we trace briefly the development of the engine during the last
quarter of a century.

The original mechanical genius of the motoring industry was
Gottlieb Daimler, the founder of the immense Daimler Motor Works
of Coventry. Perhaps nothing in the world of industry has made
more rapid strides during the last twenty years than
automobilism. In 1900 our road traction was carried on by means
of horses; now, especially in the large cities, it is already
more than half mechanical, and at the present rate of progress it
bids fair to be soon entirely horseless.

About the year 1885 Daimler was experimenting with models of a
small motor engine, and the following year he fitted one of his
most successful models to a light wagonette. The results were so
satisfactory, that in 1888 he took out a patent for an internal-
combustion engine--as the motor engine is technically called--and
the principle on which this engine was worked aroused great
enthusiasm on the Continent.

Soon a young French engineer, named Levassor, began to experiment
with models of motor engines, and in 1889 he obtained, with
others, the Daimler rights to construct similar engines in
France. From now on, French engineers began to give serious
attention to the new engine, and soon great improvements were
made in it. All this time Britain held aloof from the motor-car;
indeed, many Britons scoffed at the idea of
mechanically-propelled vehicles, saying that the time and money
required for their development would be wasted.