[37] Thus paraphrased for us:—
Nature, bewildering in diversity,
Of marvels Marvel most inscrutable,
Like Proteus, altereth her shape and mould;
But Fate remaineth ever immovable,
And, changeless in persistency, outwears
The Time of men, the gods’ Eternity.
[38] For a more complete statement of Carnot’s work see Tait, Recent Advances in Physical Science, 1876.
[39] They virtually showed that in a perfect steam-engine with pressure equal to ‘one atmosphere’ in its boiler, and with its condenser at the temperature of melting ice, the ratio of the heat taken in to the heat given out is 1·365 to 1. Hence if the difference between the numbers is to be 100, these must be 374, 274.—Phil. Trans., 1854.
[40] See Tait, Phil. Mag., 1872, I. 338, 516; II. 240.