Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 57.djvu/417

Rh tricycle type, and it was intended to mount the gun between the rear wheels. The boiler, which resembles a huge kettle, hung over the front end and was apparently devoid of a smoke stack. Motion was imparted to the front wheel by means of a ratchet. Although this



invention is very crude, it must be regarded.as meritorious if we consider that it was made before the steam engine had been developed in a successful form for stationary purposes.

The next effort to solve the problem was made by W. Symington in the year 1784, the carriage devised by him being illustrated in Fig. 2. This coach, although pretentious in appearance, was crude



mechanically, but it actually ran. The service, however, was not what could be called satisfactory.

In 1803, Richard Trevithick brought out the carriage shown in Fig. 3, which could run. but was artistically a failure. Moreover, the