[BRUNEL, I.K.] YOUATT, William The horse; with a treatise on draught; and copious index. Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. London, Baldwin and Cradock 1831
8vo. vii + (i) + 472pp, wood-engraved text ills. Contemporary quarter calf, worn and weak at joints. The treatise on draught within Youatt’s classic work is Brunel's only published essay and clearly demonstrates his exceptional powers of observation. Having defined his terms Brunel breaks the subject into three parts: the moving power and method of applying it; the vehicle; and the “channel of conveyance” (ie. road, canal or railway), and in each case starts from first principles. He compares the structural form of man and horse and shows how the strength of each may best be applied to the load to be pulled, before going on to analyse the walking action of the horse. He also discusses harness and traces and looks at comparative costs of animal and mechanical power on railways.When it comes to the actual vehicle he begins with canal boats (even though he considers that they “will very shortly give place entirely to railways”), discussing resistance to a body moving in fluid. He then goes on to land transport, using Carburi de Ceffalone’s dramatic achievement of transporting the enormous granite block used as the pedestal for the statue of Peter the Great in St.Petersburg with a railed platform on ball-bearings, as well as discussing the chariots of ancient Greece described by Homer. Much of this section, however, is concerned with the form and size of contemporary carriage wheels, drawing extensively on the findings of Sir John Sinclair’s committee on acts regarding the use of broad wheels of 1806/8 He also describes new methods of making wheels of cast and wrought iron, recommending that even wooden wheels should use cast-iron naves. Springs, too, are considered as is the construction of carriages and he finally points out “the principal desiderata in the formation of a good road”. It was written when he was 24 years of age and appeared in the year he was appointed engineer to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Although published anonymously, its authorship is confirmed by the correspondence at University College, London, between Brunel and Coates, Secretary to the S.D.U.K. (See: Trans. Newcomen Society, Vol.58, p.141) and in any case later editions of the book carry his name upon the title page. It is illustrated throughout with drawings and diagrams, presumably executed by Brunel himself.
£220
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