Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-08-13
COMMUNICATION.
yoH rnE NATIONAL RTEIIleEscrl.
MECHANICAL MOTORS.


NAV hasten onward ages and cycles of ages
and pass away before half the truths Of science be
tbomed by him half their applications in the be
effected To some this thought is not pleasant
Having surpassed all before they would that should
eoual al who come after that the great tidal Of
knowledge which has in with us may be over
TONED and buried They forget that age can furnish
than small part ola chain that stretch the
depths Of futury and that must be fur
psh single link the workmanship of which is however
left with ourselves In science wisdom will neither die
nor wane with Us. Whoever imagines this mistakes
opening buds for harvests OF rpened fruit
We can no more do the thinking Of the remote future
shan the past has done it for as is it right that we
should We cannot, because discoveries and acquisitions
INDISPENSABLE 10 its development have been made.
Bat cant they be made Assuredly not. The in
tsryal between and them is vast. They are not
only out reach but beyond the range ofour vision
and they visible, some if ALL would be in
ccmIrehensble late applications Of and cleo
tri:!ty are Utah or Camanche. We not constr
tued grasp the full bearings Of physical truths st
cnce mortals are They must Be gorS:d up 10 eve
sbey can be appreciated understood Hence the law
by which they dawn and increase in brightness onSy as
they approached. Not single one, familiar as it
may seem be exhausted Of It's applications traced
10 lis ultimate relationships and by We may
think il hos been fted thoroughly but that is
due isolated positions in which have been
castemed 10 view it. and TO unexpnndcd perceptions
The truth is regards principles of physics have
Ike children toIg in their aphabets, managed par
:ay comprehend few, while their coatoions and the
results Of those combinations, eshbitedic dimensions,
outlines, proportions, textures, coors, oeors, mosns,
forces &c. Of organic and inorganic tcGies in
opened volume tknow Of the laws that determine
and limit and govern these How little has been thought
ofemIloyrg them? And who sensible that, infinite
IF
induce them viii work wonderful effects for IS
as lie finds the Of evokng and controlling
them What nature uses he must use he can have no
other neither principles nor materials.
But j: the widest expansions Of science and
eay belong higher cycles than il they form
steaticns that will rise above the horizon in oul
times, We have enough DO without them enough tc
exercise utmost energies and means and # we per-
form 1.-THE Of the work before enough Of glory will
be Moreover those that after will eve
something towards preparing the way their grandes
achievements and peradventure for the germs Of several
Were il asked, Where strongest and most lasting
impressions TO be made should say, on ARTGTI
cIAIIY EXCITED MOTORS. In these we may leave mark
that viii tell upon otEer ages and epochs. The bes
proofs Of progress they confined any branch
element Of enlightened research hut are felt in morals
and metaphysics widely in the material agencies
social advancement Nothing surpasses them in the evils
they are calculated to remove the Of bless
pgs they serve 10 introduce They may safely be
ed as our delegates to posterity.
General motors Of the kind will probably never be nu
Notwithstanding the efforts of the century past
only has been discovered rather rentroduced and
nstnred From the beginning Of time until but
be said 10 have beea fairly realizedgpoder and steam
These do the greatest Of work in the departments
they employed in. Representatives and agents Of
two conflicting principles each s suggestive Of the
dlIicn Ct society in which ii made its appearance The
order IN which they rather Of the which
they put is that Of progress the earliest rudest
being dedicated war, the latter arts Of refine
and peace. We responsible for the intro
neton Of the former, but have much to answer fol
extending il destructive instead Of conservative pur
poses-noe than the people Of preceding centuries
Would that we could make il wholly our own by with
drawing il from military and consgning it to civil eng
neers But that is apparently reserved for the future
The world is not prepared for this yet being
prepared for il.
il may and does seem singular that power drawn
from SO latent and artificial source as decorating
pounds should have preceded, in such early times the
natural and obvious Of steam. The cause is to be
traced TO the universal propensity war; which
sary gave unnatural prominence to some professions
the expense Of others It. however did more than any
thing else could have done towards pushing forward the
prime arts Of netaurgysnelting forging and casting
Of iron copper and bronze Had steam proved ecien,
projece force-for il tried in ancient artillery
would have been equally developed in gunpowder and
little would have been left perfect in engines
iban their applications.
There several Interesting points about gunpowder
and kindred compositions. OF their origin we know
nothing, except that they have down from remote
antiquity, dating behind historic epochs The results Of
original and experimental research they the pro-
daeon Of no ordinary minds and singular the
cn may SEEM gunpowder is in respects the best
motor yet In portability and promptness Of action il is
unequtlied; comprising the most power in the least
sPEee and requiring the least efforts and the least time
10 AWAKEN IT, L is still generally used than any
other No remote invention Of equal importance has nm
dergene less changes Guns and ganpowder are essen
italy what they were the beginning The former were
Of themselves valuable contribution 10 the arts the
totypes Of steam cylinders
The chief Of explosive compounds has 50 lonr and -
exclusively been confined the projection Of missiles f
death that hehought Of its conversion into calm ard
welbehayed laborer visits few imaginations From ts
associations with the terrific ard prolific Of human
crimes and human il is contemplate rather 70 an
unreclamable demon as if it any other motor were
answeratle for the it is put to- instantaneous de
onaton is essential in gunrery, but for other purposes
the gases may be evolved gradually and their action mo
dfed 70 any degree Of dness become as stead,
and quiet propeers Of useful machinery any thnt
else Ships might certainly be urged oceans by i
as efectuay as by steam and with machinery and acces
SORES hundred times lighter and occupying hundred
al rf a a.