Nowthecaseisaltogetherdifferent。Theperfectionofmodernmachine-toolsissuchthattheutmostpossibleprecisionissecured，andthemechanicalengineercancalculateonadegreeofexactitudethatdoesnotadmitofadeviationbeyondthethousandthpartofaninch。Whenthepowerfuloscillatingenginesofthe’Warrior’wereputonboardthatship，theparts，consistingofsomefivethousandseparatepieces，werebroughtfromthedifferentworkshopsoftheMessrs。PennandSons，wheretheyhadbeenmadebyworkmenwhoknewnottheplacestheyweretooccupy，andfittedtogetherwithsuchprecisionthatsosoonasthesteamwasraisedandletintothecylinders，theimmensemachinebeganasiftobreatheandmovelikealivingcreature，stretchingitshugearmslikeanew-borngiant，andthen，afterpractisingitsstrengthalittleandprovingitssoundnessinbodyandlimb，itstartedoffwiththepowerofaboveathousandhorsestotryitsstrengthinbreastingthebillowsoftheNorthSea。
Suchareamongthetriumphsofmodernmechanicalengineering，dueinagreatmeasuretotheperfectionofthetoolsbymeansofwhichallworksinmetalarenowfashioned。Thesetoolsarethemselvesamongthemoststrikingresultsofthemechanicalinventionoftheday。
Theyareautomataofthemostperfectkind，renderingtheengineandmachine-makerinagreatmeasureindependentofinferiorworkmen。Forthemachinetoolshavenounsteadyhand，arenotcarelessnorclumsy，donotworkbyruleofthumb，andcannotmakemistakes。Theywillrepeattheiroperationsathousandtimeswithouttiring，orvaryingonehair’sbreadthintheiraction；andwillturnout，withoutcomplaining，anyquantityofwork，alloflikeaccuracyandfinish。
Exercisingastheydosoremarkableaninfluenceonthedevelopmentofmodemindustry，wenowpropose，sofarasthematerialsatourdisposalwilladmit，togiveanaccountoftheirprincipalinventors，beginningwiththeschoolofBramah。
CHAPTERXI。