VOLUME XXIV.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

EACH BOOK COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, 12MO, AND BOUND IN CLOTH.

1. FORMS OF WATER: A Familiar Exposition of the Origin and Phenomena of Glaciers. By J. TYNDALL, LL. D., F. R. S. With 25 Illustrations. $1.50.

2. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; Or, Thoughts on the Application of the Principles of "Natural Selection" and "Inheritance" to Political Society. By WALTER BAGEHOT. $1.50.

3. FOODS. By EDWARD SMITH, M. D., LL. B., F. R. S. With numerous Illustrations. $1.75.

4. MIND AND BODY: The Theories of their Relation. By ALEXANDER BAIN, LL. D. With 4 Illustrations. $1.50.

5. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By HERBERT SPENCER. $1.50.

6. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. By Professor J. P. COOKE, of Harvard University. With 31 Illustrations. $2.00.

7. ON THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. By BALFOUR STEWART, M. A., LL. D., F. R. S. With 14 Illustrations. $1.50.

8. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION; or, Walking, Swimming, and Flying. By J. B. PETTIGREW, M. D., F. R. S., etc. With 130 Illustrations. $1.75.

9. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By HENRY MAUDSLEY, M. D. $1.50.

10. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By Professor SHELDON AMOS. $1.75.

11. ANIMAL MECHANISM: A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aerial Locomotion. By Professor E. J. MAREY. With 117 Illustrations. $1.75.

12. THE HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE. By J. W. DRAPER, M. D., LL. D. $1.75.

13. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT AND DARWINISM. By Professor OSCAR SCHMIDT (Strasburg University). With 26 Illustrations. $1.50.

14. THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY. By Dr. HERMANN VOGEL (Polytechnic Academy of Berlin). Translation thoroughly revised. With 100 Illustrations. $2.00.

15. FUNGI: Their Nature, Influences, Uses, etc. By M. C. COOKE, M. A., LL. D. Edited by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M. A., F. L. S. With 109 Illustrations. $1.50.

16. THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE. By Professor WILLIAM DWIGHT WHITNEY, of Yale College. $1.50.

17. MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE. By W. STANLEY JEVONS, M. A., F. R. S. $1.75.

18. THE NATURE OF LIGHT, with a General Account of Physical Optics. By Dr. EUGENE LOMMEL. With 188 Illustrations and a Table of Spectra in Chromo-lithography. $2.00.

19. ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. By Monsieur VAN BENEDEN. With 83 Illustrations. $1.50.

20. FERMENTATION. By Professor SCHUeTZENBERGER. With 28 Illustrations. $1.50.

21. THE FIVE SENSES OF MAN. By Professor BERNSTEIN. With 91 Illustrations. $1.75.

22. THE THEORY OF SOUND IN ITS RELATION TO MUSIC. By Professor PIETRO BLASERNA. With numerous Illustrations. $1.50.

23. STUDIES IN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS. By J. NORMAN LOCKYER, F. R. S. With 6 Photographic Illustrations of Spectra, and numerous Engravings on Wood. $2.50.

24. A HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE STEAM-ENGINE. By Professor E. H. THURSTON. With 163 Illustrations. $2.50.

25. EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE. By ALEXANDER BAIN, LL. D. $1.75.

26. STUDENTS' TEXT-BOOK OF COLOR; Or, Modern Chromatics. With Applications to Art and Industry. By Professor OGDEN N. ROOD, Columbia College. New edition. With 130 Illustrations. $2.00.

27. THE HUMAN SPECIES. By Professor A. DE QUATREFAGES, Membre de l'Institut. $2.00.

28. THE CRAYFISH: An Introduction to the Study of Zoology. By T. H. HUXLEY, F. R. S. With 82 Illustrations. $1.75.

29. THE ATOMIC THEORY. By Professor A. WURTZ. Translated by E. Cleminshaw, F. C. S. $1.50.

30. ANIMAL LIFE AS AFFECTED BY THE NATURAL CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE. By KARL SEMPER. With 2 Maps and 106 Woodcuts. $2.00.

31. SIGHT: An Exposition of the Principles of Monocular and Binocular Vision. By JOSEPH LE CONTE, LL. D. With 132 Illustrations. $1.50.

32. GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCLES AND NERVES. By Professor J. ROSENTHAL. With 75 Illustrations. $1.50.

33. ILLUSIONS: A Psychological Study. By JAMES SULLY. $1.50.

34. THE SUN. By C. A. YOUNG, Professor of Astronomy in the College of New Jersey. With numerous Illustrations. $2.00.

35. VOLCANOES: What they Are and what they Teach. By JOHN W. JUDD, F. R. S., Professor of Geology in the Royal School of Mines. With 96 Illustrations. $2.00.

36. SUICIDE: An Essay in Comparative Moral Statistics. By HENRY MORSELLI, M. D., Professor of Psychological Medicine, Royal University, Turin. $1.75.

37. THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD, THROUGH THE ACTION OF WORMS. With Observations on their Habits. By CHARLES DARWIN, LL. D., F. R. S. With Illustrations. $1.50.

38. THE CONCEPTS AND THEORIES OF MODERN PHYSICS. By J. B. STALLO. $1.75.

39. THE BRAIN AND ITS FUNCTIONS. By J. LUYS. $1.50.

40. MYTH AND SCIENCE. By TITO VIGNOLI. $1.50.

41. DISEASES OF MEMORY: An Essay in the Positive Psychology. By TH. RIBOT, author of "Heredity." $1.50.

42. ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. A Record of Observations of the Habits of the Social Hymenoptera. By Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., F. R. S., D. C. L., LL. D., etc. $2.00.

43. SCIENCE OF POLITICS. By SHELDON AMOS. $1.75.

44. ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. By GEORGE J. ROMANES. $1.75.

45. MAN BEFORE METALS. By N. JOLY, Correspondent of the Institute. With 148 Illustrations. $1.75.

46. THE ORGANS OF SPEECH AND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE FORMATION OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS. By G. H. VON MEYER, Professor in Ordinary of Anatomy at the University of Zuerich. With 47 Woodcuts. $1.75.

47. FALLACIES: A View of Logic from the Practical Side. By ALFRED SIDGWICK, B. A., Oxon. $1.75.

48. ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. By ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE. $2.00.

49. JELLY-FISH, STAR-FISH, AND SEA-URCHINS. Being a Research on Primitive Nervous Systems. By GEORGE J. ROMANES. $1.75.

50. THE COMMON SENSE OF THE EXACT SCIENCES. By the late WILLIAM KINGDON CLIFFORD. $1.50.

51. PHYSICAL EXPRESSION: Its Modes and Principles. By FRANCIS WARNER, M. D., Assistant Physician, and Lecturer on Botany to the London Hospital, etc. With 51 Illustrations. $1.75.

52. ANTHROPOID APES. By ROBERT HARTMANN, Professor in the University of Berlin. With 63 Illustrations. $1.75.

53. THE MAMMALIA IN THEIR RELATION TO PRIMEVAL TIMES. By OSCAR SCHMIDT. $1.50.

New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

A HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE STEAM-ENGINE.

BY

ROBERT H. THURSTON, A. M., C. E.,

PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, PAST PRESIDENT AMERICAN SOCIETY MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, MEMBER OF SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, SOCIETE DES INGENIEURS CIVILS, VEREIN DEUTSCHE INGENIEURE, OESTERREICHISCHER INGENIEUR- UND ARCHITEKTEN-VEREIN; ASSOCIATE BRITISH INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS, ETC., ETC.

_SECOND REVISED EDITION._

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 1886.

COPYRIGHT, 1878, 1884, BY ROBERT H. THURSTON.

PREFACE.

This little work embodies the more generally interesting portions of lectures first written for delivery at the STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, in the winter of 1871-'72, to a mixed audience, composed, however, principally of engineers by profession, and of mechanics; it comprises, also, some material prepared for other occasions.

These lectures have been rewritten and considerably extended, and have been given a form which is more appropriate to this method of presentation of the subject. The account of the gradual development of the philosophy of the steam-engine has been extended and considerably changed, both in arrangement and in method. That part in which the direction of improvement during the past history of the steam-engine, the course which it is to-day taking, and the direction and limitation of that improvement in the future, are traced, has been somewhat modified to accord with the character of the revised work.

The author has consulted a large number of authors in the course of his work, and is very greatly indebted to several earlier writers. Of these, Stuart[1] is entitled to particular mention. His "History" is the earliest deserving the name; and his "Anecdotes" are of exceedingly great interest and of equally great historical value. The artistic and curious little sketches at the end of each chapter are from John Stuart, as are, usually, the drawings of the older forms of engines.

[1] "History of the Steam-Engine," London, 1824. "Anecdotes of the Steam-Engine," London, 1829.

Greenwood's excellent translation of Hero, as edited by Bennett Woodcroft (London, 1851), can be consulted by those who are curious to learn more of that interesting old Greek treatise.

Some valuable matter is from Farey,[2] who gives the most extended account extant of Newcomen's and Watt's engines. The reader who desires to know more of the life of Worcester, and more of the details of his work, will find in the very complete biography of Dircks[3] all that he can wish to learn of that great but unfortunate inventor. Smiles's admirably written biography of Watt[4] gives an equally interesting and complete account of the great mechanic and of his partners; and Muirhead[5] furnishes us with a still more detailed account of his inventions.

[2] "Treatise on the Steam-Engine," London, 1827.

[3] "Life, Times, and Scientific Labors of the Second Marquis of Worcester," London, 1865.

[4] "Lives of Boulton and Watt," London, 1865.

[5] "Life of James Watt," D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1859. "Mechanical Inventions of James Watt," London, 1854.

For an account of the life and work of John Elder, the great pioneer in the introduction of the now standard double-cylinder, or "compound," engine, the student can consult a little biographical sketch by Prof. Rankine, published soon after the death of Elder.

The only published sketch of the history of the science of thermo-dynamics, which plays so large a part of the philosophy of the steam-engine, is that of Prof. Tait--a most valuable monograph.

The section of this work which treats of the causes and the extent of losses of heat in the steam-engine, and of the methods available, or possibly available, to reduce the amount of this now immense waste of heat, is, in some respects, quite new, and is equally novel in the method of its presentation. The portraits with which the book is well furnished are believed to be authentic, and, it is hoped, will lend interest, if not adding to the real value of the work.

Among other works which have been of great assistance to the author, and will be found, perhaps, equally valuable to some of the readers of this little treatise, are several to which reference has not been made in the text. Among them the following are deserving of special mention: Zeuner's "Waermetheorie," the treatises of Stewart and of Maxwell, and McCulloch's "Mechanical Theory of Heat," a short but thoroughly logical and exact mathematical treatise; Cotterill's "Steam-Engine considered as a Heat-Engine," a more extended work on the same subject, which will be found an excellent companion to, and commentary upon, Rankine's "Steam-Engine and Prime Movers," which is the standard treatise on the theory of the steam-engine. The works of Bourne, of Holley, of Clarke, and of Forney, are standards on the practical every-day matters of steam-engine construction and management.

The author is almost daily in receipt of inquiries which indicate that the above remarks will be of service to very many young engineers, as well as to many to whom the steam-engine is of interest from a more purely scientific point of view.

CONTENTS.