the working of which
was more satisfactory. It was composed of two parts--the fore part
consisting of a small steam-engine, formed of a round copper boiler, with
a furnace inside, provided with two small chimneys and two single-acting
brass steam cylinders, whose pistons acted alternately upon the single
driving-wheel. The hinder part consisted merely of a rude carriage on
two wheels to carry the load, furnished with a seat in front for the
conductor. This engine was tried in the streets of Paris; but when
passing near where the Madeleine now stands, it overbalanced itself on
turning a corner, and fell over with a crash; after which, its employment
being thought dangerous, it was locked up in the arsenal to prevent
further mischief. The machine is, however, still to be seen in the
collection of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers at Paris. It has
very much the look of a long brewer's cart, with the addition of the
circular boiler hung on at one end. Rough though it looks, it was a
highly creditable piece of work, considering the period at which it was
executed; and as the first actual machine constructed for the purpose of
travelling on ordinary roads by the power of steam, it is certainly a
most curious and interesting mechanical relic, well worthy of
preservation.

But though Cugnot's road locomotive remained locked up from public sight,
the subject was not dead; for we find inventors employing themselves from
time to time in attempting to solve the problem of steam locomotion in
places far remote from Paris. The idea had taken root in the minds of
inventors, and was striving to grow into a reality. Thus Oliver Evans,
the American, invented a steam carriage in 1772 to travel on common
roads; in 1787 he obtained from the State of Maryland an exclusive right
to make and use steam-carriages, but his invention never came into use.
Then, in 1784, William Symington, one of the early inventors of the
steamboat, was similarly occupied in Scotland in endeavouring to develop
the latent powers of the steam-carriage. He had a working model of one
constructed, which he exhibited in 1786 to the professors of Edinburgh
College; but the state of the Scotch roads was then so bad that he found
it impracticable to proceed further with his scheme, which he shortly
after abandoned in favour of steam navigation.

[Picture: Section of Murdock's Model]

The same year in which Symington was occupied upon his st