that the pipes must necessarily be intensely" target="_blank" title="ad.激烈地；热切地">intensely hot. When it was
proposed to light the House of Commons with gas, the architect

insisted on the pipes being placed several inches from the walls,
for fear of fire; and, after the pipes had been fixed, the

members might be seen applying their gloved hands to them to
ascertain their temperature, and afterwards expressing the

greatest surprise on finding that they were as cool as the
adjoining walls.

The Gas Company was on the point of dissolution when Mr. Samuel
Clegg came to their aid. Clegg had been a pupil of Murdock's, at

Soho. He knew all the arrangements which Murdock had invented.
He had assisted in fitting up the gas machinery at the mills of

Phillips & Lee, Manchester, as well as at Lodge's Mill, Sowerby
Bridge, near Halifax. He was afterwards employed to fix the

apparatus at the Catholic College of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire,
at the manufactory of Mr. Harris at Coventry, and at other

places. In 1813 the London and Westminster Gas Company secured
the services of Mr. Clegg, and from that time forwards their

career was one of prosperity. In 1814 Westminster Bridge was
first lighted with gas, and shortly after the streets of St.

Margaret's, Westminster. Crowds of people followed the
lamplighter on his rounds to watch the sudden effect of his flame

applied to the invisiblestream of gas which issued from the
burner. The lamplighters became so disgusted with the new light

that they struck work, and Clegg himself had for a time to act as
lamplighter.

The advantages of the new light, however, soon became generally
recognised, and gas companies were established in most of the

large towns. Glasgow was lit up by gas in 1817, and Liverpool
and Dublin in the following year. Had Murdock in the first

instance taken out a patent for his invention, it could not fail
to have proved exceedingly remunerative to him; but he derived no

advantage from the extended use of the new system of lighting
except the honour of having invented it.[11] He left the benefits

of his invention to the public, and returned to his labours at
Soho, which more than ever completely engrossed him.

Murdock now became completely identified with the firm of Boulton
& Watt. He assigned to them his patent for the slide-valve, the

rotary engine, and other inventions "for a good and valuable
consideration." Indeed his able management was almost

indispensable to the continued success of the Soho foundry. Mr.
Nasmyth, when visiting the works about thirty years after Murdock

had taken their complete management in hand, recalled to mind the
valuable services of that truly admirable yet modest mechanic.

He observed the admirablesystem, which he had invented, of
transmitting power from one central engine to other small vacuum

engines attached to the several machines which they were employed
to work. "This vacuum method," he says, "of transmitting power

dates from the time of Papin; but it remained a dead contrivance
for about a century until it received the masterly touch of

Murdock."
"The sight which I obtained" (Mr. Nasmyth proceeds) "of the vast

series of workshops of that celebratedestablishment, fitted with
evidences of the presence and results of such master minds in

design and execution, and the special machine tools which I
believe were chiefly to be ascribed to the admirable inventive

power and common-sense genius of William Murdock, made me feel
that I was indeed on classic ground in regard to everything

connected with the construction of steam-engine machinery. The
interest was in no small degree enhanced by coming every now and

then upon some machine that had every historical claim to be
regarded as the prototype of many of our modern machine tools.

All these had William Murdock's genius stamped upon them, by
reason of their common-sense arrangements, which showed that he

was one of those original thinkers who had the courage to break
away from the trammels of traditional methods, and take short

cuts to accomplish his objects by direct and simple means."
We have another recollection of William Murdock, from one who

knew him when a boy. This is the venerable Charles Manby,
F.R.S., still honorary secretary of the Institute of Civil

Engineers. He says (writing to us in September 1883), "I see
from the public prints that you have been presiding at a meeting

intended to do honour to the memory of William Murdock--a most
worthy man and an old friend of mine. When he found me working

the first slide valve ever introduced into an engine-building
establishment at Horsley, he patted me on the head, and said to

my father, 'Neighbour Manby, this is not the way to bring up a
good workman --merely turning a handle, without any shoulder

work.' He evidently did not anticipate any great results from my
engineering education. But we all know what machine tools are

doing now,--and where should we be without them?"
Watt withdrew from the firm in 1800, on the expiry of his patent

for the condensing steam-engine; but Boulton continued until the
year 1809, when he died full of years and honours. Watt lived on

until 1819. The last part of his life was the happiest. During
the time that he was in the throes of his invention, he was very

miserable, weighed down with dyspepsia and sick headaches. But
after his patent had expired, he was able to retire with a

moderate fortune, and began to enjoy life. Before, he had
"cursed his inventions," now he could bless them. He was able to

survey them, and find out what was right and what was wrong. He
used his head and his hands in his private workshop, and found

many means of employing both pleasantly. Murdock continued to be
his fast friend, and they spent many agreeable hours together.

They made experiments and devised improvements in machines. Watt
wished to make things more simple. He said to Murdock, "it is a

great thing to know what to do without. We must have a book of
blots--things to be scratched out." One of the most interesting

schemes of Watt towards the end of his life was the contrivance
of a sculpture-making machine; and he proceeded so far with it as

to to able to present copies of busts to his friends as "the
productions of a young artist just entering his eighty-third

year." The machine, however, remained unfinished at his death,
and the remarkable fact is that it was Watt's only unfinished

work.
The principle of the machine was to carry a guide-point at one

side over the bust or alto-relievo to be copied, and at the other
side to carry a corresponding cutting-tool or drill over the

alabaster, ivory, jet, or plaster of Paris to be executed. The
machine worked, as it were, with two hands, the one feeling the

pattern, the other cutting the material into the required form.
Many new alterations were necessary for carrying out this

ingenious apparatus, and Murdock was always at hand to give his
old friend and master his best assistance. We have seen many

original letters from Watt to Murdock, asking for counsel and
help. In one of these, written in 1808, Watt says: "I have

revived an idea which, if it answers, will supersede the frame
and uprightspindle of the reducing machine, but more of this

when we meet. Meanwhile it will be proper to adhere to the
frame, etc., at present, until we see how the other alterations

answer." In another he says: "I have done a Cicero without any
plaits--the different segments meeting exactly. The fitting the

drills into the spindle by a taper of 1 in 6 will do. They are
perfectly stiff and will not unscrew easily. Four guide-pullies

answer, but there must be a pair for the other end, and to work
with a single hand, for the returning part is always cut upon