a partner. The arrangement, however, never proceeded any
further. Perhaps a different attraction withdrew Murdock from his
locomotive experiments. He was then paying attention to a young lady,
the daughter of Captain Painter; and in 1785 he married her, and
brought her home to his house in Cross Street, Redruth.

In the following year,--September, 1786--Watt says, in a letter to
Boulton, "I have still the same opinion concerning the steam carriage,
but, to prevent more fruitless argument about it, I have one of some
size under hand. In the meantime, I wish William could be brought to
do as we do, to mind the business in hand, and let such as Symington
and Sadler throw away their time and money in hunting shadows." In a
subsequent letter Watt expressed his gratification at finding "that
William applies to his business." From that time forward, Murdock as
well as Watt, dropped all further speculation on the subject, and left
it to others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine.
Murdock's model remained but a curious toy, which he took pleasure in
exhibiting to his intimate friends; and, though he long continued to
speculate about road locomotion, and was persuaded of its
practicability, he abstained from embodying his ideas of the necessary
engine in any complete working form.

Murdock nevertheless continued inventing, for the man who is given to
invent, and who possesses the gift of insight, cannot rest. He lived
in the midst of inventors. Watt and Boulton were constantly suggesting
new things, and Murdock became possessed by the same spirit. In 1791
he took out his first patent. It was for a method of preserving ships'
bottoms from foulness by the use of a certain kind of chemical paint.
Mr. Murdock's grandson informs us that it was recently re-patented and
was the cause of a lawsuit, and that Hislop's patent for revivifying
gas-lime would have been an infringement, if it had not expired.

Murdock is still better known by his invention of gas for lighting
purposes. Several independent inquirers into the constituents of
Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that nearly one-third of
the substance was driven off in vapour by the application of heat, and
that the vapour so driven off was inflammable. But no suggestion had
been made to apply this vapour for lighting purposes until Murdock took
the matter in hand. Mr. M. S. Pearse has sent us the following
interesting reminiscence: "Some time s