One of the peculiarities of this engine is, that the liquid which is used for the production of steam in the boiler circulates through the machine without either diminution or admixture with any other fluid, so that the boiler never wants more feeding than what can be supplied from the hot-well H. This circumstance forms a most important feature in the machine, as it allows of ardent spirits being used in the boiler instead of water, which, since they boil at low heats, promised a saving of half the fuel. The inventor even proposed, that the engine should be used as a still, as well as a mechanical power, in which case the whole of the fuel would be saved.
In this engine, the ordinary method of rendering the piston steam-tight, by oil or melted wax or tallow poured upon it, could not be applied, since the steam above the piston must always have a free passage through the piston-valve R. The ingenious inventor therefore contrived a method of making the piston steam-tight in the cylinder, without oil or stuffing, and his method has since been adopted with success in other engines.
A ring of metal is ground into the cylinder, so as to fit it perfectly, and is then cut into four equal segments. The inner surface of this ring being slightly conical, another ring is ground into it, so as to fit it perfectly, and this is also cut into four segments, and one is placed within the other, but in such a manner that the joints or divisions do not coincide. The arrangement of the two rings is represented in fig. 47. Within the inner ring are placed four springs, which press the pieces outward against the sides of the cylinder, and are represented in the diagram. Four pairs of these rings are placed one over another, so that their joints do not coincide, and the whole is screwed together by plates placed at top and bottom. A vertical section of the piston is given in fig. 48.
One of the advantages of this piston is, that the longer it is worked, the more accurately it fits the cylinder, so that, as the machine wears it improves.
Metallic pistons have lately come into very general use, and such contrivances differ very little from the above.
High-pressure Engines. -- Leupold's Engine. -- Trevithick and Vivian. -- Effects of Improvement in Locomotion. -- Historical Account of the Locomotive Engine. -- Blenkinsop's Patent. -- Chapman's Improvement. -- Walking Engine. -- Stephenson's First Engines. -- His Improvements. -- Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company. -- Their Preliminary Proceedings. -- The Great Competition of 1829. -- The Rocket. -- The Sanspareil. -- The Novelty. -- Qualities of the Rocket. -- Successive Improvements. -- Experiments. -- Defects of the Present Engines. -- Inclined Planes. -- Methods of surmounting them. -- Circumstances of the Manchester Railway Company. -- Probable Improvements in Locomotives. -- Their capabilities with respect to speed. -- Probable Effects of the Projected Railroads. -- Steam Power compared with Horse Power. -- Railroads compared with Canals.