identified, which have had no small
share in the accomplishment of some of the greatest mechanical works of
our age." If Mr. Nasmyth had accomplished nothing more than the
invention of his steam-hammer, it would have been enough to found a
reputation. Professor Tomlinson describes it as "one of the most
perfect of artificial machines and noblest triumphs of mind over matter
that modern English engineers have yet developed." [3]

The hand-hammer has always been an important tool, and, in the form of
the stone celt, it was perhaps the first invented. When the hammer of
iron superseded that of stone, it was found practicable in the hands of
a "cunning" workman to execute by its means metal work of great beauty
and even delicacy. But since the invention of cast-iron, and the
manufacture of wrought-iron in large masses, the art of hammer-working
has almost become lost; and great artists, such as Matsys of Antwerp
and Rukers of Nuremberg were,[4] no longer think it worth their while
to expend time and skill in working on so humble a material as
wrought-iron. It is evident from the marks of care and elaborate
design which many of these early works exhibit, that the workman's
heart was in his work, and that his object was not merely to get it out
of hand, but to execute it in first-rate artistic style.

When the use of iron extended and larger ironwork came to be forged,
for cannon, tools, and machinery, the ordinary hand-hammer was found
insufficient, and the helve or forge-hammer was invented. This was
usually driven by a water-wheel, or by oxen or horses. The tilt-hammer
was another form in which it was used, the smaller kinds being worked
by the foot. Among Watt's various inventions, was a tilt-hammer of
considerable power, which he at first worked by means of a water-wheel,
and afterwards by a steam engine regulated by a fly-wheel. His first
hammer of this kind was 120 lbs. in weight; it was raised eight inches
before making each blow. Watt afterwards made a tilt-hammer for Mr.
Wilkinson of Bradley Forge, of 7 1/2 cwt., and it made 300 blows a
minute. Other improvements were made in the hammer from time to time,
but no material alteration was made in the power by which it was worked
until Mr. Nasmyth took it in hand, and applying to it the force of
steam, at once provided the worker in iron with the most formidable of
machine-tools. This important invention originated as follows:

In the early part of 1837,