In offering to the American public a reprint of a work on the Steam Engine so deservedly successful, and so long considered standard, the publishers have not thought it necessary that it should be an exact copy of the English edition; there were some details in which they thought it could be improved, and better adapted to the use of American engineers. On this account, the size of the page has been increased to a full 12mo, to admit of larger illustrations, which in the English edition are often on too small a scale; and some of the illustrations themselves have been supplied by others equally applicable, more recent, and to us more familiar examples. The first part of Chapter XI, devoted in the English edition to English portable and fixed agricultural engines, in this edition gives place entirely to illustrations from American practice, of steam engines as applied to different purposes, and of appliances and machines necessary to them. But with the exception of some of the illustrations and the description of them, and the correction of a few typographical errors, this edition is a faithful transcript of the latest English edition.
Velocity of falling Bodies and Momentum of moving Bodies.
Centres of Gravity, Gyration, and Oscillation.
Strength of materials and Strains subsisting in Machines.
CHAP. I.--GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STEAM ENGINE.
CHAP. III.--EXPANSION OF STEAM AND ACTION OF THE VALVES.
CHAP. IV.--MODES OF ESTIMATING THE POWER AND PERFORMANCE OF ENGINES AND BOILERS.
Air Pump, Condenser, and Hot and Cold Water Pumps.
Strengths of Marine and Locomotive Engines.
CHAP. VII.--CONSTRUCTIVE DETAILS OF BOILERS.
CHAP. VIII.--CONSTRUCTIVE DETAILS OF ENGINES.
Experiments on the Resistance of Vessels.
Influence of the size of Vessels upon their Speed.
Structure and Operation of Paddle Wheels.
Comparative Advantages of Paddle and Screw Vessels.
Comparative Advantages of different kinds of Screws.
Screw Vessels with full and auxiliary Power.
CHAP. X.--EXAMPLES OF ENGINES OF RECENT CONSTRUCTION.
CHAP. XI.--ON VARIOUS FORMS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE STEAM ENGINE.
CHAP. XII.--MANUFACTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF STEAM ENGINES.
MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE STEAM ENGINE.
_A._--A vacuum means an empty space; a space in which there is neither water nor air, nor anything else that we know of.