Before a second edition appeared, Mr. Gurney's steam-jet had revolutionized the engine, and it blew this absurd passage out of the book and the disbelief out of Wood's head. Nicholas Wood was a viewer at Killingworth Colliery, and assisted George Stephenson in his experiments, and he first saw the steam-blast in Mr. Hackworth's _Sans Pareil_ in 1829, so that gentleman had adopted it on Mr. Gurney's recommendation and according to his plan. Wood thus describes what he then saw: "Mr. Hackworth had, it appears, in his engine, resorted to the use of the waste steam in a more forcible manner than before used, throwing it up in a jet, and which, when the engine moved at a rapid rate, and the steam thereby almost constantly issued from the pipe, had a most powerful effect. The consequence was, that when the engine began to travel at the rate of twelve or fifteen miles an hour, the draught was so great that it actually threw the coke out of the chimney." Here then is the first sight of the steam-blast to Nicholas Wood, fellow-worker with George Stephenson. He knew nothing of it before. But Goldsworthy Gurney's steam-blast had been adopted before this on steamboats. It was first applied to the _Alligator_ in 1824; then to the _Duchess of Clarence_, and other steamboats. It had made its way into France. In the Lords' Committee Report of 1849 on "Accidents in Mines," a Mr. Keene, engineer of Bayonne, was examined. "_Q._ Have you ever seen Mr. Gurney's plan used on the Continent? "_A._ It has been used on the Continent for producing draughts in furnace-chimneys. "_Q._ Furnace-chimneys--for what purpose? "_A._ Where the draught has been sluggish; I used it to get a stronger draught on board a steamboat in 1830, to enable me to stem the strong currents of the Garonne. "_Q._ Have you any knowledge of some experiments made by Mr. Gurney in the year 1826 with respect to the power of the steam-jet? "_A._ I saw frequent experiments made by Mr. Gurney in 1826 to produce draught by the action of high-pressure steam, exactly in the same way as it is now employed for producing ventilation in the collieries; that is, there were a number of jets of about a quarter to three-eighths of an inch diameter, communicating directly with a high-pressure boiler; the cock being open, the full steam from the boiler was brought upon those jets, and a draught was produced by their action in the chimney-shaft. "_Q._ In the chimney-shaft of a locomotive engine? "_A._ In the chimney-shaft of a locomotive and in the shaft of a factory; the experiments were tried in various ways. I saw these experiments frequently; many other persons saw them at the same time; and I employed the same myself shortly afterwards for a like purpose abroad." Mr. Keene in his evidence further stated, in answer to the question whether Mr. Gurney's experiments were open to the public:--