Mechanical engineering is applicable rather to works connected with private enterprise, such as the designing and construction of steam machinery for the purposes of navigation and transportation, the adaptation of such machinery to mills and factories, the construction of water-wheels, the fabrication of materials, iron, steel, and brass, for the purposes of the engineer, the architect, and manufacturer ; and the manufacture of implements and machinery for agriculture, for mining, and for domestic purposes.
William Pettit Trowbridge (1871) The Profession of the Mechanical Or Dynamical Engineer: An Inaugural Address Before the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College. p. 5