" In 1799 he took out a patent
(No. 2340), embodying some very important inventions. First, it
included the endless screw working into a toothed-wheel, for
boring steam-cylinders, which is still in use. Second, the
casting of a steam-jacket in one cylinder, instead of being made
in separate segments bolted together with caulked joints, as was
previously done. Third, the new double-D slide-valve, by which
the construction and working of the steam-engine was simplified,
and the loss of steam saved, as well as the cylindrical valve for
the same purpose. And fourth, improved rotary engines. One of
the latter was set to drive the machines in his private workshop,
and continued in nearly constant work and in perfect use for
about thirty years.
In 1801, Murdock sent his two sons William and John to the Ayr
Academy, for the benefit of Scotch education. In the summer-time
they spent their vacation at Bellow Mill, which their grandfather
still continued to occupy. They fished in the river, and "caught
a good many trout." The boys corresponded regularly with their
father at Birmingham. In 1804, they seem to have been in a state
of great excitement about the expected landing of the French in
Scotland. The volunteers of Ayr amounted to 300 men, the cavalry
to 150, and the riflemen to 50. "The riflemen," says John, "go
to the seashore every Saturday to shoot at a target.
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