AN HISTORICAL h AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE STEAM ENGINE, COMPRISING A GENERAL VIEW OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF EMPLOYING ELASTIC VAPOUR AS A PRIME MOVER IN MECHANICS; WITH AN APPENDIX OF PATENTS AND PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SUBJECT. AT THE ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. ΤΟ WILLIAM HASLEDINE PEPYS, Esq. FELLOW OF THE ROYAL AND LINNEAN SOCIETIES; A VICEPRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION, OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SO CIETY, &c. &c. AND HON. SECRETARY OF THE LONDON INSTITUTION: As a Tribute of Respect for his high Scientific Attainments, and liberal encouragement of Philosophical Learning; this Historical Account of one of the most valuable applications of Science to the Arts and Manufactures of a great Commercial Nation, is, with his permission, respectfully inscribed, By his much obliged, and faithful humble Servant, CHARLES FREDERICK PARTINGTON. INTRODUCTION. THE great practical use of machinery to a commercial country is so well known, and its superiority to animal force so universally acknowledged and felt in every branch of our manufactures, that but little apology will be necessary for introducing to the man of science and practical artizan, a work, the avowed object of which is, to render the uses and general principles of the Steam Engine familiar to every class of persons. That it has enabled England to support a proud pre-eminence, both in arts and political power, is equally apparent; and it is a fact much to be deplored, that while some of the least important of the arts connected with domestic life, have been illustrated and explained by men celebrated for scientific research, a description and account of the uses of this stupendous machine, have been left to the Cyclopædias and other works of a general nature. |