Please see the Transcriber’s Notes at the end of this document.
STEAM AND ELECTRICITY.
The 70,000 Horse-Power Station of the Metropolitan Street Railway, New York.
THE PROGRESS
OF
INVENTION
IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
BY
EDWARD W. BYRN, A.M.
“Δός που στω, και την γην κινἡσω.
”
(Give me where to stand, and I’ll move the earth.)
—Archimedes.
MUNN & CO., Publishers
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN OFFICE
361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK1900
Copyrighted, 1900, by Munn & Co.
——
Entered at Stationer’s Hall
——
London, England
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Printed in the United States of America by
The Manufacturers’ and Publishers’ Printing Company,
New York City.
PREFACE.
For a work of such scope as this, the first word of the author should bean apology for what is doubtless the too ambitious effort of a single writer.A quarter of a century in the high tide of the arts and sciences, an ardentinterest in all things that make for scientific progress, and the aid andencouragement of many friends in and about the Patent Office, furnish theexplanation. The work cannot claim the authority of a text-book, the fullnessof a history, nor the exactness of a technical treatise. It is simply acursory view of the century in the field of invention, intended to presentthe broader bird’s-eye view of progress achieved. In substantiation of themain facts reliance has been placed chiefly upon patents, which for historicdevelopment are believed to be the best of all authorities, because theycarry the responsibility of the National Government as to dates, and theattested signature and oath of the inventor as to subject matter. Manydifficulties and embarrassments have been encountered in the work. Thefear of extending it into a too bulky volume has excluded treatment ofmany subjects which the author recognizes as important, and issues in disputeas to the claims of inventors have also presented themselves in perplexingconflict. A discussion of the latter has been avoided as far aspossible, the paramount object being to do justice to all the worthy workersin this field, with favor to none, and only expressing such conclusionsas seem to be justified by authenticated facts and the impartial verdict ofreason in the clearing atmosphere of time. For sins of omissiona lack o