A history of the growth of the steam-engine . do doubleduty. The only part of the plan which proved both noveland valuable was the metallic packing and piston, whichhas not yet been superseded. The engine itself never cameinto use. At this point, the history of the steam-engine becomesthe story of its applications in several diilerent directions,the most important of which are the raising of water—which had hitherto been its only application—^the locomo-tive-engine, the driving of mill-machinery, and steam-navi-gation. Here we take leave of James Watt and of his contempo- THE CONTEMPORABIES OF
A history of the growth of the steam-engine . do doubleduty. The only part of the plan which proved both noveland valuable was the metallic packing and piston, whichhas not yet been superseded. The engine itself never cameinto use. At this point, the history of the steam-engine becomesthe story of its applications in several diilerent directions,the most important of which are the raising of water—which had hitherto been its only application—^the locomo-tive-engine, the driving of mill-machinery, and steam-navi-gation. Here we take leave of James Watt and of his contempo- THE CONTEMPORABIES OF JAMES WATT. 143 raries, of the former of whom a French author says : Thepart which he played in the mechanical applications of thepower of steam can only be compared to that of Newton inastronomy and of Shakespeare in poetry. Since the timeof Watt, improvements have been made principally in mat-ters of mere detail, and in the extension of the range ofapplication of the steam-engine. Bataille, Traits des Machines h, Vapeur, Paris, CHAPTER IV. THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE. Those projects which abridge distance have done most for the civiliza-tion and happiness of our species.—MiCAnLAY. The Second Peeiod of Application— on Raileoads. Inteodfctoey.—The commencement of the nineteenthcentury found the modem steam-engine fully developed in
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