e liquid to the solid condition, not
only take the exact form of the mould in which they are placed, but
become extremely hard by comparison with the same alloy if permitted
to solidify without pressure.

The example of the cheap watch industry may be cited to convey an idea
of the immensely important revolution which will take place in the
production of both small and large prime-motors when all the
possibilities of electrotyping, casting, and stamping the various
wearing parts true to shape and size have been fully exploited. An
accurate timekeeper is now practically within the reach of all; and in
the twentieth century no one who requires a small prime motor to do
the rough work about home or farm will be compelled to do without it
by reason of poverty--unless, perhaps, he is absolutely destitute and
a fit subject for public charity.

Many domestic industries which were crushed out of existence during
the early part of the nineteenth century will therefore be
resuscitated. The dear steam-engine created the factory system and
brought the operatives to live close together in long rows of
unsightly dwellings, but the cheap engine, in conjunction with the
motor driven by transmitted electricity, will give to the working
people comparative freedom again to live where they please, and to
enjoy the legitimate pleasures both of town and of country.

CHAPTER V.

ROAD AND RAIL.

The existing keen motor-car rivalry presents one of the most
interesting and instructive mechanical problems which are left still
unsolved by the close of the nineteenth century. The question to be
determined is not so much whether road locomotion by means of
mechanical power is practicable and useful, for, of course, that point
has been settled long ago; indeed it would have been recognised as
settled years before had it not been for the crass legislation of a
quarter of a century since which deliberately drove the first
steam-motors off the road in order to ensure the undisturbed supremacy
of horse traffic. The real point at issue is whether a motor can be
made which shall furnish power for purposes of road locomotion as
cheaply and conveniently as is already done for stationary purposes.

Horse traction, although extremely dear, possesses one qualification
which until the present day has enabled it to outdistance its
mechanical competitors upon ordinary roads. This is its power