Part 1

DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS

OF THE

NINETEENTH CENTURY

Who saw what ferns and palms were pressed Under the tumbling mountain’s breast, In the safe herbal of the coal? But when the quarried means were piled, All is waste and worthless, till Arrives the wise selecting Will, And, out of slime and chaos, Wit Draws the threads of fair and fit. Then temples rose, and towns, and marts, The shop of toil, the hall of arts; Then flew the sail across the seas To feed the North from tropic trees; The storm-wind wove, the torrent span, Where they were bid the rivers ran; New slaves fulfilled the poet’s dream, Galvanic wire, strong-shouldered steam.

EMERSON.

DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

BY

ROBERT ROUTLEDGE, B.Sc., SOMETIME ASSISTANT EXAMINER IN CHEMISTRY AND IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

THIRTEENTH EDITION REVISED AND PARTLY RE-WRITTEN, WITH ADDITIONS

CONTAINING FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LIMITED BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL 1900

PREFACE.

In the following pages an attempt has been made to present a popular account of remarkable discoveries and inventions which distinguish the XIXth century. They distinguish it not merely in comparison with any previous century, but in comparison with all the centuries that have preceded, in regard to far-reaching intellectual acquisitions, and to material achievements, which together have profoundly affected our ways of thinking and our habits of life. In the latter, the enormously increased facilities of locomotion and international communication due to railways and steam navigation have wrought the greatest changes. These inventions depending primarily upon that of the steam engine, this first claims our notice, although properly assignable to a period preceding our era by a few years. Again, much of our material advancement is connected with improvements in the manufacture of iron and its applications in the form of steel, which have been especially the work of the last half of the century. So great has been the progress in this department, that for the present edition it has been found necessary to re-write altogether the article devoted to it. Our social conditions have also been greatly modified by the celerity of verbal intercourse afforded by the telegraph and the telephone, and these inventions have received appropriate notice in this work. In every branch of science also we have reason to be proud of the discoveries our era can claim, for they vastly excel in number and are not inferior in range to those of all the ages taken together. From so large a field, selection was of course necessary; and the instances selected have been those which appeared to some extent typical, or those which seemed to have the most direct bearing on the general advance of our time. The topics comprise chiefly those great applications of mechanical engineering and arts, and of physical and chemical science, in which every intelligent person feels concerned; while some articles are devoted to certain purely scientific discoveries that have excited general interest.

The author has aimed at giving a concise but clear description of the several subjects; and that without assuming on the part of the reader any knowledge not usually possessed by young persons of either sex who have received an ordinary education. The design has been to treat the subjects as familiarly as might be consistent with a desire to impart real information; while the popular character of the book has not been considered a reason for regarding accuracy as unnecessary. On the contrary, pains have been taken to consult the best authorities; and it is only because the sources of information to which the author is under obligation are so many, that he cannot acknowledge them in detail.

The present edition has been revised throughout, and such changes have been made as were required to bring the matter into accordance with the progress that has taken place since this book was first published in 1876. But details given in the former editions have at the same time been retained where they served to indicate the successive stages of improvement. It would, for example, be impossible in a section on steam navigation, to omit some notice of the _Great Eastern_, and therefore the drawings and the account of the construction of that remarkable ship that appeared in the first edition, have been left with but slight alterations in the present volume, although the vessel has since been broken up. On the other hand, two sections are devoted to projects which the XIXth century has not seen realised; but the XXth century will in all probability shortly witness the completion of one or other of the great canal schemes; and if the first submarine tunnel is destined not to be one connecting England with the Continent, it will be one uniting Great Britain with her sister isle.

1899.

* * * * *

For permission to make use of illustrations in this volume the author’s and publishers’ thanks are due to the several proprietors of _The Graphic_ (for Plates I., XI., and XII.)—of _The Engineer_ (for sketch design of the Great Wheel, map and views of the Tower Bridge)—of _The Scientific American_ (map of North Sea Canal); also to Mr. Walter B. Basset (for Plate V.)—to “The Cassier Magazine Company” (for Edison’s Kinetographic Theatre and the Hotchkiss Gun)—to “The Century Company” (for portrait of M. Tesla, from a photograph by Sarony)—to “The Incandescent Gas Light Company” (for cuts of burners, etc.)—to _The Engineering Magazine_, and _The Engineering News_, both of New York—to the Remington Company—to Mr. W. W. Greener, of Birmingham (for cuts of rifles, etc., from his comprehensive book on “The Gun”)—to _The Photogram_, Limited—to the Proprietors of _Nature_—to the Linotype Company—and to Captains Hadcock and Lloyd (for illustrations of modern artillery from their great work on the subject).

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 1

STEAM ENGINES 3 THE LOCOMOTIVE 14 PORTABLE ENGINES 24 THE STEAM HAMMER 25

IRON 29 IRON IN ARCHITECTURE 72 BIG WHEELS 81

TOOLS 85 THE BLANCHARD LATHE 96 SAWING MACHINES 98

RAILWAYS 101 THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAYS 114 THE PACIFIC RAILWAY 116 INCLINED RAILWAYS 125

STEAM NAVIGATION 129 RIVER AND LAKE STEAMBOATS OF AMERICA 144

SHIPS OF WAR 149

FIRE-ARMS 169 THE MILITARY RIFLE 178 RIFLED CANNON 190 MACHINE GUNS 218

TORPEDOES 227

SHIP CANALS 249 THE SUEZ CANAL 251 THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL 262 THE NORTH SEA CANAL 271 THE PANAMA AND NICARAGUA CANAL PROJECTS 272

IRON BRIDGES 276 GIRDER BRIDGES 280 SUSPENSION BRIDGES 284 CANTILEVER BRIDGES 291 THE TOWER BRIDGE, LONDON 297 THE GREAT BROOKLYN BRIDGE 303

PRINTING MACHINES 305 LETTERPRESS PRINTING 306 PATTERN PRINTING 321

HYDRAULIC POWER 324

PNEUMATIC DISPATCH 340

ROCK BORING 349 THE MONT CENIS TUNNEL 351 ROCK-DRILLING MACHINES 355 THE CHANNEL TUNNEL 364 THE ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY 371

LIGHT 380 SOME PHENOMENA OF LIGHT 382 VELOCITY OF LIGHT 384 REFLECTION OF LIGHT 388 REFRACTION 397 DOUBLE REFRACTION AND POLARISATION 399 CAUSE OF LIGHT AND COLOUR 408

THE SPECTROSCOPE 416 CELESTIAL CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 436

ROENTGEN’S X RAYS 445

SIGHT 452 THE EYE 454 VISUAL IMPRESSIONS 468

ELECTRICITY 481 ELEMENTARY PHENOMENA OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM 483 THEORY OF ELECTRICITY 487 ELECTRIC INDUCTION 488 DYNAMICAL ELECTRICITY 490 INDUCED CURRENTS 502 MAGNETO-ELECTRICITY 507 THE GRAMME MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINE 511 ELECTRIC LIGHTING AND ELECTRIC POWER 519 THE NEW ELECTRICITY 538

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 547 TELEGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS 553 TELEGRAPHIC LINES 572 THE TELEPHONE 581

LIGHTHOUSES 593

PHOTOGRAPHY 607 PHOTOGRAPHY IN COLOURS 630

PRINTING PROCESSES 632 STEREOTYPING 632 LITHOGRAPHY 636 OTHER PROCESSES 640 THE LINOTYPE MACHINE 645

RECORDING INSTRUMENTS 653 THE PHONOGRAPH 665

AQUARIA 675 THE CRYSTAL PALACE AQUARIUM 677 THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM 682

GOLD AND DIAMONDS 687 GOLD 687 DIAMONDS 696

NEW METALS 714

INDIA-RUBBER AND GUTTA-PERCHA 724 INDIA-RUBBER 724 GUTTA-PERCHA 728

ANÆSTHETICS 731

EXPLOSIVES 740

MINERAL COMBUSTIBLES 751 COAL 751 PETROLEUM 757 PARAFFIN 761

COAL-GAS 764

COAL-TAR COLOURS 781

THE GREATEST DISCOVERY OF THE AGE 801

NOTES 811

INDEX 813

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE

Heading—Rain, Steam, and Speed (after Turner) 1

1. Portrait of James Watt 3

2. Newcomen’s Steam Engine 4

3. Watt’s Double-action Steam Engine 5

4. Governor and Throttle-Valve 6

4_a_. Watt’s Parallel Motion 8

5. Slide Valve 9

6. Section of Gifford’s Injector 11

7. Bourdon’s Pressure Gauge 12

8. Steam Generator 13

9. Section of Locomotive 15

10. Stephenson’s Link Motion 17

10_a_. G. N. R. Express Passenger Locomotive 19

10_b_. Joy’s Valve Gear 20

11. Locomotive after Explosion 22

12. Hancock’s Steam Omnibus 22

13. Nasmyth’s Steam Hammer 27

14. Merryweather’s Steam Fire-Engine 28

15. A Foundry 29

16. Aerolite in the British Museum 31

17. Blast Furnace 41

18. Section and Plan of Blast Furnace (obsolete type) 42

19. Section of a Reverberatory Furnace 45

20. Fibrous Fracture of Wrought Iron 47

21. Cup and Cone 49

22. Section of Blast Furnace 51

23. Experiments at Baxter House 58

24. Bessemer Converter 63

25. Model of Bessemer Steel Apparatus 65

26. Section of Regenerative Stoves and Open Hearth 68

26_a_. Rolling Mill 71

26_b_. The Eiffel Tower in course of construction 73

26_c_. The Eiffel Tower 75

26_d_. St. Paul Building, N. Y. 77

26_e_. Manhattan Insurance Co.’s Building in course of 79 erection

26_f_. Manhattan Insurance Co.’s Building nearly completed 80

26_g_. Original Design for the Great Wheel 82

27. Portrait of Sir Joseph Whitworth 85

28. Whitworth’s Screw Dies and Tap 86

29. Screw-cutting Lathe 87

30. Whitworth’s Measuring Machine 89

31. Whitworth’s Drilling Machine 91

32. Whitworth’s Planing Machine 93

33. Pair of Whitworth’s Planes or Surface Plates 94

34. Interior of Engineer’s Workshop 95

35. Blanchard Lathe 96

36. Vertical Saw 98

37. Circular Saw 99

38. Pit-Saw 100

39. Box Tunnel 101

40. Coal-pit, Salop 102

41. Sankey Viaduct 103

42. Rails and Cramp-gauge 104

43. Fish-plate 105

44. Section of Rails and Fish-plates 106

45. Conical Wheels 107

46. Centrifugal Force 107

47. Points 108

48. Signal Box on North London Railway 109

49. Post Office Railway Van 111

50. Gower Street Station, Metropolitan Railway 115

51. Map of the Route of Pacific Railway 117

52. Trestle Bridge 118

53. American Canyon 119

54. “Cape Horn” 121

55. Snow Plough 122

56. First Steam Railroad Train in America 123

57. Railway Embankment 124

57_a_. Train ascending the Rigi 126

57_b_. At the summit of the Rigi 127

58. The _Great Eastern_ at Anchor 129

59. Casting Cylinder of a Marine Steam Engine 131

60. Screw Propeller 132

61. Section of _Great Eastern_ Amidships 134

62. The _Great Eastern_ in course of construction 135

63. The _Great Eastern_ ready for launching 136

64. Comparative sizes of Steamships 137

65. The ss. _City of Rome_ 138

66. The _Castalia_ in Dover Harbour 140

67. The same—End View 141

68. Bessemer Steamer 142

68_a_. A Whaleback Steamer, No. 85, built at West 146 Superior, Wisconsin

69. H.M.S. _Devastation_ in Queenstown Harbour 149

70. Section of H.M.S. _Hercules_ 151

71. Section of H.M.S. _Inconstant_ 153

72. Section, Elevation and Plan of Turret of H.M.S. 154 _Captain_

73. H.M.S. _Captain_ 155

74. Diagram of H.M.S. _Captain_ 158

75. Ditto 159

76. H.M.S. _Glatton_ 162

77. H.M.S. _Thunderer_ 163

78. The _König Wilhelm_ 165

78_a_. The _Victoria_ leaving Newcastle-on-Tyne 166

78_b_. Firing at Floating Battery 168

79. Krupp’s Works at Essen, Prussia 169

80. Trajectory of a Projectile 174

81. Diagram for Trajectory of a Projectile 176

82. Muzzle-loading Musket and Rifles (obsolete 179 patterns)

83. The Minié Bullet 181

84. Greener’s Expanding Bullet 182

85. The Chassepot Rifle—Section of the Breech 183

86. Section of the Martini-Henry Lock 185

87. The Martini-Henry Rifle 186

88. The Mannlicher Magazine Rifle 188

89. The Magazine and Breech of the Mannlicher Rifle 189

90. 32–pounder, 1807 191

91. Whitworth Rifling and Projectile 193

92. 600–pounder Muzzle-loading Armstrong Gun 194

93. 35–ton Fraser Gun 195

94. Section of 9–in. Fraser Gun 196

95. Millwall Shield after being battered with Heavy 200 Shot—Front View

96. Rear View of the Millwall Shield 200

97. Comparative Sizes of 35 and 81–ton Guns 201

98. Diagram of Velocities and Pressures 205

99. Elswick 4·7–in. Q. F. Gun on Pivot Mounting 207

100. The Moncrieff Gun raised and ready for firing 209

101. Moncrieff Gun lowered for loading 209

102. 68–ton Gun on Elswick Hydro-Pneumatic Mounting 211

103. Mallet’s Mortar 213

104. 32–pounder Krupp Siege Gun, with Breech-piece open 214

105. The Citadel of Strasburg after the Prussian 215 Bombardment

105_a_. The Shrapnel and Segment Shells 217

105_b_. The Gatling Gun—Rear View 219

105_c_. The Gatling Gun—Front View 221

105_d_. The Montigny Mitrailleur 222

105_e_. A Hotchkiss Gun 224

106. Harvey’s Torpedo.—Working the Brakes 227

107. Submerged Torpedo 228

108. Mode of Firing Torpedo 230

109. Explosion of Whitehead’s Torpedo 231

110. Effect of the Explosion of Whitehead’s Torpedo 232

111. Experiment with a Torpedo charged with 10 lbs. Gun 233 Cotton

112. Explosion of Torpedo containing 67 lbs. Gun Cotton 234

113. Explosion of 432 lbs. Gun Cotton in 37 ft. Water 235

114. The same in 27 ft. Water 235

115. Section of Priming Case and Exploding Bolt 236

116. Harvey’s Torpedo 237

117. The same 238

118. The same 239

119. Official Trial of “Harvey’s Sea Torpedo” 239

120. Model of Submarine Guns 240

121. The Warner Experiment off Brighton 241

122. Portrait of M. Lesseps 249

123. The Sand-Glass 253

124. A Group of Egyptian Fellahs and their Wives 254

125. Dredges and Elevators at Work 255

126. Map of the Suez Canal 256

127. Port Saïd, the Mediterranean Entrance to the Suez 257 Canal

128. Bird’s-eye View of Port Saïd 258

129. One of the Breakwaters at Port Saïd 259

130. Lake Timsah and Ismaïlia 259

131. Railway Station at Ismaïlia 260

132. The Viceroy of Egypt cutting Embankment 261

133. Map of the Manchester Ship Canal, Western Portion 263

134. Map of the Manchester Ship Canal, Eastern Portion 263

135. A Cutting for the Manchester Ship Canal 265