All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

200 All About Inventions Public appreciation of the steam turbine has been fostered by reason of the achievements which have been recorded therewith in connection with steam navigation. But, in reality, the propulsion of mer- cantile and fighting ships by this means represents a minor feature, the wonderful records set up there- with notwithstanding. The turbine was first brought into use for the generation of electricity, and it is in this realm that its widest successes have been attained. The re-invention of the rotary engine, such as we know to-day, really dates from 1883. In that year the Honourable Charles Algernon Parsons, the fourth son of the Earl of Rosse, became a partner in the well- known Tyneside engineering firm of Messrs. Clark and Chapman. For some years previous the new partner had been considering the possibility of improving the steam-engine. Indeed, he had invented a new type of rotary steam-engine, somewhat reminiscent in its operation to the rotary motor which has figured in aviation ; but this engine, while admittedly ingenious, was considered to be too complicated for everyday use, although a certain number were built. When he entered his new sphere of operations he decided to commence the construction of a new type of rotary engine, the lines of which he had been nursing for some time in his mind, and in which cylinders and pistons, together with their attendant mechanism, were to be eliminated. It was completed in 1884, and its designed purpose was to drive a small dynamo for the supply of electric current for lighting. While admitted to be an experimental model, it represented the first practical engine of this character, and proved capable of doing good work.