[84] Robert Fulton is said to have been born in Little Britain, Pennsylvania, in 1765. He was trained as an engineer, but having acquired some knowledge of portrait and landscape painting he came to England and studied under his distinguished countryman, West, with whom he continued to reside for several years; and, after quitting him, he made painting his chief employment for some time. He afterwards formed an acquaintance with Rumsey, and followed the profession of an engineer. He died 1815.—“Biographical Treasury,” Longmans, 1873. The following notice appears in the obituary of an American newspaper of the period: “At New York, aged about 34 (50 years?) Robert Fulton, Esq., a great mechanical genius. He had been ill ten days, arising principally from exposure to the weather, in the pursuit of objects calculated, as our authority says, to increase the national greatness. These objects were steam-vessels of war, and a safe and certain method of submarine explosion. The first is so far completed, that it may be finished by other hands. Mr. Fulton was the inventor of steam-boats as they are now in use.” See note, Appendix No. 1. p. 587. [85] Woodcroft, pp. 64-65, Bourne, on “Steam Navigation,” p. 14; and “Encyclopædia Britannica” (eighth edition), vol. xx. p. 638. [86] Woodcroft, on “Steam Navigation,” pp. 65-67. [87] Woodcroft, on “Steam Navigation,” with drawing of the vessel in question, p. 60. [88] The term horse-power is employed to express the magnitude or capacity and power of an engine. It originated with James Watt from the actual measure of the work which a horse could perform, in raising 33,000 lbs. one foot high per minute; but as any such measure must, in the nature of things, be vague and fluctuating, it was replaced by what is now known as “nominal horse-power,” a mode of measurement based mainly upon the area of the cylinder, the number of strokes per minute and the pressure. But this method is far from showing the actual horse-power, as some modern engines will give an effective power three, four, and even six times greater than the nominal; it serves, however, as a commercial unit of capacity or power of performance and regulates the price to be paid for an engine. But it is much to be regretted that nominal power is not yet estimated by an uniform standard, as different rules are still applied to condensing and non-condensing engines, and these vary in different places. [89] “Mr. Fulton’s ingenious steamboat, invented with a view to the navigation of the Mississippi, from New Orleans and upwards, sails to-day from the North Run, near States Prison and Albany, the velocity of the steam-boat is calculated at 4 miles an hour. It is said that it will make a progress of two against the current of the Mississippi and, if so, it will certainly be a very valuable acquisition to the commerce of the Western States.”—_American Citizen_, 17th August, 1807. [90] “To the Editor of the _American Citizen_.