Second, it is readily apparent that the greater the number of cylinders, provided the number is an odd one, the more uniform the torque will be, and it would seem at first that seven cylinders would therefore be better than five, since the uniform intervals between explosions with seven cylinders would be only 103 degrees (approximately). The advantage gained, however, through seven cylinders instead of five is largely, if not completely, counterbalanced by the added number of parts and the difficulty of providing sufficient circumferencial width for the connecting-rod shoes on the crank-pin bearing, even with the improved construction of this bearing already described. There is considerable fluctuation of the torque in each revolution of the engine with five cylinders, but this fluctuation of torque is more easily smoothed out by the use of very light fly wheels than by increasing the number of cylinders, and thus adding to the complication of the engine. Third, the strongest point in favor of the radially arranged cylinders is the reduction in weight and complication which it permits. The crank shaft is reduced to the very minimum, there being only one crank pin with two main bearings which can, without any difficulty whatever, be kept absolutely in line with each other and thus prevent binding and loss of power. Again, the use of a single-throw crank not only reduces the cost and weight of the crank [p246] itself, but makes it very much less liable to damage; long crank shafts with several crank pins being frequently twisted by improper explosions in the cylinders. The supporting drum or crank chamber is likewise reduced to the very minimum, both in weight and simplicity, the drums being perfectly symmetrical with no lost space either inside of them or on their exteriors. The cam mechanism for operating the valves is reduced to a simple ring carrying (for a five-cylinder engine) a double-pointed cam and journaled on the exterior of the hub of one of the drums, the cam being driven by a train of gears journaled on studs mounted on the drum, and co-acting with a gear fastened to the crank shaft against the crank arm. The radial arrangement of the cylinders is thus seen to give not only an engine with the smallest number of parts, each of which is as far as possible worked to a uniform amount during each complete revolution of the crank shaft, but it also gives a very compact and readily accessible mechanism with its center of gravity coincident with its center of figure, and with the liability of damage to it, in case of a smash of the vehicle on which it is used, reduced to the minimum from the fact that the greatest weight is located at the strongest part.