Matthias Nace Forney Catechism of the Locomotive

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. For the title of the book an apology is perhaps needed, as the word Catechism is associated in nearly all persons' minds we will trust with early religious and theological instruction, and therefore a Catechism of the Locomotive is very apt to sound more ludicrous than scientific. The title of Mr. Kosak's book was adopted before it was determined to rewrite it, and it was afterwards not deemed best to change it. To those who are disposed to smile at it, the precedent of Mr. Bourne's excellent Catechism of the Steam En gine is quoted, and if they will refer to Webster's Dictionary for the definition of the word catechism, they will find that it means an elementary book containing a summary of principles in any science or.art, but appropriately in religion, reduced to the form of questions and answers, and sometimes with notes, explanations and reference to authorities, which is exactly what the present book is intended to be.