The Sun.
London, England, 1831-01-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIII.,—You inserted in your excellent Paper of the 10th
instant, a paragraph which escaped my notice until this
day, when it was pointed out to me by a friend ; and as it
is calculated to injure me to an unknown extent, I trust
you will lie sufficiently impartial to give admission to the
present communication.
The paragraph in question was copied from the
Greenock Advertiser, and its object was manifestly to
give a Mr. M‘Dowall, of Johnstone, credit for the intro-
duction of a " great improvement" in steam engines, by
means of a metallic piston, &c., when, in fact, this very
improvement for which he is thus lauded, is mine by a
two-fold right ; first, as being the sole inventor of it, and
secondly, as it is confirmed to me by his Majesty's royal
letters patent. Mr. M‘Dowall was for a short time in
my employ, and it is to this circumstance that he is in-
debted for whatever knowledge he possesses of the im-
provement for which he has been so unjustly extolled,
especially in a newspaper published at Paisley. I could
produce a heap of documentary evidence, if necessary,
from Government departments, &c. to substantiate this
statement, but as I am sensible of the value of your co-
lumns, I will beg to intrude upon your space only for the
following extract from the last volume of the Transac-
tions of the Society of Arts, (No. 43,) as an answer to
all pretenders and detractors on the subject, which is one
that you will perceive is not merely of interest to myself,
but of importance to the public
In the 46th vol. p. 64, is the description of a metallic ex-
panding piston, by Mr. Robert Motienshead ; and in the intro-
ductory remarks it is stated that one of the best patent expand-
ing pistons has been found very liable to mark, and finally to
score and destroy the cylinder, against the sides of which it is
continually pressing, &c." Mr. J. Barton, conceiving that his
patent expanding piston is the one referred to in the above sen-
tence (and indeed the description which immediately precedes
the clause complained of hardly suits any other), has addressed
a letter to the Society, requesting that he may be allowed to pro-
duce evidence that the remark is founded in mistake, as other-
wise his interest may be affected by a charge which, although
made inadvertently and incidentally, and without mention of
Mr. Barton's name, will be considered by many persons as
coming with authority, from its appearance in the Society's
Transactions. The request was immediately acceded to, and the
matter was referred for investigation, during the Society's vaca-
tion, to the Committee of correspondence and Papers, in order
that some notice of it m‘ight be inserted, if requisite, in the
forthcoming volume of 'transactions." Mr. Barton, accord-
ingly, produced very satisfactory testimony from Mr. Brunel),
Mr. J. I. Hawkins, Mr. J. Martineau, Mr. Rastrick, and other
engineers, shelving that his patent expanding piston has been
employed in steam-engines of high and low pressure for various
times up to two years or more, not only without doing the least
injury to the cylinders, but improving them by the high polish
which they acquire from it after a few months' wear.ii
Palmam qui meruit ferat.
I am, Sir, &e. &c.
JOHN BARTON.
No. 6, Goswell-road, Jan, 18, 1831.

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