11. _Q._--Is a barometer sometimes applied to the condensers of steam
engines?

_A._--Yes; and it is called the vacuum gauge, because it shows the degree
of perfection the vacuum has attained. Another gauge, called the steam
gauge, is applied to the boiler, which indicates the pressure of the steam
by the height to which the steam forces mercury up a tube. Gauges are also
applied to the boiler to indicate the height of the water within it so that
it may not be burned out by the water becoming accidentally too low. In
some cases a succession of cocks placed a short distance above one another
are employed for this purpose, and in other cases a glass tube is placed
perpendicularly in the front of the boiler and communicating at each end
with its interior. The water rises in this tube to the same height as in
the boiler itself, and thus shows the actual water level. In most of the
modern boilers both of these contrivances are adopted.

12. _Q._--Can a condensing engine be worked with a pressure less than that
of the atmosphere?

_A._--Yes, if once it be started; but it will be a difficult thing to start
an engine, if the pressure of the steam be not greater than that of the
atmosphere. Before an engine can be started, it has to be blown through
with steam to displace the air within it, and this cannot be effectually
done if the pressure of the steam be very low. After the engine is started,
however, the pressure in the boiler may be lowered, if the engine be
lightly loaded, until there is a partial vacuum in the boiler. Such a
practice, however, is not to be commended, as the gauge cocks become
useless when there is a partial vacuum in the boiler; inasmuch as, when
they are opened, the water will not rush out, but air will rush in. It is
impossible, also, under such circumstances, to blow out any of the sediment