, 492. American steamers, 494. Difference between
them and European steamers 494. Steamers on the Hudson, 494.
Sea-going American steamers, 496. Speed attained by American
steamers, 497. Lake steamers, 499. Steam-boats on the Mississippi,

500.

Steam tugs, 503.

Steep inclinations, method of surmounting, 415.

Stephenson, his locomotive engine 'at Killingworth, 339. Defect of,
341. Constructed the driving wheels without flanges, 383.

Stevens, of Hoboken, commences experiments on steam navigation,
489.

Stewart, his application of the steam engine to mill work, 182.
Stoking, process of, 462.

Stuffing-box, contrivance of, 147.

Sun and planet wheels, method of producing rotatory motion, 187.

Thermometers, the process of filling described, 44.

Explanation of the

principle of, 98. Construction of mercurial thermometer, 98. Me-

thod of graduating, 99.

Thermometer gauge, 270.

Throttle-valve, description of, 207.

Tredgold, his remark relative to Newcomen's engine, 73.

Trevethick and Vivian's engine described, 325.

Vacuum, force obtained by a, 43. The pump an illustration of this,
43.

Valves of double-acting engine, 189.

Wasbrough, his application of the fly-wheel and crank, 183.
Water, a pint of, the mechanical force produced by its evaporation, 6.
The alternate decomposition and recomposition of, by magnetism and
electricity, analogous to vaporisation and condensation, 8. The fixed
temperature which it assumes in boiling subject to variation, 108.
Experiments to illustrate this, 109. Table to show the temperature
at which it will boil under different pressures of the atmosphere, 113.
Mechanical force of a cubic inch of, converted into steam, 118. Dis-
covery of the composition of, 303. The merit of this discovery
shared between Cavendish, Lavoisier, and Watt, 305. Latent heat
of, 101. Conversion of ice into, 103.

Water tank, 404.

Water-wheels, steam engine used for turning, 182.
Watt (James), birth of, 77. His infancy, 78. Anecdotes respecting,
His boyhood, 79. Goes to London, 80. Returns to Glasgow,
Appointed mathematical instrument-maker to the university,
Adam Smith one of his earliest friends and patrons, 81. Also

78.

80.

81.

« AnteriorContinuar »