Steamy Beginnings

although it wasn't called that back then. In fact, the whole region was just part of the Virginia Colony, the first successful and lasting British foothold in North America. So when you think of him as growing up near the Potomac River, just be sure to imagine him in colonial attire. And the river was a major part of his life too,

although not in the way anyone could have guessed. They might have assumed he would be a fisherman, or maybe run a ferry to the other side for travelers passing through, but James was more mechanically minded than that. It was a family interest really. Earlier in life he had lived in Maryland, where he helped a cousin named Benjamin to

run a water powered mill. And while that might seem primitive by the technological standards of our day and age, these were complex machines back then, and they required specific skills to design and build, and James had those skills. In the Virginia Colony, he began to acquire a reputation as a builder, even while running an in for travelers. One of those people who passed through was a man named George, who took a liking to James and contracted him to build a house on some land that he

owned in the area. While they were talking, though, James showed George a model of a new kind of boat that he dreamed up, one that could navigate the shallow, rocky Potomac with the help of a unique technology. Goals, and because of George's unique reputation, James was soon put in a position that would allow him to actually build that boat. Oh and this George, for those of you keeping track of things, was George Washington. That was four.

Soon enough, James found himself serving as the superintendent of a brand new endeavor, the Potomac Company, which was charged with improving the navigational qualities of the river, you know, making it easier for boats to travel, which in turn made it easier for goods to be imported and exported. It was good for the whole economy, and James made his mark too. The company built at least five canals

to work around major rough spots in the river. They also worked to remove rocks and silt from other parts, making it much safer for river boats, and in the process it ended up linking commerce and trade on the East Coast with communities farther west like Pennsylvania and Ohio. But there was always that boat that he had dreamed of. Now. Originally it had included a large paddle wheel to ur it forward and a pair of enormous polls that could be used to push the ship around as it traveled

the trickier spots on the Potomac. And remember, his entire career happened because Washington loved the promise of that model boat. But after initial testing, James realized that the vessel would need a stronger way of propelling itself forward, So he turned to a power source that was known in other fields but untried on ships. Steam. Then, after two years of building the body of the ship and also designing and building a small steam engine out of iron coils,

James had what he needed. On a cold wintry day in early December of seventy seven, James and his steamship chugged out into the Potomac near Shepherdstown, just north of Harper's Ferry, and the demonstration was a success. Those who showed up to watch were wowed by the sight of a riverboats being pushed along not by paddles, but by

a forceful jet of hot steam. But alas, in a turn of events that seemed all too common for early inventors, James found himself facing another man, John Finch, who had dreamed up a similar mechanism, and for a year the pair of men had a very public war of words over the matter. In the end, it was Finch who won in America, and it was only by moving to England and filing patents there that James was able to get his name on official documents tying him to the creation.

The most amazing thing to me about James Rumsey's story just might be the fact that he did all of this in seventeen seven, a mere generation after the American

Revolutionary War. Pretty cool if you ask me. But what I find most intriguing of all is that despite clearly inventing the steamboat first, history has pretty much forgotten him, putting all the praise on Robert Fulton and his eighteen oh seven creation of the North River steamboats, a big accomplishment for sure, but one that stood on the shoulders of James Rumsey and his own design two decades earlier.

History can sure be picky, often choosing the wrong hero or inventor or whatever, But above all, I can sure be curious. Of all the questions of the universe. One sits at the forefront of many people's minds what happens when we die. In some cultures, it's believed that our ancestors are waiting to ussure us to the afterlife and peace, and others we come back as another person or creature

in order to relive our lives once more. And of course there is the persistent concept that our behaviors on Earth influence whether we get to spend eternity in the good place or that other one. But one man believed that there was one final step before humans shuffled off this mortal coil, and he was going to try anything

to prove it true. His name was Duncan McDougall and a doctor and a scientist from Massachusetts, and in nineteen o one he set out to show that the human body possessed a soul, one with mass that could be measured at the time of death. To prove his claim, he started by selecting six nursing home patients who were close to death. One had been suffering from diabetes, four had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and one possessed an unknown ailment. He chose them because he knew that when they died,

they would be too weak to move. He required absolute stillness in order to measure the soul's weight as it left the body when a patient's symptoms got worse. Their bed with the patients on top of it, was placed on a giant beam scale, not unlike the kinds found in most school nurses offices today. It had been calibrated to detect weight within two tenths of an ounce. McDougal

was meticulous in recording his findings. He noted exactly when each patient died, how long they had spent in their beds, and whether their weights had fluctuated at all at the exact time of death. McDougal also took into consideration all the fluids and gases coursing through their bodies. By the time he had completed his calculations, he determined that the human soul weighed no more than twenty one grahams less

than one ounce. His first patient passed away with a bang. Literally, the scale tipped audibly as the end of the beam knocked against the bottom bar and stayed there. The weight that had been lost was measured at three quarters of an ounce. The same thing happened with the second patients as well, a visible shift as a weight was lifted

from the bed. McDougald put his calculations to use, accounting for the setting of fluids like blood and urine, and the reduction in gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Once those numbers were tabulated, he found that the second patient had lost another full ounce of weight. Four more doctors were brought in during each patient's final moments to witness the changes with McDougal, and all of them recorded

a change. The amounts for each patient were different, but nearly everyone did lose something when they although one added weights while two others only shed fractions of announce. Only four of McDougal's six patients were able to be measured, as there was one instance when a patient had died before the equipment could be set up, and another where the tools malfunctioned. Unfortunately, McDougall still needed to test his hypothesis against a control group his patients of choice dogs.

He measured the depths of fifteen canines, none of which exhibited the same changes in weight as the human test subjects. McDougald took that as a sign that dogs didn't have souls, a ludicrous notion to any pet owner who knows that it isn't true. After he completed his experiments, McDougall went from measuring the human soul to photographing it. He took numerous pictures of the newly deceased as they crossed over. Many of his photos depicted a light floating around their

heads as they drew their final breadths. Sadly, Duncan McDougald was mostly alone in his beliefs about the human soul. Other scientists thought his methods were sloppy and unsound. Some even tried to improve upon them, but to no avail. It's not clear whether the human soul actually has weight. Or that it can even be measured. It's one more conundrum to be answered, and unfortunately, those who know for

sure can't tell us until it's too late. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.