Excerpt from A Practical Treatise of Modern Screw-Propulsion T the request of Mr. N. P. Burgh, I agreed to write a short introduction to a new work he was about to write on Modern screw-propulsion. It was with some reluctance I acceded to his request; but, on consideration of the great pains and trouble that gentle man has bestowed on his work on Marine Engineering, collecting some of the best examples of modern marine engines, in having them illustrated in the most clear and correct manner, as well as combining in the body of the work numerous wood-cuts of details of construction peculiar to different makers, I felt sure the main importance of his publication would depend more on the excellence of its illustrations than the few remarks which I might have to offer on the subject. After all, the best and most useful information for an engineer, is that which relates to the different views and mode of construction carried out by the prominent manufacturing engineers, who have devoted the best part of their lives and labours in perfecting an especial branch of mechanical study. Those, therefore, who wish for information on the various forms and construction, of the screw-propeller, I would recommend rather to examine, and carefully to compare, the Drawings of the Screws in this work, and results of different vessels, more particularly those of the Admiralty, than to look for anything that is new in this introductory account of the history, various forms, and adaptations of the screw-propeller, which I have contributed to the present work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.