. The Canadian journal ; a repertory of industry, science, and art ; and a record of the proceedings of the Canadian Institute. 44 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. [1§52. and, 80 far as our present eiperienca goes, unlimited power of an electro-magnet in sustaining weights attached to an armature in contact with it has, in different countries, and at various times, induced invent- ors to adopt C(nitrivances for pressiiig this agent into service as a labouring force ; and experiments on a small scale liave repeatedly led to the nio.»t sanguine expectations. A more rigid investigation has hitherto, howe
. The Canadian journal ; a repertory of industry, science, and art ; and a record of the proceedings of the Canadian Institute. 44 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. [1§52. and, 80 far as our present eiperienca goes, unlimited power of an electro-magnet in sustaining weights attached to an armature in contact with it has, in different countries, and at various times, induced invent- ors to adopt C(nitrivances for pressiiig this agent into service as a labouring force ; and experiments on a small scale liave repeatedly led to the nio.»t sanguine expectations. A more rigid investigation has hitherto, however, proved tlie fallacy of these expectations, ai d the attempt to construct engines on a 'arge scale been abandoned. Prof. Page's maciiine may, perhaps, be considered an exception to this remark, as it is well known that he has constructed and publicly exhi- bited a powerful working engine. Practical difficulties, however, seem to have intervened, or we should, doubtless, have seen it in extensive operation, the more especially as the magnificent grant of the American Government in aid of the professor's researches precludes the BUpposi- tion that they are stoppiid fur want of pecuniary resources. It would occupy too much space to enter into a detailed historical account of clectm-niagnetic engines. Tlie means adopted, however, may be classed under two heads ;—1. Those involving the direct action of an eloctro-magnet on its armature; and 2, those which employ a Beconda:y action ; thus the rotatory ergines of Davenport. Jacobi, and the more recent elegant arrangement of Prof. Wlieatstone, depend for their action upon a series of armatures, passing successively in front of stationary niagnets, or vicevei'sa; whilst that of Prof. Page depends upon the tendency of a bar of soft iron to place itself in a state of magnetic equilibrium, with reference to a succession of helical coils, through which, one after the other, the galvanic current is caused to pass. It may, however, be
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