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This is the Parsons Epicyclic Engine, designed by Charles Parsons before he turned his attention to steam turbines.
It was a high-speed engine designed to drive a dynamo directly. This was highly desirable as otherwise it was necessary to use belts and pulleys, which were cumbersome and subject to slipping, or gearing, which in those days was relatively crude in design, and therefore noisy and showed high frictional losses at speed.

There were two pairs of horizontally-opposed cylinders, arranged at right angles. Both cylinders and crank rotated, the cylinders at half the speed of the crank. The geometry is arranged so that connecting-rods and crossheads are not required.

Charles Parsons took out his first patent on this engine in 1877, when he was only 23 years old. This was probably Patent 2344. He took out a second patent, No 4266, in 1878.