A history of the growth of the steam-engine . om the pedestal. This can,evidently, only occur when the pipe G is closed previous tothe commencement of this cooling. No such cock is men-tioned, and it is not unlikely that the device only existed onpaper. Several steam-boilers are described, usually simple pipesor cylindrical vessels, and the steam generated in them bythe heat of the fire on the altar forms a steam-blast. Thisblast is either directed into the fire, or it makes a black-bird sing, blows a horn for a triton, or does other equallyuseless work. In one device. No. 70, the steam issues
A history of the growth of the steam-engine . om the pedestal. This can,evidently, only occur when the pipe G is closed previous tothe commencement of this cooling. No such cock is men-tioned, and it is not unlikely that the device only existed onpaper. Several steam-boilers are described, usually simple pipesor cylindrical vessels, and the steam generated in them bythe heat of the fire on the altar forms a steam-blast. Thisblast is either directed into the fire, or it makes a black-bird sing, blows a horn for a triton, or does other equallyuseless work. In one device. No. 70, the steam issues froma reaction-wheel revolving in the horizontal plane, andcauses dancing images to circle about the altar. A moremechanical and more generally-known form of this deviceis that which is frequently described as the First SteamEngine. The sketch from Stuart is similar in generalform, but more elaborate in detail, than that copied byGreenwood, which is here also reproduced, as representingmore accitrately the simple form which the mechanism of. Fig. 3.—Hero3 Engine, e. c. 200. the ^olipile, or Ball of iEolus, assumed in those early times. The cauldron, A B, contains water, and is covered by thesteam-tight cover, CD. A globe is supported above thecauldron by a pair of tubes, terminating, the one, (7 Jf, in a THE PERIOD OF SPECULATION. 9 pivot, L^ and the other, E F, opening directly into thesphere at G. Short, bent pipes, -ff and K, issue from pointsdiametrically opposite each other, and are open at theirextremities. A fire being made beneath the cauldron, steam is formedand finds exit through the pipe, E F G, into the globe,and thence rushes out of the pipes, HK, turning the globeon its axis, G L, by the unbalanced pressure thus produced. The more elaborate sketch which forms the frontis-piece represents a machine of similar character. Its designand ornamentation illustrate well the characteristics ofancient art, and the Greek idea of the steam-engine. This ^olipile consisted o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidc, booksubjectsteamengines
