A.—­Mr. Watt found that the most beneficial temperature of the hot well of his engines was 100 degrees.  If, therefore, the temperature of the steam be 212 deg., and the latent heat 1,000 deg., then 1,212 deg. may be taken to represent the heat contained in the steam, or 1,112 deg. if we deduct the temperature of the hot well.  If the temperature of the injection water be 50 deg., then 50 degrees of cold are available for the abstraction of heat; and as the total quantity of heat to be abstracted is that requisite to raise the quantity of water in the steam 1,112 degrees, or 1,112 times that quantity one degree, it would raise one fiftieth of this, or 22.24 times the quantity of water in the steam, 50 degrees.  A cubic inch of water therefore raised into steam will require 22.24 cubic inches of water at 50 degrees for its condensation, and will form therewith 23.24 cubic inches of hot water at 100 degrees.  Mr. Watt’s practice was to allow about a wine pint (28.9 cubic inches) of injection water, for every cubic inch of water evaporated from the boiler.

330. Q.—­Is not a good vacuum in an engine conducive to increased power?

A.—­It is.

331. Q.—­And is not the vacuum good in the proportion in which the temperature is low, supposing there to be no air leaks?

A.—­Yes.

332. Q.—­Then how could Mr. Watt find a temperature of 100 deg. in the water drawn from the condenser, to be more beneficial than a temperature of 70 deg. or 80 deg., supposing there to be an abundant supply of cold water?

333. A.—­Because the superior vacuum due to a temperature of 70 deg. or 80 deg. involves the admission of so much cold water into the condenser, which has afterward to be pumped out in opposition to the pressure of the atmosphere, that the gain in the vacuum does not equal the loss of power occasioned by the additional load upon the pump, and there is therefore a clear loss by the reduction of the temperature below 100 deg., if such reduction be caused by the admission of an additional quantity of water.  If the reduction of temperature, however, be caused by the use of colder water, there is a gain produced by it, though the gain will within certain limits be greater if advantage be taken of the lowness of the temperature to diminish the quantity of injection.

334. Q.—­How do you determine the proper area of the injection orifice?

A.—­The area of the injection orifice proper for any engine can easily be told when the quantity of water requisite to condense the steam is known, and the pressure is specified under which the water enters the condenser.  The vacuum in the condenser may be taken at 26 inches of mercury, which is equivalent to a column of water 29.4 ft. high, and the square root of 29.4 multiplied by 8.021 is 43.15, which is the velocity in feet per second that a heavy body would acquire in falling 29.4 ft., or