Page:Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects.djvu/52

44 The question of correct measurement is in immediate connexion with another, which will repay all the attention that can be given to it, and I think there is no subject that can be more profitably discussed amongst us;—I mean that of proper gradations of size in all the various branches of the mechanical arts. I think no estimate can be formed of our national loss from the over-multiplication of sizes. Take for instance the various sizes of steam-engines—stationary, marine, and locomotive. In the case of marine engines, the number of sizes up to 100 horse-power will probably not be short of thirty, where ten perhaps would be ample. If so, look at the sums expended in patterns, designs, and in the number of tools for their manufacture. Nor is this all; for if there were only ten sizes instead of thirty, there would be three times the number made of each pattern; and, as you know, the very soul of manufacture is repetition. By attention to this, the ship-owner would be benefited by getting a better engine at a less price. In the case of locomotives and carriages, I would urge the subject on the attention of our members, the engineers of the great lines of railway—the London and North-Western, the Midland, the Great Northern, for instance. I hope they will permit me to suggest that they should consider and determine