AIITOIVIEDON (Gk. Aiiroincep). The name of two epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology, one an ..Etolian, the other a native of Cyzicus: one of the two lived probably in the reign of Nerva, the date of the other is quite unknown.
AUTOMOBILE, ;11(!)-nii/bil or a'tki-mu-bel' (auto + Lat. mobi/is, movable). The generic name which has been adopted by popular ap proval for all forms of self-propelling vehicles for use upon highways and streets for general freight and passenger service. This definition should not include such self-propelled machines as steam road-rollers or traction-engines de signed for hauling loaded trucks or vans in train, nor such vehicles as require tracks for their operation. The modern automobile is a develop ment of comparatively recent date, but its incep tion dates back to the early days of the steam engine. In 1680 Sir Isaac Newton proposed a steam-carriage to be propelled by the reactive effect of a jet of steam issuing from a nozzle at the rear of the vehicle. In 1790 Nathan Read patented and constructed a model steam-carriage in which two steam-cylinders operated racks running in on the driving-shaft. In
170-70, Nicholas Joseph Cugnot. a Frenchman, built two steam-carriages. The larger of these is still preserved in Paris, and was designed for the transportation of artillery. The engine of this vehicle consisted of two 13-inch single-acting cylinders, connected by means of pawls to the single front wheel of the wagon. In front of this wheel was suspended a tank-like boiler. In 1784, Murdock, an assistant of James Watt, constructed a model carriage, operated by a `grasshopper' engine, and in 1786 Oliver Evans, of the United States, suggested the use of steam road wagons to the Lancaster Turnpike Com pany of Maryland. in 1802 Richard Trevithick built a steam carriage, which was exhibited in London, having driven itself 90 miles from Cam borne, where it was built, to London. This car riage brings us to the notable period of steam coach construction in England, which lasted until about 1836.