Note 43 — Chapter I
Reading edition
Jonathan Hulls was born at Campden, in Gloucestershire, in 1699, and made his first experiments on the Avon at Evesham. In 1737 he published a pamphlet entitled “A Description and Draughts of a New Invented Machine;” in this he proposed to put a Newcomen engine on board a tow-boat to work a paddle-wheel placed in the stern.
Mr. Smiles (“Lives of Boulton and Watt,” p. 63) observes, “It has been stated that Newcomen took out a patent for his invention in 1705;” but this is a mistake, as no patent was ever taken out by Newcomen. It is supposed that Savery, having heard of his invention, gave him notice that he would regard his method of producing a vacuum as an infringement of his patent, yet the principle on which Newcomen’s engine worked was entirely different from that of Savery.