Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/533

 WATSON died at Calgarth park, "Westmoreland, July 4, 1816. He was educated at Cambridge, where in 1764 he became professor of chemistry, and in 1771 regius professor of divinity. In 1780 he was made archdeacon of Ely, and in 1782 bishop of Llandaff . His principal works are : "An Apology for Christianity, in a Series of Letters addressed to Edward Gibbon, Esq." (12mo, London, 1776); "Chemical Essays" (5 vols. 12mo, 1781-'7) ; " An Apology for the Bible, in a Series of Letters addressed to Thomas Paine" (1796); and "Miscellaneous Tracts" (1815). His autobiography, "Anec- dotes of the Life of Richard Watson," was pub- lished by his son (London, 1817). WATSON, Richard, an English clergyman, born in Barton-upon-Humber, Feb. 22, 1781, died in London, Jan. 8, 1833. At the age of 14, when he was a good Latin and Greek scholar, he was apprenticed to a carpenter ; but he joined the Methodists the next year, began preaching, and was released from his indentures. He was ordained in 1800, afterward united with the Methodist New Connection, was for some time editor of the Liverpool " Courier," returned to the Wesleyan connection, and in 1817 was ap- pointed one of the secretaries of the mission- ary society in London. He was a prominent advocate of emancipation. His chief works are : " A Defence of the Wesleyan Methodist Missions in the West Indies" (1817); "Theo- logical Institutes, or a View of the Evidences, Doctrines. Morals, and Institutions of Chris-' tianity " (6 parts, 1823-'8), which is a standard text book of theology among Methodists ; " Life of the Rev. John Wesley " (1831) ; and a " Bib- lical and Theological Dictionary " (1831). His life was written by the Rev. Thomas Jackson, who also edited a collection of his works (13 vols. 8vo, 1834-'7). WATT. I. James, a Scottish inventor, born in Greenock, Jan. 19, 1736, died at his estate of Heathfield, near Birmingham, Aug. 25, 1819. He early manifested a taste for mathematics and mechanics, studied botany, chemistry, min- eralogy, and natural philosophy, at 14 con- structed an electrical machine, and at 18 went to Glasgow to learn to make mathematical in- struments. He followed this trade in London in l755-'6, then returned to Glasgow, and was appointed instrument maker to the university. He devoted his evenings to the study of Ger- man, Italian, and music, and constructed an improved organ. In 1758 he began his experi- ments with steam as a propelling power for land carriages, which he temporarily aban- doned, and did not patent a road engine till 1784. He however continued his experiments with steam as a motive power ; for his inven- tions and improvements, see STEAM ENGINE, vol. xv., p. 340. For some years he devoted himself to land surveying, and to superintend- ing the surveys and engineering works on the canal between the rivers Forth and Clyde and the Monkland collieries canal to Glasgow, deep- ening the Clyde, improving the harbors of Ayr, WATT 513 Port Glasgow, and Greenock, building bridges, and other public works ; his final survey (1778) was for the Caledonian canal. During this period he also invented an improved microm- eter. In 1774 he became a partner of Mat- thew Boulton, founder of the Soho works near Birmingham, and- in 1775 they began the man- ufacture of improved steam engines. The in- vention of the crank and fly wheel is disputed between Watt and Pickard ; but to Watt is due the credit of inventing the separate condenser, the double-acting principle, parallel motion, the regulating action of the governor, and many more improvements. He was the first to ap- ply steam to house warming (1784), though it had been before suggested. He visited Paris in 1786, and brought back to England Berthol- let's process of bleaching with chlorine. In 1790 he purchased the Heathfield estate. He retired from the Soho firm in 1800, and after- ward invented the letter-copying press. In 1809 he contrived a flexible iron pipe with ball and socket joints to adapt it to the irregular river bed, for carrying water across the Clyde. He was a fellow of the royal societies of London and Edinburgh, correspondent of the French institute, and foreign associate of the academy of sciences. He was buried beside Boulton in Handsworth church ; his statue by Chantrey is in Westminster abbey, and a copy in bronze in front of the Manchester infirmary. J. P. Muirhead published "The Origin and Progress of the Mechanical Inventions of James Watt " (3 vols. 8vo, London, 1854), and " Life of James Watt" (1858), with selections from his correspondence ; and Lord Brougham, Sam- uel Smiles, and others have written his biog- raphy. II. James, eldest son of the preceding, born Feb. 5, 1769, died at his seat of Aston hall, near Birmingham, June 2, 1848. He studied chemistry, mineralogy, and natural philosophy, and for a time was secretary of the Manchester literary and philosophical society. In 1789 he went to Paris for scientific study, and was soon in sympathy with the revolutionary move- ments. At first he was in high favor with the leaders, but becoming averse to their excesses he was denounced before the Jacobin club by Robespierre and was obliged to flee to Italy. He returned to England in 1794, became a partner in the Soho firm, and took an active part in the progress of steam navigation. In 1817 he bought the Caledonia of 102 tons, fitted it with new engines, went in it to Holland and up the Rhine to Coblentz, and after his return made material improvements in marine en- gines. III. Gregory, half brother of the prece- ding, born in 1777, died Oct. 16, 1804. At 17 he became a member of the Soho firm, but continued to study at the university of Glas- gow. In 1801-'2 he was engaged in scientific researches on the continent. He wrote " Ob- servations on Basalt, and on the Transition from the Vitreous to the Stony Texture, which occurs in the gradual Refrigeration of melted Basalt," &c. ("Philosophical Transactions,"