The lower plungers work through sleeves in diaphragms located in the center of the pumps. In these diaphragms, the openings for the delivery valves are made. These valves are similar in construction to those previously described for the horizontal plunger pump. Their diameter, however, is but 5¼ inches, instead of 6 inches, and there are 72 suction and 72 delivery valves for each pump. It will readily be seen that the action of these pumps is similar to that of the bucket and plunger; each pump having one suction and two deliveries for each revolution of the engine. The Ontario is designed to run at a maximum speed of 33 revolutions a minute; and the service required of it is to run regularly 144 hours a week, without a stop, which is performed with the utmost regularity. The differential pump was invented and patented, many years since, by a party named James Ramsden, in Pennsylvania, who designed it for an ordinary house pump. It was subsequently reinvented by the writer, who first ascertained that he was not the original inventor upon applying for a patent. A pump of this description was run at the Hecla mine for several years, at a speed of 500 feet a minute; and its performance was in every way satisfactory. DIRECT ACTING STEAM PUMPS. This class of machinery deserves a prominent place, as the number in use vastly exceeds those of all other types combined. The first consideration will be given to the Worthington, which is the pioneer of its type, having been invented by the late Henry R. Worthington, and patented in 1844. Mr. Worthington's first pump was designed for feeding boilers. His first water works engine was built for the city of Savannah, Ga., and erected in 1854. The second engine, which was the duplicate of the Savannah engine, was erected at the city of Cambridge, Mass., in the year 1856, and was guaranteed to deliver 300,000 gallons in twenty-four hours to an altitude of 100 feet. It had a high pressure cylinder 12 inches in diameter, placed within a low pressure cylinder 25 inches in diameter; the low pressure piston being annular. The double acting water plunger was 14 inches in diameter, and worked directly from the high pressure piston rod; the stroke of pistons and plunger being 25 inches. This engine was tested in 1860, with the result of a duty equal to 70,463,750 foot pounds per 100 pounds of coal. Subsequently, a test made by Mr. Frederick Graff, of Philadelphia (long prominently connected with the Philadelphia Water Department), and the late Erastus W. Smith, of New York, developed a duty of 71,278,486 foot pounds per 100 pounds of coal, which long remained the best record in the United States. In 1863, Mr. Worthington brought out at Charleston, Mass., his crowning success, the duplex engine, which fairly deserves to be placed first among the hydraulic inventions of this century. This engine has since been more extensively duplicated for water works purposes than