Evening star., 1939-08-08
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

By Thomas r. Henry.
Sometime before 1926 New England
inventor, Samuel Morey, ran q small
boat on lake near his Oxford IN. H)
home with spirits -turpentine"
motor.
The experiment attracted no particu-
lar attention at the time. Morey's boat
probably only model, although this is
not entirely clear-was only a mechan-
ical curiosity. Not even the inventor
could foresee any practical implications
to the achievement He contented him.
ican Philosophical Society in Philadel-
phia about 1t.
Looking backward it is different. This
was probably the first time in history
that propulsion had been achieved and
distance covered by means of an internal
combustion engine and the little boat
may have been the dim morning star OF
the motor age. The engine is described
by Frank A. Taylor, assistant curator of
engineering of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton, IN a descriptive catalog of the
mechanical collections of the United
States National Museum, just issued.
This catalog constitutes, in effect, the
story of probably the most significant
development of modern times-man's
conquest of virtually unlimited power in
the form of steam, explosive gases and
electricity. 1t dwells especially, of
course, on American developments as
exemplified in the patent models and
original machines in the National Mu-
scum collection.
Morey's model, unfortunately, is no
longer in existence. The inventor did
not even try to get an American patent
on it. All that remains is his descrip-
ton of the device, summarized by Mr.
Taylor as vapor engine in which "a
vacuum was produced in the cylinder
by firing an explosive mixture of air and
vapor from common proof spirits mixed
with small portion of spirits of turpen-
tine. A model of this engine ran
smoothly for severa, hours, but there is
no record that a large engine was ever
built.
Long before Morey, as Mr.. Taylor
traces the history of the internal COM
bustion engine, there was long sue
cession OF even more obscure figures in
Europe-men who made definite steps
toward the great discovery but who were
far ahead of their time. The mechanical
lntrlcacles necessary to make their en-
glnes practical eluded them Even if
they had attained mechanical perfec-
ton they would have had no adequate
fuel
The first of these, SO far as Mr.. Tay-
lor is able to trace back the story. was
French priest the Able Hautefeuille. son
OF an Orleans baker who, in 1873 sug-
gested motor to raise water by burning
gun powder in vessel communicating
with reservoir of water. AS the gases
OF combustion cooled a partial vacuum
was formed in the vessel and atmos-
pheric pressure raised the water from
the reservoir.
Two years later the celebrated physi-
clst Christian Huygens devised an ex-
ploslve engine with cylinder and piston
and in 1890 notable improvement was
made on this by that glamorous and
somewhat mysterious figure in the back
ground OF the modern world, the French
man Denis Papin, who is reputed actually
to have built and navigated a successful
steamboat
century later men were experiment.
Ing with explosive engines in England.
In 1871 certain John Barber made an
engine in which wood, coal or petroleum
gas was mixed with air and pumped into
a vessel termed the 'exploder.' where
the mixture was ignited. The resulting
flame issued in a steady stream against
the blades of paddle wheel"
Almost simultaneously Robert Street
OF England built what might be con-
sldered the first internal combustion en-
glneS, according to the model idea. Tur-
pentlne or petroleum was introduced
into the cylinder which was warmed bv
an external fire. The fuel, vaporized
by the heat, was mixed with a quantity
OF fresh air drawn into the cylinder by
the upstroke of the piston. The mixture
was lgnlted, the explosion drove up the
piston and forced down the piston of
pump for raising water.
From this time on developments both
in England and on the Continent fol-
lowed each other in rapid succession.
The internal combustion engine was COM
petlng, however, against the much more
successful steam engine, which already
was being used to propel boats and road
vehicles. The explosion" engine de-
signs were for the most part clumsy and
Impractical for actual use The in
ventors were concerned with producing
stationary engines designed for pump
ing water and none of them had the
faintest vision of the gasoline age.
The first practical working gas en-
gine is credited to Joseph -Etienne
Lenoir in France. 1t was produced about
the year 1860. Engineers generally con-
demned the machine as inefficient, but
it was so far superior to anything that
had gone before that it called forth a
host of imitators. Lenoir actually used
his engine to propel wagon-not very
successfully. About the same time
Siegfried Marcus in Austria was making
the same experiment and these three
share the glory of having built the first
automobiles.
Lenoir is entitled to full credit for his
achievement of practical gas engine
But actually, it appears from the patent
models in the National Museum collec-
tioo Gacorihad b,y Mr. TovIor on