two different directions, according as the key may be turned; the one to supply the engine when water is drawn from the cistern; the other for drawing water through the suction-pipe. It will be observed, that the key of the suction-cock has a screwed nut and washer upon it, instead of being rivetted, the screw being much more easily tightened than the rivet.

The exit-pipe is fastened by a swivel-screw to the bottom of the piece at the end of the sole. When a common screw is used for this purpose, the cistern requires to be taken off the wheels, when the exit-pipe needs repair.

The valves are brass plates, truly ground to fit the circular brass orifice on which they fall. The brass being well ground, no leather is used for the purpose of making them tight. The longer they are used the better they fit, and by having no leather about them, they are less liable to the adhesion of small stones or gravel. The whole valve is put together, and then slipt into a groove in the sides and bottom of the sole, left for that purpose.

The barrels are of cast-brass, with a piston made of two circular pieces of the same metal, each put into a strong leather cup, and bolted to the other. The bottoms of the cups being together, when the piston becomes loose in the barrels, and there is not sufficient time to replace the cups by new ones, they are easily tightened, by putting a layer of hemp round the piston, between the leather and the brass. This operation, however, requires to

be carefully performed; for if more hemp is put into one part than another, it is apt to injure the barrels. The barrels are fixed to the cast-iron sole by copper screws, a piece of artificial leather being placed between the bottom of the barrel and the sole. The barrels are raised above the level of the cistern, that, when it is full of water, the oil may not float out of them.

The brass bushes on which the centre-rod works, must of course be placed high enough, to clear the walking-beam from the sides of the barrels. This gives the engine rather an awkward appearance; but being attended with no real inconvenience, and giving the barrels the advantage of being always well oiled, is, I apprehend, a sufficient argument in favour of this construction.

When the engine is likely to be dragged over rough roads or causeways, it is of importance to have it set on springs, to prevent the jolting from affecting the working part of the engine, every thing depending on that being kept right.

The engines used in Paris, and the small ones belonging to the Edinburgh establishment, are made without springs, and mounted on two wheels, the carriage and the engine being separate, the latter being dismounted from the former before it can be used. In Paris, where the engines are managed by a corps of regularly-trained firemen, this may answer well enough; but if hastily or carelessly dismounted by unskilful persons, the engine may be seriously damaged. It is also worthy

of remark, that the proper quantity of hose tools, &c., can be more easily attached to, and carried on a four-wheeled engine.

In order that the men may work more easily at the shafts, and suffer less fatigue, the engine is not higher than to enable them to have the levers easily under their command, and the hind axle is kneed downwards, to give them this advantage. The shafts of the levers are of lancewood, being best calculated to bear the strain to which they are exposed when the engine is at work.

The air-vessel should be placed clear of any other part of the engine, excepting only the point where it is attached.

The fore-carriage of the engine, it will be observed, is made to suit the harness of coach-horses, these being, in large towns, more easily procured than other draught cattle. This can be altered, however, to suit such harness as can most readily be obtained. In Edinburgh, where horses are scarcely ever employed to move the engines, a pole, as in plate 3, fig. 2, is attached. Four men placed at this pole are able easily to direct the progress of the engine. When it is to be drawn by horses, this pole is removed, and the one for horses put in its place. The pole in plate 3, fig. 2, is attached to the engine by placing the hollow pieces of iron marked V between the double eyes at U in fig. 1, plate 3; a bolt is then put through the three, and the pole is thus hinged to the carriage.

Two drag-ropes, each 25 feet long, of 3-inch

rope, with 10 loops to each, are attached, one to each end of the splinter-bar, by means of which the engines are dragged; and to prevent the loops collapsing on the hand, they are partly lined with sheet-copper.

Twelve men are required to work the pumps of an engine of this size.

In the Edinburgh Fire-engine Establishment there are several engines on a plan something like the Parisian ones, but of superior power and better construction. They were made from plans furnished by Mr Robison, one of the commissioners, who has taken much interest in the formation and organization of the fire-engine department.

This description of engine is well suited to the service of country towns or private situations, where the larger ones may be unmanageable or too expensive, and where the engines are not required to travel any considerable distance. I shall here give a detailed description of them.

Fig. 1, plate 5, is the section of such an engine without the carriage. The stronger lines in fig. 2, plate 5, are a plan of the carriage, and the dotted lines show the engine as if placed on it ready for travelling. It will be observed that every thing is made as light as possible, consistent with strength. The cistern A, in figs. 1 and 2, is made of sheet-copper, tinned and supported by two iron hoops at B. The bottom C is of hardwood, covered with tinned copper. The cistern is attached to the frame D by the bolts F, which secure

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the standards G. The barrels H are of sheetcopper, put together with hard solder, and drawn on a mandrel by machinery; they are supported by brass rings at the top and centre, the bottom being soldered into a check in the casting below. The pieces I, K, and L are of cast brass; I is screwed upon the piece K, a circular piece of leather with a valve in it being put into the joint; K is fixed to L by a swivel-screw, and a valve is placed in the joint as before. The air-vessel M is then screwed on the piece L. When all the parts are set up in this way, the whole is put into the cistern, and secured by the bolts E. The pieces O on which the levers work are then, with the levers attached to them, put into the top of the standards, and secured by a screw-nut. The pistons are next put into the barrels, and the bolts put through the top of the piston-rods at P. It will be observed, that the lower ends of the piston-rods are spherical, and work in corresponding sockets in the pistons, forming very simple and strong universal joints. The pistons and leather cups are of the same description as those of the large engine before described.

The supports marked R are for the levers striking against when working, and are composed of two pieces of wood, one being placed on the outside, and the other on the inside of the cistern: they are bolted together, and secured at the top by an iron hoop. The pieces of iron at S are welded to the levers N, that the stroke on the supports R may be