V- . * > , ■ u V . I -■ ■ <. . . * . ■m ,jg *s • * . j# A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF HYDRAULIC AND OTHER MACHINES FOH RAISING WAT E R, Ancient anti JJHotrern: WITH OBSERVATIONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE * MECHANIC ARTS: INCLUDING THE PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STEAM ENGINE: DESCRIPTIONS OF EVERY VARIETY OF BELLOWS, PISTON, AND ROTARY PUMPS—FIRE EN¬ GINES—WATER RAMS—PRESSURE ENGINES—AIR MACHINES—EOLIPILES, &C. REMARKS ON ANCIENT WELLS—AIR BEDS—COG WHEELS—BLOWPIPES—BELLOWS OF VARIOUS PEOPLE— MAGIC GOBLETS—STEAM IDOLS, AND OTHER MACHINERY OF ANCIENT TEMPLES. TO WHICH ARE ADDED EXPERIMENTS ON BLOWING AND SPOUTING TUBES, AND OTHER ORIGINAL DEVICES—NATURE’S MODES AND MACHINERY FOR RAISING WATER. HISTORICAL NOTICES RESPECTING SIPHONS, FOUNTAINS, WATER ORGANS, CLEPSYDRiE, PIPES, VALVES, COCKS, &C. IN FIVE BOOKS. ILLUSTRATED T5Y NEARLY THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED-TO WHICH IS ADDED, A SUPPLEMENT BY THOMAS EWBANK. It is a cruel mortification in searching for what is instructive in the history of past times, to find the exploits of conquerors who have desolated the earth, and the freaks of tyrants who have rendered na¬ tions unhappy, are recorded with minute and often disgusting accuracy—while the discovery of useful arts, and the progress of the most beneficial branches of commerce, are passed over in silence, and suf¬ fered to sink into oblivion. Robertson's India. NEW YORK: GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 184 9 . I T 3 °!0O £ 13 % i W Iff Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by Thomas Ewbank, in the Clerk’s Offica of the Southern District of New-York. 4 Dill, Stereotyper, 128 Fulton at THE GETTY CENTER LIBRARY PREFACE. Circumstances having led me, in early life, to take an interest in practical hydraulics, I became anxious to obtain an account of all the con trivances employed by different people to raise water—whether for domes¬ tic, agricultural, mining, manufacturing, or other purposes ; and great was the disappointment I felt on learning that no book containing the informa¬ tion I sought had ever been published. This was the case between thirty and forty years ago ; and, notwithstanding the numerous journals and other works devoted to the useful arts, it is in a great measure the case still. No one publication, so far as my knowledge extends, has ever been devoted to the great variety of devices which the human intellect has developed for raising liquids. That such a work is wanted by a large class of mechanics, if not by others, can hardly be questioned; and it is somewhat surprising that it was never undertaken. It appears from La Hire’s Preface to Mariotte’s Treatise on the Motion of Fluids, that the latter philosopher often expressed a determination to write “ on the different pumps and other engines which are in use, or which have been proposed,” but unfortunately he did not live to carry his design into effect. The celebrated work of Belidor, from its extent, and the variety of subjects embraced and illustrated, stands at the head of modern works on hydraulic devices ; but of the four large volumes, a small part only is devoted to machines for raising water, and many such are not noticed at all : besides, the cost of the work and the language in which it is written will always prevent it from becoming a popular one with American or English machinists. Having in the course of several years collected memoranda and procured most of the works quoted in the following pages, I have attempted to pre¬ pare a popular volume on the subject—something like the one I formerly longed for—feeling persuaded that it will be as acceptable to mechanics under circumstances similar to those to which I have alluded as it would then have been to myself. Every individual device for raising water has, of course, not been described, for that would have been impossible ; but every class or species will be found noticed, with such examples of each as will enable the general reader to comprehend the principle and action of all. In addition to which, inventors of hydraulic machines can here see what has been accomplished, and thus avoid wasting their energies on things previously known. IV PREFACE. In a work of this kind little that is new can be expected ; I have not, however, servilely copied any author, but have written the whole as if little had been written before. I have sought for information wherever I could find it; and with this view have perused more volumes than it would be prudent to name. A few gleanings which modern writers have passed over have been picked up—two or three ancient devices have been snatched from oblivion, as the atmospheric sprinkling pot and the philosophical bel¬ lows, and some erroneous opinions have been corrected ; that, for example, respecting the origin of the safety valve. There is little room for the charge of arrogance in claiming this much, since it is all I have to claim and it is nothing but what a little industry in any one else would have realized. Several devices of my own have also been introduced which must speak for themselves. On referring to old works that are expensive or of rare occurrence I have generally quoted the very words of the writers, under the impression that some of these works will not long be met with at all. For the convenience of perusal the work is broken into chapters, and as much miscellaneous matter has been introduced, an index is added. The general arrangement and division of the subject will be found at the close of the first chapter. In tracing the progress of any one of the primitive arts, it is difficult to avoid reference to others. They are all so connected that none can be per¬ fectly isolated. I have therefore introduced such notices of inventions and inventors as seemed useful to be known : facts which appeared interesting to the writer as a mechanic, he supposed would not be wholly without interest in the opinion of his brethren. In this, I am aware, it is easy to to be mistaken ; for it is a common error to imagine that things which are interesting to ourselves must be equally so to others. As, however, all those devices that contribute to the conveniences of life will ever possess an intrinsic value, the hope is indulged that the following account of several important ones, although it may present little attraction to general readers, will at least be found useful to those for whom it is*more espe¬ cially designed. It certainly is not what I could wish, but it is the best I could produce. I am sensible that it has many imperfections, and there are doubtless many more which have not been perceived. That I have often been diverted from the subjects embraced in the title-page is true ; and as the whole was written at long intervals, even of years, a want of order and connection may be perceived in some parts, and obscurity felt in others. All that I can offer to diminish the severity of criticism, is freely to admit there is much room for it. In noticing various hydraulic devices, I have endeavored to award honor to whomsoever it was due : to say nothing of the ancients, with whom most of them originated, it may here be observed that the Germans were the earliest cultivators of practical hydraulics in modern times. The Dutch (part of that people) contributed to extend a knowledge of their inven¬ tions. It was a Dutchman who constructed the famous machinery at Marli, and England was indebted to another for her first water-works at London Bridge. The simplest pump-box or piston known, the inverted cone of leather, is of German origin, and so is the tube-pump of Muschenbroek. Hose for fire-engines, both of leather and canvas, was invented by Dutch¬ men. They carried the chain-pump of China to their settlements in India, and also to Europe. Van Braam brought it to the U. States. A German invented the air-pump, and the first high pressure steam-engine figured in books was by another. As regards hydraulic machinery, the Dutch have been to the moderns, in some degree, what the Egyptians were to the ancients—their teachers. The physical geography of Holland and Egypt PREFACE. V necessarily led the inhabitants of both countries to cultivate to the utmost extent the art of raising water. Wind-mills for draining water off land first occur (in modern days) in Holland. It is indeed the constant employ ment of this element—wind—that preserves the Dutch from destruction by another ; for, as a nation, they are in much the same predicament they formerly put unruly felons in, viz : confining each in a close vault with a pump, and then admitting a stream of water that required his unceasing efforts to pump out, to prevent himself from drowning. The French have contributed the neatest machine known ; the ram of Montgolfier—theirs is the double pump of La Hire, and the frictionless piston of Gosset—La Faye improved the old tympanum of Asia—Papin was one of the authors of the steam-engine, and Le Demour devised the centrifugal pump. Rotary pumps and the reintroduction of air-vessels and fire-engines rest between Germany and France. Drawn leaden pipes were projected by Dalesme. The English revived the plunger pump and stuffing-box of Moreland, and furnished the expanding metallic pistons of Cartwright and Barton—the steam-engines of Worcester and Savery, New¬ comen and Watt—the pneumatic apparatus of Brown, and motive engines of Cecil and others—Whitehurst was the first to apply the principle of the ram, and the quicksilver pump was invented by Hawkins—Hales invented the milling of sheet lead, and the first drawn pipes were made by Wilkinson. Switzerland contributed the spiral pump of Wirtz—Ame¬ rica has furnished the riveted hose of Sellers and Pennock, the motive machine of Morey, and high pressure engines of Evans ; and both have given numerous modifications of every hydraulic device. The Italians have preserved many ancient devices, and to them the discoveries of Gal- lileo and Torricelli respecting atmospheric pressure are due. Porta has given the first figure of a device for raising water by steam, and Venturi’s experiments have extended their claims. Remarks have occasionally been introduced on the importance of the mechanic arts and the real dignity attached to their profession, notwith¬ standing the degraded state in which operatives have ever been held by those who have lived on their ingenuity and become enriched by their skill. But this state of things we believe is passing away, and the time is not distant when such men, instead of being deemed, as under the old regime, virtual serfs, will exert an influence in society commensurate with their contributions to its welfare. And where, it may be asked, is there a comfort, or convenience, or luxury of life, which they do not create or assist to furnish, from the bread that sustains the body to the volume that informs the mind 1 Few classes have a more honorable career before them than intelligent mechanics. Certainly none have better opportunities of associating their names with those of the best of their species. Science and the arts open the paths to true glory ; and greater triumphs remain to be achieved in both than the world has yet witnessed. Human toil has not been dispensed with, but it certainly will be superseded, in a great measure, if not alto¬ gether, by forces derived from inanimate nature. A great part of the globe is yet a desert, inhabited by beasts of prey, or by men more savage than they; whereas the Creator designs the whole to be a garden and peopled with happy intelligences, as in the first Eden. It is much too common to seek ephemeral distinction on the troubled sea of politics or party ; but of the thousands who launch their barks upon it, how few ever reach the haven of their wishes ! The greater part are soon engulphed in oblivion, while not a few, exhausted by useless struggles, are bereft of their ener¬ gies and quickly sink in despair—but no fame is more certain or more VI PREFACE. durable than that which arises from useful inventions. Whitney and Whittemore, Evans and Fulton, will be remembered as long as cotton gins, carding machines, steam-engines, and steam-boats are known on these continents, and when contemporary politicians are wholly forgotten—in fact most of these are so already. The name of Watt will be known while that of every warrior and monarch and statesman of his day has perished; and so it ought to be, for with few exceptions, he contributed more to the happiness of his species than have such men from the beginning of time. No one is now interested in learning any thing respecting the sanguinary Bull of Burgundy and his wily antagonist, the eleventh Louis of France, whose contests kept for years the European world in an uproar ; and the latter, not content with murdering his species by wholesale, in his old age slew infants that he might acquire new vigor by bathing in their blood : but as long as time endures, the world will revere the names of their contemporaries—Gottenburg, Koster, Faust, and Schceffer and their asso¬ ciates in printing and type-founding. Science and the arts are renovating the constitution of society. The destiny of nations cannot be much longer held by political gamblers, wealthy dolts, titled buffoons, and royal puppets ; these no longer sustained by factitious aids must descend to their own level. Theories of governments will not be opposed to nature and carried out in violation of her laws ; but practical science will be the ruling principle; and practical philosophers will be, as God designed they should be, the master spirits of the world. The history and progress of the useful arts will soon become a subject of general study. Historians will hereafter trace in them the rise and fall of nations ; for power and preeminence will depend upon new discoveries in and applications of science. Battles will soon be fought by engineers instead of generals, and by mechanism in place of men. But battles, we trust, will hereafter be few ; for if ever men were called upon by that which is dear to them and their race—by that which is calculated to rouse the purest feelings and exterminate the worst ones, it is to denounce that spirit of military glory which encourages and induces offensive wars. Take away all the false glare and pomp of wars, and tyranny will expire—for it would have nothing to support it. Put war in its true light, and no well regulated mind would ever embrace it as a profession. To poets and writers of romance, the annals of mechanism present un¬ explored sources of materials. They are mines of the richest ores— fields teeming with the choicest fruits and flowers. Here are to be found incidents as agreeable and exciting in their natures, and as important in their effects as anything that can be realized by the imagination alone ; such too, as present nothing to offend the finest taste, or conflict with the purest morals. When novelists have worn out the common ground ; (and they seem already to have done so,) when mere sentiment grows flat, and the exhibition of the passions becomes stale ; when politics, history and love are exhausted—works founded on the origin, progress, and maturity of the useful arts will both charm the imagination and improve the judgment of readers. Does an author wish to introduce characters who have left permanent impressions of their genius upon the world] Where can he find them in such variety as in the race of inventors ? Is he desirous of enrich¬ ing his pages with singular coincidences, curious facts, surprising results —to fascinate his readers, and cause them to anticipate the end of his pages with regret ] Let him detail the circumstances that led to the conception, and accompanied the improvement of those inventions and discoveries that have elevated civilized man above the savage. Is such a writer desirous, for instance, to entertain the sex ] He could PREFACE. VH hardly do it more effectually than by writing a volume on the labors of primitive spinsters, ere the distaff was adopted, or the spindle (the original fly-wheel) was invented; by detailing the circumstances that gave birth to those implements, with the trials, observations, customs and anecdotes connected with their introduction and their uses—imagining the congra¬ tulations that were poured upon the artist who wove the first web in a loom, and the praises bestowed upon the author of that machine and the shuttle—recalling the times and scenes when groups of laughing females were hastening to examine the first colored mantles; and recording the bursts of admiration which dropped from them (in all the force of oriental hyperbole) upon witnessing the processes by which purple and scarlet and crimson and green, &c. were produced—recounting the methods by which the art of dyeing wrought a revolution in costume, and how it be¬ came one of the great sources of wealth to Babylon and Tyre—referring to the gratification which the invention of needles and pins, of thimbles and combs, conferred on ancient dames ; and noticing the influence of these in improving the dress and deportment of women—describing the trials of artists before they succeeded in perfecting these instruments, and so on, until every addition to domestic dwellings, to household furniture, and to dress be reviewed—until every thing which a modern lady possesses over an Indian’s squaw be brought forward and described, with all the known facts and circumstances associated with its history and application; —and thus form a series of essays on the arts, in which every line would be poetry, and every incident new. A new species of drama might here take its rise ; one possessing equal attractions and exhibiting equally interesting pictures of human life, as any thing which writers of comedy or tragedy have yet produced. Here are characters and customs of every variety, age, and nation—incidents and adventure in the greatest profusion—the extremes of misery and bliss, of poverty and wealth, of suffering virtue and unrequited toil, and their opposites. Here the humblest individuals have, by industry and ingenuity, risen from obscurity and astonished the world. Mechanics have become kings like the old potter of Sicily, (Agathocles,) Aurelius the blacksmith of Rome, and Leitz the tinker who founded the caliph dynasty of the Soffarites. Kings have left their thrones to become workmen in brass and silver, wood and iron ; as Demetrius at his lathe, iEropus making lamps and tables, Charles V. in his watchmaker’s shop ; and if some bizarre examples are wanted, there is still to be seen the mantua-making apart¬ ment of Ferdinand VII. with specimens of his work. A play might be founded on the fairs held at Delos, (the Pittsburg of of the old Greeks,) where merchants (observes Pliny) assembled from all parts of the world to purchase hardware and bronze. An island whose artists were ennobled for the beauty and finish of their works in the metals, and who particularly excelled in brazen feet for chairs, tables, and bed¬ steads, and in statues and other large works in brass. Then there was the workmen of ASgina, who beat all others in fabricating branches and and sockets of candelabra; while those of Tarentum produced the best pedestals or shafts. In connection with which, there is the singular story of the Lady Gegania, who, after giving 50,000 sesterces for a bronze candle¬ stick, adopted its ill-favored and hump-backed maker for her companion and heir. How rich in interest would a dramatic scene be if laid in an antediluvian smith’s shop ! (Forges have always been places of resort.) To notice the characters of the visitants, listen to their remarks, examine the instru¬ ments fabricated by the artist, his materials, fuel, bellows, and other tools 1 V1U PREFACE. There is not a more interesting scene in all the Iliad than the description of Vulcan at work. But if such a distance of time is too remote, there is the forge of Kawah, the blacksmith of Ispahan, he whose apron was for centuries the banner of the Persian empire. The forge of Aurelius also, where he made the sword by which he was while emperor slain. A scene might open in the barber’s shop of Alexandria, in which the boy Ctesibius used to play, and where the first scintillations of his genius broke out; while his subsequent speculations, his private essays and public experiments, some of which were probably exhibited before the reigning Ptolemies, might be brought into view—his pupil, Heron, and other philosophers and literati might also be included in the plot. Of the con¬ nection of barbers with important events there is no end—there was the tatling artist of Midas, the spruce hair-dresser of Julian the emperor, the inquisitive one that saved Caesar’s life by listening to the conversation of assassins—the history of the silver shaving vessel with which the benevo¬ lent father of Marc Anthony relieved the pecuniary distresses of a friend —there was the wicked Oliver Dain; and the ancestor of Tunstall, the famous Bishop of Durham, was barber to William the Conqueror : hence the bishop’s coat of arms contained three combs. Who would not go to see a representation of the impostures of the heathen priesthood 1 Men who in the darkest times applied some of the finest principles of science to the purposes of delusion ! With what emotions should we enter their secret recesses in the temples !—places where their chemical processes were matured, their automaton figures and other mechanical apparatus conceived and fabricated, and where experi¬ ments were made before the miracles were consummated in public. But it is impossible to enumerate a tithe of the subjects and incidents for the drama that might be derived from the history of the arts : they are more numerous than the mechanical professions—more diversified than articles of traffic or implements of trades. The plots, too, might be rendered as complicated, and their denouement as agreeable or disagreeable as could be desired: and what is better than all, in such plays the moral, intel¬ lectual and inventive faculties of an audience would be excited and im¬ proved—science would pervade every piece, and her professors would be the principal performers. THOS. EWBANK. JVew-York, December, 1841. CONTENTS BOOK I. PRIMITIVE AND ANCIENT DEVICES FOR RAISING WATER. CHAPTER 1. The subject of raising water interesting to philosophers and mechanics—Led to the invention of the steam engine—Connected with the present advanced state of the arts—Origin of the useful arts lost—Their history neglected by the ancients—First inventors the greatest benefactors—Memorials of them perished, while accounts of warriors and their acts pervade and pollute the pages of his¬ tory—A record of the origin and early progress of the arts more useful and interesting than all the works of historians extant—The history of a single tool (as that of a hammer) invaluable—In the general wreck of the arts of the ancients, most of their devices for raising water preserved— Cause of this—Hydraulic machines of very remote origin—Few invented by the Greeks and Ro¬ mans—Arrangement and division of the subject .... .1 CHAPTER II. Water—Its importance in the economy of nature—Forms part of all substances—Food of all animals —Great physical changes effected by it—Earliest source of inanimate motive power—Its distribu tion over the earth not uniform—Sufferings of the orientals from want of water—A knowledge of this necessary to understand their writers—Political ingenuity of Mahomet—Water a prominent feature in the paradise of the Asiatics—Camels often slain by travelers, to obtain water from their stomachs—Cost of a draught of such water—Hydraulic machine referred to in Ecclesiastes—The useful arts originated in Asia—Primitive modes of procuring water—Using the hand as a cup— Traditions respecting Adam—Scythian tradition—Palladium—Observations on the primitive state of man, and the origin of the arts .........9 CHAPTER III. Origin of vessels for containing water—The calabash the first one—It has always been used—Found by Columbus in the cabins of Americans—Inhabitants of New Zealand, Java, Sumatra, and of the Pacific Islands employ it—Principal vessel of the Africans—Curious remark of Pliny respecting it —Common among the ancient Mexicans, Romans and Egyptians—Offered by the latter people on their altars—The model after which vessels of capacity were originally formed—Its figure still preserved in several—Ancient American vessels copied from it—Peruvian bottles—Gurgulets— The form of the calabash prevailed in the vases and goblets of the ancients—Extract from Persius’ \ satires—Ancient vessels for heating water modeled after it—Pipkin—Saucepan—Anecdote of a Roman dictator—The common cast-iron cauldron of great antiquity: similar in shape to those used in Egypt in the time of Raineses—Often referred to in the Bible and in the Iliad—Grecian, Roman, Celtic, Chinese and Peruvian cauldrons—Expertness of Chinese tinkers—Croesus and the Delphic oracle—Uniformity in the figure of cauldrons—Cause of this—Superiority of their form over straight-sided boilers—Brazen cauldrons highly prized—Water pots of the Hindoos—Women drawing water—Anecdote of Darius and a young female of Sardis—Dexterity of oriental women in balancing water pots—Origin of the canopus—Ingenuity and fraud of an Egyptian priest— Ecclesiastical deceptions in the middle ages - - - - - - - -14 CHAPTER IV. On wells—Water one of the first objects Of ancient husbandmen—Lot—Wells before the deluge- Digging them through rock subsequent to the use of metals—Art of digging them carried to great perfection by the Asiatics—Modern methods of making them in loose soils derived from the East— Wells often the nuclei of cities—Private wells common of old—Public wells infested by banditti— Wells numerous in Greece—Introduced there by Danaus—Facts connected with them in the mythologic ages—Persian ambassadors to Athens and Lacedemon thrown into wells—Phenician, Carthagenian and Roman wells extant—Csesar and Pompey’s knowledge of making wells enabled them to conquer—City of Pompeii discovered by digging a well—Wells in China, Persia, Palestine, India and Turkey—Cisterns of Solomon—Sufferings of travelers from thirst—Affecting account from Leo Africanus—Mr. Bruce in Abyssinia—Dr. Ryers in Gombroon—Hindoos praying for water—Caravan of 2000 persons and 1800 camels perished in the African desert—Crusaders - 24 CHAPTER V Subject of Wells continued—Wells worshiped—River Ganges—Sacred well at Benares—Oaths taken at wells—Tradition of the rabbins—Altars erected near them—Invoked—Ceremonies with regard t« water in Egypt, Greece, Peru, Mexico, Rome, and Judea—Temples erected over wells—The B X CONTENTS. fountain of Apollo—Well Zem Zem—Prophet Joel—Temple of Isis—Mahommedan mosques— Hindoo temples—Woden’s well—Wells in Chinese temples—Pliny—Celts—Gauls—Modern super¬ stitions with regard to water and wells—Hindoos—Algerines—Nineveh—Greeks—Tombs of saints near wells—Superstitions of the Persians—Anglo-Saxons—Hindoos—Scotch—English—St. Gene¬ vieve’s well—St. Winifred’s well—House and well‘warming’ - - - - - 33 CHAPTER VI. Wells continued—Depth of ancient wells—In Hindostan—Well of Tyre—Carthagenian wells—Wells in Greece, Herculaneum and Pompeii—Wells without curbs—Ancient laws to prevent accidents from persons and animals falling into them—Sagacity and revenge of an elephant—Hylas—Arche- laus of Macedon—Thracian soldier and a lady at Thebes—Wooden covers—Wells in Judea— Reasons for not placing curbs round wells—Scythians—Arabs—Aquilius—Abraham—Hezekiah— David—Mardonius—Moses and the people of Edom—Burckhardt in Petra—Woman of Bahurim— Persian tradition—Ali the fourth caliph—Covering wells with large stones—Mahommedan tradi¬ tion—Themistocles—Edicts of Greek emperors—Well at Heliopolis—Juvenal—Roman and Gre¬ cian curbs of marble—Capitals of ancient columns converted into curbs for wells - - 37 CHAPTER VII. Wells concluded—Description of Jacob’s well—Of Zemzem in Mecca—Of Joseph’s well at Cairo— Reflections on wells—Oldest monuments extant—Wells at Elim—Bethlehem—Cos—Scyros—Heli opolis—Persepolis—Jerusalem—Troy—Ephesus—Tadmor—Mizra—Sarcophagi employed as wa¬ tering troughs—Stone coffin of Richard III used as one—Ancient American wells—Indicate the existence in past times of a more refined people than the present red men—Their examination desirable—Might furnish (like the wells at Athens) important data of former ages - - - 44 CHAPTER VIII. Ancient methods of raising water from wells: Inclined planes—Stairs within wells: in Mesopotamia —Abyssinia—Hindostan—Persia—Judea—Greece—Thrace—England. Cord and bucket: used at Jacob’s well—By the patriarchs—Mahomet—In Palestine—India—Alexandria—Arabian vizier drawing water—Gaza—Herculaneum and Pompeii—Wells within the houses of the latter city— Aleppo—Tyre—Carthage—Cleanthes the ‘well drawer’ of Athens, and successor of Zeno—Demo¬ critus—Plautus—Asclepiades and Menedemus—Cistern pole—Roman cisterns and cement—An¬ cient modes of purifying water -- - - - - - .51 CHAPTER IX. The pulley its origin unknown—Used in the erection of ancient buildings and in ships—Ancient one found in Egypt—Probably first used to raise water—Not extensively used in ancient Grecian wells : cause of this—Used in Mecca and Japan—Led to the employment of animals to raise water —Simple mode of adapting them to this purpose in the east. Pulley and two buckets: used by the Anglo-Saxons, Normans, directed their movements. We are almost as ignorant of their modes of working the metals, of their al¬ loys which rivalled steel in hardness, of their furnaces, crucibles, and moulds ; the details of forming the ennobling statue, or the more useful skillet or cauldron. Did the ancients laminate metal between rollers, and draw wire through plates, as we do 1 or, was it extended by hammers, as some specimens of both seem to show On these and a thousand other subjects, much uncertainty prevails. Unfortunately learned men of old, deemed it a part of wisdom, to conceal from the vulgar, all discoveries in science. With this view, they wrapped them in mystical figures, that the people might not apprehend them. The custom was at one time so general, that philosophers refused to leave any thing in writing, explana¬ tory of their researches. Whenever we attempt to penetrate that obscurity which conceals from our view, the works of the ancients, we are led to regret, that some of their mechanics did not undertake, for the sake of posterity and their own fame, to write a history and description of their machines and manu¬ factures. We know that philosophers, generally, would not condescend to per¬ form such a task, or stoop to acquire the requisite information, for they deemed it discreditable to apply their energies and learning, to the eluci¬ dation of such subjects. (Few could boast with Hippias—who was master of the liberal and mcc}iani/:al arts—the ring on his finger, the tunic, cloak, a “ And they did beat the gold into thin plate9, and cut it into wires.” Exod. xxxix, 3. These plates, were probably similar to those made by the ancient goldsmiths of Mexico, which were “ three quarters of a yard long, foure fingers broad, and as thicke as parch¬ ment.” Purchas’ Pilgrimage, 984. “ Silver spread into plates, is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz,” Jer. x, 9. 3 Chap. l.J History polluted with accounts of Warriors. and shoes which he wore, were the work of his own hands.) Plato in veighed with great indignation against Archytas and Eudoxus, for having debased and corrupted the excellency of geometry, by mechanical so¬ lutions, causing her to descend, as he said, from incorporeal and intellec¬ tual to sensible things; and obliging her to make use of matter, which re¬ quires manual labor, and is the object of servile trades. a To the prevalence of such unphilosophical notions amongst the learned men of old, may be attributed, the irretrievable loss of information re¬ specting the prominent mechanics of the early ages, those .“ Searching wits, Who graced their age with new invented arts.” Virgil, En. vi, 900. Their works, their inventions, and their names, are buried beneath the waves of oblivion; whilst the light and worthless memorials of heroes, falsely so called, have floated on the surface, and history has become pol¬ luted with tainted descriptions of men, who, without having added an atom to the wealth, or to the happiness of society, have been permitted to riot on the fruit of other men’s labors; to wade in the blood of their species, and to be heralded as the honorable of the earth! And still, as in former times, humanity shudders, at these monsters being held up, as they impiously are, to the admiration of the world, and even by some Christians too, as examples for our children. “ We may reasonably hope,” says Mr. Davies in his popular work on the Chinese, “that the science and civilization which have already greatly enlarged the bounds of our knowledge of foreign countries, may, by diminishing the vulgar admiration of such pests and scourges of the human race, as military conquerors have usually proved, advance and fa¬ cilitate the peaceful intercourse of the most remote countries with each other, and thereby increase the general stock of knowledge and happiness among mankind.” Vol. 1,18. “Of what utility to us at this day, is either Nimrod, Cyrus, or Alexan¬ der, or their successors, who have astonished mankind from time to time ? With all their magnificence and vast designs, they are returned into nothing with regard to us. They are dispersed like vapors, and have vanished like phantoms. But the inventors of the arts and sciences labored for all ages. We still enjoy the fruits of their application and industry— they have procured for us, all the conveniences of life —they have con¬ verted all nature to our uses. Yet, all our admiration turns generally on the side of those heroes in blood, while we scarce take any notice of what we owe to the inventors of the arts.” Rollings Introduction to the Arts and Sciences of the Ancients. Who that consults history, only for that which is useful , would not pre¬ fer to peruse a journal of the daily manipulations of the laborers and me¬ chanics who furnished clothing, arms, culinary utensils, and food for the armies of old—to the most eloquent descriptions of their generals, or their battles ] And as it is now with respect to accounts of such transactions in past ages—so will it be in future with regard to similar ones of mo¬ dern times. Narrations of political convulsions, recitals of battles, and of honors conferred on statesmen and heroes, while dripping with human gore, will hereafter be unnoticed, or will be read with horror and disgust, while DISCOVERIES IN SCIENCE and DESCRIPTIONS OF USEFUL MACHINES, will be all in all. It is pleasing to anticipate that day, which the present extensive and extending diffusion of knowledge is about to usher in, when despotism • Plutarch’s Life of Marcellus. 4 Workshops of the Ancients, [Book 1. shall no longer hold the great mass of our species, in a state of unnatu¬ ral ignorance, and of physical degradation, beneath that of the beasts which perish; but when the mechanics of the world, the creators of its wealth, shall exercise that influence in society to which their labors en¬ title them. If we judged correctly of human character, we should admit that the mechanic who made the chair in which Xerxes sat, when he reviewed his mighty host, or witnessed the sea fight at Salamis, was a more use¬ ful member of society than that great king:—and, that the artisans who constructed the drinking vessels of Mardonius, and the brass man¬ gers in which his horses were fed, were really more worthy of posthu¬ mous fame, than that general, or the monarch he served : and, if it be more virtuous, more praiseworthy, to alleviate human sufferings than to cause or increase them ; then that old mechanician, who, when Marcus Sergius lost his hand in the Punic war, furnished him with an iron one, was an incomparably better man, than that or any other mere warrior: and so was he, who, according to Herodotus, constructed an artificial foot for Hegisostratus. a Notwithstanding the opinion of Plato—we believe a description of the workshops of D.edalus, and of Talus his nephew; those of Theodo- rus of Samos and of Glaucus of Chios, (the alleged inventor of the in¬ laying of metals ;) an account of the process of making the famous Lesbian and Dodonean cauldrons, 1 * and of the method by which those celebrated paintings in glass, were executed, fragments of which have come down to us, and which have puzzled, and still continue to puzzle, both our ar¬ tists and our chemists; (the figures in which, of the most minute and ex¬ quisite finish, pass entirely and uniformly through the glass ;) c if to these were added, the particulars of a working jeweller’s shop of Persepolis and of Troy; of a lapidary’s and an engraver’s of Memphis; of a cut¬ ler’s and upholsterer’s of Damascus; and of a cabinet maker’s and bra¬ zier’s of Rome ; together with those of a Sidonian or Athenian ship yard —such a record would have been more truly useful, and more really in¬ teresting, than almost all that ancient philosophers ever wrote, or poets ever sung. A description of the foundries and forges of India and of Egypt; of Babylon and Byzantium; of Sidon, and Carthage and Tyre ; would have imparted to us a more accurate and extensive knowledge of the ancients, of their manners and customs, their intelligence and progress in science, than all the works of their historians extant; and would have been of infinitely greater service to mankind. Had a narrative been preserved, of all the circumstances which led to the invention and early applications of the lever, the screw, the wedge, pulley, wheel and axle, &c. ; and of those which contributed to the discovery and working of the metals, the use and management of fire, agriculture, spinning of' thread, matting of felt, weaving of cloth, &c. it would have been the most perfect history of our species—the most valua¬ ble of earthly legacies. Though such a work might have been deemed of trifling import by philosophers of old, with what intense interest would it have been perused by scientific men in modern times! . and what pure delight its examination would have imparted to every inquisitive and intelligent mind! Such a record, would not only have filled the mighty chasm in the early history of the world, but would have had an important influence in pro- * Herod, ix, 37. b Eneid, iii, 595, and v, 350. Herod, iv, 61. c Ed. Encyc. Art. Glass. And their Tools. 5 Chap. 1.] moling the best interests of our race. It would have embraced incidents respecting man’s early wants, and his rude efforts to supply them ; par¬ ticulars respecting eminent individuals, and the origin of antediluvian dis¬ coveries and inventions, &c. of such thrilling interest, as no modern no¬ velist could equal, nor the most fertile imagination surpass. It w'ould have included a detail of those eventful experiments in which iron was first cast into cauldrons, forged into hatchets, and drawn into wire; with an account of the individuals, by whose ingenuity and perse¬ verance, these invaluable operations, were, for the first time on this pla¬ net, successfully performed. Finally, it would have convinced us, that these men were the true heroes of old, the genuine benefactors of their species, whose labors were for the benefit of Till ages, and all people ; and an account of whose lives (not those of robbers,) should have occupied the pages of history, and whose names should have been embalmed in ever¬ lasting remembrance. A chronological account of a few mechanical implements , would have af¬ forded a clearer insight into the state of society in remote times, than any wri¬ tings now subsisting. Nay, if we could realize a complete history of a single tool, asahammer, asaw, achisel, a hatchet, an auger, or a loom, it would form a more comprehensive history of the world, than has ever been, or perhaps ever will be written. Take for example a hammer; what a multitude of in¬ teresting circumstances are inseparably connected with its development and early uses ! circumstances, which, if we were in possession of, would explain almost all that is dark and mysterious respecting our ancient pro¬ genitors. A history of this implement would embrace the origin and ge¬ neral progress of all the useful arts; and w r ould elucidate the civil and scientific acquirements of man, in every age. It would open to our view, the public and private economy of the ancients; introduce us into the interior of their workshops, their dwellings and their temples; it would illustrate their manners, politics, religion, superstition, &c. In tra¬ cing the various purposes to which it was applied, we should become ac¬ quainted with all the material transactions in the lives of some ancient in¬ dividuals from their birth to their death; and also, with the circumstances which led to the rise and fall of empires. Like the celebrated “ History of a Guinea,” it would open to our inspection all the minutiae in private and public life. How infinitely various, are the materials, sizes, forms, and uses of the hammer % and how indicative are they all of the state of society and man- mers? At first, a club; then a rude mallet of wood ; next, the head form¬ ed of stone, and bound to the handle by withes, or by the sinews of ani¬ mals ; afterward, the heads formed of metal. These, before iron or steel was known, were often of copper and even of gold; and subsequently, those of the latter material were faced, like some ancient chisels, with the more scarce and expensive iron. a Ancient hammers varied as now in size, from the huge sledge of the Cyclops, to the portable one, with which Vulcan chased the more delicate work on the shield of Achilles,—from the maul, by which masses of ore were separated from their beds in the mines, to the diminutive ones, which Myrmecides of Miletus, and Theodorus of Samos, used to fabricate car¬ riages and horses of metal, which were so minute as to be covered by the a “ It appears that in the tangible remains of smelting furnaces, found in Siberia, that gold hammers, knives, chisels, &c. have been discovered, the edges of which were skil¬ fully tipped icith iron; showing the scarcity of the ore, the difficulty of manufacturing it, and the plenty and apparently trifling value of the other.” Scientific Tracts, Bos¬ ton, 1833. Vol. iii, 411. 6 The Hammer. [Book I wings of a fly. Its figure lias always varied with its uses, and none but modem workers in the metals can realize the endless variety of its shapes, which the ancient smiths required, to fabricate the wonderfully diversified articles of their manuafcture: from the massive brazen altars and chariots, to the chased goblets, and invaluable tripods or vases, for the possession of which, whole cities contended. The history of the hammer in its widest range, would let us into the secrets of the statuaries and stone cutters of old: we should learn the pro¬ cess of making those metallic compounds, and working them into tools, with which the Egyptian mechanics sculptured those indurate columns that resist the best tempered steel of modern days. It would introduce us to the ancient chariot makers, cutlers and armorers; and would teach us how to make and temper the blades of Damascus ; as well as those which were forged in the extensive manufactory of the father of Demosthenes. It would make us familiar with the arts of the ancient carpenters, coiners, coopers and jewellers. We should learn from it, the process of forging dies and striking money in the temple of Juno Moneta; of making the bod¬ kins and pins for the head dresses of Greek and Roman ladies ; while at the religious festivals, we should behold other forms of this implement in use, to knock down victims for sacrifice by the altars. Finally, a perfect history of the hammer, would not only have made us acquainted with the origin and progress of the useful arts, among the pri meval inhabitants of this hemisphere; but would have solved the great problems respecting their connection with, and migration from the eastern world. But although we justly deplore the want of information relating to the arts in general of the remote ancients; it is probable that few of their devices for raising water have been wholly lost. If there was one art of more importance than another to the early inhabitants of Central Asia and the valley op the Nile, it was that of raising water for agricultural purposes. Not merely their general welfare, but their very existence depended upon the artificial irriga¬ tion of the land; hence their ingenuity was early directed to the construction of machines for this purpose ; and they were stimulated in devising them, by the most powerful of all inducements. That machines must have been indis¬ pensable in past, as in present times, is evident from the climates and phy¬ sical constitution of those countries. Their importance therefore, and uni¬ versal use, have been the means of their preservation. Nor is it probable that any of them were ever lost in the numerous political convulsions of old. These seldom affected the pursuits of agriculture, and never changed the long established modes of cultivation; besides, hydraulic apparatus, from their utility, were as necessary to the conquerors as the conquered.* Perhaps in no department of the useful arts, has less change taken place than in Asiatic and Egyptian agriculture. It is the same now, that it was thousands of years ago. The implements of husbandly, modes of irriga¬ tion, and devices for raising water are similar to those in use, when Ninus and Nebuchadnezzar, Sesostris,, Solomon, and Cyrus flourished. And it would appear that the same uniformity in these machines prevailed over all the east, in ancient as in modern times : a fact accounted for, by the great and constant intercourse between continental and neighboring nations; the practice of warriors, of transporting the inhabitants and especially the me¬ chanics and works of art, into other lands; and also from the great impor¬ tance and universal use of artificial irrigation. a BattJes were sometimes fought in one field, while laborers were cultivating unmo¬ lested the land of an adjoining one. Chap. 1.] Hydraulic machines of the Ancients not lost. 7 Every part of the eastern world has often had its inhabitants torn from it by war, and their places occupied by others. This practice of conque rors was sometimes modified, as respected the peasantry of a subdued country, but it appears that from very remote ages, mechanics were inva¬ riably carried off. The Phenicians, in a war with the Jews, deprived them of every man who could forge iron. a “There was no smith found through¬ out all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make swords and spears.” Shalmanezer, when he took Samaria, carried the people “ away out of their own land to Assyria, and the king of Assyria, brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.” 1 * When Nebuchad¬ nezzar took Jerusalem, he carried off, with the treasure of the temple, “ all the craftsmen and smiths.” Jeremiah says he carried away the “carpen¬ ters and smiths, and brought them to Babylon.” Diodorus says, the pa¬ laces of Persepolis and Susa were built by mechanics thatCambyses car¬ ried from Egypt.® Ancient history is full of similar examples. Alexan¬ der practised it to a great extent. After his death, there was found among his tablets, a resolution to build several cities, some in Europe and some in Asia; and his design was to people those in Asia with Europeans, and those in Europe with Asiatics/ 1 In this manner some of the most useful arts, necessarily became common to all the nations of old; and their per¬ petuity in some degrree secured, especially such as related to the tillage and irrigation of the soil. We are inclined to believe that the hydraulic machines of the Assy¬ rians, Babylonians, Persians and Egyptians, have all, or nearly all, come down to us. Most of them have been continued in uninterrupted use in those countries to the present times; while others have reached us through the Greeks and Romans, Saracens and Moors; or, have been obtained in modern days from China and Hindostan. It is remarkable that almost all machines for raising water, originated with the older nations of the world; neither the Greeks, (if the screw of Conon be excepted, and even it was invented in Egypt,) nor the Romans, added a single one to the ancient stock; nor is this surprising; for with few exceptions, those in use at the present day, are either identical with, or but modifications of those of the ancients. It is alleged that Arehytas of Tarentum, 400, B. C. invented “ hydrau¬ lic machines ,” but no account of them has reached our times, nor do we know that they were designed to raise water. They consisted probably, in the application of the windlass or crane, (the latter it is said he invent¬ ed) to move machines for this purpose. Had any important or useful ma¬ chine for raising water, been devised by him, it would have been continued in use; and would certainly have been noticed by Vitruvius, who was ac¬ quainted with his inventions, and who mentions him several times in his work. 1 b. chap. 1., and 9 b. chap. 3.® We have arranged the machines described in this work in five classes; to each of which, a separate book is devoted. A few chapters of the first book, are occupied with remarks on water; on the origin of ves- a l Sam. chap, xiii, 19, 22. ^ Kings chap, xv-ii, 23, 24. c Geguet, Tom. iii, 13. '’•Diodorus Siculus, quoted by Robertson. India page 191. See Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, 1 vol. 206. ‘Arehytas made an automaton pigeon of wood which would fly. It was this probably, which gave the idea to the modern mechanician of Nuremburgh, who constructed an eagle, which flew towards Charles V. on bis entrance into that city [Book I 8 Division of the Subject. sels for containing it; on wells and fountains, and customs connected with them, &c. Some persons are apt to suppose the term hydraulic machines , compri. ses every device for raising water; but such is not the fact. Apparatus propelled by it, as tide mills, &c. are hydraulic machines; these do not raise the liquid at all; while on the contrary, all those for elevating it, which are comprised in the second class, are pneumatic or hydro-pneumatic machines, their action depending on the pressure and elasticity of the at¬ mosphere. Th e first Class includes those, by which the liquid is elevated in movable vessels, by mechanical force applied to the latter. Water raised in a bucket, suspended to a cord, and elevated by the hand, or by a windlass; the common pole and bucket, used daily in our rain wa¬ ter cisterns; the sweep or lever so common among our farmers, are exam¬ ples of this class; so are the various wheels, as the tympanum, noria, chain of pots; and also the chain pump, and its modifications. This Class embraces all the principal machines used in the ancient world; and the greater part of modern hydraulic machinery is derived from it. The second Class comprises such as raise water through tubes, by means of the elasticity and pressure, or weight of the atmosphere; as sucking pumps, so named; siphons, syringes, &c. The aplication of these machines, unlike those of the first class is limi¬ ted, because the atmosphere is only sufficient to support a column of water of from thirty to thirty five feet in perpendicular height; and in elevated countries, (as Mexico) much less. Numerous modifications of these ma¬ chines have been made in modern times, but the pump itself is of ancient origin. Those which act by compression are described in the third Class. The liquid being first admitted into a close vessel, is then forcibly expelled through an aperture made for the purpose. In some machines this is effect¬ ed by a solid body impinging on the surface of the liquid; as the piston of a pump: in others, the weight of a column of water, is used to accom¬ plish the same purpose. Syringes, fire engines, pumps which are constructed on the same princi¬ ple as the common bellows, are examples of the former; and the famous machine at Chemnitz in Hungary, Heron’sfountain, pressure engines, of the latter. Nor can the original invention of these be claimed by the mod¬ erns. Like the preceding, they were first developed by the energy of an¬ cient intellects. Fourth Class. There is however another class, which embraces several machines, which are supposed to be exclusively of modern origin; and some of them are by far the most interesting and philosophical of all. Such as the Belier hydraulique, or ram of Montgolfier; the centrifugal pump; the fire engine, so named because it raised water “by the help of fire;” that is, the original steam engine, or machine of Worcester, More¬ land, Savaiy and Papin. In the fifth Cl ass, we have noticed such modem devices, as are either practically useful, or interesting from their novelty, or the principles upon which they act. An account of siphons is comprised in this class. Re ¬ marks on natural modes of raising water. Observations on cocks, pipes* valves, &c; and some general reflections are added. Chap. 2.] Water. 9 CHAPTER II. Water— Its importance in the economy of nature — Forms part of all substances — Food of all ani¬ mals—Great physical changes effected by it—Earliest source of inanimate motive power—Its distribu¬ tion over the earth not uniform—Sufferings of the orientals from waut of water—A knowledge of this necessary to understand their writers—Political ingenuity of Mahomet—Water a prominent feature in the paradise of the Asiatics—Camels often slain by travellers, to obtain water from their stomachs— Cost of a draught of such water—Hydraulic machine referred to in Ecclesiastes—The useful arts origi¬ nated in Asia—Primitive modes of procuring water—Using the hand as a cup—Traditions respecting Adam—Scythian tradition—Palladium—Observations on the primitive state of man and the origin of the arts. Water is, in many respects, the most important substance known to man: it is more extensively diffused throughout nature than almost any other. It covers die greater part of the earth’s surface, and is found to pervade its interior wherever excavations are made. It enters intd every or nearly every combination of matter, and was supposed by some ancient philoso¬ phers, to be the origin of all matter; the primordial element; of which every object in nature was formed. The mineral kingdom, with its varie¬ gated substances and chrystalizations; the infinitely diversified and enchan¬ ting productions of the vegetable world; and every living being in anima¬ ted nature, were supposed to be so many modifications of this aqueous fluid. According to Vitruvius, the Egyptian priests taught, that “all things con¬ sist of water;” a and Egypt was doubtless the source whence Thales and others derived the doctrine. Pliny, says “ this one element seemeth to rule and command all the rest.” b And it was remarked by Pindar— "Of all things, water is the best.” Modern science has shown that it is not a simple substance, but is com¬ posed of at least two others; neither of which, it is possible, is elementary. Water not only forms part of the bodies of all animals,® but it constitutes the greatest portion of their food. Every comfort of civilized or savage life depends more or less upon it; and life itself cannot be sustained without it. If there were no rains or fertilizing dews, vegetation would cease, and every animated being would perish. Even terrestrial animals may be considered as existing in water, for the atmosphere in which we live and move, is an im¬ mense aerial reservoir of it, and one more capacious than all the seas on the face of the earth. Water is also the prominent agent, by which those great physical and chemical changes are effected, which the earth is continually undergoing; and the stupendous effects produced by it, through the long series of past ages, have given rise, in modern times, to some of the most interesting departments of physical science. The mechanical effects produced by it, render it of the highest impor¬ tance in the arts. It was the earliest source of inanimate motive power; and has contributed more than all other agents to the amelioration of man’s condition. By its inertia in a running stream, and by its gravity in a falling one, it has superseded much human toil; and has administered to our wants, our pleasures and our profits; and by its expansion into the aeriform Proem to b. viii. >> Nat. Hist, xxxi, 1. C A human corpse which weighed an hundred and sixty pounds—when the moistura was evaporated, weighed but twelve. 10 Religious Opinions respecting Water. [Book I. state, it appears to be destined, (through the steam engine) to accomplish the greatest moral and physical changes, which the intellectual inhabitants of this planet have ever experienced, since our species became its denizens. The distribution of water is not uniform over the earth’s surface, nor yet under its crust. While in some countries, natural fountains, capacious rivers, and frequent rains, present abundant sources for all the purposes of human life ; in others, it is extremely scarce, and procured only with difficulty, and constant labor. This has ever been the case in various parts of Asia, and also in Egypt and other parts of Africa, where rain seldom falls. It is only from a knowledge of this fact and of the temperature and debilitating influences of eastern climates, that we are enabled to appreciate the pecu¬ liar force and beauty of numerous allusions to water, which pervade all the writings of eastern authors, both sacred and profane. Nor without this knowledge could we understand many of the peculiar customs of the people of the east. Mahomet well knew that his followers, living under the scorching rays of the sun, their flesh shrivelled with the desiccating influences of the air, and “ dried up with thirst,” could only be moved to embrace his doctrines by such promises as he made them, of “ springs of living waters,” “security in shades,” “ amidst gardens” and “ fountains pouring forth plen¬ ty of water.” a Nor could his ingenuity have devised a more appropriate punishment, than that with which he threatened unbelieving Arabs in hell. They were to have no mitigation of their torments; no cessation of them, except at certain intervals, when they were to take copious draughts of “filthy and boiling water.” b It was universally believed by the ancients, that the manes of their deceased friends experienced a suspension of punishment in the infernal regions, while partaking of the provisions which their relatives placed on their graves. The Arabian legislator improved upon the tradition. The orientals have always considered water, either figuratively or lite¬ rally, as one of the principal enjoyments of a future state. Gardens, shades, and fountains, are the prominent objects in their paradise. In the Revelations we are told “ the Lamb shall lead them, (the righteous,) un¬ to living fountains of waters.” Chap, vii, 17.—“ A pure river of water of life.” Chap, xxii, 1. The book which contains an account of the religion and philosophy of the Hindoos, is named anbertkend, signifying, “ the cistern of the waters of life.” 6 Inhabitants of temperate climates, seldom or never experience that ex¬ cruciating thirst implied in such expressions as “ the soul panting for wa¬ ter;” nor that extremity of despair when, under such suffering, the exhaus¬ ted traveller arrives at a place “ where no water is.” Under these cir¬ cumstances, the orientals have often been compelled to slay their camels, for the sake of the water they might find in their stomachs; and a sum exceeding five hundred dollars, has been given for a single draught of it. It is necessary to experience something like this, in order fully to com¬ prehend the importance of the Savior’s precept, respecting the giving “ a cup of cold water,” and to know the real value of such a gift. We should then see that sources of this liquid are to the orientals, literally “ fountains of life ,” and “ wells of salvation .” And when we become acquainted with their methods of raising water, we shall perceive how singularly apposite are those illustrations, which the author of Ecclesiastes has drawn from “the pitcher broken at the fountain;” and from “the wheel broken at the cis¬ tern.” Chap, xii, 6. ‘Sale’s Koran, chaps. 55,76,83. b Koran, chaps. 14,22, 37. 'Million of Facts, p. 253. Chap. 2.] 'Primitive Modes of Quenching Thirst. 11 In attempting to discover the origin, and to trace the progress of the art of raising water, we must have recourse to Asia, the birthplace of the arts and sciences; from whence, as from a centre, they have become extended to the circumference of the earth. It was there the original families of our race dwelt, and the inventive faculties of man were first developed. It was from the ancient inhabitants of that continent that much of the know¬ ledge, nearly all the arts, and not a few of the machines which we possess at this day, were derived. That man at the first imitated the lower animals in quenching his thirst at the running stream, there can be no doubt. It was natural, and because it was so, his descendants have always been found, when under similar cir¬ cumstances, to follow his example. The inhabitants of New Holland, and other savages quench their thirst in this manner, (i. e. by laying down.) The Indians of California were observed by Shelvock in 1719, to pursue the same method. “ When they want to drink they go to the river.” a The heathen deities, who in general were distinguished men and wo¬ men, that were idolized after death, are represented as practising this and similar primeval customs. Thus Ovid describes Latona on a journey, and languishing with thirst, she arrives at a brook, .And kneeling on the brink Stooped at the fresh repast, prepared to drink, But was hindered by the rabble race. Mctam. vi, 500. When circumstances rendered it difficult to reach the liquid with the mouth, then “ the hollow of the hand ” was used to transfer it. Gideon’s soldiers pursued both modes in allaying their thirst ; b and it was the practice of the last, which Diogenes witnessed in a boy at Athens, which induced that philosopher to throw away his jug, as an implement no longer necessary. Virgil represents Eneas practising it: Then water in his hollow palm he took From Tyber’s flood. En. viii, 95. Dryden. And Titrnus , in the absence of a suitable vessel, made libations in the same way. The practice was common. .As by the brook he stood, He scooped the water from the chrystal flood ; Then with his hands the drops to heaven he throws, And loads the powers above with offered vows. “ At sunrise, the Bramins take water out of a tank with the hollow of their hands, which they throw sometimes behind and sometimes before them, in¬ voking Brama.” c Herodotus, describing the Nasamones, an ancient people of northern Africa, observes, “ when they pledge their word, they drink alternately from each other’s hands(b. iv, 172.) a custom still retained among their descendants. It is, according to Dr. Shaw, “ the only ceremony that is used by the Algerines in their marriages.” (Travels, p. 303.) A Hindoo, says Mr. Ward, “ drinks out of a brass cup or takes up li¬ quids in the balls of his hands.” (View of the Hindoos, p. 130.) This mode of drinking may appear to us constrained and awkward; but in warm cli¬ mates, the flexibility of the human body, and custom, make the performance of it easy and not ungraceful. “ I drank repeatedly as I walked along, wherever the pebbles at the bottom gleamed clearest—just deep enough to use one's hand as a cup.’* * Voyages round the World, ii, 231. Lon. 1774 b Judges, vii, 5, 6. e Sonnerat, Voyage to the East Indies and China, i. 161. Calcutta, 1789. 12 Traditions of Man, [Book I. (Lord Lindsay’s Travels, letter 7, Arabia.) Another English traveller no¬ ticed women in India use “ their hands as ladles to fill their pitchers.” Some writers suppose that Adam, at the beginning of his existence, was not subject to such inconvenient modes of supplying his natural wants. They will have it, that he possessed the knowledge of a philosopher, and was equally expert as a modem mechanic, in applying it to the practical purposes of life. It need scarcely be remarked, that this is imaginary : we might as well credit the visionary tales of the rabbis, or digest the equally authentic accounts of Mahomedan writers. According to these, Adam must have been a blacksmith, for he brought down from paradise with him, five things made of iron ; an anvil, a pair of tongs, two hammers, a large and a small one, and a needle! Analogous to this is the affirmation of the Scyth¬ ians, mentioned by Herodotus,® that there fell from heaven into the Scythian district, four things made of gold; a plough, a yoke, an axe, and a goblet. The palladium of Troy, it was said, also, fell down from heaven. It was a small statue of Pallas, holding a distaff and spindled We believe there is no authority in the bible, either for the superiority of Adam’s knowledge, or of the circumstances in which he was placed : on the contrary, Moses represents him and his : immediate descendants, in that rude state, in which all the original and distinct tribes of men have been found at one time or another; living on the spontaneous productions of the earth, on fruits and roots; ignorant of the existence and use of the metals, (and there could be no civilization where these were unknown;) naked and in¬ sensible of the advantages of clothing: in process of time, using a slight co¬ vering of leaves, or other vegetable productions, and subsequently applying the skins of animals to the same purpose; then constructing huts or dwellings of the leaves and branches of trees; attaining the knowledge of, and use of fire ; and making slight attempts to cultivate the earth; for slight indeed they must have been, in the infancy of the human race, before animal power was applied to agricultural labor, or the implements of husbandry were known. Of these last, rude implements formed of sticks, might have been, and probably were used, as they have been by rude people in all ages. Virgil’s description of the aborigines of Italy, previous to the reign of Saturn, is merely a poetic version of traditions of man in primeval times: Nor laws they knew, nor manners, nor the care Of lab’ring oxen, nor the shining share, (the plough.) Nor arts of gain, nor what they gained to spare. Their exercise the chase : the running flood Supplied their thirst: the trees supplied their food. Then Saturn came. En. viii, 420. Vitruvius says, “ In ancient times, men, like wild beasts, lived in forests, caves, and groves, feeding on wild food; and that they acquired the art of producing fire, from observing it evolved from the branches of trees, when violently rubbed against each otheb, during tempestuous winds.” 6 Similar traditions of their ancestors were preserved by all die ancient nations, and some of their religious ceremonies were based upon them. Thus at the Plynteria, a festival of the Greeks in honor of Minerva, it was customary to carry in the procession a cluster of figs, which intimated the progress of civilization among the first inhabitants of the earth, as figs served them for food, after they had acquired a disrelish for acorns. The Arca¬ dians eat apples till the Lacedemonians warred with them. d The oak was revered because it afforded man in the first ages, both food and drink, by its acorns and honey, (bees frequently making their hives a iv, 5. b These and similar traditions of other people, indicate the extreme antiquity »f the implements named. The ancients were as ignorant of their origin as we are. c ii, 1. d Plutarch in Alcibiades and Coriolanus. In Primeval Times. 13 t^hap. 2.] upon it,) and from this circumstance probably, was it made “ sacred to Jupi¬ ter.” The elder Pliny, in the proem to his 16th book, speaks of trees which bear mast, which says he, “ ministered the first food unto our fore¬ fathers.” Thus Ovid in his description of the golden age:— The teeming earth, yet guiltless of the plough, And unprovoked, did fruitful stores allow : Content with food which nature freely bred, On wildings and on strawberries they fed ; Cornels and bramble-berries gave the rest, And falling acorns furnished out the feast. Metam. ii, 135. In the ancient histories of the Chinese, it is recorded of their remote an¬ cestors, that they were entirely naked and lived in caves; their food wild herbs and fruits, and the raw flesh of animals; until the art of obtaining fire by the rubbing of two sticks together was discovered, and husbandry introduced. There are persons however, who suppose it dishonoring the Creator, to imagine that Adam, the immediate work of his hands, and the intellectual and moral head of the human family, should at any period of his existence have been destitute of many of those resources which the Indians of our continent, and other savages possess ; although it is evident, that some time must have elapsed before he could realize, (if he ever did,) all the conveniences which even they enjoy. There is nothing unreasonable or unscriptural in supposing that all the primitive arts originated in man’s immediate wants. Indeed, they could not have been introduced in any other way, for it is preposterous to sup¬ pose the Creator would directly reveal an art to man, the utility of which he could not perceive, and the exercise of which his wants did not require. Nor could any art have been preserved in the early ages, except it fur¬ nished conveniences which could not otherwise be procured. On no other consideration could the early inhabitants of the world have been in¬ duced to practice it. But when success attended the exercise of their in¬ genuity in devising means to supply their natural and artificial wants, the simple arts would be gradually introduced, and their progress and perpe¬ tuity secured by practice and by that alone. This appears to have been the opinion of the ancients: Jove willed that man, by long experience taught, Should various arts invent by gradual thought. Geor. i, 150. 14 Original Water Vessels rBook l L. CHAPTER III. Origin or Vessels for containing water—The Calabash the first one—It has always been used— Found by Columbus in the cabins of Americans—Inhabitants of New Zealand, Java, Sumatra, and of the Pacific Islands employ it—Principal vessel of the Africans—Curious remark of Pliny respecting it —Common among the ancient Mexicans, Romans and Egyptians—Offered by the latter people ^>n their altars—The model after which vessels of capacity were originally formed—Its figure still preserved in several—Ancient American vessels copied from it—Peruvian bottles—Gurgulets—The form of the Cala¬ bash prevailed in the vases and goblets of the ancients—Extract from Persius’ Satires—Ancient veisels for heating water modeled after it—Pipkin—Sauce-pan—Anecdote of a Roman Dictator—The com¬ mon cast iron cauldron, of great antiquity; similar in shape to those used in Egypt, in the time of Ra- meses —Often referred to in the Bible and in the Iliad—Grecian, Roman, Celtic, Chinese, aud Peruvian cauldions—Expertness of Chinese tinkers—Croesus and the Delphic oracle—Uniformity in the figure of cauldrons—Cause of this—Superiority of their form over straight sided boilers—Braz-eu cauldrons highly prized— Water Pots of the Hindoos—Women drawing water—Anecdote of Darius and a young female of Sardis—Dexterity of oriental women in balancing water pots—Origin of the Canopus —Ingenuity and fraud of an Egyptian priest—Ecclesiastical deceptions in the middle ages. Water being equally necessary as more solid food, man would early be impelled by bis appetite, to procure it in larger quantities than were re¬ quired to allay his thirst upon a single occasion; and, also the means by which he might convey it with him, in his wanderings, and to his family. It is not improbable that this was the first of man’s natural wants which required the exercise of his inventive faculties to supply. The luxuri¬ ance of the vegetable region, in which all agree that he was placed, fur¬ nished in abundance the means that he sought; and which his natural sa¬ gacity -would lead him, almost instinctively, to adopt. The calabash or gourd, was probably the first vessel used by man for collecting and con¬ taining water: and although we have no direct proof of this, there is evidence, (that may be deemed equally conclusive,) in the general fact— that man, in the infancy of the arts, has always, when under similar cir¬ cumstances, adopted the same means, to accomplish the same objects. Of this, proofs innumerable, might be adduced from the history of the old world, particularly with regard to the uses and application of natural productions; and when at the close of the fifteenth century, Columbus opened the way to a new world, having in his search after one continent dis¬ covered another (of which neither he, nor his contemporaries ever dreamt, and which in extent exceeded all that his visions ever portrayed;) he found the calabash the principal vessel in use among the inhabitants, both for containing and transporting water. The calabashes of the Indians, (says Washington Irving,) served all the purposes of glass and earthenware, supplying them with all sorts of do¬ mestic utensils. They are produced on stately trees, of the size of elms.® The New Zealanders possessed no other vessel for holding liquids ; and the same remark is applicable at the present day to numerous savage tribes. Osbeck, in his Voyage to China, remarks, that the Javanese sold to Eu¬ ropean ships, among other necessaries, “ bottles of gourds filled with wa¬ ter, as it is made up for their own use.” b When Kotzebue was at Owhyhee, Tamaahmaah the king, although he •Irving’s Colum. i, 105, and Penny Mag. for 1834, p. 416. b i, 150. Chap. 3 ] The Calabash. 15 possessed elegant European table utensils, used at dinner, a gourd contain¬ ing taro-dough, into which he dipped his fingers, and conveyed it by them to his mouth, observing to the Russian navigator, “ this is the cus¬ tom in my country and I will not depart from it.” a This conduct of Ta- maahmaah, resembled that of Motezuma. Solis observes, that he ha I “ cups of gold and salvers of the same,” but that he sometimes drank out of cocoas and natural shells. b When Kotzebue revisited the Radack Islands, “ he carried to them seeds of gourds for valuable vessels,” as well as others of which the fruit is eaten . 0 “ There is a gourd more esteemed by the inhabitants of Johanna for the large shell, than for the meat. It will hold a pailful. Its figure is like a man’s head, and therefore called a calabash.” d The people of Sumatra drink out of the fruit called labu, resembling the calabash of the West Indies : a hole being made in the side of the neck and another one at the top for vent. In drinking they generally hold the vessel at a distance above their mouths, (like the ancient Greeks and Romans) and catch the stream as it falls; the liquid descending to the stomach without the action of swallowing . 0 The Japanese have a tradition that the first man owed his being to a calabash/ Capt. Harris, in his “ Wild sports of Southern Africa” (chap, xvii.) in describing the residence of the king of Kapaue, observes, “ the furniture consisted exclusively of calabashes of beer, ranged round the wall.” And again in chap, xx :—“ a few melons, rather deserving the name of vegeta¬ bles, were the only fruit we met with ; and these I presume are nurtured chiefly for the gourd, which becomes their calabash or water flagon.” Clavigero says, “ the drinking vessels of the ancient Mexicans, were made of a fruit similar to gourds.”^ For such purposes, the calabash has ever been used wherever it was known, and will continue to be so, as long as it grows and man lives. The elder Pliny, in speaking of the cultivation of gourds, a species of which were used as food by the Romans, observes, “ of late they have been used in baths and hot houses for pots and pitchers;” but he adds, that they were used in ancient times to contain wine, “ in place of rund- lets and barrels.” From him we learn that the ancients had discovered the means of controlling their forms at pleasure. He says, long gourds are produced from seeds taken from the neck ; while those from the middle produce round or spherical ones, and those from the sides, bring forth such as are short and thicks Among the offerings which the Egyptians placed on their altars, was the gourd. An undeniable proof of its value in their estimation; for no¬ thing was ever offered by the ancients to their gods, which was not highly esteemed by themselves . 1 The consecration of this primeval vessel, in common with other objects of ancient sacrifice, doubtless originated in its universal use in the early ages; and most likely gave rise to the subse¬ quent practice of dedicating cups and goblets, of gold, silver, and some¬ times of precious stones. As the gourd or calabash was not only the first vessel used to collect and convey water, but one apparently designed by the Creator for these purposes, a figure of it is here given. * Y.°y a ? e Discov. Lon. 1821. i, 313, and ii, 193. b Conquest Mexico, Lon. 1724. iii, 83. e iii, 175. d A New Account of East India and Persia, by Dr. Fryer. Lon. 1698. 17 «Marden’s Suraat. 61. f Montanus’ Japan. 275. e Hist, of Mexico. Lon. 1837. i. 438. k Nat. Hist, xix, 5. ' Wilkinson i, 276. 16 Ancient Vases. [Book I. This interesting production of nature is entitled to par¬ ticular notice, because, it is, in all probability, the original model of the earliest artificial vessels of capacity; the pattern from which they were formed. It is impossible to glance at the figure without recognizing its striking re¬ semblance to our jugs, flasks, jars, demijohns, &c. In¬ deed when man first began to make vessels of clay, he had no other pattern to guide him in their formation but this, one with which he had been so long familiar, and the figure of which experience had taught him was so well adapted to his wants. Independent of other advantages of this form, it is the best to impart strength to fragile materials. That the long necked vases of the ancients were modeled after it, is obvious. Many of them differ nothing from it in form, except in the ad¬ dition of a handle and base. The oldest vessels figured in the Grande Description of Egypt, by the Savans of France, and in Mr. Wilkinson’s late work on the ancient Egyptians, are fac-similes of it. The same remark applies to those of the Hindoos and Chinese. The first three on the left are of earthenware from Thebes, from Wilkinson’s second volume, p. 345, 354. “ Golden ewers” of a similar form were used by the rich Egyptians for containing water, to wash the hands and feet of their guests, (page 202.) The next is Etruscan, from the “ History of the ancient people of Italy.” Florence 1832. Plate 82. The adjoining one is a Chinese vase, from “ Designs of Chinese Build¬ ings, Furniture,” &c. Lon. 1757. The last is from Egypt. Similar shaped vessels of the Greeks, Romans, and other people might easily be pro¬ duced. See Salt’s Voyage to Abyssinia, page 408, and Grande Descrip¬ tion, E. M. Vol. 2. Plates I, I, and F, F. In the Hamilton Collection of Vases, examples may be found. In the splendid volume of plates to D’Agincourt’s Storia Dell’ Arte, the figure of the gourd may be seen to have prevailed in artificial vessels in the fourth, fifth, and up to the twelfth centuries. Numerous vessels from the tombs of the Incas, are identical in figure with the calabash; while others, retaining its general feature, have the bellied part worked into resemblances of the human face. As several old Peruvian bottles exhibit a peculiar and useful feature, we have inserted (figure 3,) a representation of one, in the possession of J. R. Chilton, M. D. of this city. An opening is formed in the inner side of the handle which communicates with the interior of the vessel, by a smaller one made through the side, as shown in the section. By this device air is admit¬ ted, and a person can either drink from, or pour out the contents, with- (Ihap. 3.] 'Peruvian Vessels. 17 out experiencing that disagreeable gurgling which accompanies the emptying of a modern bottle. The openings are so arranged as to form a very shrill whistle —by blowing into the mouth of the vessel, a sound is produced, equal to that from a boatswain’s call on board a man of war. These vessels have been noticed bv most 7ZT travelers in South America. They are some- „ _ 0 . _ ... times found double—two being’ connected at the bottom with only one discharging orifice. Some are of silver. Frezier, among others, gives a figure of one resembling two gourds united. It “ consists of two bottles joined together, each about six inches high, having a hole (tube) of communication at the bottom. One of them is open, and the other has on its orifice a little animal, like a mon¬ key, eating a cod of some sort; under which is a hole which makes a whist¬ ling when water is poured out of the mouth of the other bottle, or when that within is but shaken; because the air being pressed along the surface of both bottles, is forced out at that little hole in a violent manner.” 4 These whistles are so constructed, as to play either when the air is drawn in through them, or forced out. Perhaps the water organs of the ancients, were originally little more than an assemblage of similar vessels. M. Frezier thought the smallest of these bottles were designed expressly to produce music; if so, they are (we suppose) the only water instru ments extant. b The large earthen vessels used by the water carriers of Mexico, strict¬ ly resemble the gourd. Saturday Mag. vol. vi, 128. The “gurgulets” of the Persians, Hindoos, and Egyptians of the present day, are rather larger, but of the same shape as the Florence flask, i. e. of the gourd. They are formed “ of a porous earth, and are so called, from the sound made when water is poured out of them to be drunk, as a A Voyage to the South Sea, &c. in 1712, ’13, T4. Lon. 1717. 274. b The following extract from a late newspaper affords additional information respect¬ ing these vessels in remote ages: “The Peruvian Pompeii .—We recently gave a description of an ancient subterranean city, destroyed by an earthquake, or some other sudden convulsion of nature, lately discovered near the port of Guarmey, in Truxillo, on the coast of Peru. Tiie only ac¬ count of it which appears to have as yet been received in the United States, was brought by Capt. Ray of Nantucket, who a few weeks since returned from the South Seas in the ship Logan, and who, havings visited the spot whilst the inhabitants of Guarmey were excavating the buried streets and buildings, obtained several interesting relics of its ancient but unknown population. The Portland Orion describes some of these, of which we did not find any mention in the Nantucket Inquirer from whom we derived our former information, and they are of a character which may possibly afford the dili¬ gent antiquary some clue to the age and origin of the people to whom they belonged. They are two grotesquely shaped earthen vessels, somewhat rudely yet ingeniously constructed, of a species of clay, colored or burnt nearly black. One of these, which is capable of holding about a pint, is shaped somewhat like a quail, with a spout two inches long, rising from the centre of the back, from which also a handle extends to the side. The other is a double vessel, connected at the centre, and also at the top, by a handle reaching from the spout or nozzle of one vessel to the upper part of the other—the lat¬ ter not being perforated but wrought into the likeness of a very unprepossessing hu¬ man countenance. At the back of what may be considered the head of this face, is a small hole, so contrived that on blowing into the mouth of the vessel a shrill note is produced, similar to that of a boatswain’s call. From the activity with which the exca¬ vations were proceeding when Capt. Ray left the place, it may be hoped that discover¬ ies will be made which will greatly add to the antiquarian history of this continent.” 3 18 Primitive Boilers. [Book I. the Indians do without touching it with their lips.” a The bottles of the Negroes of Africa, are made of woven grass of the same shape. Earth¬ en gnrgulets for cooling liquids are made in this city. The gourd was not merely imitated by primitive potters and braziers, but when the arts were at their zenith, its figure predominated in the most elaborate of vases. The preceding remarks show, that the forms of many of our ordinary vessels of capacity, did not originate in caprice or by chance, but are derived from nature; that the pattern which man has co¬ pied, was furnished him by his Maker; and that with all his ingenuity, he has never been able to supersede it. Persius in his third Satire, al¬ ludes to the transition from primitive earthenware and brazen vessels to those which luxury had introduced in his days : Now gold hath banished Numa’s simple vase, And the plain brass of Saturn's frugal days.— Now do we see to precious goblets turu, The Tuscan pitcher, and the vestal urn. Drummond, 105. Although VESSELS FOR HEATING WATER. not strictly connected with the subject, we may observe that the gourd is probably the original vessel for heating water , cooking, 8fc. In these and other applications, the neck is sometimes used as a handle, and an opening made into the body by removing a portion of it, (see illustration No. 4,) its exterior being kept moistened by water while on the fire, as still practised by some people, while others apply a coating of clay to protect it from the effects of flame. In some parts where the calabash or gourd is not cultivated, cocoa shells are used in the same manner. Kotzebue found the Radack Islanders thus heating liquids. “ On my return, I fell in with a company sitting round a fire and boiling something in cocoa shells.” b A primitive Su¬ matran vessel for boiling rice is the bamboo, which is still used—by the time the rice is dressed, the vessel is nearly destroyed by the fire. c When in process of time, vessels for heating water were formed wholly of clay, they were fashioned after the gourd. Figures of ancient saucepans both of metal and fictile ware, greatly resemble it, and so do some of those of . ' O «/ t modern times. The common earthenware pipkin is an example. This useful implement has come down from very remote ages, and apparently with slight alteration in its figure. (See figure in No. 4.) In some parts of Europe, its form approaches still nearer to that of the gourd. It is used over all the eastern world. Dampier observed in Tonquin, “ women sitting in the streets with a pipkin, over a small fire full of chau,” or tea, which they thus prepared and sold. d Fosbroke enumerating the house¬ hold utensils represented in Egyptian sculptures, remarks, “ we meet too with vessels of the precise form of modern sauce¬ pans.” 6 An interesting circum- in connection with one of these was three times Consul, was as No. 4 . Gourd, Cauldron, and Pipkin. stance is vessels. recorded in Roman history Marcus Curius Dentatus, who 47. o Fryer’s India and Persia, p b Voyage Discov. ii, 109, and iii, 152, and Fryer’s India, 7. c Marsden’s Sumatra, GO. d Dampier’s Voyage. Lon. 1705 t 1705. ii, 31 • For. Topog. 83. Iron and Brasen Cauldrons. 19 Chap. 3.] remarkable for his frugality as his patriotism. During the time that he swayed the destinies of his country, the ambassadors of the Samnites vi¬ sited him at his cottage, and found him boiling vegetables in an earthen pot or pipkin ; they attempted to bribe him with large presents; but he characteristically replied, “ I prefer my earthen pots to all your vessels of gold and of silver.” To this Juvpnal alludes, when contrasting the frugality of former times with the luxury of his contemporaries : When with the herbs* he gathered, Curius stood And seethed his pottage o’er the flaming wood ; That simple mess, an old Dictator’s treat, The highway laborer now would scorn to eat. Sat. xi, 105. The common cast iron bellied kettle or cauldron, furnishes another proof of the forms of culinary vessels having undergone little or no change, while passing through so many ages : its shape is precisely the same as that of the situla or pot, sculptured on the obelisk of Heliopolis, (See its figure in No. 4, and Dr. Shaw’s Travels, 402, 413.) Others with ears and feet, are delineated in the Theban sculptures. In the tomb of Rameses the Third, is a graphic representation of an Egyptian kitchen, showing the processes of slaying the animals—cutting the joints—pre¬ paring ingredients for seasoning— boiling the meat—stirring the fire— making- and baking bread, &c. &c. The cauldrons of various sizes are similar in shape to ours. Wilkinson’s An. Egyp. ii, 351, 383, 385. There is reason to believe that boilers of this form were common to all the na¬ tions of the ancient world ; that the ‘ pottage ’ by which Jacob defrauded Esau of his birthright; and the ‘ savoury meat,’ which Rebecca cooked for Isaac, were prepared in them. To one of these, Job referred; “ out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or cauldron.” xli, 20. And Elisha also, when he said to his servant. “ Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.” 2 Kings, iv, 38. It is often mentioned by Homer, in whose writings it forms a conspicuous object: And soon the flames encompassing around its ample belly. Iliad, xviii, 427. Cowper Such were the boilers of Argos, (respecting which arose the saying, “ a cook from Elis—a cauldron from Argos— tapestry from Corinth, &c.) and of the Spartans, in which they prepared their famous * black broth.’ A figure of a Roman carddron, in which the priests boiled their portion of the sacrifice, is given by Misson, in the first volume of his Travels, plate 4. It has a bail, three studs or feet, and is of a spherical shape resembling ours, -but ornamented with figures round its sides. The same shaped boilers were common among the Gauls, who probably derived the knowledge of making them from the Phenicians. The art of tinning culinary vessels, which they are said to have invented, (Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxiv, 17,) was most likely obtained from the same source. 6 The Celtiberi are said to have been expert workers of iron. Their “ most ancient iron pot,” had ears and feet, and was shaped like those of the Egyptians. (See its figure in ‘ Scottish Gael.’ p. 316. The cast iron cauldrons of the Chinese are also examples. These are made very thin; and what is singular, their mechanics have the art of soldering them when cracked, with portions of the same metal, by means of a blow-pipe and small furnace. 0 They are the principal article of furniture in the dwell- * Plutarch, says they were turnips. b Pliny, b. xii, 1, says, the Gauls were first induced to invade Rome, by one of their countrymen, a smith, who had long worked in that city. He carried home, figs, raisins, oil and wine, which “ set the teeth of his countrymen watering.” Holland’s Trans. c “ During our short stay this morning in the village of Fan-houn, I had an oppor 20 Cauldrons. [Book 1 ings of the poor. The kettles of the Chinese says Mr. Bell, (who lodged one day in a cook’s house near Pekin,) “ are indeed very thin, and made of cast iron, being extremely smooth both within and without.” Fuel is scarce and they used bellows to heat them. a These we have no reason to suppose have undergone any change from the remotest times, and they are in all probability of the same foym as the celebrated cauldrons of an¬ tiquity. That those of the Scythians, the ancient Tartars and Chinese, were similar to those of the Greeks, is asserted by Herodotus. “ As Scythia is barren of wood, they have the following contrivance to dress the flesh of the victim: having flayed the animal, they strip the flesh from the bones; and if they have them at hand, they throw it into certain pots made in Scythia, and resembling the lesbian cauldrons, though somewhat larger.” Herod, iv, 61. The boilers of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, had the same ge¬ neral form. See plate 31 of Frezier’s Voyage to the South Sea, in 1712, ’13, ’14. As these people had not the use of iron, their vessels were of earthenware, copper and its alloys, silver, and even of gold. In the temple pie at Cusco, “were boyling pots and other vessels of gold.” Two enor¬ mous cauldrons were carried by the conquerors to Spain, “ each sufficient wherein to boyle a cow.” (Purchas’ Pilgrimage, 1061, and 1073.) The negroes of Africa, made theirs of the same shape. (Generale Histoire, tom. v, Planche 88.) Large cauldrons were common of old; they are frequently mentioned by Homer, Herodotus, &c. and in the Bible. Maho¬ met, in the 34th chapter of the Koran, speaks of large cauldrons be¬ longing to David. Some of those represented at Thebes, appear suf¬ ficiently capacious to contain the cooks that attend them. Croesus boiled together a tortoise and a lamb in a large brasen cauldron, which had a cover of the same metal; hence the reply of the Delphic oracle, to the demand of his ambassadors to be informed what Croesus was at that mo¬ ment doing: E’en now the odors to my sense that rise A tortoise boiling with a lamb supplies, Where brass below, and brass above it lies. Herod, i, 47. The question naturally arises—why such uniformity in the figure of this utensil ? and what has induced people in distant times and countries to make it resemble a portion of a hollow sphere or spheroid, instead of forming it with plane sides and bottom ? It is clear there was some con¬ trolling reason for this—else why should the fanciful Greek and Roman artists, have permitted it to retain its primitive form, while all other house¬ hold implements, as lamps, vases, drinking vessels, and tripods, &c. were moulded by them into endless shapes Brasen cauldrons we know were highly prized. They were sometimes polished, and their sides richly or¬ namented, but still their general form was the same as those of more an¬ cient people. In this respect, both Greeks and Romans left them as they found them. The reason is obvious. When a liquid is heated in a cy¬ lindrical or other vessel having perpendicular sides, it easily ‘ boils over but when the sides incline inwards at the top, as in these cauldrons; it cannot well be thrown out by ebullition alone ; for the heated waves as they tunity of seeing a tinker execute what I believe is unknown in Europe. He mended and soldered frying-pans of cast iron, that were cracked and full of holes, and restored them to their primitive state, so that they became as serviceable as ever. He even took so little pains to effect this, and succeeded so speedily, as to excite my astonishment.” Van Braam’s Journal of the Dutch embassy to China, 1794—5. Lon. 1798. ii, 78, and Chinese Repository, Canton, 1838. iv, 38. ‘Travels from Petersburgh to diverse parts of Asia. Lon 1764. i, 312. Cauldrons. 21 Chap. 3.j rise are directed towards the centre, where their force is expended against each other. Dyers, brewers, distillers, Sec. are well aware of this fact. The remote ancients had therefore observed the inefficiency of straight sided boilers, and applied a simple and beautiful remedy; one whch was possibly suggested by the previous use of natural vessels, as the gourd, &c. This is no mean proof of their sagacity, and of the early progress of the arts of founding and moulding. From the extreme antiquity of these cauldrons, it is not improbable that their form is similar to the pattern, which Tubal-Cain himself used, and which he taught his pupils to imitate. Similar vessels are found in the workshops of Vulcan. See plate 20, Painting, in D’Agincourt’s Storia Dell’Arte, Prato, 1S27. Brasen caul¬ drons were formerly considered suitable presents for kings—rewards of valor—prizes in the games, &c. Of the gifts offered by Agamemnon to to appease the wrath of Achilles, were— Seven tripods, never sullied yet by fire; Of gold, ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright.’ 1 Iliad, ix, 150. Coicper. They were. among the goods which Priam took to redeem the body of Hector. He also took ten talents forth of gold, All weighed; two splendid tripods ; cauldrons four; And after these a cup of matchless worth. Jb. xxiv. 294. The prizes at the funeral games on the death of Patrocles, were— ‘ Capacious cauldrons, tripods bright.’ In the 17th century, they were considered suitable presents to a Persian Emir—“ At length he came, and was presented by the caravan-Bashi with a piece of satin, half a piece of scarlet cloth, and two large copper cauldrons.” Tavernier’s Trav. Lon. 167S. 61. These unobtrusive vessels are now used without exciting a thought of their worth, or of the ingenuity of those to whom we are indebted for them; although they have contributed infinitely more to the real comfort and innocent gratification of man, than all the splendid vases that were ever made. These have always had their admirers and historians. Vo¬ lumes embellished with costly illustrations, have been written on their forms, materials, ages and authors; but no modern Hamilton, has entered the kitchen to record and illustrate the origin, improvement, modifications and various uses of the cauldron. This vessel, like a despised but ne¬ cessary attendant, has been the inseparable companion of man in his pro¬ gress from barbarism to refinement, and has administered to his necessi¬ ties at every stage: yet it has ever been disregarded, while literary cuisi- niers have expatiated in numerous treatises on the virtues of meats pre¬ pared in it. Endless are the essays on sauces, but the history of the more useful sauce-pan is yet to be written. An account of this vessel and of the cauldron, would place in a very novel and instructive light, the do¬ mestic manners of the world; and an examination of the various modes of heating the latter, would bring to view many excellent devices for economizing fuel. 1 Vases used by oriental women to convey water from public wells and fountains for domestic purposes, are often referred to, by sacred and pro¬ fane authors. Figure No. 5, represents a female of Hindostan, bearing a See the ancient Peruvian furnace in Frezier’s Voyage to the South Seas, by which three cauldrons were heated by a very small pot of lama’s dung, or of the plant icho ; whicn were used for want of other fuel. 22 Water Pots. [Book 1. one, the shape of which, closely resembles tho gourd with the neck removed. This is their ge¬ neral form throughout the east. The Hindoos, have them of copper or brass, as well as of earth¬ enware, but they are all shaped alike. This is not a little singular, because a deviation from a globular to a cylindrical form, would enable theii mechanics to make those of metal at much less expense. They therefore adhere to the pri¬ mitive model, because of its superiority over others, or from that adhesion to ancient customs which forms so prominent a feature in Asiatic character. In the early ages it was the univer¬ sal custom for young women to draw water. The daughters of princes and chief men, were not exempt from it. Isis and Osiris are sometimes represented with wa¬ ter vessels on their heads. There are several interesting examples in the Old Testament. Homer, as might be expected, frequently introduces fe¬ males thus occupied. When Nestor entertained Telemachus, he bade .The handmaids for the feast prepare, The seats to range, the fragrant wood to bring, And limpid waters from the living spring. Odys. iii, 544. Pope. And again at Ithaca; .With duteous haste a bevy fair, Of twenty virgins to the spring repair: * * * * * * Soon from the fount, with each a brimming urn, (Eumaeus in their train) the maids return. Ib. xx, 193 and 202. Fountains and wells became the ordinary places of assembly for young people—especially, “ at the time of the evening, the time that women go out to draw water.” Gen. xxiv, 11. Several of the Patriarchs first be¬ held their future wives on these occasions ; and were doubtless as much captivated by their industry and benevolent dispositions in relieving the wants of strangers and travelers, as by their personal charms. It was .Beside a chrystal spring— that Ulysses met the daughter of Antiphates. Travelers have often no¬ ticed the singular tact with which Asiatic women balance several of these water pots on their heads without once touching them with their hands. “ The finest dames of the Gentoos disdained not to carry water on their heads, with sometimes two or three earthen pots over one another , for house¬ hold service ; the like do all the women of the Gentiles.” Fryer’s Trav. 117. At one of their religious festivals, Hindoo women, “have a custom of dancing with several pots of water on their heads, placed one above anothei'.” Sonnerat, i, 150. A very pleasing instance of female dexterity in carrying water, is re¬ corded by Herodotus, v, 12. As Darius, king of Persia, was sitting pub¬ licly in one of the streets of Sardis, he observed a young woman of’great elegance and beauty, bearing a vessel on her head, leading a horse by a bridle fastened round her arm, and at the same time spinning some thread. Darius viewed her as she passed, with attentive curiosity, observing that her employments were not those of a Persian, Lydian, nor indeed of any Asiatic female ; prompted by what he had seen, he sent some of his at¬ tendants to observe what she did with the horse. They accordingly fol¬ lowed her—When she came to the river, she gave the horse some water Chap. 3.] Canopus. 23 and then filled her pitcher : having done this, she returned by the way she came, with the pitcher of water on her head, the horse fastened by a bridle to her arm, and as before, employed in spinning. Industrious labor is an ornament to every young woman—indeed nei¬ ther the symmetry of her person, nor the vigor of her mind, can be per¬ fectly developed without it. The fine forms and glowing health of the women of old, were chiefly owing to their temperate modes of living, their industrious habits, and the exercise they took in the open air. A circumstance recorded in the history of the Egyptians, accounts for the peculiar form of one of their favorite ves¬ sels, the Canopus ; the annexed figure of which, is taken from the ‘History of the ancient people of Italy,’ plate 27. It was named after one of their deities, who became fa¬ mous on account of a victory which he obtained over the Chaldean deity, Fire; —the story of which exhibits no small degree of ingenuity in a priest, and it affords a fair specimen of the miracles by which people were de¬ luded in remote times. The Chaldeans boasted, as they justly might, of the unlimited power of their god, and No. 6. A Canopus, they carried him about to combat with those of other provinces, all which he easily overcame and destroyed, for none of their images were able to resist the force of fire ! —At length a shrewd priest of Canopus, devised this artifice and challenged the Chal¬ deans to a trial, tie took an earthen jar, in the bottom and sides of which he drilled a great number of small holes ;—these he stopt up with wax, and then filled the jar with water : he secured the head of an old image upon it, and having painted and sufficiently disguised it, brought it forth as the god Canopus! In the conflict with the Chaldean Deity the wax was soon melted by the latter, when the water rushed out of the holes, and quickly extinguished the flames. Univ. Hist, i, 206. In me¬ mory of this victory, vessels resembling the figure of the god used on this occasion became common. Dr. Shaw gives the figure of one which he brought with him from Egypt. Trav. 425. See Montfaucon, tom. ii, liv. i, cap. IS. A figure of one throwing out water from numerous holes on every side is also given. Tom. ii, liv. iii. A somewhat similar case of superstition in the middle ages, is quoted by Bayle from Baronius ; being a trial of the virtue in the bones of two saints ; or rather a contest of priestly skill. St. Martin's relics being carried over all France came to Auxerre, and were deposited in the church of St. Germain, where they wrought several miracles. The priests of the latter considered him as great a saint as the former; they therefore demanded one half of the receipts, “ which were considerable;” but Martin’s priests contended that it was his relics that performed all the miracles, and therefore all the gifts belonged to them. To prove this, they proposed that a sick person should be put between the shrines of the saints, to ascertain which performed the cure. They therefore laid a leper between them, and he was healed on that side which was next to St. Martin’s bones, and not on the other ! the sick man then very naturally turned his other side, and was instantly healed on that also! Cardinal Baronius in commenting on this result, seriously observes, that St. Germain was as great a saint as St. Martin, but that as the latter had done him the fiavor ofi a visit, he suspended the influence he had with God, to do his guest the greatest honor ! The custom of having patron saints or gods was universal among the ancient heathen ; and the same sys¬ tem was carried by half pagan Christians of the dark ages to an incredible Wells. *4 [Book I. extent. Ecclesiastics peddled the country, like itinerant jugglers, with sacks of bones and other relics from the charnel house—the pretended virtues of which, they sold to the deluded multitude as in the above instance. CHAPTER IV. On Wells —Water one of the first objects of ancient husbandmen—Lot—Wells before the deluge— Digging them through rock subsequent to the use of metals—Art of digging them carried to great per¬ fection by the Asiatics—Modern methods of making them in loose soils derived from the East—Wells often the nuclei of cities—Private wells common of old—Public wells infested by Banditti—Wells nu¬ merous in Greece—Introduced there by Danaus—Facts connected with them in the mythologic ages— Persian ambassadors to Athens and Lacedemon thrown into wells—Phenician, Carthagenian and Roman wells extant—Caesar and Pompey’s knowledge of making wells enabled them to conquer—City of Pompeii discovered by digging a well—Wells in China, Persia, Palestine, India, and Turkey—Cisterns of Solomon—Sufferings of travelers from thirst—Affecting account from Leo Africanus—Mr. Bruce in Abyssinia—Dr. Ryers in Gombroon—Hindoos praying for water—Caravan of 2000 persons and 1800 camels perished in the African desert—Crusaders. As the human family multiplied, its members necessarily kept extend¬ ing themselves more and more from their first abode ; and in searching for suitable locations the prospect of obtaining water would necessarily ex¬ ert a controlling influence in their decisions. An example of this, in later times, is given by Moses in the case of Abraham and Lot. The land was too much crowded by their families and flocks, “ so that they could not dwell together,” and when they had concluded to separate, Lot selected the plain of Jordan, because ‘‘it was well watered everywhere.” Gen. xiii, 10. In the figurative language of the East, “Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan ;” in plain English, he went and carefully examined it. When thus extending themselves, the early in¬ habitants of the world, would frequently meet with locations every way adapted to their wants with the single exception of water; circumstances, which necessarily must have excited their ingenuity in devising means to obtain it. At what period of mans’ history he first had recourse to wells, we have no account; nor of the circumstances which led him to penetrate the earth , in search of water. Wells, we have no doubt, are of antediluvian origin, and the knowledge of them, like that of the primitive arts, has been preserved by uninterrupted use from the period of their first dis¬ covery. At first, they were probably -nothing more than shallow cavities dug in moist places; and their depth occasionally increased, in order to contain the surface water that might drain into them within certain inter¬ vals of time ; a mode of obtaining it still practised among barbarous peo¬ ple. The wells of Latakoo, described by Mr. Campbell, in his “ Travels in South Africa,” were of this description. They were but two feet deep and were emptied every morning. The people of New Holland, the most wretched and ignorant of our species, had similar excavations, at which Dampier, when on the coast in 16SS, obtained a supply for his ships. He says, “ we filled our barrels with water at wells which had been dug by the natives.” Burney’s Voy. iv, 260. Wells are also connected with the superstitions of th'e New Zealanders; and the Radack Islanders, when discovered by Kotzebue, had pits or square wells, which they had Chap. 4.] 'Public Wells. 25 dug for water. Kotzebue’s Voy. ii, 28, 66, and iii, 145, 223. The fresh water which Columbus found in the huts belonging to the Indians of Cuba, was probably obtained from similar wells ; but which the Span¬ iards, who found none but salt water, were unable to discover. Personal Nar. of Colum. 67. Boston, 1827. These simple excavations would naturally be multiplied and their dimensions enlarged as far as the limited means of man, in the early ages, would permit, and his increasing wants require. But when the discovery of the metals took place, (in the seventh generation from the first pair, ac¬ cording to both Moses and Sanchoniathon,) the depth, of wells would no longer be arrested by rocks, nor their construction limited to locations where these did not occur. From very ancient wells which still remain, it is certain, that at a time long anterior to the commencement of history, the knowledge of procuring water by means of them, was well under¬ stood, perhaps, equally so as at present. On this supposition only, can we reconcile the selection of locations for them composed wholly of rock. Some of the oldest wells known are dug entirely through that material, and to a prodigious depth. Man’s ingenuity was, perhaps, first exercised in procuring water; and it is not improbable, that the art of constructing wells was more rapidly carried to perfection than any other. The physical character of central Asia, its climate, universal deficiency of water, its swarms of in¬ habitants, and their pastoral, and agricultural pursuits, would necessarily contribute to this result. The Abbe Fleury, in his “ Manners of the An¬ cient Israelites,” justly observes, “ their numerous herds'of cattle necessa¬ rily induced them to set a very high value on their wells and cisterns ; and more especially as they occupied a country where there was no river but Jordan, and where rain seldom fell.” Chap. iii. In no other part of the world, even in modern times, has more science been evinced, or mechani¬ cal skill displayed in penetrating the earth, than is exhibited in some of the ancient wells of the east; and it is to their authors, that we are indebted for the only known method of sinking wells of great depth, through loose soils and quicksands, viz : by first constructing a curb, (of stone, brick, &c.) which settles as the excavation is deepened, and thereby resists the pressui-e of the surrounding soil. Wells are mentioned by Moses, as in common use among the ancient Canaanites; some of which at that remote age adjoined roads, for the be¬ nefit of travelers and the public at large. Indeed, all people who have had recourse to wells, have consecrated some of them to the convenience of strangers and travelers. The first wells were probably all of this descrip¬ tion. Most of those mentioned in history were certainly such. At one of these, Hagar rested and refreshed herself, when she fled from the ill treat¬ ment of Sarah. And it was “by the way” of this well, that Isaac was going when he first met with Rebecca. And we learn from Gen. xxv, 11, that he subsequently took up his abode near it; a custom by which wells frequently became nuclei of ancient cities. Jacob’s well is an example, if really dug by_him. When that patriarch and his family drank of its waters, few dwellings were near it; (Gen. xxiii, 19 ;) but, before the time of Alexander, these had so far increased, as with the ancient Shalem, to form the capital city of Samaria. And 600 years before Alexander’s con¬ quest of Judea, Jeroboam when he governed the ten tribes had a palace in the vicinity of this well. Josephus, Antiq. viii, 3. “ Tadmor in the wil¬ derness,” or Palmyra, one of the most splendid cities of the old world, Was built by Solomon (2 Chron. viii, 4,) in the- Syrian desert, and its loca¬ tion determined according to Josephus, (Antiq. viii, 6,) “because at that 4 26 Private Wells. [Book I, place only there are springs and pits (wells) of water.” Pliny makes the same remark, and speaks of its “abundance of water.” Nat. His. v, 25. Bonnini, in his ‘ Syracuse Antichi,’ remarks that most of the Sicilian cities took their names from the fountains they were near, or the rivers they bordered upon. The deep well in the Cumean Sybil’s cave, gave its name Lily be, both to the cape and town near it. Breval’s Remarks on Europe, 19 and 39. The same may be said of other European cities. Bath in Eng¬ land derived its name from the springs near it. It was named Caer-Badon, or the place of baths, before the Roman invasion. The city of Wells, also, was named after the wells of water near it, especially the one now known as St. Andrew’s Well. Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary. Many others might be named. Private wells were, however, very common in ancient times. Abraham and Isaac constructed several for the use of their own families and flocks. David’s spies were secreted in the well of a private house. “Water out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well,” is the language of Proverbs, v, 15 ; and in the 2d Book of Kings, xviii, 31, we read of “ every one drinking water out his of own cisternor pit as it is in the margin; a term often used by eastern writers, synonymously with well. In the plans of private houses at Karnac, it appears that the ancient Egyptians arranged their houses and court yards (Grande Description, tom. iii, Planche xvi,) in a manner very similar to those of the Romans,- as seen at Pompeii, and like these, each house was generally furnished with a round well and an oblong cistern. Lardner’s Arts of the Greeks and Romans, i, 44. “ If I knew a man incurably thankless,” says Seneca, “ I would yet be so kind as to put him on his way, to let him light a can¬ dle at mine, or draw water at my well.” Seneca on Benefits; L’Estrange’s Trans. The story of Apono, an Italian philosopher, and reputed magi¬ cian, of the 13th century, indicates that almost every house had a well. He, however, had not one, or it was dry, and his neighbor having refused to let his maid draw water from his well, Apono, it was said, by his magic caused it through revenge to be carried off by devils. Bayle. Numerous wells of extreme antiquity are still to be seen in Egypt. Van Sleb notices several. Besides those in some of the pyramids, there are others which are probably as old as those structures. Mr. Wilkinson men¬ tions one near the pyramids of Geezer. An. Egyp. vol. iii. Among the ruins of Nineveh, a city whose foundations were laid by Ashur, the son of an antediluvian, is a remarkable well, which supplies the peasants of the vicinity with water, and who attribute to it many virtues.® Captain Rich named it Tkisbe’s Well. The immediate successors of that Pharaoh who patronized Joseph erected stations to command the wells, (which were previously in use, and probably had been for ages,) at Wadec Jasous, and these same wells still supply the port'of Philoteras or iEnnum, on the Red Sea, with water, as they did four thousand years ago. b The building of stations to protect wells was common in ancient times, on account of robbers laying in wait near them. There is an allusion to this in Judges, “ They are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water.” Chap, v, 11. It was at the public fountains that the Pelasgi attacked the Athenian women. Near the ruins of an Egyptian Temple at Wady El Mecah, is an enclosure, in the centre of which is a well. “All round the well there is a platform or gallery raised six feet, on which a guard of soldiers might walk all round. In the upper part “Narrative of a residence in Koordistan, and on the site of ancient Nineveh, by C. J. Rich, Lon 1836. Vol. ii, 26 and 34. b An. Egyp. Vol i, 46. Grecian Wells. 27 Chap. 4.] of the wall are holes for discharging arrows.” Fosbrokes ’ For. Top. 322. The custom of guarding the roads, especially in the vicinity of tanks and wells, is still common. Fryer in his Travels in India, noticed it. “We found them in arms, not suffering their women to stir out of the town un¬ guarded, to fetch water.” Page 126, 222. In Shaw’s Travels in Mauri¬ tania, he noticed a beautiful rill of water, which flowed into a basin of Roman workmanship, named 1 Shrub tve Krub ,’ i. e. “drink and be off,” on account of the danger of meeting assassins in its vicinity. Sandys speaks of the “ wells of fear.” Travels, p. 140. In ancient Greece, wells were very numerous. The inhabitants of Attica were supplied with water principally from them. Vitruvius re¬ marks, that the other water which they had, was of bad quality. B. viii, Chap. 3. Plutarch has preserved some of the laws of Solon respecting wells. By these it was enacted that all persons who lived within four furlongs of a public well, had liberty to use it; but when the distance was greater, they were to dig one for themselves; and they were requir¬ ed to dig at least six feet from their neighbor’s ground. Life of Solon. According to Pliny, Danaus sunk the first wells in Greece. Nat. His. vii, 56. Plutarch, in his life of Cimon, says the Athenians taught the rest of the Greeks “ to sow bread corn, to avail themselves of the use of wells, and of the benefit of fire ” From the connection in which wells are here mentioned, it is evident, that in the opinion of the ancient Greeks, they were among the first of man’s inventions ; and hence the antiquity of de¬ vices to raise water from them. In the mythologic ages, the labor of rais¬ ing water out of deep wells was imposed as a punishment on the daugh¬ ters of Danaus, for the murder of their husbands. The daughters of Phae- don (who was put to death by the thirty tyrants) threw themselves into a well, preferring death to dishonor. The body of Chrysippus, son of Pelops, was disposed of in the same way, after being murdered by his brothers, or his step-mother. When Darius sent two heralds to demand earth and water of the Athenians, (the giving of which was an acknow¬ ledgment of subjection,) they threw one of them into a ditch, and the other into a well, telling them in mockery to take what they came for. Plutarch. And Herodotus informs us, that the Lacedemonians treated the Persian ambassadors, who were sent to them on the same errand, in pre cisely the same manner. Herod, b. viii. 133. These brutal acts led to the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. Shortly after Alexander’s death, Perdiccas and Roxana murdered Statira and her sisters, and had their bodies thrown 1 into a well. Hence, wells were probably common in Babylon as well as in Nineveh; for this was most likely a private one; a public one would scarcely have been select¬ ed, where concealment was required. Sir R. K. Porter, in his Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, and ancient Babylon, Vol. i. 698, speaks of the remains of an ancient and “ amazing deep well,” near Shiraz. Remains of Phenician and Carthagenian wells are still to be seen. Near the ancient Barca, Della Celia discovered “wells of great depth, some of which still afford most excellent water.” a At Arar, are others, some of which are excavated through rocks of sandstone. At Arzew, the ancient Arsenaria, Dr. Shaw observed a number of wells, “which from the masonry appear to be as old as the city.” b The celebrated fountain of the sun of the an¬ cients, near the temple of Jupiter Ammon, according to Belzoni, is a well sixty feet deep, and eight feet square. (In this case and * Russel’s Barbary States. b Trav. p. 29. 28 Discovery of Herculaneum , [Book L numerous others, the terms “ well” and “ fountain,” are synonymous. “ The following is among the first observations of Sir William Gell, after landing on the Troad; “ we past many wells on the road, a proof that the country was once more populous than at present.® The inhabitants of Ithaca, the birth place of Ulysses and Telemachus, and the scene of some of the principal events recorded in the poetry of Homer, still draw their supplies of water, as in former times, from wells. b And as in other places, a tower was anciently erected to guard one of these wells, and protect the inhabitants while drawing water from it. c The ancient Egyptians irrigated the borders of the desert above the reach of the inundations of the Nile,yrom wells, which they dug for that purpose/ 1 The Chinese also use wells to water their land. As it regards the antiquity and importance of wells, it has been observed that the earliest account on record of the 'purchase of land, 23 Gen. was subsequent to that of a well, Gen. xxi, 30. Roman wells are found in every country which that people conquered. Their armies had constant recourse to them, when other sources of water failed, or were cut off by their enemies. Paulus Emilius, Pompey, and Cae¬ sar, often preserved their troops from destruction by havingrecoursetothem. This was strikingly illustrated by Caesar when besieged in Alexandria; the water in the cisterns having been spoiled by the Egyptians. It was Pom- pey’s superior knowledge in thus obtaining water, which enabled him to overthrow Mithridates, by retaining possession of an important post, which the latter abandoned for want of water. Thus the destinies of these manslayers and their armies, frequently depended on the wells which they made. The city of Rome, previous to the time of Appius Claudius Caecus, who first conveyed water to it by an aqueduct, A. U. C. 411, was supplied chiefly from fountains and wells, several of which are preserved to this day. (At Chartres in France, a Roman well is still known as the ‘ Saints’ Well,’ on account of martyrs drowned in it by the Romans.) In noticing the wells of ancient Italy, we may refer to a circumstance, which although trivial in itself, led to the most surprising discovery that had ever taken place on this globe, and one which in the interest it has excited is unexampled. In the early part of the eighteenth century, 1711, an Italian peasant while digging a well near his cottage, found some fragments of colored marble. These attracting attention, led to further ex¬ cavation, when a statue of Hercules was disinterred, and shortly after¬ wards a mutilated one of Cleopatra. These specimens of ancient art, were found at a considerable depth below the surface, and in a place which subsequently proved to be a temple situated in the centre of the ancient city of Herculaneum! This city was overwhelmed with ashes and lava, during an eruption of Vesuvius, A. D. 79, being the same in which the elder Pliny perished, who was suffocated with sulphurous va¬ pors, like Lot’s wife in a similar calamity. Herculaneum therefore had been buried 1630 years ! and while every memorial of it was lost, and even the site unknown, it was thus suddenly, by a resurrection then unparalleled in the annals of the world, brought again to light; and streets, temples, houses, statues, paintings, jewellery, professional imple¬ ments, kitchen utensils, and other articles connected with ancient domestic life, were to be seen arranged, as when their owners were actively mov- a Top. of Troy, Lon. 1804, p. 5. b Ed. Encyc. Art. Ithaca. c Lard. Arts of the Greeks and Rom. Vci. i, 136. d Wilk. Vol. i, 220. By Digging a Well. 29 Chap. 4.] ing among them. Even the skeletons of some of the inhabitants were found ; one, near the threshold of his door, with a bag of money in his hand, and apparently in the act of escaping. The light which this important discovery reflected upon numerous sub¬ jects connected with the ancients, has greatly eclipsed all previous sour¬ ces of information; and as regards some of the arts of the Romans, the information thus obtained, may be considered almost as full and satisfactory, as if one of their mechanics had risen from the dead and described them. Among the early discoveries made in this city of Hercules, (it having been founded by, or in honor of him, 1250, B. C.) not the least interesting is one of its public wells ; which having been covered by an arch and surrounded by a curb, the ashes were excluded. Phil. Trans, xlvii, 151. This well was found in a high state of preservation—it still con¬ tains excellent water, and is in the same condition as when the last fe¬ males retired from it, bearing vases of its water to their dwellings, and probably on the evening that preceded the calamity, which drove them from it for ever. Forty years after the discovery of Herculaneum, another city over¬ whelmed at the same time, was “ destined to be the partner of its disinter¬ ment, as well as of its burial.” This was Pompeii, the very name of which had been almost forgotten. As it lay at a greater distance from Vesuvius than Herculaneum, the stream of lava never reached it. It was inhumed by showers of ashes, pumice and stones, which formed a bed of variable depth from twelve to twenty feet, and which is easily removed; whereas the former city was entombed in ashes and lava to the depth of from seventy to a hundred feet. With the exception of the upper stories of the houses, which were either consumed by red hot stones ejected from the volcano, or crushed by the weight of the matter collected on their roofs, we behold in Pompeii a flourishing city nearly in the state in which it existed eighteen centuries ago! The buildings unaltered by newer fashions ; the paintings undimmed by the leaden touch of time ; household furniture left in the confusion of use; articles even of intrinsic value abandoned in the hurry of escape, yet safe from the robber, or scattered about as they fell from the trembling hand which could not stoop or pause for the most valuable possessions; and in some instances the bones of the inhabitants, bearing sad testimony to the suddenness and completeness of the calamity which overwhelmed them. Pompeii, i, 5. Lib. Entertaining Knowledge. In the prison, skeletons of unfortunate men were discov¬ ered, their leg bones being enclosed in shackles, and are so preserved in the museum at Portici. I noticed, says M. Simond, a striking memorial of this mighty eruption, in the Forum opposite to the temple of Jupiter; a new altar of white marble exquisitely beautiful, and apparently just out of the hands of the sculptor, had been erected there ; an enclosure was building all around ; the mortar just dashed against the side of the wall, was but half spread out; you saw the long sliding stroke of the trowel about to return and obliterate its own track—but it never did return; the hand of the work¬ man was suddenly arrested ; and, after the lapse of 1800 years, the whole looks so fresh, that you would almost swear the mason was only gone to his dinner, and about to come back immediately to finish his work! We can scarcely conceive it possible for an event connected with the arts of former ages, ever to happen in future times, equal in interest to the re¬ surrection of these Roman towns, unless it be the reappearance of the Phenician cities of the plain. From the facility of removing the materials at Pompeii, much greater Wells in Asia. [Book I, :$o advances have been made in uncovering the buildings and clearing the streets, than will probably ever be accomplished in Herculaneum. As might have been expected, several toclls have been found, besides rain¬ water cisterns and fountains in great numbers. The latter were so com¬ mon, that scarcely a street has been found without one ; and every house was provided with one or more of the former. During the excavations immediately previous to the publication of Sir Wm. Gell’s splendid work, ‘ Pompeiana,’ in 1832. a very fine well was discovered near the gate of the Pantheon, 11G feet in depth and contain ing 15 feet of water ! u That wells were numerous in Asia and the east generally, we can readily believe, when we learn that some of the most fertile districts, could neither be cultivated nor inhabited without them. Not less than fifty thousand wells were counted in one district of Hindostan, when taken possession of by the British; several of which are of very high antiquity. In China, wells are numerous, and often of large dimensions, and even lined with marble. In Pekin they are very common, some of the deepest wells of the world are in this country. M. Arago, (in his Essay on Arte¬ sian Wells,) observes that the Chinese have sunk them to the enormous depth of eighteen hundred feet! “ Dig a well before you are thirsty,” is one of their ancient proverbs. The scarcity of water over all Persia has been noticed by every traveler in that country. In general the inhabi¬ tants depend entirely on wells, the water of which is commonly bad. Fryer, xxxv, 67. To provide water for the thirsty has always been esteemed in the east, one of the most excellent of moral duties, hence benevolent princes and rich men, have, from the remotest ages, consecrated a portion of their wealth to the construction of wells, tanks, fountains, &c. for public use. It is re¬ corded as one of the glories of Uzziah’s reign, that he “digged many wells.” Over all Persia, there are numerous cisterns built for public use by the rich. Fryer, 225. “Another work of charity among the Hindoos” observes Mr. Ward, “is the digging of pools, to supply the thirsty traveler with water. The cutting of these, and building flights of steps, in order to descend into them, is in many cases very expensive; 4,000 rupees, (2,000 dollars,) are frequently expended on one.” At the ceremony of setting it apart for public use, a Brahmin, in the name of the donor, exclaims, “ I offer this pond of water to quench the thirst of mankind,” after which the owner cannot appropriate it to his own use. Hist. Hindoos, 374. Ferose, one of the monarchs of India, in the fourteenth century, “built fifty sluices” (to irrigate the land,) and “ one hundred and fifty wells.” One of the objects, which the fakirs, or mendicant philosophers of India, have frequently in view, in collecting alms, is to ‘ dig a well,’ and thereby atone for some particular sin. Other devotees stand in the roads with vessels of water, and give drink to thirsty travelers from the same motives. Among the supposed causes of Job’s affliction, adduced by Eliphaz, was, “thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,” xxii, 7: a most hor¬ rible accusation in such a country as Syria, and one which that righteous man denied with the awful imprecation, “ then let mine arm fall from my ihoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.” xxxi, 22 “ The sun was setting,” says Mr. Emerson, “as we descended the last chain, and with the departure of daylight, our tortures commenced, as it was too dark to see any of the fountains charitably erected by the Turks near the road.” b Large legacies are sometimes left by pious Turks for the • Pompeiana, Preface. 8 Letters from the Egean, Let. 5. Sufferings of Travelers. 31 Chap. 4. | erection of fountains, who believe they can do no act more acceptable to God. a This mode of expending' their wealth, at the same time that it conferred real and lasting benefits on the public, was the surest way of transmitting to posterity the names of the donors. The pools of Solomon, might have preserved his name from oblivion had nothing else respecting him been known. These noble structures, in a land where every other work of art has been hurried to destruction, remain almost as perfect as when they were constructed, and Jerusalem is still supplied with water from them, by an earthen pipe about ten inches in diameter. “ These reser¬ voirs are really worthy of Solomon; I had formed no conception of their magnificence; they are three in number, the smallest between four, and five hundred feet in length.” The waters are discharged from one into another, and conveyed from the lowest to the city. “ 1 descended into the third and largest; it is lined with plaister like the Indian chunan, and hanging terraces run all round it.” Lindsay’s Trav. Let. 9. According to the moral doctrines of the Chinese, “to repair a road, make a bridge, or dig a well,” will atone for many sins. Davis’ China, ii, 89. The Hindoos, says Sonnerat, believe the digging of tanks on the highways, renders the gods propitious to them; and he adds, “ Is not this the best manner of honoring the deity, as it contributes to the natural good of his creatures'?” Vol. i, 94. SUFFERINGS OF TRAVELERS FROM THIRST. The extreme sufferings which orientals have been, and are still called to endure from the want of water, have been noticed by all modern travelers, from Rubriques and Marco Paulo, to Burckhardt and Niebuhr. Wells in some routes, are a hundred miles apart, and are sometimes found empty; hence travelers have often been obliged to slay their camels for the wa¬ ter these animals retain in their stomachs. Leo Africanus noticed two marble monuments in his travels; upon one of which was an epitaph, recording the manner in which those who slept beneath them had met their doom. One was a rich merchant, the other a water carrier, who furnished caravans with water and provisions. On reaching this spot, scorched by the sun and their entrails tortured by the most excruciating thirst; there remained but a small quantity of water between them. The rich man, whose thirst now made him regard his gold as dirt, purchased a single cup of it for ten thousand ducats ; but that which possibly might have been sufficient to save the life of one of them, being divided be¬ tween both, served only to prolong their sufferings for a moment, and they both sunk into that sleep from which there is no waking upon earth. Lives of Travelers, by St. John. Mr. Bruce, when in Abyssinia, obtained water from the stomachs of camels, which his companions slew for that purpose. Sometimes the mouths and tongues of travelers, from want of this precious liquid, be¬ come dry and hard like those of parrots ; but these are not the only people who suffer from thirst. During the long continuance of a drought which prevailed over all Judea in Ahab’s reign, every class of people suffered. 1 Kings, xvii and xviii. And such droughts are not uncom¬ mon. “ The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,” (Isa. xli, 17,) in modern times as when the pro¬ phet wrote, and not the poor alone, for “ the honorable men are famish¬ ed,” and, as well as the multitude, are “dried up with thirst.” Isa. v, 13. Com. Porter’s Letters from Constantinople, i, 101. 32 Crusaders. [Book I Mechanics in cities were not exempt. “ The smith with the tongs, both worketh in the coals and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with ■ jhe strength of his arms, is hungry and his strength faileth, he drinketh no ivater and is faint.” Isa. xliv, 12. Dr. Ryers, who lived in the city of Gombroon, on the Persian Gulf, when describing the heat of the climate and the deficiency and bad quality of the water, observes that the heat made “ the mountains gape, the rocks cleft in sunder, the waters stagnate, to which the birds with hanging wings repair to quench their thirst; for want of which the herds do low, the camels cry, the barren earth opens wide for drink; and all things ap¬ pear calamitous for want of kindly moisture; in lieu of which hot blasts of wind and showers of sand infest the purer air, and drive not only us, but birds and beasts to seek remote dwellings, or else to perish here ;” and after removing to a village some miles distant, “ for the sake of water,” by a metaphor, that will appear to some persons as bordering on blas¬ phemy, he says, “ it was as welcome to our parched throats, as a drop of that cool liquid, to the importunate Dives.” Fryer, p. 418. Under similar circumstances, the Hindoos, night and day run through the streets, carry¬ ing boards with earth on their heads, and loudly repeating after the Brah¬ mins, a prayer, signifying “ God give us water.” Even in Greece and Rome, where water was in comparative abundance, agricultural laborers considered the Frog an object of envy, inasmuch as it had always enough to drink in the most sultry weather. Lard. Arts Greeks and Rom. Yol. ii, 20. The ignorant and clamorous Israelites, enraged with thirst, abused Moses, and were ready to stone him, because they had no water. One of the most appalling facts that is recorded of suffering from thirst occurred in 1805. A caravan proceeding from Timboctoo to Talifet, was disappointed in not finding water at the usual watering places ; when, horrible to relate, all the persons belonging to it, two thousand in number, besides eighteen hundred camels, perished by thirst! Occurrences like this, account for the vast quantities of human and other bones, which are found heaped together in various parts of the desert. Wonders of the World, p.246. While the crusaders besieged Jerusalem, great numbers perished of thirst, for the Turks had filled the wells in the vicinity. Me¬ morials of their sufferings may yet be found in the heraldic bearings of their descendants. The charge of a foraging party ‘for water,’ we are told, “was an office of distinction;” hence, some of the commanders on these occa¬ sions, subsequently adopted water buckets in their coats of arms, as em¬ blems of their labors in Palestine. ‘Water Bougettes,’ formed part of the arms of Sir Humphrey Bouchier, who was slain at the battle of Bar- net, in 1471. Moules’ Ant. of Westminster Abbey. Chap. 5.] Worship of Wells. 33 CHAPTER V. Subject of Wells continued—Wells worshipped—River Ganges — Sacred well at Benares — Ob'.'jj *- ken at Wells—Tradition of the Rabbins-Altars erected near them—Invoked-Ceremonies with regvri water in Egypt, Greece, Peru, Mexico, Rome, and Judea—Temples erected over wells—The fountala of Apollo—Well Zem Zem—Prophet Joel—Temple of Isis—Mahommedan Mosques—Hiudoo temple* —Woden’s well—Wells in Chinese temples—Pliny—Celts —Gauls—Modern superstitions with regasil to water and wells—Hindoos—Algerines—Nineveh—Greeks—Tombs of saints near wells—Supersti¬ tions of the Persians—Anglo Saxons—Hindoos—Scotch—English—St. Genevieve’s well—St. Wini¬ fred’s wfell—House and well * warming.’ In the early ages water was reverenced as the substance of which all tilings in the universe were supposed to be made, and the vivifying prin¬ ciple that animated the whole; hence, rivers, fountains, and wells, were worshipped and religious feasts and ceremonies instituted in honor of them, or of the spirits which were believed to preside over them. Al¬ most all nations retain relics of this superstition, while in some it is practi¬ sed to a lamentable extent. Asia exhibits the humiliating spectacle of millions of her people degraded by it, as in former ages. Shoals of pil¬ grims are constantly in motion over all Hindoston, on their way to the * sacred Ganges their tracks stained with the blood and covered with the bones of thousands that perish on the road. With these people, it is deemed a virtue even to think of this river; while to bathe in its waters washes away all sin, and to expire on its brink, or be suffocated in it, is the climax of human felicity. The holy well in the city of Benares is visited by devotees from all parts of India; to it they offer rice, &c. as to their idols. From this sacred character of water, it very early became a custom, in order to render obligations inviolable, to take oaths, conclude treaties, make bargains, &c. at wells. We learn that when Jacob was on his way to Egypt, he came to the “ well of the oath,” and offered sacrifices to God. Josephus, Ant. ii, 7. At the same well, his grandfather Abraham conclu¬ ded a treaty with Abimelech, which was accompanied with ceremonies and oaths. Gen. xxi. At the celebrated Puteol Libonis, at Rome, oaths were publicly administered every morning; a representation of this well is on the reverse of a medal of Libo. Encyc. Ant. 412. It was believed that the “oaths of the Gods” was also by water. Univer. His. Vol. iv, 17. The Rabbins have a tradition that their kings were always anoint¬ ed by the side of a fountain. Solomon was carried by order of David to the ‘fountain of Gihon/ and there proclaimed king. Joseph. Ant. vii, 14. The ancient Cuthites, says Mr. Bryant, and the Persians after them, had a great veneration for fountains and streams. Altars were erected in the vicinity of wells and fountains, and religious ceremonies performed around them. Thus Ulysses : Beside a fountain’s sacred brink, we raised Our verdant altars, and the victims blazed. Iliad ii, 3G8. “ Wherever a spring rises, or a river flows,” says Seneca, “ there we should build altars and offer sacrifices,” and a thousand years before Se¬ neca lived, the author of the 68th Psalm spoke of worshipping God from the “ fountains of Israel.” The Syracusans held great festivals every 5 Religious Customs. '34 [Book I. year at the fountains of Aretnusa, and they sacrificed black bulls to Pluto at the fountain of Cyane. Wells were sometimes dedicated to particular deities, as the oracular fountain mentioned by Pausanias, near the sea at Patra, which still remains nearly as he described it; and having been re¬ dedicated to a Christian saint, “ is still a sacred well.” Divination by water, was practised at this well. A mirror was suspended by a thread, having its polished surface upwards, and while floating on the water, presages were drawn from the images reflected. Polynices, in CEdipus Coloneus, swears “ by our native fountains and our kindred gods.” Antigone, when about to be sacrificed, appeals to the “ fountains of Dirce, and the grove of Thebe.” Ajax before he slew himself, called on the sun, the soil of Salamis, and “ye fountains and rivers here.” Trag. of Sophocles lit, trans. 1837. “At Peneus’ fount Aristeus stood and bowed with woe, Breathed his deep murmurs to the nymph below : Georgies L. iv, 365. Cyrene! thou whom these fair springs revere.” The fountain of Aponeus, (now Albano) the birth place of Livy, was an oracular one. That of Pirene at Corinth, was sacred to the muses. Eneas invoked “ living fountains” among other “ Ethereal Gods.” And old Latinus “ Sought the shades renowned for prophecy. Which near Albuneas’ sulphureous fountain lie.” En. vii, 124. Cicero says, the Roman priests and augurs, in their prayers, called on the names of rivers, brooks, and springs. Vessels of water were carried by the Egyptian priests in their sacred processions, to denote the great blessings derived from it, and that it was the beginning of all things. Vitruvius says they were accustomed to place a vase of it in their temples with great devotion, and prostrating themselves on the earth, returned thanks to the divine goodness for its pro¬ tection. Book viii, Proem. In the celebration of the Eleusinian myste¬ ries, those who entered the temple, washed their hands in holy water, and on the ninth and last day of the festival, vessels of water were offered with great ceremonies, and accompanied with mystical expressions to the Gods. Those who were initiated were prohibited from ever sitting on the cover of a well. Sojourners among the Greeks carried in the religious processions, small vessels formed in the shape of boats ; and their daugh¬ ters water 2 )ois with umbrellas. Rob. Ant. Greece. Plutarch says, “fishes were not eaten of old, from reverence of springs.” Among the ancient Peruvians, certain Indians were appointed to sacri¬ fice “to fountains, springs, and rivers.” Pur. Pil. 1076. Holy water was placed near the altars of the Mexicans. Ibid, 987. Tlaloc was their God of water; on fulfilling particular vows they bathed in the sacred pond Tezcapan. The water of the fountain Toxpalatl was drank only at the most solemn feasts: no one was allowed to taste it at any other time. Cla- vigero, Lon. 17S6, vol. i, 251 and 265. The Fontinalia of the Romans, were religious festivals, held in October, in honor of the Nymphs of wells and fountains; part of the ceremonies consisted in throwing nosegays into fountains, and decorating the curbs of wells with wreaths of flowers. The Jews had a religious festival in connection with water, the origin of which is not clearly ascertained. It was kept on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, when they drew water with great ceremony from the pool of Siloah and conveyed it to the temple. a It is supposed, the Sa- a Uni. Hist, i, 607. Relating to Wells. 35 Chap. 5.] vior alludes to this practice, when on “ the last day, that great day of die feast, he stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. • He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.” John, vii, 37. One of the five solemn festivals of the people of Pegu, is ‘ the feast of water,’ during which, * the king, nobles and all the people throw water upon one another.’ Ovington’s Voy. to Surat. 1689. 597. The superstitious veneration for wells, induced the ancients to erect temples near, and sometimes over them; as the fountain of Apollo, near the temple of Jupiter Ammon; the well Zemzem in the temple of Mecca, &c. In accordance with this prevailing custom, we find the prophet Joel speaks of a fountain which should come forth out of the house of the Lord, and water the valley, iii, 18. And when Jeroboam built a temple, that the ten tribes might not be obliged to go to Jerusalem to worship, and there be seduced from him, Josephus tells us, that he built it by the fountains of the lesser Jordan. Antiq. viii, cap. 8. In the temple of Isis, at Pompeii, the ‘ sacred well’ has been found. Pompeii, i, 277, 279. The ancient custom of enclosing wells in religious edifices was adopted by both Christians and Mahommedans. Among the latter it is still con tinued, and it is not altogether abandoned by the former. “ This afternoon,” says Fryer, speaking of one of the mosques in India, “ their sanctum sanctorum was open, the priest entering in barefoot, and prostrating himself on one of the mats spread on the floor, whither I must not have gone, could his authority have kept me out. The walls were white and clean but plain, only the commandments wrote in Arabic at the west end, were hung over a table in an arched place, where the priest ex¬ pounds, on an ascent of seven steps, railed at top with stone very hand¬ somely. Underneath are fine cool vaults, and stone stairs to descend to a deep tank'' As it was formerly death to a Christian who entered a mosque, we shall add a more recent instance. In 1831, Mr. St. John disguised himself, like Burckhardt, in the costume of a native, and visited the mosques of Cairo. In that of Sultan Hassan, he observes, “ ascending a long flight of steps, and passing under a magnificent doorway, we entered the vesti¬ bule, and proceeded towards the most sacred portion of the edifice, where, on stepping over a small railing, it was necessary to take off our babooshes, or red Turkish shoes. Here we beheld a spacious square court, paved with marble of various colors, fancifully arranged, with a beautiful oc¬ tagonal marble fountain in the centre.” Egypt and Mohammed Ali, ii, 338. It is the same in Persia. Tavern. Trav. Lon. 1678. 29. The temples of India says Sonnerat, have a sacred tank, deified by the Brahmins. The figures 6f gods are sometimes thrown ‘into a tank or well.’ Voy. i 111, 132. In old times, churches were removed from other buildings, and were surrounded with courts, in the centre of which there were fountains, where people washed before going to prayers. Moreri Die. In one of the old churches at Upsal, is an ancient well, that had formerly been famous ‘ for its miraculous cures.’ Woden’s well is still shown in the same city. It was in the vicinity of the old temple of that great northern deity. De la Mortraye’s Trav. ii, 262. Van Braam noticed a well in one of the large temples of China. Journ. ii, 224. ‘ Sacred springs,’ are mentioned by Juvenal. 3 Sat. 30. Pliny speaks of fountains and wells of water as very ‘ wholesome and proper for the cure of many diseases;’ to which, he says, there is ascribed some divine power, inso¬ much that they give names to sundry gods and goddesses, xxxi, 2. The Celts venerated lakes, rivers, and fountains, into which they threw gold. 36 [Book I. Superstitions of the Anglo Saxons. The Britons and Piets did the same. Scot. Gael, 258. Mezeray, in his History of Franee, when speaking of the church in the third and fourth centuries, remarks, ‘ Hitherto very few of the French had received the light of the gospel; they yet adored trees, fountains, serpents, and birds.’ i, 4. In the eighth century, the council of Soissons condemned a heretic, who built oratories and set up crosses near fountains, &c. Ib. 113. Ancient superstitions with regard to water are still practised more or less over a great part of the world. At the first new moon in October, the Hindoos hold a great celebration to their Deities. “ The next moon, their women flock to the sacred wells.” Fryer, 110. Many of the cere¬ monies performed in old times by women in honor of wells and fountains, are yet practised in some of the Grecian islands. There the females still dance round the wells, the ancient Callichorus, accompanied with songs in honor of Ceres. Dr. Clarke. “ I have just returned this morning,” (says Mr. Campbell in his Letters from the South, Phila. Ed. 1836, 102,) “ from wit¬ nessing a superstitious ceremony, which, though unwarranted by the Ko¬ ran, is practised by all Mahometans here, [Algiers] black, brown, and white, nay by the Jews also. It consists in sacrificing the life of some eatable animal to one of the devils who inhabit certain fountains near Al¬ giers. The victims were fowls, they were dipped in the sacred sea, as Homer calls it, after which the high priest took them to a neighboring fountain, and having waved his knife thrice around the head of an old wo¬ man, who sat squatting beside it, cut their throats,” &c. The custom was probably a common one in ancient Nineveh; for once a year the peasants assemble and sacrifice a sheep a# Thisbe’s well, with music and other festivities. The Greeks are so much attached to grottoes and wells, that “ there is scarcely one in all Greece and the islands, which is not consecrated to the Virgin, who seems to have succeeded the ancient nymphs in the guardianship of these places. 1 The supposed sanctity of wells also led to the custom of interring the bodies of saints or holy persons near them ; thus in all parts of Egypt, the tombs of saints are found in the vicinity of those places, “ where the wandering dervishes stop to pray, and less pious travelers to quench their thirst.” Some, says Fryer, are buried with “‘their heels upwards, like Diogenes.” Worship of wells, like many other superstitions of Pagan origin, was early incorporated with the ceremonies of the Christian church, and carried to an idolatrous excess. A schism took place in Persia among the Arme¬ nians, in the tenth century; one party was accused of ‘despising the holy well of Vagarsciebat.’ In Europe it was at one time universal. In En¬ gland, in the reigns of Canute and Edgar, edicts were issued prohibiting well worship. When Hereward the Saxon hero, held the marshes of Ely against the Norman conqueror, he said he heard his hostess conversing with a witch at midnight! he arose silently from his bed, and followed them into the garden, to a ‘ fountain of water,’ and there he ‘heard them holding converse with the spirit of the fountain.’ From a collection of Anglo Saxon remains, the following example is taken. “ If any one ob¬ serve lots or divinations, or keep his wake, [watch] at any wells, or at any other created things, except at God’s church, let him fast three years ; the first one on bread and water,” &c. In a Saxon homily against witch¬ craft and magic, in the library of the University of Cambridge, it is said, “some men are so blind, that they bring their offerings to immovable rocks, and also to trees and to wells, as witches do teach.” b The Hindoos still wor* •Rich’s Nar. of a Residence in Koordistan. ii, 42. b Foreign Quarterly. July, 1838. Depth of Wells. 3? Chap. 6.] 6hip stones, trees, and water, and make offerings to them. a In a manu¬ script written in the early part of the fifteenth century, there is a humor¬ ous song, in which there is an allusion to this superstition. Tt begins thus : 1 The last tyme I the wel woke Sir John caght me with a croke, He made me swere be bel and boke I shuld not tel.’ Even so late as the seventeenth century, people in Scotland were in the habit of visiting wells, at which they performed numerous acts of super¬ stition. Shaw, in his History of the Province of Moray, says that ‘heathen customs were much practised among the people,’ and among them, he in¬ stances their ‘ performing pilgrimages to wells,’ and ‘ building chapels to fountains.’ 15 At the present time in some parts of England, remains of well worship are preserved, in the custom of performing annual proces¬ sions to them, decorating them with wreaths and chaplets of flowers, singing of hymns, and even reading a portion of the gospel as part of the ceremonies. These same customs gave rise to the numerous holy wells, which for¬ merly abounded throughout the old world, and the memory of many of which is still preserved in names of towns. In the church of Nantcrre , near Paris, the birth place of Saint Genevieve, is a well, by the water of which, this patroness of the Parisians miraculously restored her blind mother and many others to sight! Breval’s Eu. 307. Saint Winifred’s well in Flintshire, Eng. from its sacred character gave name to the town of Holywell. Mr. Pennant says, the custom of visiting this well in pil¬ grimage, and offering up devotions there, was not in his time entirely laid aside: “in the summer, a few are to be seen in the water, in deep devo¬ tion up to their chin for hours, sending up their prayers, or performing a number of evolutions round the polygonal well.” Even so late as 1804, a Roman catholic bishop of Wolverhampton, took much pains to persuade the world, that an ignorant proselyte of his,'named Winifred White was miraculously cured at this well of various chronic diseases ! The custom of * house-warming’ is very ancient; the same ceremonies, were formerly performed on the completion of new wells. CHAPTER VI. Wells continued: Depth of ancient wells—In Hindostan—Well of Tyre—Carthageuian wells—Wells in Greece, Herculaneum and Pompeii—Wells without curbs—Ancient laws to prevent accidents from persons and animals falling into them—Sagacity and revenge of an elephant—Hylas—Archelaus of Macedon—Thracian soldier and a lady at Thebes—Wooden covers—Wells in Judea—Reasons for not placing curbs round wells—Scythians—Arabs—Aquilius—Abraham—Ilezekiah—David—Mardo- nius—Moses and the people of Edom—Burckhardt in Petra—Woman of Bahurim—Persian tradition— Ali, the fourth Caliph—Covering wells with large stones—Mahommedan tradition—Themistocles—Edicts of Greek emperors—Well at Ideliopolis—Juvenal—Roman and Grecian curbs of marble—Capitals of ancient columns converted into curbs for wells. A knowledge of the depth and other circumstances, relating to some ancient wells, is necessary to a due investigation of the various methods of raising water from them. We cannot indeed form a correct judgment of the latter, without some acquaintance with the former. •Ward’s Hindoos, 342, 352. b Hone’s Every Day Book, ii, 636, 685. Fosbroke, 684. 38 Wells without Curbs. [Book I The wells of Asia are generally of great depth, and of course were so in former times. In Guzzerat, they are from eighty to a hundred feet; in the adjoining province of Mulwah, they are frequently three hundred feet. In Ajmeer, they are from one to two hundred feet. Mr. Elphin- stone in his mission to Cabaul observes, ‘ the \yells are often three hun¬ dred feet deep; one was three hundred and forty five;’ and with this enormous depth, some are only three feet in diameter. The famous well of ancient Tyre, ‘whose merchants were princes, and whose traffickers were the honorable of the earth,’ is, according to some travelers, without a bottom ; but La Roque, is said by Volney, to have found it at the depth of ‘six and thirty fathom.’ Shalmanezer besieged this city of mechanics for five years, without being able to take it; at last he cut off the waters of this well, when the inhabitants dug others within the city; after which they held out against Nebuchadnezzar, and the whole power of the Babylonian empire for thirteen years; being the longest siege on record, except that of Ashdod. Jos. Antiq. ix, 14. Ancient Carthagenian wells of great depth have been already mentioned. Dr. Shaw (Trav. 135,) observes of a tribe of the Ka- byles, ‘ their country is very dry, they have no fountains or rivulets, and in order to obtain water, they dig wells ‘ to the depth of from one to two hundred fathom.’ Jacob’s well is a hundred and nine feet, and Joseph’s well at Cairo, near three hundred feet deep. The well Zemzem at Mecca, is two hundred and ten feet. * Exceeding deep wells’ in Surat, are men¬ tioned by Toreen, in Osbeck’s Voyage to China. That the wells of Attica were generally deep, is obvious from a provision in Solon’s law respecting them, by which a person, after digging to the depth of sixty feet without obtaining water, was allowed to fill a six gallon vessel twice a day at his neighbor’s well. The frequency of not meeting with water at that depth, evidently gave rise to this provision. 81 The wells of Herculaneum and Pompeii, were probably all of considerable depth, if we judge from those that have been discovered. WELLS WITHOUT CURBS. Another feature in ancient—particularly Asiatic—wells, was, they were often without curbs or parapets built round them; hence animals often fell into them and were killed. A very ancient law enacted, that, ‘ if a man shall open or dig a pit, [a well] and not cover it; and an ox or an ass fall therein, the owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money to the owner of them, and the dead beasts shall be his.’ Exo. xxi, 33, 34. This was probably an old Phenician and Egyptian law which the Is¬ raelites adopted from its obvious utility. Josephus’ account of it is more explicit: ‘ let those that dig a well or a pit, be careful to lay planks over them, and so keep them shut up, not to hinder persons from drawing wa¬ ter, but that there may be no danger of falling into them.’ Antiq. iv, 8. Numerous examples of the utility of such a law might be produced from oriental histories. Benaiah, one of the three famous warriors of David, who broke through the hosts of the Philistines and drew water for him out of the well of Bethlehem, ‘ slew a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow.’ Sam. xxiii, 20 : from Josephus, this appears to have been one of the ordinary wells of the country, which having no curb, had been left open, and the ‘lion slipped and fell into it.’ Antiq. vii, 12. ‘ On our way back to the town, we saw a poor ass dying in a pit, into * Plutarch’s Life of Solon. Chap. 6.] Wells without Curbs. 39 which he had fallen with his leg’s tied, that being the practice of the Arabs when they send out these animals to feed.’ a The custom of the Arabs in this respect has probably, like many others, undergone no change. It ex¬ plains the necessity of the law in Exodus, as quoted above. As two elephant drivers, each on his elephant, one of which was re¬ markably large and powerful, and the other small and weak, were ap¬ proaching a well, the latter carried at the end of his proboscis a bucket by which to raise the water. The larger animal instigated by his driver, (who was not provided with one,) seized and easily wrested it from the weaker elephant, which, though unable to resent the insult, obviously felt it. At length, watching his opportunity when the other was standing amid the crowd with his side to the well, he retired backwards in a very quiet and unsuspicious manner, and then rushing forward with all his might, drove his head against the side of the robber, and fairly pushed him into the well—the surface of the water in which, was twenty feet below the level of the ground. But animals were not the only sufferers :—There are passages in an¬ cient authors which indicate the loss of human life both accidentally and by design, in consequence of the absence of curbs to wells. Thus Hylas who accompanied Hercules on the Argonautic expedition, went ashore to draw water from a well or fountain, and he fell in and was drowned. Virgil represents the companions of Hylas after missing him, as spread¬ ing themselves along the coast and loudly repeating his name : And Hylas, whom his messmates loud deplore, While Hylas! Hylas! rings from all the shore. Ec. vi, 48. Wrangham. Archelaus of Macedon, a contemporary of Socrates, ascended the throne by the mostjiorrid crimes. Among others whom he murdered, was his own brother, a boy only seven years old. He threw his body into a well, and endeavored to make his mother believe that the child fell in, ‘ as he was running after a goose.’ JBayle. When Alexander, like a demon, destroyed the city of Thebes, (the ca¬ pital of one of the States of Greece,) and murdered six thousand of its inhabitants, a party of Thracian soldiers belonging to his army demolished the house of Timoclea, a lady of distinguished virtue and honor. The soldiers carried off the booty, and their captain having violated the lady, asked her, if she had not concealed some of her treasures: she told him she had, and taking him alone with her into the garden, she showed him a well, into which she said she had thrown every thing of value. Now we are told, that as he stooped down to look into the well, this high spi¬ rited and much injured lady pushed him in, and killed him with stones. b From these accounts, it appears that wells belonging to private houses in ancient Greece, were sometimes without curbs, although they probably had portable or wooden covers. That these were common, is evident from a pas¬ sage already quoted from Josephus; and the remains of one have been discovered in Pompeii.® The private well mentioned in 2 Sam. xvii, 18, had no curb. Indeed it is evident from the New Testament, that the an¬ cient custom of leaving the upper surface of wells level with the ground, prevailed among the Jews, through the whole of their history, from their independence as a nation, to their final overthrow by Titus. ‘ What man among you having one sheep, if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will St. John’s Egypt, i, 354. b Plutarch’s Life of Alexander. c Pompeii, ii, 204- 40 Reasons for not placing Curbs round Wells. [Book I, he not lay hold of it and lift it out Matt, xii, 11. And again in Luke, ‘ which of you shall have an ass, or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day.’ xiv, 5. In these passages, which are parallel to those quoted from Exodus and Josephus, the word ‘ pit’ is synonymous with ‘ well.’ In Antiq. vii, 12. ‘ the well of Bethlehem,’ is called a ‘ pit.’ Wells without curbs are met with in Judea and the east generally, at the present time, although they are not so numerous as formerly. Mr. Stephens, in his ‘ Incidents of Travel,’ observed on the road to Gaza, ‘ two remarkable wells of the very best Roman workmanship, about fifty feet deep, lined with large hard stones, as firm and perfect as on the day on which they were laid; the up¬ permost layer on the top of the well, ‘ was on a level with the pavement. 4 In some illustrations of' the Book of Genesis, executed in the fourth or fifth century, one represents the interview between Rebecca and Eliezer ; the well is square, and the curb but a few inches high. REASONS FOR NOT PLACING CURBS ROUND THE MOUTHS OF WELLS. The motives which induced the ancients to leave their wells without curbs were various: 1. That they might be more readily concealed. This was a universal custom in times of war. When Darius invaded Scythia, the inhabitants did not attempt an open resistance, but covered up their wells and springs and retired. Herod, iv, 120. Mr. Elpbinstone, in his mission to Cabaul, says, the people ‘ have a mode of covering their wells with boards, heaped with sand, that effectually conceals them from an enemy.’ Diodorus Si¬ culus, remarked the same of the Bedouin Arabs, eighteen centuries ago, and they still practise it. Travelers in the Lybian desert are often six and seven days without water, and frequently perish for want of it; ‘ the drifting sand having covered the marks of the wells.’ b Wells, when thus con¬ cealed ‘ can only be found by persons whose profession it is to pilot cara¬ vans across this ocean of sand, and the sagacity with which these men per¬ form their duty is wonderful;’ like pilots at sea with nothing but the stars to direct them. 2. To prevent them from being poisoned or filled up, both of which frequently occurred. The Roman # General Aquilius conquered the cities of the kingdom of Pergamus, one by one, by poisoning the waters. This horrid crime has always prevailed. In 1320, many Jews were burnt in Franee, while others were massacred by the infuriate people, under the belief that they had poisoned the wells and fountains of Paris. The Earl of Savoy was poisoned in this manner in 1384, and the practice was com¬ mon in the fifteenth century. 0 Some of the wells belonging to Abraham, were stopped up by the inhabitants.. ‘ And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them, after the death of Abraham.’ Gen. xxvi, IS. ‘ We walked on some distance to a well, which we found full of sand ; Hussein scooped it out with his hands, when the water rose and all of us drank.’ Lindsay’s Trav. Let. 7. When the Assyrians under Senacherib, invaded Judea in the eighth century, B. C. ‘ Hezekiah took counsel with his princes and mighty men, to stop the waters of the foun¬ tains which were without the city; and they stopped all the fountains, savins:, why should the kins: of Assyria come here and find much water V 2 Kings, iii, 19. 25. a Vol. ii, 101, and Lindsay’s Trav. Let. 9. b Ogilvy’s Africa, 281. c Mezeray’s France. Lon. 1683. pp. 349, 408, 414. Chap. 6.J Great Value of Water. 41 The custom of leaving the principal supply of water without the walls of the more ancient cities, is remarkable; and the reason for it has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The water which supplied Alba Longa, lay in a very deep glen, and was therefore scarcely defensible ; but the springs of the Scamander at Troy, of Enneacrunus at Athens ; of Dirce at Thebes, and innumerable others, prove that such instances were com¬ mon. 1 When David waged war against the Ammonites, his success, ac¬ cording to Josephus, was chiefly owing to his general cutting off their waters, and especially those of a particular well. Antiq. vii, 1. Mardo- nius stopped up the Gargaphian fountain, which supplied the Grecian ar¬ my with water, an act which brought on in its vicinity, the famous battle of Platea, in which he was slain, and the power of Persia in Greece finally prostrated. A remarkable instance of the labor and perseverance of ancient soldiers, in cutting off a well or fountain from besieged places, is given by Caesar in his Commentaries on the War in Gaul, viii, 33. 3. To prevent the water from being stolen; which could scarcely have been prevented at wells with curbs, for they could not then have been con¬ cealed. We must bear in mind that the extreme scarcity of water in the east, required a vigilant and parsimonious care of it; and hence continual quarrels arose from attempts to purloin it, or to take it by force. ‘ And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, the water is ours.’ Gen. xxvi, 20. This kind of strife, says Dr. Richardson, between the different villagers, still exists, as it did in the days of Abra¬ ham and Lot. It was customary for shepherds to seize on the wells be¬ fore others came, lest there should not be sufficient water for all their flocks, and it was at an occurrence of this kind, that Moses first became ac¬ quainted with Zipporah and her sisters. Jos. Antiq. ii, 11. “ Nearly six hours beyond the ruined town of Ivournou, and two beyond the dry bed of a small stream called El Gerara, [the brook of Gerar?] we were sur¬ prised at finding two large and deep wells, beautifully built of hewn stone. The uppermost course, and about a dozen troughs for watering cattle dis¬ posed round them, of a coarse white marble; they were evidently coeval with the Romans. Quite a patriarchal scene presented itself as we drew near to the wells ; the Bedouins were watering their flocks ; two men at each well letting down the skins and pulling them up again, with almost ferocious haste, and with quick savage shouts.” Lindsay’s Trav. Let. 9. The scarcity of water in those countries has from the remotest times made it an object of merchandise. —“ Ye shall also buy water of them for money that ye may drink.” Deut. ii, 6, 28. And Jeremiah—“ we have drunken our water for money.” Lam. v, 4. See Ezekiel, iv, 16, 17. This value of water may be perceived in the negotiation of Moses with the king of Edom, for a passage through that country. He pledged him¬ self that his countrymen would not injure the fields or the vineyards; “neither,” says he, “will we drink of the waters of the wells;” and in a subsequent proposition, he adds, “ if I and my cattle drink of thy waters, then I will pay for it.” Num. xx, 17, 19. It is we think evident from the text, that the great quantities of water which such a host would re¬ quire, was the principal objection urged by the people of Edom; they were afraid, and very naturally too, that a million of souls might drain all their wells while passing through the land, a calamity that might prove fatal to themselves. Brooks and rivers, were dried up by the army of Xerxes as he advanced towards Greece. It may be observed here, that when in 1811, Burckhardt discovered Gell’s Topography of Rome, i, 34. 6 42 Wells covered by large Stones. [Book I, Petra, the long lost capital^of Edom, an intense interest was excited among the learned men of Europe, and several hastened to behold the most extraordinary city of the world; a city excavated out of the rocks, whose origin goes back to the times of Esau, the ‘ father of Edom,’ and which had for more than a thousand years, been completely lost to the civilized world. But the natives swore, as in the times of Moses, they should not enter their country, nor drink of their water, and they threatened to shoot them like dogs, if they attempted it. It was with much difficulty and danger, that Burckhardt at length succeeded in obtaining a glimpse of this singular city. He was disguised as an Arab, and passed under the name of Sheik Ibrahim. The difficulty and danger of a visit to Petra, is now however in a great measure removed by the present Pasha, Ma- hommed Ali. From the custom of concealing many ancient wells, we learn the im¬ portant fact, that machines for raising the water could not have been at¬ tached to, or permanently placed near them. As these, as well as curbs or parapets projecting above the ground, would have betrayed to ene¬ mies and strangers their location. When the woman at Bahurim secreted David’s spies in the well belonging to her house, and “ spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon;” 2 Sam. xvii, 19, her device could not have succeeded, if a curb had enclosed its mouth, or if any permanent machine had been erected to raise the water from it; as these would have indicated the well to the soldiers of Absalom, who would certainly have examined it, because wells were frequently used as hiding places in those days. There is a tradition in Persia that one of the Armenian patriarchs, was concealed several years in a well, during the persecution of the Christians under Dioclesian and Maximinian ; and was ‘ privately relieved by the daily charity of a poor godly woman.’ Fryer, 271. When Ali the fourth Caliph of the Arabians, marched with ninety thousand men into Syria, the army was in want of water. An old hermit, whose cell was near the camp, was applied to ; he said he knew but of one cistern, which might contain two or three buckets of water. The Caliph replied that the ancient patriarchs had dug wells in that neighbor¬ hood. The hermit said there was a tradition of a well whose mouth was closed by a stone of an enormous size, but no person knew where it was. Ali caused his men to dig in a spot which he pointed out, and not far from the surface, the mouth of the well was found. 4 Where wells were too well known to be concealed, as those in the neighborhood of towns, villages, &c. they were sometimes secured by large stones placed over them, which required the combined strength of several persons to remove. ‘ A great stone was upon the well’s mouth; and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth.’ Gen. xxix, 2, 3. The Ma- hommedans have a tradition that the well at which Moses watered the flocks of his father-in-law, was covered by a stone which required several men to remove it. It is indeed obvious large stones only could have been used, for small ones could not extend across the wells, which were fre¬ quently of large diameter. Jacob’s well is nine feet across, and some were larger The curb round the well Zemzem at Mecca, is ten feet in diameter. “ Another time we passed an ancient well,” says Lindsay, Let. 10, “ in an excursion from Jerusalem to Jericho and the Dead Sea, its mouth sealed with a large stone, with a hole in the centre, through which Martigny’s History of the Arabians, ii, 49. Roman and Grecian Curbs. 43 Cliap. 6.] we threw a pebble, but there was no water, and we should have been sorry had there been any, for our united strength could not have removed the seal.” Notwithstanding the precautions used, shepherds were often detected in fraudulently watering their flocks at their neighbors’ wells, to prevent which, locks were used to secure the covers. These continued to be used till recent times. M. Chardin noticed them in several parts of Asia. The wells at Suez, according to Niebuhr, are surrounded by a strong wall to keep out the Arabs, and entered by a door ‘fastened with enor¬ mous clamps of iron.’ In Greece as in Asia, those were fined who stole ♦ water. When Themistocles during his banishment was in Sardis, he ob¬ served in the temple of Cybele a female figure of brass, called ‘ Hydro- phorus ’ or Water Bearer, which he himself had caused to be made and dedicated out of the fines of such as had stolen the water, or diverted the stream. a One of the Greek emperors of Constantinople issued an edict A. D. 404, imposing a fine of a pound of gold for every ounce of water surreptitiously taken from the reservoirs. 1 * And a more ancient ruler re¬ marked that ‘ stolen waters are sweet.’ Proverbs, ix, 17. The ancient Peruvians had a similar law. Curbs or parapets were generally placed round the mouths of wells in the cities of Greece and Rome, as appears from many of them preserved to the present time, as well as those discovered in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The celebrated mosaic pavement at Preneste, contains the representation of an ancient well; by some authors supposed to be the famous fountain of Heliopolis. . Montfaucon and Dr. Shaw have given a figure of it. The curb is represented as built of brick or cut stone. Curbs were generally massive cylinders .of marble and mostly formed of ane block, but some¬ times of two, cramped together with iron. Their exterior resembled round altars. Those of the Greeks were ornamented with highly wrought sculptures and were about twenty inches high. Roman curbs were ge¬ nerally plain, but one has been found in the street of the Mercuries at Pompeii, beautifully ornamented with triglyphs. To these curbs Juvenal appears to allude : Oh! how much more devoutly should we cling To thoughts that hover round the sacred spring, Were it still margined with its native green, And not a marble near the spot were seen. Sat. iii, 30 Badham. That Roman wells were generally protected by curbs, appears also from a remark of the elder Pliny : “ at Gades the fountain next to the temple of Hercules, is enclosed about like a well.” B. ii, 97. Dr. Shaw mentions se¬ veral Roman wells with corridors round, and cupolas over them, in various parts of Mauritania. Trav. 237. Mr. Dodwell describes the rich curb of a Corinthian well, ten figures of divinities being carved on it. Such deco¬ rations he says were common to the sacred wells of Greece. In various parts of Asia and Egypt, the finest columns have been bro¬ ken and hollowed out to serve as curbs to wells; and in some instances, the capitals of splendid shafts may be seen appropriated to the same pur¬ pose. Although such scenes are anything but pleasant to the enlightened traveler, the preservation of valuable fragments of antiquity has been se¬ cured by these and similar applications of them. They certainly are less subject to destruction, as curbs of wells, than when employed, like the fine Corinthian capital of Parian marble, which Dr. Shaw observed at Arzew, ‘ as a block for a blacksmith’s anvil' Trav. 29, 30. Plutarch’s L’fe of Themistocles. b Hydraulia, p. 232. Lon. 1835. 44 Description of ancient Wells. [Book 1 CHAPTER VII. Wells concluded: Description of Jacob’s well—Of Zerazem in Mecca—Of Joseph’s well at Cairo— Reflections on wells—Oldest monuments extant—Wells at Elim—Bethlehem—Cos—Scyros—Heliopolis —Persepolis—Jerusalem—Troy—Ephesus—Tadmor—Mizra—Sarcophagi employed as watering troughs —Stone coffin of Richard IU used as one—Ancient American wells—Indicate the existence in past times of a more refined people than the present red men—Their examination desirable—Might furnish (like the wells at Athens,) important data of former ages. A description of some celebrated wells may liere be inserted, as we shall have occasion to refer to them hereafter. Jacob's well, is one of the most ancient and interesting. Through a period of thirty-five cen¬ turies it has been used by that patriarch’s descendants, and distinguished by his name. This well is, as every reader of scripture knows, near Sy- char, the ancient Shechem, on the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims in all ages. Long before the Christian era, it was greatly re¬ vered, and subsequently it has been celebrated on account of the inter¬ view which the Savior had with the woman of Samaria near it. Its lo¬ cation according to Dr. Clarke is so distinctly marked by the Evangelist, and so little liable to uncertainty from the circumstances of the well itself, and the features of the country, that if no tradition existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be mistaken. The date of its construction may, for aught that is known to the con trary, extend far beyond the times of Jacob; for we are not informed that it was digged by him. As it is on land which he purchased for a residence, “ of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem,” and was in the vicinity of a Canaanitish town; it may have been constructed by the forme 1 owners of the soil, and probably was so. The woman of Samaria when conversing with the Savior respecting it, asks ‘ Art thou greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, his children and cattle!” John, iv, 12. She does not say he dug it. This famous well is one hundred and five feet deep, and nine feet in diameter, and when Maundrell visited it, it contained fifteen feet of water. Its great an¬ tiquity will not appear very extraordinary, if we reflect that it is bored through the solid rock, and therefore could not be destroyed, except by an earthquake or some other convulsion of nature; indeed wells of this description, are the most durable of all man’s labors, and may, for aught we know, last as long as the world itself. The well Zcmzem at Mecca, may be regarded as another very ancient one. It is considered by Mahometans one of the three holiest things in the world, and as the source whence the great progenitor of the Arabs was refreshed when he and his mother left his father’s house. “ She saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad to drink.” Gen. xxi, 19. This well, the Caaba and the black stone, a were connected with the idolatry of the ancient Arabs, centuries before the time of Mahomet. The Caaba is said to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael, and it is certain that their names have been con¬ nected with it from the remotest ages. Diodorus Siculus, mentions it as a This stone like those of the Hindoos and the one mentioned in Acts, xix, “fell down from heaven" and is probably a meteorite. Well Zemze'm,. 45 Chap. 7] being held in great veneration by the Arabs in his time. [50, B. C.] The ceremonies still performed, of “ encircling the Caaba seven times, kissing the black stone, and drinking of the water of the well Zemzem,” by the pilgrims, were practices of the ancient idolaters, and which Mahomet, as an adroit politician, incorporated into his system, when unable to repress them. The conduct of the pilgrims when approaching this well and drinking of its water, has direct reference to that of Hagar, and to her feelings when searching for water to preserve the life of her expiring son. If we reflect on the infinite value of wells in Syria—on the jealous care with which they have always been preserved—that while they afforded good water, they could never be lost—that Mecca is one of the most an¬ cient cities of the world, the supposed Mesa of the scriptures, Gen. x, 30, —and that this well is the only one in the city, whose waters can be drunk:—we cannot but admit the possibility at least, that it is the identi¬ cal one, as the Arabs contend, of whose waters, Ishmael and his mother partook. We are not aware that any modern author has had an opportunity of closely examining it; it being death for a Christian to enter the Caaba. Burckhardt visited the temple in the disguise of a pilgrim, but we believe he had not an opportunity to ascertain any particulars relating to its depth, &c. Purchas, quoting Barthema, who visited Mecca in 1503, says it is “ three score and ten yards deepe,” [210 feet,] “ thereat stand sixe or eight men, appointed to draw water for the people, who after their seven¬ fold ceremonie come to the brinke,” &c. Pil. p. 306. In Crichton’s His¬ tory of Arabia, Ed. 1833. Vol. ii, 218, this well is said to be fifty-six feet to the surface of the water. The curb is of fine white marble, five feet high, and seven feet eight inches in its interior diameter. In the 317th year of the Hegira, the Karmatians slew seventeen thousand pilgrims within the cir¬ cumference of the Caaba, and filled this famous well with the dead bo¬ dies;—they also carried off the Black Stone. Joseph’s well.— The most remarkable well ever made by man, is Jo¬ seph’s well at Cairo. Its magnitude, and the skill displayed in its con¬ struction, which is perfectly unique, have never been surpassed. All travelers have spoken of it with admiration. This stupendous well is an oblong square, twenty-four feet by eighteen; being sufficiently capacious to admit within its mouth a moderate sized house. It is excavated (of these dimensions,) through solid rock to the depth of one hundred and sixty-five feet W'here it is enlarged into a capa¬ cious chamber, in the bottom of which is formed a basin or reservoir, to receive the water raised from below , (for this chamber is not the bottom of the well.) On one side of the reservoir another shaft is continued, one hundred and thirty feet lower, where it emerges through the rock into a bed of gravel, in which the water is found. The whole depth, being two hundred and ninety-seven feet. The lower shaft is not in the same ver¬ tical line with the upper one, nor is it so large, being fifteen feet by nine. As the water is first raised into the basin, by means of ma¬ chinery propelled by horses or oxen roithin the chamber , it may be asked, how are these animals conveyed to that depth in this tremendous pit, and by what means do they ascend 1 It is the solution of this prob¬ lem that renders Joseph’s well so peculiarly interesting, and which indi¬ cates an advanced state of the arts, at the period of its construction. A spiral passage-way is cut through the rock, from the surface of the ground to the chamber, independent of the well, round which it winds with so gentle a descent, that persons sometimes ride up or down upon Joseph’s Well, [Book 1. asses or mules. It is six feet four in¬ ches wide, and seven feet two inches high. Between it and the interior of the well, a wall of rock is left, to pre vent persons falling into, or even look¬ ing down it, (which in some cases would be equally fatal,) except through certain openings or windows, by means of which, it is faintly lighted from the interior of the well: by this passage the animals descend, which drive the machinery that raises the water from the lower shaft into the reservoir or basin, from which it is again elevated by similar machinery, and other oxen on the surface of the ground. See figure. In the lower shaft, a path is also cut down to the water, but as no partition is left between it and the well, it is extremely perilous for strangers to descend. The square openings represented on each side of the upper shaft, are sec¬ tions of the spiral passage, and the zig¬ zag lines indicate its direction. The wheels at the top carry endless ropes, the lower parts of which reach down to the water ; to these, earthenware va¬ ses are secured by ligatures, see A, A, at equal distances through the whole of their length, so that when the machinery is moved, these vessels ascend full of water on one side of the wheels, dis¬ charge it into troughs as they pass over them and descend in an inverted po¬ sition on the other. For a further de¬ scription of this apparatus, see the chap¬ ter on the chain ofi pots. This celebrated production of former times, it will be perceived, resembles an enormous hollow screw, the centre of which forms the well, and the threads, a winding stair-case round it. To erect of .granite a flight of “ geometrical” or “ well stairs,” two or three hundred feet high, on the surface of the ground, would require extraordinary skill; al¬ though in the execution, every aid from rules, measures, and the light of day, would guide the workmen at every step; but to begin such a work at the top, and construct it downioards by excava¬ tion alone, in the dark bowels of the earth, is a more arduous undertaking, especially as deviations from the correct lines could not be remedied ; yet in Jo- No 7. Section of Joseph’* Well. At Cairo. 47 Chap. 7.] seph’s well, the partition of rock between the pit and the passage-way, and the uniform inclination of the latter, seem to have been ascertained with equal precision, as if the whole had been constructed of cut stone on the surface. Was the pit, or the passage, formed first; or were they simul¬ taneously carried on, and the excavated masses from both borne up the latter ? The extreme thinness of the partition wall, excited the astonish¬ ment of M. Jomard, whos'e account of the well is inserted in the second volume of Memoirs in Napoleon’s great Work on Egypt, part 2nd, p, 691. It is, according to him, but sixteen centimetres thick, [about six in¬ ches!] He justly remarks that it must have required singular care to leave and preserve so small a portion while excavating the rock from both sides of it. It would seem no stronger in proportion, than sheets of pasteboard placed on edge, to support one end of the stairs of a modern built house, for it should be borne in mind, that the massive roof of the spiral passage next the well, has nothing but this film of rock to support it, or to prevent such portions from falling, as are loosened by fissures, or such, as from changes in the direction of the strata, are not firmly united to the general mass. But this is not all: thin and insufficient as it may seem, the bold designer has pierced it through its whole extent with semi¬ circular openings, to admit light from the well: those on one side are shown in the figure. * Opinions respecting the date of this well are exceedingly various. Po- cocke thought it was built by a vizier named Joseph, eight hundred years ago; other authorities more generally attribute it to Saladin, the intrepid defender of his country against the hordes of European savages, who, un¬ der the name of crusaders, spread rapine and carnage through his land. His name was Yussef, [Joseph.] By the common people of Egypt, it has long been ascribed to the patriarch of that name, and their traditions are often well-founded ; of which we shall give an example in the ac¬ count of the Swape. Van Sleb, who visited Egypt several times in the 17th century, says, some of the people in his time, thought it was digged by spirits, and he adds, “ I am almost inclined to believe it, for I cannot conceive how man can compass so wonderful a work.” 3 This mode of accounting for ancient works is common among ignorant people, and may be considered as proof of their great antiquity. Dr. Robertson, in speak¬ ing of ancient monuments in India, remarks that they are of such high antiquity, that as the natives cannot, either from history or tradition, give any information concerning the time in which they were executed, they universally ascribe the formation of them to superior beings. 5 Some wri¬ ters believe this well to have been the work of a more scientific people than any of the comparatively modern possessors of Egypt—in other words, they think it the production of the same people that built the py¬ ramids and the unrivalled monuments of Thebes, Dendarah and Ebsam- boul. Lastly, Cairo is supposed by others, to occupy the site df Egyp¬ tian Babylon, and this well is considered by them, one of the remains of that ancient city. Amidst this variety of opinions respecting its origin, it is certain, that it is every way worthy of the ancient mechanics of Egypt; and in its magnitude exhibits one of the prominent features which cha¬ racterize all their known productions. Why was this celebrated well made oblong? Its designer had cer¬ tainly his reasons for it. May not this form have been intended to en¬ lighten more perfectly the interior, by sooner receiving and retaining longer the rays of the sun? To what point of the compass its longest •The present state of Egypt, by F. Van Sleb. Lon. 1678. p. 248. b India, Appendix 48 Reflections on Ancient Wells. [Book I. sides coincide, has not, that we are aware of, been recorded. Should they prove to be in the direction of the rising and setting sun, the reason sug¬ gested, may possibly be the true one. In Ogilvy’s Africa, it is remarked that at the last city to the south of Egypt, “ is a deep well, into whose bosom the sun shines at noon, while he passes to and again through the northern signs.” p. 99. This is the same well that Strabo mentions at Syene, which marked the summer sol¬ stice—the day was known, when the style of the sun dial cast no shade at noon, and the vertical sun darted his rays to the bottom of the well. It was at Syene, that Eratosthenes, 220 B. C. made the first attempt to measure the circumference of the earth—and to the same city, the poet Juvenal was banished. REFLECTIONS ON ANCIENT WELLS. Before leaving this part of the subject, it may be remarked that an¬ cient wells are of very high interest, inasmuch as many of them are the only memorials, that have come down to us, of the early inhabitants of the world; and they differ from almost all other monuments of man in former times; not only in their origin, design, and duration, but above all, in their utility. In this respect, no barren monument, of whatever magnitude or material, which ambition, vanity, or power, has erected, at the expense of the labor and lives of the oppressed, can ever be com¬ pared with them. Such monuments are, with few exceptions, proofs of a people’s sufferings; and were generally erected to the basest of our spe¬ cies: whereas ancient wells have, through the long series of past ages, continually alleviated human woe; and have furnished man with one of nature’s best gifts without the least alloy. It would almost appear, as if the divine Being had established a law, by which works of pure beneficence and real utility should endure almost for ever; while those of mere magnificence, however elaborately con¬ structed, should in time pass away. The temple of Solomon—his golden house, ivory palaces, and splendid gardens are wholly gone; but the plain cisterns, which he built to supply his people with water, remain almost as perfect as ever. Thus the pride of man is punished by a law, to which the most favored of mortals formed no exception. An additional interest is attached to several "wells and fountains of the old world, from the frequent allusion to them in the Scriptures, and by the classical writers of Greece and Rome. In addition to those already named, the following may be noticed. When the Israelites left Egypt, “ they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm trees.” Now the Grove of Elim yet flourishes; and its fountains have neither increased nor diminished, since the Israelites encamped by them. a Modern travelers in Palestine often allay their thirst at the well which belonged to the birth place of David, the “ Well of Bethlehem,” whose waters he so greatly preferred to all others. The inhabitants of Cos, drink of the same spring which Hippocrates used twenty-three hundred years ago; and their traditions still connect it with his name. The nymphs of Scyros, another island in the Egean, in the early ages assembled at a certain fountain to draw water for domestic uses. This fountain, says Dr. Clarke, exists in its original state; and is still the same rendezvous as formerly, of love or of gallantry, of gossip- * We are aware that Dr. Shaw—Travels, p. 350—observed but wine wells. Fie says, at that time, three of them were filled up with sand; but the whole were to be seen a short time previous to his visiting them, and we believe since. Chap. 7. Aqueducts, Fountains, and Cisterns. 49 ping and tale telling. Young women may be seen coming from it in groups, and singing, with vases on their heads, precisely as represented on ancient marbles. It was at Scyros where young Achilles was concealed to prevent his going to the Trojan war. He was placed among, and habited like, the daughters of Lycomedes; but Ulysses adroitly discovered him, by offering for sale, in the disguise of a pedler, a fine suit of armor, among trinkets for women. Heliopolis, the city of the Sun, the On of Genesis, of which Joseph’s father-in-law was governor and priest, and whose inhabitants, according to Herodotus, (ii. 3.) were the most ingenious of all the Egyptians, and where the philosophers of Greece assembled to acquire “the wisdom of Egypt,” was famous for its fountain of excellent water:—this fountain, with a solitary obelisk, is all that remains to point out the place where that splendid city stood. Aqueducts, fountains, cisterns and wells, are in numerous instances the only remains of some of the most celebrated cities of the ancient world. Of Heliopolis, Syene and Babylon in Egyjat; of Tyre, Sidon, Palmyra, Nineveh, Carthage, Utica, Barca, and many others; and when, in the course of future ages, the remaining portals and columns of Persepolis are entirely decayed, and its sculptures crumbled to dust: its cisterns and and . aqueduct (both hewn out of the^rock) will serve to excite the curi¬ osity of future antiquaries, when every other monument of the city to which they belonged has perished. The features of nature, says Dr. Clarke, continue the same, though works of art may be done away: the ‘beautiful gate’ of the Jerusalem temple is no more, but Siloah’s Foun¬ tain still flows, and Kedron yet murmurs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. According to Chateaubriand, the Pool of Bethesda, a reservoir, one hun¬ dred and fifty feet by forty, constructed of large stones cramped with iron, and lined with flints embedded in cement, is the only specimen re¬ maining of the ancient architecture of that city. Ephesus, too, is no more; and the temple of Diana, that according to Pliny was 220 years in building, and upon which was lavished the talent and treasure of the east; the pride of all Asia, and one of the wonders of the world, has vanished; while the fountains which furnished the citi¬ zens with water, remain as fresh and perfect as ever. And as a tremen¬ dous satire on all human grandeur, it may be remarked, that a few solitary marble sarcophagi, which once enclosed the mighty dead of Ephesus, have been preserved—but as watering troughs for cattle / a Cisterns have been discovered in the oldest citadels of Greece. The fountains of Bounarbashi are perhaps the only objects remaining, that can be relied on, in locating the palace of Priam and the site of ancient Troy. And the well near the outer walls of the temple of the sun at Palmyra, will, in all probability, furnish men with water, when other relics of Tadmor in the wilderness have disappeared. b To conclude, a great number of the wells of the ancient world still supply man with water, although their history generally, is lost in the night of time. “ Mr. Addison, in his journey southward from Damascus, says the fountain at Nazcra, in Gallilee, “trickles from a spout into a marble trough, which appears to have been an ancient sarcophagus.” And close by the well at Mizra, he observed fragments of an¬ other, which had been used for a similar purpose. VVe may add, that Speed, the old English historian, remarks that the stone colhn of Richard 3d, “ is now made a drinking trough for horses at a common Inn.” Edition of 1615, p. 737. b Lord Lindsay’s Letters, (10.)—Phil. Trans. Lowthorp’s Abridg. iii, 490. 7 50 Wells, among the Antiquities of America. [Book I. ANCIENT AMERICAN WELLS. As wells are among the most ancient of man’s labors, that are extant in the old world, might we not expect to find some on these continents, relics of those races, who, in the unknown depths of time, are supposed to have cultivated the arts of civilization here'? We might: and true it is that among the proofs that a populous and much more enlightened people than the Indians have ever been, were at one time the possessors of Ame¬ rica, ancient wells have been adduced. “From the highest point of the Ohio, says Mr. T. Flint, to where I am now writing (St. Charles on the Missouri) and far up the upper Mississippi and Missouri, the more the country is explored and peopled, and the more its surface is penetrated, not only are’there more mounds brought to view, but more incontestible marks of a numerous population. Wells, artificially walled, dif¬ ferent structures of convenience or defence, have been found in such num¬ bers, as no longer to excite curiosity .” But American antiquities were so novel, so unlooked for, and so insu¬ lated from those of the old world, that learned men were greatly per¬ plexed at their appearance ; and at a loss to account for their origin. This is still, in a great measure, the case. A mystery, hitherto impenetrable, hangs over the primeval inhabitants of these continents. Who they vere, and whence they came, are problems that have hitherto defied all the re¬ searches of antiquarians. Nothing, perhaps, but the increasing occupa¬ tion of the soil, and excavations which civilization induces, will eventually determine the question, whether these antiquities are to be attributed to European settlers of the sixteenth century; to the enterprising Scandina¬ vians, the North Men, who, centuries before the voyages of Columbus and the Cabots, visited the shores of New England, New York and the Jerseys ; or whether some of them did not belong to an indigenous or Cuthite race, who inhabited those prolific regions, in times when the mastodon and mammoth and megalonix were yet in the land. No one can reflect on the myriads of our species who have occupied this half of the globe—perhaps from times anterior to the flood—without longing to know something of their history ; of their physical and intel¬ lectual condition; their languages, manners and arts; of the revolutions through which they passed; and especially of those circumstances which caused them to disappear before the progenitors of the present red men. The subject is one of the most interesting that ever exercised the human mind. It is calculated to excite the most thrilling sensations, and we have often expressed our surprise, that one of the most obvious and pro¬ mising sources of information has never been sufficiently investigated : we allude to ancient wells, a close examination of which, might lead to discoveries equally interesting, and far more important, than those which resulted from a similar examination of Grecian wells. Dr. Clarke says, that “Vases of Terra Cotta, of the highest antiquity, have been found in cleansing the wells of Athens.” 0 Some persons may perhaps suppose the old wells in the western parts of this continent, to be the work of Indians; but these people have never been known to make any thing like a regular well. Mr. Catlin, the artist, "A Roman well was discovered in the seventeenth century, near the great road which leads to Carlisle, in England. Instead of being walled up with stone, it was lined with large casks or hogsheads, six feet deep, and made of pine. The well was covered with oak plank nine inches thick. In it were found nms, drinking cups, san¬ dals and shoes, the soles of which were stitched and nailed. Phil. Trans. Lowthorp’s Abridg. iii, 431. 51 Chap. 8.J Ancient Modes of raising Water. who spent eight years among those on the upper waters of the Missis¬ sippi and Missouri, and another gentleman who had long been east of the Rocky mountains, among the Flat Heads, and other tribes towards the Pacific, both inform us that the wild and untutored Indians never have recourse to wells. They in fact have no need of them, as their villages are invariably located on the borders or vicinity of rivers. In some cases of suffering from thirst while traveling, they, in common with other sava¬ ges, sometimes scrape a hole in sand or wet soil, to obtain a temporary .supply. CHAPTER VIII. Ancient methods of raising water from wells: Inclined planes—Stairs within wells: In Mesopotamia —Abyssinia—Hindostau—Persia—Judea—Greece—Thrace—England—Cord and bucket: Used at Ja¬ cob's well—by the patriarchs—Mahomet—In Palestine—India—Alexandria—Arabian Vizier drawing wa¬ ter—Gaza—Herculaneum and Pompeii—Wells within the houses of the latter city—Aleppo—Tyre— Carthage—Cleanthes the ‘ Well Drawer’ of Athens, and successor of Zeno—Democritus—Plautus—As- clepindoe and Menedemus—Cistern pole—Roman cisterns and cement—Ancient modes of purifying water. We are now to examine the modes practised by the ancients, in ob¬ taining water from wells. When the first simple excavations became so far deepened, that the water could no longer be reached by a vessel in the hand, some mode of readily procuring it under such circumstances would soon be devised. In all cases of moderate depth, the most simple and efficient, was to form an inclined plane or passage, from the surface of the ground to that of the water ; a device by which the principal ad- vatages of an open spring on the surface were retained, and one by which domestic animals could procure water for themselves without the aid or attendance of man. There is reason to believe that this was one of the primitive methods of obtaining the liquid, when it was but a short dis¬ tance below the surface of the ground; and was most likely impercep¬ tibly introduced by the gradual deepening of, or enlarging the cavities of natural springs, or artificial excavations. But when in process of time, these became too deep for exterior pas¬ sages of this kind to be convenient or practicable, the wells themselves were enlarged, and stairs or steps for descending to the water, constructed within them. The circumstances recorded in Genesis, xxiv, induce us to believe that the well at which Eliezer, the steward of Abraham, met Re¬ becca, was one of these. When the former arrived at Nahor, he made his camels “ to kneel down without the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening that women go out to draw water: and Rebecca came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder—and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher and came up Had any machine been attached to this well, to raise its water, or had a vessel suspended to a cord been used, she could have had no occasion to descend. It therefore appears that the liquid was obtained by immersing the pitcher in it, and in order to do this, the persons ‘ went down’ to the water. That this well was not deep, may be inferred from the fact that Rebecca drew water suffi¬ cient to quench the thirst of ten camels, for it is said, she supplied them, “ till they had done drinkinga task which no young female could have accomplished in the time implied in the text, if this well had been even 52 Wells with Stairs. [Book I. moderately deep, and one which under all circumstances was a laborious performance; for these animals take a prodigious quantity of water at a time, sufficient to last them from ten to twenty days. Eliezer might well wonder at the ingenuous and benevolent disposition of Rebecca, and every reader of the account is equally surprised at his insensibilty, in per¬ mitting her to perform the labor unaided by himself or his attendants. Wells with stairs by which to descend to the water, are still common. The inhabitants of Arkeko in Abyssinia, are supplied with water from six wells, which are twenty feet deep and fifteen in diameter. The water is collected and carried vj> a broken ascent by men, women and children. 3 ' Fryer in his Travels in India, p. 410, speaks of “ deep wells many fathom under ground with stately stone stairs' ’ Joseph’s well in Egypt is ano¬ ther example of stairs both within and without. Bishop Heber observed one in Benares, with a tower over it, and a “ steep flight of steps for de¬ scending to the water.” Forrest, in his Tour along the Ganges and the- Jumna, says, “near the village of Futtehpore, is a large well, ninety feet in circumference, with a.broad stone staircase to descend to the water, which might be about thirty feet.” Mr. Forbes, in his Oriental Memoirs, remarks that “ many of the Guzzerat wells, have steps leading down to the water; while others have not.” In a preceding page, we quoted a passage from Ward’s History of the Hindoos to the same effect. Ta¬ vernier, speaking of the scarcity of water in Persia, says, of wells they have a great many, and he describes one with steps down to the water. b “ We passed a large and well built tank, with two flights of steps de¬ scending into it, at the opposite angles, possibly the pool of Hebron, where David hanged the murderers of Ishbosheth.” c The fountain of Siloam is reached by a descent of thirty steps cut in the solid rock. The small quantity of water furnished by some wells, rendered a de-*„ scent to it desirable, and hence it was often collected as fast as it appeared, by women who often waited for that purpose. “ That which pleased me most of all,” says Fryer, p. 126, “was a sudden surprise, when they brought me to the wrong side of a pretty square tank or well, with a wall of stone breast high; when expecting to find it covered with water, looking down five fathom deep, I saw a clutter of women, very handsome, waiting the distilling of the water from its dewy sides, which they catch in jars. It is cut out of a black marble rock, up almost to the top, with broad steps to go down. Mr. Addison in his ‘Journey Southward from Damascus,’ says, “ at the fountain near D’jenneen, the women used their hands as ladles to fill their pitchers. This scarcity of water, and the prac¬ tice of scooping it up in small quantities, are referred to, by both sacred and profane authors. “ They came to the pits and found no water, they returned with their vessels empty/’ Jer. xiv, 3. “ There shall not be found of it a sherd, [a potter’s vessel,] to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit,”—that is, to scoop it up when too shallow to i immerse a vase or pitcher in it. Isaiah, iii, 14. St. Peter speaks of wells ‘ without water,’ and Hosea, of ‘ fountains dried up.’ The water nymphs lament their empty urns.” Ovid, Met. ii, 278. The inhabitants of Libya, where the wells often contain little water, “ draw it out in little buckets, made of the shank bones of the camel. d ” Wells with stairs are not only of very remote origin, but they appear to have been used by all the nations of antiquity. They were common among the Greeks and Romans. e The well mentioned by Pausanias, of a Ed. Encyc. Art. Arkeko. b Persian Trav. 157. c Lindsay’s Trav. Let. 9. d Ogilvy’a Africa, 306. •’Lardner’s Arts of the Greeks and Romans, i, 138. Chap. 8.] Cord and Bucket. 53 which we have spoken in a previous chapter, has steps which lead down to the water. a The well for the purification of worshippers, in the tem¬ ple of Isis, in Pompeii, has a descent by steps to the water. b The wells of Thrace, had generally a covered flight of steps. c Ancient wells of similar construction are still to be seen in various parts of Europe. There is one near Hempstead, Eng. for the protection of which, an act of par¬ liament was passed in the reign of Henry VIII. Such wells, probably gave rise to the beautiful circular stairs so com¬ mon in old towers, and still known, as ‘ well stairs.’ In Galveston, (Texas,) and other parts of America, where there are no springs, cisterns are sunk in the sand between hillocks, into which the surface water drains, and steps are formed to lead down to it. CORD AND BUCKET. No. 8. Modern Greek female drawing water. No. 9. From a manuscript of the 12th century. However old and numerous wells with stairs within them may be, most of the ancient ones were constructed without them; hence the ne¬ cessity of some mode of raising the water. From the earliest ages, a vessel suspended to a cord , has been used by all nations—a device more simple and more extensively employed than any other, and one which was undoubtedly the germ of the most useful hydraulic machines of the an¬ cients, as the chain of pots, chain pump, &c. That a cord and bucket were used to raise water from Jacob’s well, nineteen centuries ago, is evident from the account of the interview, which the Savior had with the woman of Samaria at it. “ Then cOmeth he to a city of Samaria, called Sichar; now Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus being wearied sat on the well; and there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink.” Had any machine been attached to this well at that time, by which a traveler or stranger could raise it, he could have procured it for himself; and as he was thirsty, he probably would have done so, without waiting for any one to draw it for him ; but the reason why he did not, is subsequently explained by the woman herself; who, in replying to one of his remarks, the meaning of which she misappre¬ hended, said “ Sir, thou hast nothing to draw witk, and the well is deep.” This well , as already remarked, is one hundred and five feet deep. Hence at that period every one carried the means of raising the water with him. No. 9. of the illustrations, is a representation of the woman of Samaria drawing water. It is from a Greek illuminated manuscript of the 12th century, from D’Agincourt’s Storia Dell’Arte. It is still the general practice in the east, for any one, who goes to For. Top. 193. b Pompeii, i, 277. c Hydraulia, 166. 54 Cord and Bucket. [Book I draw water, to carry a vessel and cord with him, a custom which without doubt, has prevailed there since the patriarchal ages. This was the opinion of Mahomet, whose testimony on ^such a subject is unexceptiona¬ ble. He was an Arab—a people who pride themselves on the preserva¬ tion of the customs of their celebrated ancestors, Abraham, Ishmael, and Job. In his account of Joseph’s deliverance from the pit, into which his brethren had cast him, (and which many commentators believe was a well, which at the time contained little or no water,) he says: “ Certain travelers came, and sent one to draw water, (who went to the well in which Joseph was,) and he let down his bucket ,” &c. Koran, chap. xii. This account is perfectly consistent with that of Moses. Josephus, also, seems to have believed it to be a well : “ Reubel took the lad and tied him to a cord, and let him down gently into the pit, for it had no water in it.” Antiq. B. ii. 3. At 3 o’clock, (slys Mr. Addison in his “ Journey Southward from Damascus,”) we rode to a well (in approaching Cana of Galilee) in a field, where an Arab was watering his goats. There was a long stone trough by the side of the well, and this was filled with water by means of a leathern bucket attached to a rope, which the Arab carried about with him, for the convenience of himself and his herds. It was just such a scene as that described in Genesis : “ And behold a well in the field, and lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well they watered their flocks, and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.” Among the ruins of Mizra, in the great plain of Jezreel, the same traveler observes : “ Surprised at the desolate aspect of the spot, I rode with my servant to a well a few yards distant, where two solitary men were watering their goats, by means of a leathern bucket attached to a rope; and dismounting, I sat on the stone at the well’s mouth.” Mr. Forbes, after a residence of many years in Asia, said he “ did not recollect any wells furnished with buckets and ropes for the convenience of strangers; most travelers are therefore provided loitli them ; and halcarras and reli¬ gious pilgrims frequently carry a small brass pot affixed to a long string for this purpose.” In ancient Alexandria, where the arts were cultivated and science flourished to an extent perhaps unequaled in any older city, water was drawn up from the cisterns, with which every house was provided, with the simple cord and bucket. This city was supplied with water from the Nile : it was admitted into vaulted reservoirs or cisterns, which were constructed at the time the foundations of the city were laid by Alexander. They were sufficiently capacious to contain water for a whole year, being filled only at the annual inundation of the river, through a canal made for the purpose. Apertures or well openings, through which the water was raised from these reservoirs, are still'to be seen. “ Whole lines of ancient streets are traceable,” (says Lord Lindsay, Travels, Letter 2.) “ by the wells recurring every six or seven yards: by which the contiguous houses, long since crumbled away, drew water from the vast cisterns with which the whole city was undermined.” “ Every house,” says Rollin, “ had an opening into its cistern, like the mouth of a well, through which the water was taken up either in buckets or pitchers.” It may be said, this last quotation is not conclusive, since it does not indicate the manner in which the bucket was elevated—by a windlass'? a pulley ? or by the hand alone? We have satisfactory evi¬ dence that it was by the latter. The pavement of the old city is from ten to thirty feet below the surface of the modern streets, and excavations are frequently made by the Pasha’s workmen, for the stones of the old pave- Cord and Bucket. 55 Chapt. 8.] ment and of the buildings. In this manner the marble mouths of the vaulted reservoirs or cisterns are frequently brought to light; St. John’s Egypt, vol. i. 8 : and they invariably exhibit traces of the ropes used for raising the water. Grooves are found worn in them, (by the ropes) to the depth of two inches, and such grooves are often numerous in each curb or mouth. Dry wells are built over some of these, and continued to the level of the present streets. Through them the inhabitants still draw water from the ancient reservoirs; and in the same manner as it was raised from them when the Ptolemies ruled over the land. A person in raising the bucket, stands at a short distance from the curb or mouth, and pulls the rope horizontally, or nearly so, towards him. In this way, the rope rubs against the top and inside of the curb, and in time wears deep grooves in it, sucli as are found in the ancient ones just mentioned. Sometimes, in order to avoid the friction, and consequent loss of power and wear of the ropes, the person drawing would stand on the edge of the curb, so as to keep the cord clear; but the practice is too perilous ever to have been general. It is, however, practised occasionally by the Hindoos. El Makin, the Arabian historian, says that Moclach, the Vizier of Rhadi, who was deprived of his right hand and his tongue, and was confined in a lower room of the palace, where was a well; and having no person to attend him, he drew water for himself, pulling the rope with his left hand, and stopping it with his teeth, till the bucket came within his reach.” This was in the tenth century. Martigny’s History of the Arabians, vol. iv. 7. The wells on the road to Gaza, noticed by Mr. Stephens, had their upper surfaces formed of marble, which he observes had many grooves cut in it, “ apparently being worn by the long continued use of ropes in drawing water.” Incidents of Travel, vol. ii. 102. That the same mode of raising it was adopted in the public wells of the ancient cities of Greece and Rome, is evident from those of Herculaneum and Pompeii; and from discoveries made in the latter city, it is obvious that it was practised in obtaining water from the wells and cisterns of private houses. This is a very interesting fact in connection with our subject, as it shows conclusively that the pump, if used at all by the Ro¬ mans in their private houses, it was only to a very limited extent. In 1834, besides theatres, baths, temples and other public buildings, eighty houses had been disintei-red. These were found to be almost uniformly provided with cisterns, built under ground and cemented, for the collection of rain-water. Each of these has an opening, enclosed in a curb, through which the water was drawn up. These are generally formed of a white calcareous stone, on which are to be seen deep channels, (Pompeii, vol. i. 88,) like those on the mouths of the Alexandrian cisterns, and produced from the same cause—the friction of the ropes used in drawing the water. The hypsethrum, says Sir William Gell, in his description of the house of the Dioscuri, in this case served as a compluvium ; receiving the water which fell from the roof, and transmitting it to a reservoir below, to which there is a marble mouth or puteal, exhibiting thh traces of long use, in the furrows loom by the ropes, by which the water was drawn up. Pompei- ana, vol. ii, 27. The great variety of‘buildings to which wells and cisterns having their curbs thus worn were attached, show that this mode of raising water was nearly universal in Pompeii. The simple cord and bucket was equally used in the palace of the quaestor, and the humble dwelling of the private citizen. It was by them, the priests drew water for the uses of the temples, and mechanics for various purposes in the arts. Bakers thus .66 Cord and Bucket. [Book I. raised water for their kneading-troughs, from cisterns or wells under the floor of their shops. Three bakers’ shops, at least, have been found, and all of them in a tolerable state of preservation : their mills, ovens, knead¬ ing troughs, flour, loaves of bread, (with their quality, or the bakers’ names stamped on them,) leaven, vessels for containing water, and their re¬ servoirs of the latter, Ac. have been discovered, so as to leave almost nothing wanting to perfect our knowledge of this art among the Romans. It is probable that wells were not infrequent in the interior of the houses in Pompeii, for another one was discovered in the house of a medical man, as presumed from chirurgical instruments found in it. a The custom of Roman bakers having wells or cisterns within their houses, continued to modern times. When the Royal Academy of Sci¬ ences of France, undertook in the last century, the noble task of pub¬ lishing a detailed account of all the useful arts, with a view to their uni¬ versal diffusion and perpetuity—the baker is represented drawing water from a well, under the floor of his shop, and in a manner analagous to that practised by his predecessors of Pompeii. b London bakers also had wells in their cellars, for the same purpose, and probably still have them to some extent. The inhabitants of the city of Aleppo, the metropolis of Syria, drew water from their cisterns or subterraneous reservoirs, and also from their wells, with which ‘ almost every house’* was provided, with a cord and bucket, in the same manner as the Egyptians of Alexandria; and so do the inhabitants of Soor, which occupies the site of ancient Tyre, a town which contained in 1816, according to Mr. Buckingham, eight hundred stone built houses, most of which, he observes, had wells. Ancient Car¬ thage was built like Alexandria, upon cisterns—a common practice of old. The modern inhabitants of Arzew, the ancient Arsenaria, as observed by Dr. Shaw in his Travels, dwell in the old cisterns, as in so many ho¬ vels; the water from which, was doubtless drawn in former times, by the simple cord and bucket—the universal implements still used throughout Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, Hindostan, and generally through all the east. This primeval device for raising water, has been used in all ages, and will doubtless continue to be so used, to the end of time. An interesting circumstance is recorded, respecting an individual, who, from his occupation in ancient Athens, was named the ‘Well-Drawer,’ which may here be noticed. This was Cleanthes, a native of Lydia, who went to Athens as a wrestler, about 300 B. C. and acquiring a taste for philosophy there, determined to place himself under the tuition of some eminent philosopher, although he possessed no more than four drachmce , or sixty-two cents ! He became a disciple of Zeno, and that he might have leisure to attend the schools of philosophy in the day-time, he drew water by night, as a common laborer in the public gardens. For several years he was so very poor, that he wrote the heads of his master’s lectures, on bones and shells, for want of money to buy better materials: at last, some Athe¬ nian citizens observing, that though he appeared strong and healthy, he had no visible means of subsistence, summoned him before the Areopagus, according to a law borrowed from the Egyptians, to give an account of his manner of living. Upon this, he produced the gardener for whom he drew water, and a woman for whom he ground meal, as witnesses to prove that he subsisted by the labor of his hands. The judges, we are a Lardner’s Arts, &.c. i, 268. b Descriptions des Arts et Metiers. Paris, 1761. Art. du Boulanger. Planche 5. c Russel’s History of Aleppo, p. 7. Chap. 8.] Cistern Foie. 57 told, were so much struck with admiration of his conduct, that they or¬ dered ten mince , [one hundred and sixty dollars] to be paid him out of the public treasury. The conduct of Cleanthes explains the secret of the great celebrity of many ancient philosophers, and shows the only means by which eminence in any department of human knowledge can be acquired : viz. by industry and perseverance. Besides his poverty, which of itself was sufficient to paralyze the efforts of most men, he was so singularly dull in apprehen¬ sion, that his fellow disciples used to call him the ass; but resolution and application raised him above them all, made him a complete master of the stoic philosophy, and qualified him as successor of the illustrious Zeno. Democritus beautifully expressed the same sentiment, by representing Truth as hid in the bottom of a well; to intimate the difficulty with which she is found. Analogous to the conduct of Cleanthes, was that of Plautus, the poet, who being reduced from competence to the meanest poverty, hired him¬ self to a baker as a common laborer, and while employed in grinding corn, exercised his mind in study. The same may be remarked of Ascle- piades and Menedemus, two Grecian philosophers, who were both so poor, that at one period, they hired themselves as bricklayer’s laborers, and were employed in carrying mortar to the tops of buildings. Ascle- piades, was not ashamed to be seen thus engaged, but his companion “hid himself if he saw any one passing by.” Athenceus, says they were at one time summoned, like Cleanthes, before the Areopagites, to account for their manner of living—when they requested a miller to be sent for, who testified that “ they came every night to his mill, where they labored and gained two drachma.” No. 8, in the last engraving, represents a modern Greek female drawing water. It is from a sketch of Capo D’lstrias’ house. See the Westminster Review for September, 1838. CISTERN POLE. This simple implement, may be thought too in¬ significant to deserve a particular notice, but as it is extensively used in our rain-water cisterns, and is no modern device, we are unwilling to pass it. It was known to the Romans. Pliny expressly mentions it, when speaking of various modes of watering gardens. He says water is drawn from a well or tank, “ by plain poles, hooks and buckets,” B. xix, 4 ; and that it was a domestic implement in old times as at present, in raising water from cisterhs, is proved by the discovery of some of the hooks at Pompeii. Lard. Arts, &c. i, 205. Having mentioned the rain water cisterns of the Romans, it may be observed, that they were as common in Pompeii as they are in this city, every house having been furnished with one. As Pliny’s account of these cisterns may be useful to some mechanics, especially masons, we shall make no apology for inserting it. “ The walls were lined with strong cement, formed of five parts of sharp sand, and two of quicklime mixed with flints; the bottom being paved with 8 No. 10. Cistern Pole. 58 The Pulley. [Book I the same, and well beaten with an iron rammer.” B. xxxvi, 23. Holland’s Trans. The composition of this cement, differs from that which Dr. Shaw says has been used in modern times in the east; and which he thinks is the same as that of the ancients. He says the cisterns which were built by Sultan hen Eglih, in several parts of the kingdom of Tunis, are equal in solidity with the famous ones at Carthage, continuing to this day (unless where they been designedly broken,) as firm and compact, as if they were just finished. The composition is made in this manner: they take two parts of wood ashes, three of lime, and one of fine sand, which after being well sifted and mixed together, they beat for three days and nights incessantly with wooden mallets, sprinkling them alter¬ nately and at proper times, with a little oil and water, till they become of a due consistence. This composition is chiefly used in their arches, cisterns and terraces. But the pipes of their aqueducts, are joined by beating tow and lime together, with oil only, without any mixture of water. Both these compositions quickly assume the hardness of stone, and suffer no water to pervade them. Trav. 286. If the Romans wished to have water perfectly pure, they made two and sometimes three cisterns, at different levels ; so that the water suc¬ cessively deposited the imparities with which it might be charged. From this, we see that the recent introduction of two cisterns for the same purpose, in some of our best houses, is a pretty old contrivance. It in fact dates far beyond the Roman era. The famous cisterns of So¬ lomon are examples of it. Rain-water was frequently boiled by the Ro¬ mans before they used it. Pliny xxxi, 3. This was also an ancient prac¬ tice among older nations. Herodotus, says the water of the Choaspes, which was drunk by the Persian kings, was previously boiled, and kept in vessels of silver. B. i, 188. CHAPTER IX. The Pulley: Its origin unknown—Used in the erection of ancient buildings and in ships—Ancient one found in Egypt—Probably first used to raise water—Not extensively used in ancient Grecian wells: Cause of this—Used in Mecca and Japan—Led to the employment of animals to raise water—Simple mode of adapting them to this purpose, in the east. Pulley and two buckets: Used by the Anglo Saxons, Nor¬ mans, &c.—Italian mode of raising water to upper floors—Desagulier’s mode—Self-acting, or gaining and losing buckets—Marquis of Worcester—Herou of Alexandria—Robert Fludd—Lever bucket engine —Bucket of Bologna—Materials of ancient buckets. PULLEY AND SINGLE BUCKET. We now come to the period when som# of the simple machines, or mechanical powers, as they are improperly named, were applie'd to rai&e water. When this first took place, is unknown : That it was at an early stage in the progress of the arts, few persons will doubt; but the time is as uncertain, as that of the invention of those admirable contrivances for transmitting and modifying forces. It was among the devices Ry which the famous structures of antiquity were raised; and Egyptian en¬ gineers under the Pharaohs, were undoubtedly acquainted with all the combinations of it now known. Had Vitruvius neither described it, nor mentioned its applications, a circumstance which occurred at the close of Cleopatra’s life, would have sufficiently proved its general use, in the erection of elevated buildings under the Ptolemies. The Egyptian queen, Pulley and Single Bucket. 59 Chap. 9.] to avoid falling into the hands of Octavius, took refuge in a very high tower, accessible only from above. Into this, she and her two maids, drew up Antony, (who had given himself a fatal wound,) by means of ropes and pullies, which happened to be there, for the purpose of raising stones to the top of the building. But the pulley was an essential re¬ quisite in the sailing vessels of Egypt, India and China, in the remotest ages. Neither trading ships, nor the war fleets of Sesostris, or previous warriors, could have traversed the Indian ocean without this appendage to raise and lower the sails, or quickly to regulate their movements by hal¬ liards. The ancient Egyptians, says Mr. Wilkinson, “were not ignorant of the pulley.” The remains of one have actually been disinterred, and are now preserved in the museum of Leyden. The sides are of aihul or tamarisk wood, the roller of fir: part of the rope made of leef or fibres of the date tree, was found at the same time. This relic of former times, is supposed to have been used in drawing water from a well. Its date is uncertain. There are reasons which render it probable that the single pulley, was devised to raise water and earth from wells, and probability is all that can ever be attained with regard to its origin. But may not the pulley have been known before wells? We think not, and for the following reasons: 1. Most barbarous people have been found in possession of some of the latter, but not of the former; and in the infancy of the arts, man has in all ages, had recourse to the same expedients, and in the same order. 2. Wells are not only of the highest antiquity, but they are the only known works of man in early times, in which the pulley could have been re¬ quired or applied. 3. The importance of water in those parts of Asia where the former generations of men dwelt, must have urged them at an early period to facilitate by the pulley, the labor of raising it. That it preceded the invention of ships, and the erection of lofty buildings of stone, is all but certain; but for what purpose, except for raising water, the pul¬ ley could have previously been required, it would be difficult to divine. It seems to have been the first addition made to those primitive imple¬ ments, the cord and bucket; and when once adopted, it naturally led, as we shall find in the sequel, to the most valuable machine which the an¬ cients employed. By it the friction of the rope in rubbing against the curb, and the consequent loss of a portion of the power expended in raising the water, were avoided, and by it also a beneficial change in the direction of the power, was attained: instead of being exerted in an ascending direction, as in Nos. 8 and 9, it is applied more conveniently and efficiently in a descending one, as in the figure. Notwithstanding the obvious advantages of using the pulley, it would appear that it was not exten¬ sively used in the public wells of the ancients, ex¬ cept in those from which the water was raised by oxen. No example of its use has occurred in the No. it. Pulley and Bucket, wells of Herculaneum or Pompeii. Nor does it appear to have been employed to any great extent by the Greeks; for with them, a vessel by which to draw water, was as necessary a utensil to their mendicants, as to the modern pilgrims and fa¬ kirs of Asia. The poorest of beggars, Aristophanes’ Telepheus, had a staff, a broken cup, and a bucket, although it leaked. This custom there¬ fore of carrying a vessel, and cord to draw water, shows that no per¬ manent one was attached to their public wells, which would have been 60 Pulley and Bucket. [Book I. the case had the pulley been used. If such had been the custom, nei¬ ther the mendicant Telepheus, nor Diogenes the philosopher, would have carried about with them, vessels for th‘e purpose. It is not easy to account for the partial rejection of the pulley by the Greeks in raising water, when its introduction would have materially di minished human labor. It certainly did not arise from ignorance of its advantages, as their constant application of it to other purposes, attests; and there is reason to believe, they adopted it to some extent in raising water from the holds of their ships, in common with the maritime people of Asia. It was indeed used in some of their wells, 3 but only to a limi¬ ted extent. The principal reason for not employing it in public wells, was probably this—With it, a single persoif only could dra w water at a time, while without it, numbers could lower and raise their vessels simulta¬ neously, without interfering with each other In the former case, alter¬ cations would be frequent and unavoidable; and the inconvenience of numbers of people waiting for water in warm climates a serious evil. The rich, and those who had servants would always procure it, while the poor and such as had no leisure, would obtain it with difficulty. The large di¬ ameter of their wells and those of other nations, it would seem, was solely designed to accommodate several people at the same time. These rea¬ sons it is admitted, do not apply to the private wells and cisterns of the Greeks and Romans, in which the pulley might have been used ; but those people followed the practice of older nations, and from the great number of their slaves, (who drew the water) they had no inducement or disposition to lessen their labor. A bucket suspended over a pulley, is still extensively used in raising water from wells throughout the world. The Arabians use it at the well Zemzem ; the mouth of which, is “ surrounded by a brim of fine white marble five feet high, and ten feet in diameter; upon this the persons stand, who draw water in leathern buckets, attached to pulleys, an iron railing being so placed as to prevent their falling in.” b Apparatus precisely similar to the figure in No. 11, are used by the Ja¬ panese and other Asiatics. Montanus’ Japan. 294. The pulley has but recently given place to pumps, in workshops and dwellings, and in these only to a limited extent—being confined chiefly to a few cities in the United States and Europe. In France and England, it was a common appendage to wells in the interior of houses, during the last century ; and in such cases it is still extensively used throughout Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe. It is very common in this country, and also in South America. But the grand advantage of the pulley in the early ages was this ;—by it the vertical direction in which men exerted their strength, could be di¬ rectly changed into a horizontal one, by which change, animals could be employed in place of men. The wells of Asia, frequently varying from two to three, and even four hundred feet in depth, obviously required more than one person to raise the contents of an ordinary sized vessel: and where numbers of people depended on such wells, not merely to sup¬ ply their domestic wants, but for the purposes of irrigation, the substi¬ tution of animals in place of men, to raise water, became a matter almost of necessity, and was certainly adopted at a very early period. In em¬ ploying an ox for this purpose, the simplest way, and one which deviated the least from their accustomed method, was merely to attach the end of the rope to the yoke, after passing it over a pulley fixed sufficiently Lardner’s Arts, &c i, 138. b Crichton’s Arabia, ii, 219. Application of Animals to Raise Water. 61 Chap. 9] ' high above the mouth of the well, and then driving the animal in a direct line from it, and to a distance equal to its depth, when the bucket charged with the liquid would be raised from the bottom. This, the most direct and efficient, was, (it is believed,) the identical mode adopted, and like other devices of the ancients, it is still continued by their descendants in Africa and Asia. Its value in the estimation of the moderns, may be learned from the fact, that it is adopted in this and other cities for raising coals, &c. from the holds of ships ; for which and similar purposes, it has been in use for ages in Europe. It has also been used to work pumps, the further end of the rope being attached to a heavy piston working in a very long chamber or cylinder. This was probably one of the first operations, and certainly one of the most obvious, where human labor was superseded by that of animals, and in accomplishing it, the pulley itself was perhaps discovered. This mode is common in Egypt, Arabia, India—through all Hindostan, and various other parts of the east. Mr. Elphinstone mentions a large well under the walls of the fort at Bikaneer, from fifteen to twenty-two feet in diameter, and three hundred feet deep. In this well four large buckets are used, each thus drawn up by & pair of oxen, and all worked at the same time. When any one of them was let down, “its striking the water, made a noise like a great gun.” But simple as this mode of raising water by animala is, it is capable of an improvement equally simple, though not perhaps ob¬ vious to general readers. It was not however left to modern mechanicians to discover, but is one among hundreds of ancient devices, whose origin is lost in the remoteness of time. It is this—Instead of the animal receding from the well on level ground, it is made to descend an inclined plane, so that the weight of its body contributes towards raising the load. This is characteristic of Asiatic devices. At a very early period, the principle of combining the weight of men and animals with their muscular energy, in propelling machines, was adopted. We shall meet with other exam¬ ples of it. PULLEY AND TWO BUCKETS. The addition of another bucket, so as to have one at each end of the rope, was the next step in the progress of improvement; and although so simple a device may appear too obvious to have remained long unper¬ ceived, and une which required no stretch of intellect to accomplish, it was one of no small importance, since it effected what is seldom witnessed in practical mechanics—a saving both of time and labor. Thus, by it, the empty vessel descended and became filled, as the other was elevated, 62 Pulley and Two Buckets. [Book I. (without the expenditure of any additional time and labor to lower it, as with the single bucket,) while its weight in descending, contributed towards raising the charged one. These advantages were not the only results of the simple addition of another bucket; though they were probably all that were anticipated by the author at the time. It really imparted a new feature to the apparatus, and one which naturally led to the development of that great machine, in which terminated all the improvements of the older mechanics on the primitive cord and bucket—and to which, modern ingenuity has added— nothing—viz: the endless chain of pots— indeed nothing more was then wanting, but to unite the two ends of the rope together, and attach a number of vessels to it, at equal distances from each other, through the whole of its length, and the machine just named was all but complete. w No. 13. Ancient. No. 14. Modern. [From sepulchral monuments.] The Anglo Saxons used two buckets hooped with iron, one at each end of a chain which passed over a pulley. a And in the old Norman castles, water was raised by the same means. In one of the keeps or towers, still remaining, which was built by Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, in the reigns of the Conqueror and William Rufus, the mode of elevating the water is obvious., “For water, there was a well in the very middle of the partition wall: it was also made to go through the whole wall, from the bottom of the tower up to the very leads, (i. e. the roof) and on every floor were small arches in the wall, forming a communication between the pipe of the wall, and the several apartments, so that by a pulley, water was communicated every where.” And in Newcastle, a similar tower exhibits the same device for obtaining the water: “ a remarkable pillar from which arches branched out very beautifully on each side, in¬ closed a pipe, (that is, the continuation of the well,) which conducted water from the well.” b It appears to have been, in the middle ages, the uniform practice to enclose wells within the walls of towers, that in case of sieges, the water might not be cut off. It was the same in early Rome: the capitol was supplied by a deep well at the foot of the Tar- peian Rock, into which buckets were lowered through an artificial groove or passage made in the rock.® The double bucket is still used in inns in Spain. See a figure in Sat. Mag. Vol. vii, 58. A simple mode is practised in Italy, by which a person in the upper story of a house, and at some distance from the well or cistern, (which is ge¬ nerally in the court yard,) raises water without being obliged to descend. One end of a strong iron rod or wire, is fixed to the house above the window of an upper landing or passage, and the other end in the ground, •Encyc. Antiq. 524. b Ibid, 82. c Gell’s Topography of Rome, ii, 203. Chap. 9.] Raising Water to Upper Floors. 63 on the farther side of the well and in a line with its centre as in No. 15. A ring which slides easily over the wire is secured to the handle of the bucket, to which a cord is also attached and passes over a pulley fixed above the window. Thus when the cord is slackened, the bucket de¬ scends along the wire into the water, and when filled is drawn up by a per¬ son at the window. (Kitchens in the houses of Italy, like those of London and Paris are often on the upper floors.) *’ This mode of raising water to the up¬ per stories of houses is practised in Ve¬ nice and some other towns in Italy.” 3 We are not acquainted with the origin of this device. From the circumstance of the ancient, (as well^as the modern) in habitants of Asia, Greece, Italy, &c. having had jets d’eau and tanks of wa¬ ter in the centre of their court-yards, it is possible that this mode of raising water to the upper floors of dwellings, may be of ancient date. It was in use in the 16th century, and is described in Serviere’s collection, from which the figure is taken. b In the same work are devices for raising water in buckets to the tops of buildings by pulleys, ropes, &c. moved by water wheels. Of modern devices for raising water with the pulley and bucket, the most efficient is said to "be that of Dr. Desaguliers. After passing the rope over a pulley, he suspended to its end a frame of wood on which a man could stand—the bucket at the other end was made heavier than this frame, and therefore descended of itself. The length of the rope was such, that when the bucket was at the bottom, the frame was level with the place to which the water was to be raised. As soon as the bucket was filled with water, for the admission of which a hole was made in its bottom, and covered by a flap or valve, a man, whose weight exceeded, (with the frame) that of the bucket and water, stepped upon the frame, and sunk down with it to the bottom, and con¬ sequently raised the bucket of water to the required height, when a hook catched in a hasp at the side of the bucket, turned it over, and discharged its contents into the reservoir. As soon as the bucket was empty, the man at the bottom stepped off the frame and ran up a flight of stairs made for the purpose, to the place whence he descended; and in the mean time, the bucket being heavier than the frame, descended to the water, and was again raised by the same process. Such a device is well enough for philosophical experiment, but is cer¬ tainly not adapted for practical purposes. Simple as it may appear, there are requisites necessary to its efficient application, which in common practice are unattainable. No. 15. Italian mode of raising water to the upper floors of a house. “Cadell’s Journey into Carniola, Italy, &c. Edinburgh, 1820, i, 481. b Recueil D’Ouvrages Curieux de Mathematique et de Mechanique, ou Description du Cabinet de M. Grollier de Serviere, avec des figures en taille douce, par M. Grol- lier de Serviere, son petit fils. A Lyon, 1719. The elder Serviere died in the 17th century. 64 Self-Acting Buckets. [Book I SELF-ACTING, OR GAINING AND LOSING BUCKETS. In tlie latter part of the 16th, or beginning of the 17th century, a ma¬ chine for raising water, was in use in Italy, which is entitled to particular notice, on account of its being alleged to be the first one of the kind which was self-acting; and in that respect, was the forerunner of the motive ‘ Fire Engine’ itself. It appears to have been first described by Schottus in his Technia Curiosa. According to Moxon, his description was taken from one in actual operation “at a nobleman’s house at Basil.” fMech. Pow. 107.) But Belidor, says the first one who put such a thing in execution, was Gironimo Finugio, at Rome in 1616 ; although Schottus had long before contrived an engine for this purpose. Moxon has given a figure a nd description of one, but without naming the source from whence he ob¬ tained it: he says it was “made at Rome, in the convent of St. Maria de Victoria : the lesser bucket did contain more than a whole urn of water, (at Rome they say un barile,) but before, while they used lesser buckets, the engine wanted success.” It would seem that it was to one of these ‘Roman Engines,’ that the Marquis of Worces¬ ter referred, in the 21st proposition of his Cen¬ tury of Inventions: “How to raise water con¬ stantly with two buckets only, day and night, toithout any other force than its own motion, using not so much as any force, wheel or sucker, nor more pulleys than one, on which the cord or chain rolleth, with a bucket fastened at each end. This I confess I have seen and learned of the great mathematician Claudius, his studies at Rome, he having made a present thereof unto a cardinal, and I desire not to own any other men’s inventions, but if I set down any, to nominate like¬ wise the inventor.” The machine described by Moxon, is encum¬ bered with too many appendages for popular illustration—its essential parts will be under¬ stood by the accompanying diagram, from Ha- chette’s Traite Elementaire des Machines, Paris, 1819. Over a pulley S, are suspended two vessels A and B, of unequal dimensions. The smaller one B, is made heavier than A when both are empty, but lighter when they are filled. It is required to raise by them, part of the water from the spring or reservoir E, into the cistern Z. As the. smaller bucket B, by its superior gravity, descends into E, (a flap or valve in its bottom admitting the water,) it consequently raises A into the position represented in the figure. A pipe F, then conveys water from the reservoir into A, the orifice or bore of which pipe, is so proportioned, that both vessels are filled simultaneously. The larger bucket then pre¬ ponderates, descending to O, and B at the same time rising No. 16. Gaining and Losing Buckets. to the upper edge of Z, when the projecting pins O O, catch against others on the lower sides of the buckets, and overturn them at the same moment. The bails or handles are at¬ tached by swivels to the sides, a little above the Self-Acting Buckets. 65 Chap. 9.] centre of gravity. As soon as both vessels are emptied, B again pre¬ ponderates, and the operation is repeated without any attendance, as long as there is water in E .and the apparatus continues in order. In Moxon’s machine, the vessels were filled by two separate tubes of unequal bore; the orifices being covered by valves, to prevent the es¬ cape of water while the buckets were in motion; these valves were opened and closed by means of cords attached to the buckets. The efflux through F in the figure, may easily be stopped as soon as A begins.to de¬ scend, by the action of either bucket on the end of a lever attached to a valve, or by other obvious contrivances. The water discharged from A, runs to waste through some channel provided for the purpose. These machines are of limited application, since they require a fall for the de¬ scent of A, equal to the elevation to which the liquid is raised in B. They may however be modified to suit locations where a less descent only can be obtained. Thus, by connecting the rope of B to the periphery of a large wheel, while that of A is united to a smaller one on the same axis, water may be raised higher than the larger bucket falls, but the quantity raised will of course be proportionally diminished. In Serviere’s Collection, a Gaining and Losing Bucket Machine is de¬ scribed. Another one was invented in 1725, by George Gerves an En¬ glish carpenter, who probably was not aware that he had been anticipated by continental mechanics upwards of a century before. He erected one in Buckinghamshire, which was much approved of by Sir Isaac Newton, Beighton, Desaguliers, Switzer, and others. Mr. Beighton who drew up a description of it, observes that it was so free from friction, that “it is likely to continue an age without repair;” and Dr. Desaguliers on insert¬ ing an account of it in his Experimental Philosophy, vol. ii, 461, says, “ this engine has not been out of order since it was first set up, about fif¬ teen years ago.” Notwithstanding these favorable testimonials, it has fallen into disuse. It was much too complex and cumbersome, and of too limited application ever to become popular. The principle of self-action in all these machines is no modern discovery, for it was described by Heron of Alexandria, who applied it to the ope¬ ning and closing the doors of a temple, and to other purposes. The mo¬ tive bucket when filled, descended and communicated by a secret cord the movement required, and when its contents were discharged (by a si¬ phon similar to the one figured in the Clepsydra of Ctesibius, in our fifth book,) it was again raised by a weight at the other end of the cord, like the bucket, in the last figure. See De Naturee Simia seu technica macro- cosmi historia, by Robert Fludd, (the English Rosicrucian.) Oppenheim, 1618, pp. 478 and 489, where several similar contrivances are figured— hence the device is much older than has been supposed. Perhaps the best modification of the ‘ Gaining and Losing Bucket’, is Francini’s, a de¬ scription of which mav be seen in our account of the Endless Chain of Pots. A /eye/* machine described by Dr. Desaguliers may here be noticed. “A A, (No. 17,) are two spouts running from a gutter or spring of water, into the two buckets D and E. D containing about thirty gallons and being called the losing bucket , and E the gaining bucket, containing less than a quarter part of D, as for example six gallons. D E, is a lever or beam movable about the axis or centre C, which is supported by the pieces F F, be¬ tween which the bucket D can descend when the contrary bucket E is raised up, D C, is to C E, as one is to four. G L is an upright piece, through the top of which the lever K I moves about the centre L, sometimes resting on the prop H, and sometimes raised from it by the 9 66 Lever Bucket Machine. [Book I. pressure of the arm C E on the end I. The bucket D when empty, has its mouth upwards, being suspended as above mentioned. The end D with its bucket is also lighter than the end with the bucket E, when both are empty. By reason of the different bore of the spouts, D is filled al¬ most as soon as E, and immediately preponderating, sinks down to D, and thereby raises the contrary end of the lever and its bucket up to the cistern M, into which it discharges its water; but immediately the bucket D becoming full, pours out its water, and the end of the lever E comes down again into its horizontal situation, and striking upon the end I of the loaded lever I K, raises the weight K, by which means the force of its blow is broken. If the distance A B or fall of the water be fibout six feet, this machine will raise the water into the cistern M twenty- four feet high. Such a machine is very simple and may be made in any proportion according to the fall of the water, the quantity allowed to be wasted, and the height to which the water must be raised.” No. 17. Gaining and Losing Buckets. “Some years ago,” Dr. Desaguliers continues, “a gentleman showed me a model of such an engine varying something from this, but so con¬ trived as to stop the running of the water at A A, when the lever D E began to move. , He told me he had set up an engine in Ireland, which raised about half a hogshead of water in a minute, forty feet high, and did not cost forty shillings a year to keep it in repair, and that it was not very expensive to set up at first.” Experimental Philosophy, vol. i, 78. There is a singular historical fact connected with the use of buckets to raise water from wells, which will serve to conclude this part of the sub¬ ject. Every person knows, that war between nations has often arisen from the most trifling causes; when thousands of human beings, alike ignorant and innocent of its origin, hired by its authors, armed with murderous weapons and incessantly exercised in the use of them, are marshaled into the presence of a similar host; when both being stimu¬ lated by inflaming addresses, and often excited by ardent spirits, destroy each other like infuriated tigers! Then after one party is overcome, the other glorying in the slaughter, hail their leader a hero, and not infre¬ quently do that, which fiends would shudder to think of—viz. return thanks to the benign Savior of men, for having enabled them thus to de- Buckets. 67 Chap. 9.] stroy their species; and to produce an amount of misery, as evinced in the shrieks of the wounded—the agonies of the dying—the unutterable pangs of widows, and the untold sufferings of orphans—that would suffice to draw tears from demons! And all this for what? Why, atone time, accord- mg to Tasso, and it is degrading to our nature to repeat it, because some thieves of Modena stole a bucket belonging to a public well of Bologna ! This fatal bucket is still preserved in the cathedral of Modena—a memorial of a sanguinary war, and of the evils attending the most horrible of all human delusions, military glory. “In the year 1005, some soldiers of the commonwealth of Modena ran away with a bucket from a public well, belonging to the State of Bologna. This implement might be worth a shilling; but it produced a bloody quarrel which was worked up into a bloody war. Henry, the king of Sardinia, for the Emperor Henry the second, assisted the Modenese to keep possession of the bucket; and in one of the battles he was made prisoner. His father, the Emperor, offered a chain of gold that would encircle Bologna, which is seven miles in compass, for his son’s ransom, but in vain. After twenty-two years imprisonment, and his father being dead, he pined away and died. His monument is still extant in the church of the Dominicans. This fatal bucket is still exhibited in the tower of the cathedral of Modena, enclosed in an iron cage.” Materials of Buckets. —Neptune and Andromache watered horses with metallic ones. Both Greeks and Romans had them of wood, metal and leather. Sometimes wooden ones were hooped with brass. One of these was found in a Roman barrow in England. The ancient British had them without hoops and cut out of solid timber. The Anglo Saxons made them of staves as at present. Those of the old Egyptians were of metal, wood, skins or leather, and probably of earthenware. See figures in 11th and 13th chapters. We have given figures of some metallic ones discovered in Pompeii, in Book II. The bucket of Bologna is formed of staves and bound with iron hoops. a The old error that * water has no weight in water,’ arose from not per¬ ceiving the weight of a bucket, until it was raised out of the liquid in which it was plunged. Although poetry is foreign to the design of this work, and cold water is not remarkably inspiring, nor a bucket a very poetical object, yet the following beautiful lines of S. Woodworth, on * The Bucket,’ are as re¬ freshing in the midst of a dry discussion, as a draught of the sparkling li¬ quid to a weary traveller of the desert. b That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure; For often at noon, when returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing, And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell: Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing, And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well. How sweet from the green mossy brimto receive it, As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips! Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips. * Misson’s Travels, iii, 327, and Keysler’s Travels, iii, 138. b They have been erroneously attributed to the British Poet Wordsworth. 68 The Windlass. [Book t CHAPTER X. The Windlass: Its origin unknown—Employed in raising water from wells, and ore from mines— Chinese windlass—Other inventions of that people, as table forks, winnowing machines, &c. &c. Fu¬ see: Its application to raise water from wells—Its inventor not known. Wheel and pinion—Anglo- Saxon crane—Drum attached to the windlass roller, and turned by a rope : Used in Birmah, England, &c. Tread wheels: Used by the Ancients—Moved by men and various animals—Jacks—Horizontal tread wheels—Common wheel or capstan. Observations on the introduction of table forks into Europe. THE WINDLASS. Although it may never be known to whom the world is indebted for the windlass, there are circumstances which point to the construction of wells and raising of water from them, as among the first uses to which it, as well as the pulley, was applied. The windlass possesses an important advantage over the single pulley in lifting weights, or overcoming any resistance; since the intensity of the force transmitted through it, can be modified, either by varying the length of the crank, or the circum¬ ference of the roller on which the rope is coiled. Sometimes a single vessel and rope, but more frequently two, are employed, as in the figure, No. 18. No. 18. Windlass. From Kircher’s Muudus Subterraneus. The buckets are suspended from opposite sides of the roller, the rope winding round it in different directions, so that, as one ascends, the other descends. Pliny, in his Natural History, xix, 4, mentions this machine as used by the Romans for raising water; and in the 36th book, cap. xv, when speaking of a canal for draining the marsh Fucinus , part of which passed through a mountain, he says the water which flowed in upon the workmen was raised up “with device of engines and windlcs.” As there * was not any apparatus attached to the public wells in Greek and Roman cities, or if so, to a very limited extent, it is probable the windlass was chiefly used in the country, where its application to deep wells was per¬ haps as common as it is in other parts of the world at the present time. It has always been used in raising ore and water from mines. Agricola has given several figures of it as employed in those of Hungary, where Chinese Windlass. Chaj). 10.] GO it has probably been in uninterrupted use since the Roman era. a Some times it was placed on one side of the well, and at a short distance from it, the ropes passing through pulleys that were suspended over its mouth. By this arrangement water may be raised to any required height above the windlass ; an advantage in some cases very desirable. Belidor has given a similar figure, and observes that such machines were extensively used in the Low Countries. 1 * Sometimes a series of pulleys were com¬ bined with it. In an old work, we have seen the windlass attached to a large tub in which water or coal was raised, so that one or more persons might ascend and descend, without the aid of others on the surface of the ground; the ropes being passed through a block above the mouth of the pit. c It is very probable that these applications of it were known to the Greeks and Romans. Switzer, in his ‘Hydrostatics,’ says, the ancients used the windlass for raising water, and that all their machines of a similar construction were classed under the general name of Budromia. There is a very peculiar and exceedingly ingenious modification of the windlass, which may here be noticed, and for which we are indebted to the Chinese. It furnishes the means of increasing mechanical energy to almost any extent, and as it is used by them to raise water from some of those prodigiously deep wells already noticed, (p. 30,) a figure of it, (No. 19.) is inserted. The roller consists of two parts of unequal di¬ ameters, to the extremities of which, the ends of the rope are fastened on opposite sides, so as to wind round both parts in different directions. As the load to be raised is suspended to a pulley, (See fig.) every turn of the roller raises a portion of the rope equal to the circumference of the thicker part, but at the same time lets down a portion equal to that of the smaller; consequently the weight is raised at each turn, through a space equal only to half the difference between the circumferences of the two parts of the roller. The action of this machine is therefore slow, but the mechanical advantages are proportionably great. d No. 19. Chinese Windlass. No. 20. Fusee Windlass. This is the neatest and most simple modification of the wheel and axle, that human ingenuity has devised, and is a proof that the principles of mechanical science were well understood in remote ages; for every me- “De Re Metallica. Basil. 1657. p. 118, 119, 160. b Architecture Hydraulique, tom. 2, p. 333. c Besson's Theatre des Instrvmens Mathematiques et Meclianiques. A Lyon, 1579. d ‘ The Chinese,’ by J. F- Davis, vol. ii, 286. 70 The Fusee. [Book 1. chanician, we think will admit, that mechanical tact and ingenuity, unaided by scientific knowledge, could never have devised it. It exhibits a species ot’ originality so unique, so simple and efficient, that evidently shows it to have been the conception of no common mind. At what time it was first taken to Europe, we have not the means of ascertaining. It has but re¬ cently, i. e. comparatively so, been described in books. We are not aware of its having been noticed in any, previous to the last half century. It appears to have been introduced like several other standard machines from the same source, so gradually, that the precise period of its first ar¬ rival cannot easily be determined. Considering the long period, during which European nations have maintained an intercourse with the Chinese, the recent introduction of this machine may appear singular; but very little is yet known of that people, although an intimate acquaintance with their arts, would probably enrich us with treasures, more valuable than their teas and their porcelain. There is a large debt of gratitude due to the Chinese, which has never been sufficiently acknowledged. It is to them, we are indebted for some of the most important discoveries connected with the present state of the arts and sciences. From them was derived the chief of all arts, printing, and even movable types, and that invaluable acquisition, the mariner’s compass; peculiar stoves, a chain-bridges, spectacles, silver forks, b India ink, 0 chain-pump, winnowing machine, d besides many others; and to cor¬ rect a popular error, which attributes to our fellow citizens of Connec ticut, the invention of ‘ wooden hams,’ it may as well be remarked, that these are also of Chinese origin. Le Comte, says they are so adroitly constructed, that numerous buyers are constantly deceived; and fre¬ quently it is not till one is boiled and ready to be eaten, that it is dico'vered to be “ nothing but a large piece of wood under a hog’s skin.” But if China has produced specimens of dishonest ingenuity, she has, in the tread-mill, furnished one of the greatest terrors to evil doers. A large Fusee is sometimes used in place of the cylindrical roller of a windlass, especially in wells of great depth. When a bucket is at the bot¬ tom, and the weight of a long rope or chain has to be overcome in ad¬ dition to that of the water, it is accomplished more easily by winding up a “These stoves are extremely convenient, and deserve to be made known universally in onr country. Some of our company took such stoves with them to Goltenburgh, as models for those who might want to know their construction.” Osbeck’s Voyage to China, vol. i, 322. b “Thc use of silver forks with us, by some of our spruce gallants taken up of late, came from China to Italy, and from thence to England.” Heylin’s Cosmography, I.on. 1670. p. 865. c The secret of making it, was brought by a Dutch supercargo to Gbttingen in 1756, and there divulged. Lon. Mag. for 1756..p. 403. d This was also brought first to Holland in the beginning of the 18th century, whence it soon spread over Europe. It was carried to Scotland in 1710. Walter Scott, has incorporated in one of his novels, an historical fact relating to the superstition of his countrymen respecting it. When first introduced, the religious feelings of some were greatly shocked at an invention, by which artificial whirlwinds were produced in calm weather, when, as they supposed, it was the will of God for the air to remain still. As they considered it a moral duty to wait patiently for a natural wind, to separate the chaff from their wheat, they looked upon the use of this machine, as rebellion against heaven, and an attempt to take the government of the world out of the Creator’s hands! Constant readers of the Bible, the more superstitious of the Covenanters ima¬ gined it was a cunning device of the Wicked One, the ‘ Prince of the power of the Air,’ and therefore one of those works, which Christians are called to guard against and renounce ! It was introduced into America in 1761, as a “Dutch machine for winnow¬ ing grain.” The first one, was made in Massachusetts, “by the directions of a gende- man in the Jersies,” during the same year. Lon. Mag. for 1761. p. 273. Davis’ Chi¬ nese. vol. ii, 361. Wheel and Pinion. 71 Chap. 10.] the rope on the small end of the fusee; and as the length diminishes, it coils round the larger part. (See No. 20, which is however inaccurately drawn—as the bucket is at the top of the well, it should have been repre¬ sented as suspended from the large end of the fusee.) The value of a de¬ vice like this, will be appreciated when the great depth of some wells is considered, and the consequent additional weight of the chains. In the fortress of Dresden is a well, eighteen hundred feet deep; at Span- genburgh one of sixty toises; at Homberg, one of eighty ; at August- burgh, is a well at which half an hour is required to raise the bucket; and at Nuremburgh another, sixteen hundred feet deep. In all these, the water is raised by chains, and the weight of the last one is stated to be upwards of a ton: Misson, (vol. i, 116,) says three thousand pounds. It is to be regretted that the name of the inventor of the fusee, and the date of its origin, are alike unknown. It forms an essential part in the me¬ chanism of ordinary watches; for without it they would not be correct measurers of time. Every person knows that the moving power in a clock is a weight, and that the various movements are regulated by a pendulum ; but neither weights nor pendulums are suited to portable clocks, or watches ; hence a spiral spring is adopted as the first mover in the latter, and when coiled up, as it is by the act of ‘winding up’ a watch, the force which it exerts, imparts motion to the train of wheels; but as this force gradually diminishes as the spring unwinds, the velocity of the train would diminish also, if some mode of equalizing the effect of this varying force was not adopted : It is the fusee which does this, by receiving the energy of the spring when at its maximum, on its smaller end; and as this energy diminishes, it acts on the larger parts, as on the ends of levers, which lengthen in the same ratio as the force that moves them is diminished. No. 21. Windlass with cog wheel and pinion. In another modification of the windlass, a cog-wheel is fixed to one end of the roller, and moved by a pinion that is secured on a separate shaft, and turned by a crank, as in the figure. By proportioning the diameter of the wheel and that of the pinion, (or the number of teeth on each) according to the power employed ; a bucket and its contents may be raised from 72 Anglo Saxon Crane. [Book I. any depth, since a diminution in the velocity of the wheel from a smaller pinion, is accompanied with an increase of the energy transmitted to the roller and vice versa. The Greeks and Romans employed the wheel and pinion in several of their war engines, and in various other machinery. Part of a cog-wheel wasdiscovered in Pompeii. They probably were also employed, as in No. 21, to raise water from deep wells, a purpose for which they have been long used in Europe. See Belidor, tom. ii, liv. 4. From some ex periments made by Mr. Robertson Buchanan, it was ascertained that the labor of a man in working a pump, turning a winch, ringing a bell, and rowing a boat, might be represented respectively by the numbers, 100, 167, 227, and 248 ; hence it appears that the effect of a man’s labor in turning a windlass, is fifty per cent, more than in working a pump in the ordinary way by a lever. As a man cannot, with effect, apply his strength conveniently to a crank that de¬ scribes a circle exceeding three or four feet in diameter, another ancient contrivance enabled him to transmit it through a series of revolving levers, inserted into one or both ends of the roller; and which extended to a greater distance from thb centre than the crank, as in the copper-plate printing press, the steering wheel of ships and steam ves¬ sels, and numerous other apparatus employed in the arts. It was formerly used to raise water in buckets from mines and wells, No. 22 . Anglo Saxon Crane. and even to work pumps : (cams being se¬ cured to the roller, raised the piston rods in a manner similar to the common stamping mills.) Agricola has figured it as applied to both purposes. De Re Metallica, 118, 129, 141. No. 22, is ai ) example of its application by the Anglo Saxons, from Strutt’s An¬ tiquities No. 23. Drum attached to a Windlass. “There cannot be a more expeditious way to raise water from a deep well, than to make a large wheel, [drum] at flu; end of the winlace , that may be two or three times the diameter of the winlace, on which a smaller and longer rope may be wound, than that which raises Tread Wheel. 73 Chap. 10.J the backet, so that when the bucket is in the well, the same rope is all wound on the greater wheel, [drum] the end whereof may be taken on the shoulder, and the man may walk or run forwards, till the bucket be drawn up. The bucket may have a round hole in the midst of the bot¬ tom with a cover fitted to it, like the sucker of a pump, that when the bucket rests on the water, the hole may open and the bucket fill.” Dic- tionarium Ilusticum, Lon. 1704. See No. 23. This is one of the modes of raising heavy weights, described by Vitru¬ vius, in Book X of his Architecture, and is so figured in some of the old editions, that of Barbaro for example. Venice 1567. It appears to have been adopted to raise water from the deep wells of Asia in ancient times, and is still continued in use there. In Sym’s Embassy to Ava, there is a notice of the Petroleum Wells, the oil from which is universally employed throughout the Birman empire. One which he examined was four feet square, and thirty-seven fathoms, [222 feet] deep. The water and oil “ were drawn up in an iron pot, fastened to a rope passed over a wooden cylinder, which revolves on an axis supported by two upright posts. When the pot is filled, two men take the rope by the end, and run down a declivity, which is cut in the ground to a distance equivalent to the depth of the well; thus when they reach the end of their track, the pot is raised to its proper elevation.” 3 The contents, water and oil, are then dis¬ charged into a cistern, and the water is afterwards drawn off through a hole in the bottom. A ratchet wheel and click to detain the bucket when elevated, would enable a single person to work this machine, or the bucket might be suspended to its bail by swivels, and overturned at the top by a catch, as in No. 16. No. 24. Tread Wheel. Another mode of communicating motion to the roller, is by means of a tread wkeel, attached like the drum in figure 23, to one end of it. In this, a man or an animal walks or rather climbs up one side, somewhat like a squirrel in its cage, and by his weight turns the wheel, and raises the water, as represented in No. 24. 1 his appears to have been a common mode of applying human effort among the ancients. Some of their cranes for raising columns and other ‘Embassy to Ava, Lon. 1800, vol. iii, 236. See also an account of these wells, and modes of raising their contents, in vol. ix, of Tilloch’s Phil. Mag. p. 226 10 74 Tread Wheels Propelled, by Animals [Book I. heavy weights, were moved by tread wheels, (Vitruvius, x, 4.) A figure of one is preserved in a bas-relief, in the wall of the market place at Ca¬ pua. 1 Like other ancient devices for raising water it has been continued in use in Europe since Roman times, and is described by most of the old writers on Hydraulics. Agricola figures it as used in the mines of Ger¬ many. “To raise water from a deepe well,” says an old English writer, “some use a large wheele for man or beast to walk in.” At Nice, two men raise the water from a deep well, by walking in one of these wheels. It is the ‘Kentish fashion’ according to Fosbroke, the wheels being pro¬ pelled both by men and asses. The Anglo Saxons and Normans also used them for drawing water. Whether the Greeks and Romans employed animals in tread wheels, we know not, but the practice is very old, and from the obvious advan¬ tage of quadrupeds over biped man in climbing ascents, it is probable that they were so employed by the ancients. Oxen, horses, mules, asses, dogs, goats and bears, have all been used to propel these wheels, and to raise water by them. At Spangenburgh, water was raised from the well mentioned in a previous chapter, by an ass. In the Isle of Wight, Eng. one was thus engaged for the extraordinary period of forty years, in raising water from a well two hundred feet deep, which was supposed to have been dug by the Romans. Long practice had taught the animal to know exactly how many revolutions were required to raise the bucket; when by a backward movement he would instantly stop the wheel. Goats are remarkable for scaling precipices, and therefore seem well adapted for this kind of labor. In Europe, they are employed to raise both water and ore from mines, by tread wheels. In the Chapter on the Chain-Pump, we have inserted a cut from Agricola, representing them thus engaged, But of the larger animals, if there is one better adapted than another, from its conformation and habits, it is the Bear ; and it is not a little singular, that the Goths actually employed that animal in such wheels to raise water. b It is probable that the Chinese have from remote times employed va¬ rious animals in them ; this we infer from a remark of one of their wri¬ ters, quoted by Dr. Milne. In exhorting husbands to instruct their wives, he encourages them in the arduous task by reminding them, that “even monkeys may be taught to play antics— dogs may be taught to tread in a mill—cats may be taught to run round a cylinder , and parrots may be taught to recite verses;” and hence he concludes it possible to teach women something! c Many ancient customs relating to the taming and using of animals are still practised in China. The old Egyptians, had ba¬ boons and monkeys trained to gather fruit from trees and precipices inac¬ cessible to men. d The Chinese' employ them for the same purpose. e Mark Antony, Nero, and others, in imitation of more ancient warriors, were sometimes drawn in chariots by lions—Chinese charlatans, both ride on, and are drawn by them, and by tigers also. (Nieuhoff’s Embassy.) Before smohe jacks were invented, joints of meat while roasting, were often turned by dogs running in tread-wheels. They were of a pecu¬ liar breed, (now nearly extinct) long backed, having short legs, and from “Fosbroke Antiq. 257, and Winkleman’s Arts of the Ancients. Paris, Ed. tom. ii, planche 13. b 01aus Magnus, quoted by Fosbroke. Encyc. Antiq. 71. c Downing’s Stranger in China, vol. ii, 172. d Wilkinson, vol. ii, 150. e Breton’s China. Tread Wheels. 76 Chap. 10.] their occupation, were named turnspits. The mode of teaching them, was more summary than humane. The animal was put into a wheel, the sides of which were closed, and a burning coal thrown in behind him; hence he could not stop climbing without having his legs burned. As might be supposed, they were by no means attached to their profession; of which the following incident has been adduced as a proof: In a cer¬ tain city, having agreeably to custom, attended their owners to church, the lesson for the day, happened to be that chapter of Ezekiel wherein the self-moving chariots are described. When the minister first pro¬ nounced the word ‘wheel,’ they all pricked up their ears in alarm—at the second mention of it, they set up a doleful howl; and when the awful word was uttered a third time, every one it is said, made the best of his way out of the church. But the most singular animal formerly used in thus turning the spit, was a bird , and of a species too which furnished more victims for the roast than any other, viz. the goose! Moxon, observes that although dogs were commonly used, “ geese are better, for they will bear their labor longer, so that if there be need, they will continue their labor twelve hours.” a A singular illustration of man’s power over the lower animals, in thus compelling one to cook another of its own species for his use. The old jack, consisting of three toothed wheels and a weight, was used as early as 1444. The smoke jack was known in the following cen¬ tury, if not before, for it was described by Cardan, and afterwards (in 1571) by Bartolomeo Scappi, cook to Pope Pius V. in a book on culinary operations. In 1601, a ‘jack maker’ was a regular trade in Europe, and the ingenuity of the manufacturers was then often displayed in decorating them with moving puppets, as in some ancient clocks, and in the organs, &c. of street musicians. Bishop Wilkins, (Mathematical Magic, B. ii, cap. 3) speaks of “ jacks no bigger than a walnut to turn any joint of meat.” The name of these machines, and a certain vulgar phrase, not yet quite obsolete, are all that is left to recal to mind, a class of domestics, whose occupation, like Othello’s, is gone. These were men whose duty it was to turn the spit, and who answered to the familiar cognomen of ‘Jack,’ formerly a common name for a man-servant, and now applied to designate numerous instruments that supply his place. Seated at one side of a huge fire, his duty was to turn the roast by a crank attached to one end of the spit. See a figure of a French tourne-broche in the exer¬ cise ofhis vocation, in ‘Hone’s Every Day Book.’ vol. ii, 1057. The office was far from being a sinecure, since no slight labor was required to move the large joints of olden times, the whole of a sheep or an ox being fre¬ quently roasted at once; hence in some kitchens built in the 13th century, it was particularly directed, that each should be provided with furnaces sufficiently large to roast two or even three oxen. It was from the cus¬ tom of these artists, of surreptitiously helping themselves to small pieces of the roast, while in the performance of their duty, the unclassical ex¬ pression ‘licking the fingers,’ came, and verifying a Turkish proverb, ‘he that watches the kettle, is sure to have some of the soup.’ The phrase however, was not then so obnoxious to good taste, nor the act to good manners, as now; for table-forks were generally unknown, and moderate sized joints were handed round on the spit, so that every one at table, separated by a knife a slice to his taste, and conveyed it by his fingers Mechanick Powers, Lon. 1696. p. 72. Horizontal Tread Wheel. 76 [Book 1. to his plate, and thence to his mouth. Hence the advice of Ovid, for neither Greeks nor Romans used table-forks: “Your meat genteelly with your .fingers raise ; And—as in eating there’s a certain grace, Beware, with greasy hands, lest you besmear your face. A German writer in the middle of the 16th century, in suggesting the whirling Eolipile as a turnspit, remarks, “it eats nothing, and gives withal an assurance to those partaking of the feast, whose suspicious natures nurse queasy appetites, that the haunch has not been pawed by the turn¬ spit, in the absence of the housewife’s eyes, for the pleasure of licking his unclean fingers.” This evil propensity of human turnspits, however, eventually led to their dismissal, and to the employment of another spe¬ cies, which, if not better disposed to resist the same, temptations, had less opportunities afforded of falling into them. These were the canine laborers already noticed. No. 25. Horizontal Tread-Wheel, from Agricola. Horizontal tread-wheels for raising water are described by Agricola, from whose work, De Re Metallica, we have copied the figure. Two men on opposite sides of a horizontal bar, against which they lean, push with their feet the bars of the wheel on which they tread, behind them. Similar wheels, inclined to the horizon were also used. For an other kind of tread-wheel, see chapters 14, and 17. On the Noria and Chain-pump. In all the preceding machines the roller is used in a horizontal position; but at some unknown period of past ages, another modification was de¬ vised, one, by which the power could be applied at any distance from the centre. Instead of placing the roller as before, over the well’s mouth, it was removed a short distance from it, and secured in a vertical position, by which it was converted into the wheel or capstan. One or more hori¬ zontal bars were attached to it, of a length adapted to the power em¬ ployed, whether of men or animals; and an alternating rotary movement imparted to it, as in the common wheel or capstan, represented in the next figure, No. 26. It appears from Belidor, (Tom. ii, 333) that machines of this kind, and worked by men were common in Europe previous to, and at the Chap. 10.] Common Wheel. 77 time he wrote. Sometimes the shaft was placed in the edge of the well, so that the person that moved it walked round the latter, and thus occu pied less space. No. 26, Common Wheel or Capstan. Circumstances, highly illustrative of European manners during the early part of the 17th and preceding centuries, are associated with the in¬ troduction of table-forks. They were partially known in Italy in the 11th century, for in a letter of Peter Damiani, who died in 1073, mention is made of a lady from Constantinople, who was married to the Doge of Venice, and who among other strange customs, required rain-water to wash herself, and was so fastidious respecting her food, as to use a fork, and a golden one too, to take her meat, which was previously cut into small pieces by her servant. Lon. Quart. Review, vol. 58. (April, 1837.) They are mentioned, (probably as curiosities) in a charter of Ferdinand I. of Spain, 1101, and in the wardrobe accounts of Edward I. of England, ‘a pair of knives with sheathes of silver enameled, and aforke of chrystal,’ are specified. Fosbroke, Ency. Ant. Forks were common in Italy in the 15th century, although nearly unknown in France and England in the following one. At the close of the 16th, they are noticed as a luxury in France, and lately introduced. Henry the Fourth’s fork is still preserved —it has two prongs, and is of steel. So late as 1641, they were not uni¬ versal in Paris. In a representation of a great feast held by the cobblers in that year, and attended by musicians, &c.—no forks are on the table—the carver holds what appears to be a leg of mutton with one hand, while with the other he cuts a slice off, for a lady seated next to him. Hone’s Every Day Book, vol. ii, 1055. They were not used in England till about the same time, a period much later than might have been supposed. In 1611, an Englishman was ridi¬ culed for using one. This was Coryat.t the eccentric traveler. “ I ob¬ served,” he says, “a custom in all those Italian cities and townes through the which I passed, that is not used in any other country that I saw in my travels; neither do I think that any other nation of Christendome doth use it, but only Italy. The Italian and most strangers that are commorant, [dwelling] in Italy do alwaies at their meajes use a little forke , when they cut their meate. For while with their knife, which they hold in one hand, they cut the meate out of the dish, they fasten their forke which 78 Table-Forks. [Book I. they hold in the other hand, upon the same dish. So that whatsoever he he, that sitting in the company of any others at meale, should unadvisedly touch the dish of meate with his fingers, from which all at the table doe cut, he will give occasion of offense unto the company, as having trans¬ gressed the lawes of good manners; insomuch that for his error, he shall be at least brow-beaten, if not reprehended in words. This forme of feeding, I understand, is generally used in all places in Italy, their forkes being for the most part made of yron or Steele, and some of silver; but these are used only by gentlemen. The reason of this their curiosity is, because the Italian cannot by any means have his dish touched with fin¬ gers, seeing all men’s fingers are not alike cleane—hereupon I myself thought good to imitate the Italian fashion, by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I was in Italy, but also in Germany, and oftentimes in Eng¬ land since I came home : being once quipped for that frequent using of my forke, by a certain learned gentleman, a familiar friend of mine, one Master Laurence Whitaker, who in his merry humour doubted not to call me Furcifer, only for using a forke at feeding.” In this extract, we have a view of Italian gentlemen ‘feeding’ in the beginning of the 17th century, and in the following one, we obtain an in¬ sight into British manners during the middle of it. Forty years after the publication of Coryatt’s Travels, a Manual of Cookery appeared, con¬ taining the following instructions to British ladies, when at table. “ A gentlewoman being at table, abroad or at home, must observe to keep her body straighte, and lean not by any means upon her elbowes—nor by ra¬ venous gesture discover a voracious appetite. Talke not when you have meate in your mouthe; and do not smacke like a pig—nor eat spoone- meat so hot that the tears stand in your eyes. It is very uncourtly to drinke so large a draught that your breath is almost gone, and you are forced to blow strongly to recover yourselfe. Throwing down your li¬ quor as into a funnel, is an action fitter for a juggler than a gentlewoman. In carving at your own table, distribute the best pieces first, and it will appeare very decent and comely to use a forke ; so touch no piece of meat without it.” This elegant extract is from ‘ The Accomplished Lady's Rich Closet of Rarities' London, 1653. Neither knives nor forks were used at the tables of the Egyptians. A representation of a feasting party is sculp¬ tured on a tomb near the pyramids, a copy of which is inserted in Yol. II, of Wilkinson’s interesting work. One gentleman holds a small joint of meat in his hand, two are eating fish which they retain in their fingers, while another is separating the wing of a goose with the same implements Chap. 11.] Machines for the Irrigation of Land. 79 CHAPTER XI. Agriculture gave rise to numerous devices for raising water—Curious definition of Egyptian hus bandry—Irrigation always practised in the east—Great fertility of watered land—The construction of the lakes and canals of Egypt and China, subsequent to the use of hydraulic machines—Phenomenon in ancient Thebes—Similarity of the early histories of the Egyptians and Chinese—Mythology based on agriculture and irrigation: Both inculcated as a part of religion—Asiatic tanks—Watering land with the yoke and pots—An employment of the Israelites in Egypt—Hindoo Water Bearer—Curious shaped vessels—Aquarius, ‘ the Water Pourer,’ an emblem of irrigation—Connection of astronomy with agri¬ culture—Swinging baskets of Egypt, China and Hindostan. Arts and customs of the ancient Egyptians. The last three chapters include most of the methods adopted by the an¬ cients to raise water for domestic purposes. There is, however, another class of machines of equal merit and importance, which probably had their origin in agriculture, i. e. in the irrigation of land. Persons who live in temperate climates, where water generally abounds, can scarcely realize the importance of artificial irrigation to the people of Asia and other parts of the earth. It was this, which chiefly contributed to sup¬ port those swarms of human beings, who anciently dwelt on the plains of the Euphrates, the Ganges, the Nile, and other large rivers? In Egypt alone, the existence of millions of our species has in all times depended wholly upon it, and hence the antiquity of machines to raise water among that people. The definition of oriental agriculture is all but incompre¬ hensible to an uninformed American or European—it is said to consist chiefly, “in having suitable machines for raising water,” a definition suffi¬ ciently descriptive of the profession of our firemen, but few people would ever suppose it explanatory of that of a farmer. It is however literally true. Irrigation is everything—the whole system of husbandry is inclu¬ ded in it; and no greater proof of its value need be given, than the fact of machines employed to raise water for that purpose in Egypt, being taxed. The agricultural pursuits of man, must at a very early period have con¬ vinced him of the value of water in increasing the fruitfulness of the soil: he could not but observe the fertilizing effects of rain, and the rich vege¬ tation consequent on the periodical inundations of rivers; nor on the other hand, could he possibly have remained ignorant of the sterility conse¬ quent on long continued droughts : hence nature taught man the art of ir¬ rigating land, and confirmed him in the practice of it, by the benefits it invariably produced. In some countries the soil was thus rendered so exceedingly fruitful.as to exceed credibility. Herodotus, when speak¬ ing of Babylonia, which was chiefly watered by artificial irrigation, (for the Assyrians he observes,‘had but little rain,’) says, it was the most fruitful of all the countries he had visited. Corn, he said never produced less than two hundred-fold, and sometimes three hundred; and after re¬ citing some other examples, he remarks, that those persons who had not seen the country, would deem his account of it a violation of proba¬ bility—in other words, a traveler’s tale. Clio, 193. Five hundred years afterwards, the elder Pliny speaking of the same country, observes, “there is not a territory in all the east comparable to it in fertility;” while in another part of his work, he refers to the cause of its fruitful¬ ness—he says, the principal care required, was, “ to keep the ground well watered.” Nat. Hist, vi, 26, and xviii, 17. / 80 Hydraulic Works of [Book I. Mr. St. John, mentions a species of Indian corn growing in the fields of Egypt, prodigiously prolific. On one ear, three thousand grains were reckoned! and a lady, who frequently made the experiment in the The- baid, constantly found between eighteen hundred and two thousand. Egypt and Mahommed Ali, vol. i, 143. Another proof of the value of irrigation is given by Herodotus. When speaking of that part of Egypt near Memphis, he observes, that the people enjoyed the fruits of the earth with the smallest labor. “They have no occasion for the process nor the instruments of agriculture, usual and necessary in other countries.” This remark of the historian, has been ridiculed by some authors; but its truth has been verified by recent travelers.® The advantages of artificial irrigation have not only been known from the earliest ages, but some of the most stupendous works which the intel¬ lect of man ever called into existence, were designed for that purpose : works so ancient as to perplex our chronologists, and so vast as to incline some historians to class them among natural formations. Ancient writers unite in asserting that Lake Mceris was ‘ the work of men’s hands,’ and constructed by a king of that name ; its prodigious extent, however, has led some modern authors to question its alleged origin, although artificial works still extant, equal it in the amount of labor required ; as the Wall of China, the Pyramids, and other works of ancient Egypt. Sir William Chambers, when comparing the works of the remote ancients with those of Greece, observes that the city of Babylon would have covered all Attica; that a greater number of men were employed in building it, than there were inhabitants of Greece ; that more materials were consumed in a single Egyptian Pyramid, than in all the public structures of Athens; and that Lake Mareotis could have deluged the Peloponnesus, and ruined all Greece. But incredible as the accounts of Lakes Moeris and Mareotis may appear, these works did not surpass, if they equaled, another example of Egyptian engineering, which ha & previously been executed. This was the removal of the Nile itself! In the reign of Menes, (the first, or one of the first sovereigns) it swept along the Libyan chain of mountains, that is, on one side of the valley that constitutes Egypt; and in order to render it equally beneficial to both sides, a new channel was formed through the centre of the valley, into which it was directed : an undertaking which indicates a high degree of scientific knowledge at that early period. Before the lakes and canals of Egypt or China could have been under¬ taken, the inhabitants must have been long under a regular government, and one which could command the resources of a settled people, and of a people too, who from experience could appreciate the value of such works for the purpose of irrigation, as well as the inefficiency of previous devices for the same object; that is, of machines for raising the water : for if it be supposed the construction of canals to convey, of reservoirs to contain, and of locks and sluices to distribute water, preceded the use of machines for raising it—it would be admitting that men in ignorant times had the ability to conceive, and the skill to execute the most extensive and perfect works that civil engineering ever produced—to have formed lakes like oceans, and conveyed rivers through deserts, ere they well knew how to raise water in a bucket, or transmit it through a pipe or a gutter. The fact is, ages must necessarily have elapsed before such works could have been dreamt of, and more before they could have been accomplished. Individuals would naturally have recourse to rivers in their immediate vicinity, from which (the Nile for example) they must long have toiled in St. John, vol. i, 181. Lindsay, Let. 5. Ancient Egypt. 81 Chap. 11.] raising water, before they would ever think of procuring it from other parts of the same stream, at distances varying from ten to a hundred miles, or consent to labor for its conveyance over such extensive spaces. How extremely ancient, then, must hydraulic machinery be in Egypt, when such works as we have named, were executed in times that trans¬ pired long before the commencement of history—times that have been considered as extending back to the infancy of the world ! But if, as is generally supposed, civilization and the arts descended the Nile, then machines for raising water must have been employed on the upper borders of that river before Lower Egypt was peopled at all. In Nubia and Abyssinia they have at all times been indispensable, in consequence of the elevation of the banks and the absence of rain ; while in Middle and Lower Egypt, during the intervals of the annual overflow, they were also the only resource ; and at no time even there, could those grounds which lay beyond the reach, or above the inundation, be irrigated without them. The surface of the river during ‘low Nile’ is, in parts of Nubia, 30 feet below the banks, in Middle Egypt 20 feet, and diminishes to the Delta.* In other countries, ram-water was (and still is) collected into reservoirs on the highest places, and distributed as required ; but nothing of this kind could ever have taken place in the land of the Pharaohs. We are informed the inhabitants of ancient Thebes were once thrown into great consterna¬ tion by a phenomenon which they looked upon as an omen of fearful import—it was simply a shower of rain ! This circumstance explains the opinion of the old Egyptians, in supposing the Greeks subject to famines, as their harvests depended on rain. Herod, ii, 13. A striking result derived from an examination of Egyptian history, observes Mr. Wilkinson, is the conviction, that the earliest times into which we are able to penetrate, civilized communities already existed, and society possessed all the features of later ages. The most remote period to which we can see, opens with a nation possessing all the arts of civilized life already matured. The pyramids of Memphis were erected within three hundred years of the Deluge ; and the Tombs of Beni-Hassan, hewn and painted with subjects describing the arts and manners of a refined people, about six hundred years after that event. From these paintings, &c. we learn that the manufacture of linen, of cabinet work, of glass, of elaborate works in gold and silver, bronze, &c. and numerous games, b &c. were then, as now, in vogue. The style of architecture was grand and chaste, for the fluted columns of Beni-Hassan “ are of a character calling to mind the purity of the Doric.” Indeed, modern science and the researches of travelers are daily adducing facts which set at defiance our ordinary chro¬ nological theories, but which appear to strengthen the opinion of those commentators of the scriptures, who consider the Deluge of Noah to have been, like that of Deucalion, local, not universal: a doctrine inconsistent with the postdiluvian origin of the mechanic arts generally, and of simple machines for raising water in particular. There is a striking resemblance between the early history of Egypt and that of China, with regard to the origin of, and esteem for agriculture, re¬ ligious ceremonies connected with it, artificial irrigation, modes of working the soil, and implements used. This art among both people was coeval with their existence as nations, and doubtless extends back, as ancient wri¬ ters assert, to periods anterior to Noah’s flood.® Shinnung, the * divine a Wilk. An. Egypt, i, 9. b Lifting weights, wrestling, single stick, and bull-fights, games of ball, throwing knives odd and even, draughts, dice, and thiinble-rig, are all represented on the monuments. c Le Comte’s, China, 118, Lon. 1738. 11 82 Resemblance between the Chinese and Egyptians. [Book I husbandman’ resembled Osiris. He began to reign 2832, B. C. or nearly five hundred years before the deluge ; and it is in imitation of this antedi¬ luvian monarch, that the emperors at the present day, plough a portion of land with their own hands, and sow different kinds of grain, once a year. Such it appears was also the practice of Egyptian monarchs, for emblema¬ tical representations of them breaking up the soil with a hoe, are found among the sculptures. Osiris instructed them in agriculture, and taught them the value and practice of irrigation. He confined the Nile within banks, and formed sluices to water the land. On t hese accounts was he idolized after death, and worshipped as a god ; and the ox, which he taught them to employ in the cultivation of the soil, was selected to personate him. In accordance with this custom, the Israelites made and worshipped the calf (or ox) in the wilderness; and Jereboam to gratify the ignorance or superstition of his countrymen, placed golden statues of them in Han and Bethel; or, perhaps from policy, introducing the worship of Apis, as a compliment to Shishak, with whom he had found a refuge from the wrath of Solomon. Similar to the worship of Apis, is the great festival of the Chinese when the sun reaches the 15° of Aquarius, during which a figure of a coio is carried in the processions. The feast of Lanterns of this people, is also like that o\' lamps anciently held over all Egypt. Herod, li, 62. The celebrated Yu was, like some of his predecessors, raised to the throne of China, on account of his agricultural labors. We are in¬ formed that he drained a great portion of the land ; and that he wrote se¬ veral books on the cultivation of the soil, and on irrigation. He flourish¬ ed 2205, B. C. or about 140 years after the flood. Seventeen years after his death, it is admitted that husbandry became systematically organized , which necessarily included a settled plan of artificial irrigation. A writer in the Chinese Repository observes, “ in these early ages, the fundamental maxims of the science of husbandry were established, which so far as we can learn, have been practised to the present day.” Yol. iii, 121. Egypt¬ ian husbandry we are told consisted chiefly in having' proper machines for raising water, and small canals judiciously disposed to distribute it over their fields. In both these respects it resembled that of China at the pre sent day ; a portable machine to raise water, being as necessary an imple¬ ment to a Chinese peasant as a spade is to one of ours. The mythology of the whole ancient world seems not only to have been intimately associated with agriculture, but appears to have been based up¬ on it. To the invention of the plough, and the irrigation of land, all the mysteries of Ceres may be referred. The great importance of agricul¬ ture in furnishing food to man, induced legislators at an early period to devise means to promote it. This they accomplished by connecting it with the worship of the gods; and by classing the labors of husbandry among the most essential of religious duties. This system seems to have been universal. It was incorporated by the Roman lawgivers with the institutions of that people. Plutarch, in his life of Numa, expressly states that some of the laws were designed to recommend agriculture “ as a part of religion.” See also Pliny, xvii. 2. The sacred books of almost all the ancient nations placed irrigation, digging of tanks and wells, among those acts most acceptable to the gods ; and hence the Zendavesta of the Per¬ sians, and the Shaster of the Hindoos, distinctly inculcate the conveying of water to barren land, as one of the precepts of religion. As no country depended more upon agriculture for the physical and poli¬ tical existence of its inhabitants, than Egypt; so nowhere was religious ve¬ neration for it carried to a greater extent. We are informed their priests and statesmen used “ all their influence in advancing the prosperity and Watering land with Pots. 83 Chap. 11.] splendor of agriculture ;” and as Osiris made his own plough, both kings and priests wore sceptres of the form of that implement. So sensible were they of the blessings derived from agriculture, that they not only en¬ forced the worship of Osiris and Isis for its discovery and introduction, but caused even the animals (oxen) that assisted in the cultivation of their lands to be honored with religious rites. It cannot therefore be sup¬ posed, that a people, who thus consecrated almost every thing connec¬ ted with husbandry, should neglect that in which it chiefly consisted, viz : Irrigation ; for this was the real cause of the amazing fruitfulness of their soil, and of their individual and national prosperity. Thus Isis is often found represented with a bucket, as an emblem of irrigation, and of the fecundity of the Nile. a From the foregoing remarks the great antiquity of machines for raising water may be inferred ; for artificial irrigation certainly gave birth to the most valuable of our hydraulic engines, if it be not indeed the great pa¬ rent of them all. The ancient practice of constructing large tanks, to collect water for ir¬ rigation, is still followed in various parts of the east, and their dimensions render our reservoirs comparatively insignificant. In the Carnatic, some are eight miles in length , and three in breadth. In Bengal, they frequently cover a hundred acres, and are lined with stone. Knox, in his Historical Relation of Ceylon, (Lon. 1681,) says, the natives formed them of two and three fathoms deep, some of which were in length ‘above a mile.’ (p. 9.) To these reservoirs, and the difficulty of making them sufficiently tight to hold the water, there is an allusion in Jeremiah ii, 13. Le Comte, mentions them. When limited quantities of water were required at a distance, at places situated higher than its source, it was often carried in vessels suspended from a yoke, and borne across the shoulders. This mode is still practised. In the plains of Damar in Arabia, water is drawn from deep wells, and thus carried to the fields. Dr. Shaw observes of the country of the Benni Mezzah, (in ancient Mauritania) it has no rivu¬ lets, “but is supplied altogether with well water.” “Persia,” says Fryer, “is chiefly beholden to wholesome springs of living water to quench the thirst of plants as well as living creatures.” This method is pursued by the Hindoos, Japanese, Chinese, Javanese, Tartars, &c. in watering those terraces which they construct and cultivate on the sides of mountains. “ The Chinese,” says Le Comte, “ have everywhere in Xensi and Xansi, for want of rain, certain pits from twenty to a hundred and twenty feet deep, from which they draw water by an incredible toil to irrigate their land.” That the mode of carrying water to the fields by the yoke, was prac¬ tised in Egypt in ancient times, appears from the figures, No. „ .. „ , 27, copied from sculptures at ±>em Hassan, the oldest monu- ments extant in that country. One of these wooden yokes, was found at a See Shaw’s Trav. 403,412; Univer. Hist. Vol. i, 205; and our remarks on the Noria, in Chap. XIV. Hindoo Water Carrier. [Book 1. P4 Thebes, with leather straps and bronze huckles, and is now preserved in England. The yoke is about three feet seven inches long, and the straps, which are double, about sixteen inches. Some yokes had from four to eight straps, according to the purposes for which they were intended. Wilk. An. Egypt, vol. ii, 138. As watering the land has always been the staple employment in Egypt, there can be little doubt, that the Israelites were employed in this service. We are informed, “their lives were made bitter unto them by hard bon¬ dage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.” And in Deuteronomy, xi, 10, irrigating the land, is expressly mentioned as one of their labors. In Leviticus, they are reminded that it was God who brought them out of Egypt, and delivered them from slavery, who broke the bands of their yoke and made them go upright; alluding to the stooping posture consequent on the long continued use of the yoke; and in case of disobedience, they were threatened with subsequent thral¬ dom, to “serve their enemies in hunger and nakedness, and with a yoke on their necksa literal description of them when thus employed in watering the lands of their oppressors. A passage in the 81st Psalm, ap¬ pears to refer expressly to their deliverance from this, and another labo¬ rious method of watering the soil. “J removed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were delivered from the pots.” The severity of this labor, may be inferred from that of Chinese peasants, who carrying bur¬ dens like the Egyptians, have deep impressions worn on their shoulders by the yoke. Osbeck’s Voy. i, 252. It was a common custom of old to employ slaves and prisoners of war, in watering and working the land. Herodotus, i, 66, observes of the Lacedemonians, that after the death of Lycurgus, they invaded the Te- geans, and carried with them a quantity of fetters to bind their enemies; but they were themselves defeated, and loaded with their own fetters, were employed in the fields of the Tegeans: and Joshua, in accordance with this custom, made the captive Gribeonites ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water.’ Isaiah alludes to the same, lx, 5: strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plough¬ men and your vine dressers. This figure represents a modern la¬ borer of fiindostan, and it will serve also to represent those of China and other Asiatics, who carry water to their gardens and fields in precisely the same way. It will be perceived that the form of the vessels is similar to that of the old Egyptian Pots in the pre¬ ceding figure, and that both of them serve to corroborate our views respect¬ ing the origin of the forms t>f these, and other domestic vessels of capacity. There is another mode of carrying water, which was anciently practised, but of which we do not remember to have seen any particular notice. It is represented in Plates 50, and 75. Pitt. Storia Dell’Arte. A conical vessel bent like the horn of an ox, is borne on the shoulder, the large and open end projecting in front, so that the bearer could discharge any part of its contents, by inclining it, which, in one figure is effected hy means of a cord going round it, and one end held in the hand. These vessels are figured as large as the bodies of No. 23. Hindoo Water Carrier. 85 Chap. 11.] Egyptian Mental. those who carry them, and appear to have been formed of staves, and As an evidence of the antiquity of watering land with pots, we may re¬ fer to one of the constellations, to “ Aquarius” or the “ Water Pourer,” a figure which was adopted as an expressive emblem of that season, when rains descended, and the lands were irrigated by nature alone. Although it may possibly be true, as some authors suppose, that some of the present signs of' the Zodiac were substituted for more ancient ones at some period of time, posterior to the Argonautic expedition—(see Goguet’s Disserta¬ tion on the names and figures of the constellations—Origine des Loix, Tom. ii.) there are others, and among them the “Water Pourer,” which are for any thing known to the contrary, original figures, adopted by the first cultivators of astronomical knowledge, i. e. by the antediluvian sons of Seth, who, according to Josephus, were the “ inventors of that pecu¬ liar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order(Ant. B. i, chap. 2.) and which signs were continued by their successors, the Chaldeans, in the first ages after the flood, and have re¬ mained unaltered to our days. The extreme antiquity of astronomy, and its connection with agriculture , are undoubted, of which we shall meet with other examples besides the one ju£t given. This connection was the source of the great mass of symbolical imagery which pervades the his¬ tory, mythology, and almost every thing connected with the remote an¬ cients ; most of which is so perplexing to decipher, and the greater part of which has defeated all attempts of the moderns satisfactorily to explain. In the time of Job, who is supposed to have lived before Moses, the constellations were well known. “ Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion,” xxxviii, 31. “ Which maketh Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” ix, 9, In¬ deed, M. Bailey and others have admitted that the astronomy of Chaldea, India, and Egypt, is but the wreck of a great system of astronomical sci¬ ence, which was carried to a high degree of perfection in the early ages of the world. When water is only required to be raised two or three feet from a tank or river, a vessel suspended by four cords, and worked by two men, is very extensively used in the east. In Egypt it is named the “ Mental,” the figure of which is copied from Grande Description. No. 29. Egyptian Mental. A small trench is dug on the edge of the river, on the borders of which two men stand opposite each other. They hold in each hand a cord, the ends of which are attached to a bashet of palm leaves covered with leather. After launching it into the water, they lean backwards so as to be half S6 Various Arts of [Book 1 seated on small mounds of earth raised for the purpose, by which the weight of the body assists in raising the load, as it is swung towards the gutter or basin formed on the bank to receive it. The movements tf the men are regulated by chanting, a custom of great antiquity, and adopted in all kinds of manual labor where more than one person were engaged. Sonnerat has figured and described (Vol. ii, 132,) a similar contrivance of the Hindoos. “ They use a basket for watering, which is made impenetrable with cow dung and clay; it is suspended by four cords ; two men hold a cord in each hand, draw up the water, and empty it in balan¬ cing the basket.” Mr. Ward says this machine is commonly used in the south of Bengal to water the land. Hist. Hindoos, 92. Travelers in China have noticed it in use there. “ Where the elevation of the bank over which water is to be lifted is trifling, they sometimes adopt the fol¬ lowing simple method. A light water-tight basket or bucket is held sus¬ pended on ropes between two men, who, by alternately tightening and re¬ laxing the ropes by which they hold it between them, give a certain swinging motion to the bucket, which first fills it with water, and then empties it by a jerk on the higher level; the elastic spring which is in the bend of the ropes, serving to diminish the labor.” Davis’ China, Vol. ii, 358. Chinese Repos. Vol. iii, 125. Sir George Staunton also described it, with an engraving; by which it appears the Chinese do not use a bank of earth or any other prop, like the Egyptians, to support them in their la¬ bor. Osbeck has noticed a peculiar feature in working these baskets. He says Chinese laborers twist the cords as they lower the vessel, and when it is raised, the untwisting of them, overturns it and discharges the contents. This mode of raising water in China, was noticed by Gamelli, in 1695, although not particularly described by him : he says “ the Chinese draw up water in a basket, two men working at the rope.” Of all employments in ancient and modern Egypt, this may be consi¬ dered the most laborious and degrading. The wretched peasants, naked or nearly so, may be seen daily, from one end of Egypt to the other, in the exercise of this severe labor. “ I have seen them,” says Volney, “ pass whole days thus drawing water from the Nile, exposed naked to the sun, which would kill us.” To this mode of raising water there is probably an allusion in the latter clause of the passage already quoted from the 81st Psalm : “ His hands were delivered from the pots,” or “ baskets ,” as the word is sometimes translated, and is so in this instance in the margin of the common English version. Indeed, it was peculiarly appropriate that a Psalm, written as this was, to celebrate the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, should Allude to some of the severest tasks imposed upon them while under it. Raising of water to irrigate the land was emphatically' “ the labor of Egypt,” from which they were freed. Some additional remarks to those on page 81, respecting other arts and customs delineated on Egyptian monuments, may interest some readers. Saltingfisli seems to have been a regular profession in ancient Egypt, and by processes similar to those now in use ; although it was not till the 15th century that the art was known in modern Europe, when William Bukkum, a Dutchman, who died in 1447, “ found out the art of salting, smoking, and preserving herrings.” It is also not a little singular that the Egyptians had a religious rite, in which, as in modern Lent, every person ate fish. They used the spear, hook and line; drag, seine and other nets. Part of a net, with leads to sink it, has been found at Thebes. Wealthy individuals had private fish-ponds, in which they angled. They hunted the Egyptians. 8? Chap. 11.] with dogs; and also with the lion, which was tamed for that purpose. The noose or lasso, and various traps, were common. Cattle were branded with the names of their owners. In taking birds, they had decoys and nets, like modern fowlers. Beer was an Egyptian beverage, and onions a favorite esculent—these were as superior in taste to ours, as in the elegance of the bunches in which they were tied. At feasts they had music and dancing, castanets, and even xhe pirouette of Italian and French artistes. They had ‘ grace' at meals ; and wore wreaths of flowers and nosegays. Essences in bottles and ointments, the odor of some of which remains. The ladies wore necklaces formed of beads of gold, glass, and of precious stones, and even of imitation stones. In dress they had cotton and linen cloths : some of the latter were so fine as to be compared to woven air, through which the person was distinctly seen ; and the former of patterns similar to those of modern calicos. Ezekiel speaks of “ fine linen with broidered work from Egyptand in Exodus it is often men¬ tioned. They had tissues of silver and gold, and cloth formed wholly of the latter. In furniture, carpets and rugs : one of the latter was found at Thebes, having figures of a boy and a goose wrought on it. Toilet boxes inlaid with various colored woods, and ornamented with ivory and golden studs. Sofas, chairs, stools and ottomans, all imitated in modern articles. Bedsteads enclosed in mosqueto nets; and pillows, the latter of wood, the material of which they were formerly made in Europe. Inlaid works of gold, silver, and bronze. Vases of elegant forms and elaborate workman¬ ship : great numbers of these are represented among the varieties of tribute carried by foreigners to Thothmes III, in whose reign the Israelites left Egypt. Door-hinges and bolts of bronze, similar to the modern ; scale- beams, enameling. Gold-beating and gilding. Gold and silver wire; some specimens are flattened with the hammer, others are believed to have been drawn. Vessels with spouts like those of our tea-kettles : one of the best proofs of skill in working sheet metal. Glass blowers are represented at work, and vessels identical with our demijohns and Florence flasks have been found, and both protected with reed or wicker work—besides, pocket bottles covered with leather, and other vessels of glass, cut, cast and blown. Goldsmiths in their shops are shown, with bellows, blow-pipes, crucibles and furnaces; golden bas¬ kets of open work; solder, hard and soft, the latter an alloy of tin and lead. Stone cutting; the form of the mallet the same as ours. Chisels of bronze; one found, is nine and a quarter inches long, and weighs one pound twelve ounces—its form resembles those now in use. Wheel¬ wrights and carriage makers at work; from which it is ascertained that the bent or improved carriage pole of modern days, was in use upwards of three thousand years ago. Carpenters’ and cabinet makers’ shops, are represented; from which and from specimens of work extant, we learn that dovetailing and doweling, glue and veneering were common. Adzes, saws, hatchets, drills and bows, were all of bronze. Models of boats. The leather cutter’s knife had a semicircular blade, and was identical with the modern one. Shoe and sandal makers had straight and bent awls; the latter was supposed to have been a modern invention—the bristle at the end of a thread does not seem to have been used, as one person is seen drawing the thread through a hole with his teeth. Lastly, Egyptian ladies wore their hair plaited and curled; they had mirrors, needles, pins, and jewelry in great abundance; they had fans and combs; one of the latter has teeth larger oaone side than on the other, and the centre is carved and was probably inlaid. Their children had dolls and other toys; and the gentlemen used walking canes and wore wigs, which were common. 88 Single and Double Gutters. [Book I CHAPTER XII. Gutters: Single do.—Double do.—Jantu of Hindustan: Ingenious mode of working it—Referred to n Deuteronomy—Other Asiatic machines moved in a similar raannner—Its Antiquity. Combination of levers and gutters—Swinging or Pendulum Machine—Rocking gutters—Dutch Scoop—Flash Wheel. Most of the machines hitherto noticed, raise water by means of flexi¬ ble cords or chains, and are generally applicable to wells of great depth. We now enter upon the examination of another variety, which, with one exception, (the chain of pots) are composed of inflexible materials, and raise water to limited heights only. Another important distinction be¬ tween them is this—In preceding machines, the ‘mechanical powers’ are distinct from the hydraulic apparatus, i. e. the wheels, pulleys, windlass, capstan, &c. form no essential part of the machines proper for raising the water, but are merely employed to transmit motion to them ; whereas those we are now about to describe, are made in the form of levers, wheels, &c. and are propelled as such. The following figure, represents one of the earliest specimens. No. 30. Single Gutter. It is simply a trough or gutter, the open end of which rests on the bank, over which the water is to be elevated; the other end being closed is plunged into the liquid, and then raised till its contents are dis¬ charged. It forms what is called a lever of the second order, the load being between the fulcrum and the power. No. 31. Double Gutter. 1 his figure represents an improvement, being a double gutter, or two of the former united and placed across a trough or reservoir designed to receive the water. A partition is formed in the centre, and two openings made through the bottom on each of its sides, through which the water that is raised escapes. The machine is worked by one or more men, who alternately plunge the ends into tho water, and consequently pro- The Jantu. 89 Chap. 12.] duce a continuous discharge. Sometimes, openings are made in the bot¬ tom next the laborers, and covered by flaps, to admit the water without the necessity of wholly immersing those ends. Machines of this kind are described by Belidor, but he has not indicated their origin. From their simplicity, they probably date from remote antiquity. They are obviously, modifications of the Jantu of Hindostan and other parts of Asia, and were perhaps carried to Europe, (if not known there before) among other oriental devices, soon after a communication with that country was opened by the Cape of Good Hope. THE JANTU. The jantu is a machine extensively used in Bengal and other parts of India, to raise water for the irrigation of land, and is thus described by by Mr. Ward, in his History of the Hindoos. “It consists of a hollow trough of wood, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, and is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other end is dipped in the water, by a man standing on a stage, 'plunging it in with his foot. A long bamboo with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to the end of the jantu near the river, and passing over the gallows before mentioned, poises up the jantu full of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter. This machine raises water three feet , but by placing a series of them one above another, it may be raised to any height , the water being discharged into small reservoirs, suf¬ ficiently deep to admit the jantu above, to be plunged low enough to fill it.” Mr. Ward observes, that water is thus conveyed over rising ground to the distance of a mile and more. In some parts of Bengal, they have different methods of raising water, “ hut the principle is the same ” There is in this apparently rude machine, a more perfect application of mechanical science, than would appear to a general observer. As the ob¬ ject of the long bamboo lever is to overcome the weight of the water, it might be asked, why not load the end of the jantu itself, which is next the bank sufficiently for that purpose, and thereby avoid the use of this additional lever, which renders the apparatus more complex, and appa¬ rently unnecessarily so 1 A little reflection will develope the reasons that led to its introduction, and will at the same time furnish another proof of oriental ingenuity. As the position of the jantu is nearly horizontal when it discharges the water, if the end were loaded as proposed, it would descend on the bank with an increasing velocity; for the weight would be at the end of a lever which virtually lengthened as it approached the horizontal position; and this effect would be still further augmented by the resistance of the water diminishing as the jantu rose, that is, by its flowing towards the centre—the consequence would be, that the violent concussions, when thus brought in contact with the bank, would speedily shake it to pieces. Now this result is ingeniously avoided by the lever and its weight. Thus, when the laborer has plunged the end of the jan¬ tu next him into the water, this lever (as we suppose, for we have not seen a figure of it) is placed, so as to be nearly in a horizontal position , by which its maximum force is exerted at the precise time when it is re¬ quired, i. e. when the jantu is at its lowest position and full of water; and as the latter ascends, the loaded end of the lever descends, and its force diminishing, brings the end of the jantu gradually to rest. A somewhat similar effect might be produced, by making the load on the le- 12 90 The Jantu. [Book I. ver descend into the water, especially if its specific gravity varied but little from that fluid. Traits like this, which are often found in ancient devices, are no mean proofs of skill in the older mechanicians; and as professors of the fine arts, discover the works of masters by certain char¬ acteristic touches, and by the general effect of a painting or sculpture—so professors of the useful arts may point to features like the above, as proofs that they bear the impress of the master mechanics of old. At what period in the early history of our species this class of ma¬ chines was first devised, can only be conjectured ; they are evidently of very high antiquity ; this is inferable not only from their simplicity, ex¬ tensive use over all Asia—where it may be said, machines for raising wa¬ ter have never changed—but also from the mode of working them, by the feet. Every one acquainted with the bible, knows that numerous opera¬ tions were thus performed. The juice of grapes was expressed by men treading them; and the tombs of Egypt contain sculptures representing this and other operations. Mortar was mixed and clay prepared for the potter by the feet. The Chinese work their mangles by the feet; and both* they and modern Egyptians, and Hindoos, move a variety of other machines by the same means : among these are several for raising water, as the Picotah of Hindostan, (described in the next chapter,) the chain pump of China, and we may here remark, that all the machines for raising water described by Vitruvius, with one exception, were propelled by the feet, or as expressed in the English translation, by the “ treading of men ” It is not at all improbable, that to the Jantu, Moses alluded when descri¬ bing to his countrymen the land to which he was leading them : “ A land of hills and valleys,” that “ drinketh water of the rain of heaven,” where they should not be employed, as in Egypt, where rain was generally un¬ known, in the perpetual labor of raising it to irrigate the soil: “For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt-from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot.” Deut. xi, 10. Some authors suppose this passage refers to the oriental custom of opening and closing the small channels for water, that intersect the fields ; but this trifling labor would scarcely have been men¬ tioned by Moses, as constituting an important distinction between the two countries. It was in fact common to both. It is much more probable that he referred to the severe and incessant toil of raising water, to which they had been subject in Egypt, and which would be in a great degree superseded in Canaan by the “ rain of heaven.” He could not possibly have pointed out to them, a more encouraging feature of the country to which they were migrating. A very interesting proof that the Egyptians in the time of Moses did propel machines by the feet, has recently been brought to light. In one of the tombs at Thebes, which bears the name of THohriMEs III. there is a sculptured representation of some Egyptian bellows which were thus worked. We shall have occasion to refer to them when we come to in¬ quire into the history of the pump, in the third book. This -mode of transmitting humar energy appears to have been quite a favorite one in ancient times; for the purpose of illustration we will describe one which is identical with the Jantu ; and is moreover one of the most common im¬ plements connected with ancient and modern agriculture in the east: “ The Pedau,” says Mr. Ward, “ is a rough piece of wood, generally the trunk of a tree, balanced on a pivot, with a head something like a mallet; it is used to separate rice from the husk, to pound brick dust for buildings, &c. A person stands at the further end, and with his feet presses it down, which raises up the head, after which he lets it fall on the rice or brick. Combination of Gutters and Levers. 91 Chap. 12.] “One of these pedals is set up at almost every house in country places.” This primitive implement is also in general use in the agricultural districts of China. “ The next thing,” says a writer in the Chinese Repository, Vol. iii, 233, “is to divest the grain of the husk; this is done by pounding it in stone mortars ; two of these are placed in the ground together, and have corresponding pestles of wood or stone attached to long levers. A laborer by alternately stepping upon each lever pounds the grain, &c.” Paper mills of the Chinese, by which the shreds of bamboo and the fa¬ rina of rice are reduced to a pulp, are precisely the same, and worked by men treading on levers as in the jantu. a And we may add, that the paste of which Macaroni is made, is kneaded by a similar implement, and which the Romans probably received from the east. Hence it appears that the jantu is merely one of a class of machines of similar construction and moved in the same manner ; and as the pedal of the Hindoos is supposed to be as old as their agriculture, the jantu may certainly be considered equally ancient, for it is the more important machine of the two. They both, however, appear to have had a com¬ mon origin; and to have come down together through the long vista of past ages, without the slightest alteration. The fact of the jantu being still used in India proves its antiquity, for it is well known that the Hin¬ doos retain the same customs and peculiarities that distinguished their an¬ cestors thousands of years ago. “A country,” says Dr. Robertson, “ where the customs, manners, and even dress of the people, are almost as perma¬ nent and invariable as the face of nature itself.” This attachment to an¬ cient customs exists with singular force in regard to every thing con¬ nected with their agriculture. Like the Chinese and some other people of the east, nothing can induce them to deviate from the practice of their forefathers, either as it regards their implements or modes of cultivation. And when we bear in mind, that the Hindoos were among the earliest of civilized people ; that it was their arts and their science which enlightened the people, who, in the early ages dwelt in the valley of the Nile ; we can readily admit that the jantu was used, in the time of Moses, and that to it he alluded in the passage already quoted; but, be this as it may, it may safely be considered as a fair specimen of primeval ingenuity in applying human effort, as well as in raising water; and in both respects is entitled to the lengthened notice we have given it. These machines when worked by the feet raise water only about three feet, but where the elevation is greater, they have been moved by the hands, by means of ropes and a double lever, as in the next figure ; the open ends being attached by pins to the edge of the reservoir. In this manner water may be raised five or six feet at a single lift, according to the length of the gutter. Contrivances of the kind were formerly used in Europe ; and, as m the eastern world, series of them were sometimes employed to raise wa¬ ter to great elevations, to the top of buildings, &c. They are figured and described in Serviere’s collection. A number of cisterns are placed at equal distances above each other from the ground to the roof. In these, gutters are arranged as in the figure ; the lowermost raises water into the first, into which others dip and convey it to the next one, and so to the highest. In some, the gutters are worked by a combination of levers ; in others, by ropes passing over pulleys at the highest part of the building and united to a crank that is attached to a water wheel or other first mover Breton’s China, Vol. ii, 39, and Vol. iv, 27. 92 Pendulum Machine. No. 33. Pendulum or Swinging Gutters. In the bottom of each, an opening is made and covered by a flap or valve to prevent the water, when once past through, from returning. AH [Book I. Various forms of the gutters are figured, (the heads ct some like large bowls,) as well as modes of working them. See figure No. 32. No. 32. Combination of Levers and Gutters. There is another modification of the jantu, by which water may be raised to great elevations. A number of gutters, open at both ends, are permanently connected to, and over each other, in a zigzag direction, so that while one end of the lowest dips in the water, its other end inclines upwards at an angle proportioned to the length of the gutter and the motion to be given to it, and is united to the lower end of the next one, which also inclines upwards, but in an opposite direction, and is united to the next, and so on, the length of each diminishing as it approaches the too, as in the following figure. Dutcl Scoop. 93 Chap. 12.] the gutters are secured to a frame of wood which is suspended on a pir. secured to a beam, so that by pulling the cords alternately the whole may be made to oscillate like a pendulum. Thus, when pulled to one side, one of the lowest gutters dips into water, and scoops up a portion of it, to facilitate which the end is curved ; and as it rises, the liquid runs along to the farther end, and passing through the valve is retained till the mo¬ tion is reversed, when it flows down to the next gutter,and passing through its valve, is again continued in the same manner to the next; entering at every oscillation the gutter above, till it reaches the highest; and from which it is discharged into a reservoir, over which the last one is made to project. A double set of gutters, as shown in the figure, was sometimes attached to the same frame, so that a continuous stream could be discharg¬ ed into the reservoir. Machines like the above are more ingenious than useful. They do not appear to have ever been extensively used, although they are to be found in the works of several old writers on hydraulics. The one represented by the figure is described by Belidor as the inven¬ tion of M. Morel, who raised water by it 15 or 16 feet. Similar machines were known in the preceding century. A pendulum for raising water is described at page 95, of the first volume of machines approved by the French Academy, and at page 205, is a “ hydraulic machine” by A. De Courdemoy, similar to the one we have copied; except that square tubes were used instead of open gutters ; they were also of equal length, and attached to a rectangular frame, but were suspended and worked in the same manner as No. 33. A different mode of working these machines, was devised by an Eng¬ lish engineer. Instead of suspending the frame like a pendulum, he made the lower part terminate in rockers like those of a cradle; these resting on a smooth horizontal plane, a slight impulse put the whole in motion. The lowest gutters at each oscillation dipped into the water, and raised a portion, as in the preceding figure. No. 34. Dutch Scoop. Among other simple devices, is the Dutch scoop, frequently used by that people in raising water over low dykes. It is a kind of box-shovel 94 The Swape. [Book 1. suspended by cords from a triangular frame, and worked as represented in the figure. By a sweeping movement, an expert laborer will throw up at each stroke, a quantity of water equal to the capacity of the shovel, although from its form, such a quantity could not be retained in it. The Flash Wheel, is another contrivance to raise large quantities of wa¬ ter over moderate heights, being extensively used in draining wet lands, particularly the fens of England. It is made just like the wheel of a steam¬ boat, and when put in rapid motion, generally by a windmill, it pushes the water up an inclined shute, which is so curved, that the paddles may sweep close to it, and consequently drive the liquid before them. The ‘back water’ thrown up by the paddle wheels of steam vessels is raised in e. somewhat similar manner. CHAPTER XIII. The Swape : Used in modern and ancient Egypt—Represented in sculptures at Thebes—Alluded to by Herodotus and Marcellus—Described by Pliny—Picotali of India; agility of the Hindoos in working it. Chinese Swape—Similar to the machines employed in erecting the pyramids—The Swape, seen in Paradise by Mahomet—Figure of one near the city of Magnesia—Anglo Saxon Swape—Formerly used in English manufactories—Figures from the Nuremburgh Chronicle, Munster’s Cosmography, and Bes¬ son’s Theatre des Instrumens. The Swape common in North and South America—Examples of its use in watering gardens—Figures of it, the oldest representations of any hydraulic machine—Mechanical speculations of Ecclesiastics: Wilkins’projects for aerial navigation—Mechanical and theological pur¬ suits combined in the middle ages—Gerbert—Dunstan—Bishops famous as Castle architects—Androides— Roode of grace—Shrine of Becket—Speaking images—Chemical deceptions—Illuminated manuscripts. Of machines for raising water, the Swape has been more extensively used in all ages, and by all nations, than any other. Like most im¬ plements for the same purpose, its application is confined within certain limits; but these are such as to render it of general utility. The mental or swinging basket, and the jantu, raise the liquid from two to three feet only at a lift, while the swape elevates it from five to fifteen, and in some cases still higher. It is not, however, well adapted for greater eleva¬ tions; a circumstance which accounts for its not having been much used in the toe/ls of ancient cities—their depth rendered it inapplicable, as the generality of ours do at this day. In Egypt, this machine is named the Shadoof, and in no country has it been more extensively employed. In modern days, more persons are there engaged in raising water by it and the mental, than are to be found in any other class of Egyptian laborers. They raise the liquid at each lift about seven feet, and where it is re¬ quired higher, series of swapes are placed at proper distances above each other, in a similar manner as the Hindoos arrange the jantu, and as shown in the figure, (No. 35.) The lowermost laborer empties his vessel into a cavity or basin formed in the rock, or in soil rendered imper¬ vious to water, three or four feet above him, and into which the next one plunges his bucket, who raises it into another, and so on till it reaches the required elevation. M. Jomard,* says it is not uncommon to see from thirty to fifty shadoofs at one place, raising water one above another. At Esne, he saw twenty-seven Arabs on one tier of stages, working fourteen “Grande Description. E. M. Tom. ii. Memoirs, Part 2, p. 780. Ancient Egyptian Swape. 95 Chap. 13.] double swapes, i. e. two on each frame, the bucket of one descending as the other rises. They were relieved every hour, so that fifty-four men were required to keep the machines constantly in motion. The overseer or task-master measured the time by the sun, and sometimes by a simple clepsydra or water-clock. No. 35. Modern Egyptians using the Swape. It is impossible to pass up the Nile in certain states of the river, without being surprised at the myriads of these levers, and at their unceasing move¬ ments; for by relays of men, they are often worked without intermission, both night and day. In Upper Egypt especially, where from the elevation of the banks they are more necessary, and of course more numerous, the spectacle is animating in a high degree, and cannot but recall to reflecting minds similar scenes in the very same places in past ages, when the popu¬ lation was greatly more dense than at present, and the country furnished grain for surrounding nations. In some parts, the banks appear alive with men raising water by swapes and the effect is rendered still more impress¬ ive by the songs and measured chandngs of the laborers, and the incessant groans and creakings of the machines themselves. To the ancient custom of singing while raising water , there is an evident allusion in Isaiah, xii, 3: Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. The Arabs have a tradition that the shadoof was used in the times of the Pharaohs, and a proof that such was the fact, has recently been furnished by Mr. Wilkinson, (Yol. ii, 5,) who found the remains of one in an ancient tomb at Thebes; in ad¬ dition to which they are repre¬ sented in sculptures which date from 1532 to 1550 B. C. a peri¬ od extending beyond the Exo¬ dus. No. 36 represents it as used at that remote period for the irrigation of land. No. 36. An Egyptian in the time of Moses raising water by the swape. From sculptures at Thebes. Swape used by the Romans. % [Book I. It appears to have formed one of a series, designed to raise water over the elevation feebly portrayed in the back ground, in precisely the same wav that is now common in Egypt and in the east, and as shown in No. 35. The remark of a traveler that a Chinese seemed to him “ an antediluvian renewed,” might with equal propriety, be applied to a modern Arab raising water by this implement from the Nile ; and the figure, No. 36, might be taken as a probably correct representation of an antediluvian laborer engaged in the same employment. On comparing the last two cuts, the former having been sketched by Mr. Wilkinson, from life, but three years ago; and the latter copied from sculptures that have been executed upwards of three thousand years, we see at once, that the swape has undergone as little change in Egypt, since the times of the Pharaohs, as the costume, if such it may be called, of the laborers themselves; in oth¬ er words both remain the same. The discovery of this implement among the sculptures of ancient Egypt tends to corroborate our views respecting the antiquity of other machines for the same purpose, and which like it are still in common use in the east. It also admonishes us not to reject as im¬ probable or fabulous, current oriental traditions; since they are, as in the case of this machine, often, if not generally, founded in truth. The swape seems to be alluded to by Herodotus, vi, 119, as used in Persia in his time. He observes that Darius, the father of Xerxes, sent some captives to a certain distance from Susa, and forty furlongs from a well, the contents of which were “ drawn up with an engine, to which a kind of bucket is suspended, made of half a skin ; it is then poured into one cistern and afterwards removed into a second.” This appears to have been the shadoof of the Egyptians, as figured in No. 35, to which there is probably a reference also in Clio, 193, where he says the Assyri¬ ans irrigated their lands from the Euphrates “ by manual labor and by hydraulic engines .” Aristotle mentions the swape as in common use among the Greeks.* Dr. Clarke says some of the wells of Greece were not deep, and pulleys were not used, only buckets with ropes of twisted herbs, and sometimes the water was raised by a ‘ huge lever, great stones being a counterpoise to the other end.’ A circumstance connected with the overthrow of the Syracusans, and the death of Archimedes, in which the swape is referred to, may here be noticed. When the Roman vessels, at the siege of Syracuse were grappled by hooks and elevated in the air, by levers that projected over the walls of the city, their resemblance to vessels of water raised by the swape, was so striking, that Marcellus was wont to say, “ Archimedes used his ships to draw water with .” b This remark of the Roman general clearly shows that the swape was very fa¬ miliar to him and to his countrymen. But we are not left to circumstan¬ ces like this to infer its use among- the Romans. Pliny expressly men¬ tions it among machines for raising water. As the passage is highly interesting, and as we shall have occasion to refer to it hereafter, it may as well be inserted here. It is in the fourth Chapter of the Nineteenth Book,On Gardens“ above all things there should be water at command, (if possible a river or brook running through it, but if neither can be ob¬ tained,) then they are to be watered with pit water, fed with springs; either draicn up by plain poles, hooks, and buckets ; or forced, by pumps and such like, going with the strength of wind enclosed, or else weighed up with swipes and cranes .” Holland’s Trans. The Swape is extensively used over all Hindostan. “ The peasants, morning and evening draw water out of wells by buffaloes or oxen, or * Bishop Wilkins on the lever. b Plutarch’s life of Marcellus, Wrangham’s notes. Chap. 13.] The Picotah. 97 else by a thwart post, poised with a sufficient weight at the extremity laid over one fixed in the earth; the water is drawn by a bucket of goat’s skin.” a In some districts, the Hindoos have a mode of working the Swape, which, so far as we know, is peculiar to themselves. In Patna it is common, and the machine when thus propelled, is named the Picotah. “ Near the well or tank, a piece of wood is fixed, forked at the top; in this fork another piece of wood is fixed to form a swape, which is formed by a peg, and steps cut out at the bottom, that the person who works the ma¬ chine may easily get up and down. Commonly, the lower part of the swape is the trunk of a tree; to the upper end is fixed a pole, at the end of which hangs a leather bucket. A man gets up the steps to the top of the swape, and sup¬ ports himself by a bamboo screen erected by the sides of the ma¬ chine.” He plunges the bucket into the water, and draws it up by his weight; while another person stands ready to empty it. In the volume of plates to the Paris edi¬ tion, 1806, of Sonnerat’s Voyages, the machine is represented rather different from the above. The la- No. 37. Picotah of Hmdostan. borer alternately steps on and off the swape, from a ladder or stage of bamboos erected on one side of it See plate 23, Sonnerat. The apparatus and mode of working it, is more fully described in the following extract from ‘ Shoberl’s Hindostan in Miniature.’ “ By the side of the well a forked piece of wood, or even a stone, eight or ten feet high is fixed upright. In the fork, is fastened by means of a peg, a beam three times as long, which gradually tapers, and is furnished with steps like those of a ladder. To the extremity of this long beam, which is ca¬ pable of moving up and down, is attached a pole, to the end of which is suspended a large leather bucket. The other end being the heaviest, when the machine is left to itself, the bucket hangs in the air at the height of twenty feet; but to make it descend, one man, and sometimes two, mount to the middle of the beam, and as they approach the bucket, it sinks to the bottom of the well, and fills itself with water. The men then move back to the opposite end, the bucket is raised, and another man empties it into a basin. This operation is performed with such celerity that the water never ceases running , and you can scarcely see the man moving along his beam; yet he is sometimes at the height of twenty feet, at others, touching the ground; and such is his confidence, that he laughs, sings, smokes, and eats in this apparently ticklish situation.” Vol. v, p. 22, 24. This mode of applying human effort, was eurly adopted in the working of pumps—a piston rod being attached to each end of the vibrating beam. Dr. Lardner, has inserted a figure of it in his popular a Fryer’s Travels in India, 187. 13 98 The Swape in Arabia. [Book L treatise on Pneumatics. It is figured in most of the old authors, and was most likely, copied from the Picotah, and other oriental machines, which have been propelled in a similar manner from very remote times. See Gregory’s Meehan. Vol. ii, 312. Ed. 1815. The Swape is one of the ancient and modern implements of China, where it is used, as in Egypt and India, for the irrigation of land. It is frequently made to turn in a socket, (or the post itself moves round,) in addition to the ordinary vibratory motion. In several situations, this is a decided improvement, as the vessel of water when raised above the edge of a tank or river, can, if desirable, be swung round to any part of the circle which it describes. Sir George Staunton, has given a figure of it, which Mr. Davis has copied into his popular work on the Chinese. When thus constructed, it is according to Goguet, (Tom. iii, Origine des Loix,) identical with the engines mentioned by Herodotus, B. ii, 125, as em¬ ployed in the erection of the Egyptian pyramids; these, he supposes were portable swapes, or levers of the first order, with a rotary movement like those of the Chinese. A number of these being placed on the lowest tier of stones which formed the basis of the pyramids, were used to raise those which form the second tier; after which, other swapes were placed on the latter and materials raised by them for the third range, and in like manner to the top. This was the process which Herodotus says was adopted. M. Goguet, supposes that two swapes were employed in raising every stone, one at each end, and that the levers were depressed by a number of men laying hold of short ropes attached to them for that purpose. This mode appears to accord with the meagre description of the machines used in the erection of the pyramids, which the father of history has given. It has already been observed, that the engines employed by Archimedes to destroy the Roman ships in the harbor of Syracuse, were so analagous to the swape, as to elicit from Marcellus, an observation to that effect. In fact, machines similar to it, were used by ancient engineers both for attacking and defending cities. Yegetius, says they were used to raise soldiers to the tops of walls, &c. In the oldest translation of his work, (Erffurt, 1511,) there is a fi'gure of it, which is identical with the Chinese swape, and with that which Goguet supposes was used by the old engineers of Egypt. Bar¬ bara, in his edition of Vitruvius, also figures it. In Rollin’s ‘Arts and Sciences of the Ancients,’ are several examples and figures of it, applied to the purposes of war; and among others to the destruction of the Ro¬ man vessels before Syracuse. A story in the ‘ Hegiat al Megiales’ shews how common it was in Arabia in the seventh and preceding centuries. Mahomet in one of his visions of paradise, “saw a machine much used in the Levant for drawing water out of wells, called by the Latins Tollens, and consisting of a long lever fixed on a post, [i.e.the swape.] Enquiring to whom it belonged, he was told it was Abougehel’s, (the bitterest enemy to him and his religion.) Surprised at this, he exclaimed, * what has Abougehel to do with paradise,* he is never to enter there !’ Shortly after, he understood the drift of the vision, for the son of his enemy became a Mussulman, upon which he ex¬ claimed ‘ Abougehel was the swape , by which God drew up his son from the bottom of the pit of infidelity.’ ” It is used by the Japanese ; and as fi¬ gured by Montanus, the bucket is raised by pulling down the opposite end of the lever by means of cords attached to it. In Fisher's “ Constantinople, and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia.” Lon. 1839, is a beautiful view of the city of Magnesia near Mount Sipylus, in Asia Minor, a city founded by Tantalus, whose fabled punish- Chap. 13.] Anglo Saxon Swape. 99 ment has rendered his name notorious. In the foreground is represented the following figure of the swape, a machine which the writer observes, “ forms a conspicuous object y v. in every landscape in the east. One is seen erected in every garden, and as irrigation is constantly required in an arid soil, it is always in mo¬ tion, and its dull and drowsy creaking is the sound inces¬ santly heard by all travelers.” In this figure we behold not merely a sketch of mo¬ dern Asiatic manners; but one, which as regards rais¬ ing of water; the machine by which it is effected; animals around it; costume of the individuals ; and por¬ traiture of rural life,—has remained unchanged from times that reach back to the ■AH- infancy of our race, and of which history has preserved no records. [For this interesting cut, and for No. 35 also, I am in¬ debted to my friend William Everdell, Esq. who, be¬ sides other contributions to this work, undertook the task, to him a novel one, of engraving them.] The swape has probably been in continual use in Great Britain, from the period of its subjugation by the Romans, if not before. It is^ there known under the various names of ‘ Swape,' ‘ Sweep,' and in old authors, ‘ Swipe' A figure of it, as used by the Anglo-Saxons, is here inserted, from Vol. i, of the ‘ Pictorial History of England,’ copied from an ancient ma¬ nuscript in the British Museum. The costume of the female, her masculine figure, the shingled well, and form of the vase or pitcher, are interesting, as indicative of manners and customs, &c. of former ages. The arm of the lever to which the bucket is suspended, appears extremely short, but this is to be attri¬ buted to its defective representation. The following summary of ancient Brit¬ ish devices is from Fosbroke’s Encyclo¬ pedia of Antiquities. “ The Anglo- Saxons had a wheel for drawing water from wells. They were common annexations to houses, fixed to the chains of wells. We find a beam on a pivot, with a weight at one end for raising water. Wheels and coverings. A lever, the fulcrum of which was a kind of gallows over the well. Two No. 33. Swape in Asia Minor. No. 39. Anglo Saxon Swape. Rings were with 100 Old German Swapes. No. 41. Swape from S. Munster’s Cosmography. 1550. The Swape was very common in France and the neighboring nations on the European continent, in the last and preceding centuries. It is named bascule in France. The old Dictionnaire de Trcvoux, says : Les bascules les plus simple, sont celles qui ne consistent qu’en une piece de bois soutenue d’une autre par le milieu ou autrement, comme d’un essieu, pour etre plus au moins en equilibre. Lorsqu’on pese sur [Book I. buckets one at each end of a chain adapted to a versatile engine called volgolus. Buckets with iron hoops, and drawing water from deep wells as a punishment.” The swape appears to have been the principal ma¬ chine in England for raising water till quite recent times. In the 17th century it was used in manufactories, and is not yet, perhaps, wholly su¬ perseded by the pump. Bishop Wilkins, in speaking of the lever and its application by Archimedes in destroying the Roman fleet, says, “ it was of the same form with that which is commonly used by brewers and dyers for the drawing of water. It consists of two posts, the one fastened perpen¬ dicularly in the ground, the other being jointed on cross to the top of it.” Mathemat. Magic. B. i, Chaps. 4 and 12. This was published in 1638. In 1736, Mr. Ainsworth published his celebrated Latin Dictionary, and un¬ der the word Rachdmus , ‘ a truckle or pulley used in drawing up water he adds, “ perhaps not unlike the sweep our brewers use hence at that time, it continued to be used for raising water and transferring liquids in English breweries and similar establishments, as remarked by Wilkins one hundred years before. In Germany it was frequently, and still is, a prominent object in country towns and villages, as well as in farm yards. In the former it was frequently erected on, or at the end of bridges for the purpose of raising water from rivers and brooks. In the famous Nuremburgh Chronicle it is frequently figured. From a va¬ riety of different forms, we have selected No. 40, as a specimen. In the Cosmography of Sebastian Munster, 1550, it is represented at page 729, as employed for raising water to supply, by means of pipes, a neighboring town. Agricola, in his De Re Metallica, has also figured it. pp. 443 and 458. No. 40. Swape. From the Nuremburgh Chronicle. A. D. 1493. 101 Chap. 13.] Old French Swape. No. 42. Swape from Besson. 1568. un des bouts l’autre hausse. Ces sortes de bascules sont les plus com¬ munes; on s’en sert pour elever des eaux. The last sentence is believed to be applicable to every part of Europe at the present time, perhaps equally so as at any former period. We subjoin a description of one proposed by James Besson, a French mechanician, 270 years ago, by which two buckets, one at each end, may be used. As the vibration of the beam is ingeniously effected by a continuous rotary movement, a figure of it will be acceptable to the intelligent mechanic. The lever is suspended at the centre of its length, on a pin which passes through the lower part of the perpendicular post, the upper end of which is firmly secured to the frame and cross piece. A perpen¬ dicular shaft is placed immediately under the lower end of the post and in the same vertical line with it. The upper journal of the shaft enters and turns in the end of the post, while its lower one is received into a cavity in the block upon which it rests. This shaft forms the axis of an inverted cone of frame-work—a section of which, resembling an hyperbolic curve, acts as it revolves on the under side of the swape, and imparts to it the required movement. To lessen the friction, two long rollers are fixed to its under side, and upon these only does the curved edge of the cone act. The shaft may of course be turned by any motive power. In the figure, a horizontal water wheel is attached to the shaft, with oblique paddles which receive the impulse of the stream in which they are placed. This device may serve as an example of mechanical tact and resource in the early part of the 16th century, when practical mechanics began to be cul¬ tivated as a science. The swape is commonly used by the farmers on this continent, in vicinity of whose dwellings it may be seen, more or less, from the Lawrence to the Mississippi. In some of the states, it still bears the English name of the ‘ sweep’ as in Virginia—in others it is named ‘balance pole.’ It prevails in Mexico, Central America, Peru, Chili, and generally throughout the southern continent. There is some uncertainty respecting its having been known here before the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century. See remarks on Ancient American Machines in the last chapter of this book. The swape appears to have been used in all times, for watering gardens in the east, as already observed of Asia Minor, it is there seen erected in almost every one. No. 43 represents it employed in the gardens of Egypt during the sojourn of the Israelites in that country. The tree and plant are uniform hieroglyphical representations of gardens. The labourer discharges the contents of his bucket into a wood¬ en trough or gutter, by which the water is conveyed to the plants ; a mode still followed through all the east. To this application of the swape there is probably a reference in the prediction of Balaam, deliver¬ ed one hundred years after these figures were sculptured, ‘ he shall pour the St. old the 102 Ancient Garden Swape. [Book 1. water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, (Numb, xxiv, 7,) an intimation that the Israelites should possess a country, where this great desideratum should be in comparative abundance, a land “ wa¬ tered as a garden of herbs.” The figure may serve also to illustrate the ‘ gutters and watering troughs’ in which Jacob watered the flocks of La¬ ban, his father in law. Gen. xxx, 38. No. 43. Egyptian Shadoof employed in watering a garden. 1550, B. C. The luxuriance of vegetation in an eastern garden, (when properly water¬ ed,) the richness of its scenery, the beauty of its foliage and flowers, form one of the most enchanting prospects in nature ; hence it became the most favorite, as it was the most natural, metaphor of human felicity. When the prophets promised prosperity, it was in such language as the following: “ Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not,” and “ their soul shall be as a watered garden.” On the contrary, when the v/icked were denounced, “ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.” The same me¬ taphor is a frequent one in ancient poets, and in most instances the use of the swape is implied. Thus Homer : As when autumnal Boreas sweeps the sky. And instant blows the watered gardens dry. And Ovid : As in a watered garden's blooming walk. Met. x, 277. Pliny mentions it expressly for the same purpose, and to it Juvenal seems to allude in his third satire: There from the shallow well your hand shall pour The stream it loves on every opening flower. This use of the swape is not now confined to the gardens of fallen Asia, Egypt and Greece, but it is employed by the most enlightened nations ; and in London and in Paris, as in Athens and Alexandria, Memphis and Thebes, this primitive implement has not been superseded. In Breton’s China, Lon. 1834, the Chinese swape is described ; and the author ob¬ serves, “ it is similar to those which are seen in the market gardens round London:” and in a more recent work, * Scripture illustrated from Egypt¬ ian Antiquities,’ the author speaking of the Egyptian swape, says, it is* the same as used in the gardens of Brentford. Of the swape, it may be remarked, that the most ancient portraiture extant, of any hydraulic machine , is a sculptured representation of it. be¬ tween three and four thousand years old, and even at that remote period Garden Swape. 103 Chap. 13.] it was in all probability a very old affair, and in common use. These sculptures moreover prove, that it has remained in Egypt unaltered in its form, dimensions, mode and material of its construction and methods of us¬ ing it, during at least thirty-four centuries ! and this, notwithstanding the political convulsions to which that country lias ever been subject, since its conquest by Cambyses ; its inhabitants having been successively under the Persian, Grecian, Roman, Saracenic, and Turkish yoke, thus literally fulfilling a prophecy of Ezekiel, that, “ there shall be no longer a prince of the land of Egypt,”—a descendant of its ancient kings ; yet through all these mighty revolutions that have swept over it like the fatal Simoon, and destroyed every vital principle of its ancient grandeur, this simple machine has past through them all unchanged, and is still applied by the inhabitants to the same purposes, and in precisely the same way, for which it was used by their more enlightened progenitors. We have seen it used by the Greeks and Romans, and we find it still in the possession of their descendants, wherever they dwell, as well as among those of more ancient people, the Hindoos, Arabs, and Chinese. And although we may be unable to keep it constantly in view in Europe, in those ages which immediately followed the fall of the Roman power, when the ferocious tyranny of the Saracens established a despotism over the mind as well as the body ; and by the characteristic zeal of Omar, entailed ignorance on the future, by consuming the very sources of know¬ ledge under the baths of Alexandria; yet, when in the 15th century, the human intellect began to shake off’ the lethargy, which during the long night of the dark ages had paralyzed its energies, and printing was intro¬ duced—that mighty art which is ordained to sway the destinies of our race forever—among the earliest of printed books, with illustrations, this interesting implement may be found portrayed in vignettes , in views of cities, and of rural lifer; tangible proofs of its universal use throughout Europe at that time, as well as during the preceding ages. Having referred in this and in a preceding chapter, to the ‘ Mathematical jVLagic’ of Wilkins, we subjoin some remarks on the mechanical specula¬ tions of that and other old church dignitaries. [These remarks were at first designed for a note, but have been too far extended to be inserted as one.] The former was certainly one of the most ingenious and imaginative of mechanics that ever was made a bishop of, and not a few have worn the mitre. ‘The Right Reverend Father in God, John, Lord Bishop of Chester,’ (like friars Bacon and Bungey, the Jesuit Kircher, the Abbe Mical, and a host of others,) excelled equally in mechanical and theologi¬ cal science; and at one period of his researches in the former, seemed almost in danger of rendering the latter superfluous: viz. by developing a plan of conveying men to other worlds by machinery! See his Tract on on the ‘Discovery of a New World in the Moon, and the possibility of a passage thither.’ Lon. 1638. After removing with a facility truly de¬ lightful, those objections to such a ‘passage’ as arise from the ‘extreme coldness and thinness of the etherial air,’ ‘the natural heaviness of a man’s body,’and‘the vast distance of that place from us,’ and the consequent necessity of rest and provisions during so long a journey, there being, as he observes, ‘no inns to entertain passengers, nor any castles in the air to receive poor pilgrims’—he proposes three modes of accomplishing the object. 1. By the application of wings to the body; ‘as angels are pic¬ tured, as Mercury and Daedalus are feigned, and as has been attempted by divers, particularly by a Turk in Constantinople, as Busbequius re- a04 Mechanical Speculations [Book I lates. 2. By means of birds, for as he quaintly says, “If there be such a great ruclc in Madagascar, as Marcus Polus the Venetian mentions, the feathers in whose wings are twelve feet long, which can scoop up a horse and his rider, or an elephant, as our kites do a mouse ; why then, ’tis but teaching one of these to carry a man, and he may ride up thither, as Ganymede did, upon an eagle.” 3. Or, “if neither of these ways will serve, yet I do seriously, and upon good ground, affirm it possible to make a flying chariot, in which a man may sit, and give such a motion unto it as shall convey him through the air; and this perhaps might be made large enough to carry diverse men at the same time, together with food for their viaticum, and commodities for traflic.” The construction of such a chariot, he says, was ‘no difficult matter, if a man had leisure to show more particularly the means of composing it.’ It is to be regretted that he did not pretermit some of his labors for that purpose, especially as his project was not merely to skim along the surface of this planet, like mo¬ dern aeronauts, or ancient navigators creeping along shores—but like ano¬ ther Columbus, to launch out into the unknown regions of space, in search of other worlds. Had Wilkins been a countryman as well as a contemporary of Galileo, his aerial flights would have been confined to a dungeon, and the wings of his genius would have been effectually clipped with Roman shears. Indeed we must admit that he was the greater sinner of the two! for Galileo merely taught the absurd doctrine of the sun’s stability, and that the earth moved round it, in opposition to the evidence of his senses, to the doctrines of the church, and in flat contradiction of those passages in the Bible, which Bellarmine adduced as proofs indubitable, that the sun ‘rises up ’ in the east every morning, and ‘goes down ’ in the west every night, and that the earth is established and ‘cannot be moved.’ Whereas the heretical bishop, endeavored to open a way by which men could visit other worlds when they pleased, and that too, without consulting, or so much as saying ‘by your leave,’ to the successors of St. Peter! The earliest English aeronaut was Elmer, a monk of the 11th century. He adapted wings to his hands and feet, and took his flight from a lofty tower. He sustained himself in the air for the space of a furlong, but his career, (like that of Dante in the fifteenth century) terminated unfortu¬ nately, for by some derangement of his machinery he fell, and both his legs were broken. Dante, after several successful experiments, fell on the roof of a church and broke his thigfh. It is a singular fact in the history of the arts, that mechanical skill was in former times intimately connected with theological pursuits, and that some of the cleverest workmen were ecclesiastics, and of the highest grades too ; witness Gerbert, Dunstan, Albertus, and many others. The first was a French mechanician of the 10th century, whose researches led him at that early period, to experiment on steam, and on its application to produce music. He M r as successively archbishop of Rheims and Ra¬ venna, and in 999 took his seat in St. Peter’s chair, and was announced to the world as Pope Sylvester II. It may now appear strange that monks and friars, abbots, bishops, archbishops and popes, should have been among the chief cultivators of, and most expert manipulators in the arts, and that to them we are greatly indebted for their preservation through the dark ages; but, in those times, it was so far from being considered derogatory in ecclesiastics to work at ‘ a trade,’ that those who did not, were accounted unworthy members of the church; hence monks were cooks, carpenters, bakers, farmers, turners, founders, smiths, painters, carvers, copyists, &c.; all had some occupation, besides the study of their peculiar Chap. 13.j of Ecclesiastics. 106 duties. “ Tn that famous colledg, our monasterie of Bangor, in which there were 2100 Christian philosophers, that served for the profit of the people in Christ, living by the labor of their hands, according to St. Paul’s doc- trine.” a This was in the 5th century, when Pelagius belonged, to the same monastery. In the 7th, “almost all monks were addicted to manual arts,” and according to St. Benedict, such only as lived by their own la¬ bor, “were truly monks.” b “ They made and sold their wares to strangers, for the use [benefit] of their monasterie, yet somewhat cheaper than others sold.” 0 Many of these men naturally became expert workmen, especially in the metals—a branch of the arts that seems to have been a favorite one with them; hence, the best gold and silver smiths of the times were often found in cloisters; and the rich ‘boles, cups, chalices, basens, lavatories of silver and gold, and other precious furniture’ of the churches, were made by the priests themselves :—It may be a question, whether they were not right in thus combining mental and physical employments; as a compound being, manual labor seems necessary to the full development of man’s intellect, and to its healthy and vigorous exercise. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 10th century, was skilled in metallurgical operations—he was a working jeweler, and a brass founder. Two large bells for the church at Abingdon were cast by him. He is said to have been the inventor of the Eolian harp, an instrument whose spontaneous music induced the people at that dark age, to consider him a conjurer— hence the old lines— St. Dunstan’s harp, fast by the wall, Upon a pin did hang—a; The harp itself, with ty and all, Untouched by hand did twang—a. The genius of some led them to cultivate architecture. Cathedrals and other buildings yet extant, attest their skill. Of celebrated architects in the 11th century, were Mauritius, bishop of London, and Gimdulphus, bishop of Rochester. The latter visited the Holy Land previous to the crusades, and is said to have been one of the greatest builders, and the most eminent castle architect of his age. In the Towers of London and Rochester, he left specimens of his art. At page 62, we referred to the remains of a castle built by him, and to his mode of protecting the well, and raising the water to the different floors. In the 12th century, these reverend artists were numerous. In England, were Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and Ernulf, his successor—Alexander of Lincoln—Henry De Blois of Winchester, and Roger, of York; all of whom left remarkable proofs of their proficiency as builders. In France, ‘in sundry times the ecclesiastics performed carving, smelting, painting, and mosaic .’ Leo, bishop of Tours in the 6th century, ‘was a great artist, especially in car pentry.’ St. Eloy was at first a sadler, then a goldsmith, and at last bishop of Noyan ; he built a monastery near Limoges, but he was most noted for shrines of gold, silver, and precious stones. He died in 668. The church of Notre Dame des Unes, in Flanders, was begun by Pierre, the 7th abbot, and completed in 1262, by Theodoric. ‘The whole church was built by the monks themselves, assisted by the lay brothers and their servants.’* 1 Luther was accustomed to turning, and kept a lathe in his house, ‘in order to gain his livelihood by his hands, if the word of God failed to support him.’ a Monastichon Britannicum, Lon. 1655. p. 40. b lb. 268. e lb. 301 d Ed. Encyc. Art. Civil Architecture. 14 106 Roode of Grace. [Book I Those in whom the ‘ organ of constructiveness,’ or invention was prom¬ inent, produced among other curious machinery, speaking heads, images of saints, Sfc. These, it is believed, were imitations of similar contrivances in heathen temples. The statue of Serapis moved its eyes and lips. The bird of Memnon flapped his wings, and uttered sounds.* It is to be re¬ gretted that no detailed descriptions of these, and of such, as were used in European churches previous to the reformation, have been preserved. An account of the ingenious frauds of antiquity would be as valuable to a mechanician as it would be interesting to a philosopher. It would in all probability develope mechanical combinations both novel and useful; and would include all the mechanism of modern androides; and most of the deceptions to be derived from natural magic. A famous image known as the Roode of Grace, is often mentioned by English historians. A few scattered notices of it are worth inserting. Speed in his history of Great Britain, (page 790,) says “ it was by divers vices [devices] made to how down, and to lift up itselfe, to shake, and to stir both head, hands, and feet, to rowle its eyes, moove the lips, and to bend the brows.” It was destroyed in Henry VIII’s reign, being “ broken and pulled in pieces, so likewise the images of our Lady of Walsingham and Ipswich, set and besprinkled with jewels, and gemmes, with divers others both of England and Wales, were brought to London, and burnt at Chelsea, before the Lord Crumwell.” In the life of the last named in¬ dividual some further particulars of it are given, and which explain the mode of operation. “ Within the Roode of Grace, a man stood inclosed with an hundred wyers, wherewith he made the image roll his eyes, nod his head, hang the lip, move and shake his jaws ; according as the value of the gift offered, pleased or displeased the priest; if it were a small piece of silver, he would lia.ng the lip, if it were a good piece of gold, his chaps would go merrily,” &c. Cromwell discovering the cheat, caused the image “ with all his engines to be openly showed at Paul’s Cross, and there to be torn in pieces by the people.” Clarke’s Lives, Lon. 1675. It would have been a dangerous practice to have employed intelligent ‘ lay craftsmen’ in making machines like this, or to have engaged them in * pulling the wires.’ The shrine of Becket showed great proficiency in some of the arts. It “ did abound with more than princely riches, its meanest part was pure gold, garnished with many precious stones, as Erasmus that saw it, hath written ; whereof the. chiefest was a rich gemme of France, offered by king Lewis, who asked and obtained (you may be sure, he buying it so deare) that no passenger betwixt Dover and Whitesand should perish by shipwracke.” The bones of Becket were laid in a splendid tomb.- “ The timber work of his shrine was covered with plates of gold, damasked and embossed with wires of gold, garnished with broches, images , angels, precious stones, and great orient pcarles ; all these defaced filled two chests, and were for price, of an unestimable value.” A catalogue of the miracles wrought at his shrine filled two folio volumes ! b a Sec Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis, Rome, 1650, Tom ii, p. 413, for an ingenious figure of such an automaton. b Accounts kept by Churchwardens previous to the reformation often exhibit curious information in relation to the repairing, replacing, and clothing of images, and to the sale of damaged or worn out ones, as appears by the following extracts from ‘ A boake of the stuffe in the cheyrche of Holbeche sowld by Cheyrchewardyns of the same, ac¬ cording to the injunctyons of the Kvnges Magyste, A. D. 1447.’ The Trinity with the Tabernacle, sold for two shilling and fourpence. The Tabernacle of Nicholas and James for six shillings and eight pence. “All the Apostyls coats and other raggs," for eight shil¬ lings and four pence. And in 1547, “ XX score and X hund, of latyn, at ii. s. and xi. d. the score.” This item probably consisted of brazen utensils, images, &c. sold for theil value as old metal. Stukely’s Antiquities. London 1770, page 21. Chap. 13.] Speaking Tubes. 107 Other devices, less complex than the Roode of Grace, but when adroitly managed, equally effective and imposing, consisted in the application of se¬ cret tubes, through which sound might be conveyed from a person at a dis¬ tance. Sometimes the accomplice was concealed in the pedestal, or in the statue itself, or in the vicinity. “ The craftinesse of the inchanters, (observes Peter Martyr,) led them to erect images against walles, and gave answer through holes bored in them; wherefore the people were marvellouslie amazed when they supposed the images spake. There were dailie woon- ders wrought at the images whereby the sillie people were in sundriewise seduced.” 3 It was by a trick of this kind, that J)unstan confounded bis adversaries in an important discussion—the crucifix hanging in the church opened its mouth and decided the question in his favor. Numerous exam¬ ples of more recent times might be given. We add one from Keysler’s Trav. Yol. i, 148 : A monk having made a hole through a wall, behind an image of the Virgin, ‘ placed a concealed tube from it to his cell; and through it caused the image to utter whatever he wished the people to believe.’ By such tubes figures of the Virgin have repeatedly declared her wishes, saluted her worshippers, and returned their compliments. It was by the same device that several statues of heathen deities performed prodigies ; that of Jupiter for example, which burst forth into loud fits of laughter. Misson’s Trav. Vol. ii, 412. Within ancient temples, says Fosbroke, was a dark interior, answering to the choir of modern cathedrals, the Penetrale, into which the people were not permitted to enter. When the time of sacrifice arrived, the priest opened the doors that the people might' see the altar and victim; for only the priests and privileged persons entered into the cella, i. e. into interior. Some temples admitted light only at the door, for darkness was deemed a most powerful aid to superstition. “ The penetrale of the tem¬ ple of Isis, at Pompeii is a small pavilion, raised upon steps, under which is a vault, that may have served for oracular impositions. A shrine of this kind is still open for inspection at Argos. In its original state it had been a temple; the further part where the altar was, being an excavation of the rock, and the front and roof constructed of baked tiles. The altar yet remains and part of the fictile superstructure, but the most remarka¬ ble thing is a secret subterraneous passage terminating behind the altar its entrance being at a considerable distance , towards the right of a person facing the altar, and so cunningly contrived as to have a small aperture, easily concealed, and level with the surface of the rock. This was barely large enough to admit the entrance of a single person, who could creep along to the back of the altar, where being hid by some colossal statue, or other screen, the sound of his voice would produce a most impo¬ sing effect among the listening votaries.” Antiq. 33. It is a curious fact that conjurers and chiefs among American Indians, were found to practice similar cheats. In St. Domingo, some Spaniards having abruptly entered the cabin of a cacique, they were astonished to hear an idol apparently speaking (in the Indian tongue) with great volubility. Suspecting the nature of the imposture, they broke the image, and dis¬ covered a concealed tube, which proceeded from it to a distant corner, where an Indian was hid under some leaves. It was this man, speaking through the tube, that made the idol utter, whatever he wished the hear¬ ers to believe. The Cacique prayed the Spaniards to keep the trick secret, as it was by it, that he secured tribute and kept his people in sub¬ jection. 11 a Common Places, Part ii, Chap. v. Lon. 1583. b Histoire Gen&rale. La Haye. 1763. Tom. 18, p. 229. 108 Illuminated Manuscripts. [Book I, Another device adopted by ecclesiastics, for subduing the turbulent passions of their ignorant people, and exciting in them feelings of respect for the church, was by making images of the Virgin and of Christ, to zoeep, and sometimes to sweat blood, &c. These effects being, of course, represented as the result of their impenitence. ‘ The fathers of Monte Vaccino made the wooden crucifix sweat that was fastened to the wall of their church ; through which they ha4 a passage for the water to run into the body of the crucifix, wherein they had drilled several pores, so that it passed through in little drops.’ De La Mortraye’s Trav. Vol. i, 23. This was a staple trick of heathen priests; hence Statius, in his Thehaid, B. ix, v. 906, represents the statue of Diana weeping. For tears descended from the sculptured stone. And Lucan, The face of grief each marble statue wears, And Parian gods and heroes stand in tears. In the temple of the great Syrian goddess at Hierapolis, were idols that could ‘move, sweat and deliver oracles as if alive.’ a Among an¬ cient chemical deceptions, the liquefaction of St. Januarius’ blood, is still performed; and once a year, all Naples is in suspense till the miracle is accomplished. We shall have occasion to notice other ingenious ancient devices for the same purposes of delusion, in the fourth Book, when speak¬ ing on the application of steam to raise water. Although the monks present lamentable examples of misdirected talents and misapplied time, their labors tended to the general progress of re¬ finement and learnmg. We may regret that unworthy spirits among them abused the superstitions of the times to their own advantage—imitating the statesmen and priests of antiquity, in making the oracles declare what they wished; still, they were the only lights of the dark ages, and eve« their introduction of images of saints, &c. in place of the pagan idols, contributed in the end to the overthrow of idolatry, and was perhaps the only condition on which the barbarous people, could be induced to give up their ancient deities. ‘It can hardlie be credited,’ says Peter Martyr, * with how greate labor and difficultie, man could be brought from the wor¬ shipping of images.’ Another class devoted themselves to writing and copying, that is, to the art of multiplying books; and their industry and skill have never been, and in all human probability, never will be surpassed. The beauty, uni¬ formity and effect of their pages, are equal to those of any printed volume. The richness of the illuminated letters, the fertility of imagination dis¬ played in their endlessly variegated forms, the brightness of the colors and gilding, and the minuteness of finish, can only be appreciated by those who have had opportunities of examining them. We have seen some in which the illustrations equalled the finest paintings in miniature. 1 * In a literary and useful point of view, the labors of these men are above all praise. They were the channels through which many valuable works of the ancients have been preserved and transmitted to us. And as re¬ gards the arts, both ornamental and useful, the monks were at one time almost their only cultivators. a Univer. Hist, i, 373. b In the Library of John Allan, Esq. of this city. Chap 14.J Wheels for raising Water. 109 CHAPTER XIV. Wheels for raising water—Machines described by Vitruvius—Tympanum—De La Faye’s improve¬ ment—Scoop Wheel—Chinese Noria—Roman do.—Egyptian do.—Noria with Pots—Supposed origin ot Toothed Wheels—Substitute for wheels and pinions—Persian Wheels Common in Syria—Large ones at Hamath—Various modes of propelling the Noria by men and animals—Early employment of the lat¬ ter to raise water. Antiquity of the Noria—Supposed to be the ‘Wheel of Fortune’—An appropriate emblem of abundance in Egypt—Sphinx—Lions’ Heads—Vases—Cornucopia—Ancient emblems of irrigation—Medea: Inventressof Vapor Baths—Ctesibius—Metallic and glass mirrors—Barbers. Having examined such devices for raising water, as from their sim¬ plicity have been generally unnoticed in treatises on hydraulic machines, we proceed to others more complex; and first, to such as revolve round the centres from which they are suspended, and which have a continuous instead of an alternating motion. Although differing in these respects and in their form, from the jantu or vibrating gutter and the swape, they will be found essentially the same; their change of figure being more apparent than real, and merely consequent on the new movement imparted to them. As these machines are obviously of later date than the preceding, it may per¬ haps be supposed, that the period of their introduction might be ascer¬ tained ; but so it is, that with scarcely an exception, the time when, place where, and the persons by whom, they were invented, are absolutely unknown. / Although allusions to machines for raising water are found in several of their authors, it does not appear, that any general account or compre¬ hensive treatise of them, was ever written by the ancients. If such a work was executed, it has perished in the general wreck of ancient re¬ cords. About the beginning of the Christian era, a Roman architect and engineer, published a treatise on those professions, in which he inserted a brief description of some hydraulic engines. This is the only ancient work extant which treats professedly of them; and the whole that relates to them might be included in two pages of this volume. The machines described by Vitruvius, for it is to him we allude, are the Tympanum, Noria, Chain of Pots, the Screw, and the Machine of Ctesibius or Pump. He has not mentioned the jantu, swape, the cord and bucket, with the various modes of using the latter; probably, because he considered these too simple in their construction to be properly classed among hydraulic machinery; he therefore passed by them, and modern au¬ thors have generally followed his example. Notwithstanding the omission of these, there are circumstances which render it probable that his ac¬ count, brief as it is, includes all the principal machines that were used by the nations of the old world, if we except China. He wrote at a period the most favorable for acquiring and transmitting to posterity, a pei’fect know¬ ledge of the mechanic arts of the ancient civilized nations ; for he flourished during the last scenes of the mighty drama, when Rome had become the ar- bitress of the world, and the enlightened nations of the east—their wealth, learning, arts and artisans, were prostrate at her feet; so that if we were to suppose, absurd as it would be, that the previous intercourse of the Ro¬ mans with Asia Minor, Egypt, Carthage and Greece, had not made them fa¬ miliar with the arts of those countries, nothing could have prevented them from possessing such knowledge when they became Roman provinces—- 110 The Tympanum. [Book 1 hence we infer, that if there had been in use in any of those countries, (for some centuries previous to or during the life time of Vitruvius, and he was an old man when he published his work;) any efficient machine for raising water, different from those he has described, it would have been known to the Romans, and would have been noticed by him. Moreover, he was evidently familiar with the inventions of the mechanicians of for¬ mer ages and frequently refers to them ; and as all the machines described by him, were of foreign origin, and most of them of such high antiquity as to reach back to ages anterior to the birth of Romulus and the founda¬ tion of Rome; we have no reason to suppose that any important one has escaped him: to which we may add, if any useful machine for raising wa¬ ter had originated with his countrymen, he would scarcely have failed to record the fact. The tympanum consists of a series of gutters united at their open ends to a horizontal shaft, which is made hollow at one end and placed a little higher than where the water is to be elevated ; the gutters are arranged as radii, and are of sufficient length to extend from the shaft to a short distance below the surface of the water, as represented in the annexed di¬ agram. S, the shaft; G, G, the gutters ; A, a trough to take away the water. The arrow indicates the direction in which the wheel turns ; each gut¬ ter, as it revolves scoops up a portion of water and elevates it, till by the inclination to the axle, it flows towards the latter, and is discharged through one end of it. Were the machine made as thus represented, i.e. of separate gutters and not connected to each other it could not be durable, as the weight of water raised at the end of each would have a tendency No. 44. Tympanum. to break them at their junction with the shaft. The ancients therefore made two strong disks of plank well jointed together, of the diameter of the intended wheel, these they secured on a shaft, at a distance from each other, proportionate to the quantity of water required to be raised. Any number of plank par¬ titions (Vitruvius says eight) were then inserted in the direction of radii between these disks, and were well secured to them, and made tight by caulking and pitch. The spaces between them, at the circumference of the wheel, were also closed, with the exception of an opening left for the admission of water to each; and where each partition joined the shaft, a hollow channel was formed in the latter, parallel to the axis, through which the water was discharged into a trough or gutter placed immediately un¬ der it. The tympanum is obviously a modification of the jantu of India, or rather it is a number of them combined, and having a revolving instead of a vibratory movement. It is the first machine described by Vitruvius ; of which he observes, “ it does not raise the water high, but it discharges a great quantity in a short time.” B. x, Cap. 9. From its resemblance to a dtum or tabor, it was named by the Romans Tympanum. The prominent defect of the tympanum arises from the water being always at the extremity of a radius of the wheel, by which its resistance increases as it ascends to a level with the axis; being raised at the end of levers which virtually lengthen till the water is discharged from them. There is no reason to suppose, that this defect if perceived at all, by an¬ cient mechanicians, was ever remedied by them ; to most persons, the idea would never occur, that so simple a machine could be essentially improv Chap. 14.] Ill The Tympanum and Scoop Wheel. ed, and its having been described as represented in the last figure by a Roman philosopher and engineer; it was most likely used as thus con¬ structed, through the remote ages of antiquity, to the early part of the last century, when a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, of France, M. De La Faye, developed by geometrical reasoning, a beautiful and truly philosophical improvement. It is described by Belidor, (Tom.ii, 385, No, 45. Tympanum improved by La Faye. oiil,) together with the process of reasoning that led to it “ When the circumference of a circle is developed ; a curve is described, (the invo¬ lute) of which all the radii are so many tangents to the circle ; and are likewise all respectively perpendicular to the several points of the curve de¬ scribed, which has for its greatest radius, a line equal to the periphery of the circle evolved. Hence, having an axle whose circumference a little exceeds the height which the water is proposed to be elevated, let the circumference of the axle be evolved, and make a curved canal, whose curvature shall coincide throughout exactly with that of the involute just formed; if the further extremity of this canal be made to enter the water that is to be elevated, and the other extremity abut upon the shaft which is turned ; then in the course of rotation, the water will rise in a vertical direction, tangential to the shaft, and perpendicular to the canal, in what¬ ever position it may be.” See No. 45. The above figure from Belidor, is composed of four tube3 only, but it is frequently con¬ tracted with double the number. Instead of tubes, curved partitions between the closed sides of the wheel are oftener used, as in the scoop wheel —which consists of a number of semi¬ circular partitions, extending from the axle to the circumference of a large flat cylinder. As it revolves in the direction of the arrows, the ex¬ tremities of the partitions dip into the water, and scoop it up, and as they ascend, discharge No. 46. Scoop Wheel. it into a trough placed under one end of the shaft, which is hollowed into as many compart¬ ments as there are partitions or scoops. Wheels of this description, and propelled by steam, are extensively used to drain the fens of Lincolnshire. 112 The Chinese Noria. [Book I. THE NORIA OR EGYPTIAN WHEEL. The tympanum has been described as an assemblage of gutters, and the Noria may be considered as a number of revolving swapes. It con¬ sists of a series of poles united like the arms of a wheel to a horizontal shaft. To the extremity of each, a vessel is attached, which fills as it dips into the water, and is discharged into a reservoir or gutter at the upper part of the circle which it describes. See No. 47. Hence, the former raises water only through half a diameter, while this elevates it through a whole one. The idea of thus connecting a number of poles with their buckets, must have early occurred to the agricultural machinists of Asia. The advantages of such an arrangement being equally obvious as in the tympanum. The means that naturally suggested themselves, of strength¬ ening a number of poles thus arranged, gradually brought these machines into the form of wheels. Sometimes, a rude ring was formed, to which the exterior ends were secured ; at others, disks of plank were adopted, and the vessels were attached either to the sides or rim, and sometimes to both. The Chinese make the noria, in what would seem to have been its pri¬ mitive form ; and with an admirable degree of economy, simplicity, and skill. With the exception of the axle and two posts to support it, the whole is of bamboo, and not a nail used in its construction. Even the vessels, are often joints of the same, being generally about four feet long and two or three inches in diameter. They are attached to the poles by ligatures at such an angle, as to fill nearly when in the water, and to dis¬ charge their contents when at, or near the top. See No. 48. The periphery of the wheel is composed of three rings of unequal di¬ ameter, and so arranged, as to form a frustrum of a cone. The smallest one, to which the open ends of the tubes are attached, being next the bank over which the water is conveyed. By this arrangement, their contents are necessarily discharged into the gutter as they pass the end of it When employed to raise water from running streams, they are propelled by the current in the usual way—the paddles being formed of woven bamboo. The sizes of these wheels, vary from twenty to seventy feet in Egyptian Noria. 113 Chap. 14.] diameter. According to Staunton, some raise over three hundred tons of water in twenty-four hours. A writer in the Chinese Repository, men¬ tions others which raise a hundred and fifty tons to the height of forty feet, during the same time. They combine strength and lightness in a re¬ markable degree.® The mode of constructing and moving the noria by the Romans, is thus described by Vitruvius : “When water is to be raised higher, than by the tympanum, a wheel is made round an axis, of such a magnitude, as the height to which the water is to be raised requires. Around the ex¬ tremity of the side of the wheel, square buckets cemented with pitch and wax are fixed ; so that when the wheel is turned by the walking of men, the filled buckets being raised to the top, and turning again toward the bottom, discharge of themselves what they have brought into the reser¬ voir.” B. x, Cap. 9. Newton’s Trans. As the drawings made by Vi¬ truvius himself, and annexed to his work are all lost, his translators do not always agree respecting the precise form of the machines described by him. Newton has figured the noria as a large drum, to one side of which square boxes or buckets are secured. These buckets are closed on all sides, with the exception of an opening to admit and discharge the water. Perault has placed them on the paddles or floats of an undershot wheel, like Barbaro, except that the latter makes the bottom of the boxes or buckets serve at the same time as paddles to receive the impulse of the stream. Rivius, in his German Translation, (Nuremburgh 1548,) has given one figure resembling an overshot wheel with the motion reversed, a form in which it is still sometimes made; in another, it is similar to the noria of Egypt at the present day, a modification of it, probably of great antiquity. No. 49. Egyptian Noria. Instead of pots or other vessels secured to the arms by ligatures, or buckets attached to the sides of a wheel, as described by Vitruvius, the periphery of the wheel itself is made hollow, and is divided into a number of cells, or compartments, which answer the same purpose as separate ves- *Van Braam’s Journal, i, 172. Ellis’s Journal of Amherst's Embassy, 250. Chinese Repository, iii, 125. 15 114 Noria with Pots. [Book ] sels. The figure No. 49, is taken from the Grande Description of Egypt. Plate 3, Tom. 2, E. M. It was sketched from one near Rosetta, which raised the water nine feet. The liquid enters through openings in the rim, and is discharged from those on the sides. The arrow shows the direction in which it moves. The section of part of the rim, will render the internal construction obvious. Mr. P. S. Girard, author of the Memoir on the Agriculture of the Egyptians, says they are extensively used in the Delta, the cog wheels being very rudely formed. The tympanum may be considered as a wheel with hollow spokes, while the noria, as above constructed, is one with hollow felloes , a term by which it is designated in French authors: ‘ Roue a jante creuses,’ a name very expressive, and one which, in the absence of information respecting the construction of this machine, might enable a mechanic to make it. In various parts of Asia, Greece, Turkey, Spain, &c. Earthenware jars or pots, are secured to the rim or side of the wheel, as in No. 50. Every farm and garden in Catalonia, says Arthur Young, has such a ma¬ chine to raise water for the purpose of irrigating the soil. They are pro¬ pelled by horses, oxen, mules, and sometimes by men. In Spain, the noria has remained unaltered from remote times. It is there still moved by means of a device which probably gave rise to toothed wheels. In the axle of the noria are in¬ serted two, (and sometimes four) strong sticks which cross each oth¬ er at right angles, forming arms or spokes. The part of the shaft in which these are fixed, extends nearly to the centre of the path, round which the animal walks; and contiguous to it, is the vertical shaft to which the yoke or beam is attached: the bottom of this shaft has spokes inserted into it similar to the former, and which take hold of them in succession, and thereby keep the wheel or noria in rota¬ tion. See No. 50. This rude con¬ trivance is common through all the east, and is in all probability identical with those of the early ages; in other words, the primitive substitute of the modern cog No. 50. Noria with Pots. wheel In Besson’s ‘ Theatre Des Instrumens’ is an ingenious device by which a horizontal shaft with four spokes, as in the- last figure, can impart motion to a vertical one, at any distance from the centre, and thereby answer the purpose of a number of wheels and pinions in modifying the velocity of the machinery, according to the work it has to perform, or to an increase or diminution of the motive force employed. On the horizontal shaft, (which is turned by a crank,) is a sliding socket to which the spokes are secured. The vertical shaft lias also a similar socket, which is raised and lowered by means of a screw, and to it, arms and spokes are well secur¬ ed. These are arranged in the form of a flat cone ; so that by adjusting the sockets, the spokes in the horizontal shaft can be made to take hold Persian Wheel. 115 Chap. 14.] on those which form the cone round the vertical one at any part, from its apex to its base. Two prominent defects have been pointed out in the noria. First, part of the water escapes after being raised nearly to the required elevation. Second, a large portion is raised higher than the reservoir placed to re¬ ceive it, into which it is discharged after the vessels begin to descend. (See No. 49, in which they are very conspicuous.) Consequently, part of the power expended in moving this wheel, produces no useful effect. These imperfections, however, did not escape the notice of ancient me¬ chanicians, for to obviate them, the Persian wheel was devised, and so named from its having been invented or extensively used in that country. The vessels in which the water is raised, instead of being fastened to the rim, or forming part of it, as in the preceding figures, are suspended from pins, on which they turn, and thereby retain a vertical position through their entire ascent; and when at the top are inverted by their lower part coming in contact with a pin or roller attached to the edge of the gutter or reservoir, as represented in the figure. By this ar¬ rangement no water escapes in rising, | nor is it elevated any higher than the edge of the reservoir; hence the defects in the noria are avoided. Persian wheels it is believed, have been used in Eu¬ rope ever since the Romans ruled over it, if not before. The greatest work in France according to Arthur Young, for the artificial irrigation of land, was a series of them in Lan¬ guedoc, which raised the water thirty feet. In a Dutch translation of Virgil’s Georgies in 1682, they are represented with huge buckets like barrels, suspended from both sides of the rim. They are common in Switzerland and the Tyrol. Travels in Poland by D’Ulanski, page 241. They were extensively used in England one hundred and fifty years ago. See Diet. Rusticum. Lon. 1704. We are not aware of their being much employed, if at all, in the United States. They are common in various parts of Asia. “The water wheels still used in Syria,” says Mr. Barrow, “ differ only from those of China, by having loose buckets suspended at the circumference, instead of fixed tubes.” a Dr. Russel, in his ‘Natural History of Aleppo,’ (p. 20,) says the inhabitants make use of large quantities of water, “ which they raise with the Persian wheel,” from the river. Perhaps the most interesting speci¬ mens of these machines extant, are to be found in another and very ancient city of Syria; in Hamath on the Orontes, so named after its founder, one of the sons of Canaan. “Two days journey below Homs, (says Volney) is Hamath, celebrated in Syria for its water works. The wheels are the largest in the country, being thirty-two feet in diameter.” The city is built on both sides of the river, and is supplied with water from it by means of them, the buckets of which empty themselves into stone aque¬ ducts, supported on lofty arches on a level with the ground on which the city stands. They are propelled by the current. Burckhardt observed about a dozen of them, the largest he says, “is called Naoura el Mahommeyde, No. 51. Persian Wheel. “Embassy to China, Lon. 1806. p. 540. 116 [Book 1 Modes of propelling the Noria. and is at least seventy feet.” a They are, he remarks, the greatest curiosity which a modern traveler can find in the city. Their enormous magnitude will be apparent, if we consider that the loftiest class of buildings in this city, (N. York,) those of six stories, seldom exceed sixty feet. If there¬ fore, the largest of the Persian wheels at Hamath, were placed on the pavement, with its side towards a range of such buildings, it would oc¬ cupy a space nearly equal to the fronts of three of them, and would ex¬ tend several feet over the roofs of the highest—and twelve of them would occupy a street, one sixth of a mile in length. The construction of the water works of Hamath have probably re¬ mained unaltered in their general design, from very remote times. The peculiar location of this city, the rapidity of the river, (named El Ausi, the swift,) and its consequent adaptation to propel undei'shot wheels, which we know, were used in such works by the ancients, render it probable that the present mode of raising water, is much the same as when this city flourished under Solomon; and when the Romans under Aurelius, over¬ threw the queen of Palmyra and her army, in its immediate vicinity; and from the great antiquity of the noria, its extensive use over all Asia in former ages, and its peculiar adaptation to Hamath, and the tenacious ad¬ herence of the orientals to the devices of their forefathers; we infer that the machines which Burckhardt beheld with admiration, raising the water of the Orontes, were similar to others in use at the same city, when the spies of Moses, searched the land, ‘ from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to IIamath.’ b These wheels may be cited as another proof of the preservation, (by continual use) of hydraulic machines, while every other memorial of the people by whom they were originally used, has long since disappeared. Modes of propelling the noria. —The tympanum, noria, chain of pots, and even the screw, were often turned, according to Vitruvius, by the ‘ treading’ or ‘ walking of men,’ i. e. except when employed to raise water from rapid streams, in which case they were propelled, he says, by the current acting on float boards or paddles, as in common under-shot wheels. There is a difference of opinion among his translators respecting the mode by which men moved these machines. Rivius, the translator of the German edition of 1548, seems to have thought that they walked round an upright shaft, (as in figs. 26 and 53,)which they turned by horizontal bars, and by means of cog wheels communicated the required motion. He has also represented the noria as moved by men turning a crank; a mode of propelling it that is figured in the first German edition of Ve- getius, (1511.) Barbaro, (1567,) represents the tympanum as moved by a crank; the noria by a current of water; and the chain of pots, by a tread wheel, like the one figured in No. 24. Reravlt, also, in his figure of a Travels in Syria, and the Holy Land. Lon. 1822, p. 146. b There are several interesting circumstances recorded respecting Hamath. This city and Damascus were frequently subject to the Jews. The ‘ land of Hamath,' was par¬ ticularly fatal to them and their kings. Zedekiah was there taken, and his sons and no¬ bles slain in his presence; his own eyes were then put out, and he was carried a captive to Babylon, wheie he died. Jer. xxxix, 5. Pharaoh Necho there put Jehoahaz, another of their kings in bonds, whence he was taken a prisoner to Egypt, and confined till his death. 2 Kings xxiii, 34. Among the most interesting discoveries of modern times, connected with the ancient history of this people, are sculptured representations at Thebes, of the Jews captured by Shishak, with the hieroglyphical inscription, ‘ Jo houda Melee,’ king of the Jews. From the discoveries of Young and Champollion the precision with which the dates are determined, is wonderful; ‘ many of the sculp tures have the dates inscribed to the day and the month.’ The figure of the Jewish king, is supposed to be a correct portrait, for we are told in those of the Egyptian nio- narchs, “ the likenesses are always exactly preserved.” 117 Chap. 14.] Early employment of Animals to raise Water. the tympanum, places the men in a similar one, and this interpretation of the text has been generally followed. It is corroborated by other ancient authors, and by Vitruvius himself, in Book x, cap. 4, where he speaks of a wheel to raise weights, ‘by the walking of men therein,’ that is, the common walking crane. Philo, who was contemporary with Vitruvius, or flourished shortly after him, mentions a wheel for raising water, which was turned by the motion of men’s feet, ‘by their ascending successively the several steps that are within it.’ Tread wheels are mentioned also by Suetonius, and Strabo speaks of some for raising the water of the Nile, which were moved by a hundred and fifty slaves. Mr. Newton, the En¬ glish translator, supposed the men walked on the outside of the wheel, like the modern tread mill. It is very probable that this mode was in use among the ancients, for it is common in Persia and other oriental countries, particularly China, where it is undoubtedly of great antiquity. Barbaro has figured the screw, as propelled by men pulling down spokes on the periphery of a wheel attached to it, or by treading on them. About eighteen years ago, a person in this city, (N. York,) took out a patent for employing animals to propel such wheels. A horse was placed near the top and yoked to a horizontal beam fixed behind, and against which he drew. In January, 1795, a Mr. Eckhardt obtained a patent in England for ‘A Method of applying Animals to Machinery in general.’ His plan was to employ cattle and all other bulky animals to walk on the top of large wheels; he also proposed a flexible floor, like an endless chain, which passed over two wheels, and formed an inclined plane on which animals walked, and to increase the effect, they drew a loaded cart be¬ hind them. a Sixty years before this, viz. in 1734, Mr. W. Churchman exhibited before the Royal Society, a model of ‘A new Engine for raising Water, in which Horses and other Animals draw without any loss of power.’ This engine was a series of pumps worked by a large tread wheel, on the top of which horses were made to draw against a beam to which they were yoked. He also proposed to employ horses at the same time within the wheel. b But the contrivance was even then an old one, for in Agricola, a horse is figured imparting motion to bellows by walking upon a tread wheel. 0 There is a passage in the second chapter of the Koran, which throws some light on the early employment of animals in raising water. Among the ancients, it was a prevailing custom when they sacrificed an ox, or a heifer, to select such as had never been broken to labor : hence the direc¬ tion of the Sibyl to Eneas. Seven bullocks yet unyoked, for Phoebus choose, And for Diana, seven unspotted ewes. The Israelites also, were instructed to offer “ a red heifer without spot wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke'' “ An heifer which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke.” One which, according to Mahomet, was “ not broken to plough the earth, or water the field." Now this interpretation is not only consistent with the text of Moses, but is exceedingly probable, for the Arabs have un¬ doubtedly preserved with their independence and ancient habits, traditions of numerous transactions referred to in the Pentateuch, the particulars of which are not recorded ; besides it indicates, what indeed might have been inferred : viz. that the principal employment of animals in the early ages, was to plough and irrigate the soil. But when in process of time, “Repertory of Arts. Lon. 1795. Vol. ii. b Phil. Trans. Abridged by Martyn, viii, 321. «De Re Metallica, 169 118 Antiquity of the Noria. [Book I. human population became dense, then animal labor was in some degree superseded by that of man. The extensive employment of the latter, appears to have been a prominent feature in the political economy of an¬ cient Egypt, just as it is in modern China. As the country teemed with inhabitants, the extensive use of animal labor would not only have inter¬ fered with the means of the great mass of the former in obtaining a living, but would have required too large a portion of the land to raise food merely for the latter. _ The antiquity of the noria may be inferred from its name of “ Egyptian wheel,” the only one by which it was known in some countries. It is to be found if we mistake not, among the symbols of ancient mythology. In elucidating one of the religious precepts of Numa, which required persons when worshipping in the temples, to turn round; Plutarch ob¬ serves, that this change of posture may have an enigmatical meaning, “like the Egyptian wheels, admonishing us of the instability of every thing human, and preparing us to acquiesce and rest satisfied with whatever turns and changes the divine being may allot.” Life of Numa. This figurative application of the noria, is obviously used by Plutarch as a com¬ mon and consequently a long established symbol of the mutability of human affairs; and, as the sentiment which he illustrates by it, is precisely the same as that which the wheel of the goddess of fortune was designed to point out, the “ instability of fortune,” and of which it was the emblem, we conclude that the “ whpel of fortune,” was a water wheel, and no oth¬ er than the noria ; and that to it, the Grecian philosopher in the above passage referred. The selection of an Egyptian wheel to denote the mu¬ tability of human affairs, indicates the origin not only of Plutarch’s simili¬ tude, but also that of the fable of the goddess. Egypt was the source whence the Greeks obtained not only their arts and science, but also their mythology, with its deities, heroes and its mysterious system of symbolical imagery; and if the Egyptians were not the inventors of the system of representing and concealing things by symbols, they certainly carried it to a greater extent than any other people, and at a period long before the Greeks had emerged from barbarism, or an Egyptian colony had settled in their country. Although we are not aware that the wheel of fortune had any other signification, yet, as the same goddess presided over riches and abund¬ ance —a more expressive emblem of these in Egypt could not have been devised. Agriculture was the grand source of wealth in that country, and it depended almost entirely upon artificial irrigation, for except dur¬ ing the annual inundation of the Nile, water was raised for that purpose by machines, and among these, the -noria was one of the most prominent, and probably one of the most ancient. Egypt without irrigation would have been a dreary waste, and like its neighboring deserts uninhabited by man; but by means of it, the soil became so exceedingly fertile that Egypt became “the garden of the east,”—the “ hot bed of nature,” and the “granary of the world.” It was artificial irrigation which, under the Pharaohs, produced food for seventeen millions of inhabitants, and in the reign of’Rameses or Sesostris, a surplus sufficient for thirty-three millions more ; and even under the Grecian yoke, when its ancient glory had long departed, the prodigious quantities of grain, which it produced, enabled Ptolemy Philadelphus to amass treasure equal to nine hundred and fifty millions of dollars. There was therefore a peculiar propriety, whether designed or not, in the goddess of “ prosperity,” “ riches,” and “ abund¬ ance,” being accompanied with the noria or Egyptian wheel, the imple- Ancient emblems of Irrigation. 119 Chap. 14.] ment which contributed so greatly to produce them. The manner in which this deity was sometimes represented, appears to have had direct reference to agriculture and irrigation. She was seated on rocks, (em¬ blems of sterility 1) the wheel by her side and a river at her feet, (to sig¬ nify irrigation I) and she held wheat ears, and flowers in her hand. But whether the ancient Egyptians adopted the noria or not, as the emblem of wealth and irrigation, one of their most favorite symbols has direct reference to the latter, and indirectly to the former: viz. the sphinx ; figures of which have been found among the ruins, from one end of the country to the other. This figure consists, as is universally known, of the the head and breasts of a woman, united to the body of a lion, and was symbolical of the annual overflow of the Nile, which occurred when the sun passed through the zodiacal signs, Leo and Virgo —hence the combination of these signs in the Sphinx, as an emblem of that general irrigation of the land once a year, upon which their prosperity so greatly depended. This was the origin of passing streams of water through the mouths of figures of lions, and sometimes, though more rarely, of virgins, as in the figures below—which are taken from Rivius’ translation of Vitruvius. No. 52. Orifices of Pipes, &c. symbolical of Irrigation. The analogy between the form and ornaments of an object and its uses, seems to have always been kept in view by the ancients; although, from our imperfect knowledge of them, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to perceive it. That they displayed unrivaled skill in some of their de¬ signs and decorations is universally admitted. There is certainly no na¬ tural analogy between a lion and a fountain, and no obvious propriety in making water to flow out of the mouths of figures of these animals ; on the contrary, they appear to be very inappropriate; but when we learn that the lion as an astronomical symbol, was intimately associated with a great natural hydraulic operation, of the first importance to the welfare of the Egyptians, we perceive at once their reasons for transferring figures of it to artificial discharges of the liquid, and hence the orifices of cocks, pipes, and spout3 of gutters, fountains, &c. were decorated as above. In some ancient fountains , figures of virgins, as nymphs of springs, leaned upon urns of running water. In others, vases overturned , (with figures of Aquarius, Oceanus, &c.) a beautiful device. Lions’ heads for spouts are very common in Pompeii. There is another ancient emblem, and one that is universally admired, which may here be noticed, as its origin is associated with artificial irri¬ gation —the CoiInucopia, or ‘Horn of Abundance.’ This elegant symbol is probably of Egyptian origin, for Isis was sometimes represented with it, and Isis, in the Egyptian language, signified the ‘cause of abundance.’ We have already seen that irrigation was and still is, the principal source of plenty in Egypt; and water in the scriptures is repeatedly used in the same sense.- To understand the allegory, it must be borne in mind that rivers were anciently compared to bulls; the reasons for which at this re¬ mote period, are not very obvious ; perhaps among others, from the noise 120 Medea: Ancient Vapor Baths. [Book I. of rapid streams, bearing 1 some resembance at a distance, to the lowing and bellowing of these animals; and the branches of rivers were com¬ pared to their horns; thus, the small branch of the Bosphorus, which forms the harbor of Constantinople, still retains its ancient name of the ‘ Golden Hornand in some of our dictionaries, ‘ winding streams’ is given as one of the definitions of horns. The bull which is common on some Greek coins is supposed to have been the symbol of a river, per¬ haps from the overflow of some, when the sun passed through the.zodiacal sign Taurus. According to the Greek version, one of the branches of the river Achclous in Epirus, was diverted or broken off by Hercules, to irri¬ gate some parched land in its vicinity. This, like other labors of that hero, was allegorized by representing him engaged in conflict with a bull, (Achelous) whom he overcame, and broke off one of his horns; and this horn being filled with fruits and flowers, was emblematical of the subse¬ quent fertility of the soil. Ovid describes the contest, when that hero .. . ’twixt rage and scorn, From his maimed front, he tore the stubborn hofn, This, heap’d with flowers and fruits, the Naiads bear, Sacred to plenty, and the bounteous year. »■****» But Achelous in his oozy bed Deep hides his brow deform’d, and rustic head, No real wound the victor’s triumph show’d, But his lost honors griev'd the watery god. Met. ix. Thus river gods were sometimes represented with a cornucopia in one hand, and the other resting on a vase of flowing water. Another interesting allegory of the ancients has reference to water : the fable of Medea, who it was said, by boiling old people, made them young again, referred to warm or vapor baths, which she invented, and into which she infused fragrant herbs—in other words, the ‘patent medicated vapor baths’ of the present day. She also possessed the art of changing the color of the hair. When therefore, by her fomentations, persons ap¬ peared more active and improved in health, and their grey hairs changed into ringlets of jet, the belief in her magic powers became irresistible— and when at length, her apparatus, i. e. the cauldrons , wood and fire , Spc. were discovered, (which she had sedulously concealed,) it was supposed that her patients were in reality boiled. From Ovid, it seems she had the modern sulphur bath also, and used it in the cure of iEson, the father of her husband Jason: . . . the sleeping sire, She lustrates thrice with sulphur, water, fire. * *- * * * H is feeble frame resumes-a youthful air, A glossy brown, his hoary beard and hair. The meagre paleness from his aspect fled And in its room sprang up a florid red. Met. vii. This lady was the great patroness of herb and steam doctors of old ; and may be considered the ancient representative of modern manufacturers of specifics, which, as they allege, (and often truly) remove all diseases. The fable of her slaying her own children in the presence of Jason, is easily explained by her administering to them the ivrong medicine , or too large a dose of the right one; the latter was certainly the case with old Pelias who expired under it. Having noticed in this chapter the supposed origin of cog-wheels, we may as well introduce here an ancient mechanic, to whom we shall have occasion hereafter to allude ; one, whose name is intimately associated with the most valuable machines for raising water, and with several im- Ctesibivj. 121 Chap. 14.] portant improvements in the mechanic arts. As the earliest distinct notice of cog-wheels is in the description of one of his machines, (see the clep¬ sydra, page 547,) we may as well introduce him to the reader at this part of our subject, although we have not yet in the progress of our work, arrived at the period at which he flourished. During the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus over Egypt, an Egyptian barber pursued his vocation in the city of Alexandria. Like all professors of that ancient mystery, he possessed besides the inferior apparatus, the two most essential implements of all: a razor and a looking glass, or mirror, probably a metallic one. This mirror, we are informed, was sus¬ pended from the ceiling of his shop, and balanced by a weight, which moved in a concealed case in one corner of the room. Thus, when a customer had undergone the usual purifying operations, he drew down the mirror, that he might witness the improvement which the artist had wrought on his outer man; and, like Otho, In the Speculum survey his charms. Juv. Sat. ii. after which he returned it to its former position for the use of the next customer. 1 It would seem that the case in which the weight moved was enclosed at the bottom, or pretty accurately made, for as the weight moved in it, and displaced the air, a certain sound was produced, either 'Metallic mirrors furnish one of the best proofs of skill in working the metals in the remotest times, for their antiquity extends beyond all records. In the first pages of his¬ tory they are mentioned as in common use. The brazen laver of the Tabernacle, was made of the mirrors of the Israelitish women, which they carried with them out of Egypt. From some found at Thebes, as well as representations of others in the sculp¬ tures and paintings, we see at once that these ‘looking glasses,’ (as they are called in Exodus,) were similar to those of Greek and Roman ladies : viz. round or oval plates of metal, from three to six inches in diameter, and having handles of wood, stone and metal highly ornamented and of various forms, according to the taste of the wearer. Some have been found in Egypt with the lustre partially preserved. They are com¬ posed of an alloy of copper, and antimony or tin, and lead; and appear to have been carried about the person, secured to, or suspended from the girdle, as pincushions and scissors were formerly worn and are so still by some antiquated ladies. The Greeks and Romans had them also of silver and of steel. Some of the latter were found in Herculaneum. Plutarch mentions mirrors enclosed in very rich frames. Among tire articles of the toilet found in Pompeii, are ear-rings, golden and common pins, and several metallic mirrors. One is round and eight inches in diameter, the other an ob¬ long square. They had them with plane surfaces, and also convex and concave. Se¬ neca says his countrywomen had them also, equal in length and breadth to a full grown person, superbly decorated with gold and silver, and precious stones. Their luxury in this article, seems to have been excessive, for the cost of one often exceeded a mo¬ derate fortune. The dowry which tire Senate gave the daughter of Scipio, according to Seneca, would not purchase in his time, a mirror for the daughter of a freedman. The Anglo- Saxon dames had portable metallic mirrors, and wore them suspended from the waist It is not a litle singular that the ancient Peruvians had them also, formed of silver, copper and its alloys, and also of obsidian stone. They had them plane, convex, and concave. Had not the art of making these mirrors been revived in the speculums of reflecting telescopes, their lustre could hardly have been appreciated; and they would probably have been considered as indifferent substitutes for the modern looking- glass. These last are supposed to have been manufactured in ancient Tyre, and of a black colored glass. Fluid lead or tin was afterwards used. It was poured on the plates while they were hot from the fire, and being suffered to cool, formed a back which reflected the image. Looking-glasses of this description were made in Venice, in the 13th century. It was not till about the 16th, that the present mode of coating the back with quicksilver and tin foil was introduced. The inventor is not known. Venus was sometimes represented with a speculum m one hand, and the astronomical symbol of the planet Venus is the figure of one. There is a chemical examination of an ancient speculum in the 17th volume of Tilloch’s Phil. Mag. Barbers flourished in the mythologic ages, for Apollo having prolonged the ears of Midas to a length resembling those of a certain animal, the latter it is said, endeavored to hide his disgrace by his hair, but found it impossible to conceal it from his barber Bronze razors were anciently common. 16 122 The Chain of Pots. [Book 1 by its expulsion through some small orifice, or by its escape between the sides of the case and the weight. This sound had probably remained unnoticed like the ordinary creaking of a door, perhaps for years, until one day as the barber’s son was amusing himself in his father’s shop, his attention was arrested by it. This boy’s subsequent reflections. induced him to investigate its cause ; and from this simple circumstance, he was led eventually either to invent, or greatly to improve the hydraulic organ, a musical instrument of great celebrity in ancient times. His ingenuity and industry were so conspicuous, that he was named ‘ The Delighter in Works of Art.’ His studies in various branches of natural philosophy, were rewarded it is said, with the discovery of the pump, air-gun, fire-en¬ gine, &c. He also greatly improved the clepsydra or water-clock, in the construction of which he introduced toothed wheels, and even jeweled holes. Vitruvius, ix, 9. These ancient time-keepers, werp therefore the origin of modern clocks and watches. Now this barber’s son is the indi¬ vidual we wish to introduce to the reader, as Ctesibius of Alexandria, one of the most eminent mathematicians and mechanicians of antiquity— one, whose claims upon our esteem, are not surpassed by those of any other individual, ancient or modern. It will be perceived that the simple, the trivial sound produced by the descent of the weight in his father’s shop, was to him, what the fall of the apple was to Newton, and the vibration of the lamp or chandelier in the church at Pisa, to Galileo. The circumstance presents another to the nu¬ merous proofs which might be adduced, that inquiries into the causes of the most trifling or insignificant of physical effects, are sure to lead, di¬ rectly or indirectly, to important results—while to young men especially, it holds out the greatest encouragement to occupy their leisure in useful researches. It shows, that however unpropitious their circumstances may be, they may by industrious application, become distinguished in science, and may add their names to those of Ctesibius and Franklin, and many others—immortal examples of the moral grandeur of irrepressible per¬ severance in the midst of difficulties. CHAPTER XV. THE CHAIN OF POTS—Its origin—Used in'Joseph’s well at Cairo—Numerous in Egypt—Attempt ol Belzoni to supersede it and the noria—Chain of pots of the Romans, Hindoos, Japanese, and Europeans— Described by Agricola—Spanish one—Modern one—Applications of it to other purposes than raising water—Employed as a first mover and substitute for overshot wheels—Francini’s machine—Antiquity o/ the chain of pots—Often confounded with the noria by ancient and modern authors—Introduced into Greece by Danaus—Opinions of modern writers on its antiquity—Referred to by Solomon—Babylonian engine that raised the water of the Euphrates to supply the hanging gardens—Rope pump—Hydraulic Belt. The tympanum and noria in all their modifications, have been consider¬ ed as originating in the gutter or jantu, and the swape ; while the ma¬ chine we are now to examine is evidently derived from the primitive cord and bucket. The first improvement of the latter was the introduction of a pulley (No. 11) over which the cord was directed—the next was the ad¬ dition of another vessel, so as to have one at each end of the rope, (Nos. 13 and 14) and the last and most important consisted in uniting the ends Egyptian Chain of Pots. 123 Chap. 15.] of the rope, and securing to it a number of vessels at equal distances through the whole of its length—and the chain of pots, was the result. The general construction of this machine will appear from an examin¬ ation of those which are employed to raise water from Joseph’s well at Cairo, represented at page 46. Above the mouth of each shaft a vertical wheel is placed; over which two endless ropes pass and are sus¬ pended from it. These are kept parallel to, and at a short distance from each other, by rungs secured to them at regular intervals, so that when thus united, they form an endless ladder of ropes. The rungs are some¬ times of wood, but more frequently of cord like the shrouds of a ship, and the whole is of such a length that the lowest part hangs two or three feet below the surface of the water that is to be raised. Between the rungs, earthenware vases (of the form figured No. 7) are secured by cords round the neck, and also round a knob formed on the bottom for that pur¬ pose. See A, A, in the figure. As the axis of the two wheels are at right angles to each other, two separate views of the chains are repre¬ sented. In the lower pit, both ropes of one half of the chain is seen ; while in the upper, the whole length of one is in view. The vases or pots are so arranged that in passing over the wheel, they fall in between the spokes which connect the two sides of the latter together, as shown in the section; and when they reach the top, their contents are discharged into a trough. [In some machines the trough passes under one rim which is made to project for that purpose; in others, it is placed below the wheel and between the chains.] There are in the upper pit, one hundred and thirty-eight pots and the distance from each other is about two feet seven inches. The contents of each are twenty cubic inches. The wheels that carry the chains are six feet and a half in diameter. They are put in mo¬ tion by cog wheels (on the opposite ehd of their axles) working into oth¬ ers that are attached to the perpendicular shafts to which the blindfolded animals are yoked. The chain of pots in Egypt is named the Sahia. Its superiority over the noria and tympanum, &c. in being adapted to raise water from every depth, has caused it to be more extensively employed for artificial irriga¬ tion than any other Egyptian machine—hence it is to be seen in operation, all along the borders of the Nile, from its mouth up to the first cataract. In Upper Egypt, and Nubia, they are so exceedingly numerous as to oc¬ cur every hundred yards ; and in some cases they are not forty yards apart. Their numbers and utility have rendered them a source of revenue, for we are informed that each sakia is taxed twenty dollars per annum, while the swape is assessed at half that amount. They are also common in Abys¬ sinia. They were noticed there by Poncet in 169S. When Sandys was in Egypt, A. D. 1611, the great number of sakias did not escape his observation : “ Upon the banks all along are infinite numbers of deepe and spacious vaults into which they doe let the river, drawing up the wa¬ ter into higher cesterns, with wheeles set round with pitchers, and turned about by buffaloes.” Travels, page 118. An attempt was made some years ago by an enterprising European to supersede the employment of these machines in Egypt, which on account of the interesting circumstances connected with it may here be noticed. In the latter part of the last century an intelligent young man of Padua was designed by his parents for a monk, and was sent to Rome to receive an appropriate education. His inclination however led him to prefer the study of natural philosophy to that of theology, and particularly hydrau¬ lics. Upon the invasion of Italy and capture of Rome by the French, he wandered over various parts of Europe, supporting himself by publicly per 124 Roman Chain of Pots. [Book I, forming feats of agility and strength, and by scientific exhibitions. After roving thus for fifteen years, he determined to visit Egypt, under the belief that he would make his fortune there by introducing machinery on the prin¬ ciple of the pump, as substitutes for the noria and chain of pots, &c. In June 1815, he landed at Alexandria, and after some delay was introdu¬ ced to Mahommed Ali, (the present Pasha,) who approved of his project, and in whose gardens at Soubra, three miles from Cairo, he constructed his machine. But no sooner was it completed and put in operation than he discovered in the Turkish and Arabic cultivators an unconquerable op¬ position to its introduction. Indeed this result might have been anticipa¬ ted and, if we are not mistaken, they were right in preferring their own simple apparatus to an elaborate machine, of the principle of whose action they were utterly ignorant. Their rejection of it was looked upon as an¬ other example of superstitious adherence to the imperfect mechanism of former ages; but under all the circumstances, it was, we believe, an evi¬ dence of the correctness of their judgment. Thus disappointed, his brightest hopes blasted, and his pecuniary resources all but exhausted— for he received no renumeration, either for the loss of his time or his money—he, with an energy of character deserving all praise, determined to make the best of his misfortunes. He therefore turned his attention to that subject which necessarily occurs to every intelligent stranger in Egypt—its antiquities —and while the British Museum remains, and the colossal head of young Memnon is preserved, the name of Belzoni will be remembered and respected. From the following description of the chain of pots by Vitruvius, it ap¬ pears that the Romans made it of more durable materials than either the an¬ cient or modern people of Asia. “But if a place of still greater height (than could be reached by the noria) is to be supplied ; on the same axis of a wheel, a double chain of iron is wound and let down to the level of the bottom ; hav¬ ing brass buckets , each containing a congius (seven pints) hanging thereto, so that upon the turning of the wheel, the chain revolving round the axis raises the buckets to the top; which when drawn upon the axis, become in¬ verted and pour into the reservoir the Water they have brought.” Book x, Cap. 9, Newton’s Trans. As no re¬ ference is made to the form of the ves¬ sels, by Vitruvius, we find them repre¬ sented by translators in a variety of shapes, as cylinders, cubes, truncated cones, pyramids, as well as portions of, and combinations of them all. Some are left open at the top, and both with and without projecting lips in front, by which to shoot the contents over the edge of the reservoir as they pass the No. 53. Homan Cham of Pots. wheel or drum. Others are closed, and admit and discharge the water through an orifice or short tube as re¬ presented. (No. 53.) From the separate figure of one of the vessels it 125 Chap. 15.] Hindoo Chain of Pots. will be seen that the tubes are placed at the upper corner, and consequent¬ ly retain the water till the vessels ascend the drum, when it is discharged as represented. Provision should be made for the escape of air from these vessels, as they enter the water, and also for its admission on the discharge of the liquid above. The wheel or drum which carries the chain is, in this figure, solid, and cut into a hexagonal form to prevent it from slipping. There is also in old authors a great diversity in the construction of the chains, and also in their number. Some understand by the term ‘ double chain' merely a simple one doubled and its ends united; i. e. one whose length is equal to double the space through which the water is to be ele¬ vated by it. Others suppose two separate ones intended and placed par¬ allel to each other, the vessels being connected to them as in the figure. Others again, and among them Barbaro, figure two sets of chains and pots carried by the same wheel. He has also made them pass under pulleys in the water, a useless device, except when the chains are employed in an inclined position. The chain of pots is mentioned by most oriental travelers, although de¬ scribed by few. In Terry's voyage to India in 1615, speaking of the tanks and wells of the Hindoos, he observes, “ they usually cover those wells with a building over head, and with oxen draw water out of them, which riseth up in many small buckets, whereof some are always going down, others continually coming up and emptying themselves in troughs or little rills, made to receive and convey the water, whither they please.” p. 187. To the same machine Fryer refers, when speaking of the differ¬ ent modes of raising water from deep wells. It is drawn up, he says, by oxen “ with huge, leathern buckets or pots around a wheel.” p. 410. And again at Surat, it is drawn up “ in leathern bags upon wheels.” p. 104. Had not wells been mentioned in connection with these extracts from Fryer, we might have supposed it was the noria to which he alluded. Tavernier mentions it in the same way as applied to draw water from wells in Persia, p. 143. When required to raise it from rivers, they were, as in the case of the Persian wheels on the Orontes, propelled by the current when it was sufficiently rapid for the purpose. “ As for the Euphrates, (observes Tavernier,) certain it is that the great number of mills built upon it, to convey water to the neighboring grounds, have not only rendered it unnavigable, but made it very dangerous.” Lucan in the 3d book of his Pharsalia alludes to this extensive diversion of the wa¬ ter for agricultural purposes, in his time. But soon Euphrates’ parting waves divide, Covering, like fruitful Nile, the country wide. These mills are probably similar to those referred to by Montanus in his account of Japan, p. 296. The city of Jonda, he observes was de¬ fended by a strong castle, which was “ continually supplied with fresh water by two mills.” It is a pity they were not described. The chain of pots was used by all the celebrated nations of antiquity and it still is employed more or less over all Asia and Europe. Previous to the 16th century, it constituted the ‘waterworks’ for supplying Europe¬ an cities, and was often driven by windmills—as it still is in Holland. It seems to be the ne plus ultra of hydraulic engines among half civilized nations, while those only which are enlightened, have the pump. Even the materials of which it was made by different pe<^ple of old, may be considered as emblematical of their national characters. The inhabitants of Egypt, central and southern Asia, employed light and fragile materials; 126 Spanish Chain of Pots. [Book 1. the ropes were fibres of the palm tree, and the vessels of earthenware ; while the Romans made the chains of iron and the vessels of brass. The former people were soft, effeminate, and easily subdued; the latter stern and inflexible—an iron race. It is described by Agricola as employed in the German mines. De Re Metallica, pp. 131, 132, 133. The chains and vessels are represented of various forms, and the latter both of iron and wood, and propelled by tread and water wheels.® In Besson’s ‘ Theatre,’ A. D. 1579, it is figured as worked by a pendulum and cog wheels—the teeth being continued over half the peripheries only. b In Spain it has remained in continual use since the conquest and occu¬ pation of that country by the Romans; and was perhaps previously intro¬ duced by the Phenicians, a people, to whom Spain was early indebted for many valuable acquisitions. It was employed there by the Moors in the middle ages, under whom the inhabitants enjoyed a degree of prosperity and civilization unexampled during any subsequent period of their histo¬ ry. The arts and manufactures were carried to great perfection, so much so, that in the twelfth century, while the rest of Europe was in compara¬ tive barbarism, the tissues of Grenada and Andalusia were highly prized ' at Constantinople, and throughout the eastern empire. To the Moors of Spain, Europe was greatly indebted for the introduction and dissemination of many of the arts of the east; among others they introduced the Asiatic system of agriculture, with its inseparable adjunct, artificial irrigation. We are told they divided the lands into small fields, which were kept constantly under tillage ; and “they conveyed water to the highest and driest spots ” No. 54. Spanish Chain of Pots. The chain of pots in Spain, is in the form and material of its vessels a The De Re ‘ Metallica’ of George Agricola is invaluable for its account of the hy¬ draulic engines employed in the mines of Germany in the 16th and preceding centu ries; being doubtless similar to those used by the Romans in some of the same mines, and continued uninterruptedly in use. The first edition of this work was published in 1546, others in 1556—1558—1561—1621—and 1657, all at Basil. Brunet’s ‘ Manuel Du Libraire et De L’Amateur de Livres.’ Paris, 1820. It is a copy of the last edition we make use of. The author was born in 1494, and died in 1555. b See also Kircher’s Mundus Subterraneus. Tom. ii. pp. 195, 228. Chap. 15.J Modern Chain of Pots. 127 and the imperfect substitutes for cog wheels, identical with those of Egypt and Asia, and may be considered a fair representative of this machine as used in the agricultural districts of the ancient world. No. 55, represents a section of a mod¬ ern machine. The wheel is placed in or over a cistern designed to receive the wa¬ ter. Buckets are secured to the chain be¬ tween the joints of the latter, and the wheel as it revolves, receives the cen¬ tre of these joints on the ends of its arms, which are suitably shaped for the purpose. The buckets therefore fall in between the arms of the wheel and be¬ come inverted in passing over it as in the figure. No. 55. Modern Chain of Pots. The chain of pots has been applied to a great variety of purposes. It has been employed for ages, in cleansing docks , deepening harbors , &c. The vessels being made of iron and formed like wide scoops, are made to pass un¬ der pulleys attached to the bottom of a moveable frame, which is raised and lowered, to suit the varying depth of * the channel. Besson also proposed it to raise mortar , &c. to the top of city walls, fortifications, &c. and wherever large quantities were required ; an ap¬ plication of it that is worthy of the notice of extensive builders, for the time consumed and exertion expended by a laborer, in ascending a long lad¬ der or flight of stairs to deposit a modern hodful of mortar, and returning through the same space, is hardly consistent with the spirit of economy and useful research that characterizes the age. The amount of force con¬ sumed in bearing his own body twice over the space, independently of the load, would in a well regulated device of this kind produce an equal re¬ sult. Oliver Evans introduced the chain of pots into his mills, for the pur¬ pose of transmitting flour and grain to the different floors. It has been adopted as a substitute for water wheels. As the noria, when its motion is reversed by the admission of water into its buckets at the upper part of the periphery, is converted into an overshot wheel—so the chain of pots, has in a similar manner, been made to transmit power and communicate motion to other machines. In locations where there is a small supply of water, but which falls from a considerable height, it be¬ comes a valuable substitute for the overshot wheel, as a first mover. It is remarkable that this obvious application of it should not have occurred to European mechanicians previous to the 17th century. It was designed by M. Francini, and by the direction of Colbert , the illustrious and pa¬ triotic minister of Louis XIV, one was erected in 1668, in one of the pub¬ lic gardens at Paris. A natural spring in this garden supplied water for the plants. It was received into a large basin, and to prevent its over¬ flowing, the surplus or waste water was discharged by a gutter into a well, at the bottom of which it disappeared in the soil. M. Francini took ad¬ vantage of this fall of waste water in the well, and made it the means of raising a portion of the spr ng water sufficiently high to form a jet d’eau, 128 Francini’s Machine. [Book I. He erected a chain of pots, E, B, No. 56, which reached from the bot¬ tom of the well to such a height above its mouth as the water to form the jet was required to be raised. From the upper wheel or drum, another chain of pots, D, C, was suspended and carried round by it, the lower end dipping into the water to be raised from the spring A. By this arrange¬ ment the weight of the water in de¬ scending the well in the buckets of the first chain, raised a smaller portion (allowing for friction) through the same space by the second one—and a proportionable quantity still higher. A spout conveyed the water into the buckets of the driving or motive chain as shown at B. These buckets were made of brass, and wide at the top, the better to receive water from the spring; and also that when one was filled, the surplus might fall down its sides into the next one below, and from that to the third one, and so on, that none might be lost by spilling over. The buckets of the other chain were of the same form and material, but instead of being open like the for¬ mer, they were closed on all sides, the water being received into them at A, and discharged from them at m , through short necks or tubes, e, s, which are upwards when the buckets ascend, being connected to the smaller part of the latter. A pipe from the upper cistern m, conveyed the water to form the jet. The arrow indi¬ cates the direction in which both chains move. The vessels on the chain E, B, below B, descending into the well, (the bottom of which is not shown,) full—while those shown at D, C, are empty. The chain of Pots has been employed to work pumps in mines, to pro¬ pel thrashing machines, &c. &c. R No. 56. Fruneini’s Machine. There is much confusion in the notices of the chain of pots by ancient authors, from their referring to it without discrimination as a ‘ wheel ,’ and thus confounding it with the tympanum and noria, and that modification of the latter, known as the Persian wheel. From the circumstance of its having been propelled in the same manner as these, viz : by oxen in the usual way, (through the medium of cog wheels,) or by men walking upon or within a wheel, &e. it has from custom, inadvertence, or from a superficial knowledge of its distinctive features, been classed with them. It was of it that Strabo spoke, “ which by wheels and pulleys raised the water of the Nile to the top of a very high hill; and which, instead of being moved by oxen, was propelled by one hundred and fifty slaves.” And when Julius Ceesar was beseiged in Alexandria by the Egyptians, » See Vol. i, of machines approved by the French Academy. Desaguliers’ Philos Vol. ii Edinburgh Encyc. Vol. x, 896. Chain of Pots. 129 Chap. 15.] the chain of pots was included among the “ wheels and other engines,” by which the latter raised water from the sea and discharged it into the cisterns that supplied Cassar’s army with fresh water. It was most like¬ ly among the “ hydraulic engines,” which Herodotus observes the Baby¬ lonians had, to raise water from the Euphrates to irrigate their lands. These ‘ engines’ were certainly similar to those of India, Egypt, Greece, and other neighboring countries; for if they had been of novel construc¬ tion, or peculiar to Chaldea, he would scarcely have failed to notice so important a fact, if he even omitted (as he has) to describe them. The same lack of discrimination is obvious in almost all the accounts of modern as of ancient authors, respecting this machine. When they speak of wheels for raising water, it is as difficult to ascertain those to which they allude, as it is in the parallel passages of Philo and Diodorus, Strabo and Caesar. Thus Tavernier in his passage down the Tigris to Bagdat, remarks, “ all the day long, we saw nothing upon either side of the river, but pitiful huts, made of the branches of palm trees, where live certain poor people that turn the wheels , by means whereof they water the neighboring ground.” Sometimes the chain of pots is mentioned by travelers as the Persian wheel , and popular extracts from their works tend greatly to perplex enquirers into its history. When we met with statements from Shaw’s travels, that the Persian wheel was extensively used on the banks of the Nile, through all Egypt, they were so much at variance with the testimony of other oriental travelers, and so foreign to our impressions respecting the use of that machine in Egypt, that we had immediate reference to his work; when the apparent discrepancy was explained. He describes and figures the chain of pots (sakia) as the Persian wheel?- Norden commits the same error : “ they likewise employ the Persian wheel with ropes of pitchers, which is turned by oxen.” b Twiss also describes the Spanish chain of pots as the Persian wheel, and which he observes is used “ all over Portugal, Spain, and the Levant.”® Other travelers speak of it as the Noria. Mr. Jacob, in his “ Tra¬ vels in the South of Spain,” Lon. 1S11, page 152, says the Spaniards “ use a mill of Arabic origin, from which our chain pump is evidently derived; it is called a noria. A vertical wheel over a well has a series of earthen jars fastened together by cords of Esparto, which descend into the water and fill themselves by the motion of the wheel. The vertical wheel is put in motion by a horizontal one, which is turned by a cow. No machine can be more simple.” In the Grande Description of Egypt, it is designated * Roue a pols,’ d instead of naming it from the chain, its peculiar and distinguishing feature. It certainly has nothing in com¬ mon with the noria,except the pots or vessels in which the water is raised; and these in the latter, are suspended from the arms of inflexible levers, and ascend in the arc of a circle ; while in both these circumstances, and others might be named, there is no resemblance whatever between them. The chain of pots is generally named by French authors, ‘ Chapelet ,’ from its resemblance to the string of beads, which Roman catholics, Mahome¬ tans, Budhists, &c. (like the Pagans of old) use in repeating their prayers. This appellation is sufficiently discriminating, and is appropriate ; certainly more so than Roue a pots, since it serves to separate this machine from every species of wheels , and to preserve a distinction between two very different classes of hydraulic engines. The chain of pots seems always to have been used to raise water from ‘Travels, page 337. b Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Vol. i, 56. e Travels through Portugal and Spain in 177*2, and ’73. Lon. 1780, page 329. d Tom. 2. Memoirs, E. M. Plate 5. 17 130 Pumps of Danaus. [Book I. Joseph’s well. If the location of this well, its peculiar construction, di¬ vision into two distinct shafts, the chamber between them for the animals which propel the machinery, the passage for their ascent and descent, and its enormous depth, be maturely considered, it will appear, we think, that no other machine could at any time have been used, or intended by its con¬ structors to have been used in raising its water; if therefore this celebra¬ ted well be, as supposed, a work of the ancient Egyptians, or a relic of Babylon, then the endless chain of pots may safely be regarded as coeval with the foundation of that ancient city, if not, as it probably is, much more ancient. It was probably the * pump,’ which according to tradition, Danaus introduced into Greece, a thousand years before the building of Babylon by the Persians. During the time the Israelites were in Egypt, this prince, in consequence of domestic quarrels, left it with his family and friends, and sailed for Greece. They landed on the coast of Peloponessus or the Morea, and were hospitably entertained at Argos, where they set¬ tled. It is said, the Greeks did not at that time possess the knowledge of obtaining water from wells; the companions of Danaus having been the first to dig them, and to introduce pumps. Pliny vii. 56. If the inhabit¬ ants of Greece were ignorant of wells, previous to the arrival of these strangers, they could certainly have had no occasion for pumps; and it was natural for the Egyptians, when they dug wells, to introduce their own country methods of obtaining water from them. As the word ‘ pumps,’ is not however to be understood in the restricted sense in which it is at present used, the question occurs, what kind of ma¬ chines were these! 1. They must have been simple in their construction, for otherwise they would have been ill adapted to a rude and uncultivated people, and such the Greeks were while ignorant of wells. 2. They must have been of general application to the wells of Greece. 3. They were such as, from their great utility, were continued in use through sub¬ sequent ages, for they were highly prized, and the memory of their intro¬ duction preserved. 4. They were such as were previously used in Egypt. Now, of all ancient devices for raising w r ater, to which the term 1 pump’ could with any propriety be applied, the chain of pots is the only one that fulfils the conditions premised. It is evident that the jantu and its modi¬ fications are wholly inapplicable to raise water from wells; and the tym¬ panum and noria are equally so. The sivape is not adapted to deep wells and those of Greece were generally such : yet as it is admirably adapted to raise water from small depths, and was so used by the ancient Greeks ; it is probable that it was also introduced by Danaus ; as we know that it was in common use in Egypt, in his time. (See figures 36 and 43.) It must however have been of extremely limited application to wells on ac¬ count of their depth. (See page 38.) The modern inhabitants of Egypt raise water with it only about seven feet; and from the figures just referred to, it is obvious that in the time of Danaus, it was raised no higher by it. but if its application was even extended in Greece, to elevate water from twice that depth, its employment in wells must have been comparatively trifling. It could not have been the chain pump, for it does not appear, that either the Greeks or Romans were acquainted with that machine. Vi¬ truvius is silent respecting it. Nor can we suppose any thing like the atmospheric or forcing pump intended—even, if it could be proved that both were then known. They are too complex to have been at all suited to the Greeks at that remote age. Indeed they are altogether worthless to a rude people, who would be unable to keep them in order, or to detect Antiquity of the Chain of Pots. 131 Chap. 15.] the causes of their ceasing to act. But that the ‘pumps’ of Danaus were some kind of bucket machines, like the chain of pots, is inferable from the account of his daughters’ punishment. They were condemned to draw water from deep wells, and would of course, use the machines their fa ther introduced. Now we are told that the vessels in which they raised the liquid leaked so much, that the water escaped from them ere it reach¬ ed the surface—hence their endless punishment. The witty remark of Bion implies the same thing. A person speaking of the severe punish¬ ment of these young women, in perpetually drawing water in vessels full of holes, he remarked, “I should consider them much more to be pitied were they condemned to draw water in vessels without holes.” Hence, we infer that the Egyptian sakia or chain of pots, was the ‘ pump’ in¬ troduced by Danaus, and that to it tradition refers. It was the only one to which, from its construction, and adaptation to every depth , the name of ‘ pump’ could have been applied—while from its simplicity and effi¬ ciency, it was a gift of no ordinary value to the Greeks; and the introduc¬ tion of it into their country was worthy of being preserved from oblivion. It is believed to have been in uninterrupted use there since the age of Danaus ; although history may not have preserved any record or repre¬ sentation of so early an employment of it. It is still used on the conti¬ nent and in the islands, as well as throughout Syria and Asia Minor. At Smyrna it is as common as a pump with us. In “ Voyage Pittoresque de la Grece,” Paris, 1782, Plate 49, contains a drawing, and page 9 a description of one in a garden at Scio, the ancient Chios, and capital city of the island of the same name. It is similar to the one represented in No. 54, and is doubtless identical with those employed in the same cities, when Homer was born near the former, and when he kept a school in the latter. On the antiquity of this and preceding machines, we add the opinions of recent writers. “ A traveler standing on the edge of either the Libyan or Arabian desert, and overlooking Egypt, would behold before him one of the most magnificent prospects ever presented to human eyes. He would survey a deep valley, bright with vegetation, and teeming with a depres¬ sed but laborious population engaged in the various labors of agriculture. He would see opposite to him another eternal rampart, which, with the one he stands upon, shuts in this valley, and between them a mighty river, flowing in a winding course from the foot of one chain to the other, fur¬ nishing lateral canals, whence the water is elevated by wheels and buck¬ ets of the rudest structures, worked sometimes by men and sometimes by cattle, and no doubt identical with the process in use in the days of Sesos- tris." h “ These methods” (of raising water to irrigate the land,) “ are not the invention of the modern Egyptians, but have been used from time im¬ memorial without receiving the smallest improvement .” b “ Even the creak¬ ing sound of the water wheels, as the blindfolded oxen went round and round, and of the tiny cascades splashing from the string of earthen pots into the trough which received and distributed the water to the wooden canals; were not disagreeable to my ears, since they called up before the imagination, the primitive ages of mankind, the rude contrivances of the early kings of Egypt, for the advancement of agriculture, which have un¬ dergone little change or improvement up to the present hour.” c Like every other machine that has yet been named, the date of its ori- * North American Review, Jan. 1839. p. 185* *6. b History of the Operations of the French and British Armies in Egypt. Newcastle 1809. Vol. i, page 92. * St. John, “ Egypt and Mohammed Ali.” Vol. i, 10. 132 Chain of Pots referred to in Ecclesiastes. [Book L gin is unknown. From its simplicity, its obvious derivation from the prim¬ itive cord and bucket, its employment over all Asia and Egypt at the present time, and its extensive use in the ancient world; there can be no question of its great antiquity. Vitruvius is alike silent respecting the origin of this, as of the noria and tympanum, and doubtless for the same reason—their origin extended too far into the abyss of past ages to be dis¬ covered. It is singular that the ancients, who attributed almost every agricultural and domestic implement to one or other of their deities, should not have derived the equally important machines for raising water from a similar source. The origin of the ‘plough they gave to Osiris, of the harrow to Occator, the rake to Sarritor, the scythe to Saturn, the sickle to Ceres, the fail to Triptolemus, &c.; and as they attributed the art of manuring ground to a god, they surely ought to have given the invention of ma¬ chines to irrigate it to another. To the chain of pots, there is an allusion in the beautiful description of the decay and death of the human body, in the 12th chapter of Ecclesi¬ astes : “ Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken; or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cis¬ tern.” In the east, the chain is almost uniformly made of cord or rope; and the former part of the passage appears to refer to the ends, which are spliced or tied together, becoming loosened, when the vessels would necessarily be broken, for the whole would fall to the bottom ; an occur- rence which is not uncommon. The term silver cord, is expressive of its whiteness, the result of its constant exposure to water and the bleaching effect of the sun’s rays : and golden bowl refers to the red earthenware pots or vases, in which the water is raised. Both pots and cords stream¬ ing with water, and glittering in the sun, presented to the vivid imagina¬ tions of the orientals, striking resemblances to burnished gold and silver. The circulation of the stream of life in man, (his blood)® its interruption in disease and old age, his energies failing, and the mechanism of his frame wearing out, and at last ceasing forever to move; are forcibly illus¬ trated by the endless or circulating cord of this machine; its raising living waters and dispersing them through various channels, as so many streams of life, until its vessels, the pitchers, become broken, and the flow of the stream interrupted, and the wheel, upon which its movements depended, becoming deranged, broken, and destroyed. That the pots or vases are frequently broken, we learn from numerous travelers. In the account of Joseph’s well, in the Grande Description, it is said to be necessary for a man to be in constant attendance, to keep the animals which move it from stopping, and to replace the pitchers that are broken. And that the wheels were often deranged is more than pro¬ bable, when we consider how exceedingly rude and imperfect is their construction over all the east. The surprise of travelers has often been elicited by their continuing to work at all, while exhibiting every symptom of derangement and decay. “ The water wheels, pots, ropes, &c.” says Mr. St. John, “ had an extremely antique and dilapidated appearance; and, if much used, would undoubtedly fall to pieces.” 1 * * We are told that a more striking picture of rude and imperfect mechanism could scarcely be conceived; and it is not improbable, that the * Egyptian Wheel’ as an em¬ blem of instability, had reference to its defective construction and con- °That the circulation of the blood was known to the ancients, see Dutens' ‘Inquiry into the origin of the discoveries attributed to the Moderns ’ Lon. I7G9, pp. 210, 222 * Egypt and Mohammed Ali, i, 126, 127. 133 Clap. 15.J The ’Babylonian Engine. stant liability to derangement, as much so as to its rotary movement. Noi¬ ls it likely that they were much superior at any time in Judea, for the Jews never cultivated the arts to any extent. The mechanics amon^ them when they left Egypt were probably more numerous and expert than during any subsequent period of their history. In the eleventh cen¬ tury B. C. when Saul began to reign, there was not a blacksmith in the land, or one that could forge iron; they had been carried off by the Phi¬ listines; and although David at his death left numerous artificers, when his son built the temple and his own palace, he obtained mechanics from Tyre. It is moreover possible that the plaints and moanings incident to old age, ‘when the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail,’ were also intended to be pointed out by the perpetual creaking of these rickety machines, as indicative of approaching dissolution. The harsh noise they make has been noticed by several travelers. St.John speaks of the creak¬ ing sound of the water wheels; and Stephens, in his ‘Incidents of Travel,’ observes, “ it was moonlight, and the creaking of the water wheels on the banks, (of the Nile) sounded like the moaning spirit of an ancient Egyptian.” ON THE ENGINE THAT RAISED WATER FROM THE EUPHRATES TO SUPPLY THE HANGING GARDENS AT BABYLON. There is a machine noticed by ancient authors, which probably belongs to this part of our subject, and it is by far the most interesting hydraulic engine mentioned in history. Some circumstances connected with it, are also worthy of notice. It was constructed and used in the most ancient and most splendid city of the postdiluvian world; a city which according* to tradition existed like Joppa, before the deluge: viz. Babylon —a city generally allowed to have been founded by the builders of Babel; subse¬ quently enlarged by Nimrod; extended and beautified by Semiramis; and which reached its acme of unrivaled splendor under Nebuchadnezzar. The engine which raised the water of the Euphrates to the top of the walls of this city, to supply the pensile or hanging gardens, greatly ex¬ ceeded in the perpendicular height to which the water was elevated by it, the most famous hydraulic machinery of modern ages ; and like most of the works of the remote ancients, it appears to have borne the impress of those mighty intellects, who never suffered any physical impediment to interfere with the accomplishment of their designs ; and many of whose works almost induce us to believe that men ‘ were giants in those days.’ The walls of Babylon, according to Herodotus, i, 178, were 350 feet high! Diodorus Siculus and others make them much less; bat the descriptions of them by the latter, it is alleged, were applicable only, after the Per- sians under Darius Hystaspes retook the city upon its revolt, and demo¬ lished, or rather reduced their height to about 50 cubits ; whereas the fa¬ ther of history gives their original elevation, and incredible as it may ap- pear, his statement is believed to be correct. He is the oldest author who has described them; and he visited Babylon within one hundred and twenty years of Nebuchadnezzar’s death; and four hundred before Dio¬ dorus flourished. He has recorded the impressions which at that time, the city made on his mind, in the following words, “ its internal beautv and magnificence exceed whatever has come within my knowledge;” and Herodotus, it must be remembered, was well acquainted with the splen¬ did cities of Egypt and the east. Had not the pyramids of Geezer, the es anc ^ tom ^ s Thebes and Karnac, the artificial lakes and canals ° kgypt, the wall of China, the caves of Ellora and Elephanta, &c. 134 The Babylonian Engine. [Book 1. come down to our times; descriptions of them by ancient authors, would have been deemed extravagant or fabulous, and their dimensions reduced to assimilate them with the works of modern times: so strongly are we inclined to depreciate the labors of the ancients, whenever they greatly excel our own. According to Berosus, who is quoted by Jose¬ phus, Antiq. x, 11, it was Nebuchadnezzar who constructed these gardens, so that the prophet Daniel must have witnessed their erection, and also that of the hydraulic engine; for he was a young man when taken a cap¬ tive to Babylon in the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, and he con¬ tinued there till the death of that monarch and of his successor. Amytis, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, was a Mede, and as Babylon was situated on an extensive plain, she very sensibly felt the loss of the hills and woods of her native land. To supply this loss in some degree, these fa¬ mous gardens, in which large forest trees were cultivated, were con¬ structed. They extended in terraces formed one above another to the top of the city walls, and to supply them with the necessary moisture, the engine in question was erected. 4 As no account of the nature of this machine has been preserved, we are left to conjecture the principle upon which it was constructed, from the only datum afforded, viz : the height to which it raised the water. We can easily conceive how water could have been supplied to the upper¬ most of these gardens by a series of machines, as now practised in the east to carry water over the highest elevations—but this is always mentioned as a single engine, not a series of them. Had its location been determin¬ ed, that circumstance alone, would have aided materially in the investi gation ; but we do not certainly know whether it was placed on the highest terrace—on a level with the Euphrates—or at some intermediate elevation. The authors of the Universal History remark, “upon the uppermost oi these terraces was a reservoir, supplied by a certain engine, from whence the gardens on the other terraces were supplied.” They do not say where the engine itself was located. Rollin places it on the highest part of the gar¬ dens : “ In the upper terrace there was an engine or kind of pump by which the water was drawn up.” The statement of an engine having been erected at the top is probably correct, for we are not aware that the ancients at that period possessed any machine which, like the forcing pump, projected water above itself. Ancient machines, (and every one which we have yet examined, is an ex¬ ample,) did not raise water higher than their own level. But if sucking and forcing pumps were then known and used in Babylon, a period howev¬ er, anterior to that of their alleged invention, of at least 500 years, still if this engine was placed on the uppermost terrace, both would have been wholly inapplicable. If therefore we incline to the opinion that this en gine was a modification of one of those ancient machines, which we have already examined ; we are not led to this conclusion by supposing the state of the arts in Babylon at the period of its construction, to have been too crude and imperfect to admit of more complex or philosophical a Paintings found in Pompeii, represent Villas of two stories having trees planted on their roofs. These kind of gardens were probably not very uncommon in ancient times in the east, though none perhaps ever equaled those of Babylon. They have been continued to modern times in Asia. Tavernier, when in Bagnagar (the modem Hyderabad) the capital of Golconda, found the roofs of the large courts of the palace terraced and containing gardens, in which were trees of such immense size “ that it is a thing of great wonder how those arches should bear so vast a burden.” The origin of these and of the city was similar to that of the Babylonian gardens. The King at the importunity of Nagar, one of his wives, founded the city and named it aAer her Bagnagar —i. e, “ the gardens of Nagar.” The Babylonian Engine. L35 Chap. 15.] apparatus—on the contrary, we know that the Babylonians carried many of’ the arts to the highest degree of refinement. “ They were great con¬ trivers,” in this respect, and “ fell short of no one nation under the sun, so far from it, that they in a great measure showed the way to every na¬ tion besides.” Univer. His. Vol. i, 933. Besides, it is certainly more philosophical to suppose this famous engine to have been a modification of some machine, which we have reason to believe was used in Chaldea at that time, and capable of producing the results ascribed to the Babylonian engine, than of any other of which that people possibly knew nothing. Of all ancient machines, the chain of pots was certainly the best adapt¬ ed for the purpose, and if we mistake not, the only one that could, with any regard to permanency and effect, have been adopted. It stands, and justly so, at the head of all ancient engines for raising water through great elevations ; and it may be doubted whether any machine could now be produced better adapted for the hanging gardens of Babylon—either in the economy and simplicity of its construction ; durability and effect; or be less liable to derangement, less expensive, or less difficult for ordinary people to repair. The project of raising water through a perpendicular elevation, exceeding three hundred feet, in numerous vessels attached to an endless chain, would probably startle most of our mechanicians; and some might suppose that the weight of so long a chain, if made of iron, would overcome the tenacity of the metal; but almost all the works of the remote ancients partook of the same bold features. Magnitude in some of their machines, is as surprising as in other departments of their labors. Their engineers seem to have carried it to an extent that in modern days, would be considered as verging on the limits of the natural properties of materials. That the chain of pots was the standard machine for raising water in quantities from great depths would appear from Vitruvius, since it is the only one adapted for that purpose which he has described, except the “machine of Ctesibiusand as he professes to give an account of the “ various machines for raising water,” and his profession as a civil engi¬ neer would necessarily render him familiar with the best of them, it is clear that he was ignorant of any other having been in previous use. That the engine at Babylon was no other than the chain of pots, may be inferred from the employment of the latter in Joseph’s well, where it raises water to an elevation nearly equal to that ascribed to the former ; and if the subject were pf sufficient interest, we think a connection might be traced between them^ if Joseph’s well be, as supposed, a relic of Egypt¬ ian Babylon. Both Egypt and Chaldea were subject to the same monarch at the time that city was built. Twenty two or three years only had elapsed after Nebuchadnezzar’s death when Cyrus took Babylon, and with it the empire ; and nine years after he was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who when in Egypt, it is alleged, founded a city on the site of modern Cairo, and named it after old Babylon. Cambyses reigned seven years and five months. If, therefore, the Babylonian machine was superior to the ‘ chain of pots,’ (and it must have been, if it differed at all from the latter, for otherwise it would not have been selected,) then it would, we think, as a matter of course, have been adopted also in Joseph’s well, in which the water was required to be elevated to about the same height as in the hanging gardens. Besides, if it possessed peculiar advantages, it would certainly have been preserved in use, as well as the chain of pots, for the wealth, comfort, and even existence of the people of the east, have at all times depended too much upon such machines to suffer any valuable one to be lost. 136 Rope Rump. [Book 1. Bat was the chain of this machine formed of metal, or of ropes'? Of the latter we have no doubt. They are generally made of flax or fibres of the palm tree at the present day over all the east. In great elevations, chains of rope possess important advantages over those of metal, in their supe¬ rior lightness, being free from corrosion, and the facility of repairing them. But by far the most interesting problem connected with the Babylonian engine is, was the water of the Euphrates raised by it to the highest ter¬ race at a single lift \ If we had not been informed of one reservoir only, on the upper terrace “ from whence the gardens on the others were water¬ ed,” we should have supposed the water really raised as in Joseph’s well, i. e. by two , or even more separate chains; and as it is, we cannot believe that so ingenious a people as the Babylonians would raise the whole of the water which the gardens required to the uppermost terrace, when the greatest portion of it was not wanted half so high. As the size of the ter¬ races diminished as they approached the top of the walls, it is probable that full two thirds of the water was consumed within one hundred feet of the ground. We therefore conclude that this famous engine was composed of at least two, and probably more, separate chains of pots; and even then, it might with as much propriety, be noticed by ancient authors as a single machine, as that at Cairo still is, by all modern travelers. Winkelman says, the famous gardens at Babylon had canals, some of “ which were supplied by pumps and other engines.” And Kircher in his Turris Baltel, 16/9, represents fountains and jets d'eau on every terrace. t . . i 3 No. 57. Rope Pump. There is another device that belongs to this chapter. Every person knows, that where water is dispersed over extended surfaces, and of too lim¬ ited depth to allow the use of a vessel to scoop it up, various substances are employed to absorb it, as sponge and woolen rags, and from which it is separated by pressure. A housemaid, when washing a floor, thus collects in a cloth the liquid dispersed in the purifying process; and by wring¬ ing returns it to the vessel. The process is substantially the same as that adopted to raise water in Vera’s Rope Pump. See No. 57. This machine consists of one or more endless ropes, formed of loosely Hydraulic Belt. 137 Chap. 16.] spun wool or horse hair, and stretched on two pulleys like the endless chain of pots. These pulleys have grooves formed on their surfaces for the reception of the ropes. One of them is placed over the mouth of a well, and the other suspended in or secured to the bottom. A rapid mo¬ tion is communicated to the upper pulley, by a multiplying wheel, and the ascending side of each rope then carries up the water absorbed by it; and which is separated from it when passing over the upper pulley, partly by centrifugal force, and partly by being squeezed in the deep groove, or by passing through a tube as shown in the figure. In the beginning of the motion, the column of water adhering to the rope, is always less than when it has been worked for some time, and continues to increase till the surrounding air partakes of its motion. By the utmost efforts of a man, nine gallons of water were raised by one of these machines from a well, ninety-five feet deep, in one minute. Adam’s Philos. Vol. iii, 494. The hydraulic belt is a similar contrivance. It is an endless double band of woolen cloth, passing over two rollers, as in figure 57. It is driven with a velocity of not less than a thousand feet per minute ; when the water contained between the two surfaces is carried up and discharged as it passes over the upper roller, by the pressure of the band. Some machines of this kind are stated to have produced an effect equal to seventy-five per cent, of the power expended, while that of ordinary pumps seldom ex¬ ceeds sixty per cent. See Lon. Meehan. Mag. Vol. xxix, page 431. CHAPTER XVI. The Screw —An original device—Various modes of constructing it—Roman Screw—Often re-invented —Introduced into England from Germany—Combination of several to raise water to great elevations— Marquis of Worcester’s proposition relating to it, exemplified by M. Pattu—Ascent of water in it formerly considered inexplicable—Its history—Not invented by Archimedes—Supposed to have been in early use in Egypt—Vitruvius silent respecting its author—Conon its inventor or re-inventor—This phi¬ losopher famous for his flattery of Ptolemy and Berenice—Dinocrates the architect—Suspension of metal¬ lic substances without support—The screw not attributed to Archimedes till after his death—Inventions often given to others than their authors—Screws used as ship pumps by the Greeks—Flatterers like Conon too often found among men of science—Dedications of European writers often blasphemous— Hereditary titles and distinctions—Their acceptance unworthy of philosophers—Evil influence of scien¬ tific men in accepting them—Their denunciation a proof of the wisdom and virtue of the framers of the U. S. Constitution—Their extinction in Europe desirable—Plato, Solon, and Socrates—George III— George IV—James Watt—Arago—Description of the 1 Syracusan,’ a ship built by Archimedes, in which the Screw Pump was used. The Cochleon or Egyptian Screw, the machine next described b y Vitruvius, is, in every respect, the most original one of which he has giv¬ en an account. Unlike the preceding, which appear to have been in a great measure deduced from each other, it forms a species of itself; and whoever was its inventor, he has left in it a proof of his genius, and a lasting monument of his skill. If it be not the earliest hydraulic engine that was composed of tubes , or in the construction of which they were in¬ troduced, it certainly is the oldest one known of that description; and in its mode of operation it differs essentially from all other ancient tube ma chines ; in the latter the tubes merely serve as conduits for the ascending water, and as such are at rest; while in the screw it is the tubes themselves in motion that raises the liquid. 18 138 The Screw. [Book 1 This machine has been constructed in a variety of ways. Sometimes by winding, in the manner of a screw, one or more flexible tubes (generally of lead or strong leath¬ er) round a cylinder of wood or iron. This cylinder is sustained by gudgeons in such a position, that at whatever angle with the horizon it is used, the plane of the helix must always be inclined to its axis at a greater angle ; oth¬ erwise no water could be raised by it any more than by turning it in the wrong direction. The lower end being immersed in wa¬ ter, the liquid enters the tube and is gradually raised by each revo¬ lution until it is discharged above. These machines are commonly used at an inclination to the hori¬ zon of about 45°, although they sometimes are placed at 60°. See the figure. No. 58. Screw. Instead of tubes wound round a cylinder, large grooves were sometimes formed in the latter and cover¬ ed by boards or sheets of metal, closely nailed to the surfaces between the grooves—so that the latter might be considered as tubes sunk into the cylinder, instead of being folded round its exterior. No. 59. Roman Screw. Another mode was to make the threads of plank, arranged as a helix round a solid cylinder, which was fitted with journals, and made to revolve in a fixed hollow cylinder of the same length; the edges or ex¬ tremities of the threads rubbing against the sides of the latter, and con¬ sequently producing the same effect as No. 58. This modification of the cochleon is known as the German Snail. It has this advantage, that it may be worked in an open channel, or half a cylinder instead of a whole one, since it is only the lower half of the latter, that is essential to the the operation of raising water. Machines of this kind of large dimen¬ sions have long been employed by the Dutch, and are generally driven The Screw. 139 Chap. 16.J by windmills. But the outer cylinder is more generally fixed to the edges of the helix, and turned with it. It was made in this manner by the ancient Romans ; the outer cylinder or case was of plank, well joint¬ ed together, and nailed to the edges of the screw, and the whole cemented with pitch, and bound together by iron hoops. It was moved like the noria, &c. “ by the walking of men.” Vitruvius, B. x, Chap. 11. See No. 59. The screw as represented in the preceding figures, has never been lost to the world since its invention, although it has long been unknown in that country in which it was devised—Egypt. It appears early in printed books. In the first German edition of Vegetius, (1511) it is figured, and nearly in a vertical position. A laborer with a feather in his cap, and a sword at his side, is seated across the top of the frame, and turns it by a crank. a Like almost every other hydraulic engine, the screw has often been re-invented. Cardan mentions a blacksmith of Milan, who imagining him¬ self its original inventor, “ for joy, ran out of his wits,” and the writer recollects when a boy, hearing of an ingenious shoemaker in much the same predicament. It appears to have been, like other machines for the same purpose, introduced into England from Germany. “ The Holland¬ ers, (says Switzer,) have long ago, as some books that I have seen of theirs of fortification intimate, us’d them in draining their morassy and fenny ground, from ivhence they have been brought into England; and used in the fens of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and other low countries. Those of the smallest kind that are worked by men have only an iron handle, as a grindstone has; but the largest that are wrought by horses, have a wheel like the cog-wheel of a horse mill. This engine, (he con¬ tinues,) which takes hold of the water, as a cork screw does a cork, will throw up water as fast as an overshot wheel, whereby in a short time, an infinite number of water may be thrown up; and I remember when the foundation of the stately bridge of Blenheim was laid, we had some of them used with great success ; and they are also used in the New River Works, about Newbury, Berkshire, and said to be the contrivance of a common soldier, who brought the invention out of Flanders.” Hydros¬ tatics, 296, 298. When employed to raise water to great elevations, a series of two, three, or more, one above another, have been employed ; the lower one discharging its contents into a basin, in which the inferior end of the next above is immersed, the whole being connected by cog wheels. Thus an old author observes, “ you may raise water to any height in a narrow place, viz. within a tower to the top thereof, as we have known done at Au¬ gusta, in Germany ; to wit, if the spiral pipes be multiplied, so that the water being raised by the lower spiral, and being poured out into some re¬ ceptacle or cistern ; hence, it may be raised higher again by another spiral, and so successively by more spirals, as high as you please, all which spir¬ als may be moved by one power, viz. by the water of a river underneath, or by another animated power.” Moxon. It was one of the objects of the Marquis of Worcester, and his ‘unpa¬ ralleled workman, Caspar Kaltoff,’ to avoid the necessity of thus combin- ° Whether sitting was the usual position of European laborers and mechanics when at work, in the middle ages, we know not; but Cambden has a remark which intimates that all English mechanics had not in his time, abandoned this oriental custom In con¬ cluding his long account of “ the States and Degrees of England,” from kings, princes, dukes, lords, knights, &c. he continues, “ lastly, craftsmen, artizans or workmen ; be they that labor for hire, and namely, such as sit at worlt, mechanicke artificers, smiths, car penters,” Hfc. 140 M. Pattu's Improvements. [Book 1 ing a number of them together, as appears from the fifty-third proposition in the ‘ century of inventions/ “ A way how to make hollow and cover a water screw, as “ big and as long as one pleaseth, in an easy and cheap way.” How, and of what materials he made this, is not known, but the fifty-fifth proposition, in the following words, has been fully and practical¬ ly developed by a French engineer. “ A double water screw, the inner¬ most to mount the water, and the outermost for it to descend, more in number of threads, and consequently in quantity of water, though much shorter than the innermost screw by which the water ascendeth ; a most extraordinary help for the turning the screw to make the water rise.” In 1815, M. Pattu published an account of the following improvements, by which the ideas of Worcester are realized. No. 60. represents two separate screws formed on the same axis, one of which, A, is long and narrow and serves for the nucleus of C, which is much wider and shorter. This is designed to propel the former. The threads of both wind round the axis in opposite directions, so that when those on one appear to be moving upwards, those on the other seem to be going downwards. The water from the stream M, is directed into the top of the large screw, and by its weight (as on an overshot wheel) puts the whole in motion, and consequently the water at O, in which the lower end of A revolves, is raised into the cistern at B. No. 61 is merely the same machine inverted. It illustrates the applications to such locations as have a short fall above the place to which the water is to be raised. In No. 62 the small screw drives the large one, through which the water from the lowest level is raised sufficiently high to be discharged at an intermediate one, as at G. From these figures it will be perceived that the screw has been employed like the noria and the chain of pots, to transmit power. This machine was formerly considered as exhibiting a very singular paradox, viz. that the water “ ascended by descending,” and the mystery was, how both these operations could be performed at the same time, and yet produce so strange a result. It was remarked that when those form¬ ed of glass, were put in motion, the water ran down the under side of each turn of the tubes, and continued thus to descend until it was discharged at the top ! The whole operation and the effects being visible, there seemed no room for dispute, however contrary to acknowledged princi¬ ples the whole might appear. The case was apparently inexplicable, and seemed to present a parallel one to that of the asymtote ; the properties of the latter being as incapable of demonstration to the senses, as the sup¬ posed operation of this machine could be reconciled to the mind. Indeed the proposition, that two geometrical lines may continue to approach each other forever, without the possibility of coming in contact, is apparently, quite as impossible, as that water should ascend an inclined plane, by t he mere exercise of its own gravity. But the idea of water descending in The Screw. 14] Chap. 16.] its passage through the screw was altogether an illusion. On the contra ry, it is uniformly raised by the continual elevation of that part of the tub* which is immediately behind the liquid, and which pushes it up in a man¬ ner analagous to that represented by the following diagram. Suppose AY, the edge of a wide strip of cloth or tape, secured at both ends, at an angle with the horizon, as repre¬ sented, and upon which the boy’s marble or ball at P, can roll. If No. 63. we hold the pen with which we are writing under the tape between P Y, and raise that part into the position indicated by the dotted lines; the ball .would necessarily be pushed forward to E ; and if the pen were then drawn towards B on the line D B, the ball would be carried up to A, and without deviating in its "path from the line Y A. If A Y were the under side of a flexible pipe or gutter, containing water at E in place of the ball, it is obvious that it would also be raised to A, in a like manner. By the same principle water is raised in the screw, and we may add, in much the same way, for the rotation of the screw is merely another mode of effecting the same thing, which we have suppos¬ ed to be done more directly by the pen, i. e. by producing a continual ele¬ vation of the plane immediately behind the ball or the water. The path of the latter through a screw is the same as that of the ball, while the curves assumed by the tape, as in the dotted lines, represent sections of the helix, and the lines D B, A Y, of the cylinder within which it is formed. All the ancient machines hitherto examined, have come down from pe¬ riods so extremely remote, that not a single circumstance connected with their origin or their authors has been preserved. The screw is the first machine for raising water, whose inventor, or alleged inventor, has been named; and yet, from the imperfect and mutilated state of such ancient writings that incidentally mention it, and the loss of others which treated professedly on it, the question of its origin is far from being settled. Al¬ though it is said to have been invented by Archimedes and has long been named after him, there are circumstances which render it probable that Diodorus Siculus and Atheneus were mistaken when they attributed it to the great philosopher of Syracuse. Had the account of this machine which Archimedes himself wrote, been preserved, there would have been no occasion to reason on its origin or its author ; but unfortunately this, as well as his description of pneumatic and hydrostatic engines, “ concerning which he wrote some books,” are among those that have perished. There is no reason to believe that Archimedes himself ever claimed its invention; and his countryman Diodorus, who lived two hundred years after him, and upon whose authority chiefly it has been attributed to him, admits that it was invented by him in Egypt ; thus allowing it to have been devised in that country, whence the Greeks derived all or nearly all that was valuable in their philosophy and their arts. Every person knows that Egypt was the grand school for the nations of old, in which the learn¬ ed men of other countries were instructed in every branch of philosophy— for the cultivation of which the Egyptians were celebrated even in the 142 Origin of the Screw. Book 1 time of Moses—hence it frequently happened, that after returning to their homes imbued with the ‘ wisdom of Egypt,’ philosophers were con¬ sidered by their countrymen as the authors of doctrines, discoveries and machines, which they had acquired a knowledge of as pupils abroad. It is not therefore impossible, that that which occurred to Thales and Pyth¬ agoras, Lycurgus and Solon, Plato and many others, may also have hap¬ pened to Archimedes with respect to this machine. It has been supposed that the screw was employed in Egypt ages before he visited that country; of this, however, there is no direct proof; perhaps an examination of the immense mass of sculptures in the temples, and tombs of Thebes and Beni- Hassan, &c. may yet bring to light facts illustrative of the use of this and other machines for the same purpose in very remote times. Its ancient name of Egyptian screw indicates its origin. The silence of Vitruvius respecting its origin, if Archimedes was the inventor, is singular; for through the whole of his work he appears stu¬ dious to record the names of inventors. He was contemporary with Diodorus, and had therefore equal opportunities of ascertaining its history, while from his profession, and the nature of his work, a more perfect ac¬ count of it would be expected from him than from the other. The Roman architect had indeed every inducement, (except such as were un¬ worthy of him,) to record the name of the Prince of Ancient Mathemati¬ cians as its author, if such he knew him to be. The reputation of Ar¬ chimedes; his splendid discoveries; his famous defence of his native city; his melancholy death ; the interest which Marcellus took in his fate; the erection of his tomb by that General; and its discovery by Cicero amidst thorns and rubbish, one hundred and forty years after his death, and in the lifetime of Vitruvius—induce us to believe that, as a candid philosopher and admirer of learned men, and of Archimedes himself, (B. i, Chap. 1.) he would certainly have awarded to the latter the honor of its invention, if he believed him entitled to it, either from the testimony of ancient wri¬ ters, or from traditional report. But if this machine was not invented by him, to whom then is the world indebted for it? We reply—if it really be not more ancient than the Ptolemaic era—to a Grecian philosopher of Samos, who was contem¬ porary with Archimedes. Some readers will recollect that when Ptolemy Evergetes, the son and successor of Philadelphus, departed on a dangerous expedition, the success of which, according to Rollin, was foretold by Daniel, (xi, 7, 9,) his wife Berenice, influenced by a principle of supersti¬ tion, that at one time was universal, vowed to sacrifice her greatest orna¬ ment, the hair of her head, to the Goddess Venus, if he was successful and restored to her in safety. Upon his victorious return, she cut off her locks and dedicated them in that temple which Philadelphus had founded in honor of her mother Arsinoe; the dome of which temple was intend¬ ed to have been lined with loadstone, that the iron statue of Arsinoe might be suspended in the air; but the death both of Dinocrates the architect, and Philadelphus, prevented the completion of a building that would have rivalled the most perfect of all human productions ; a work, which proba¬ bly gave rise to the story of the suspension of Mahomet’s coffin." a That metallic substances have been actually suspended without any tangible support appears from Poncet, to whose travels in Abyssinia we referred in the last chapter. He declares that he beheld in a monastery in that country, a golden staff about four feet long, thus suspended in the air; and to detect any deception be desired permission to examine it closely, to ascertain whether there was not some invisible prop or support “ To take away all doubt (he says) I passed my cane over it and under it, and on all sides, and found that this staff of gold did truly hang of itself in the air.’' Ed. Encyc. Vol. xiii, p. 46. 143 Chap. 16.] Invented by Conon of Samos. Sometime afterwards, this consecrated hair was missing from the tem¬ ple, having been lost through the negligence of the priests, or perhaps designedly concealed. No occurrence was more likely to create alarm among a superstitious people, or to excite the ire of a despotic monarch, than such an insult to their Gods, and to his favorite queen. In this di¬ lemma, an astronomer of Alexandria, in order to make his court to Ever- getes, had the effrontery to giye out publicly that Jupiter had carried off the locks of Berenice to heaven, and had formed them into a constellation ! And as a proof of his assertion he pointed to an unformed cluster of stars near the tail of Leo, as Berenice’s hair ! And 4 Coma Berenices' is the name by which these stars are known to this day. It was this artful courtier and astronomer who either invented or re-in¬ vented the screw. He was named Conon of Samos, and sometimes Conon of Alexandria, from his residence in Egypt. He was an intimate friend of, and greatly esteemed by Archimedes; and it would seem that they communicated their writings and discoveries to each other. When the former devised this machine, Archimedes we are told demonstrated and fully explained its properties ; for Conon himself was not fortunate in his demonstrations. (Bayle.) From this circumstance the name of its in¬ ventor was in time forgotten, and it eventually became known as the Ar- cliimedian screw ; but probably not till long after the death, both of its author and illustrator. Similar instances are not uncommon in modern times; they have in fact, always occurred. Thus, the instrument known as Hadley’s Quadrant was really invented by Godfrey of Philadelphia. The compass was known before Flavio Gioia, although the Fleur de Lis, by which he designated the north in compliment to his sovereign, is used to this day. Gunpowder was used ages before Schwartz was born—and these continents bear the name of Vespucci, not that of Columbus or Behaim. As Conon died before Archimedes, (see Bayle) and probably in Egypt, it is very possible (supposing it originated with the former) that it was first introduced into Europe by the latter ; a circumstance quite sufficient to connect his name permanently with it there. Atheneus mentions par¬ ticularly its application by him to raise water from the hold of the ship, which was built under his directions for Hiero; and if an observation of the same author can be relied on, it is evident that he was the first to make it known to Grecian mariners ; for he asserts, that they held his memory in great estimation, for having enabled them to carry off the wa¬ ter from the holds of their vessels by it. It is greatly to be regretted that men of science should ever be found among the flatterers of despots ; yet the obsequiousness of Conon has been imitated in modern as in ancient times. Custom may yet, in some degree sanction or rather screen the practice from reproach; but the period is, we believe, rapidly approaching when it will be subjected to general de¬ rision, as not only injurious to the reputation of scientific men themselves, but to science and the world at large. Our sentiments on this subject may be reprobated by some persons, and approved of by few,—still we believe they are such as conduce to the general welfare of our race, and such as will one day universally prevail, and believing this, we express them without he¬ sitation—others may condemn them as out of place here, but in our opinion the evils they deprecate will not be removed until they are generally de¬ nounced in works devoted to the arts. Nay, we would introduce such sentiments into school books, that children may not be taught to worship a man on account of his titles, but to revere virtue and admire well culti- 144 Flatterers of Despots [Book I vated talents wherever they are found. * We might as well (says Seneca) commend a horse for his splendid trappings, as a man for his pompous ad ditions.’ Let any unsophisticated mind peruse the dedications of European works, in almost all departments of science, for the last two centuries, and he will find every attribute of the Deity blasphemously lavished on the vilest of princes, and on titled dolts, with a degree of ardor and apparent sin¬ cerity, that is as loathsome as the grossest practices of heathen idolatry. At the same time, these individuals who thus idolize, sometimes an idiot, at others an infant, and often a brute, affect pity for the ignorance and super¬ stition of ancient pagans and modern savages. But why this display of servile adulation 1 Formerly to obtain bread: in later times to procure title, hereditary title. If there is one class of men, whose extensive knowledge of nature, and the sublimity of whose studies should lead them thoroughly to des¬ pise the tinsel and trappings of courts, and the unnatural, and to the great mass, degrading distinctions in European society, it is astronomers ; men whose researches are preeminently calculated to ennoble the mind, whose labors have elicited the highest admiration of their talents, and whose discoveries have opened sources of intellectual pleasures so refined, that pure intelligences might rejoice in them. That such men should stoop to lay at the feet of ignorant and sensual despots, their fame, their learning, and in some degree the science of which they are the conservators, and accept from those, who are immeasurably their inferiors, what are prepos¬ terously named titles of honor , i. e. puerile and artificial distinctions, which, while they profess to advance those who are already in the fore¬ most ranks of society—really lower and degrade them—titles, relics of times when men were advanced but a few steps from the savage state, and conferred by ceremonies which are the very essence of buffoonery,—is truly one of the most lamentable facts connected with the history of mo¬ dern science. Learned men by thus connecting themselves with the state, consummate an unholy, an unnatural alliance, and subject even science herself (al¬ though they may not intend it) to politicians to speculate on. They in a measure, commit suicide on their fame, by thus supporting political insti¬ tutions, that can only exist by silencing the throbbings and stifling the aspi¬ rations of the general mind after knowledge ; institutions, which, like the old errors in philosophy, are destined to be exploded forever. It will, we think, one day appear strangely incongruous, that some of the brightest luminaries of science should have turned to royal despots for factitious rank; as if they, in whose fair fame the world feels an interest, could descend from their radiant spheres to move as satellites around such, with an increase of lustre ! Who can behold without sorrow, these men rendering homage by kneeling and other more disgusting mummeries, to individuals who are not only their inferiors in every attribute that adorns humanity, but often the most atrocious of criminals, and sometimes mere insensates; to beg a por¬ tion of honor, and a title to use it! When the world becomes free and enlightened, such examples will be adduced as illustrations of the vaga¬ ries and inconsistencies of the human mind ; and patents of nobility and hereditary titles of honor, especially from such sources, will be looked upon as satires on science, on the age, and on the intellect of man. These titles form the most conspicuous feature in that system of impo¬ sition by which the European world has too long been deluded and de¬ based ; and in a political point of view, the friends of man’s inalienable rights, and of the amelioration of his condition, will always regret, that Chap. 16.] 145 Too often found among Men of Science. scientific men should have lent their example, to sustain distinctions that are a curse to the world. This conduct of' theirs, perhaps more than any other cause, tends to uphold despotism on the earth. Of their influence in this respect, modern despots are fully aware, and which they evince by their anxiety to enlist in their train, every man eminent in any department of the arts or of science; and many of these, it is to be deplored, they too often tickle with a feather, or amuse with a trinket, while they put a bridle m their lips and yoke them to their cars. The lust after titles and distinctions, incident to monarchical govern¬ ments, is in the political and moral world, what the scrofula, or ‘ king’s evil is in the physical: It destroys the healthy and natural organization of society, taints its fairest features with hereditary disease, and renders the whole corrupt. The wisdom of the fathers of our republic was not more conspicuous than their virtue, when they denounced such titles and distinctions as forever incompatible with the constitution. Sweep them from the earth and man in the eastern hemisphere would become a regene¬ rated being. Nations would no longer be kept in commotion and dread, nor their resources be consumed by political and military gladiators ; nor would the abominable boast of one people in conquering and plundering another be deemed creditable ; but when peace and virtue, science and the arts, would alone confer honor, and their most distinguished cultivators be deemed the most noble. Plato was no worshipper of Dionysius, nor Solon of Croesus ; and when the talented but unprincipled Archelaus of Macedon, drew numer¬ ous philosophers around him, by his wealth and the honors he conferred on them, Socrates refused even to visit him as loqg, said he, as bread was cheap and water plenty at Athens. Although the ancient world confirmed the name given to one of the constellations by Conon, the modern one refused to sanction a similar at¬ tempt to designate the remotest planet in our system, after the name of a king who was remarkable for his lack of intelligence—a bigot—and who, to preserve his prerogative, shed blood as water. Yet to that man, and to his son and successor, who, if he possessed more intelligence than the pa¬ rent, was the grossest sensualist of the age, and contact with whom was pollution, did some of the votaries of science kneel as to ‘the fountains of honor!’ and to receive a portion of it at their hands! while a me¬ chanic, to whose glory it will ever be mentioned, could duly appreciate the offered bauble and reject it, if not with disdain. James Watt, the ma¬ thematical instrument maker of Glasgow, the great improver of the steam- engine, who conferred more benefits on his country than all the monarchs that ever ruled over it, and all the statesmen and warriors which it ever produced—refused a title. And who ever regretted that Milton was not a knight, or Shakespeare a marquis, or Franklin a lord ; or that some of the greatest poets and philosophers, philanthropists and mechanicians, that ever lived, are known to us simply as such, without having had their names bolstered up with preposterous appendages? And who ever sup¬ posed they were less happy without them, less vigorous and successful in their researches; less respected by contemporaries, or less revered by posterity? Long after these remarks were written, M. Arago’s Memoir of Watt, reached this country, and on perusing it, we could not but smile at the dis¬ appointment expressed by the great French philosopher, that his friend was not made a peer. “When I inquired into the cause of this neglect, [he observes,] what think you was the response ? Those dignities of which you speak, I was told, are reserved for naval and military officers ; 19 146 A large Ship built by Archimedes [Book L for influential members of the House of Commons, and for members of the aristocracy. ‘ It is not the custom ,’ and I quote the very phrase, to grant these honors to scientific and literary men, to artists and engineers.” He adds, “so much for the worse for the peerage.” Well be it so. In our humble opinion, it is so much the better for the memory of Watt. What had such a man to do in a house that presses like an incubus on the ener¬ gies of his country, and the claims to a seat in which, are too often such as are disgraceful to our common nature] An infinitely higher honor awaits him ; for both Watt and his illustrious eulogist are destined to oc¬ cupy distinguished stations in that Pantheon, which is yet to be erected, whose doors will be opened only to the BENEFACTORS OF MAN¬ KIND. There are several interesting particulars mentioned by Atheneus, respect¬ ing the magnificent ship named the ‘ Syracusan/ which was built under the directions of Archimedes, and to which we have alluded. From the follow¬ ing brief description, it will be perceived, that for richness of decoration; real conveniencies and luxuries, (for even that of a library was not over¬ looked,) she rivalled, if she did not excel, our justly admired packets and steam ships. Three hundred carpenters were employed in building this vessel, which was completed in one year. The timber for the planks and ribs were obtained partly from Mount Etna, and partly from Italy ; other materials from Spain, and hemp for cordage from the vicinity of the Rhone. She was every where secured with large copper nails, [bolts] each of which weighed ten pounds and upwards. At equal distances all round the ex¬ terior were statues of Atlas, nine feet in height, supporting the upper decks and triglyphs; besides which the whole outside was adorned with paintings; and environed with ramparts or guards of iron, to prevent an enemy from boarding her. She had three masts ; for two of these, trees sufficiently large were obtained without much difficulty, but a suitable one for the mainmast, was not procured for some time. A swine-herd acci¬ dentally discovered one growing on the mountains of Bruttia. She was launched by a few hands, by means of a helix, or screw machine invented by Archimedes for the purpose, and it appears that she was sheathed with sheet lead. a Twelve anchors were on board, four of which were of wood, and eight of iron. Grappling irons were disposed all round, which by means of suitable engines could be thrown into enemies’ ships. Upon each side of this vessel were six hundred young men fully armed, and an equal number on the masts and attending the engines for throwing stones. Soldiers, [modern marines] were also employed on board, and they were supplied with ammunition, i. e. stones and arrows, ‘by little boys that were below,’ [the powder monkies of a modern man of war,] who sent them up in baskets by means of pulleys. She had twenty ranges of oars. Upon a rampart was an engine invented by Archimedes, which could throw arrows and stones of three hundred pounds, to the distance of a 6tadium, [a furlong] besides others for defence, and suspended in chains ■of brass. She seems to have been what is now called ‘ a three decker/ for there were * three galleries or corridors/ from the lowest of which, the sailors went down by ladders to the hold. In the middle one, were thirty rooms, in each of which were four beds ; the floors were paved with small stones “European ships were sheathed with sheet lead in the 17th century, at which lime also wooden sheathing was in vogue. See Colliers’ Diet. Vol. i. Art. England. for Hiero, two centuries B. C. 147 Chap. Ib.J of different colors, (mosaics) representing scenes from Homer’s Iliad The doors, windows and ceilings were finished with ‘ wonderful art,’ and embellished with every kind of ornament. The kitchen is mentioned as on this deck and next to the stern, also three large rooms for eating. In the third gallery were lodgings for the soldiers, and a gymnasium or place of exercise. There were also gardens in this vessel, in which various plants were arranged with taste ; and among them walks, propor¬ tioned to the magnitude of the ship, and shaded by arbors of ivy and vines, whose roots were in large vessels filled with earth. Adjacent to these was a room, named the ‘ apartment of Venus,’ the floor of which was paved with agate and other precious stones : the walls, roof and windows were of cypress wood, and adorned with vases, statues, paint¬ ings, and inlaid with ivory. Another room, the sides and windows of which were of box wood, contained a library ; the ceilings represented the heavens, and on the top or outside was a sun dial. Another apart¬ ment was fitted up for bathing. The water was heated in three large copper cauldrons, and the bathing vessel was made of a single stone of variegated colors. It contained sixty gallons. There were also ten sta¬ bles placed on both sides of the vessel, together with straw and corn for the horses, and conveniences for the horsemen and their servants. At certain distances, pieces of timber projected, upon which were piles of wood, ovens, mills, and other contrivances for the services of life. At the ship’s head was a large reservoir of fresh water, formed of plank and pitched. Near it was a conservatory for fish, lined with sheet lead, and containing salt water; although the well or hold was extremely deep, one man, Atheneus says, could pump out all the water that leaked into her, by a screw pump which Archimedes adapted to that purpose. There were probably other hydraulic machines on board, for the plants, oathing apparatus, and kitchen, &c. The upper decks were supplied with water by pipes of earthenware and of lead; the latter, most like¬ ly, extending from pumps or other engines that raised the liquid; for there is reason to believe that machines analogous to forcing pumps were at that time known. The ‘ Syracusan’ was laden with corn and sent as a present to the King of Egypt, upon which her name was changed to that of the ‘ Alex¬ andria.’ Magnificent as this vessel was, she appears to have been sur¬ passed by one subsequently built by Ptolemy Philopater; a description of which is given by Montfaucon, in the fourth volume of his antiquities. For the Spiral Pump of Wirtz, see the end of the 3d Book 148 Chain Pump. [Book 1. CHAPTER XVII. The Chain Pump— Not mentioned by Vitruvius—Its supposed origin—Resemblance between it and the common pump—Not used by the Hindoos, Egyptians, Greeks or Romans—Derived from China— Description of the Chinese Pump and the various modes of propelling it—Chain Pump from Agricola— Paternoster Pumps—Chain Pump of Besson—Old French Pump from Belidor—Superiority of the Chi¬ nese Pump—Carrieij by the Spaniards and Dutch to their Asiatic possessions—Best mode of mailing and using it—Wooden Chains—Chain Pump in British ships of war—Dampier—Modern improvements —Dutch Pump—Cole’s Pump and experiments—Notice of Chain Pumps in the American Navy—De¬ scription of those in the United States Ship Independence—Chinese Pump introduced into America by Van Braam—Employed in South America—Recently introduced into Egypt—Used as a substitute for Water Wheels—Peculiar feature in Chinese ship building—Its advantages. The chain pump, although not described by Vitruvius, is introduced at this place, because it seems to be the connecting link between the chain of pots and the machine of Ctesibius. Some writers suppose it to be derived from the former ; nor is the supposition improbable. Numerous local cir¬ cumstances would frequently prevent the chain of pots from being used in a vertical position, and when its direction deviated considerably from the perpendicular, some mode of protecting the loaded vessels while as¬ cending rugged banks, &c. became necessary. An open trough or wood¬ en gutter through which they might glide, was a simple and obvious de¬ vice, and one that would occur to most people ; but such a contrivance could not have been long in use before the idea must have been suggested, that pieces of plank or any solid substance which would occupy the entire width of the gutter, might be substituted for the pots, since they would obviously answer the same purpose by pushing the water before them when drawn up by the chain. If this was the process by which the transi¬ tion of the chain of pots into the chain pump was effected, there can be little doubt, that old engineers soon perceived the advantages of covering the top of the gutter, and converting it into a tube ; as the machine could then be used with equal facility, in a perpendicular, as in any other position. It may be deemed of little consequence to ascertain the circumstances which led to the invention of the chain pump ; yet a knowledge of the period tohen this took place would be of more than usual interest, on ac¬ count of the analogy between it and the ordinary pump, and of the rela¬ tionship that appears to exist between them. The introduction of a tube through which water is raised by pallets or pistons, is so obvious an ap¬ proach to the latter, that it becomes desirable to ascertain which of them bears the relation of parent to the other, or which of them preceded the other. But to what ancient people are we to look for its authors 1 Not to the Hindoos, or the Egyptians, for it is incredible that either of these people should have lost it, if it was ever in their possession. Its cheap and simple construction—its efficiency and extensive application, would certainly have induced them to retain it in preference to others of less value. Nor does it appear to have been known to the Greeks ; for their navigators would never have erqployed the screw as a ship pump, (as Atheneus says they did,) if they had been acquainted with this machine. Of all hydraulic tube machines, the screw seems the most unsuitable for such a purpose. It requires to be inclined at an angle that is not only inconvenient but generally unattainable in ships. But if the Greeks had Chain Pump. 149 Chap. 17.J the chain pump, the Romans would have received it from them; whereas, from the silence of Vitruvius, it is clear that his countrymen were not ac quainted with it. As an engineer, he would have been sensible of its value, and would have preferred it in many cases, in raising water from coffer-dams, docks, &c. to the tympanum and noria, which he informs us were employed in such cases. a Arch. Book v, Cap. 12. Moreover, if it was employed by the Romans, it would have been preserved in use, as well as other machines for the same purpose, either in Europe or in their African or Asiatic possessions; but we have no proof of its use at all in any of the latter, nor yet in the former, till comparatively modern times. But if the origin and improvement of the chain pump is due to one nation more than another, to whom are we indebted for itl To a people as distinguished for their ingenuity and the originality of their inventions, as for their antiquity and the peculiarity of many of their customs ; and who by their system of excluding all foreigners from entering the country have long concealed from the rest of the world many primitive contrivan¬ ces, viz. the Chinese. This singular people appear to have had little or no communication with the celebrated nations of antiquity, a cir¬ cumstance to which their ignorance of the chain pump may be attribut¬ ed. This machine has been used in China from time immemorial, and as connected with their agriculture, has undergone no change what¬ ever. The great requisites in their husbandry “ are manure and wa¬ ter, and to obtain these, all their energies are devoted.” Of such im¬ portance is this instrument to irrigate the soil, that every laborer is in possession of one; its use being “ as familiar as that of a hoe to every Chinese husbandman,” “ an implement to him not less useful than a spade to an European peasant.” It is worthy of remark too, that they often use it, in what may be supposed to have been its original form, viz. as an open gutter ; a circumstance which serves to strengthen the opinion of its origin and great antiquity among them. Like the peculiarity of their compass, which with them points to the south, it is a proof of their not having received it from other people. “ The Chinese [observes Staunton] appear indeed to have strong claims to the credit of having been indebted only to them¬ selves for the invention of the tools, necessary in the primary and neces¬ sary arts of life ; these have something peculiar in their construction, some difference, often indeed slight; but always clearly indicating that, whether better or worse fitted for the same purposes as those in use in other coun¬ tries, the one did not serve as a model for the other.” b But the general form of chain pumps in China is that of a square tube or trunk made of plank ; and of various dimensions acccording to the power employed to work them. Those that are portable, with one of which every peasant is furnished, are commonly six or seven inches in diameter, and from eight to ten feet in length. Some are even longer, for Van Braam, who was several years in China, and who, as a native of Hol¬ land, was a close observer of every hydraulic device, when speaking of them, remarks, that “ they use them to raise water to the height of ten or twelve feet; a single man -works this machine, and even carries it wherever it is wanted, as I have had occasion to remark several times in the province of Quangtong near Vampou.” c A small wheel or roller is attached to each end of the trunk, over which an endless chain is passed. Pallets, or a It was preferred by the architect of Black Friars Bridge, London, to raise the water from the Caissons. b Embassy to China. Lon. 1798. Vol. iii, 102. c Embassy of the Dutch E. I. Company. Lon. 1798. Vol. i. 75. 150 Chinese Chain Tump. [Book I square pieces of plank, fitted so as to fill (like the piston of a commor pump) the bore of the tube, are secured to the chain. When the machine is to be used, one end of the trunk is placed in the water, and the other rests on the bank over which it is to be raised. The upper wheel or roller is put in motion by a crank applied to its axle, and the pallets as they ascend the trunk, push the water that enters it before them, till it is discharged above. In machines of this description one half of the chain is always outside of the tube and exposed to view, but in others the trunk is divided by a plank, so as to form two separate tubes, one above another, and hence the chain rises in the lower one and returns down the upper. These pumps are represented as exceedingly effective, delivering a volume of water equal to the bore of the trunk. Whenever a breach occurs in one of their canals, or repairs are to be made, hundreds of the neighboring peasants are summoned to the work, and in a few hours will empty a large section of it by these machines. When a pump is intended to raise a great quantity of water at once, it is made proportionably larger, and is moved by a very simple tread wheel j or rather by a series of wooden arms projecting from various parts of a lengthened axle, which imparts motion to the chain, as represented in the figure. No. 64. Chinese Chain Pump. These arms are shaped like the letter T, and the upper side of each is made smooth for the foot to rest on. The axle turns upon two upright pieces of wood, kept steady by a pole stretched across them. The ma¬ chine being fixed, men treading upon the projecting arms, and supporting themselves upon the beam across the uprights, communicate a rotary mo¬ tion to the chain, the pallets attached to which draw up a constant and copious stream of water. Another mode of working them, which Staun¬ ton observed only at Chu-san, was by yoking a buffalo, or other animal, to a large horizontal cog wheel, working into a vertical one, fixed on the I Chap. 17.] 'Paternoster Pumps. 151 same shaft with the wheel that imparts motion to the chain, as represent¬ ed. in figures 49 and 54. a The description of this machine by Staunton is similar to that previously given by the missionaries, and they .enumerate the various modes of propelling it which he has mentioned. 1 * But Nieuhoff, with the characteristic sagacity of his countrymen, noticed either these, or some other machines for the same purpose, propelled by wind. When speaking of the populous city of Caoyeu, and its environs, he observes, “ they boast likewise of store of windmills, whose sails are made of mats. The great product of the country consists of rice, which the peasant stands obliged to look after very narrowly, lest it perish upon the ground by too much moisture, or too much heat and drought. The windmills, therefore, are to draw out the water in a moist season, and to let it in as they think fit.” That part of the country, he continues, is “ full of such mills.” Several of them are represented in a plate, but without showing the pumps moved by them. 0 These were very likely to elicit the notice of a Dutchman; for draining mills, worked by ho-rses and wind, have been used in Holland since the 14th century. They consisted however principally of the noria and chain of pots. It is uncertain wlien the chain pump was first employed in Europe ; whether it was made known by Marco Paulo, Ibn Batuta, or subsequent ravelers in China, or was previously developed and introduced into use, independently of any information from abroad. An imperfect machine is described by several old authors. This was a common pump log, or wooden cylinder placed perpendicularly in a well; its upper end reach¬ ing above the level to which the water was to be raised, and having a lateral spout, as in ordinary pumps, for the discharge. A pulley was se¬ cured to one side of the log near the lower orifice, and a drum or wheel above the upper one. One end of a rope was let down the cylinder, and after being passed over the pulley was drawn up on the outside, and both ends were then spliced or united over the drum. To this rope, a number of leathern bags or stuffed globular cushions were secured at regular dis¬ tances. The diameter of each was equal to the bore of the cylinder. Ribs were nailed across the periphery of the drum, and between these, the cushions were so arranged as to fall, in order to prevent the rope from slipping. When the drum was put in motion, the cushions entered in suc¬ cession the lower orifice of the pump, (which was two or three feet below the surface of the water,) and pushed up the liquid before them, till it es¬ caped through the spout. Machines of this description were formerly employed in mines ; chains of iron being substituted for the ropes, and sometimes globes of metal in place of the cushions. The latter are figured by Kircher in his Mundus Subterraneus, Tom. ii, 194. Among the earliest of modern authors who have described these pumps is Agricola. He has given five differ¬ ent figures of them, but they differ merely in the apparatus for working them, according to the power employed, whether of men, animals, or water. The following cut., No. 65 is from his ‘ De Re Metallica.’ It exhibits two separate views of the lower end of the pump, showing the mode of attach¬ ing the pulley, and the passage of the rope and cushions over it. From the resemblance of the chains or ropes and cushions, to the rosary , or string of beads on which Roman catholics count their prayers, these machines » Staunton, Vol. iii, 315. •> Duhalde’s China. Paris, 1735. Tom. ii, 66, 67. c Ogilvy’s Translation. Lon. 1673, pp. 34, 85—and Histoire Generate. Amsterdam, 1749. Tom. viii, 81,82. 152 Chain Tump from Agricola .. [Book I. be can a known as ‘Paternoster pumps.’ For the same reason they are named Chapelet by the French, in common with the chain of pots. No. 65. Chain Pump from Agricola. The next author who describes these pumps, that has fallen in our way, is Besson. Plate 50, of his ‘ Theatre Des Instrumens,’ is a representation of a double one. Two cylinders are placed parallel to each other, so that the chain passes through both. It is shown as worked by wind. A ver¬ tical shaft with sails is secured under the dome of an open tower; a cog wheel on the lower end of the shaft turns a trundle or pinion which is fix¬ ed on the horizontal axle of the drum, that carries the chain. Thus, when the wind turned the sails, water was raised through one of the cylinders, and when their motion was reversed by change of the wind, the liquid was elevated in the other. Instead of stuffed cushions, as in the preceding figure, pistons, resembling somewhat those of fire engines, or forcing pumps, i. e. double cupped leathers are shown, (‘ Coquilles fond contrc fond,') the earliest instance of their use that we have met with. Besson, who appears to claim the addition of the second cylinder as an improve¬ ment of his own, was a French mathematician and mechanician, and spent a great part of his life in mechanical researches ; in the prose¬ cution of which he visited foreign countries. His * Theatre’ contains such devices as he collected abroad as well as those invented by himself. It was published at Lyons, with commentaries, after his decease, by Beroald, but the privilege to print was accorded to himself, ten years pre¬ vious to the date of its publication, i. e. in 1568.“ Kircher also figures the chain pump with two cylinders. The imper¬ fect mechanism and enormous friction of these old machines confined their application to a limited extent in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Desaguliers left them unnoticed ; and at the time Switzer wrote (1729) they had been discontinued in England. “ I might (he ob¬ serves) from Bockler and others, have produced almost an infinite number “ Bayle, in his dictionary, says Beroald was twenty-two years of age when he publish¬ ed “some commentaries on the mechanics of James Besson; but he had scarce tried his fortune that way, when he ran after the philsopher’s stone." Old French Chain Pump. 153 Chap. 17.] of drafts of engines, which are placed under the terms Budromia and Hydrotechnema, k.c. the first signifying the methods of raising water by buckets; and the other by globes or figures of any regular shape, fixed to a rope, which rope being fastened at each end, and passing through an elm or other pipe, which reaches from the bottom of a well to the height to which the water ict to be conveyed, brings up the water with it; but these kind of engines being out of date , I shall pass over them.” a Belidor has described one that was used in the ship yards and docks at Marseilles, which is represented in No. 66. The lower pulley was dispensed with ; and the face of the pallets or pistons, which were hemispheres of wood, were leathered. It was worked by two galley slaves, who were relieved every hour. No. 66. Old French Chain Pump. Such appears to have been the general construction of the chain pump in Europe, until an increasing intercourse with the Chinese led to the in¬ troduction of the machine as made by that people. The credit of this is, we believe, due to the Dutch. From the peculiar location of Holland with regard to the sea, hydraulic engines have at all times been of too much importance to escape the examination of her intelligent travelers. But it perhaps will be said, there is no essential or very obvious distinction between the old chain pump of Europe and that of China : admitting this, still there must have been something peculiar either in the construction or mode of working the latter, to have produced the superior results ascrib¬ ed to them; and to have elicited the admiration of the Jesuits and all the early travelers in China. No stronger proof of their superiority need be adduced, than the fact of their being carried, in the 17th century from China to Manilla by the Spaniards , and to Batavia by the Dutch) 3 Hence they were previously unknown in those parts of Asia, as much so as in Holland and Spain. Navarrette mentions them with great praise : he thought there was not a better invention in the world to draw water from wells and tanks. c And Gamelli (ir» 1695) describes them as machines, which, in his opinion, Chinese ingenuity alone could invent/ 1 Montanus mentioned them as novel. He describes one as an “ engine made of four square plank, holding great store of water, which with iron chains, they * Hydrostaticks, 313. b Histoire £J6n6rale, Tom. viii, 81. c Ibid. d Ibid, Torn, vii, 267 20 154 Chain Pumps m Ships. [Book L hale up like buckets.”" 1 How such intelligent men as the Jesuits undoubt¬ edly were, could use such language, if an effective chain pump was then known in Europe, it is difficult to conceive. Although the Chinese pump has been mentioned by all travelers, no one has entered sufficiently into details, to enable a mechanic to realize the construction of the chain—mode of fixing the pallets—where they are attached to it, (at the centre, or on one side,)—nor how they are car¬ ried over the wheels or rollers. One cause of the superiority of these oriental machines over those of Europe, was the small degree of fric¬ tion from the rubbing of the pallets, when passing through the trunk; wood sliding readily over wood, when both are wet: another was the accuracy with which the working parts were made. The experience of ages, and the immense number of workmen constantly employed in fabricating them, through every part of the empire, had brought them to great perfection: but the position in which they are worked, also contributed to increase the quan¬ tity of water raised by them, for except in particular locations, they are al¬ ways inclined to the horizon, as shown in No. 64. Nowit has been ascer¬ tained that to construct and use a chain pump to the best advantage, the dis¬ tance between the pallets should be equal to their breadth, and the inclination of the trunk about 24°, 21'. When thus arranged, according to Belidor, it produces a maximum effect. 5 The author just named speaks of one at Strasburgh, the chain of which was made of wood, which being light and flexible, was very efficient, requiring much less labor to work it than those in which the chains were iron. This leads us to a remark which we do not recollect to have seen in any English work, viz. that in most if not in all the Chinese smaller pumps, the chains are of that material. One of them is thus described by the Jesuits : “ Une machine hydraulique, dont le jeu est aussi simple que la composition. Elle est composee d'une chaine de hois, ou d’une sorte de chapelet de petites planches quarrees de six ou sept pouces, qui sont comme enfilee parallelement a d’egales dis¬ tances. Cette chaine passe dans un tube quarre,” &c. c In the latter part of the 17th century, chain pumps were used in British men-of-war. In Dampier’s Voyage to New Holland in the ‘Roe¬ buck,’ a national vessel, he mentions one. This ship on returning home sprung a leak near the Island of Ascension, and the water poured in so fast, he relates, that “ the chain pump could not keep her free—I set the hand pump to work also, and by ten o’clock, sucked her—I wore the ship and put her head to the southward, to try if that would ease her, and on that tack the chain pump just kept her free.” English ships of war now carry four of those pumps, and three common ones, all fixed in the same well; whereas it would appear from Dampier, that they had formerly but one of each. “ In the afternoon, (he observes,) my men were all employed pumping with both pumps.” Shortly afterwards the ship foundered/ 1 The vessels of Columbus were furnished with pumps; and so were those of Magalhanes ; but these were probably the common instruments referred to above as ‘ hand pumps.’ e In Dampier’s time chain pumps were very imperfect. The chain, and the wheel, which carried it, were inaccurately and badly made ; hence when the machine was worked, the former was constantly liable to slip over the latter; and the consequent violent jerks, from the great weight of the water on the pallets, often burst the chain asunder, and under cir- “ Atlas Chinensis, translated by Ogilvy. Lon, 1671, page 675. b Arch. Hydraulique, Tom. i, 363. c Histoire Generate, Tom. viii, 82, and Duhalde Tom. ii, 66. d Dampier’s Voyages, Vol. iii, 191, 193. 'Irving’s Columbus Vol ii, 127, and Burney’s Voyages, Vol. i, 112. Chap. 17.] 155 British Chain Bump, cumstances which rendered it difficult and sometimes impossible to repair it. These defects, which in some cases led to the loss of vessels and of hu¬ man life, at length excited the attention of European mechanics, and in the following century, numerous projects were brought forward to im¬ prove the chain pump, or to supersede it. In 1760, Mr. Abbot invented a ship pump, which was represented as of a very simple construction, and which threw “ five hundred hogsheads of water in a minute; [!] the handle by which it is worked, is in the manner of a common winch, which turns with the utmost facility either to the right or the left.” a In the following year, the States of Holland granted to M. Liniere, “ an exclusive privilege for twenty-five years, for a pump, which upon trial on board a Dutch man-of-war, and in the presence of the commissioners of the ad¬ miralty, being worked by three men, raised from a depth of twenty-two feet, four tons of water in a minute, that is, 240 tons of water in an hour.” b In 1768, Mr. Cole introduced some considerable improvements in English ship pumps. An experiment made in that year is very interesting, as it shows the imperfections of the old ones, especially the enormous amount oi friction to which they were subject. “ Lately, a chain pump on a new construction was tried on board his Majesty’s ship Seaford, in Block House Hole, wljich gave great satisfaction. There were present, Admiral Sir John Moore, a number of sea officers and a great many spectators The event of the trial stands thus : The New Bump , Mr. Cole’s : Four men pumped out one ton of water in 43^- seconds. Two men pumped out one ton in 55 seconds.” The Old Bump: Seven men pumped out one ton in 76 seconds. Four men pumped out one ton in 55 seconds. Two men could not move it.” c The chain in Cole’s pump was made like a watch chain, or those which communicate motion to the pistons of ordinary fire engines, l. e. every other link was formed of two plates of iron, whose ends lapped over those of a single one, and secured by a bolt at each end. These bolts formed a joint on which they moved ; but instead of their ends being riveted, one was formed into a button head, and a slit made through the other, for the admission of a spring key, so that they could be taken out at pleasure. By this device, whenever a link or bolt was broken or worn out, another one, from a store of them kept on hand for the purpose, could be supplied in a few moments. In some experiments, the chain was pur¬ posely separated, and dropped into the well in a ship’s hold, whence it was taken up, repaired, and the pump again set to work in two minutes. Chains similar to these had been previously employed by Mr. Mylne in the pumps that raised the water from the caissons at Black Friars Bridge. The pistons were formed of two plates of brass or iron, having a diskof thick leather between them, of the same diameter as the bore of the pump, i he edges of the leathers, when wet, do not bear hard against the sides of the pump ; indeed it is not necessary that they should even touch; for the water that escapes past one, js received into the next compartment below; and w hen a rapid motion is imparted to the pistons, the inertia of the mov¬ ing column prevents in a great measure any from descending. The wheel which carries the chain is generally made like the trundles in mills, viz. two t in iron disks or rings are secured about eight or nine inches apart, upon the axle, and are united by several bolts at their circumference. The * London Magazine for 1760, p. 321 b Ibid. 1762, p. 283. c Ibid. 1768, p. 499. 156 Chain Pumps [Book I distance between these bolts is such that the pistons fall in between them, and are carried round by them. Sometimes however, the links have hooks, which take hold of the bolts. A lower wheel is now dispensed with, and the end of the pump slightly curved towards the descending chain, to facilitate the entrance of the pistons. These ma¬ chines are generally worked in ships of war by means of a long crank attached to the axle, at which a number of men can work. In some ves¬ sels they are moved by a capstan.* The pump cylinders are of iron, and sometimes of brass, the latter being inclosed within and protected by wooden ones. No. 67. Chain Pump in the U. S. Ship Independence. For the-following facts connected with the use of the chain pump in the United States Navy, we are indebted to Mr. Hart, Naval Constructor in the New-York Navy Yard. The first United States ship of war, which had one, was the ‘ Boston built at Boston, in 1799. Mr. Hart’s father made the pump. The chain was formed of common ox chains, and the wheel which carried it was-of wood, having forked pieces of iron driven into its periphery, between which the chain was received : the cyl¬ inders were common pump logs of six inches bore. This imperfect ma¬ chine was replaced the following year, by one formed after a French model, the chain and cylinders being of copper. In 1802, the Frigate Con¬ stitution had two similar ones placed in her ; and about the same time, they were adopted in other public vessels; but in the course of a few years were discontinued generally, either from the prejudice of the seamen, or from the increased labor and expense of repairing the pis¬ tons. In ordinary pumps, a single box or piston only, has to be re-leath- »The vessels of the exploring expedition sent out by the British admiralty, under the command of Capt. Owen, had their chain pumps fitted to work by the capstan, under the impression that it was a more economical mode than the crank, of applying per¬ sonal labor. ‘ Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa, Arabia and Mada¬ gascar, in 1821.’ Vol i, p. 14. N.York Ed. 1833. in American Ships. 157 Chap. 17.] ered; but in the chain pump, from thirty to fifty have to be renewed when worn out. The chain pumps in the British sloop of war Cyane were taken out when she was captured, and common pumps put in their place. Recently a change of opinion respecting these pumps has taken place, for within a few years they have to a limited extent been re¬ introduced into the navy. In 1837, the Independence was furnished with two of them ; and in 1S38, the same number were placed in the Ohio • both vessels still retain the ordinary pumps. A description of one of those on board the Independence, which is now fitting for sea in this harbor, will give a correct idea of them all. See No. 67. Two copper cylinders, seven inches diameter, and about twenty-two feet long, extend from the surface of the main gun-deck to the well. The one in which the chain descends, is continued ten or twelve inches above the deck to prevent the water that is raised, from returning through it again to the well. A horizontal wrought iron shaft is placed between the cylinders and supported by a stout frame on which its journals turn. On this shaft, a strong cast iron wheel, two feet in diameter, is secured, having twelve arms radiating like the spokes of a carriage wheel from the hub. A (No. 67) represents two of these arms with a portion of the shaft. A re- . cess is formed at the extremities to receive the chain, and prevent it from slipping off on either side. Figs. 1 and 2, represent the links. They are of copper, seven inches long, one and a half inch wide, and one quarter of an inch thick, and are similar to those in Cole’s pumps. The pallets or pistons are formed on the middle of every alternate link; that is, on those which are made of a single piece. A circular plate about a quarter of an inch thick, is cast (see fig. 1,) of a diameter rather less than the bore of the cylinders. Another loose plate of the same dimensions (fig. 3,) has an opening in its centre to allow it to pass over the link and lay upon the other. Between these, a disk of leather is introduced, i. e. a circular piece just like fig. 3, but of a diameter equal to the bore of the cylinder. This is first placed on the fixed plate in fig. 1, then fig. 3 is laid over it, and to secure the whole, a key or wedge is driven through a slit in the link, just above the surface of fig. 3, and thus compresses the leather be¬ tween them. When the pumps are used, long cranks are applied to each end of the shaft, so that fifteen or twenty men can be engaged at the same time in working them. In the Independence , these cranks extend across the deck, and thereby interrupt the passage way. They should in all public vessels be arranged, if possible, ‘ fore and aft.’ The arrows show the di¬ rection of the chain. The introduction of the chain pump into ships is probably due to the Chinese, as they use it in their sea junks; and it is not likely that this ap¬ plication of it is of recent date among them. a The early missionaries thought that buckets only were employed in raising bilge water from the holds. It is not much used we believe in the French navy. In the Dictionnaire de Trevoux, it is named the English pump. The Chinese chain pump was introduced into the United States by Andre Everard Van Braam, who was several years chief of the Dutch East India Company in China, and who settled in South Carolina at the close of the revolutionary war. In 1794, he was appointed second in the Dutch embassy to Pekin, and in 1796, he returned and settled near Phila¬ delphia. In his account of the embassy, a translation of which was pub¬ lished at London in 1798, and dedicated by him to General Washington, and to which we have heretofore referred—he remarks, speaking of the 6 ‘The Chinese,’ by J. F. Davis, vol. ii, 290 158 Chinese Ship-building. [Book J Chinese pumps, “ I have introduced the use of them into the United States of America, where they are of great utility in risers, in conse¬ quence of the little labor they require.” (Yol. i, 74.) We are not aware that they are much used in this country at the present time. The chain pump is employed in the diamond districts of Brazil. M. Mawe, in his Travels, has figured and described it as used there. It has also been re¬ cently introduced into Egypt, where it is more likely to become domi¬ ciliated, than the atmospheric and forcing pump, which Belzoni endeavored in vain to establish ; although St. John seems to think even it is rather too complex for the present state of the mechanic arts in the land of the Pharaohs. “ Windmills for raising water, and chain pumps, have been introduced into Egypt; but as these are machines which require some re¬ gard to the principles of good workmanship, they are by no means fitted for general use.” Egypt and Mohammed Ali, vol. i, 14. The chain pump, as well as the screw, noria, chain of pots, &c. has been adopted as a first mover. Placed perpendicularly on the side of a precipice, or wherever a small stream of water can be conveyed into its upper orifice, and can escape from its lower one, the motion of the chain is reversed by the weight of the liquid column acting on the pistons. A wheel similar to the upper one is fixed below, over which the chain also passes; and from the axle of either wheel the power may be taken. A patent for this application of the chain pump was granted in England, in 1784. There is another device of the Chinese, which is worthy of imitation : and considering the increased security it offers to floating property, and the additional safety of the lives of navigators, it is surprising that it has not been adopted by Americans and Europeans—viz. the division of the holds of ships by water-tight partitions. The Chinese divide the holds of their sea vessels into about a dozen distinct compartments with strong plank; and the seams are caulked with a cement composed of lime, oil, and the scrapings of bamboo. This composition renders them imper¬ vious to water, and is greatly preferable to pitch, tar and tallow, since it is said to be incombustible. This division of their vessels seems to have been well experienced ; for the practice is universal throughout the em¬ pire. Hence it sometimes happens that one merchant has his goods safely conveyed in one division, while those of another, suffer considerable da¬ mage from a leak in the compartment in which they are placed. A ship may strike against a rock and yet not sink, for the water entering by the fracture will be confined to the division where the injury occurs. To the adoption of a similar plan in European or American merchantmen, beside the opposition of popular prejudice and the increased expense, an objec¬ tion might arise from the reduction it would occasion in the quantity of freight, and the increased difficulty of stowing bulky articles. It remains to be considered how far these objections ought to prevail against the greater security of the vessel, crew and cargo. At any rate, such objec¬ tions do not apply to ships of war, in which to carry very heavy burdens, 2s not an object of consideration. Staunton’s Embassy, vol. ii, 136. Chap. 18.] Ancient America. 159 CHAPTER XVIII. On the hydraulic works of the ancient inhabitants of America: Population of Anahuac—Ferocity of the Spanish invaders—Subject of ancient hydraulic works interesting—Aqueducts of the Toltecs—Ancient Mexican wells—Houses supplied with water by pipes—Palace of Motezuma—Perfection of Mexican works in metals—Cortez—Market in ancient Mexico—Hydraulic works—Fountains and jets d’eau—No- ria and other machines—Palenque: its aqueducts, hieroglyphics, &c.—Wells in ancient and modern Yucatan—Relics of former ages, and traditions of the Indians. Hydraulic works of the Peruvians: Customs relating to water—Humanity of the early Incas—Aqueducts and reservoirs—Resemblance of Peruvian and Egyptian customs—Garcilasso—Civilization in Peru before the times of the Incas—Giants —Wells—Stupendous aqueducts, and other monuments—Atabalipa—Pulleys—Cisterns of gold and sil¬ ver in the houses of the Incas—Temples and gardens supplied by pipes—Temple at Cusco: its water works and utensils—Embroidered cloth—Mauco Capac. It has been a subject of regret, that we have been unable to obtain any specific information, respecting the employment of machines to raise water on the American continents, previous to the visit of Europeans in the 15th and 16th centuries. And yet there can, we think, be scarcely a doubt, that in those countries where civilization and the arts had made considerable progress, as Peru, Chili, Guatimala, and Mexico, such ma¬ chines had long been in use. Unfortunately, accounts of those countries by early European writers, contain little else than details of the success¬ ful villany of those savage adventurers, who, under the cloak of religion, and by the most revolting perfidy, robbed the natives of their indepen¬ dence, their property, and myriads of them of their lives. It is impossible to reflect on the great population of ancient Anahuac— the progress which the natives had made in the arts—the separation of trades and professions—their extensive manufactures—the splendor of their buildings—their laws—the rich produce of their highly cultivated fields—the freedom and prosperity of the republics of Tlascala, and the comparative general happiness of the inhabitants; with the utter desola¬ tion brought on them and their country by the Spaniards—without feeling emotions of unmitigated indignation. No one can read even Solis, the advocate of Cortez and the palliator of his conduct, without being thrilled with horror at the uniform treachery, cruelty, and blasphemy of that man His watchword of ‘ the Holy Ghost,’ while slaughtering the natives on one occasion like sheep, conveys but an imperfect idea of his ferocity and in¬ difference to their sufferings, and of the disgusting affectation of promoting Christianity, under which he pretended to act. ‘Religion,’ says Solis, ‘was always his principal care.’ The Spaniards affected to shudder at the san¬ guinary gods of the Mexicans, which required human sacrifices—while they immolated in cold blood, hecatombs of the natives to the demons they themselves worshipped—viz. avarice and dominion —until the land was filled with slaughter, and whitened with the bones of their victims. It is said, that “ in seventeen years, they destroyed above six millions of them.” No romance ever equalled in horror the tragedies per¬ formed by Almagro, Valdivia, Cortez and Pizarro—and yet these men have been held up as examples of heroism, and our youth have been taught to admire, and of course to emulate ‘ the glory of Cortez.’ It is more than probable that the people, who, in remote times, in¬ habited the southern continent and Mexico, remains of some of whose 160 Hydraulic Works [Book I works, rival in magnitude those of Egypt and India, and many of them, (the roads and aqueducts particularly,) equalled in utility the noblest works of Greece and Rome—were not without hydraulic en¬ gines ; and had descriptions of them been preserved, they would have furnished more interesting, and perhaps more certain data, respecting the peopling of America, and of the origin of the Toltec and Astec races, than any others derived from the useful arts. From the analogy there is between some of the arts, manners, and customs of the ancient people of Mexico and South America, and those of Asia, we might suppose that the swape, bucket and windlass, noria, and chain of pots, and perhaps the chain pump were known to them; but of this we have met with no direct proof. Were the fact established, that they were in possession of these machines, it would greatly tend to prove their Asiatic origin in post¬ diluvian times ; while on the other hand, if lacking these, they had others peculiar to themselves, such a fact would be one of the most interesting circumstances connected with the early history of these continents ; and might be adduced to sustain the hypothesis of those who consider this hemisphere as having been uninterruptedly occupied by man, from times anterior to Noah’s flood; and consequently many of the machines, arts, and productions of the inhabitants peculiar to themselves. The Toltecs, we are informed, introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton ; they built cities, made roads, and constructed those great pyramids which are yet admired; and of which the faces are very accurately laid out; they could found metals, and cut the hardest stone—they knew the use of hieroglyplhcal painting, and they had a solar year, more perfect than that of the Greeks and Romans. “Few nations (says Humboldt) moved such great masses as were moved by the Mexicans,” proofs of which are still found among the ruins of their temples. The calender stone, and the sacrifice stone, in the great square at Mexico, containing 282 and 353 cubic feet; a carved stone dug up, which w r as upwards of 22feet in length, 19 feet in breadth, and about 10 deep—are examples; and the colossal statue of the Goddess Teoyaomiqui , is another. 4 And what is more to our purpose, remains of aqueducts, of surprising magnitude and workmanship, are found throughout Chili, Mexico, and Peru. Nor had these arts been lost at the period of the Spanish invasion. At that time, agriculture, artificial irrigation, and many other of the mechanic arts, especially those which relate to the metals, appear to have been in a more advanced state, than they have ever been in Spain, during any subsequent period. When Grijalva and his companions landed in Yuca¬ tan, (in 1518) they were astonished at the cultivation of the fields, and the beauty of the edifices—as well as at the ornaments, &c. in gold, which the natives possessed, the value of the workmanship often ‘ exceeding that of the metal.' Tlascala, (says Solis,) was at that period, “ a very populous city the houses were built of stone and brick, their roofs were flat and surrounded with galleries. The Tlascalans, says Herrera, had baths, bow¬ ers, and fountains , and whenever a new house was finished, they had feasts and dancing, &c. like the house warming of old in Europe. Every house in Zempoala had a garden with water. Ancient wells are still in use in Mexico, some of which are two and three hundred feet in depth. Water is drawn from them to irrigate the soil. The city of Cholula was located in a delightful plain ; it contained 20,000 inhabitants, and the number in its suburbs was greater. The • Clavigero says, columns of stone of one piece, 80 feet long, and 20 feet in circum¬ ference, were extant in his time, in the edifices of Mictlan. Mexico, Vol. i, 420. in Ancient Mexico. 161 Chap. 18.] * Spaniards compared it to Valladolid for its beauty and magnificence. It was a great emporium of merchandise. Strangers from distant parts of the continent flocked to it. Solis says, the streets were wide and well laid out; the buildings larger and of better architecture than those of Tlascala, and the inhabitants were principally merchants and mechanics. Cortez himself, after entering this city, thus speaks of it in a letter to Charles V. “ The inhabitants are better clothed than any we have hitherto seen. Peo¬ ple in easy circumstances wear cloaks above their dress; these cloaks differ from those of Africa, for they have pockets, though the cut, cloth and fringes are the same. The environs of the city are very fertile and well cultivated. Almost all the fields may he watered; and the city is much more beautiful than all those in Spain ; for it is well fortified, and built on level ground. I can assure your highness, that from the top of a mosque (temple) I reckoned more than four hundred towers, all of mosques. The number of inhabitants is so great that there is not an inch of ground uncultivated.” When the Spaniards reached Tezcuco, they found it as large again as Seville. It rivalled in grandeur and extent Mexico itself, and was of a much more ancient date than that capital. Herrera says, the streets were very regular, and that fresh water was brought in pipes from the mountains to every house. The principal front of the buildings extended on the borders of a spacious lake, where the causeway that lea to Mexico began. It was from this causeway, which was built of stone and lime, that the Spaniards first beheld the distant capital, with its towers and pinnacles in the midst of the lake; and on the 8th November, 1519, Cortez and his myrmidons entered that city, which then contained a great¬ er population than New-York does at present; for it had between three and four hundred thousand inhabitants. When the Spaniards entered the gates, through a bulwark of stone supported by castles, they beheld a spacious street with houses uniformly built, and the windows and battlements filled with spectators. They were received into one of Motezuma’s houses, which had been built by his father. This building, Solis remarks, vied in extent, with the principal palaces of emperors in Europe ; and had the appearance of a fortress, with thick stone walls and towers upon the flanks. The streets of the city were straight, as if drawn by a line ; and the public buildings, and houses of the nobility, which made up the greatest part of the city, were of stone and well built. The palace of Motezuma was so large a pile that it opened with thirty gates into as many different streets. The principal front took up one entire side of a spacious parade, and was of black, red and white jasper, well polished. Over the gates were the arms or sym¬ bolical figures of Motezuma or his predecessors, viz. a griffin, being half an eagle and half a lion ; the wings extended and holding a tiger in its talons. The roofs of the buildings were of cypress, cedar, and other odoriferous woods, and were ornamented with carvings of “ different foliages and relievos.” But without referring to the splendor of this un¬ fortunate monarch’s court, his luxurious mode of living, his treasures, the chair of burnished gold in which he was carried to meet Cortez, the jew¬ els of gold, pearls, and precious stones, that adorned his person and those of his attendants, and the “shoes of hammered gold,” that were bound to his feet and legs with straps, like the Roman military sandals ; it will be sufficient to notioe the market of the city for the sale of merchandise, in order to realize a tolerably correct idea of the state of the arts among the Mexicans. Nothing excited the surprise of the Spaniards so much as this market both as regarded the quantity, variety, and quality of the goods sold, and the order which prevailed. 21 162 Mechanic Arts of the Mexicans! [Book I, The Mexican works of gold and silver, sent by Cortez to Charles V. says Clavigero, “ filled the goldsmiths of Europe with astonishment.” “ Some of them were inimitable.” Among others, there were Jishes having scales alternately of gold and silver—a parrot with moveable head , tongue, and wings —an ape with moveable head and feet, and having a spindle in its hand, in the attitude of spinning. Vol. i, 413. Cortez, in a letter to Charles V. dated October 1520, says, “ the market place is twice as large as that of Seville and surrounded with an immense portico, under \yhich are exposed for sale all sorts of merchandise, eata¬ bles, ornaments made of gold, silver, lead, pewter, precious stones, bones, shells, and feathers ; delft ware, leather, and spun cotton. We find hewn stone, tiles, and timber fit for building. There are lanes for game, others for roots and garden fruits. There are houses where barbers shave the head, (with razors made of obsidian,) and there are houses resembling our apothecary shops, where prepared medicines, unguents, and plasters are sold. The market abounds with so many things, that I am unable to name them all to your highness. To avoid confusion, every species of mer¬ chandise is sold in a separate lane. Every thing is sold by the yard, (by measure) but nothing has hitherto been seen to be weighed in the market. In the midst of the great square, is a house, which I shall call Vaudencia in which ten or twelve persons sit constantly for determining any disputes which may arise respecting the sale of goods. There are other persons who mix continually with the crowd, to see that a just price is asked. We have seen them break the false measures, which they had seized from the merchants.” Solis has recorded some facts, which are too interesting to mechanics to be omitted. “ There were rows of silversmiths, who sold jewels and chains of extraordinary fashion ; n several figures of beasts in gold and silver, wrought with so much art, as raised the wonder of our artificers ; particularly some skillets with moving handles, that were so cast; besides other works of the same kind, with mouldings and relievos, without any signs of a hammer or graver.” Herrera, speaking of these, observes, “ some things were cast, and others wrought with stones, to such perfec¬ tion, that many of them have surprised the ablest goldsmiths in Spain, for they could never conceive how they had been made ; there being no sign of a hammer, or an engraver, or any other instrument used by them.” They brought to the fair, (continues Solis) all the different sorts of cloth, made throughout .this vast empire, of cotton and rabbits’ fur, which the women of this country, enemies to idleness, spun extremely fine, being very dexterous in this manufacture. They had also drinking cups exquisitely made of the finest earth, different in color, and even in smell; and of this kind, they had all sorts of vessels, necessary either for the service and or¬ nament of a house. a These, which were worn round the neck, were doubtless similar to those known as Panama chains; which certainly are extraordinary specimens of workmanship. They may sometimes he met with at our jewellers, who buy them for the purity of the gold. It is said that the mode of making them has never been discovered, and that the secret is still preserved among the Indians of Panama. We have examined one which came from Carthagena, the length of which, had it been cut, was eight feet two inches; its section, which was hexagonal, did not exceed one twentieth of an inch in diameter. subject to decay, or obnoxious to destruction, ^discovery and examination of some of them is greatly to be desired. Who can tell what stores of treasure are buried in them ; what specimens of art; what means for tracing the history, and also the revolutions, through . die ancient people of America have passed; their origin, progress, and disappearance ? If Palenque and its sister cities were- destroyed by war, then it is almost certain that the inhabitants would have recourse to wells for the secretion of their treasures, both public and private; a prac¬ tice that has been followed in all ages and by all people. Relics of former ages, which have been found (more or less numerous) over both continents, incontestibly prove that civilized people flourished iere in former ages; and that they and their progeny have disappeared, as if by some general and sudden calamity they had been swept off the stage of life, to a man. It would seem too, as if a long period of deathlike stillness had succeeded, (like that after the deluge) so that all knowledge of them had perished, when another race appeared and took possession of the soil. These were the ancestors of the present Indians, who, in their turn are rapidly becoming extinct, without our being able to tell who they were, whence they came, or when they first made their appearance. We see no reason to doubt their tradition respecting the great Megalonyx and Mastodon of the western prairies, having been contemporary with their forefathers, since the discovery of the bones of these animals corroborate in •some degree the truth of it. Nor is it at all improbable that their ac¬ counts of the voracious and enormous Piasd, ‘ the bird that devours men,’ is fabulous; a figure of which is cut on the face of a smooth and perpen¬ dicular rock, at an elevation which no human art can now reach; near the mouth of a small stream, named the Piasa, which enters the Mississippi between Alton and the mouth of the Illinois. See Family Mae- 1837 Vol. iv, 101. J 5 ' ON THE HYDRAULIC AND OTHER WORKS OF THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS. Molina, in his ‘ Natural and civil History of Chili' observes that previous to the invasion of the Spaniards, the natives practised artificial irrigation, by conveying water from the higher grounds in canals to their fields." Herrera says, many of the vales were exceedingly populous and well cultivated, having trenches of water.’ The Peruvians carried the system to a oreat extent. “ How must we admire (says Humboldt) the industry and activity displayed by the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians in the irrigation of arid lands . In the maritime parts of Peru, I have seen the remains of walls along which water was conducted for a space of from 5 to 6000 metres* from the foot of the Codilleras to the coast. The conquerors of the 16th century destroyed these aqueducts, and that part of Peru has become like 1 ersia, a desart, destitute of vegetation. Such is the civilization car¬ ried by the Europeans among a people, whom they are pleased to call barbarous. Ihese people had laws for the protection of water, very similar to those of Greece, Rome, Egypt, and all the older nations ; for those who conveyed water from the canals to their own land before their turn, were liable to arbitrary punishment. Several of the ancient Amer¬ ican customs respecting water, were identical with those of the oldest “ New Spain. Black’s Trans. Vol. ii, 46, and Frezier’s Voyage to the South Seas, 213. 166 Agriculture and Irrigation [Book L nations. They buried vessels of water with the dead. 3 The Mexicans worshipped it. b The Peruvians sacrificed to rivers and fountains.® The Mexicans had Tlcdoc their god of water. d Holy water was kept in their temples® They practised divination by water/ The Peruvians drew their drinking water from deep wells, & and for irrigation in times of drought, they drew it from pools, and lakes, and rivers. The annals of the world do not furnish brighter examples of national benevolence, than the early history of Peru. The wars of the incas were neither designed nor carried on, to gratify ambition or the lust of con¬ quest, but to extend to the brutalized people by whom they were sur¬ rounded, the advantages of civilized life; to introduce agriculture and all its attending blessings, among hordes of savages, that were sunk in the lowest depths of bestiality. But that which sheds a peculiar glory over the ancient Peruvians, was their systematic and persevering efforts to achieve their conquests without the effusion of blood. In reading their history, the mind is not only relieved from those horrible details of car¬ nage that constitutes so prominent a part in the historic pages of other na¬ tions, but the most agreeable emotions are excited by the benevolent and generally successful endeavors of this people, to overcome their foes by reason—by exhibiting to them the advantages of regulated society, and by invitations to embrace them. This policy was in accordance with the in¬ junctions of their first king, whose precepts they greatly reverenced. He taught them to overcome their enemies “ by love—by the force of bene¬ fits” and hence we find that when they were successful, they neither robbed the inhabitants of their land, their liberty, nor their lives but used their influence and superior knowledge to ameliorate their condition. And when these efforts failed, and active warfare was the only resource, they, conscious of the wickedness of conquering men by their destruction, and that those could never be good subjects who ‘ obeyed from fear,’ uniformly besieged them, till the latter became convinced of their own ina¬ bility to resist, and of the policy of acceding to the terms of their pow¬ erful invaders. In this manner the ‘ children of the sun’ extended their conquests over a large part of the southern continent; and in no part of the world were provinces more loyal, or a people more attached to their institutions and to their princes ; nor was there ever a people more humane. The con¬ duct of some of the incas, when at the head of their armies, in endur¬ ing the taunts and scoffs of their ignorant and imbecile foes with philo¬ sophic forbearance, is truly admirable, and might be contrasted with that of Christian warriors ; but then their object was not to acquire fame by the destruction of their species, but to-benefit them, even at the risk of their reputation. If ever offensive wars were justifiable, those of the early incas certainly were, since their object was the extension of human hap¬ piness, and which they carried on in a corresponding spirit of humanity. In neither sacred nor profane history can such examples be found. Agriculture was the first object to which their attention was directed ; hence we find engineers and other artists immediately sent into the subdued countries, or rather, among their new friends, to introduce the arts of ploughing and cultivating the soil, &c. And as large tracts of land were destitute of vegetation for want of water , mention is constantly made of aqueducts and reservoirs among the earliest of works undertaken. In some districts, rain was, and still is, unknown. “ For the space of seven a Purchas’s Pilgrim. 1080. b Ibid. 966. c Ibid. 1070. d Ibid. 986. e Ibid. 987. r Ibid 994. s Ibid. 1064. 167 Chap. 18.] of the Peruvians. hundred leagues along the coast (says Garcilasso) it did never rain.” Contrivances to obtain and distribute water, were therefore, with the in- cas as with the early kings of Egypt, the most important and constant ob¬ jects of their care. Nor does it appear that the Egyptians were more assiduous in this kind of labor than the people of Peru. Examples are mentioned of the latter having conveyed small streams through a space of sixty miles, to irrigate a few acres of land. There are several points of resemblance between these two people; some of which are to be attributed to both countries being, in a great measure, destitute of rain. The first inca, like Osiris, taught the inhabi¬ tants to cultivate the land; to construct reservoirs and aqueducts; to make ploughs, harrows, and shoes for their own feet—such shoes, says Garci¬ lasso, * as they now wear.’ The wife of Manco Capac, like Isis, taught the women to spin, to weave, and to make their own garments. Some of their fables, too, resemble those of the Egyptians respecting Isis. Ac¬ cording to one, “ the maker of all things placed in heaven a virgin, the daughter of a king, holding a bucket of water in her hand, for the refresh¬ ment of the earth.” Both people erected stupendous structures and sta¬ tues of cut and polished stone, which they wrought without iron ; both shaved the head, and both embalmed the dead. As we have no where met with any distinct notice of, or even allusion to, any Peruvian machine for raising water, we insert some notices of their wells and aqueducts, &c. from Garcilasso’s “ Royal Commentaries of Peru.” The reader can then judge, whether a people who devised and constructed hydraulic works of immense magnitude for the distribution of water, were without some machines for raising it; and especially, when, at certain seasons, they obtained it from deep wells. The inca - Garcilasso de la Vega, was a native of Cusco. His mother was a Peru¬ vian princess; but his father, whose name he bore, was one of the Spanish conquerors. He was born (he informs us) eight years after the Spaniards became masters of the country, i. e. in the year 1539, and was educated by his mother and her relatives, in the Indian manner, till he was twenty years old. In 1560 he was sent to Spain, where he wrote his Commen¬ taries. These were translated into English by Sir Paul Ricaut, and pub¬ lished in one volume, folio, London, 1688. There is reason to believe that Peru, Chili, and other parts of the southern continent, were inhabited by a refined, or partially refined peo¬ ple, centuries before the time of Manco Capac, the first inca; and that a long period of barbarism had intervened, induced, perhaps, by revolutions similar to those which, in the old world, swept all the once celebrated nations of antiquity into oblivion. The ancient Peruvians had a tradition respecting the arrival of giants, who located themselves on the coast, and who dug wells of immense depth through the solid rock ; which wells, as well as cisterns, still remain. When Mayta Capac, the fourth inca, reduced the province of Tiahuanacu, he found colossal pyramids and other structures, with gigantic statues, of whose authors or uses, says Garcilasso, “ no man can conjecture.” The ruins of these are still extant, in one of the districts of Buenos Ayres. In the same province, the writer just named mentions a monolithic temple, which, from the description, equals any of those of Egypt. These ancient buildings were supposed by the Peruvians to have furnished models for the Temple, Palace, and Fortress at Cusco, which the first incas erected. Acosta, in examining some of these buildings in Tiahuanacu, was at a loss to comprehend how they could have been erected; so large, well cut, and closely jointed were the stones. “ I measured one myself, (he observes) which was thirty feet in 168 Aqueducts [Book 1 length, eighteen in breadth, and six feet in thickness ;” and in the For¬ tress of Cusco were stones, he says, much larger. But what adds to our surprise, many of these stones were taken from quarries at from five to fifteen leagues distance from the buildings. There is much uncertainty respecting Manco Capac. Who he was, and from what country he came, are equally unknown. According to their Quippus or historical cords, and the opinion of the inca who was uncle to Garcilasso, and who communicated to the latter all the knowledge of their ancestors then extant, he made his appearance in Peru about 400 years before the invasion of the Spaniards. It is said he was whiter than the natives, and was clothed in flowing garments. Awed by his presence, they received him as a divinity, became subject to his laws, and practised the arts he introduced. He founded Cusco, and extended his influence to all the nations around. He taught them agriculture and many useful arts, especially that of irrigating land. His son succeeded him, and with¬ out violence greatly extended the limits of the kingdom; prevailing with the natives, it is said, by a peaceable and gentle manner, “ to plough, and manure, and cultivate the soil.” His successors pursued the same mode, and with the same success. The fifth inca, we are informed, constructed aqueducts, bridges and roads in all the countries he subdued. When the sixth inca acquired a new province, he ordered the lands to be “ dressed and manured the fens to be drained, “ for in that art [draining] they were excellent, as is apparent by their works, which remain to this day : and also they were [then] very ingenious in making aqueducts for carrying water into dry and scorched lands, such as the greatest part of that coun¬ try is : they always made contrivances and inventions to bring their water. These aqueducts, though they were ruined after the Spaniards came in, yet several reliques and monuments of them remain unto this day.” The seventh inca, Viracocha, constructed some water works, which, in their beneficial effects, perhaps equalled any similar undertakings in any other part of the world. “ He made an aqueduct 12 feet in depth, and 120 leagues in length : the source or head of it arose from certain springs on the top of a high mountain between Parcu and Picuy, which was so plentiful that at the very head of the fountains they seemed to be rivers This current of water had its course through all the country of the Ru- canas, and served to water the pasturage of those uninhabited lands, which are about 18 leagues in breadth, watering almost the whole country of Peru.” “ There is another aqueduct much like this, which traverses the whole province of Cuntisuyu, running above 150 leagues from south to north. 'Its head or original is from the top of high mountains, the which waters falling into the plains of the Qucchuas, greatly refresh their pasturage, when the heats of the summer and autumn have dried up the moisture of the earth. There are many streams of like nature, which run through •divers parts of the empire, which being conveyed by aqueducts, at the charge and expense of the incas, are works of grandeur and ostentation, and which recommend the magnificence of the incas to all posterity ; for these aqueducts may well be compared to the miraculous fabricks which have been the works of mighty princes, who have left their prodigious monuments of ostentation to be admired by future ages; for, indeed, we ought to consider that these waters had their source and beginning from vast, high mountains, and were carried over craggy rocks and inaccessible/ passages ; and to make these ways plain, they had no help of instruments forged.of steel or iron, such as pickaxes or sledges, but served themselves only with one stone to break another. Nor were they acquainted with in Ancient Peru. 169 Chap. 18.] the invention of arches, to convey the water on the level from one preci pice to the other, but traced round the mountain until they found ways and passages at the same height and level with the head of the springs. “ The cisterns or conservatories which they made for these waters, at the top of the mountain, were about twelve feet deep; the passage was broken through the rocks, and channels made of hewn stone, of about two yards long and about a yard high ; which were cemented together, and rammed in with earth so hard, that no water would pass between, to weaken or vent itself by the holes of the channel. “ The current of water which passes through all the division of Cunti- fiyu I have seen in the province of Quechua , which is part of that divis¬ ion, and considered it an extraordinary work, and indeed surpassing the description and report which hath been made of it. But the Spaniards who were aliens and strangers, little regarded the convenience of these works, either to serve themselves in the use of them, or keep them in re¬ pair, nor yet to take so much notice of them, as to mention them in their histoiies, but rather out of a scornful and disdaining humor, have suffered them to run into ruine, beyond all recovery. The same fate hath befallen the aqueducts which the Indians made for watering their corn lands, of which two thirds at least are wholly destroyed, and none kept in repair, unless some few which are so useful that without them they cannot sus¬ tain themselves with bread, nor with the necessary provisions of life. All which works are not so totally destroyed, but that there still remains some ruines and appearances of them.” 1 he last who was independent, and by far the worst of the incas, was Atahualpa or Atabalipa, the 13th from Manco Capac. He treacherously slew his brother and murdered nearly all his relations. Gareilasso’s mother and a few others escaped. He was strangled by Pizarro in May 1533, after having purchased his life of that monster, by filling the room of his prison with gold and silver vessels, and ingots, to a line chalked round the wall, at the height of about seven feet from the ground. This room was twenty-five feet by sixteen. That the Peruvians had wells in the remotest times has already been no¬ ticed ; and when the Spaniards invaded their country, great quantities of treasures were thrown into them. The discovery of these wells may yet bring to view numerous specimens of their works in the metals. We have not met with any intimation of their manner of raising water, whether by a simple cord and vessel, by means of a pulley, or a windlass, or any other machine. ’Tis true that Garcilasso, when describ¬ ing the various pendants which they wore in their ears, mentions rings as large “ as the frame of a pulley, for they were made in the form of those with which we draw up pitchers from a well, and of that compass, that in case it were beaten straight, it would be a quarter of a yard long and a finger in thickness,” but in this passage we understand him to refer to the Spanish method of drawing water ; and this is probable, for in anoth¬ er part of his work, when speaking of the large stones used in the public buildings at Cusco, he says the workmen had neither cranes nor pulleys. Still it is possible that he referred to the mode his countrymen employed. There are conclusive proofs however, in some extracts that are too in¬ teresting to be omitted, that the ancient Peruvians were well acquainted with the management and distribution of water through pipes ; and of making and laying the latter; and what is singular, both the sources of the water and the direction of the tubes under ground were kept secret, as was the custom with some people of Asia. “ In many of the houses of the incas) \yere great cisterns of gold, in which they bathed themselves, 22 170 easterns and Pipes in Cusco. [Book I with cocks and pipes of the same metal, for conveyance of the water.’" 1 Some interesting particulars are also given by Garcilasso respecting the supply of Cusco with water. Speaking of a certain street, he says, “ near thereunto are two pipes of excellent water, which pass under ground, but by whom they were laid and brought thither, is unknown, for want of writings or records to transmit the memory of them to posterity. Those pipes of water are called silver snakes , because the whiteness of the wa¬ ter resembled silver; and the windings or the meanders of the pipes were like the coils and turnings of serpents.” In the fortress of Cusco was “a fountain of excellent water, which was brought at a far distance under ground, but where and from whence the Indians do not know ; for such secrets as these were always reserved from common knowledge in the breasts of the inca and of his counsel.” The lake Chinchiru near Cusco, contained good water, and “ by the munificence of the inca was fur¬ nished with several pipes and aqueducts,” to convey water into lower grounds, which were used till -rendered useless by neglect of the Span¬ iards. “ Afterwards, in the year 1555 and 56, they were repaired by my lord and father Garcilasso de la Vega, he being the mayor of that city, and in that condition I left them.” In describing the temple and gardens at Cusco, he observes, “ there were five fountains of water, which ran from divers places through pipes of gold. The cisterns were some of stone, and others of gold and silver, in which they washed their sacrifices, as the solemnity of the festival ap¬ pointed. In my time there was but one of these fountains remaining, which served the garden of a convent with water; the others were lost, either for want of drawing or cleansing, and this is very probable, be¬ cause, to my knowledge, that which belonged to the convent was lost for six or seven months, for want of which water the whole garden was dried up and withered, to the great lamentation of the convent and the whole city ; nor could any Indian understand how that water came to fail, or to what place it took its course. At length they came to find that on the west side of the convent the water took its course under ground, and fell into the brook which passes through the city ; which in the times of the incas had its banks kept up with stones, and the bottom well paved, that the earth might-not fall in; the which work was continued through the whole city, and for a quarter of a league without; which now by the carelessness and sloth of the Spaniards is broken, and the pavement dis¬ placed ; for though the spring commonly yields not water very plentiful¬ ly, yet sometimes it rises on a sudden and makes such an incredible inun¬ dation that the force of the current hath disordered the channel and the bottoms.” “ In the year 1558 there happened a great eruption of water from this fountain, which broke the main pipe and the channel, so that the fury of the torrent took another course and left the garden dry; and now by that abundance of rubbish and sullage which comes from the city, the channel is filled up, and not so much as any mark or signal thereof remains. The friars, though at length they used all the diligence imaginable, yet they could not find the ancient channel, and to trace it from the fountain head by way of the pipes, it was an immense work, for they were to dig through houses and deep conveyances under ground, to come at it, for the head of the spring was high. Nor could any Indian be found that could give any direction herein, which discouraged them in their work, and in the recovery of the others which anciently belonged to the temple. Hence we may observe the ignorance and inadvertisement of those In¬ dians, and how little the benefit of tradition availed amongst them; for Chap. 18.] 'Peruvian works in Metals. 171 though it be only forty-two years at this day since those waters forsook their course ; yet neither the loss of so necessary a provision as water, which was the refreshment of their lives, nor of that stream which sup¬ plied the temple of the sun, their god, could by nature or religion con¬ serve in them the memory of so remarkable a particular. The truth is, that it is probable that the undertakers or master-workmen of those water works did communicate or make known to the priests only, the secret con¬ veyances of those waters; esteeming every thing which belonged to the honor and service of the temple to be sacred, that it was not to be re¬ vealed to common ears, and for this reason perhaps the knowledge of those waters might dye and end with the order of priests.” “ At the end of six or seven months after it was lost, it happened that some Indian boys playing about the stream, discovered an eruption of wa¬ ter from the broken pipe; of which they acquainting one the other, at length it came to the knowledge of the Spaniards, who, judging it to be the water of the convent that had been lost and diverted from its former course, gave information thereof unto the friars, who joyfully received the good news, and immediately labored to bring it again into direct conveyance, and conduct it to their garden. The truth is, the pipes lying very deep were buried with earth, so that it cost much labor and pains to to reduce it to its right channel; and yet they were not so curious or in¬ dustrious as to trace the fountain to the spring head. That garden which now supplies the convent with herbs and plants, was the garden which in the times of the incas belonged to their palace, called the garden of gold and silver ; because, that in it were herbs and flowers of all sorts, lower plants and shrubs, and taller trees, made all of gold and silver ; together with all sorts of wild beasts and tame, which were accounted rare and unusual. There were also strange insects, and creeping things, as snakes, serpents, lizards, camelions, butterflies, and snails; also all sorts of strange birds, and every thing disposed, and in its proper placb with great care, and imitated with much curiosity, like the nature and original of that it represented. There was also a mayzall, which bears the Indian wheat of an extraordinary bigness, the seed whereof they call quinia. Likewise plants which produce lesser seeds, and trees bearing their several sorts of fruit, all made of gold and silver, and excellently representing them in their natural shapes. In the palace also, they had heaps or piles of billets and faggots made of gold and silver, rarely well counterfeited. And for the greater adornment and majesty of the temple of their god the sun, they had cast vast figures in the forms of men and women and children, which they laid up in %nagazines or large chambers, called pirra; and every year, at the principal feasts, the people presented great quantities of gold and silver, which were all employed in the adornment of the tem¬ ple. And those goldsmiths whose art and labor was dedicated to the sun, attended to no other work, than daily to make new inventions of rare work¬ manship out of those metals. In short they made all sorts of vessels or utensils belonging to the temple, of gold and silver, such as pots, and pans, and pails, and fire shovels, and tongs, and every thing else of use and ser¬ vice, even their very spades and rakes of the garden were made of the like metal.” a Tl he author of 1 Italy, with sketches of Spain and Portugal,’ Phil. 1834, enumerating some of the curiosities in the museum of Madrid, re- a The mission of Messrs. James, Bowdich and Hutchinson, sent by the British go L®fr? ent t0 ^f° un( l hie king and all his attendants literally oppressed with em bellishments of solid gold, with which their persons were nearly covered. ‘ Even the most common utensils were composed of that metal.’ J72 Original Inhabitants of Peru. [Book 1 marks: “ what pleased me most, was a collection of Peruvian vases ; a polished stone which served the incas for a mirror; and a linen mantle, which formerly adorned their copper colored shoulders, as finely woven as a shawl, and flowered in very nearly a similar manner; the colors as fresh and vivid as if new.” Yol. ii, 211. It is difficult after perusing the history of this interesting people, to re¬ concile the state of the arts among them at the Spanish invasion, with the opinion, that Manco Capac arrived from Asia at so late a period as the 12th century. If he was the enterprising and intelligent man that he is represented' to have been, and there is every reason to believe he was, it is impossible that as an Asiatic , he could have been ignorant of the saw, the auger, files, of fitting wooden handles to hammers, of nails, scissors, the crane, windlass, pulley, the arch, iron, &c : or having a knowledge of these things, that he should not have introduced them, or at least some of them. But if the Peruvians were also ignorant of the swape, noria, or chain of pots, the objections to such an opinion are greatly strengthen¬ ed. From what part of the eastern world could such a man have come without having a knowledge of these machines, and yet be acquainted, as he was, with all the essential features of oriental agriculture % Machines too, of the utmost importance in Peru, where rain was generally unknown, and water scarce and valuable as in Egypt itself—and machines more necessary than any other, in furthering the objects he had in view While a doubt remains respecting their employment, we should sup pose that he really was, as surmised by Garcilasso, a native, who by the superiority of his understanding, and by a subtile deportment (the more effectually to carry out his measures) persuaded the people that he came from the sun. Indeed, the state of the useful arts generally among them in the loth century, implies that they had not had any permanent connec¬ tion with Asiatics for many ages ; but that they were gradually recovering a knowledge of the arts, which in very remote times had been practised by nations then extinct; and hence the paucity of their tools and the peculiarity of some of their devices, as their quippus or historical cords, their modes of computation, &c. Moreover, neither the Mexicans nor Peruvians had reduced the lower animals to subjection, at any rate not for agricultural purposes; and though they had neither the horse, the ass, nor ox ; yet the former had the buffalo, an animal that has been used from the remotest ages to plough the soil. This circumstance alone is sufficient to show that they did not derive their knowledge of agriculture from Asia, within the time generally supposed, if at all. Who can reflect on the civilized people, that in remote ages inhabited these continents, without mourning over their extinction, and the loss of every record respecting them 1 A people, whose very existence would have been unknown, had not some relics of their labors (like the organic remains of animals whose species are extinct) yet resisted the corroding effects of time. When we examine the ruins of their temples, their cities, and other monuments of their progress in the arts, our disappointment amounts to distress, that the veil which conceals them, is not, and perhaps cannot be removed. Strange as it may appear, we are almost as ignorant of the mysterious Palenque, and hundreds of other cities, equally and some of them perhaps much more ancient—as of the builders of Babel—• and we know about as little of their early inhabitants as if they had been located on another planet. END OF THE FIRST BOOK. BOOK II. \ MACHINES FOR RAISING WATER BY THE PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. CHAPTER I. on machines that raise water by atmospheric pressure—Principle of their action formerly unknown— Suction a chimera—Ascent of water in pumps incomprehensible without a knowledge of atmospherie pressure—Phenomena in the organization, habits, and motions of animals—Rotation of the atmosphere with the earth—Air tangible—Compressible—Expansible—Elastic—Air beds—Ancient beds and bed¬ steads—Weight of air—Its pressure—Examples—American Indians and the air pump—Boa Constrictor —Swallowing oysters—Shooting bullets by the rarefaction of air—Boy’s sucker—Suspension of Hies against gravity Lizards Frogs—Walrus—Connection between all departments of knowledge—Suck ing fish—Remora—Lampreys—Dampier—Christopher Columbus at St. Domingo—Ferdinand Columbus —Ancient fable—Sudden expansion of air bursting the bladders of fish—Pressure of the atmosphere on liquids. With the last chapter we concluded our remarks on machines em¬ braced in the first general division of the subject, (see page 8) and now proceed to those of the second ; viz. such as raise water by means of the weight or pressure of the atmosphere. These form a very interesting class—they are genuine philosophical instruments, and as such may serve to exhibit and illustrate some of the most important truths of natural phi¬ losophy. The principle upon which their action depends was formerly un¬ known, and even now, a person, however ingenious, while ignorant of the nature and properties of the atmosphere, would be utterly unable to ac¬ count for the ascent of water in them. Having no idea of the cause of this ascent, except the vague one of suction, he would feel greatly embar¬ rassed if required to explain it. And when informed that there really is no such thing in nature as suction, but that it is a mere chimera, having no existence except in the imagination, the task would be attended with in¬ superable difficulties. Perhaps he would have recourse to a common pump, to trace, if possible, the operation in detail; if so, he would natural- ly begin with the first mover, or the pump handle, and would look for some medium, by which motion is transmitted from it, to the water in the well ; but, however close the scrutiny might be made, he would be una¬ ble to detect any; and as a matter of course, while a connection between them, i. e. between the mover and the object moved, could not be discov¬ ered, it would be impossible for him satisfactorily to account for the phe¬ nomenon. If “a body cannot act where it is not present,” as the sucker of a pump, on water at a distance from it, how could such a person ac- count foi the ascent of that water in obedience to the movements of the sucker? And how could he explain the process by which it was effected, 174 Ascent of Water in Pumps incomprehensible [Book IL while he could find no apparent communication between them \ The fact is it would be difficult for him to point out any closer connection between the pump rod and the water in the well, than between a walking cane in the hands of a pedestrian, and water under the surface of the ground over which he stepped ; nor could he assign a conclusive reason, why the liquid should not ascend and accompany the movements of the latter as well as of the former. He could perceive no obvious or adequate cause for the elevation of water through the pipe of a pump, there being no apparent force applied to it, or in the direction of its ascent, no vessel or moveable pallet going down, as in the preceding machines, to convey or urge the liquid up—and hence he could no more comprehend how the movements of a pump box (sucker) above the surface of the ground, should induce water in a well to rush up towards it, than he could explain how the waving of a magi¬ cian’s wand should cause spirits to appear. Long familiarity with the atmospheric pump, makes it hard for us, at the present day, to realize the difficulties formerly experienced in accounting for the ascent of water in it. Suppose the cause yet unknown and un¬ thought of—it certainly would puzzle us to explain how a piece of leath¬ er (the sucker) moving up and down in a vertical tube, whose lower ori¬ fice is in water, some twenty-five or thirty feet below it, should conjure that water up. Such a result is opposed to all experience and observa¬ tion in other departments of the arts; nor is there any thing like it, in the machines we have examined in the preceding book. The mechanism by which motion is transmitted from them to the water, is obvious to the senses—a tangible medium of communication is established between the force that works them and the water they raise; whereas in the pump, an invisible agent is excited, whose effects are as surprising as its mode of operation is obscure. ’Tis true, a tube (the pump pipe) is continued from the place where the sucker moves to the water, but it remains at rest, or is immoveable, and therefore cannot transmit motion from one to the other; it is merely a channel through which the water may rise—it does not raise it. But if, in order to establish a connection between the sucker and water, the former were made to descend through the pump into the latter, still the difficulty would not be overcome. The sucker in that case would act much like one of those buckets, used in some wells, which has an opening in its bottom to admit the water, and covered by a flap to prevent its return. (The sucker is in fact, merely a small bucket of this kind, and is so named in some countries.) In both cases the water would be raised which entered through the valves—the bucket would bring up all it con¬ tained, and the sucker all that passed through it into the pump; so far the operation of both is clear, and as regards the raising of the water above the valves, would be the same ; but it is the ascent of a column of water behind, the sucker that requires explanation—a liquid column that follows it as closely through every turn of the tube, as if it were a rope, having its fibres at one end fastened to the sucker and pulled up by it. What is it that makes this water ascend against a law of its nature—against gravity 1 Were the cohesion of its particles such that it could be raised by a force applied only to its upper end, then indeed the difficulty would be diminished; but in that case, it would follow that a similar column would ascend after a bucket when drawn out of an open well ; and further, that a traveler might then make use of a liquid walking stick, to assist him in his journeying. Baffled thus in our attempts to find a solution here, we perhaps would Chap. 1.] Without a knowledge of Atmospheric Pressure. 175 begin to think, that when a liquid is raised in the pipe of a pump, it must be try some force acting below, or behind it, a force a ter go, as it is named, andot which all the preceding machines are examples. Thu? when a bucket of water is raised from a well, the force is applied oehind it i.e. to t.ie bottom of the bucket, through the cord, bale, and sides, to which it is attached. It is the same in the screw, the force continually elevating a portion of it immediately behind the water; and in the tympanum, no"- ria, chain of pots, chain pump, &c. it is the same; the vessels or pallets go below, 1 . e. behind the liquid and urge it up before them. It is the same in all ordinary motions. I wish to examine a small object laying at the foot of my garden : now I cannot by moving this ruler in its direction, in the manner of a pump rod, induce it to move to me, nor can it ever be so moved, until the force of some other body in motion behind it impel it to¬ wards me. It is the same in the case of a stubborn boy, who not only re¬ fuses to move as directed, but opposes the natural ihertia of' his body to the change, and therefore can only be impelled forward by some force ap¬ plied directly or indirectly behind him, by dragging or pushing him along. In this way, all the motions in the universe, according to some philoso¬ phers, are imparted or transferred; those which appear exceptions bein«- considered modifications of it. Still however, the difficulty of establishing a connection between the movements of the sucker in the interior of the pump at one end, and this force, whatever it might be, acting on the wa¬ ter, outside of it, at the opposite end, would remain; and we should prob¬ ably at last impute this ascent of water (with the ancients) to some inde¬ finable energy of nature, both fallacious and absurd ; nor would this be surprising,, for in the absence of a knowledge of the atmosphere and of its properties, there really is as great a mystery in the movements of a pump rod being followed by the ascent of the liquid, as in any thing ever attributed to the divining rod, or to the wand of Abaris. In order to understand the operation of machines belonging to this part of the subject, and also the principle upon which their action depends, we must leave, for a few moments, the consideration of pumps and pipes, and all the contrivances of man, and turn our attention to some of the Creator’s works as they are exhibited in nature. This may perhaps be deemed a depar¬ ture from the subject; it is however so far from being a digression, that it is essentially necessary to ascertain the cause of water ascending in this class of machines, as well as to understand the philosophy of numerous natural as well as artificial operations, that are performed by apparatus analogous to them ; as the acts of inspiration and respiration, quadrupeds drinking, the young of animals sucking their dams, children drawing nour¬ ishment from their mothers’ breasts: bleeding by cupping, by leeches, or by the more delicate apparatus of a musketoe’s proboscis; and if things ignoble may be named, the taking of snuff, smoking of cigars and pipes of tobacco, and also the experiments of those peripatetic philosophers, who perambulate our wharves, and imbibe nectar through straws from hogsheads of rum and molasses. Every person is aware, that the earth on which we live is of a globular or spheroidal figure, and that it is enveloped in an invisible ocean of air or mis, which extends for a great number of miles from every part of its sur¬ face. 1 his hollow sphere of air is named the atmosphere, and is one of the most essential parts in the economy of nature. It is the source as we as t e t eatre of those sublime meteorological phenomena which we constant y e lold and admire. It is necessary to animal and to vegetable life, its material is the ‘ breath of life’ to all things living. It is more- * ver C ie P ecu l‘ ar element of land animals, the scene of their actions, the 176 Compressibility and Dilatability of Air. "Book II. h. fluid ocean in which they only can move, and within which they are al¬ ways immersed. It is to them, what the sea is to fish : remove them from it, and they necessarily die. In some respects nature has been more fa¬ vorable to fishes than to us : most of them can ascend to the surface of the fluid in which they live, but we can only exist in the lowest depths of the atmospheric ocean that confines us : if we ascend but a little, our energies begin to fail, and we are compelled to descend to the bottom, the place she designed us to occupy. Possibly, some people may suppose that the velocity with which the earth shoots forward in her orbit, might sometimes cause this atmosphere (which hangs as a mantle so loosely about her) to be left floating, like the tail of a comet, behind; or be entirely separated from her, like the cloud of vapor which the impetuous ball leaves at the cannon’s mouth. Such how¬ ever is not the fact; on the contrary, it revolves uniformly with the earth on the axis of the latter, and accompanies her, as a part of herself, round the sun. Were it indeed separated from her, but for a moment, either by an increase or diminution of her velocity, the present organization of na¬ ture would be destroyed ; every mountain would be hurled from its base ; every house on the globe would be leveled ; and no human being could survive. Had the atmosphere not a rotatory motion also, in common with that of the earth, i. e. of the same velocity and in the same direction, a very different state of things, as regards the arts, would have subsisted than those which we behold. For example, aerial navigation would cer¬ tainly have superseded nearly all traveling by land and water; and rail¬ roads, and locomotive carriages, and steamboats, would hardly have been known ; for the project of that individual who proposed to visit distant countries, by merely ascending in a balloon, till the rotation of the earth on its axis brought them under him, when he intended to descend, would have been no visionary scheme. The air is tangible. —Although the substance of the atmosphere is not visible, it is tangible ; we feel it when in motion as wind, whether it be gently disturbed as in the evening breeze, or by the slight waving of a lady’s fan; or when greatly excited, as in the hurricane, or the violent blast from a bellows’ mouth. We also see its effects when thus in motion, in the direction of smoke, extinction of our tapers, slamming of doors, in the beautiful waving of grass, and of the full eared grain of the fields; trees yielding to its impulse, buildings unroofed, and sometimes in the prostra¬ tion of large tracts of forests'; in windmills, sailing of ships, and the con¬ vulsions into which it throws the otherwise placid ocean. Air is compressible. —Indeed compressibility and expansibility are pro¬ perties of all bodies; by the abstraction of heat, airs are compressed into liquids, and liquids into solids, while an increase of temperature expands solids into liquids, and these into airs. In the common air gun, four or five gallons of the dense air around us are compressed into a pint, and by further pressure they may be squeezed into a few drops of liquid, which a tea spoon might contain. Its expansibility or dilatability is, so far as known, illimitable ; the space it occupies being always in proportion to the pressure that confines it. If a collapsed and apparently empty bladder be placed under a receiver, and the air around its exterior be removed, the small portion within will expand and swell it out to its natural shape. If it were possible to with¬ draw the whole of the air from this room, and a globule no larger than a pea were then admitted, it would instantly dilate and fill the room. The upper strata of the atmosphere decrease in density as they recede from the earth’s surface, on account of the diminution of the pressure from super- Air Beds. 177 Chap. l.J incumbent strata, and thus at a certain height this small globule of air would occupy a space equal to the earth itself! And at the height of four or hve hundred miles, it has been calculated, that less than a teacup full of the am we breathe, w °uld fin a sphere equal in diameter to the very orbti of Saturn . The efficiency of the air pump in producing a vacuum depends entirely on this property. Air at the foot of a mountain, whose elevation is between three and lour miles, occupies twice the space when carried to the top. A quart of it taken from the summit would be reduced to a pint if conveyed to the bottom. From this expansive power of air arises its elasticity. This is familiar to most people ; for when confined in flexible vessels, as air beds pillows, life preservers, &c. as soon as any weight or pressure imping¬ ing upon them is removed, the elasticity of the confined fluid pushes up t e depressed part as before. If air within a bladder were not elastic the impressions made by the fingers in handling it would remain as in a ball of paste, and air beds would retain the form of bodies that reposed upon them, like a founder’s mould of sand or plaster.* Those extremely light * Air b e, ds are some persons suppose, of modern origin. They were known between three and four hundred years ago, as appears from the annexed cut, (No. 68 ) copied from some figures attached to the first German translation of Vegetius, A D P 11 ;. 11 ^presents soldiers reposing on them in time of war, with the mode of infla- tmg them by bellows. _ wo. /uicieDi Air uea. am use^himsdf *wUh° t he'gu^s^heinvited^o'h” 1° ^ Ro “ aM - Hehogabalus used tc or beds, “full of wind^whSh d u by seating them on large bags ground. ’ hKh bemg made sudden 'y t0 colla pse, threw the guests on the Dr. Arnott, the author of ‘ F.Iempnta nf „ r static beds,’ especially f or invalid^ Thlki 7 ’ a few r ars ago, proposed ‘ Hydro cloth, and filled with loater instead of L - Ca 5? CI °T T S bags ’ for J ned of india-rubber 1 mattress is laid, and then the ordin irv p U P on ° ne these a soft and thin men me ordinary coverings. A person floats on these beds as on 23 178 Pressure [Book IT. balls of caoutchouc, which of late years have been introduced as parlor toys for children, rebound from the objects they strike by the spring of the air they contain. In the boy’s pop gun, that is formed of a quill, the tiny pellet is sent on its harmless errand by the elastic energy of the com¬ pressed fluid. And in the air gun, it is the elasticity of the same fluid that projects balls with the force of gunpowder. If it were not elastic, people when fanning themselves would feel it thrown against their per¬ sons like water or sand. The act of inhaling it would be painful, for it would enter the chest by gluts, while its pulsations in sound would quickly destroy the membranes of the ear. Perhaps nothing is better calculated to expand our ideas of the proper¬ ties of matter, and of the wonders of creation, than the compressibility and dilatability of air. From the last named quality, it is probable that there is no such thing in nature as an absolute vacuum ; and the best of our air pumps can scarcely be said to make even a rude approximation to one ! Those, whose knowledge of nature is confined to impressions which things make on their senses, may suppose that the extremes of so¬ lidity may be found in a pig of lead and a bale of spunge; although the former is, in all probability, as full of interstices as the latter ; and such persons could with difficulty be made to believe, that the entire mass of matter (air) which Jills a space so immeasurably large as to baffle all cal¬ culation could be compressed into a lady’s thimble, and even squeezed in¬ to a liquid drop, so minute, as scarcely to be perceived at the end of a needle. Like all other matter with which we are acquainted, air has weight. This property is not naturally evident to our senses, but it may easily be rendered so. By accurately weighing a bladder when filled with air and afterwards when empty, it will be found heavier when full. This was an experiment of the ancients, but the moderns have ascertained its de¬ finite weight. A cubic foot of it, near the earth's surface , weighs about lj ounces or part that of water, a cubic foot of the latter weighing 1000 ounces ; hence the expression “ water is 800 times heaver than air.” The aggregate weight of the atmosphere has been calculated at up¬ wards of 77 billions of tons, being equivalent to a solid globe of lead 60 miles in diameter; hence its pressure , for this enormous weight reposes incessantly upon the earth’s surface, and upon every object, animate or inanimate, solid, liquid, or aeriform. The pressure it thus exerts, (in all places that are not greatly elevated above the level of the sea) is equal to to about 15 lbs. on every superficial square inch. Thus an ordinary sized person exposes so large a surface to its influence, that the aggregate water alone, for the liquid in the bag adapts itself to the*uneven surface of the body, and supports every part reposing upon it, with a uniform pressure. Water beds were how¬ ever known to the ancients, for Plutarch (in his life of Alexander) states that the people in the province of Babylon slept during the hot months, “ on skins filled with water.” The luxury of the ancients with regard to beds was carried to a surprising ex¬ tent. They were of down, of the wool of Miletus, and sometimes stuffed with pea cock’s feathers. The Romans had linen sheets, white as snow, and quilts of tieedle work, and sometimes of cloth of gold. Bedsteads among the rich Greeks and Romans were sometimes of ivory, of ebony, and other rich woods, with inlaid work, and figures in relief. Some were of massive silver, and even of gold, with feet of onyx. They had them also of iron. One of that material was found in Pompeii. The earliest me¬ tallic bedstead mentioned in history is that of Og, king of Bashan. The Persians had slaves expressly for bed making, and the art became famous in Rome. Golden beds often formed part of the plunder which the generals exhibited at their triumphs. The Athenians put Timagoras their ambassador to Persia to death, for accepting presents from die king, among which was a “ magnificent bed with servants to make it." Plu¬ tarch in Pelopulas. 179 ^hap. 1.] of the Atmosphere. pressure which his body sustains is not less than 14 or 15 tons. “Not less than what 1” once exclaimed an elderly and corpulent lady. “ Why how can that be 1 We could neither talk, nor walk, nor even move ; and be¬ sides, sir, if that is the case, why don’t we feel it 1” For a very simple reason, though at the first view not a very obvious one. Air, as a fluid, presses equally in every direction —upwards as well as downwards—side¬ ways and every way. Its oomponent particles are so inconceivably minute, that they enter all substances, even liquids. Air is mixed up and circulates with the blood of all animals; it penetrates all the ramifications and innermost recesses of our porous bodies, and by the pressure of its superincumbent strata is urged through them, almost as freely as through the fleece of wool on a sheep’s back, or between the fibres and threads of a ball of silk. Now, it is this circulation through the interior of our bodies that balances its pressure without. If its weight upon us were not thus neutralized, we certainly could neither talk nor walk : the lips of the loudest speaker, when once closed, could never be opened. We should be as mute and immoveable as if enclosed in statues of lead. And we should feel it, too—that is, for a moment; for it would as effectually crush us to death, as if we were placed in mortars, and pestles, each weighing 14 or 15 tons, were suddenly dropped upon us. It is the air within the breast of the mother that forces milk into an infant’s mouth, when the latter, by instinct, removes the external pressure from the nipple by sucking. It is the same with all mammiferous animals. The operation of cupping is another illustration of the same thing: the rarefaction of the air under'the cup produces a partial vacuum within it; and as the external pressure of the atmosphere is removed from that part which is under it, the internal pressure urges the blood through the wounds. Were cupping instruments applied over the eyes, those organs would be protruded from their sockets. As it is the pressure of the atmosphere upon which the action of the machines about to be described principally depends, we shall extend our remarks upon it. Suppose a specimen of delicate fillagrane work, formed of the finest threads and plates, and of the human form and size, were sunk in water to the depth of 34 or 35 feet; it would then be exposed to the same degree of pressure to which our bodies are subject from the atmosphere; and when drawn up, it would be found uninjured, because the water entering into all its cavities, pressed just as much against its interior surfaces as the liquid around it against the exterior. But if it were enclosed in a skin or flexible covering, impervious to water, and then sunk as before, the pres¬ sure of the liquid around its exterior (not being balanced by any within) would crush it into a shapeless mass. Just so would it be with our bodies, and those of all terrestrial animals, if the air within them did not counteract the pressure without. And as long as this interior circulation remains, we can no more feel the pressure of the atmosphere than a fish feels that of water ; nor can we be deranged or compressed by it, any more than a bundle of wool is, or a mass of entangled wire. It . was ignorance of this simple fact—air in the interior of bodies exactly balancing the exterior pressure—that led the ancients astray, and induced one of the most sagacious intellects that was ever clothed in humanity (Aristotle) to ascribe this pressure to “ nature’s abhorrence of a vacuum.” Since the invention of the air-pump in 1654, numerous experiments are made, which demonstrate the pressure of the atmosphere. By it, this pressure may be removed from one part of the body, while it is left free to act with undimimshed energy on the opposite part; as when the palm *80 Illustrations [Book II. of the hand is held over the aperture of an exhausted receiver, the weight or pressure of the air on the back being no longer balanced by its action on the palm, the hand is irresistibly held to the vessel. A criminal or maniac, whose hands and feet are thus treated, would be as effectually secured as by fetters of iron. Few things are better calculated to excite wonder, and even horror, in the savage mind, than a part of the body being thus rendered helpless, as if spell-bound by some invisible agent. A few years ago, an experiment was made with the chief of a delegation of Pottawatamies to the seat of government, at which the writer was present. Although the interpreter previously endeavored to make them understand the intended operation, it will readily be supposed that such an attempt must necessarily have been fruitless. When the receiver was exhausted, he was amazed to find his hand immoveable, and that, like Jeroboam’s, “ he could not pull it in again to him.” In his endeavors to free it, he rapidly uttered the characteristic interjections, ugh ! ugh ! and at last shrieked, as if in despair of being delivered from the power of the white enchanter; when his attending warriors flourished their tomahawks and rushed to his rescue, as if roused by the war-whoop. It is not, however, necessary to have recourse to the air-pump, for proofs of atmosphere pressure. Numerous operations daily occur in common life which equally establish it. When a person washes his hands, if he lock them together so as to bring the palms close to each other, and then attempt to raise the central parts so as to form a cavity between them, at the same time keeping the extremities of the palms in close contact, he will feel the atmospheric pressure very sensibly : if the experiment be made under water, the effect will be more obvious still. Analogous to this is the attempt to open the common household bellows when the valve and nozzle are closed. The boards are then forced open with difficulty, in consequence of the pressure of the air on their exterior not being balanced by its admission within. If the materials and joints were made air-tight, and the orifices perfectly closed, the strongest man that ever lived could not force them open. This experiment, we believe, was familiar to the ancients ; for we are indebted to them for both the olacksmith and domestic bellows. Another experiment of theirs, of a similar kind, was with the syringe. When the small orifice is closed with the finger, the piston is pulled up with difficulty, on account of the air pressing on its surface ; and the moment we let go of the handle, it instantly drives it back, in whatever position the implement is held. The ordinary syringe seldom exceeds three-fourths or one inch in diame¬ ter, and any person can thus draw out the piston ; but one of six or seven inches diameter would require a giant’s strength; arid one of a foot or fifteen inches would resist the efforts of two or three horses. Numerous illustrations of atmospheric pressure may be derived from the animal kingdom. The boa constrictor when it swallows its prey affords one. As soon as this serpent has killed a goat or a deer, he covers its surface with saliva : this appears necessary to lay the long hair of these animals close, in order to prevent air from passing between the body of the victim and the interior of the devourer’s throat. After taking the head into his mouth, by a wonderful muscular energy he alternately dilates and contracts the posterior portions of his body, until the pressure of the atmosphere forces into his flexible skin an animal whose bulk greatly exceeds that of his own. But if air were to pass between the body of the victim and the dilatable gullet of the boa, while the latter was making a vacuum to receive it, the pressure of the atmosphere would be neutralized as effectually as if a gash were made through his skin in front of the victim Jaap. 1.] of Atmospheric Pressure. 181 The same process may be witnessed in ordinary snakes, for all serpents tiTn ° Th^ 11 ” Pr6y Wh ° le ' fJ i here iS n ° masticati °n to facilitate deflati¬ on. Their upper jaws are loosely connected to the head so that the mouth can be opened very wide, to admit larger animals than the size of the serpents would lead one to suppose. Such examples, it must be admitted, are not very familiar ones • but there is an experiment not much unlike them, that most people have’wit nessed, and not a few perform it in their own persons almost daily I n every age people have been fond of oysters, and numbers of our citizens often luxuriate on a finer and larger species than those which Roman epicures formerly ^ported from Britain. Now, when a oendeman indulges in this food in the ordinary way, he affords a striking illustration of the pressure of the atmosphere. A large one is opened b? thevesZ T r U r u h i alS ° l0 ° SenS the animal from sh eU> and presells it on one’ half of the latter. The imitator of the boa then approachesS lips to Te newly siarnvjcnm, and when they come in contact with but a portion of it, he immediately dilates his chest as in the act of inspiration, when the air, endeavormg to rush into his mouth to inflate the thorax, drives the oyster before it, and with a velocity that, is somewhat alarming to an inexperienced spectator. If any one should doubt this to be effected by atmospheric pressure, let him fully inflate his lungs previous to attempting .hus to draw an oyster into his mouth, and he will find as much difficult? accomplish it as to smoke a pipe or a cigar with his mouth open. * tir/l in P h,loso P hlca J ™ ode of transmitting oysters to the stomach is iden- tical n principle with that proposed by Guerricke and Papin, for shooting bullets by the rarefaction of air.”* A leaden ball wa s P fitted into the breech of a gun-barrel and the end being closed, a vacuum was produced m front of it; after which the atmosphere was allowed to act suddenly on ind ba feet When “ thr ° Ugh the tube with the velocity of a thou- sand feet in a second. Just so with the oyster : it lays inertly at the orifice °f the devoured mouth_a partial vacuum is male in front of h i/-of respiration and on dilating the chest, the atmosphere drives it in a twinkling down the natural tube in the throat—though to be sure vith a velocity somewhat less than that of bullets through Papin’s gun’ When two substances, impervious to air, are fitted so close as to exclude it from between them, they are held together by its pressure on their contact 8 ' pfe f ‘”1 f r °P° rtioned t0 the extent oF the surfaces in ZHLd T m ^ b6en » r .°T d l °g ether 60 dose as to be tnus united. Two pieces of common window-glass dipped in water and rZeitS ^ “? S6parated WltH difficult y; becaus P e P the wateTserves to expel the air, and prevent its entrance. Glass grinders are frequentlv inconvemenced by this circumstance. If two plates of glass were perl fectly plane and smooth, so as wholly to exclude the air from between them, they would become united as one. We have heard or read of in actually o,,e ’ and were cut by a diam ° nd leather about the' 1 "^’' °c ' An"’’- a clrcu,ar P ie ce of wet and thick leather about the size of a dollar, is another illustration. This when may be “used \o Sm °° tb T”® ° r ° tlie / Stone ' of five or lbs- weight, IfoMofthest four 1 ' 36 !,"’ . b f , means of a strln S «»clied to the centre, ii one ot these, tour inches in diameter, were applied to the cranium of a A 1 1 gentleman, he might be elevated and suspended by it Dr! recommends them to elevate depressed portions of fractured skulls, Phil. Trans. Abridg. vol. i, 496. 182 Suspension of Flies, [Book II. and for other surgical operations. Possibly they might be applied with some advantage to the soft and yielding skulls of infants, in order to pro¬ duce those eminences upon which (according to phrenologists) the habits and character of individuals depend, as by means of them the most desira¬ ble organs of thought and passion might be developed, and the opposite ones depressed. The principle of atmospheric pressure has been introduced by the great Parent of the universe into every department of animated and in¬ animate nature. Not only does it perform an important part in the vegetable kingdom, but the movements of innumerable animals, on land and in water, depend upon it; while others are enabled by it to protect themselves from enemies, and to secure their food and their prey. There is something inexpressibly pleasing in examining even the meanest specimens of the Creator’s workmanship, (if such an expression may be allowed) and what is singular, the more closely we search into them, the more proofs do we meet with that the most elaborate and the most effi¬ cient of our devices are but rough copies of natural ones, which the lower animals vary and apply, according to circumstances, with inimitable dex¬ terity. Some of these will be noticed here; others will be more appro¬ priately introduced in subsequent chapters. The feet of the common house-fly are constructed like the suckers above named ; and hence these insects are enabled to run along, and even sleep, on the ceilings of our rooms, with their bodies hanging downwards. When in an inverted position they place a foot on an object, they spread out the sole, to make it touch at every part, so as to exclude the air from between; and when the weight of the body tends to draw it away, the pressure of the external air retains it; until the fly, wishing to move, raises the edges by appropriate mechanism, and destroys the vacuum. There is not a more interesting subject for the contemplation of mecha¬ nics than the movements of these active little beings. To behold them running not only along the under side of a plate of glass, but also up, and more particularly down a vertical one, with such perfect command over their motions, is truly surprising. In the latter case, from the rapidity of their movements, and the fact that part only of their feet are in contact with the glass at the same time, one might suppose the momentum of their moving bodies would carry them over the objects they intended to reach ; instead of which, they dart along with a precision and facility as if impelled by volition alone. It is strange, too, how they are enabled to produce a sufficient vacuum between their tiny feet and the asperities on an ordi¬ nary wall or ceiling! And with what celerity it is done and undone ! How wonderful and how perfect must be the mechanism of these natural air-pumps; and how harmonious must that machinery work by which the energy of the insect is transmitted to them ! Their movements when on the wing present another source of pleasing research. Let any ingenious person witness, without admiration if he can, a few of them in a door-way open to the sun: one or two will be found floating in the centre, as if at rest, until disturbed by the near approach of another, when they dart upon it, either in play or in anger, and drive it away; then resuming their sta¬ tions, they remain as guards upon duty, till called to eject other intruders. In these combats they vary their movements into every imaginable direc¬ tion ; they trace in the air every angle and every curve, and change them with the velocity of thought. As they are not furnished (like most fishes and birds) with rudders in their tails, to assist in thus changing their posi¬ tions, but effect it by modifying the action of their wings, how energetic must be the force that works these ! And what perfect command must 183 Chap. l.J Lizards, Frogs, <$r. against Gravity. the insect possess over them ! It would seem as if they turned their bodies in various directions, by diminishing the velocity of one wing, and increasing that of the other; and also by varying the angle at which they strike the air, and descend by closing them or stopping their vibrations. And with what vigor and celerity must one of these insects move its deli¬ cate wings in order to elevate its comparatively heavy body ! Yet this movement is made quick as the others. It bounds upwards, like a balloon released from its cords ; now sailing through a room, sweeping round our heads, buzzing at our ears, skimming over the floor, and anon inverting its body and resting on the ceiling ! And all this within two or three seconds of time, and without any apparent exertion or fatigue. Here is a fruitful subject of inquiry to the machinist and aeronaut. All the wonders that the automatons of Maelzel and Maillardet ever wrought, are nothing compared to those that may yet be accomplished by studying the organi¬ zation and motions of these living machines. But there are larger animals than flies that suspend themselves in an inverted position. Mr. Marsden, in his “ History of Sumatra,” (London, 1811, p. 119) mentions lizards four inches long, which, he observes, are the largest reptiles that can walk in an inverted situation. One of them, of size sufficient to devour a cockroach, runs on the ceiling of a room, and in that situation seizes its prey with the utmost facility. Sometimes, however, when springing too eagerly at a fly, they lose their hold, and drop to the floor. The Gecko of Java and other countries is furnished with similar ap¬ paratus in its feet, by means' of which it runs up the smoothest polished walls, and even carries a load with it, equal in weight to that of its own body. Osbeck mentions lizards in China that ran up and down the walls with such agility as “ they can scarce be caught.” The tree frog of this country adheres to the leaves of trees by the tubercles on its toes : a young one has sustained itself in an inverted position against the under side of a plate of glass. From the observations of E. Jesse, author of ‘Gleanings of Natural History’ it appears that common frogs can occasionally do the same. His account is very interesting : “ I may here mention a curious observation I made in regard to some frogs that had fallen down a small area which gave light to one of the windows of my house. The top of the area being on a level with the ground, was covered over with some iron bars through which the frogs fell. During dry and warm weather when they could not absorb much moisture, I observed them to appear almost torpid; but when it rained they became impatient of their confinement, and endeavored to make their escape, which they did in the following man¬ ner. The wall of the area was about five feet in height and plas¬ tered and white-washed as smooth as the ceiling of a room; upon this surface the frogs soon found that their claws would render them little or no assistance ; they therefore contracted their large feet so as to make a hollow in the centre, and by means of the moisture which they had im¬ bibed in consequence of the rain, they contrived to produce a vacuum, so that by the pressure of the air on their extended feet, (in the same way that we see boys take up a stone by means of a piece of wet leather fastened to a string) they ascended the wall and made their escape. This happen¬ ed constantly in the course of three years.”—Phil. Ed. 1833. p. 140. Innumerable crustaceous animals adhere to rocks and stones by the same principle. But it is not the smaller inhabitants of either the land or the sea, as flies, spiders, butterflies, bees, &c. some of which scarcely weigh a grain ; or lizards and frogs, &c. of five or six ounces, which thus sustain themselves against gravity ; for the enormous walrus, that sometimes ex- 184 Sucking Fish. [Book II ceeds a ton in weight, is furnished by the Creator with analogous apparatus in his hinder feet; and thus climbs by atmospheric pressure, the glassy sur¬ faces of ice-bergs. How forcibly do these examples illustrate the intimate connection which subsists between the various departments of Natural Phi¬ losophy. A knowledge of one always furnishes a key (whether it be used or not) to open some of the mysteries of another. Thus a person who under¬ stands the principle by which water is raised in a simple pump, can by it ex¬ plain some of the most surprising facts in the natural history of animals; and solve problems respecting the motions and organs of motions of nu¬ merous tribes of animated beings, which two or three centuries ago, the most enlightened philosophers could not comprehend. And with a simple pump, he can moreover determine, as with a barometer, the measurement of all accessible heights, and with a degree of accuracy that, in some cases, is deemed preferable to geometrical demonstrations. When two substances are brought together, at some distance hdow the surface of water, and so as to exclude it from between them, they are then pressed together with a force greater than when in the air, be cause the weight of the perpendicular column of water over them is then added to that of the atmosphere. Numerous examples of this com bined pressure are also to be found in the natural world. By it, various species of fish adhere to rocks and stones in the depths of the sea, from which they cannot be separated except by tearing their bodies asunder. Some by means of it attach themselves to the bodies of others, and there¬ by traverse the ocean without any expense or exertion of their own, some¬ what like dishonest travelers, who elude the payment of their fare. There are several species of fishes known which have a separate organ of adhe sion, and there are doubtless many more which have not yet come under the observation of man. The most celebrated is the remora or sucking fish of Dampier and other navigators. It is, in size and shape, similar to a large whiting, except that the head is much flatter. “ From the head to the middle of its back, (observes Dampier) there groweth a sort of flesh of a hard gristly substance, like that of the limpet. This excrescence is of a flat oval form, about 7 or 8 inches long, and 5 or 6 broad, and rising about half an inch high. It is full of small ridges with which it will fasten itself to any thing that it meets with in the sea. When it is fair weather and but little wind, they will play about a ship, but in blustering weather, or when the ship sails quick, they commonly fasten themselves to the ship’s bottom, from whence neither the ship’s motion, though never so swift, nor the most tempestuous sea can remove them. They will likewise fasten themselves to any bigger fish, for they never swim fast themselves, if they meet with any thing to carry them. I have found them sticking to a shark after it was hal’d in on deck, though a shark is so strong and boisterous a fish, and throws about him so vehemently when caught, and for half an hour together, that did not the sucking fish stick at no ordinary rate, it must needs be cast off by so much violence.”® They are familiar to most of our seamen. Other species have a circular organ of adhesion, consist¬ ing of numerous soft papillae, and placed on the thorax, instead of the top of the head, as in the remora. In some fish the ventral Jins are united and are capable of adhesion. In the lamprey the mouth contracts and * Dampier’s Voyages, vi. edit. 1717, Vol. i, 04, and Vol. ii, part iii, p. 110. In the the plates of Vol. iii, is a figure of one. Figures of the excrescence or sucking part of the remora, and of the feet of the house-fly, may be seen in Dr. Brewster’s Letters on Natural Magic. Chap. 1.] The Remora. 185 acts as a sucker; while that curious animal the cuttle fish secures the vic- tims that fall into its fatal embraces by the suckers on its arms ihe prodigious pressure that, at great depths, unites these inhabitants of the sea to their prey, led man to employ them to hunt the sea for his benefit as well as their own. Both the remora and lamprey tribe have been used for this purpose Columbus when on the coast of St. Domingo was greatly surprised on beholding the Indians of that island fishing with them “ Thev had a small fish, the flat head of which was furnished with numerous suck¬ ers, by which it attached itself so firmly to any object as to be torn in pieces rather than abandon its hold. Tying a long string to the tail, the In¬ dians permitted it to swim at large : it generally kept near the surface till it perceived its prey, when darting down swiftly it attached itself to the throat of a fish, or to the under shell of a tortoise, when both were drawn up by the fisherman. Ferdinand Columbus saw a shark caught in this manner. 4 ° The same mode of fishing was followed at Zanguebar, on the eastern coast of Africa. The inhabitants of the coast when fishing for turtle take a living sucking fish or remora , and fastening a couple of strings to it’ (one at the head and the other at the tail) they let the sucking fish° down into the water on the turtle ground, among the half grown or young turtle- and when they find that the fish hath fastened himself to the back of a tur¬ tle, as he will soon do, they draw him and the turtle up together. This way of fishing as I have heard is also used at Madagascar.” 1 ' The remora was well known to the ancients. History has preserved a fabulous account of their having the power to stop a vessel under sail by attaching themselves to her rudder. A Roman ship belonging to a fleet, it is said, was thus arrested, when she “ stoode stil as if she had lien at anker - not stirring a whit out of her place.” There is another illustra¬ tion of the enormous pressure that fishes endure at great depths. The small volume of air that is contained in the bladder, and by the expansion and contraction of which they ascend and descend, is at the bottom of the sea compressed into a space many times smaller than when they swim near the surface. (At 33 feet from the surface it occupies but one half.) Hence, it frequently occurs that when such fish are suddenly drawn up (as the cod on the banks of Newfoundland) the membrane bursts, in con¬ sequence of the diminished pressure, and the air rushing into the abdomen, forces the intestines out of the mouth. From a similar cause, blood is forced out of the ears of divers, when the bell that contains them is quickly drawn up. This pressure is also evinced in the fact that the timber of foundered vessels never rises, because the pores become completely filled r h ater ^ tke pressure of the superincumbent mass, and the wood then becomes almost ‘ heavy as iron.’ The pressure of the atmosphere on liquids is equally obvious. When a bucket or other vessel is sunk in water and then raised in an inverted position, the air being excluded from acting on the surface of the liquid within, still presses on that without, so that the water is suspended in the vessel; and if the under surface of the liquid could be kept level and at rest, water might be transported in buckets thus turned upside down, as effectually as in the ordinary mode of conveying it • ^ 10 experirnent with a goblet or tumbler presents a very neat illustra¬ tion. One of these filled with water, and having a piece of writing paper laid over it, and held close till the vessel be inverted, will retain the liquid * * rving s Columbus, Vol. i, 273. *> Dampier’s Voyages, Vol. ii, part ii, 108. 24 186 Atmospheric Pressure on Liquids. [Book II within it. In this experiment the paper merely preserves the liquid sur¬ face level: it remains perfectly free and loose ; and so far from being close to the edge of the glass, it may, while the latter is held in a horizon¬ tal position, be withdrawn several lines from it without the water escaping; and it may be pierced full of small holes with the same effect. If an inverted vessel be filled with any material that excludes the air, and whose specific gravity is greater than that of water, when lowered into the latter, the contents will descend and be replaced by the water. A bottle filled with sand, shot, &c. and inverted in water, will have its contents exchanged for the latter. As these substances, however, do not perfectly Jill the vessel, and of course do not exclude all the air, the experiment succeeds better when the vessel contains heavy liquids, as mercury, sulphuric acid, &c. It is said that negroes in the West Indies often insert the long neck of a bottle filled with water, into the bung-holes of rum puncheons, when the superior gravity of the water (in this case) descends, and is gradually replaced with the lighter spirit. In the preceding examples and those in subsequent chapters, it will be found that wherever a vacuity or partial vacuum is formed, the adjacent air, by the pressure above, rushes in and drives before it the object that intervenes, until the void is filled. If the nozzle of a pair of bellows be closed, either by the finger or by a small valve opening outwards ; and a short pipe, the lower end of which is placed in water, be secured to the opening in the under board which is covered by the clapper; then if the bellows be opened, the pressure of the atmosphere will drive the water up the pipe to fill the enlarged cavity, and by then closing the boards, the liquid will be expelled through the nozzle. Bellows thus arranged become sucking or atmospheric, and forcing pumps. When the orifice of a syringe is inserted into a vessel of water and the piston drawn up, the air having no way to enter the vacuity thus formed than by the small orifice under the surface of the liquid, presses the water before it into the body of the syringe. As every machine described in this book, and most of those in the next one, both proves and illustrates atmospheric pressure on liquids, we need not enlarge further upon it here. There are however some other parti¬ culars relating to it, which are necessary to be known: first, that its pressure is limited; and secondly, that it varies in intensity at different parts of the earth, according to their elevation above the surface of the sea. These important facts are clearly established in the accounts given of the discovery of the air’s pressure, a sketch of which can scarcely be out of place here, since it was a pump that first drew the attention of modern philosophers to the subject, and which thereby became the proximate cause of a revolution in philosophical research, that will ever be consi¬ dered an epoch in the history of science. Chap. 2.] Discovery of Atmospheric Pressure. 187 CHAP TER II. Discovery of atmospheric pressure—Circumstances which led to it—Galileo—Torricelli—Beautiful experiment of the latter—Controversy respecting the results—Pascal—his demonstration of the cause of the ascent of water in pumps—Invention of the air-pump—Barometer and its various applications_ Intensity of atmospheric pressure different at different parts of the earth—A knowledge of this necessary to pump-makers—The limits to which water may be raised in atmospheric pumps known to ancient pump-makers. In the year 1641, a pump-maker of Florence made an atmospheric, or what was called a sucking pump, the pipe of which extended from 50 to 60 feet above the water. When put in operation, it was of course inca¬ pable of raising any over 32 or 33 feet. Supposing this to have been occasioned by some defect in the construction, the pump was carefully examined, and being found perfect, the operation was repeated, but with the same results. After numerous trials, the superintendent of the Grand Duke’s water works, according to whose directions it had been made, consulted Galileo, who was a native of the city, and then resided in it! Previous to this occurrence, it was universally supposed that water was raised m pumps by an occult power in nature, which resisted with con¬ siderable force all attempts to make a void, but which, when one was made, used the same force to fill it, by urging the next adjoining substance, if a fluid, into the vacant space. Thus in pumps, when the air was with¬ drawn from their upper part by the ‘ sucker ,’ nature, being thus violated, instantly forced water up the pipes. No idea was entertained by philo! sophers at this or any preceding period, that we know of, that this force was limited; that it would not as readily force water up a perpendicular tube, from which the air was withdrawn, 100 feet high as well as 20_to the top of a high building as well as to that of a low one. When the circumstances attending the trial of the pump at Florence were placed before Galileo, (his attention having probably never before been so closely directed to the subject) he could only reply, that nature’s abhorrence to a vacuum was limited, and that it “ ceased to operate above the height of 32 feet.” This opinion given at the moment, it is believed was not satisfactory to himself; and his attention having now been roused, there can be no doubt that he would have discovered the real cause, had he lived, especially as he was then aware that the atmosphere did exert a definite pressure on objects on the surface of the earth. But at that period this illustrious man was totally blind, nearly 80 years of age, and within a few months of his death. The discovery is however, in some measure, due to him. It has also been supposed that he communicated his ideas on the subject to Torricelli, who lived in his family and acted as his amanuensis during the last three months of his life. It was in 1643 that Torricelli announced the great discovery that water was raised in pumps by the pressure of the air. This he established by very satisfactory experiments. The apparatus in his first one, was made hi imitation of the Florentine pump. He procured a tube 60 feet long, and secured it in a perpendicular position, with its lower end in water; then having by a syringe extracted the air at its upper end, he found the water rose only 32 or 33 feet, nor could he by any effort induce it l > 188 Torricelli. [Book II. ascend higher. He then reduced the length of the pipe to 40 feet, without any better success. It now occurred to him, that if it really was the atmosphere which supported this column of water in the pipe, then, if he employed some other liquid, the specific gravity of which, compared with that of water, was knoivn, a column of such liquid would be sustained in the tube, of a length proportioned to its gravity. This beautiful thought he soon submitted to the test of experiment, and by a very neat and simple apparatus. Quicksilver being 14 times heavier than water, he selected it as the most suitable, since the apparatus would be more manageable; and from the small dimensions of the requisite tube, a syringe to exhaust the air could be dispensed with. He therefore took a glass tube about four feet long, sealed at one end and open at the other. This he completely filled with quicksilver, which of course expelled the air; then placing his finger on the open end, he inverted the tube, and introduced the open end below the surface of a quantity of mercury in an open vessel; then moving the tube into a vertical position, he withdrew his finger, when part of the mercury descended into the basin, leaving a vacuum in the upper part of the tube, while the rest was supported in it at the height of about 28 inches, as he had suspected, being one-fourteenth of the height of the aqueous column. This simple and truly ingenious experiment was fre¬ quently varied and repeated, but always with the same result, and must have imparted to Torricelli the most exquisite gratification. 8 Accounts of Torricelli’s experiments were soon spread throughout Eu¬ rope, and every where caused an unparalleled excitement among philoso¬ phers. This was natural, for his discovery prostrated the long cherished hypothesis of nature’s abhorence of a vacuum; and at the same time, opened unexplored regions to scientific research. It met however with much opposition, particularly from the Jesuits ; in many of whom it is said to have excited a degree of ‘ horror’ similar to that experienced by them on the publication of Galileo’s dialogues on the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems. They and others resisted the new doctrine with great perse¬ verance, and even endeavored to reconcile the results of the experiments with th efoga vacui they so long had cherished. It was ingeniously con¬ tended that the experiment with quicksilver no more proved that the force which sustained it in the tube was the pressure of the atmosphere, than the column of water did in the first experiment; allowing this, it proved that this force, whatever it was, varied in its effects on different liquids, accord¬ ing to their specific gravity ; a fact previously unknown, and apparently inconsistent with nature’s antipathy .to avoid, which might be supposed to produce the same effects on all fluids—to have as great an abhorence to mercury as to water. During the discussion great expectations were entertained by the advo¬ cates of the new doctrine from Torricelli; but unfortunately, this philoso¬ pher died suddenly in the midst of his pursuits and in the very vigor of manhood, viz. in his 39th year. This took place in 1647. The subject was however too interesting, and too important in its consequences, to be lost sight of. He had opened a new path into the fields of science, and philosophers in every part of Europe had rushed into it with too much ardor to be stopped by his decease. Among the most eminent of those a The apparatus employed in these experiments was not original with Torricelli. The air thermometer of C. Drebble, the famous alchemist, who died in 1634, was of the same construction, except that the upper end of the inverted tube was swelled into a bulb. It is frequently figured in Fludd’s works. Chap. 2.J Pascal and Perrier. 189 was Pascal, a French mathematician and divine. In 1646 he undertook to verify the experiments of Torricelli, and still further to vary them. He used tubes of glass forty feet long, having one end closed to avoid the use of a syringe. He filled one with wine and another with water, and inverted them into basins containing the same liquids, after the manner of Torricelli’s mercurial experiment. As the specific gravity of these liquids was not the same, he anticipated a difference in the length of the two co¬ lumns ; and such was the fact. The water remained^suspended at the height of thirty-one feet one inch and four lines; while the lighter wine stood at thirty-three feet three inches. Pascal was attacked with great virulence by Father Noel, a Parisian jesuit, who resisted the new doctrine with infuriate zeal, as if it also was heresy, like Galileo’s doctrine of the earth’s motion round the sun. After making several experiments, one at length occured to Pascal, which he foresaw would, if successful, effectually silence all objectors. He reasoned thus : If it is really the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, that sustains water in pumps, and mercury in the tube, then, the intensity of this pressure will be less on the top of a mountain than at its foot, be¬ cause there is a less portion of air over its summit than over its base ; if therefore a column of mercury is sustained at 28 or any other number of inches at the base of a very high mountain, this column ought to diminish gradually as the tube is carried up to the top; whereas, if the atmosphere has no connection with the ascent of liquids, (as contended) then the mer¬ cury will remain the same at all elevations, at the base as at the summit. Being at Paris, he addressed a letter to his brother-in-law, M. Perrier, (in 1647) from which the following is an extract: “ I have thought of an experiment, which, if it can be executed with accuracy, will alone be suf¬ ficient to elucidate this subject. It is to repeat the Torricellian experi¬ ment several times in the same day, with the same tube, and the same mercury; sometimes at the foot, sometimes at the summit of a mountain five or six hundred fathoms in height. By this means we shall ascertain whether the mercury in the tube will be at the same or a different height at each of these stations. You perceive with¬ out doubt that this experiment is decisive ; for if the column of mercury be lower at the top ol the hill than at the base, as I think it will, it clear¬ ly shows that the pressure of the air is the sole cause of the suspension of the mercury in the tube, and not the horror of a vacuum; as it is evi¬ dent there is a longer column of air at the bottom of the hill than at the top; but it would be absurd to suppose that nature abhors a vacuum more at the base than at the summit of a hill. For if the suspension of the mercury in the tube is owing to the pressure of the air, it is plain it must be equal to a column of air, whose diameter is the same with that of the mercurial column, and whose height is equal to that of the atmosphere, from the surface of the mercury in the basin. Now the base remaining the same, it is evident the pressure will be in proportion to the height of the column, and that the higher the column of air is, the longer will be the column of mercury that will be sustained.” This experimen- tum cruris, was made on the 19th September, 164S, the year after Torri¬ celli s death, on the Puy de Dome, near Clermont, the highest mountain in France ; and the result was just as Pascal had anticipated. The mercury fell in the tube as M. Perrier ascended with it up the mountain, and when he reached the summit it was three inches lower than when at the base. The experiment was repeated on different sides of the mountain, and continued by Perrier till 1651, but always with the same results. Pas¬ cal made others on the top of some of the steeples in Paris ; and all 190 Limits of Atmospheric Pressure [Book II. proved the same important truth, viz. that the jrressure of the atmosphere was that mysterious power, which under the name of nature’s abhorrence to a vacuum had so long eluded the researches of philosophers. The sub¬ ject was taken up in England by Boyle, who pursued it with unremitted ardor, and whose labors have immortalized his name ; but it was Germany that bore off the most valuable of the prizes which the discovery offered to philosophers. The Torricellian experiment gave rise to the air pump ; and in 1654, a Prussian philosopher, a mathematician and a magistrate, Otto Guerricke, of Magdeburgh, made public experiments with it at Ratis- bon, before the emperor of Germany and several electors. Some authors ascribe the invention of the pump to Candido del Buono, one of the mem¬ bers of the Academie del Cimento at Florence, and intimate that the first essays with it were only made by Guerricke. The apparatus of Torricelli, i. e. the glass tube and basin of mercury, was named a baroscope, and afterwards a barometer, because it measured the pressure of the atmosphere at all elevations ; hence to it, engineers in all parts of the earth may have recourse, to determine the perpendicular length of the pipes of atmospheric pumps. Another application of the barometer was the natural result of Perrier’s first experiment on the Puy de Dome. As he ascended that mountain with it, the mercury kept falling in exact proportion to the elevation to which the instrument was carried; hence it is obvious, that when the tube is properly graduated, it will measure the height of mountains, and all other elevations to which it can be carried. By it, aeronauts deter¬ mine the height to which they ascend in balloons. The observations of Perrier were continued daily from 1649 to 1651, during which he per¬ ceived that the height of the column slightly varied with the temperature, wind, rain, and other circumstances of the atmosphere ; and hence the instrument indicated changes of weather , and became known and is still used as a “ weather glass.” The extent of these variations is about three inches, generally ranging from twenty-eight to thirty-one, and are principally confined to the temperate zones. In tropical regions, the pressure is nearly uniform, the mercury standing at about thirty inches throughout the year. These facts have an important bearing on our sub¬ ject; for an atmospheric pump or siphon, with a perpendicular pipe thirty- four or thirty-five feet long, might operate during certain states of the at¬ mosphere, while in others it could not; and in some parts of the earth it would be altogether useless. It will appear in the sequel, that the physical properties of the atmos¬ phere which we have enumerated, must necessarily be understood, in order perfectly to comprehend the action of the machines we have to de¬ scribe. As regards the aerial pressure, its limits and variation at different altitudes, we need only remark, that a sucking pump or a siphon, which raises water thirty-three feet in New-York and Buenos Ayres, London and Calcutta, St. Petersburgh and Port Jackson in New Holland, could not, in the city of Mexico, elevate it over twenty-two feet; and at Quito, and Santa Fe de Bogota in South America, and Gondar the capital of Abyssinia twenty feet, on account of the great elevation of these cities ; (from the same cause, the pressure of the atmosphere on Mont Blanc is only about half that on the plains) and if Condamine and Humboldt, when on the summit of Pinchincha, had applied one to raise water there, or on the side of Antisana, at the spot where, from the great rarity or tenuity of the air, the face of the latter philosopher was streaming with blood, his attendant fainted, and the whole party exhausted, it would not have raised water over twelve or fourteen feet; (the mercurv in the barometer fell 191 Chap. 3.] Knoim to old Pump Makers. to fourteen inches seven lines,) while on the highest ridge of the Hima¬ layas, it would scarcely raise it eight or ten feet. Without a knowledge of aerial pressure, it is obvious, that engineers who visit Mexico, and the upper regions of South America, &c. might get into a quandary greatly more perplexing than that in which the Florentine was, when he applied to Galileo : but we believe the period has nearly gone by, for mechanics to remain ignorant of those principles of science, upon which their profes¬ sions are based. It perhaps may be asked, W ere the limits to which water can be raised by the atmosphere not known before Galileo’s time 1 Undoubtedly they were. Pump makers must always have been acquainted with them; al¬ though philosophers might not have noticed the fact or paid any attention to the subject. Why then did the Italian artists make such a one as that to which we have referred ? Simply because they were ordered to do so, as any mechanic would now do under similar circumstances : at the same time they declared that it would not raise the water, although they could not assign any reason for the assertion. It was indeed impossible for ancient pump makers to have remained ignorant of the extent to which their machines were applicable. A manufacturer of them would naturally extend their application, as occasions occurred, to wells of every depth, until he became familiar with the fact that the power which caused the water to ascend, was limited—and until he detected the limits. After using a pump with success, to raise water twenty-five or thirty feet, when he came to apply it to wells of forty or fifty feet in depth without lengthening the cylinder, he would necessarily learn the important, and to him mysterious fact, that the limits were then exceeded : and after probably going through similar examinations and consultations, as those which took place at Florence in the 17th century, the unvarying result would become so firmly established, that every workman would learn it traditionally, as an essential part of his profession : and if in succeeding ages, the knowledge of it became lost, the experience of every individual P. un ?P ma ^ er must have soon taught him the same truth. Attempts then similar to those of the Florentine engineer occurred frequently before, but leading to no important result, the particulars of them have not been pre¬ served ; nor is it probable that those relating to the Italian experiment would have been, had not the father of modern philosophy been consulted, and had not his pupil Torricelli taken up the subject. CHAPTER III. Ancient Experiments on air—Various applications of it—Siphons used in ancient Egypt_Primitive experiments with vessels inverted in water—Suspension of liquids in them—Ancient atmospheric sprink¬ ling pot—Watering Gardens with it—Probably referred to by St. Paul and also by Shakespeare—Glass sprinkling vessel, and a wine taster from Pompeii—Religious uses of sprinkling pots among the ancient heathen Figure of one from Montfaucou—Vestals—Miracle of Tutia carrying water in a sieve, describe ed and explained—Modern liquor taster and dropping tubes—Trick performed with various liquids »y a Chinese juggler—Various frauds of the ancients with liquids—Divining cups. j Notwithstanding the alledged ignorance of the ancients respecting the physical properties of the atmosphere, there are circumstances related in history which seem to indicate the reverse ; or which, at any rate, show [92 Ancient Experiments on Air. [Book II that air was a frequent subject of investigation with their philosophers, and that its influence in some natural phenomena was well understood. Thus Diogenes of Apollonia, the disciple and successor of Anaximenes, reasoned on its condensation and rarefaction. According to Aristotle, Em¬ pedocles accounted for respiration in animals by the weight of the air, which said he, “ by its pressure insinuates itself with force into the lungs.” Plutarch expresses in the very same terms, the sentiments of Asclepiades, representing him among other things as saying that the external air, “ by its weight, opened its way with force into the breast.” Lucretius, in ex¬ plaining the property of the loadstone in drawing iron, observed that it repelled the intervening air betwixt itself and the iron, thus forming a vacuum, when the iron is “ gushed on by the air behind it” Plutarch was of the same opinion.* Vitruvius speaks of the pressure of air, Arch, book viii, cap. 3. When Flaminius, during the celebration of the Isthmi¬ an games, proclaimed liberty to the Greeks, the shout which the people gave in the transport of their joy was so great, that some crows, which hap¬ pened to be then flying over their heads, fell down into the theatre. Plu¬ tarch among other explanations of the phenomenon, suggests, that the “ sound of so many, voices being violently strong, the parts of the air were separated by it, and a void left which afforded the birds no support.” b But if the ancients did not detect or comprehend the direct pressure of the atmosphere, they were not ignorant of its effects, or of the means of exciting it. They in fact employed air in many of their devices as success¬ fully as the moderns. They compressed it in air guns, and weighed it in bladders ; its elasticity produced continuous jets in their fountains and force pumps, in the same manner as in ours ; by its pressure, they raised water in syringes and pumps, and transferred it through siphons, precisely as we do; they excluded its pressure from the upper surface of water in their sprinkling pots, and admitted it to empty them, as in the modern liquor merchant's taster. That they had condensing air pumps is evident from the wind, guns of Ctesibius, as well as others described by Vitruvius, b. x, cap. 13 ; and it is probable that they employed air in numerous other machines and for other purposes, but of which, from the loss of their writings, no account has been preserved. See Vitruvius, book x, cap. 1, where some are referred to, and Pliny Nat. Hist, book xix, cap. 4. It would be in vain to attempt to discover the origin of devices for raising liquids by the pressure of the atmosphere, for it would require a knowledge of man and of the state of the arts, in those remote ages of which no record is extant. That machines for the purpose were made long before the commencement of history is certain, for recent discov¬ eries have brought to light the highly interesting fact, that siphons were known in Egypt 1450 years before our era, i. e. 3290 years ago ! At which period too they seem to have been in more common use in that country, than they are at this day with us. [See Book V, for an account of these instruments.] The retention of water in inverted vessels while air is excluded from them, could not have escaped observation in the rudest ages. Long ere natural phenomena had awakened curiosity in the human mind, or roused the spirit of philosophical inquiry and research, it must have been noticed. When a person immerses a bucket in a reservoir and raises it in an in¬ verted position, he soon becomes sensible that it is not the weight of the vessel merely which he has to overcome, but also that of the water within • Duten’s Inquiry into the Origin of the Discoveries attributed to the Modems. Lon 1769, pp. 186, 187 203. b Life of Flaminius. Chap. 3.J Sprinkling Pot.. 193 it; and not till the mouth emerges into air do the contents rush out and eaye the bucket alone m his hands. This is one of those circumstances t ,d aS b° C T red , m ° re ° r 1633 fre( l uentl y t0 most persons in every age. It from d e" 7 tQ SUP u P ° Se that the S ro “P s of oriental females who! om the remotest times, have assembled twice a day to visit the fountains and bv r de f ° r Wa % r f dld not often perform the experiment, both incidentally n y . , s51 » n j P ie y ? oldd not in Pact plunge their water pots (which were it - 6 nn h °H h A aiK ) GS ) 7 the S ushin g fount without occasionally repeating ^ w n °7 0uldA f d f°T ch ^ and her m aids fill buckets to water the horse! ’• ou^be'in 0 ^ and t 7 W 77™ in the Stream for domestic uses, with- was not !oT e r eS dl r rt6d ^ * But the P ken omenon thus exhibited Z * , fi n ed S A UCh OCCasions i on the contrary, it constantly occurred hardlv wa 7 W °' 7 anci ent domestic like a modern house-maid, could Beddes thJv CUP 1 ° r mS ! a i g ° blet ^ without encountering it. Besides the vessels named there were others that formed part of the or- tliTdailv us Tf TV \ h f anCiCntS ’ (see fi S Ures of so " le on P a ge 16) the daily use of which would vary and illustrate it. These were lon<* iWrmnT narr ° W ™° Uthed va ses and bottles, that retained liquids when inverted like some of our vials. Others were still further contracted in To the 1 !!^ aS tHe An f U ! la ’ which S ave out its contents only by drops. with them VeSS6ls and t0 incidental experinfenfs made with them, may be traced the origin of o\ir fountain lamps and inkstands bird fountains, and other similar applications of the same principle ' therefn of a h( l uid ln inverted vessels by the atmosphere, was therefore well known to the early inhabitants of the world, whether they understood the reason of its suspension or not; and when frsubse- quent times philosophers began to search into causes and effects, the phe¬ nomenon was well calculated to excite their attention, and to lead them to earHe T reSpeCtm » air and a Tacuum : it is probable that it did so, for the arliest experiments on these subjects, of which we have any accounts rnd r fre mi ^ t0 l h0Se d ° mestlc manipulations to which we ha/e alluded’ fet d inv. P iT‘ P instrume ”temployed was ^mply a modification of a gob- < lnverted ! n T ate 1 r - , . Thls was the atmospheric ‘ sprinkling p G r or watering siphon, which is so often referred to by the old philosophers anH hei ^ 1SpUte l° n *'P lei } um and a vacuum. It has long been obsolete’ awlOe tha a t V s ng h been ^ m ° dern aUth ° rS ’ f<3W § eneral readers are an inst ™ment was ever in use, much less that it formed part of the philosophical apparatus of the ancient world. title ? nneCted with d and its modifications en- e it to a place here. Indeed were there no other reason for attempting of frieTT U a httle , lon g er from oblivion, than that indicated at the closf of the last paragraph, we should not. feel justified in passing it by It is eSi",?" 1 that “ k T" “ th f “^ary, «HS& -—In ployed in hydro-pneumatical researches. Its general form and uses Phdosopher er< l d fe om .fe e r . eraarks op Athenagoras respecting it. This philosopher, who flourished in the fifth century, B. C. made use of it tn of a vacuum. -This ijr’ument (says he which is mat™'" /! 7 P T ted to ' vards the top, and made of clay or any other material, (and used as it often has, for the watering of gardens} is !n tb P bo tom very large and plain [flat] but full of smalfholef likeTsXve but hqmd ZeZtiz hole ■”* Y hen " ~ S the single opening aft be nmaier ° us k °fe s m lts bottom; after which D ° p emn g at top was closed by the finger to exclude the air; the * As quoted by Switzer from Bockler, Hyd. 167. 25 194 Watering Plants with the Atmosphheric Garden Pot. [Book II vessel and its contents were then raised, and the latter discharged at pleasure by removing the finger. As this was the ancient garden pot of the Greeks, Pliny probably re¬ fers to it when he speaks of * sprinkling’ water, oil, vinegar, &c. on plants and roots. 11 It appears to have been continued in use for such purposes in Europe, through the middle ages ; and to a limited extent up to the 17th and 18th centuries. b Figures of it are, however, rarely to be met with, for it seems to have been nearly forgotten when the discovery of Torri¬ celli revived the old discussions on a vacuum; and though Boyle and others then occasionally referred to it, few, we believe, gave its figure.' Mont- I faucon speaks of examining an ancient ‘ watering stick,’ and also a ‘ sprinkling pot,’ but unfortunately he has not described either.* 1 Of a great number of old philosophical works that we have examined for the purpose of obtaining a figure, we met with it only in Fludd’s works. The annexed cut is from his De Naturae Simia seu Tech- nica macrocosmi historia.’ Oppenheim, 1618, p. 473. The mode of using it is too obvious to require expla¬ nation. It was pushed into water in the position re¬ presented ; the liquid entered through the openings in the bottom, driving the air out of the small orifice at the top; and when it was filled, the person using it placed his finger or thumb on the orifice and then moved the vessel over the plants, &c. he wished to water; discharging the contents by raising the finger. No. 69. Ancient Watering Pot. The application of this instrument as a * garden pot’ may sometimes be found portrayed in devices, rebuses, vignettes, &c. of old printers. In the title page of Godwin’s Annals of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary, (a thin latin folio published in 1616) it is represented. No. 70 is a copy. There is a similar engraving on the title page of a volume on farming, &c. entitled ‘ Maison Rustique,’ translated from the French, and published in London by John Islip, the same year. No. 70. Watering plants with the Atmospheric Sprinkling Pot. Independently of the sprinkling pot, the cut is interesting as exhibiting » Nat. Hist, xvii, 11 and 28 ; xix, 12 ; and xv, 17. b Dictionnaire De Trfevoux, Art. Arrosoir. c Boyle’s Philosophical works, by Shaw, Lon. 1725. Vol. ii, pp. 140, 144 d Italian Diary, Lon. 1725, 295. Chap. 3.] Sprinkler and T Vine- Taster from Pompeii. 195 the ancient mode of transplanting. It appears that two men were gener¬ ally employed m the operation ; one to set the trees or plants, and another to water them; a custom to which St. Paul alludes in 1 Cor. iii, 6—8 Sometimes ‘ he that watered’ used two pots at the same time, holding one in each hand. As these vessels were not wholly disused in Shakespeare’s time, it is probable, that to them he refers in Lear: Why, this would make a man, a man of salt, [tears] To use his eyes for garden water pots. Act 4, Scene C. re Pf red like a Bering P°t. with which they p n 1 ,d the altars, the pedestals of their gods, and also the men.” b The The^chantpr t ; ’t and Vol. ii, 97. b Snorro’s History of Scandinavia burgh/ 1793 P ,fices 18 translate d in Anderson’s * Bee,’ vol xvi, p. 20, Edin No. 72. No. 71. Sprinkler and Wine-taster both from Pompeii. 196 [Book IT. Sprinkling Vessel from Montfaucon. Jewish priests commonly used a branch of hyssop, but occasionally a piece of wool, and sometimes the fingers. “ The priest shall dip his finger in the oil and sprinkle it.” The Greeks and Romans had not only founts or vases of holy water in their temples for the use of worshippers, whc dipped their fingers into them, as Roman catholics and others do at this day ; but on particular occasions, priests or officers attended to purify the people by sprinkling. Thus, when the Emperor Julian visited the temple at Antioch, the Neocori stood on each side of the doorway to purify with lustral water all who entered. Valentinian, who was afterwards raised to the empire, was then captain of Julian’s guard, and as such walked in front. He was then a Christian, and some of the water having been thrown upon him, he turned and struck the priest, saying, that the water rather polluted than purified; at which the emperor was so enraged that he immediately banished him. Now whether the fingers or light brooms, &c. were used on such occa¬ sions we do not know ; but there were others at which the former cer¬ tainly were not. When the emperors dined, not only their persons and table furniture, but the food, also was purified with lustral water. At the feast of Daphne near Antioch, which lasted seven days, we learn that a neochorus stood by the emperor’s seat, and sprinkled the dishes and meats ‘ as usual.’ How was this water dispersed I Certainly not by the fingers; nor is it likely that a wisp or a broom was employed, since it would be difficult to direct the small shower with sufficient precision on the smaller objects. We have made these remarks for the purpose of intro¬ ducing the figure of an ancient sprinkling ves¬ sel, from the third volume of Montfaucon’s Antiquities. It was supposed by him to have belonged to the table or kitchen, but its spe¬ cific use he could not conjecture. It is evi¬ dently a modification of the atmospheric gar¬ den pot, and it appears admirably adapted for No. 73. Roman Sprinkling Vase, dispersing liquid perfumes or lustral water at the table. The ring is adapted to receive the forefinger, while the thumb could close the small orifice, and thus the con¬ tents might be retained or discharged at pleasure. Among other heathen customs that were long retained in the Christian church, was this practice of sprinkling. Peter Martyr exclaims against a certain class, “ who not only consecrate temples themselves, but also altars and coverings to the altars; T meane the table clothes and napkins, and also the chalices and patins, the massing garmentes, the churchyardes, the waxe candles, the frankincense, -the pascal lambe, eggs, and also holie wa¬ ter; the boughes of their palm trees, yong springes, grass, pot-hearbes, and finally all kinds of fruites.” “ They doe sprinkle houses, deade bodies, churchyardes, eggs, flesh, pothearbes, and garmentes.” a Of all the transactions connected with heathen theology, few ever made a greater noise in ancient Rome than one that is connected with this part of our subject; viz. the miracle by which Tutia the vestal saved her life. It was a religious custom among all the nations of old, to keep sa¬ cred fire in the temples of their deities. In some, lamps were kept burning, in others fuel kindled on the altars. In the temples of Jupiter-Am- mon, Apollo, Minerva, and some other deities were lamps constantly burning. The Israelites were to cause the lamps to “ burn continually,” besides which, “ the fire shall ever be burning upon the altar : it shall Common Places, part iv, cap. 9. Chap. 3.] Vestals. 197 never go out. Levit. vi, 13. The practice is still kept up by the Jews and also by Roman catholics. The origin of the custom is unknown; but the Jews, Persians, Greeks, &c. are generally supposed to have derived it Irom the Egyptians. Upon the consecration of a temple, this 4 holy fire’ was not obtained from ordinary sources, i. e. from other fires, but was pro¬ duced by the rubbing of two sticks together; or, according to Plutarch, was drawn directly from the sun. “If it happen (he observes in his Life oi JN un:a) by any accident to be put out, as the sacred lamp is said to have been at Athens, under the tyranny of Aristion—at Delphi, when the temple was burned by the Medes—and at Rome in the Mithridatic, as also in the civil war, when not only the fire was extinguished but the altar itself overturned—it is not to be lighted again from another fire, but new fire is to be gained by drawing a pure and unpolluted flame from the beams of the sun. This is done generally with concave vessels of brass.” Among the Romans a certain number of virgins were consecrated with solemn ceremonies to the Goddess Vesta. They were named vestals, and it was their peculiar duty to take charge of the sacred fire. They vvere greatly honored for their purity and the importance of their office. “ What is there in Rome, (exclaimed Tiberius Gracchus in his address to the people) so sacred and venerable as the vestal virgins who keep the perpetual fire ?” The most valuable and sacred deposites were often placed in their hands for security. The wills of rich Romans were sometimes committed to their care; hence we read of Augustus forcing from them that of Antony, while the latter was in Egypt. The vestals enjoyed many privileges; among others, when they went abroad, the fasces (emblems of authority) were carried by a lictor before them ; and it was death for any one to go under the litter or chair in which they were carried ; and if they met a criminal going to execution, his life was spared. The vestal daughter of Appius Claudius protected him from being arrested by the Tribunes. On the other hand, they were punished with extreme rigor if found to have broken any of their vows. To per¬ mit the perpetual or holy fire to go out was an unpardonable act, for it was believed to betoken some national calamity, and if one was found guilty of unchastity she was buried alive. “ The criminal (says Plutarch) is carried to punishment through the forum in a litter, well covered with¬ out, and bound up in such a manner that her cries cannot be heard. The people silently make way for the litter and follow it with marks of ex¬ treme sorrow and dejection. There is no spectacle more dreadful than this, nor any day which the city spends in a more melancholy manner. When the litter comes to the place appointed the officers loose the cords, the high priest with hands lifted up towards heaven offers some private prayers just before the fatal minute; then takes out the prisoner, who is covered with a veil, and places her upon the steps which lead down into the cell, [grave;] after this he retires with the rest of the priests, and when she is gone down, the steps are taken away and the cell is covered with earth, so that the place is made level with* the rest of the mount.” [Life of Numa, Langhorne’s Trans.] Tutia, who was accused of incontinence, in order to avoid the horrid pen- a hy, passionately called, or affected so to call, upon the goddess Vesta, to establish by a miracle her innocence. “ Enable me (she cried) to take a sieve full of water from the Tyber, and to carry it full to thy temple.” Upon this appeal her trial was stayed, and it was left to the deity she ad invoked, to save her or not; for such a proof of the falsehood of her accusers could not, if it should take place, be resisted. The result 198 Tutia carrying Water m a Sieve. [Book II No. 74. Tutia carrying Wa¬ ter in a Sieve. was, she succeeded in carrying the water, and thereby not only saved her life, but greatly increased her reputation for sanctity. From the imper¬ fect accounts of the transaction that have reached us, it may perhaps be deemed presumptuous to decide on its real character. That it actually oc¬ curred there can be no doubt. It is incorporated with both the history and the arts of the Romans. It is mentioned by Valerius Maximus, by Pliny and Livy: representations of Tutia carrying the sieve were also embodied in sculptures, in statues, and engraved on gems. The annexed figure was copied from one of the latter. It is from the first volume of Montfaucon’s Antiquities, Plate 28. As the feat therefore was certainly performed, it must have been either by natural or by superna¬ tural means. Some writers have admitted, and St. Augustine among them, that the miracle was a ge¬ nuine one; but there are circumstances sufficient to show that the whole was a well conceived and neatly executed trick, on the part of Tutia and her friends; and further, that it was a much more simple one, than other deceptions to which the heathen priests some¬ times had recourse. It possesses considerable interest however as fur¬ nishing another specimen of their proficiency in scientific juggling and natural magic. To say nothing of the absurdity of admitting a divine interposition, in answer to invocations addressed to a heathen goddess— and of the improbability of Tutia being condemned while innocent; there certainly was something suspicious in her undertaking to select the test for the goddess, and especially such a one as that of carrying water in a sieve. Instead of asking for a sign by water, it would have been more appropriate and more natural in her (if sincere) to have prayed for one by fire —by that element which was the symbol of the deity she invoked, and which it was her peculiar duty to attend at the altar and preserve pure— the element too, which, if the accusation was true, she had polluted : be¬ sides, a token by fire was always considered by the heathen as the strong¬ est evidence of divine approbation. What prompted her then to mention the test of the sieve 1 Doubtless because the device by which it was to be performed was already matured; not by the assistance of Vesta, but by a very simple contrivance furnished her by the priests, from their stores of philosophical and other apparatus with which they wrought their won¬ ders before the people. The contrivance was, we presume, a modification of the ancient sprinkling pot, just described. The sieve she employed would therefore be a double one ; that is, its bottom and sides were hollow, the exterior bottom only being perforated, as in the an¬ nexed cut, which represents a double metallic vessel, the inner one being capable of holding water, and the upper edges of both united and made perfectly No. 75. Supposed construe- ■ • / • i l • ? f tion of Tuna's sieve. air tight, with the exception ot one or perhaps two small openings shown on the edge in the figure. Thus when such a sieve was pressed slowly under water, the liquid would enter through the perforated bottom, drive the air before it, and fill the cavity ; and when the upper part was sunk below the surface, the upper or apparent sieve would also be filled. Then by covering the small opening Chap. 3.] 199 Liquor Taster and Dropping Tube. with the thumb , the vessel might he raised out of the river, the water in the cavity being suspended precisely as in Nos. 69 and 70, so that Tutia might return with it to the temple, and on approaching the altar, by imperceptibly sliding her thumb to one side, the air would enter the opening thus exposed, and the contents of the cavity would descend in a shower, to the amazement of the spectators and to the confusion of her adversaries. With such an instrument she might go with that confi¬ dence to the trial, which she is represented to have felt, being fully con¬ vinced of success. While she was in the act of carrying the water, the spectators would be unable to detect the slightest imposition, or if, from the elevation at which she seems to have borne it, the bottom of the sieve was exposed, it would be more likely to confirm them in the belief of the miracle, as her movements would cause the suspended water to appear at the openings ; but it is more probable that they were kept at too great a distance by the managers of the farce, to afford them any opportunity of exercising an undue curiosity. And when the trial was over, the sieve would be secured by those in the secret, who would have one similar in appearance ready for examination whenever required. Few devices are better adapted to demonstrate the suspension of water by the atmosphere, than those little instruments which chemists and deal¬ ers in ardent spirit use, to examine their various liquids. Those of the former are named ' dropping tubes,’ from the small quantities they are de¬ signed to take up, and the latter ‘liquor tasters:’ both are substantially the same, for they differ merely in form and di¬ mensions. Some curious experiments may be made with them. For example, a series of liquids similar in appearance but differing from each other in specific gravity, and such as do not readily mix, may be placed in a glass or other vessel, so as to form separate layers, the heaviest at the bottom, and the lightest reposing on the top. An expert manipulator may then by a taster (No. 76) withdraw a portion of each, and present to the examination of his audience from the same ves- Liquor Taster sel, samples of different wines, ardent spirits, water, &c. There Droppi*n" Tube reason to believe that the ancient professors of legerdemain were well acquainted with such devices. It is possible that the trick performed by a Chinese juggler before the Russian embassy at Pekin, in the last century, was of the kind. It is thus described by Mr. Bell: “The roof of the room where we sat was supported by wooden pillars. The juggler took a gimblet, with which he bored one of the pil¬ lars and asked whether we chose red or white wine ? The question being answered, he pulled out the gimblet and put a quill in the hole, through which ran as from a cask the wine demanded. After the same manner he extracted several sorts of liquors, all which I had the curiosity to taste, and found them good of the kinds.” Bell’s Travels. Lon. 1764, vol. ii, 28. Peter Martyr speaks of old jugglers that “ devoure bread, and imme¬ diately spit out meale; and when they have droonke wine, they seem pres- entlie to poure the same out of the midst of their forehed.” There are numerous intimations in history that hydrodynamics was one of the most fruitful sources of scientific imposture, to which ancient magi¬ cians had recourse. Besides the sieve of Tutia, the cup of Tantalus, and the Divining cup, there were “the marvellous fountain, which Pliny describes, in the island of Andros, which discharged wine for seven days and water during the rest of the year—the spring of oil which broke out in Rome to welcome the return of Augustus from the Sicilian war—the three empty urns that filled themselves with wine at the annual feast of Bacchus, No. 76. No. 77. 200 Divining Cups. [Book II. in the city of Ellis—the glass tomb of Belus which was full of oil, and which when once emptied by Xerxes could not again be filled—the weep¬ ing statues, and the perpetual lamps;—all the obvious effects of the equi¬ librium and pressure of fluids.” The cup of Tantalus will be ound described in the Chapter on Si¬ phons in Book V. Divining cups may be noticed here, as there is reason to believe that water was suspended in some of them by atmospheric pressure; while in others, sounds were produced by the expulsion of air through secret cavities formed within them. Divination by water has prevailed from immemorial time, and in the eastern world, has been prac¬ tised in a great variety of ways. Sometimes the inquirers into futurity performed the requisite ceremonies themselves, and with ordinary instru¬ ments, as when a mirror or looking-glass was used ; (see page 34) at other times professional sorcerers were employed. These men, as a mat¬ ter of course, provided their own apparatus, and hence had every oppor¬ tunity in its construction of concealing within some part, the device upon which their deceptions turned. Of all the implements connected with Hydromancy, cups are the most interesting. They are among the earliest that history has mentioned, (Genesis, xliv, 5,) and they have longer retained a place in the conjurer’s budget than any other. They were used by astrologers of Europe during the middle ages, and are not yet wholly abandoned in that part of the world. Like all devices of the old magicians, ingenuity seems to have been exhausted in their formation and in adapting them to different spe¬ cies of jugglery. They were of various materials; while some were of silver like Joseph’s, others were of wood, glass, stone, &c. according to the nature of the trick to be performed by them. Sometimes presages were drawn from observing the liquid through the sides of the cup; for this purpose it was made of a translucent material; but then one side was left thick while the others were thin, so that the contents were invisible through the former, but quite plain through the latter. The indications were considered favorable when the liquid was clear and distinctly seen, and unfavorable if the inquirer could not perceive it—thus either side was presented by the conjurer as best suited his views. The same trick is still performed in some of the churches in Itaty; one side of the goblet or glass is made opaque, while the other is transparent. With other cups it was the motion or agitation of the liquid that was looked for: if it re¬ mained at rest, the omen was bad—if violently moved, good. This kind of divination most likely depended on legerdemain or ‘sleight of hand,’ in dropping unperceived some substance into the vessel that produced ef¬ fervescence—or by opening a secret communication with a cavity in the stem or base of the vessel, containing a liquid that had a similar effect. In Japan it is common to place a pot of water on the head; if the liquid boil over, the presage is good, “but if it stirs not, bad luck.” a Among the prodigies mentioned by Herodotus, is one of this kind : the flesh of a victim sacrificed during the Olympic games, was placed in brazen caul¬ drons, and “ the water boiled up and overflowed without the intervention of fire,” (B. i, 59.) The emerald cup, by which the priests of Mentz deluded people in the dark ages, belongs to the same class. On certain days, two or three extremely minute fishes were secretly put in, and by their motions in the water produced such an effect that the people were persuaded “the cup was alive.” b a Montanas’ Japan, translated by Ogilby, Lon. 1G70, p. 123. b Missou’s Travels, vol. i, 93. See also Moreri’s Diet, vol, iv. Art. Augury. 201 Chap. 4.J Impossible to raise Liquids by Suction. The divining cups of the Assyrians and Chaldeans appear, from im¬ perfect accounts of them extant, to have been more artificially contrived. When one was used, it was filled with water, a piece of silver or a jewel having certain characters engraved on it was thrown in; the conjurer then muttered some words of adjuration, when the demon thus addressed, it is said, “whistled the answer from the bottom of the cup.” These ves¬ sels were probably so contrived, that the water might compress air con¬ cealed in some cavity in the base, and force it through the orifice of a mi¬ nute reed or whistle, as in the musical bottles of Peru. As Julius Cyre- nius says such cups were also used by the Egyptians, it is possible that it was one of them by which Joseph divined, or affected through policy to divine. Divination by the cup is still practiced in Japan. It is well known that the jugglers of Asia have always been unri¬ valled. Even in modern times, some of their tricks are beautiful applica¬ tions of science, and are so neatly performed as to baffle the most saga¬ cious of observers. A full account of them would go far to explain 'all the miracles which ancient authors have mentioned, and would afford some curious information respecting the secrets of ancient temples. CHAPTER IV. Suction: Impossible to raise liquids by that which is so called—Action of the muscles of the thorax and abdomen in sucking explained—Two kinds of suction—Why the term is continued—Sucking poison from wounds—Cupping and cupping-horns—Ingenuity of a raven—Sucking tubes original atmospheric pumps—The Sanguisuchello—Peruvian mode of taking tea, by sucking it through tubes—Reflections on it- New application of such tubes suggested-r-Explanation of an ambiguous proverbial expression, Air is expelled from such vessels as are figured in the last chapter by thrusting them into a liquid, which entering at the bottom, drives out as it rises the lighter fluid at the top. In the apparatus now to be described, it is withdrawn in a different manner. The vessels are not lowered into water, but the latter is forced up into them. The operation by which this is accomplished was formerly named suction, from an erroneous idea that it was effected by some power or faculty of the mouth, independently of any other influence. A simple experiment will convince any one that the smallest particle of liquid cannot be so raised :—fill a common flask or small bottle within a quarter of an inch of the top of the neck, and place it in a perpendicular position; then let a person apply his mouth over the orifice, and he may suck forever without tasting the contents; the veriest lover of ardent spirits would die in despair ere he could thus partake of his favorite liquor; and the exhausted traveler could never moisten his parched throat, although the liquid, as in the case of Tantalus, was at his lips. As remarked in a previous chapter, the error was not exploded till i orricelh and Pascal’s experiments proved that water is not raised in pumps by suction, or any kind of attraction, but by pulsion from aerial pressure. Auction therefore, or that which was so called, merely removes an obstacle [air] to a liquid’s ascent—it does not raise it, nor even aid in t ie act of laising it. In other words, it is simply that action of the mus¬ cles of the thorax and abdomen which enlarges the capacity of the lungs 26 d02 [Book II. Gapping and Cupping Instruments. and chest, so that air within them becomes rarefied and consequently no longer in equilibrium with that without—hence when in this state a com¬ munication is opened between them and a liquid, the weight of the atmos¬ phere resting upon the latter necessarily drives it into the mouth; as for example, when a person drinks water from a tumbler or tea from a cup. How singular that the rationale of taking liquids into the stomach was not understood till the 17th century—that so simple an operation and one in¬ cessantly occurring, should have remained unexplained through all pre¬ vious time ! Two kinds of suction have been mentioned by some writers, but the prin¬ ciple of both is the same : one, the action of the chest just mentioned—the other, that of the mouth alone ; viz. by lowering the under jaw while the lips are closed, and at the same time contracting and drawing the tongue back towards the throat. There is this difference between them : the former can be performed only in the intervals of respiration, while the latter may be continuous, since breathing can be kept up through the nos¬ trils. One has been named supping, the other sucking. The term ‘sucker,* commonly applied to the piston of atmospheric pumps, arose from its acting as a substitute for the mouth. With this explanation of the terms suction, sucking, &c. we shall occasionally use them, in accordance with general custom, for want of substitutes equally popular. Infants and the young of all mammals not only practice sucking till they quit their mother’s breasts for solid food,' but most of them continue the practice through life when quenching their thirst: of this man is an ex¬ ample, for it is by sucking that we receive liquids into the stomach, whether we plunge our lips into a running stream, receive wine from a goblet, or soup from a spoon. As the origin of artificial devices for raising liquids by atmospheric pressure may be traced to this natural operation, some other examples may be mentioned. Of these, sucking poison from wounds is one. This has been practiced from unknown an¬ tiquity. Job, speaks of sucking the poison of asps—At the siege of Troy, wlachaon ‘suck’d forth the blood’ from the wounds of Menelaus; and the women among the ancient Germans were celebrated for thus healing their wounded sons and husbands. The serious consequences that often at¬ tended the custom, led at an early period to the introduction of tubes, by means of which the operation might be performed without danger to the operator; for scrofulous and other diseases were frequently communicated to the latter, by drawing tainted blood and humors into the mouth; whereas, by the interposition of a tube, the offensive matter could be prevented from coming in contact with the lips. Before the use of the lancet was discovered, these cupping tubes were applied in ordinary blood-letting. Even at the present day such is the only kind of phlebotomy practiced by the oldest of existing nations; for “the name and the use of the lancet are equally unknown among the na¬ tives of Hindostan. They scarify the part with the point of a knife and apply to it a copper cupping-dish with a long tube affixed to it, by means of which they suck the blood with the mouth.” a It is the same with the Chinese, Malays, and other people of the east. These generally use the same kind of apparatus as the Hindoos, but sometimes natural tubes are employed, as a piece of bamboo. b The horns of animals, as those of oxen and goats were also much used ; these on account of their coni¬ cal form being better adapted for the purpose than cylindrical tubes * Shoberl’s Hindostan, v, 42. b Chinese Repos, iv, 44. See also Le Comte’s China, and Marsden’s Sumatra. Chap. 4.] The Sanguisuchello. 203 Park found the negroes of Africa cupping with rams’ horns; and the Shetlanders continue to use the same instrument, having derived it from their Scandinavian ancestors. Cupping was practiced by Hippocrates, and cupping-instruments were the emblems of Greek and Roman phy¬ sicians. The application of a reed or other natural tube, through which to suck liquids that cannot otherwise be reached, has always been known. The device is one which in every age, boys as well as men acquire a know¬ ledge of intuitively, or as it were by instinct; nor does it indicate a greater degree of ingenuity than numerous contrivances of the lower animals— that of the raven for example, which Pliny has mentioned in the tenth book of his Natural History. This bird, during a severe drought, seeing a vase near a sepulchre, flew to it to drink, but the small quantity of water it contained was too low to be reached. In this dilemma, stimula¬ ted by want and thrown upon its own resources for invention, it soon de¬ vised an effectual mode of accomplishing its object—it picked up small pebbles and dropped them into the vessel till the water rose to the brim— an instance of sagacity fully equal to the application of a tube under similar circumstances by man. As sucking tubes are atmospheric pumps in embryo, a notice of some applications of them will form an appropriate introduction to the latter. They constituted part of the experimental apparatus of the old Greek Ple- nists and Vacuists; and were used by the Egyptians as siphons. They were, and still are, employed in Peru for drinking hot liquids, and were anciently used by the laity in partaking of wine in the Eucharist. “Beatus Rhenanus upon Tertullian in the booke De Corona Militis, re¬ ported* that among the riches and treasures of the church of Mense, were certain silver pypes by the which profane men, whom they call the laietie, sucked out of the challice in the holy supper.” 3 The device, if not of more distant origin, was perhaps designed in the dark ages, as a check to the rude communicants, who would naturally be inclined to partake too freely of the cup. But since the laity were excluded by the Council of Constance, from sharing the wine, the use of such tubes has been retained. At the celebration of high mass at St. Denis, the deacon and sub-deacon suck wine out of the chalice by a chalumeau or tube of gold. [Diet, de Tre- voux. Art. Chalumeau.] ‘ The sanguisuchello or blood-sucker,’ says La Motraye, is a golden tube by which the Pope sucks up the blood [wine] at high mass; the chalice and tube being held by a deacon. The instrument, he remarks, corresponds with “the ancient pugillaris, or tube mentioned by Car¬ dinal Bona in his treatise of things belonging to the liturgy, and of the leavened and unleavened bread.” b No. 78 is a figure of the sanguisuchello. It has three pipes, but the middle or longest one is that by which the liquid is raised. The whole is of gold, highly ornamented, and enriched with a large emerald. One reason assigned for its use, is, that it is more seemly to suck the blood [wine] as through a vein, than to sup it. The Peruvians make a tea or decoction of the ‘herb of Paraguay,’ No. 78. Sanguisuchello. 8 Peter Martyr’s Com. Places. Lon. 1583. Part 4, p. 37. 29, 31, 427, and Blainville’s Trav. ii, 332. b La Motraye’s Trav. i. 204 Peruvian Sucking Tubes. [Book II, which is common to all classes. “Instead of drinking the tincture or infusion apart, as we drink tea, they put the herb into a cup or bowl made of a calabash or gourd, tipp’d with silver, which they call mate; they add sugar and pour on it the hot water, which they drink immediately without giving it time to infuse, because it turns as black as ink. To avoid drink¬ ing the herb which swims at the top, they make use of a silver jripe, at the end whereof is a bowl full of little holes; so that the liquor suck'd in at the other end is clear from the herb.” a Frezier has given an engraving of a lady thus employed, from which the annexed cut is copied. In Frezier’s time it was the custom for every one at a party to suck out of the same tube—like Indians in coun¬ cil, each taking a whilf from the same calumet. With the exception of con¬ fining a company to the use of one in¬ strument, we should think this mode of ‘taking tea’ deserving the considera¬ tion of the wealthy, since it possesses several advantages over the Chinese plan which we have adopted. In the first place, it is not only a more ingenious and scientific mode of raising the liquid, but also more graceful than the gross mechanical one of lifting the vessel with it. It is more economical as regards the exertion required; for in ordinary cases a per¬ son expends an amount of force in carrying a cup of tea backwards and forwards, so many times to his mouth, as would suffice to raise a bucket of water from a moderately deep well. In the use of these tubes there is no chance of verifying the old proverb—‘ many a slip between the cup and the lip’—And then there is no danger of breakage, since the vessel need not he removed from the table. How often has a valuable ‘ tea-set’ been broken, and the heart of the fair owner almost with it, by some awkward visitor dropping a cup and saucer on their way to his mouth, or on their return to the table! Lastly, the introduction of these tubes, would leave the same room as at present for display in tea-table para¬ phernalia. There is another application of them which some convivialists may thank us for suggesting. It has been regretted by ancient and modern epicures that nature has given them necks much shorter than those of some other animals; these philosophers supposing that the pleasures of eating and drinking are proportioned to the length of the channel through which food passes to the stomach. Now although a sucking tube will not alter the natural dimensions of a person’s neck, it may be so used as to prolong the sensation of deglutition in the shortest one; for by contracting the orifice, each drop of liquid imbibed through it may be brought in contact with the organs of taste, and be detained in its passage until every particle of pleasure is extracted from it;—being the reverse of what takes place, when gentlemen swallow their wine in gulps. The most fas¬ tidious disciple of Epicurus could not object to this use of them, since nothing would touch his liquid but the tube; and as every person would No. 79. Peruvian female taking tea with a sucking-tube. Frezier's Voyage to the South Seas, p. 252. 205 Chap. 5.] Various forms of Pumps. provide his own, no one would ever think of borrowing his neighbor's, any more than he would ask for the loan of his tooth-pick. a We are not sure that this plan of attenuating agreeable liquids, did not give rise to that mode of drinking adopted by the luxurious Greeks and Romans, to which we have before alluded. Their drinking vessels were generally horns, or were formed in imitation of them. At the small end of each a very minute opening was made, through which a stream of drops, as it were, descended into the mouth. Paintings found in Pom¬ peii, and other ancient monuments, represent individuals in the act of thus using them—while others, whose appetite for the beverage, or whose thirst was too keen to relish so slow a mode of allaying it, are seen drinking, not out of “the little end,” but out of the large end “of the horn.” We have mentioned this circumstance because it appears to af¬ ford a solution of an old, but somewhat ambiguous saying. CHAPTER Y. On bellows pumps: Great variety in the forms and materials of machines to raise water_Simple bel lows pump—Ancient German pump—French pump—Gosset’s frictionless pump : Subsequently re-in¬ vented—Martin’s pump—Robison’s bag pump—Disadvantages of bellows pumps—Natural pumps in men, quadrupeds, insects, birds, &c.—Reflections on them. Ancient vases figured in this chapter. In the course of time a new feature was given to sucking tubes, by which they were converted into pumps: this was an apparatus for with¬ drawing the air in place of the mouth and lungs. In what age it was first devised, and by what people, are alike unknown. The circumstance that originally led to it, was probably the extension of the length of sucking tubes, until the strength of the lungs was no longer sufficient to draw water through them. In this way the bellows pump, the oldest of all pumps, we presume took its rise. It should be borne in mind that an atmospheric pump is merely a con¬ trivance placed at the upper end of a pipe to remove the pressure of the atmosphere there, while it is left free to act on the liquid in which the lower end is immersed; and farther, that it is immaterial what the sub¬ stance of the machine is, or what figure it is made to assume. Some per¬ sons perhaps may suppose that pumps seldom vary, and then but slightly, from the ordinary one in our streets, (the ancient wooden one) but no idea could be more erroneous; for few, if any, machines have undergone a greater number of metamorphoses. The body or working part, which is named the ‘barrel’ and sometimes the ‘chamber,’ so far from being always cylindrical, has been made square, triangular, and elliptical;—it is not even always straight, for it has been bent into a portion of a circle, the centre of which formed the fulcrum of the lever and rod, both of which in this case being made of one piece : its materials have not been confined to wood and the metals, for pumps have been made of glass, stoneware, stone, leather, canvas, and caoutchouc. Some have been constructed like a In Shakespeare’s time, “every guest carried his own knife, which he occasionally whetted on a^stone that hung behind the door. One of these whetstones may be seen in Parkinson’s Museum. They were strangers at that period to the use of forks.’ [Ritsons’s Notes on Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. Act i, Scene 2.] 206 Bellows Bump. [Book II # a bag, resembling the old powder-puff or the modern accordion; others in the form of the domestic and blacksmith’s bellows—some in the figure of a drum, and others as a portion of one—as a simple horizontal tube suspended at the centre on a perpendicular one, and whirled round like the arms of a potter’s wheel—then again as a perpendicular tube without sucker or piston, and moved like a gentleman’s walking cane, from which maeed its name is derived. (See Canne Hydraulique in Book IV.) They have also been made of two simple tubes, one moved over the other like those of a telescope—even a kettle or cauldron has been used as a pump, and the vapor of its boiling water substituted for the sucker to expel the air it contained, after which the pressure of the at¬ mosphere forced water into it from below. In fine, any device by which air can be removed from the interior of a vessel, is, or may be used as a pump to raise water. Nor have the ‘suckers’ or‘pistons’ been subject to less changes than other parts of pumps. They have been made solid and hollow—in the form of cones, cylinders, pyramids, sectors, and segments of circles:—in the shape of cog-wheels, and of the arms and vanes of wind-mills, with motions analogous to such as these; and sometimes they are made in the shape of a gentleman’s hat and of similar mate¬ rials; while the only motion imparted to them, is the odd one of alternately pushing them inside out and outside in. If a collapsed bladder or leather bag, be secured at its orifice to the upper end of a perpendicular tube whose lower end is placed in a vessel of water, (No. 80) then, if by some contrivance the bag can be distended, as shown by the dotted lines, the small quantity of air contained in it and the pipe would become rarefied, and consequently unable to balance the pressure without—hence the liquid would be forced up into the bag, until the air within became again condensed as before—that is, the blad¬ der would be filled with water, with the exception of a quantity equal to the space previously occupied by the air within it and the pipe. To convert this simple apparatus into a pump, two valves or clacks only are wanting. One, opening up¬ wards and placed in any part of the pipe or at either of its extremities. This will allow water to pass up through it, but none to descend. The other placed over an aperture made on the top of the bag, and opening outwards—through this the contents of the vessel when collapsed can be discharged; and when distended it will close, and thereby prevent the en¬ trance of the external air. The instrument thus ar- anged becomes a bellotos pump, (No. 81,) a machine, which from the obvious application of the bellows to raise and spout water as well as air, has been re¬ invented by machinists in almost every age. The figure scarcely requires illustration. It repre sents a pipe attached to the under board of a circular or lantern bellows, the orifice of which is covered by a clack—the upper No. 81. Bellows Pump. No. 80. 207 * Chap. 5.] Old German Bellows Bump. board has also an opening In its centre which is closed by a valve or clack, and also furnished with a rod and handle. The under board sometimes forms the bottom of a box, in one side of which a spout is inserted, as shown by the dotted lines. The earliest representation of a bellows pump which we have met with in books, is among the curious cuts attached to the first German translation of Vegetius, from which No. 82 is copied. (Erffurt 1511) a It will suffice to show the application of this kind of pump to raise water at that time. There was of course a valve covering the interior orifice of the nozzle and opening outwards, to prevent the air from entering when the upper board was raised. This valve is not shown because the art of representing the interior of machines by section, was not then un¬ derstood, or not practiced. The lower board is fastened to the ground by a post and key, and a weight is placed on the upper one to assist in ex¬ pelling the water. One hundred years ago, two bellows fixed in a box and worked by a double lever, like the old fire or garden engine, was devised by M. Du Puy, Master of Requests to the king of France. The machine was re¬ commended to raise water from the holds of ships, drain lands, &c. It appeals that the widow of M. Du Puy, expected to reap great advantages from it in England; but Dr. Desaguliers, in 1744, published a description of it taken from the French account, and among other remarks he ob¬ served—“ About fourteen years ago, two men here applied for a patent for this very engine, proposing thereby to drain mines;” * # * “ all the difference was, that their bellows were fixed upon a little waggon; and they had a short sucking pipe under; and the force pipe went up from tne two bellows. I opposed the taking out of this patent, because I thought it would be of great hurt to the undertakers, to lay out near eighty pounds for what would never bring them eighty pence ; unless they made a bubble of it, and drew unwary people into a scheme to subscribe money. (Ex. Philos, ii, 501.) Bellows pumps were previously used in France. They are spoken of as common in the old Diet, de Trevoux. Allan, Esq. for a copy of this scarce old work. It is the same lo which rrot Beckman refers in his article on the diving bell. Unfortunately the cuts we left without explanation. 208 Gosset and Deuille’s Pump. [Book II. No. 8;i. Cosset and Deuille’s Pump. A neat and perhaps the best modification of these machines was de vised about the year 1732, in Paris, by Messrs. Gosset and Deuille. It was described by Belidor in 1739, and by Desaguliers in 1744, as “a piston without friction.” It consists of a circular piece of leather pressed into the form of a deep dish, or of a low crowned hat with a wide rim. This rim is secured by bolts and screws between two flanches of a pump cy¬ linder, forming an air tight joint—the part corresponding to the body of the hat fits loosely into the cylinder; and the crown is strengthed by a circular plate of metal of the same size and riveted to it. In the centre of this plate an opening is made and also through the leather for the passage of the water, and covered by a valve opening upwards like the ordinary sucker of a pump. The forked end of the pump-rod is secured to this plate. (See figure.) When the rod is raised, the bottom of the dish or hat is above the flanch, and when down it is pushed inside out as shown in the cut. Thus, by alternately ele¬ vating and depressing it, the water is raised as in the common pump. This piston is described in Yol. VI, of Machines approved by the French Academy for 1732, p. 85, as the invention of M. Boulogne. The great advantage of this pump is in the sucker or piston not rub¬ bing against or even touching the sides of the cylinder, hence there is no friction to overcome from that source, and the leather is consequently more durable; but the length of stroke is much less than in common pumps, it seldom exceeding six or eight inches, lest the leather should be overstrained in pressing it deeper. Large pumps of this description were worked in the mines of Brittany incessantly during three or four months without requiring any repair. India-rubber, and canvas saturated or coated with it, have been successfully used in place of leather. Some modifications of the sucker have also been introduced. This pump was re-invented in England some years ago, and made con¬ siderable noise under a new name. See London Meehan. Magazine, and Register of Arts, 1826-29 ; also the Journal of the Franklin Institute for 1S31, vol. vii, 193. In 1766, Mr. Benjamin Martin, the well known au¬ thor of ‘ Philosophia Britannica’ and other scientific works, proposed a good double pump of this kind for the British navy—a figure and description of it may be seen in Vol. XX. of Tilloch’s Philosophical Magazine. Dr. Robison, in the second volume of his Mechanical Philosophy, pro¬ posed what has been named an improvement on the last pump. His de¬ vice is however little else than the old bellows pump. A figure of it and his description are annexed. A, B, (No. 84) represents a wooden trunk or cylinder of metal, having a a spout at the upper part, and the lower end closed by a plate, the opening in which is covered by a clack valve E, as in No. 83. To this plate is se¬ cured the open bottom of a long cylindrical bag, the upper end being fixed to the round board F. “ This bag may be made of leather or of double can¬ vas, a fold of thin leather or of sheepskin being placed between the two 209 ;; Chap. 5.] Bag Pump. folds. The upper end of the bag should be firmly tied with a cord in a groove turned out of the rim of the board at F. Into \ r this board is fixed the fork of the piston rod, 1 /"*\ I anc ^ the bag is kept distended by a number of | wooden hoops or rings of wire, fixed to it M I 8 a ta few inches distance from one another, and kept at the same distance by three or four cords binding them together, and stretching from the top to the bottom of the bag. Now let this trunk be immersed in the water : it is evident that if the bag be stretched from the compressed form which its own weight will give it by drawing up the piston rod^its capacity will be enlarged, the valve F will be shut by its own weight, the air in the bag will be rarefied, and the atmosphere will press the water into the bag. When the rod is thrust down again, the water will come out at the valve F, and fill part of the trunk. A repetition of the operation will have a similar No. 84. Bag Puinp. /y* , . j - w vjjuiuuuii win netvt; ci sunuar effect; the trunk will be filled, and the water will at last be discharged at the spout. The operation is precisely the same as in No. 81. Here is a pump without friction and perfectly tight; for the leather between the folds of canvas renders the bag impervious both to air and water. We know from experiment that a bag of six inches diameter made of sail cloth No. 3, with a sheepskin between, will bear a column of hfteen feet of water, and stand six hours work per day for a month without failure; and that the pump is considerably superior in effect to a common pump of the same dimensions. We must only observe that the length of the bag must be three times the intended length of the stroke, so that when the piston rod is in its highest position, the angles or ridges of the bag may be pretty acute. If the bag be more stretched than this the force which must be exerted by the laborer becomes much greater than the weight of the column of water which he is raising.” But after all that can be said in favor of bellows pumps, they have their disadvantages. A prominent one is this: when the leather or other , U X -- »»»»u . » t XLVy 11 lillVy lUdliilUl tj 1 y LflfJr terial of winch they are formed is worn out, a practical workman, who is not to be obtained in every place, is required to renew it. Unlike re- placing the leather on an ordinary ‘sucker’, which a farmer or a sailor on s ip-board can easily accomplish, the operation requires practice to per- foim it efficiently, and the expense both of time and materials is much greater than that of similar repairs to the common pump. For these and other reasons, bellows pumps have never secured a permanent place among staple machines for raising water, and the old cylindrical pump still retains the preeminence, notwithstanding the almost innumerable pro- jects that have been brought forward to supersede it. The preceding machines resemble in some degree the apparatus for drinking which the Creator has furnished to us and to such quadrupeds as do not lap. When an ox or a horse plunges his mouth into a stream, he dilates his chest and the atmosphere forces the liquid up into his sto¬ mach precisely as up the pipe of a pump. It is indeed in imitation of these natural pumps that water is raised in artificial ones. The thorax i 3 the pump; the muscular energy of the animal, the power that works it; the throat is the pipe, the lower orifice of which is the mouth, and which he must necessarily insert into the liquid he thus pumps into his stomach ; 27 210 Natural Tumps. [Book XL and whenever the depth of water is insufficient to cover the opening be¬ tween his lips, the animal instinctively draws closer those portions of them above it, and contracts the orifice below, just as we do under similar cir¬ cumstances, and which we constantly practice in sipping tea or coffee from a cup, or any other beverage of which we wish to partake in small quan¬ tities. The capacious chest of the tall camel, or of the still taller came- leopard or giraffe, whose head sometimes moves twenty feet from the ground, is a large bellows pump which raises water through the long channel or pipe in his neck. The elephant by a similar pneumatic appa¬ ratus, elevates the liquid through that flexible ‘suction pipe,’ his proboscis; and those nimble engineers, the common house-flies, raise it through their minikin trunks in like manner. We may here remark, that among the gigantic animals which in remote ages roamed over this planet, and which quenched their thirst as the ox does, there could have been none which stood so high as to have their stomachs thirty feet above the water they thus raised into them. And on the table lands of Mexico, and the still higher regions of Asia, Africa, and South America, animals of this kind, if such there were, must have had their stomachs placed still lower. The mandibles of some insects are hollow, and are used as sucking pumps. They serve also sometimes as sheaths to poniards, with which nature has furnished them, as weapons of offence and defence. Those of the lion-ant are pierced, and “no doubt act as suckers.” This little animal constructs a minute funnel-shaped excavation in dry sand, and co¬ vering its body at the bottom lays in wait, like an assassin, for its prey: “no sooner does an industrious ant, laden perhaps with its provision, ap¬ proach the edge of the slope, than the finely poised sand gives way, and the entrapped victim rolling to the bottom, is instantly seized and sucked to a shadow by the lurking tyrant, who, soon after by a jerk of his head tosses out the dead body.” Weasels and other animals suck the blood of their prey. The tortoise drinks by suction, for which purpose he plunges his head deep into the fluid, so as even to cover his eyes. There are several species of birds denominated * suctorial* on account of their obtaining food by means of atmospheric pressure, which they bring into action by apparatus analogous to the pump. The grallatores or waders, “suck up their food” out of water. It is impossible to contemplate the structure and habits of animals, without being surprised at the extent to which this principle of raising li¬ quids has been adopted by the Almighty in the formation of insects, rep¬ tiles, fishes, birds, amphibia and land animals ; and also at its adaptation to their various forms, natures, and pursuits. Had we the necessary knowledge of their physiology, we would desire no greater pleasure, no other employment than to examine and describe these natural pneumatic machines, and the diversified modes of their operation. For other natural pumps, see remarks at the end of Chapter 2, on bel¬ lows forcing pumps, in the next Book. The vessels or vases figured in this chapter are ancient. Those in which the tubes are inserted in illustrations Nos. 80 and 81, are of glass; the one under the pump spout in No. 83, is a bronze bucket; all from Pompeii. The latter is referred to at page 67. The globular vessel in No. 84, is a figure of a brazen cauldron, also Roman, from Misson. See page 19 of this volume. Ohap. 6.1 The Common Atmospheric Pump. 213 CHAPTER VI. The atmospheric pump supposed by somo persons to be of modern origin—Injustice towards the an dents—'Their knowledge of hydrodynamics—Absurdity of an alledged proof of their ignorance of a simple principle of hydrostatics—Common cylindrical pump—Its antiquity—Anciently known un der the name of a siphon-The antlia of the Greeks-Used as a ship pump by the Romans-Bilge pump Portable pumps—Wooden pumps always used in ships—Description of some in the U. S. Navy —Ingenuity of sailors—Singular mode of making wooden pumps, from Dampier—Old draining pump— Pumps in public and private wells-In mines-Pump from Agricola, with figures of various boxes- Double pump formerly used in the mines of Germany, from Fludd’s works-The wooden pump not im proved by the moderns—Its use confined chiefly to civilized states. Some persons are unwilling to admit that the atmospheric pump was known to the ancients, and yet they are unable to prove its origin in later times or by more recent people. The passages in ancient authors in which it is supposed to be mentioned or alluded to, are deemed inconclusive, because the terms by which it is designated were also applied to othei devices. rr To confine the knowledge of the ancients to such departments of the arts as are either expressly mentioned or referred to in Greek and Roman authors, and to those, specimens of which have been preserved to our times, is neither liberal nor just. Let us suppose Europe and the United States, in the course of future time, thrown back into barbarism, and all records perished, save a few fragments of the works of our dramatists, poets and historians;—and that after the lapse of some 1500 or 2500 years these should be discovered—and also some relics of our archi¬ tecture, pottery, and works in the metals : Now we should think the writers of. those days illiberal m the extreme, who should conclude that we were ignorant of nearly all branches of science and of the arts; and of every machine which was not particularly mentioned or illustrated in AJ° rrner or .°^ which specimens were not found among the latter. And yet something like this, has been the treatment which the ancients have received at our hands. It cannot however be denied, that remains of their works still extant, exhibit a degree of skill in architecture, sculpture, metallurgy, pottery, en¬ graving, &c. which excels that of modern artists.® And as regards their knowledge of hydrodynamics—let it be remembered, that we are in¬ debted to them for canals, aqueducts, fountains, jets d’eau, syringes, for¬ cing pumps, siphons, valves, air vessels, cocks, pipes of stone, 'earthen¬ ware, wood, of lead and copper: yet notwithstanding all these, and their numerous machines for raising and transferring water, and the immense quantities of tubes for conveying it, which are found scattered over all Asia as well as Italy b and Greece, it has been gravely asserted, that they were ignorant of one of the elementary and most obvious principles of mamiSre^ofS t . he . late Mr- Wedgewood, who was doubtless the most skilful rjidenre of an a '» m 0Ur 0wn times ’ that the famou9 Barbarini Vase afforded evidence of an art of pottery among the ancients of which we are as yet ignorant, even of the rudiments. Edin. Encyc. vol. ii, 203. ' 8 ' ° f h aden ?‘ pes found at Pompeii induced the Neapolitan go¬ vernment to sell them as old metal. Pompeii, vol. i, 104. 212 The Antlia, [Book II hydrostatics: viz. that by which water in open tubes finds its own level • a fact, of which it may safely be asserted, it was impossible for them not to have known—a fact with which the Indians of Peru and Mexico were familiar; and one expressly mentioned by Pliny: “ water, (he observes) always ascends of itself at the delivery to the height of the head from whence it gave receipt—if it be fetched a long way, the work [pipe] will rise and fall many times, but the level [of the water] is still rflaintained.” Besides the testimony of Pliny, fountains and jets d’eau are incontro¬ vertible proofs that a knowledge of the fact is of stupendous antiquity ; they having been used in the east from immemorial ages. But the proof adduced to establish their ignorance in this particular, is as singular as the position it is brought forward to sustain, since it equally establishes our own ignorance of the same principle ! It has been said, had the ancients known that water finds its level at both extremities of a crooked tube, they would have conveyed it through pipes to supply their cities, instead of erecting those expensive aqueducts which were among the wonders of the world, and remains of which still strike the be¬ holder with admiration:—in reply to this it need only be observed, that should any remains of the Croton aqueduct, now constructing to supply this city (New-York) with water, be found two thousand years hence, they may, by the same argument, be adduced as proofs that the present engineers of the United States were ignorant that water poured into an inverted siphon would stand at the same level in both its branches. The fact is, the ancients did sometimes convey water over eminences in siphons of an easy curvature. 8 And aqueducts were in some few instan¬ ces carried through valleys by inverted siphons. In the reign of Claudius , an aqueduct was formed to convey water from Fourvieres to the highest part of the city of Lyons. As valleys of great depth were in the line of its course, works of an enormous expense would have been required, which might have prevented the execution of the project; consequently, instead of an elevated canal, leaden pipes were substituted, forming an inverted siphon.* 3 It is uncertain when or by whom the common atmospheric pump was invented. It is supposed to have been known to the old Egyptians, and to have been used in the ship in which Danaus and his companions sailed to Greece.* 1 As the antlia of the Greeks, it could not have originated with Ctesibius, to whom it has sometimes been attributed, since it or some other machine or device is mentioned under that name, by Aristophanes and ether writers who flourished ages before him. d There are other in¬ dications that it was previously known, for either it or something very like it is mentioned under the name of a siphon. This term it is known was a generic one, being applied to hollow vessels, as funnels, cullenders, pipes; and generally to instruments that either raised or dispersed water, as syringes, catheters, fire-engines, sprinkling-pots, &c. e That the ma¬ chine to which we refer raised water by ‘suction,’ is apparent from an¬ cient allusions to it. According to Bockler, “the Platonic philosophers asserted that the soul should partake of the joys of heaven as through a siphon;” and by it Theophrastus explained the ascent of marrow in bones; and Columella the rise of sap in trees. In these instances, it. is obvious that neither the ordinary siphon nor the syringe could be intended, but the atmospheric pump; a machine that Agricola described as a a Fosbroke’s Encyc. Antiq. i, 41. b Hvdraulia, Lon. 1835, p. 254. c See Edin. Encyc. Art. Chronology, vol. vi, 263. d Robinson’s Antiquities of Greece, cap.4 On Military Affairs. e See Ainsworth’s Diet. L-hap. 6.J An Atmospheric t*ump. 213 siphon; and one to which the remark of Switzer only can apply— “the si- nhon wa S undoubtedly the chief instrument known in the first ages of the world, (besides the draw-well) for the raisij g of water.”** Nor is there any thing in the account given by Vitruvius of ‘the Ma¬ chine of Ctesibius, which indicates that the atmospheric pump was not in previous use. His description is obviously that of a forcing pump, (and appears to have been so understood by all his translators,) one whose working parts were placed not above but in the water it was employed to elevate; whose piston was solid, and which by means of pipes forced 1 u-T at f r , Usc tf> that raise d the water “very high;”—attributes which do not belong to the common pump. It is true he has not men- tioned the latter, perhaps because it was not then employed as now in civil engineering and therefore not within the scope of his design in wri- mg his work. _ The manner in which Pliny speaks of it, shows that it was an old device in his time, since it was one with which even country- people or farmers, (the last to adopt new and foreign inventions) were fa¬ miliar. In his 19th Book, ‘On Gardens,’ cap. 4, he observes: when a stream of water is not at hand, the plants should be watered from tanks or wells the water of which may be drawn up by plain poles, hooks and buckets, by swapes or cranes, [windlass] “or by pumps and such like” And that these were no other than the old wooden pump of our stree’ts and such as our farmers use, is obvious from a passage in his 16th Book cap. 42 where speaking of the qualities and uses of different kinds of wood, he remarks, “pines, pitch trees and allars, are very good to make pumps and conduit pipes to convey-water; and for these purposes their wood is bored hollow. r r Although sufficient time may be supposed to have elapsed from the aee of Ctesibius to that of Pliny for the introduction of the atmospheric pump to the countrymen of the latter, (supposing it to have been invented by the former) we can hardly believe, if it were not of more remote origin, that it could even in that time have found its way into Roman farm-yards and gardens; much less that it should have superseded, (as it appears to have done) every other device on board of their ships. ' New and foreign inventions were neither circulated so easily nor adopted so readily in ancient as in modern days; and even now a long time would elapse before inventions of this kind would find their way through the world and longer before they became generally adopted. But had the pumps of which Pliny speaks been of recent introduction, he would cer¬ tainly have said so; and had they been the ‘water forcers’ of Ctesibius to which he alludes in his 7th Book, he could scarcely have avoided re¬ cording the fact. That the antlia was the atmospheric pump would also appear from its employment in ships. There is no reason to suppose that more than three Kinds of marine pumps were ever in use—the chain pump, the screw, and the common pump. In the chapter on the former we have shown that it was not known or used by the Greeks and Romans. The screw was first adopted as a ship pump by Archimedes, (see page 133) and hence it ou d seem that the last only could be intended by more ancient as well as subsequent authors when speaking of the antlia: that it was so, anti¬ quarians generally admit. “The well, (says Fosbroke in his article on the vessels of the classical ancients) was emptied by the winding screw of Archimedes now m use ; but in other ships by the antlia or pump.” It is ofdie latter that Pollux speaks, and to it Tacitus refers when mentioning "Hydrostatics, 294. 214 The Bilge Pump. [Book II the tvreck of some vessels in which Germanicus and his legions sailed down the Amisia into the German ocean: “the billows broke over them with such violence, that all the pumps at work could not discharge the water.” [B. ii, 23. Murphy’s Translation.] Martial, the Roman poet, speaks of the antlia as a machine ‘ to draw up wateraccording to Ainsworth, ‘ a pump.’ Kircher figures and describes the old wooden pump as the antlia. [Mundus Subterraneus, tom. ii, 196.] The Romans appear to have employed it exclusively or nearly so in their navy; and even in that of the Greeks it is not probable that the screw was extensively adopted, on account of its not being so well adap¬ ted for ships as the other. Of this the former people seem to have been convinced; they preferred the pump and all modern nations have con firmed their judgment. Had they used the screw to any extent it would have been continued in European vessels after the fall of the Em¬ pire, when most of their arts and customs were naturally and necessarily continued—their ship pumps as well as their ships. But as the atmos¬ pheric pump only has so come down, we infer that the machine now com¬ monly used to discharge water from the holds of our vessels is identical, or nearly so, with that employed by Roman sailors of old. The oldest modification of the ship pump appears to have been that formerly known as the ‘bilge’ or ‘ burr’ pump; and it was the simplest, for it had but one distinct valve, viz. ‘the lower box,’ as the one which retains the water in a pump is sometimes named. This pump kept its place in ships till the last century, and may yet occasionally be met with in those of Europe. It was often worked without a lever, but its pecu¬ liarity consisted principally in the construction of the piston or sucker.® It differed from the ordinary pump “in that it hath a staff, six, seven or eight foot long, with a bur of wood whereunto the leather is nailed, and this serves instead of a box; so two men standing over the pump, thrust down this staff, to the middle whereof is fastened a rope for six, eight or ten to hale by, and so they pull it up and down.” This account published nearly 200 years ago, might be sufficiently descriptive then, when the pump was in common use, but few persons could now realize from it a correct idea of the substitute for the ordinary sucker. It is however ra¬ ther more explanatory than the accounts given in later works. In some it has been described as “a long staff with a burr at the end to pump up the bilge water.” Here the burr only is mentioned, not the leather, and the idea imparted is that of a solid piston, such as are used in forcing pumps. The sucker of the bilge pump consists of a hollow cone or truncated cone of strong leather, the base being equal in diameter to that of the pump chamber or cylinder. It is inverted and nailed to the lower end of the rod. The lower edge of the leather resting against the burr. When thrust down it collapses and permits the water to pass between it and the sides of the chamber, and when its motion is reversed, the weight of the liquid column above it, presses it out again. To prevent the cone from sagging, three strips of leather are se ved to its upper part at equal dis¬ tances from each other, and their other ends nailed to the rod. (See No. 85.) The action of this sucker is something like moving a parasol up and down in water; the sides close as the rod descends and open when it rises. It is the simplest modification of the sucker known and probably the most ancient. It is figured by Agricola, (vide C in No. 88) but “This part of an atmospheric pump is sometimes named the sucker, the bucket, the upper box, the piston :—we shall generally use the first when speaking of the atmo spheric pump ; and me last when referring to forcing pumps. Chap. 6.] Portable Pumps. 215 is not mentioned by Belidor, Switzer, Desaguliers or Hachette; nor has it been noticed by more recent writers, with the exception of Mr. Milling¬ ton® and perhaps one or two others. It has long been known in some parts of the United States. We noticed it twenty years ago at New Rochelle, Westchester county, in this state, (New-York) and were in¬ formed by a pump maker there, that they “always had it.” ,It is not however universally known, for in 1831 a patent was taken out for it. b There is another application of the burr pump in ships that is probably due to old navigators. We allude to the use of those portable instruments which, says an old author, “are made of reed, cane, or laten, [brass] that sea¬ men put down into their casks to pump up the drink, for they use no spick- ets.” No. 85 represents one, with a separate view of the sucker, from an illustrated edition of Virgil, of the 16th century. They appear to be of con¬ siderable antiquity and were perhaps used for the same purpose by the an¬ cient sailors of Tyre afid Carthage, Greece and Rome. No. 86 is a figure of the common liquor pump, derived from the former. It is from L’Art du Dislillateur, in * Descriptions des Arts ei Metiers ,’ folio, Paris, 1761. The se¬ parate section of the lower part shows the ‘boxes’ to have been similar to those now often used. Another sucker is figured with a spherical valve; a boy’s marble, or a small ball of metal being placed loosely over the orifice, instead of a clack. It was at that time made both of tin plate and of copper as at present. One of these pumps is mentioned by Conrad Gesner, as constituting part of a portable Italian distillery, in the former part of the 16th century, at which period it seems to have been common. See a reference to it, page 218. Ship pumps seem to have been made of bored wooden logs since the days of the elder Pliny, and probably were so by both Greeks and Ro¬ mans long before his time. We learn that they were made by ship¬ wrights, i. e. by a certain class of them.® At the present day, every person knows that wooden pumps are oftener to be found in ships than any other: this has always been the case. It is to them only that refe¬ rence is made in the relations of early voyages. The vessels of Colum¬ bus, d Vasco de Gama and Magalhanes, were furnished with them; indeed no other kind appears to have been used by old European navigators. From the importance of efficient machines to raise water from ships, it may reasonably be supposed that if any nation had possession of a supe¬ rior one, it would soon have been adopted by the rest; but there is not the slightest intimation of any difference between them. The pump in Spanish, Portuguese, English and French vessels, is spoken of as com¬ mon; as much so as the anchor or rudder: thus—wken the Vitoria one ih No. S3. Sailors’ Portable Pump. P No. 86. Liquor Pump. “Epitome of Philosophy, Lon. 1823, p. 199. b Journal of the Franklin Insti state, vol. ix, 235. c Lordner’s Arts of the Greeks and Romans, vol. i, 350. d Ir ving’s Columbus, vol. ii, 127. 416 Pumps in American Ships. [Book II. of Magalhanes’ fleet, put into St. Jago on her return in 1522, a boat was sent ashore for provisions, and “some negroes to assist in working the pumps , many of the ship’s company being sick, and the leaks having in¬ creased.”® In the account of Frobisher’s third voyage in search of a north-west passage in 1578, the Anne Francis having run on a sunken rock, “they had above two thousand strokes together at the pumpe be fore they could make their shippe free of the water, so sore she was brused.” b In the voyage of some English vessels to the north the fol¬ lowing year, one was nearly lost; “by mischance the shippe was bilged on the grapnell of the Pavos, [another vessel] whereby the company [owners] had sustained great losses, if the chiefest part of their goods had not been layde into the Pavos; for notwithstanding their pumping with three pumpes, heaving out water with buckets and all the best shifts they could make, the shippe was halfe full of water ere the leake could be found and stopt.” c In November 1599, two large Portuguese ships arrived at Terceira in distress, having been separated in a storm, during which they “were forced to use all their pumpes ” to keep afloat/* Ta¬ vernier sailed in 1652, from the Persian Gulf to Maslipatan ’in a large ship belonging to the king of Golconda;—a storm arose and became so violent that the water “ rowl’d in from stem to stern, and the mischief was that our pumpes were nought.” Fortunately several bales of leather were on board, of which they made bags or buckets, “which being let down from the masts with pulleys through certain great holes which were cut in the deck, drew up a vast quantity of water.” e Wooden pumps, with and without metallic cylinders and boxes, are still common in European and American ships of war. The latter with few exceptions have no other. A description of those on board the North Ca¬ rolina, a ship of the line, may possibly interest some readers. This ves¬ sel has six. They are large trees bored out and lined with lead. They reach from the surface of the main gun deck to the well, a distance of twenty-three feet. A brass cylinder, 2 feet 9 inches long and 9 inches bore, in which the piston works, is let into the upper part of each; The piston rods (of iron) pass through the centre of a guide piece, se¬ cured over every pump, and are thus kept from deviating from a perpen¬ dicular position. They are connected to the levers by slings as in the common brass lifting pump and some others. The levers are double, and shaped like those of fire-engines, staves of wood being slipped through the rings whenever the pumps are worked. Each lever works two pumps; and the length of stroke, or the distance through which the pistons move in the cylinders, is 14 inches. The pistons or upper boxes are of brass with butterfly valves; the band of leather round each is secured by screws, (in place of nails in the wooden box.) ‘ Necessity is the mother of invention:’ the truth of this proverb is often illustrated by seamen, especially as regards the raising of water. Nu¬ merous are the instances in which they have relieved themselves from situations so alarming as to paralyze the inventive faculties of most other men; either by devices to work the ordinary pumps when their strength was exhausted, or in producing substitutes for them when worn out. A singular example of the latter is mentioned by Dampier, which may be of service to sailors. It is attributed to a people who are not remarkable for their contributions to the useful arts, and on that account •Burney’s Voyages, vol. i, 112. b Hackluyt’s Collection of Voyages, &c. Lon. 1598, black letter, vol. iii, 88. c Ibid, vol. i, 421. d AstIey’s Collection of Voyages Lon. 1746, vol. i,227. 'Travels in India, Lon. 1678, p. 90. Chap. 6.] Various modes of working Ship Tumps. 217 it would hardly be just to omit it. In the course of Dampier’s voyage round the world, while sailing (in 1687) along the west side of Minda¬ nao, one of the Philippine Islands, he concluded to send the carpenters ashore to cut down some trees for a bowsprit and topmast. “And our pumps being faulty and not serviceable, they did cut a tree to make a pump They first squared it, then sawed it in the middle, and then hol- owed each side exactly. The two hollow sides were made big enough to contain a pump-box in the midst of them both, when they were joined together; and it required their utmost skill to close them exactly to the making a tight cylinder for the pump-box, being unaccustomed to such work. We learned this way of pump-making from the Spaniards, who make their pumps that they use in their ships in the South Seas after this manner ; and I am confident that there are no better hand-pumps in the world than they have.” (Dampier’s Voyages, vol. i, 443.) In the ab¬ sence of tools to bore logs the device is an excellent one, and in some particulars such a pump would be superior to the common one. It is not so readily made as one of planks, but it is more durable. Various ingenious modes of working their pumps have been devised by seamen and others ; the power of the men has been applied as in the act of rowing—this plan by far the most efficient is adopted in the French navy. A rope crossed over a pulley and continued in opposite directions on a ship s deck, so that any number of men may be employed at the same time, has been exfensively used in pumps with double suckers, as shown at No. 92. Ropes passed through blocks and connected to the brake ol the common pump have also been worked in a similar way. Captain Leslie, in a voyage from Stockholm to this country, adopted the following plan, which in a heavy gale, may be very efficient: ‘ He fixed a spar aloft, one end of which was ten or twelve feet above the top of his pumps, and the other projected over the stern : to each end he fixed a block or pulley. He then fastened a rope to the pump rods, and after passing it through both pulleys along the spar, dropped it into the sea astern. To the rope he fastened a cask of 110 gallons measurement and containing about 60 gallons of water. This cask answered as a balance weight, and every motion of the ship from the roll of the sea made the machinery work. When the stern descended, or when a sea or any agi tation of the water raised the cask, the pump rods descended ; and the contrary motion of the ship raised the rods, when the water flowed out ihe ship was cleared out in four hours, and the exhausted crew were of course greatly relieved.’ A ship pump made of such boards or plank, as are commonly found on boaro of large vessels, was devised by Mr. Perkins, for which he received a gold medal from the London Society of Arts. It is figured and described m the 38th volume of the Society’s Transactions. I he facility with which wooden pumps are made and repaired, the cheapness of their material, the little amount of friction from pistons working in them, and their general durability, have always rendered them more popular than others. Like many of our ordinary machines, they seem to have been silently borne down the stream of past ages to the Loth and 16th centuries, when, by means of the printing press, they first emerge into notice in modern times. The earliest representation of one we have met within print is in the German translation of Vegetius, on the same page with No. 82, the bellows pump: No. 87, on next page, is a copy. It is square, made of plank and apparently designed to drain a pond or mars i. ic piston or sucker, which is separately represented, is cylin¬ drical and was perhaps intended to show a variation in the construction 28 218 Pumps in the 1 6th Century. [Book IL of that instrument. It has no valve or clack, but appears to be a modi! cation of the one used in the old bilge pump, which was sometimes compared to a ‘gunner’s sponge.’ There are numerous proofs in old au¬ thors, that pumps were common in wells in the 15th century, since they are mentioned in the early part of the following one, as things in ordinary. In 1546, they were used to some extent in those of London. In the ‘Practice of the New and old Phi- sicke,’ by Conrad Gesner, (who died in 1565) translated by George Baker, ‘one of the Queene’s maiesties chiefe chirurgians in ordinary,’ and dedicated to Elizabeth, (Lon. black letter, 1599,) is a description of a Florentine distilling apparatus, to which a portable pump was attached; the latter is described as “an instrument which is so formed that the water by sucking is forced to rise up and run forth, as the like practice is often used in pits of water or welles.” Folio 215. The cele¬ brated mathematician, necromancer, and alchymist, Dr. John Dee, who was frequently consulted by queen Elizabeth, had a pump in the well be¬ longing to his house. In Beroald’s commentary on the 44th proposition of Besson, (the chain of pots) he observes that it “ opere sans intermission en tirant l’eau de tout puits facilement sans pompcs Sarpi, who first dis¬ covered the valves of the veins, compared them to those of a pump, ‘opening to let the blood pass, but shutting to prevent its return.’ But pumps had not wholly, in the 16th century, superseded the old mode of raising water with buckets in European cities. At that time a great portion of the wells were open—of this, numberless intimations might be found. Thus in Italy, the poet Aurelli, who was made gover¬ nor of a city by Leo X. was murdered by the inhabitants on account of his tyranny, and his body with that of his mule thrown into a well. In Lon¬ don, it was not till the latter part of the following century that the chain and pulley disappeared. This is evident from the following enactment of the common council of that city the year after the great fire. (1667) “And for the effectual supplying the engines and squirts with water, pumps are to be placed in all wells :’’ b —a proof that many were open and the water raised in buckets. Pumps are also described in old works on husbandry, gardening, &c. from w^iich it appears that they were often used to raise water for irriga¬ tion. In the ‘Systema Agriculture, being the mystery of Husbandry discovered and laid open,’ Lon. 1675, directions are given respecting va¬ rious modes of making and working them; and it is particularly di¬ rected that the rods be made of such a length as to permit the suckers or ‘upper boxes’ to descend at every stroke below the surface of the water in the well; this it is observed, ‘saves much trouble.’ The same remark accompanies an account of windmills for watering land [pumps driven by them] in the old ‘Dictionarum Rusticum.’ In the mines of Hungary pumps were early introduced, but at what period is uncertain. It is not improbable that those described by Agri- » Theatre des Instrumens, 1579. b Maitland’s History of Loudon, p. 297. 219 Chap. 6.J Pumps in German Mines. No. 88. Pump and Pistons from Agricola. cola, were similar to such as were used in some of the same mines by the ancients, and have always formed part of the machinery for discharging water from them since the fall of the Roman empire. All that are figured in (he De Re Metallica, are extremely simple, and with one excep¬ tion are atmospheric or sucking pumps. They are all of bored logs. Some are sin¬ gle pumps, and are worked by men with levers, cranks, and also by a kind of pendu¬ lum. Others are double, triple, &c., and worked by water wheels. Of the last some are arranged in rows, and the piston rods raised by cams as in a stamping mill; the weight of the rods carrying them down. Others are placed in tiers one above ano¬ ther; the lowest one raises the water from the bottom of the shaft or well, and dis¬ charges it into a reservoir at its upper end: into this reservoir the next pump is placed, which raises it into a higher one, and so on to the top. A pump of this kind from Ag ricola, has been often republished. It was copied by Bockler and others. A figure of it is inserted in Gregory’s Mechanics, Ja¬ mieson’s Dictionary, &c. We have selected No. 88, as a specimen of a single pump, and of upper and lower boxes. A, A, represent two of the latter; the upper part of one is tapered to fit it into the lower end of the pump log as is yet sometimes done. D, B, an upper box, of a kind occasionally used at the present time. The valve or clack is a disk laid loosely over the apertures, and is kept in its place by the rod, which passes through its centre and admits it to rise and fall. C, the conical sucker referred to, p. 214. The annexed figure of a double pump is from Fludd’s works. It appears to have been sketched by him while in Germany, from one in actual use. It is represented as worked by a water wheel, that, by means of cog wheels transmitted motion to the hori¬ zontal shaft; the cams on which alternately depressed one end of the levers to which the pump rods were attached, and thus raised the latter. They de¬ scended by their own weight, as will appear from an inspec¬ tion of the figure. The separate view of a rod is intended to show the application of cranks on the horizontal shaft, in place of cams and le- No. 89. Double Pump in German mines. A. D. 1618. 220 Tie Tump confined chiefly to civilized States. [Book JX vers. The lower ends of the pumps are inserted in baskets which act as strainers. A double series of pumps, (one over the other) as employed in a mine at Markirch in Germany, is also figured by Fludd. It is inte¬ resting on account of the mode of communicating motion to the rods. A crank on the axle of a water wheel imparts motion to a walking beam, as in a steam engine; (in the latter the operation is reversed) and the pump rods are attached to both ends of the beam. 8 The idea may probably occur to the general reader, that the mechani cal talent and enterprise of the preceding and present century, which have produced so many original machines and scarcely left an ancient device unimproved, must have imparted to the old atmospheric pump new features, and made it capable of increased results. It is true that few de¬ vices have occupied a greater share of attention, and on none have more ef¬ forts to improve them been bestowed; but how far these have been suc¬ cessful may be inferred from the fact—that notwithstanding the endless variety of forms into which its working parts have been changed, and the great number of alledged improvements in suckers, pistons, valves, &c. the machine as made by the ancients, still generally prevails; so that were some of their pump makers to reappear, and visit their fellow crafts¬ men throughout the world, they would find little difficulty in resuming their occupation. The pump, although a simple instrument, is confined chiefly to civilized states, while the extent to which it is employed, indicates pretty correctly the degree of refinement attained by the people who possess it. Whether it was known to the Egyptians under the Pharaohs or not, may be a question; but when Egypt under the Greeks realized a partial revival of her former glory, the forcing pump we know made its appearance there; and under the second Ptolemy, when that country was a school for the rest of the world, its most valuable modifications were known. In suc¬ ceeding ages, the atmospheric pump has been a regular attendant on the revival of learning and of the arts. Wherever these have made the most progress, there the pump is mostly used. In Germany, France, Holland, Great Britain, and the United States, it is most extensively employed. In Spain, Portugal, Mexico and South America, but partially so. In Turkey, Egypt, Greece, &c. still less ; while in Asia and Africa, generally, it is un¬ known. 1 * Egypt, even under the auspices of Mohammed Ali, is not yet pre¬ pare to receive it again. Its history in any country is that of the people. Take Russia for an example : of the devices for raising water there, we are informed the inhabitants use the swape, a rope passing over a pulley, (Nos. 13 and 14) a drum on which, a rope is wound, (No. 23) horizontal and vertical wheels, and lastly pumps'; these last it is said, were formerly very rare , but are now become common . c Just so of the people, they were formerly very rude and ignorant, but are now becoming enlightened. a De Naturoe Simia seu Technica macrocosmi historia, pp. 453, 455. b As regards a knowledge of the pump in China, see remarks on Chinese bellows, in the next Book. “Lyell’s Character of the Russians, and a detailed history of Moscow. Lon. 1823, p. 63. Chap. 7.] Metallic Pumps. 221 CHAPTER VII. Metallic pumps Of more extended application than those of wood- Description of one—Devices ta prevent water in them from free Z ing-Wclls being closed, no obstacle in raising water from them-Ap. plication of the atmospheric pump to draw water from great distances as well as depth—Singular cir¬ cumstance attending the trial of a Spanish pump in Seville—Excitement produced by it—Water raised to great elevations by atmospheric pressure when mixed with air-Deceptions practised on this prin¬ ciple—Device to raise water fifty feet by atmospheric pressure—Modifications of the pump innumerable —Pumps with two pistons—French marine pump—Curved pump—Muschenbroeck’s pump—Centrifugal pump-West-s pump-Jorge’s improvement-Original centrifugal pump-Ancient buckets figured in this hat the public hydraulic machinery of the Romans was of the most durable materials sufficiently appears from Vitruvius. The chain of pots described by him was, contrary to the practice in Asia and Egypt, wholly of metal —the chain was of iron and the buckets of brass. The pumps of Ctesibius that were employed in raising water to supply some of the public fountains, he informs us, were also of brass and the pipes of cop¬ per or lead. Some of the oldest pumps extant in Europe are formed al¬ together of the latter. Leaden pumps were very common in the 16th century. They are mentioned by old physicians among the causes of cer¬ tain diseases in families that drank water out of them. The pump of the celebrated alchymist, Dee, alluded to in the last chapter, was a leaden one ; and which he expected to be able to transmute into gold, by means of the elixir or the philosopher’s stone, which he spent his life and fortune m seeking. In the vicinity of some English lead mines such pumps have lor many centuries been in use. The Italian pump that led to the disco¬ very of atmospheric pressure was also a metallic one. The introduction of metals in the construction of pumps greatly ex¬ tended their application and usefulness, for they were then no longer re¬ quired to be placed directly over the liquids they raised. Those of wood were necessarily placed within the wells out of which they pumped water; but when the working cylinder and pipes were of copper or ead, the former might be in the interior of a building, while the reservoir or well from whence it drew vvater, was at a distance outside; the pipes forming an air-tight communication between them under the surface of the ground. ihe following figure, (No. 90) represents a common metallic sucking pump ; tile cylinder of cast-iron or copper, and the pipes of lead. It will serve to explain the operation of such machines in detail, and to show the extent of their application. When this pump is first used, water is poured into the cylinder to moisten the leather round the sucker, and the pieces which form the clacks or valves; it also prevents air from pas¬ sing down between the sucker and the sides of the cylinder when the former is raised. Now the atmosphere rests equally on both orifices of the pipe, the open one in the well, and the other covered by a valve at t e bottom of the cylinder: in other words, it presses equally on the water in the cylinder and in the well which covers both ; a but when by ‘Not absolutely so or in a strict philosophical an altitude of 25 or 28 feet, (the ordinary limits' point of view. J ‘ sense, but the difference is so slight in as to be inappreciable in a practical 222 Common Pumps. [Book II the depression of the handle or lever, the sucker is raised, this equality is destroyed, for the atmospheric column over the cylinder, and consequently over the valve O is lifted up, and sustained by the sucker alone; it therefore no longer presses on the upper orifice, while its action on the lower one remains undiminished. Then as the external air cannot en¬ ter the pipe to restore the equili¬ brium except through its orifice im¬ mersed in the well; in its efforts to do so, (if the expression is allowa¬ ble) it necessarily drives the water before it on every ascent of the sucker, until the air previously con¬ tained in the pipe is expelled, and both pipe and cylinder become filled with water. The subsequent operation is ob¬ vious. When the sucker descends, the clack on its upper surface is rai¬ sed by the resistance of the water through which it passes ; and when at the bottom of the cylinder, this clack closes by its own weight: so that when the sucker is again eleva¬ ted, besides overcoming the resis¬ tance of the atmosphere, it carries up all the water above it, and which it discharges at the spout—at the same time the atmosphere resting undisturbed on the water in the well, pushes up a fresh portion into the vacuity formed in the cylinder, and the valve O prevents its return. The horizontal distance between the cylinder or working part of the pump and the well is, in theory unlimited, but in practice it seldom exceeds one or two hundred feet. In all cases where long pipes are used, their bore should be enlarged in proportion to their length, or the velocity with which the sucker is raised, should be diminished ; and for this reason —time is required to overcome the inertia and friction of long columns of water in pipes ; hence a sucker should never be raised faster than the pipe can furnish water to fill- the vacuity formed by its ascent. In pumps whose pipes have too small a bore, it frequently happens that the sucker is forcibly driven back when quickly raised, because the water had not time to rush through the pipe and fill the vacuity in the cylinder as rapidly as it was formed. The bore of wooden pumps being equal throughout, the water is not pinched or wire-drawn while passing through them, as in most of those of metal. This is one reason why they generally work easier than the latter. It is immaterial in what part of the pipe the valve O is : it is usually placed at the upper end for the con¬ venience of getting to it when requiring repairs. When it fits close to its seat, the water always remains suspended in the pipe, (unless the latter should be defective) as mercury is sustained in a barometer tube. In cold climates it is a matter of some importance to prevent water in pumps from freezing. Metallic pumps are, from the superior conducting property of their material, more subject to this evil than those of wood. Of various devices a few may be mentioned. The old mode of enclosing No. 90. Common Metallic Pump. 223 Chap. 7.] Limits of the perpendicular length of Suction Pipes. the pump in a case containing tanners’ bark, charcoal, the dung of hor¬ ses, &c. is continued. Others are to prevent the valve O from sitting close to its seat, or to open it, by pressing the sucker upon a pin attached to it, so that the contents of the cylinder and pipe may descend into the well; hence every time the pump is used a fresh portion is required to ‘ prime it. A more common method is to connect the lower part of the cylinder with the suction pipe by a stop cock and short tube, as at C. By opening the cock the water in the pump descends through it into the pipe. But the usual practice in this country, is to make the cylinder of such a length that two or three feet of it may be below the surface of the ground, and out of the reach of the frost; about a foot above the valve O or lower box, a plain cock is inserted : in winter this cock is left partially open, and the water above escapes slowly through it into the ground ; while that below, into which the sucker is made to extend at its lowest position, serves instead of fresh ‘priming.’ A similar device is attached to the lateral pipes that convey the water of the Schuylkill into the houses of Philadelphia. Some persons can scarcely conceive how the atmosphere can have ac¬ cess to a well, while the latter is covered with slabs of stone or timber, and a thick bed of clay or mould over all. They forget that it is the ra¬ rity of air, the extreme minuteness of its particles, which enables it to circulate through the finest soils, as freely as people pass through the va¬ rious chambers and passages of their dwellings. Were the sides of a well coated, and its mouth covered with the best hydraulic cement_no sooner could the sucker or piston of a pump produce a partial vacuum within it, than the air would stream through the cement as water through a colander or shower bath. And if the top and sides were rendered per¬ fectly air-tight, it would then enter the bottom and ascend through the water without any perceptible obstruction. If it were possible to make a well impervious to air, no water could be raised from it by one of these pumps: no movement of the sucker could then bring it up. We mio-ht examine the apparatus with solicitude—remove its defects with care*_ consult the learned with the Florentines, or get enraged like the Spanish pump maker of Seville i—'—still, the water, like Glendower’s spirits of the deep, would in spite of all our efforts refuse to rise. When the atmospheric pump is required to raise water from a perpen¬ dicular depth, not exceeding 26 or 28 feet, (i. e. in those parts of the earth where the mercury in the barometer generally stands at 30 inches) the length of the cylinder need not exceed that which is required for the stroke of the sucker. In all cases, the perpendicular distance between the sucker, when at the highest point of its stroke and the level of the water, should never exceed the same number of feet as the tube of a ba¬ rometer, at the place where the pump is to be used, contains inches of mer¬ cury. But in the temperate zones where pumps are chiefly used, the pres¬ sure of the air varies sometimes to the extent of two inches of mercury, or between two and three feet of water; hence the distance should be some- thingless. And as the level of water in wells is subject to changes, it is the laudable practice of pump makers to construct the cylinder and rod of the sucker, of such a length, that the latter may always work within 26 or 28 feet of the water. By keeping the above rule in view, water may be raised by these pumps from wells of all depths; for after it has once entered the cy¬ linder, it is raised thence by the sucker independently of the atmosphere, and to any height to which the cylinder is extended. This seems to have been well understood by old engineers. The remark of those who made 224 Singular incident in trying a Pump at Seville. [Book 11. the Florentine pump is a proof; and others might be adduced from much older authorities. Plate 48, in Besson’s Theatre, represents an atmos¬ pheric pump raising water from a river to the top of a high tower. The cylinder is square, formed of plank and bound with iron clamps. It is shown as nearly four times the length of the suction pipe, which is round. When pump rods are required of great length, they should be made of pine. This wood does not warp, and as it is rather lighter than water, its weight has not to be overcome (like iron rods) when raising the sucker. A circumstance to which we have slightly alluded, was announced in the public papers of Europe, in the year 1766, which roused the attention of philosophers ; for it seemed to threaten a renewal of the disputes about a vacuum, and the ascent of water in pumps and siphons, &c. A tinman of Seville, in Spain, undertook to raise water from a well 60 feet deep, by the common pump. Instead of making the sucker play within 30 feet of the water, he made the rod so short, that it did not reach within 50 feet of it. As a necessary consequence, he could not raise any. Being greatly disappointed, he descended the well to examine the pipe, while a person above was employed in working the pump; and at last in a fit of despair, at his want of success, he dashed the hatchet or hammer in his hand, violently against the pipe. By this act a small opening was made in the pipe about ten feet above the water—when, what must have been his surprise! the water instantly ascended and was discharged at the spout! The fact being published, it was by some adduced as a proof that the pressure of the atmosphere could sustain a perpendicular column of water much longer than 32 or 34 feet, and consequently that the experiments of Torricelli and Pascal were inconclusive. M. Lecat, a surgeon at Rouen in Normandy, repeated the experiment with a pump in his garden: he bored a small hole in the suction pipe ten feet above the water, to which he adapted a cock. When it was open, the water could be discharged at the height of 55 feet, instead of 30 when it was shut. As might be supposed, these experiments when investigated, instead of overthrowing the received doctrine of atmospheric pressure, more fully confirmed it. It was ascertained that the air on entering the pipe became mixed with the water; and which therefore, instead of being car¬ ried up in an unbroken column, was raised in disjointed portions, or in the form of thick rain. This mixture being much lighter than water alone, a longer column of it could be supported by the atmosphere : and by pro¬ portioning the quantity of air admitted, a column of the compound fluid may be elevated one or two hundred feet by the atmospheric pump; but there is no advantage in raising water in this manner by the pump , and we believe it is seldom or never practiced. In a paper, on the duty per¬ formed by the Cornwall Steam Engines in raising water, in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for May, 1837, it is stated that a little air is sometimes admitted in the pump pipes, which it is alledged, “made the pump work more lively, in consequence of the spring it gave to the co¬ lumn of water, and caused less strain to the machinery.” In the same paper Mr. Perkins states that forty years before, an attempt was made to impose upon him in this country, a pump which raised water by atmo¬ spheric pressure 100 feet: but he detected “a small pin hole” in the pipe through which the air was admitted. The same deception it seems gave rise to the humorous poetical satire, * Terrible Tractoration.' The ingenious author states in his preface, that he was employed in 1801, as agent for a company in Vermont, and of which he was a member, to proceed to London, and secure a patent for Chap. 7.] Modifications of Atmospheric Tumps. 2 25 ‘ a new invented hydraulic machine.’ “I was ureed to T,™ ^ i f peZ'a hl^e“42f^Ln e : 3 f' )srN.t^a si ^ ?ra we i ™&>“—d° passage the 4th of July. I waited on M^Kirur ^? ndon after a tedious gentleman I had several interviews on the subiect of mv h A r ™ tuatTnlfTe'te'l *"««“ Company, informing me there was a deception in the" patent^ thatT ^ experiments made subsequent to my departure it soopI!. f could be raised by Langdon’s invention higher than by the common Z^n a Pe J f ° r v t n i! n J 6 Pipe ’ Which made wha t J the inventor called hole, and which by him had been kept a secret. Mr. Nicholson in formed me that a similar deception had been practised on the A ,A bv their' ins v but - that l he trick Was discovercd by the hissing noise mwle by the air rushing into the aperture." From the disappointment Mr Fe ^SF 1 % ? f tts °LS2 fon y years zzz azznf r; ( r;e:r d 3li S3 S SdeadTn Xtis Sm^o f n o f e ;3 d souted to % x d :rz d t::I £ SnShm T, h 6 PUmp ' l,a , V ' nS “ C ° ok soIdered l ° Ptlle end. This’cock be ng shot and the pump worked, the air in the pipes and the vessel was sphere he ,h" ^ latter consequently filled with water by the atmo- r™ he * e " opened the cock which admitted the atmosphere to act on the surface „f the water m the vessel, and by again workinf th e ' mn t he contents of the vessel were raised and discharged in the ga°rret P Rva so other^water ^^Tabof/e^ct It U £ uf b d m thlS manner to any elevation. the same devices p m ij .u thought, and hit upon the same or nearly it would we have no doubt33tw'HT 7 if*' 8 mlchine . be procured, celebrated French surgeon, L-similet S wh!1 of“i3ut 2 9 226 Pump with two Pistons. [Book II. subsequently found in Pompeii) not a few of its diversified modifications were anticipated by Greek and Roman machinists. Why then were they not preserved or continued in usel For the same reason that the old pump is still generally preferred : and were it not for the art of printing it is probable that not one of the modern improvements of this machine would be known 2000 years hence, any more than those devised by the ancients are now known to us. Those persons who are familiar with it, well know that a large majority of its supposed improvers, have returned from long and laborious mental pilgrimages in its behalf, laden, like old devotees, with little else than stores of worthless relics. Of innumerable variations in its construc¬ tion, the greater part consists of different modes.of communicating motion to the rod, by wheels, cranks, racks and pinions, cams, plain and jointed levers, pendulums, balance poles, vibrating platforms, &c. Of these it would be useless to speak. Others consist in two or more suckers in the same cylinder; in altering the form of the latter ; and some in imparting motion to the cylinder, and dispen¬ sing with the sucker. We shall notice some of these here, and others in the next Book. The introduction of two suckers or pistons into one cylinder has long been a favorite project. Dr. Conyers in 1673 proposed a pump of this kind. He made it of plank, square and tapered , (in the form of an inver¬ ted and truncated pyramid,) feet long, 20 inches square at the upper end, and 8 at the bottom where the valve or lower box was placed. He fixed two suckers on the same rod, one at its lower end and the other so as to play half way down the trunk. This pump he said, raised “ at least twice as much water as the ordinary one of the same size.” If such was the fact, it was by the expenditure of twice as much force. Had the bore of the trunk, where the upper sucker played, been uniform throughout, and the lower sucker laid aside, and with it the force ex¬ pended in moving it, the result would clearly have equalled that of both. Phil. Trans. \ 8 Abridg. Vol. i, 545. No. 91. Double Piston PumpL About the year 1780, Mr. Taylor of South¬ ampton, Eng. introduced two suckers or pis¬ tons into one cylinder, each united to a separate rod, that one might as¬ cend as the other descended, and thus discharge double the quantity of water: No. 91 is a figure of it. The rod of the lower sucker slides through the centre of the upper one; and also through its valve, which is a spherical or hemispherical piece of brass, placed loosely over its seat and to which the rod acts as a guide. The upper parts of the rods ter¬ minate in racks, between which a cog wheel is placed, having an alternate movement imparted to it, by a lever attached to its axis, as in the common air pump. Anothei mode of working this pump, is by means of a drum fixed to Chap. 7.] 227 Working Ship Tumps by Ropes. one end of the shaft of the cog wheel; over this a rope is passed and crossed below, to which any number of men, on each side, may apply their strength. Both parties pull the rope towards them by turns, and thereby impart the requisite movement to the cog wheel, and consequently to the pump rods and suckers, as shown in No. 92. Mr. Adams, in his Lectures on Natural Philosophy, published in 1794, observed that these kind of pumps had been “in general use in the royal navy for five or six years.” Vol. iii, 392. No. 99. Working Ship Pumps by Ropes. In 1813, the London Society of Arts awarded a medal and twenty guineas to Mr. P. Hedderwick, for various modes of imparting motion to two pistons in the same cylinder, by a series of levers , instead of cog wheels and racks. Trans, vol. xxxii, 98. Atmospheric pumps with two pistons are used in the French marine, and are arranged so as to be worked by the men as in the act of rowing. Neither racks nor pinions are used in communicating motion to the rods. The upper ends of these are continued outside the cylinders and bent a little outwards, and then connected by a bolt to each end of a short vibrating beam which is moved by the men. The rods do not descend in the centre of the cylinder, as in the preceding figure, but are attached to one side of the suckers. The lower rod passes through an opening in the upper sucker, which is closed by a collar of leather. Hachette’s Traite Elementaire des Machines. Paris, 1819, p. 153. Pumps with double pistons are not of modern date : there is one figured in Besson’s Theatre des Instrumens. The alledged superiority of these pumps is more specious than real. It is true the inertia of the water in ascending the pipes has not to be overcome at every stroke, as in the common pump, since its motion through them is continuous; nor is its direction changed, as when two separate cylinders are used, being then diverted into them from the pipes at angles more or less acute. These are real advantages; but if we mistake not, they are the only ones, unless taking up less room on ship board be an¬ other. But from the cylinders being twice the ordinary length, these machines are really double pumps; having not only two suckers and two rods, but also two cylinders, and requiring twice the power to work them. The principal difference between them and the usual double pump, is that the cylinders are united together on the same axis, while in the latter, they are placed parallel to each other. In point of economy, we think pumps with two distinct cylinders are preferable; they are less complex, and of course less liable to derangement: a longer stroke can be ob¬ tained in them, and, what is of more importance, when one is disordered, the other can be continued in use. On these considerations we believe double piston pumps were abandoned in the British navy. A singular modification of the common pump was devised in England in 1819, for which the Society of Arts awarded a premium of twenty guineas. The chamber was curved, and the centre of the circle, of which 228 Muscfienbroeck's Pump. [Book II. it formed a part, served as a fulcrum on which the rod and handle (both of one piece) moved. The rod was curved so as to move in the centre of the chamber. No. 93. Curved Pump. The objects supposed to have been attained by this arrangement, were “ greater simplicity of workmanship,” and “ greater steadiness and preci¬ sion of action” (of the sucker.) The device is ingenious, but can never be generally adopted. The spring of the rod with the wear of the bolt on which it turns, must soon render the play of the sucker and wear of the chamber unequal: the difficulty and expense of making the latter curvi¬ linear, and of repairing it when bruised or otherwise injured, are fatal objections. The pipe must be separated from the chamber to get at the lower box or valve; and the application of the pump is limited to depths within 30 feet. We have noticed it, lest the same idea occurring to some of our me¬ chanics, should lead them to a useless expenditure of time and money. In the same year a patent was issued in Eng¬ land for making the cylinder in the form of a ring, or nearly so, the centre of which was the fulcrum on which the pis¬ ton turned, and an alternating motion was imparted to the latter. Repertory of Arts, vol. xxxv. 1819. An interesting modification of the at¬ mospheric pump was described by Mus- chenbroeck in his Natural Philosophy. Instead of a piston or sucker working inside of the cylinder, the latter itself is moved, being made to slide over the pipe somewhat in the manner of telescope tubes. No. 94 represents this pump. The upper end of the suction pipe, being No. 94. Muschenbroeck’s Pump. made of copper or brass, and its exte¬ rior smooth and straight, is passed t.. ough the bottom of a small cistern. Its orifice is closed by a valve opening upwards. A short cylinder whose diameter exceeds that of the suction pipe is slipped over the latter; and to its lower end a stuffing box is adapted to prevent air or water from passing between them. Its upper . Chap ' 7 'J Centrifuged Pump. 229 end is covered by a valve also opening upward. The pump .rod is at- i^ e l th , e same end by a fork, as represented in the figure. By mo °A • inde f Up and down > the air within ^ and the pipe is soon ex Fovver’r/rf 06 ° CCUpied > a portion of the waK which the ° f He u UCt ’p n Fpe 18 immersed - When the cylinder is then raised the atmosphere forces up water into it, and when it is depressed the water being prevented by the valve on the end of the pipe frem de’ spending mto the well, escapes out of that on the top of the^Flinder ure- cisely as in the bellows pumn (r> 2f)f! ^ R-ir L-~ • P . T , P re air is effectnallv i? P ' lP ' y keeping water in the cistern, box even if .bf^, ? r fr P . < T r “S between *8 pipes at the stuffing endoFthe cvlinHer to P ' r * W - A CU P ° rd!sh fOTmed ™ the uppef ena ot the cylinder to contain a little water over the valve would be an at tTd^tS tS'b 11 1 ^ f ° r def6CtS whiS * e 7 w ° uld be fatal, as a vacuum could not then be formed within the cylinder, and of course no water raised by Our vXr^Frthat w°h h be jdm ° St , Usele ^ if was not kepF o^er the Tn th i h renderS them air a nd consequently efficient sure of ,he ar lrV° f '*? 18 f * ” ew method exciting the pet j. atmosphere for the purpose of raising - water was ndnnt-erl Tto piuW^:stbtS e h f d tterS b With W j' Ch l0 " S estabI!shed modes of ac'com- entS and the rtF? e f mbarrassed ?“mmon minds. He left the old track tireiy, and the result of his researches was a philosophical machine that bears no resemblance to those by which it was preceded. Most people are practically acquainted with the principle of the Ccntri Th "t 1011 1 b ° dy a Zt C Zas is thrown from ,h ! e a force Proportioned to its velocity: thus mud wet rot)/ , h nmS v f C T*Z e Wheeh ’ when the y move rapidly over of Ito iT' i” ? S , h ”.f darts off P moment it is released f a bucket evel when The h ^‘ r ed 6 a T m a 8, P and the eontents retained en when the bottom is upwards. A sailor on ship board, or a house- wateivnardclir m ° P ^ "'a"'!'” 8 7 til1 tbe force communicated to the watery particles overcomes their adhesion to the woolen fibres Bovs and ISrawinr! 161 * m'T ? 11 °’T ? 11,6 end ° f a sw!,ch or flexible rod, and then drawing it quickly through the air, the force imparted to the balU — J ~ 7 sends them to their destination. If a tube be substituted for tbe rod, and the end that is held m the hand clo¬ sed, by a similar movement, balls dropped or water poured into it, would be thrown forward in like manner,’ and if by some arrange¬ ment the movement of the tube was made continuous, projected streams of either balls or water might be rendered constant: the centrifugal gun is a contrivance to accomplish the one—the centrifugal pump the other. This pump generally consists of tubes, united in the form of a cross or letter T, placed perpendicularly The lower enrl i . t b® water to be raised. (No. 95. i the water and • Up , P ° rted on a P lvot 5 perforations are made to admit ‘n mluon Thf. P" 1 a Val '' e to retain it when the pump is no, n s of the transverse part are bent downwards to dis- No. 95. Centrifugal Pump. 230 Centrifugal Pumps. [Book II. charge the water into a circular trough, over which they turn. To charge it, the orifices may be closed by loosely inserting a cork into each, and then filling the pump through an opening at the top which is then closed by a screw cap. A rapid rotary motion is imparted to the machine by a pulley fixed on the axis and driven by a band, from a drum, &c. The centrifugal force thus communicated tt) the water in the arms or transverse tube, throws it out; and the atmo¬ sphere pushes up the perpendicular one fresh portions to supply the place of those ejected. These pumps are sometimes made with a single arm like the letter L in¬ verted; at others quite a number radiate from the up¬ right one. It has also been made of a series of tubes arranged round a vertical shaft in the form of an inver¬ ted cone. A valuable improvement was submitted by M. Jorge to the French Academy in 1816. It consists in imparting motion to the arms only, thus saving the power consumed in moving the upright tube, and by which the latter can be inclined as circumstances or lo¬ cations may require. A combination of the centrifugal pump with Parent’s or Barker’s mill, was proposed by Dr. West, which in some locations may be adopted with advantage. It is sim¬ ply a vertical shaft round which two tubes are wound: (No. 96) the upper one is the pump; the lower one the mill. The area of the lower one should be to that of the upper in the inverse ratio of the perpendicular height, and as much more as is necessary to overcome the fric¬ tion. The cup or basin into which the stream (part of which is to be raised) is directed, may be attached to the shaft and turn with it, or the latter may pass through it. Tilloch’s Phil. Mag. vol. xi. The first centrifugal pump appears to have been invented by M. Le Demour, who sent a description of it to the French Academy in 1732. (Machines approuve. Tom. vi, p. 9.) It was merely a straight tube attached in an inclined position to a vertical axis, and whirled round by the handle—the tube was fastened by liga¬ tures to three strips of wood projecting from the axis, as shown at No. 97. With this pump we close our remarks on devices for raising water by atmo¬ spheric pressure; more might have been added, but as nearly all the machines yet to be described illustrate the same prin¬ ciple, the reader is referred to the fol¬ lowing Books, and particularly to the at¬ mospheric and forcing pumps described in the next one. [The vessels under the pump spouts in Nos. 90, 93 and 94, are Roman bronze buckets from Pompeii.] END OF THE SECOND BOOK. I BOOK III. MACHINES FOR RAISING WATER BY COMPRESSURE INDEPEIffr ENTLY OF ATMOSPHERIC INFLUENCE. CHAPTER I . Definition of machines described in this Book—Forcing Pumps—Analogy between them andbe and Thebes, and Heliopolis, to fhl^Z Tk beUv J en three and four thousand years ago, and is similar to those found figured in the forges of Vulcan on ancient medals and “ tU , re f S ; i Numer ° U 1 % Were ttie I orms in which the bellows was anciently made, but the general features of the one to which we allude, (the lantern selves VS haVe remained as unc hangeable as those of blacksmiths them- Strabo attributed the bellows to Anacharsis who lived about 600 years ‘ •/ but f JS P r chable that some particular form of it only was intended, oi it is not credible that the Greeks m Solon’s time could have been igno¬ rant of an instrument that is coeval with the knowledge of metals ; and without which the iron mmey of Lycurgus, two centuries before, could never have been made. Pliny (B. vii, 56) attributes it with greater pro¬ priety to the Cyclops, who are supposed to have flourished before the deluge. The prophet Jeremiah, who lived long before Anacharsis, speaks of it in connection with metallurgical operations. “The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melteth in vain ” Isaiah, who lived still earlier, viz. in the 8th century B. C. alludes to the blacksmith s bellows—“the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire.” And Job nine or ten centuries before the Scythian philosopher flourished speaks of a fire not blown.” The prophet Ezekiel also speaks of the’ blastfurnace as common—“they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt } , X K XU ’ 20 I Homer, as might be supposed, could not fully describe the labors of Vulcan, without referring to this instrument. His account of the great mechanic at work, is equally descriptive of a smith and his torge of the present day. Obscure in smoke, his forges flaming round, While bathed in sweat from fire to fire he flew • And puffing Joud, the roaring bellows blew. ****** Just as the god directs, now loud, now low, Ihey raise a tempest, or they gently blow. Iliad, xvm, 435, 545. Pope. The first approach made to artificial bellows was the application of a mouth" °» T "“T 1 E tl,r ° Ugh wUoh t0 a s t re um P o P fa“frl fhe • ‘)T dev , ,ce ‘i'f has never passed into desuetude. Such was the ori- fh» ° fthe . modern blow-pipe, an instrument originally designed to increase were deTdonedl t'l ary M b “ Whi ° h subse ody equal in length to the coffin—1 correctly measured it, and placed it where I found it.” Lichas, after hearing this relation, was induced to believe that this might be the body of Orestes, concerning which the oracle had spoken. He was further persuaded, when he recollected that the bellows of the smith might intimate the two winds; the anvil and the hammer might express one form opposing another; the iron also, which was beaten, might signify ill succeeding ill, rightly conceiving that the use of iron operated to the injury of mankind. The result proved the sagacity of the Spartan: the body was recovered, and finally the Tegeans, says Herodotus, were conquered. Clio, 67, 68. No. 106. Double Lantern Bellows Pump. No. 107. Single Forcing Pump. The application of lantern bellows as forcing pumps is, without doubt, of great antiquity : their adaptation to raise water was too obvious not to have been early perceived, and hence we infer that they were at least oc¬ casionally employed for that purpose by most of the nations of old. Such pumps are mentioned in old works on hydraulics; but as they have never 31 242 Bellows Forcing Bumps. [Book III come into general use, even in modern times, a particular account of them previous to the art of printing, is not to be expected. A writer in the Grancle Description of Egypt , describing the smith’s bellows of that coun¬ try, observes :—“ Ces sortes de soufflets etoient employes verticalement dans le seizieme siecle tant pour animer le feu des forges que pour clever V eau, soit en rarefiant l’air soit en le. comprimant; ils sont decrits dans l’ouvrage de Ramelli, imprime en 1558.” No. 106 represents a double lantern bellows-pump, as used in the 16th century. The mode of its operation is too obvious to require detailed description. As one bellows is distended by working the lever, the at¬ mosphere drives water up the suction-pipe into its cavity ; and the other at the same time being compressed, expels its contents through the ascending or forcing pipe : the valves at the lower part of the latter, and those over the orifices of the two branches of the suction-pipe opening and closing, as shown in the figure. There is a pump similar to this, but geared in a different manner, in Hachette’s Traite elementaire des machi¬ nes. Papin, in a way to raise water, which he proposed enigmatically in the Philosophical Transactions in 1685, used the lantern bellows as a forcing-pump. In a solution by another writer, it is said :—“ A vessel made like the body of a pair of bellows, or those puffs heretofore used by barbers being filled with water, a piece of clockwork put under it, may produce the jets.” Phil. Trans. Abridg., vol. i. 539. A similar appli¬ cation of the bellows was described in Besson’s Theatre, in 1579, the moveable board being impelled by a spring. No. 107 is another example of bellows forcing-pumps. It consists of the frictionless piston of Gosset and Deville, (No. S3,) but without a valve; a forcing or ascending pipe, having its lower orifice covered by a valve, is attached to the cylinder below the piston. Pumps of this kind have also been made double acting, by passing the piston rod through a stuffing box on the top of the cylinder, and by a double set of valves arranged as in the pump of La Hire. Of late years machines like those figured in the two last cuts, have been reintroduced into Europe and this country. Although we have not heard of any one having run out of his wits for joy at their discovery, like the blacksmith mentioned by Cardan, we have heard of some who were nearly in that predicament from disappointment in having found themselves anticipated. A few years ago they were an¬ nounced in this city as a new and very important discovery; and several gentlemen allowed their names to. go abroad as vouchers of their origina¬ lity and superiority over the common pump. The proofs of the antiquity of many of our ordinary utensils are derived from representations of them on vases, candelabra, and other works of art that have come down. Of this, the domestic bellows is an example ; the only evidence of its having been known to the Greeks or Romans, is furnished by a lamp ; but for the preservation of which, it might have been deemed a modern invention. Of no other article of ancient house¬ hold furniture are more specimens extant than of lamps, and not a little of the public and private economy of the ancients has been illustrated by them. Amo _ :g those in private collections and public museums, are some that were once suspended in temples, others that illuminated theatres and baths—that decorated the banqueting-rooms of wealthy patricians, as well as such as glimmered in the dwellings of plebeians ; the former are of bronze, elaborately wrought and enriched, the latter mostly of earthen¬ ware. The fertility of conception displayed in these utensils is wonderful. All nature seems to have been ransacked for devices, and in modifying 243 Ohap. 1.] Bellows Bumps from Kircher. tlA^helZtfZ tear , de ’ ignm ™ wi,d i wWI ' -any and some are obscene Thero 10118 eX( j. u ’ s ' te1 ^ ckaste > others are bizarre represented blowing the flame v^thT' °" W !” Ch an individual is fire; and in another^!T l* hlS J rnoa 1 th ’ as “ the act of kindling a ment, a person performing the™ lntV ° duced ’ as an appropriate embellish- >-f el/the sa^etrTa? b 1° W5> i this lamp, from the 5th volume of Montfaucon’s LtiquMef ‘ %Ure ° f No. 108. Bellows figured ou a Roman Lamp. No. 109. Bellows Forcing Pumps from Kircher. has a" r :s; bleu git™ T°h ”? -^T “ “““pherio P™P° from Kircher’s MuudusTbter anlu s 10 ?> is “P& “ ^presents two large bellows employedas"sucW »J T ' ’ 1665 : being worked by a water wheel mil.! * • S JJ k ”£. an< j forcin g pumps, sented was attached Water ’ l ° ^ ““ ° f which the crank repre’ r simiiar m T er ' wre - to the purpose may be adduced aV « e / an ° US “odes of adapting them pumpsf S P ometimYs quantities to render the LI ! ! ° f ° rCe down fresh a “ “ sufficient Me; at others theydrew belo r placed near the mouth nf rho l tv • ^ 1 * 16 ^ rst case > thejr were continued down to the °i * ’ a , P'P e . was attached to the nozzle and lows were Z. 1° / WheFe the m,ners "»rked, and when the bel- latTer clZ ,h ra °“ 0n ' CUFFents of fresh air were supplied. I„ the to the asp’irat'ingv'afre 8 t C h,o" eC h ed h° ‘ he ,°P e . nin Sl in the under board, 1. e. through it when the bellowTwere aPn'distended™ The'" f ‘'° m 'T™ 8 when the bellows we~ d' ■ J b n '"*■ ,nS ‘ ead of thfi >°wer one, and which was attached t'l l t ' ‘J* ,m l >ure «r rushed up the pipe covered by the flap when the bellows werecbse^ Iseve^nT ° pe " in{r S oTL -e^rttTt antages ol an artificial blast must have been obvious from the first 244 Piston Bellows. [Book III. use of fire, and naturally led to the use of the mouth to blow It, then the reed, sack, and subsequently a slit or valve in the latter, would follow as an almost necessary sequence ; and long before the idea of increasing the intensity of heat by flues or chimneys could have been thought of. No natural occurrence could have led to the invention of these before the other, nor has there, as yet, been found any account or representation of draft furnaces of equal antiquity with those of bellows. CHAPTER II. Piston Bellows : Used in water organs—Engraved on a medal of Valentinian—Used in Asia and Africa. Bellows of Madagascar. Chinese bellows: Account of two in the Philadelphia Museum— Remarks on a knowledge of the pump among the ancient Chinese—Chinese bellows similar in their construction to the water-forcer of Ctesibius, the double acting pump of La Hire, the cylindrical steam- engine, and condensing and exhausting air-pumps. Double acting bellows of Madagascar—Alledged ignorance of the old Peruvian and Mexican smiths of bellows: Their constant use of blowing tubes no proof of this—Example* from Asiatic gold and silver smiths—Balsas—Sarbacans—Mexican Vulcan. Natural bellows-pumps: Blowing apparatus of the whale—Elephant—Rise and descent of marine ani¬ mals—Jaculator fish—Llama—Spurting Snake—Lamprey—Bees—The heart of man and animals_Every human being a living pump : Wonders of its mechanism, and of the duration of its motions and materials —Advantages of studying the mechanism of animals. The bellows described in the last chapter are all formed of leather or skins, and are obvious modifications of the primitive bag or sack; the wooden ends of some of them being adopted merely to facilitate their distension and collapsion. From the simplicity of their construction and general efficiency they still retain a place in our workshops and dwell¬ ings, and are in no danger of being replaced by modern substitutes : but the ingenuity of ancient bellows makers was not exhausted on these, for they had others, differing both in form, materials and mode of ac¬ tion : viz: piston bellows; machines identical with cylindrical forcing- pumps. At what time these were first devised we have no account; but as they are described by Vitru¬ vius, in his account of hydraulic or¬ gans, without the slightest intima¬ tion of their being then of recent date, they may safely be classed among those inventions, the origin of which is too remote to be dis¬ covered. No. 110 represents a person work¬ ing two of them to supply wind for a water organ, from Barbaro’s Vi¬ truvius, Venice, 1567. They are sub¬ stantially the same as those figured ^ by Perrault and Newton in their translations, and by Kircher in his Musurgia Universalis, (tom. ii, 332.) No. 110. Roman Piston Bellows. Chap. 2.] Piston Bellows of Mindanao. 245 The blower, by alternately raising one piston and depressing the other pumped air into a large reservoir: this was an open vessel inverted into another containing water, and as the air accumulated in the former he liquid was gradually displaced and rose in the latter, as in a gas holder. It was the constant pressure exerted by this displaced water that urged the air through the pipes of the organ, whenever the valves for its adimssion were opened. The question, perhaps may be asked, Why did the ancients prefer these bellows m their organs to those formed of leather and boards, such as are figured at Nos. 105, 10S, 109 1 Probably because the pressure required to be overcome in forcing air into the reser¬ voirs was greater than the form and materials of the latter could safely 13 ver ^ obv 1 1 ° US fr ° m the brief description of the piston bellows tl i that dfy wer ® calculated to produce much stronger blasts thaiJcould be obtained from those made of leather. Vitruvius informs us that the cylinders and valves were made of brass, and the pistons were accurately turned and covered (or packed) with strips of unshorn sheep- S a ^ S *c b hey seem to have been perfect condensing air-pumps. A figure of an ancient hydraulic organ is preserved on a medal of Val- entinian : two men, one on each side, are represented as pumping and istening to its music. _ This medal is engraved in the third volume of Montfaucon s Antiquities (plate 26,) but the piston rods only are in si-ht • the top of the cylinders being level with the base on which the blowers stand. As piston bellows were known in the old world, it might be supposed they would still be employed in those parts of the East where the arts and customs of former^ages have been more or less religiously retained, feuch is the fact; for like other devices of ancient common life, they are used by several of the half civilized tribes of Asia and Africa—people among whom we are sure to meet with numerous primitive contrivances’ embodied m the same rude forms and materials as they were before b-recian taste or Roman skill improved them. It is chiefly to the in¬ cidental observations of a few travelers that we are indebted for a know¬ ledge of these implements in modern days; but when the times arrive lor voyages of discovery to be undertaken for the purpose of describing the machines, manufactures and domestic utensils of the various nations o the earth; (undertakings of equal importance with any other,) these bellows and their numerous modifications will furnish materials for a chap¬ ter in the history of the useful arts that will be replete with interesting information. As they are clearly identified with the forcing-pump, an account of some of them will not be out of place. ^ Dampier thus describes the bellows used by the blacksmiths of Min¬ danao they are made of a wooden cylinder, the trunk of a tree, about ree leet long, bored hollow like a pump, and set upright on the ground- on which the fire itself is made. Near the lower end there is a small hole m the side of the trunk next the fire made to receive a pipe ; through r bl p cb Wmd 18 J driven to the fire by a great bunch of fine feathers, astened to one end of a stick, which closing up the inside of the cylinder, 1 ° Ut t Cy ' inder tI ’ rou S h the pW T '™ these^trunks! ’ T ? aCG ? S ° mg;h to & erher - tha t a man standing between i ™ a y. W< ? rk tbe ™ b °th at once, one with each hand.” 11 Here we have ot the single and double chambered forcing-pump; and although Dam- p er has not noticed the valves, the instruments were certainly furnished with them, o r with some contrivance analogous to them, but being out of a Dampier’s Voyages, i. 332 . 246 Piston Bellows of Madagascar, [Book IIL sight, were left unnoticed by that intelligent sailor. The bellows of Mada¬ gascar, says Sonnerat, “ is composed of the hollow trunks of two trees tied together. In the bottom there are two iron funnels} and in the inside of each trunk a sucker furnished with raffia, which supplies the place of tow. The apprentice, whose business it is to use this machine, alternately sinks one of the suckers while he raises the other.” b Similar implements are also used in smelting iron as well as in forging it. In the first volume of Ellis’s “ History of Madagascar,” Lon. 1838, there is a representation of two men reducing iron ore by means of four piston bellows. No. Ill is a copy. The furnace is described as a mere hole dug in the ground, lined with rude stonework and plastered with clay. It was filled with alternate layers of charcoal and ore, and covered by a conical roof of clay, a small opening being left at the apex. The bellows were formed of the trunks of trees, and stood five feet above the ground, in which they were firmly imbedded. The lower ends were closed “ air tight,” and a short bamboo tube conveyed the wind from each to the fire, as represented. “ A rude sort of piston is fitted to each of the cylinders, and the apparatus for rais¬ ing the wind is complete.” As no mention is made of valves nor of the openings through which air entered the cylinders, it is probable that the pistons were perforated for that purpose, and the passages covered by flaps or valves opening downwards, a device which the artificers of Madagascar are acquainted with. See No. 114. These bellows are of various sizes, though generally from'4 to 6 inches in diameter. Sometimes only one is used, but it is then made of larger dimensions, and the blower stands and works it with both his hands. To do it conveniently, he raises himself on a bank of earth. The bellows are not always perpendicular, but are inclined as figured in the back ground of the cut. b Sonnerat’s Voyages, iii. 36, Chap. 2.] Southern Asia and Western Africa. 247 The blacksmiths of Java use the same kind. Raffles, in his History of the Island, (2 vol. 193,) after quoting Dampier’s description of the bel¬ lows of Mindanao, observes his account “ exactly corresponds” with that of Java. “The blacksmiths’ bellows of Sumatra” says Mr. Marsden, are thus constructed : two bamboos of about four inches diameter and five feet in length, stand perpendicularly near the fire, open at the upper end and stopped below. About an inch or two from the bottom a small joint of bamboo is inserted into each, which serve as nozzles, point¬ ing to and meeting at the fire. To produce a stream of air, bunches of featheis, or other soft substance, are worked up and down in the upright tubes like the piston of a pump. These, when pushed downwards, force the air through the small horizontal tubes ; and by raising and sinking each alternately, a continual current of air is kept up.” c The Bashee Islanders use the same kind of bellows. d The smiths of Bali have them also: “their instruments are few and simple, their forge small, and worked by a pair of upright bellows, such as we find described in Raf¬ fles’ Java.” e They are not confined to southern Asia and the Ethiopian Archipelago, but are used in continental Africa. “ The bellows of the negro artificers on the Gambia, are a thick reed or a hollow piece of wood, m which is put. a stick wound about with feathers, [a piston,] which by moving of the stick, makes the wind.” f J Without entering into the controversy respecting the origin of wooden bellows, it may be inferred from the preceding extracts, that such have been in use from remote times ; and that the cylindrical forcing-pump, so far as regards the principle of its construction, is equally ancient: of this, the instrument now to be described, affords another indication. It is the bellows of the most numerous and most singular of all existing people_ a people, the wisdom of whose government has preserved them as a na¬ tion, through periods of time unexampled in the history of the world, and which still preserves them amidst the prostration by European cupidity of nearly all the nations around them; a people, too, who notwithstanding all that our vanity may suggest to depreciate, have furnished evidence of an excellence in some of the arts that never has been surpassed. The Chinese , like the ancient Egyptians, whom they greatly resemble, have been the instructors of Europeans in several of the useful arts; but the pu¬ pils, like the Greeks of old, have often refused to acknowledge the source whence many inventions possessed by them were derived, but have claimed them as their own: of the truth of this remark, we need only mention 'printing, the mariner's compass, and gunpoivder. In the bellows of the Chinese, we perceive the characteristic ingenuity and originality of that people’s inventions. A description and figure of their bellows were published in London, 1757, by Mr. Chambers, in a work en¬ titled “ Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines and Utensils, from drawings made in China.” The following account from the fourth volume of the “ Chinese Repository,” a very interesting work published at Canton in China, is substantially the same. “ The bellows used by them is very aptly called ‘ Fung Sedng, ‘ wind box,’ and is contained in an oblong box about two feet long, ten inches high, and six inches wide. These dimensions, however, vary according to the whim of the maker, and they occur from eight inches, to four feet or more in length, and so of the width and height. The annexed profile view will give some idea of the principle upon which it is constructed.” c History of Sumatra, p. 181. Dampier’s Voyages, i. 429. e Chinese Repository, iv. 4o5. Ogilry’s Africa, Lon. 1670, p. 356. 248 Chinese Bellows. [Book III. 1 E L 1 IT No. 112. Section of a Chinese Bellows. “ A, B, C, D, is a box divided into two chambers at the line O H. In the upper one is the piston E, which is moved backwards and forwards by means of the handles attached to it; and is made to fit closely by means of leather or paper. The lid of the box slides upon the top, and is suffi¬ ciently thick to allow the workman to labor upon it. At F J are two small holes each covered with a valve; and just below them, at O H in the divi¬ sion of the two chambers, are larger holes, for the entrance of the wind into the lower chamber. This part of the bellows is made of a thick plank, hollowed into an ovoid form, and is about an inch thick. The clapper G is fastened to the back side of the box, and plays hori¬ zontally against the two stops placed near the mouth I. It is made as high as the chamber, and when forced against the stop, it entirely closes the passage of air beyond. When the piston is forced inwards, as repre¬ sented in the cut, the valve at F is closed, and that at J is opened ; and thus the upper chamber is constantly filled with air. The wind driven into the lower chamber by the piston urges the clapper G against the stop, and is consequently forced out at the mouth. The stream of air is unin¬ terrupted, but not equable, though in the large ones the inequality is hardly perceived. An iron tube is sometimes attached to the mouth which leads to the furnace, and in other cases the mouth itself is made of iron.” The Chinese generally use them in an inclined or horizontal position, frequently making use of the upper side as a work bench. In the figure (and the one given by Chambers) two rods are connected to the piston to prevent it from springing when used : this appears to be the practice with regard to those of large dimensions. In small ones a single rod is sometimes used, and the chamber is cylindrical. In the collection of M. Bertin, (a French minister and secretary of state in the former part of the last century,) which contained “ about 400 original drawings, made at Pekin, of the arts and manufactures of China ” a portable and single-acting bellows is represented as in the next figure. 11 No. 113. Chinese Single Bellows, and Tinker. die air is forced out by the opposite extremity.” “ This instrument is made like a box in which is a piston, so constructed that when it is drawn out behind, the vacuum which it oc¬ casions in the box makes the air rush in with great impetuosity through a lateral opening, to which a sucker [a valve] is af¬ fixed : and when the pis¬ ton returns in an inverse direction, the sucker [valve] closes itself, and Navarette preferred the China, its Customs, Arts, &c., translated from the French. Lon. 1824 ; vol. i. 17. 249 Chap. 2.] Chinese Bellows in the Philadelphia Museum. Chinese bellows to the European one, he said, it was more commodious and efficient. 11 It is employed to some extent in Java, having been intro¬ duced from China.® Since the preceding remarks were written, we have examined two bellows from China, in the splendid “Chinese Collection” in Philadelphia. One of them belonged to a traveling blacksmith. It is formed of a cylin¬ drical joint of bamboo, 2j feet in length, and between five and six inches diameter. The piston rod is a wire ^ or f of an inch thick, with a small gimlet handle. Air is admitted through a cluster of five or six small holes in each end, which are covered in the inside by paper flaps: these are the induction valves, marked J F in No. 112. Along one side of the bellows a strip of wood 2J inches wide and 1^ thick, is secured by what appears to be eight small thumb screws, and the junction made tight by cement or wax; this projecting piece resembles those on the sides of high pressure steam-engine cylinders, and is intended for a somewhat similar purpose, its interior being hollowed into a passage for the wind when expelled by ’the piston from either end of the cylinder. A short metallic tube conveys the wind from the middle of this piece to the furnace as in No. 112. The ends of the bellows are secured from splitting by two thin and narrow iron hoops, and at one place a small clamp is driven across a crack, as is sometimes practiced in mending wooden bowls. The instrument resem¬ bles the one in the last figure, but is double acting: the figure of the artist accompanying it is seated on the ground and works it with one hand while he attends the fire with the other. The other bellows consists of along box like the one figured at No. 112. From the circumstance of its not being confined in a glass case, and per¬ mission to examine its interior having been politely accorded, we had an opportunity of ascertaining some particulars that are not mentioned in any published account of these instruments that has fallen in our way. It is twenty-two inches long, seven deep, and five wide, made of thin boards of a species of fir and extremely light: the sides and ends are dovetailed together ; and the bottom appeared to be intended to slide over the sides, having strips projecting from it and no pins or nails visible ; this arrange¬ ment enables a person to examine the interior, and to replace or repair the valves, &c. with great facility. The boards of which the machine is made are of a uniform thickness (about f of an inch) except the top, which is . » inches. The reason for this extra thickness was perceived as soon as it was removed, (it was secured to the sides and ends by long wooden pins,) for a deep and wide groove is made through its whole length with the exception of ^ of an inch at each end, and at the middle of the groove a passage is cut at right angles to it through one side for the air to pass into the tuyere. Upon the removal of this thick cover, the inside of the box was not exposed, for another thin one was found inserted within the sides, and flush with their edges. This was a board slipped between the sides and resting upon the.upper edge of the piston, having two openings, one at each end, which coincided with the groove in the outer cover (the’ inner cover is represented by the line H O in No. 112;) hence the wind is driven by the piston alternately through each opening into the groove, and by the action of the valve in the middle of the latter, is compelled to pass into the tuyere. This valve is represented at G in No. 112, and from an inspection of that cut, it will be apparent that some contri¬ vance o t ic m is absolutely necessary, in order to prevent the wind when forced from one end of the bellows, from passing along the groove b Histoire G£n6rale, Tom. viii. 106. * Raffles’ Java, ii. 193. 31 % 250 Analogy between the Pump and Chinese Bellows. [Book III. into the other end : it consists of a narrow piece of hard wood of the same depth as the groove, and of a length that rather exceeds the width of the groove. A hole is drilled through one end and a pin driven through it into the solid part of the cover, so that it turns freely on this pin, and closes and opens a passage for the escape of the wind into the tuyere. It is driven by the wind at every stroke of the piston against the opposite cheek of the groove, and thus prevents the wind from passing into the other end of the cylinder, as shown at G in No. 112. It is surprising how easily this valve plays although its upper and lower edges rub against the surfaces of the two covers—a trifling movement of the piston drives it against the cheek, and occasions a snapping sound somewhat like that from the contact of metal. When the inner cover was raised out of its place, the piston and induc¬ tion valves were exposed to view, and the simplicity and efficiency of these parts were in keeping with the rest: the two valves are mere flaps of paper, glued at their loiver edges to the under side of the openings, and hence they stand nearly perpendicular, instead of being suspended from above; the slightest impulse of air closed them. The piston is half an inch thick, but is reduced at the edges to a quarter of one ; it appears to be formed of two thin pieces which, united, are equal in thickness to that mentioned ; and between them are inserted two small sheets of moderately stiff paper, which project an inch over every side. The part that pro¬ jects is folded at the corners and turned over the edges of the piston ; one sheet being turned one way, and the other the contrary, so that when the piston is moved, the air presses the paper against the sides of the bel¬ lows and renders the piston perfectly tight, on the same principle as the double cupped leathers of fire-engines and other forcing-pumps; and at the same time without any perceptible increase of friction. The two pis¬ ton rods are half inch square, and work through holes in one end of the box without any stuffing-box. The whole machine is of wood, except the paper for the piston and valves. Although the instrument appears to be a rectangular box, it is not exactly so, the bottom being a little wider than the top. It would be superfluous to point out the application of piston bellows to raise water, since they are perfect models of our atmospheric and forcing- pumps. Why, then, it may be asked are not the Chinese found in the possession of the latter '1 In reply to this question, it may be observed : 1. That from our imperfect knowledge of the people, it is not certain that such machines have not been, and .are not used to a limited extent in the interior of that great empire. 2. That custom, and probably experience, have induced them, in common with other nations of the Oriental world, to give the preference to more simple devices—to their chain pump, bam¬ boo wheel, &c., a preference which we know is in some instances based on solid grounds: for example, the chain pump as used by them, raises more water with the same amount of labor, than any atmospheric or forc¬ ing-pump, if placed under the same circumstances. And as for the noria or bamboo wheel, which driven by a current, raises water night and day, and from 20 to 50 feet, we are told that it answers the purpose “as com¬ pletely as the most complicated European machine could do; and I will answer for it [says Van Braam] that it does not occasion an expense of ten dollars.” 3. A circumstance connected with one of their ancient as well as modern scenic representations, shows that when th e forcing or spouting of water is required, their artists are at no loss for devices to effect it; and that, too, under very unusual circumstances. One of the pantomimes per¬ formed at Pekin is the “ Marriage of the Sea with the Land.” The 251 Chap. 2.] Antiquity of the Chinese Bellows. lattei divinity made a display of his wealth and productions, such as dra- gons, elephants, tigers, eagles, ostriches, chestnut and pine trees, &c. he Ocean , on the other hand, collected whales, dolphins, porpoises and other sea monsters, together with ships, rocks, shells, &c., “ all these ob¬ jects were _ represented by performers concealed under cloths, and who placed their parts admirably. The two assemblages of productions, ter¬ restrial and marine, made the tour of the stage, and then opened right and left to leave room for an immense whale, which placed itself directly before the emperor, and spouted out several hogsheads of water, which inundated the spectators who were in the pit.” a As both the water and forcing apparatus were contained within the moving figure, we can only imagine the jets to have been produced by means of piston or bellows forcing-pumps, or something analogous to them—or by air condensed in one or more vessels containing water, like soda fountains. 4. If Chinese lads never discovered a source of amusement in the application of their bellows (some of which are only eight inches long) as squirts or pumps, they must differ essentially from lads of other nations—a position that few judges of human nature would admit. Boys are the same in all ages, and the mischievous youngsters of the Celestial Empire have doubtless often derived as much pleasure from annoying one another with water ejected from these implements, as those of Europe and this country do with similar devices. Such an application of them was sure to be found out by boys, if by no one else. Whether the bellows-pump originated m this manner or not, may be uncertain, but several useful discoveries have been brought to light in much the same way : it was a youth who changed the whole character of the steam-engine, by giving it that feature upon which its general utility depends—his ingenuity, stimulated by a love of play, rendered it self-acting. The antiquity of the Chinese bellows is a subject of much interest. It may have been the instrument which Anacharsis introduced into Greece, it having, perhaps, been employed by his countrymen, the ancient Scythians, as well as by their descendants, the modern Tartars. If it has been in use, as supposed, from times anterior to Grecian and Roman eras, the origin of the pump in the second century B. C. can hardly be sustained; for when the induction valves of one of these bellows are placed in water, (as we suppose has occasionally been done ever since its invention,) it is then the “water forcer” of Ctesibius; and if pipes be connected to F and J, (No. 112,) and their orifices placed in a liquid, the apparatus becomes the double acting pump of La Hire. But what may be surprising to some persons, its construction is identical with that of the steam-engine ; for let it be furnished with a crank and fly wheel to regulate the movements of its piston, and with apparatus to open and close its valves, then admit steam through its nozzle, and it becomes the double acting engine of Boul¬ ton and Watt. Again, connect its induction orifices to a receiver, and it becomes an exhausting air-pump; apply its nozzle to the same vessel, and it is a condensing one. The most perfect blowing machine, and the chef d'oeuvre of modern modifications of the pump, are also its fac-similes. It would seem that the Chinese have other kinds of bellows, or differ¬ ent modes of working these. Bed, in his account of the Russian embassy in 1720, says that he was lodged in a village twelve miles from Pekin in a cook’s house, which gave him an opportunity of observing the customs of the people even on trifling occasions : “ My landlord,” he observes, “ be¬ ing in his shop, I paid him a visit, where I found six kettles placed in a * China, its Costumes, &c., iii. 34. 252 Double acting Bellows of Madagascar. [Book IIL row on furnaces, having a separate opening under each of them for re¬ ceiving the fuel, which consisted of a few small sticks and straw. On his pulling a thong , he blew a pair of bellows which made all his kettles boil in a very short time.” 0 Like other Asiatics, the Chinese have proba¬ bly a variety of these instruments. The van, or winnowing machine, which we have received from them, is a rotary bellows. See page 70 of this volume. Various rotary bellows are described by Agricola, as employed in the ventilation of mines, and worked by men with cranks, and in one instance by a horse treading on the periphery of a wheel. d Rotary blowing machines have been represented as of more recent origin, but they are in all probability of great antiquity. The Spaniards introduced them into Peru as early as 1545, to reduce the silver ores, but they were soon aban¬ doned.® For rotary pumps, see a subsequent chapter of this book. We are indebted for some interesting information respecting the arts of various islanders of the Indian ocean to Mr. William Clark of Philadel ph ia, who, besides spending several years in whaling voyages, resided two years in Southern Africa. The vessel to which he was attached hav¬ ing on one occasion touched on the coast of Madagascar, some native smiths were found using bellows that excited particular attention; some were cylindrical, being formed of bored logs, others were square trunks, five or six inches in diameter, and about five feet long; but the internal construction of both was the same. The ship’s carpenter was permitted to open one. It was composed of four planks that had been split from trees, the insides shaved smooth and straight, and the whole put together with wooden pins instead of nails or screws. It was divided into two parts by a partition or disk, which was permanently secured in its place, (shown at A in the annexed cut,) where, like a piston, it occupied the entire space across. On one side of the trunk, and opposite the edge of A, an opening was made for the insertion of the tube C that conveyed the wind to the fire, the edge of A at this place being feather¬ ed, and a small projecting piece added to it, in order to direct the current of air from either side of the partition into C. An opening was made in the centre of A, through which a smooth piston rod B, played; two pistons or boards, P P, accu¬ rately fitted to work in the trunk, were attached on opposite sides of the partition to B; these pis¬ tons were perforated, and the openings covered by flaps or valves like those of a common pump box, but the upper one was secured to the under side of the piston as shown in the figure. The trunk rested on four short pieces of wood pegged to it. In some, holes were made at the lower part for the admission of air. These bellows were there¬ fore double acting, and consequently one of them was equal in its effects to two of those represented at No. Ill, which drive the air out only on the de¬ scent of the piston, whereas these forced it into the fire both on ascending and descending. Thus, when the blower raised the rod B, the flap on the lower piston closed, and the air in that division of No. 114. Double Acting Bel¬ lows of Madagascar. c Bell’s Travels, i. 312. d De Re Metaliica, pp. 162, 163, 164, 169. • Garcilasso’s Commentaries, p. 347. 253 Chap. 2.] On the Bellows among the Peruvians. the trunk was expelled through C ; at the same time the flap of the upper piston was opened by its own weight and the air passing through it, and on the descent of B all the air in the upper part of the trunk was forced into the fire in like manner; hence an uninterrupted, though not an equable blast of wind was kept up. The whole apparatus was of wood except the flaps, which were pieces of green hide rendered pliable by working them in the hands; and they were prevented from opening too far by narrow slips of the same material pegged over them. There was no packing to the pistons, but they were moved with great rapidity. These bellows are different from those described by Dampier, Sonnerat and Ellis, as used in the same island; but they serve to corroborate a re¬ mark that has been made by several travelers, viz: that the negroes of Africa are in possession of a great variety of those instruments. -The one above described is a fine specimen of their ingenuity, for there can be little doubt that it is original with them—it evidently is not derived from the double acting bellows of China, nor can it have been procured from Europe, since nothing of the kind has, we believe, ever been used there. It is the only bellows that we have met with having valves in the pistons. It need hardly be observed that double pumps have been made on the same principle. There is one figured by Belidor in the second volume of his Architecture Hydraulique, which differs from the above figure only in having two short piston rods connected together by a frame on the outside of the cylinder, instead of one long one working through the disk. No stronger proofs could possibly be adduced of the analogy between pumps and bellows, than what the figures in this and the preceding chapter afford. While engaged on this part of the subject we were induced to refer agiin to the accounts of the old Mexicans and Peruvians, in hopes of find¬ ing some indications of the pump in the instruments employed to urge air into their furnaces; but, strange as it will appear to modern mechanics, they are said to have been wholly ignorant of the bellows. This, if true, is a very singular fact; and, considering the extent to which they practiced the arts of metallurgy, one that is unexampled in the history of the world. It appears, moreover, irreconcilable with the opinion of their oriental origin; for it is difficult to conceive how emigrants or descendants of emigrants from Asia, could have been ignorant of this simple instrument which has been used in one form or another on that continent from the earliest times, and which is still employed by the rudest tribes there, and also in all those parts whence the early Peruvians are supposed to have come. The bel¬ lows is common almost as the hammer, from the peninsular of Malacca to that of Ivampschatka, and from the Phillippine islands to those of Japan. In Africa, too, it is used in great variety and by people whose progress in the arts is far behind that of the ancient smiths of America. How little is known respecting the mechanical implements of Mexican and Peruvian workmen and of their processes, and yet but three centuries have elapsed since the latter were in full operation ! We are not aware that a single tool has been preserved, much less their modes of manufac¬ ture ; nor is this much to be wondered at when the spirit that animated the conquerors is considered—it was the acquisition of gold, not the tools for or manner of working it, that they had in view ; and had it not been for the prodigious amount of bullion which they found worked into va¬ rious figures and utensils, we should scarcely have ever heard of the latter; and yet the workmanship on some of them, exceeded the value of the metal. That there are errors in the accounts of early writers on the arts and ap¬ paratus of old American mechanics is unquestionable, and among them 264 On the Bellows among the Peruvians, [Book III, may be mentioned tbat which confined the materials of their cutting in¬ struments to obsidian and other stones; whereas it is now certain that they had chisels, &c. of bronze or alloys of copper and tin; and probably of a similar composition to those of Egyptian workmen. As for bellows, it was no easy task (supposing it had been undertaken by the old histo¬ rians of Mexico and Peru) to determine positively that they were unknown throughout those extensive countries. To ascertain what tools were and were not used, required something more than a superficial knowledge of the people. Before a stranger could speak decidedly on the subject of bellows, it was necessary that he should become familiar with their modes of working the metals, by frequently visiting them in their workshops and dwellings; and, from an intimate knowledge of their language, making in quiries respecting the tools and details of the processes adopted by artisans of distant tribes ; for bellows might be used to a limited extent in one country, and (from variety in the ores, articles manufactured or customs of workmen) not at all in another. But there does not appear to have been any efforts made to collect information of this kind by the con¬ querors—its value was not appreciated by them or by their immediate successors, and hence the opportunity was neglected and could never be recalled; for other historians agree with Clavigero, that the wonderful arts of the Mexican and Peruvian founders were soon lost, “ by the de¬ basement of the Indians and the indolent neglect of the Spaniards.” Even Garcilasso, although a native Indian, by his mother’s side, does not seem to have possessed any particular knowledge on the subject of working the metals : he derived his information from Acosta, to whose work he refers his readers. But what are the proofs that bellows were unknown to the subjects of Manco Capec and Motezuma h The principal one is derived from their fusing metals without them: they kept their furnaces in blast, it is alledged, by the breath of a number of men who blew on the fires through tubes of bamboo. That this was often practiced there is no doubt, and that it was the general custom is admitted; but it does not therefore follow that they had no contrivances for producing artificial blasts : this will appear from the practice of oriental gold and silver smiths, both of ancient and modem times. The fusion of gold and silver with blowing tubes is a device of remote antiquity, and like all ancient customs relating to the useful arts, it is still practiced by the Hindoos, Malays, Ceylonese, Persians and other Asiatics ; and also by Egyptians and numerous African tribes. The goldsmiths of Sumatra, Mr. Marsden observes, “in general use no bellows, but blow the fire with their mouths through a joint of bamboo; and if the quantity of metal to be melted is considerable, three or four persons sit round the fur¬ nace, which is an old broken kwali, or iron pot, and blow together : at Padang alone, where the manufacture is more considerable, they have adopted the Chinese bellows.” 8 We have already described the single and also a double acting bellows of these people; besides which they have that of China, and yet it seems that all the working goldsmiths of the coun¬ try, except those of a single town, still melt their metal as the Mexicans and the Peruvians did : hence the mere fact of the old smiths of these con¬ tinents using blowpipes to fuse metal, is no more a proof of their igno¬ rance of bellows, than the like practice is of modern Asiatics being also ignorant of them. Nothing is easier than to err respecting a knowledge of bellows in for¬ mer times, by inferences drawn from the use of blowpipes. In the oldest * History of Sumatra, 179. And Mexicans. 255 Chap. 2.] monuments of Egypt (those of Beni Hassan) the latter are represented in the remote age of Osirtasen, 1700 B. C. which to a superficial observer might lead to the supposition that the former were then unknown; but a close examination of the sculptures shows the fallacy of such a conclusion, since blowing tubes are also figured long after the reign of Thothmes in whose time bellows were certainly common.® Again, on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, the Jews were allowed by rabbinical precepts to light one fire from another, but not to strike new fire from stone or metal, nor to quench it, although to save their goods, “ nor to blow it with bellowes, but with a reede.” b Now a stranger, having an imperfect know¬ ledge of Jewish customs, upon witnessing fires thus blown would, ip some parts of the world, be very apt to conclude that they had no bellows. And again, if we had not a proof that our domestic bellows was known to the Romans, we might ha,ve inferred from Pliny’s account of statuaries and painters representing individuals blowing fires with their mouths, that artifi¬ cial instruments for the purpose were then unknown. Enough may be gathered from early writers on America to account for bellows not being employed in those operations in which they would seem to have been most required, viz : in smelting of metals. According to Acosta, some ores could not be reduced by bellows, but only by air furnaces. Garcilasso, in the last chapter of the eighth book of his Com¬ mentaries, makes the same remark. In smelting the silver ore of Potosi, he says the Indians used neither bellows nor blowing tubes, but a natural wind, which, in their opinion, was the best; they therefore fused the ore in small furnaces placed on the hills in the night time, whenever the wind was sufficient for the purpose; and it was a pleasant sight, he observes, “ to behold eight, ten, or twelve thousand of those fires at the same time, ranged in order upon the sides of the mountains.” The Spaniards suspect¬ ing that the metal, when thus diffused among a great number of hands, might be more readily purloined, and that much of it was wasted in so many fires, introduced blast furnaces, the fires in which were urged “ by large bellows,” but these not succeeding, (the blast being too strong,) they had recourse to rotary bellows, (“ engines with wheels, carried about with sails like a windmill which fanned and blowed the fire,”) but these also failed to accomplish the purpose, “ so that the Spaniards despairing of the success of their inventions, made use of those which the Indians had framed and contrived .” No stronger reason could be adduced why the bellows was not previously used in the reduction of ores. At a subsequent fusion of the metal in their dwellings, the workmen (says Garcilasso) instead of bellows, continued to use blowing tubes, “ though our [Spanish] invention of bellows is much more easie and forci¬ ble to raise the fire.” Supposing they were ignorant of bellows before the arrival of the Spaniards, here is a proof that after they became acquainted with these instruments, they still preferred their tubes, as the gold and silver smiths of Asia generally do at this day; and hence the use of such tubes does not show, as has been stated, “ that they were unacquainted with the use of bellows.” If there was nothing else to adduce in favor of the old Peruvians being acquainted with bellows, or with the principle of their construction and ap¬ plication, than the balsas or blown floats which their fishermen and those of Chili used instead of boats, we should deem them sufficient. These were large bags made of skins of the sea wolf and filled with air. They * Wilkinson s Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, iii. 339. b Purchas’ Pilgrimage, 223. ' 256 Natural Pumps. :Jft' , [Book III. were “ so well sewed, that a considerable weight could not force any of it out.” They carried from twelve to fourteen hundred pounds, and if any air escaped, there were two leathern pipes through which the fishermen “blow into the bags when there is occasion.” Frezier’s Voyage to the South Seas, page 121. These were real bellows, only applied to another purpose. Had they not been found less efficient or less economical than blowing tubes, they would doubtless have been used as substitutes for the latter in the fusion and reduction of ores. It may here be noticed as a singular fact, and one which may possibly have reference to bellows, that Quetzalcoatl , the Mexican God of the air or wind, was also the Vulcan of all the nations of Anahuac. k Both Mexicans and Peruvians were accustomed from their youth to use blowing tubes, for the primitive air gun, through which to shoot arrows and other missiles by the breath, was universally used, and the practice is still kept up by their descendants. Motezuma, in his first interview with Cortez, shrewdly compared the Spanish guns,.as tubes of unknown metal, to the sarbacans of his countrymen. From the expertness acquired by the constant employment of these instruments in killing game, it was natural enough to use them instead of bellows tt> increase the heat of their furnaces, and custom rendered them very efficient. We have prolonged our remarks on this subject because it has been concluded that remains of furnaces, found far below the surface in various parts of this continent and in regions abounding with iron, could never have been employed in reducing that metal; for in those remote ages in which such furnaces were in action, the bellows, it is said, was unknown; a position that we think untenable, and quite irreconcilable with the advanced state of metallurgy in those times. Before leaving the subject of bellows and bellows pumps, we may re¬ mark that numerous illustrations of the latter may be found in the natural world. To an industrious investigator, the animal kingdom would furnish an endless variety , for every organized being is composed of tubes and of liquids urged through them. The contrivances by which the latter is accomplished may be considered among the prominent features in the mechanism of animals; and although modified to infinitude, one general principle pervades the whole ; this is the distension and contraction of flexible vessels or reservoirs in which fluids are accumulated and driven through the system. On the regular function of these organs the neces¬ sary motions of life chiefly depend; by them urine is expelled from the bladder, blood from the heart, breath from the lungs, &c.; they are natural bellows pumps, while other devices of the Divine Mechanician resemble syringes or piston pumps. The whale spouts water with a bellows pump, and in streams compared with which the jet from one of our fire-engines is child’s play. His blow¬ ing apparatus consists of two large membranous sacs; elastic and capable of being collapsed with great force. They are connected with two bony canals or tubes whose orifices are closed by a valve in the form of two semicircles, similar to those known to pump makers as butterfly valves. When the animal spouts, he forcibly compresses the bags, already filled with water, and sends forth volumes of it to the height of 40 or 50 feet. The roaring noise that accompanies this ejection of the liquid is heard at a considerable distance, and is one of the means by which whalers, in foggy weather, are directed to their prey. The proboscis of the elephant is sometimes used as a hose pipe, through which he plays a stream in every direction by the pump in his chest. Numerous insects that live in water move their bodies by the reaction of that liquid on streams they eject from 257 Chap. 2.] Natural Pumps. their bodies: oysters and some other shell fish move in this manner. My¬ riads of marine animals also ascend and descend in their native element by means of forcing pumps : when about to dive, they admit water into cer¬ tain receptacles, and in such quantities as to render their bodies speci¬ fically heavier than the fluid they float in; and when they wish to ascend, they pump out the water which carried them down. That expert gunner, the jaculator fish, shoots his prey with pellets or globules of water as from a piston pump. When an insect hovers near or rests on some aquatic plant within five or six feet of him, he shoots from his tubular snout a drop of water, and with so “ sure an aim as generally to lay it dead.” The habit of ejecting saliva, which some persons ac¬ quire, is by making a pump of the mouth and a piston of the tongue. Other animals practice the same ; thus the llama of Chili and Peru, when irritated, “ejects its saliva to a considerable distance”—Frezier says ten paces, or thirty feet. The spurting snake of Southern Africa, it is said, ejects its poison into the eyes of those who attack it with unerring aim. The tongue of the lamprey moves backwards and forwards like a piston, and produces that suction which distinguishes this animal and others of the same family. The sting <5f some insects, that of the bee, for example, is a very complex apparatus, consisting of a lancet with its sheath, to pene¬ trate the bodies of their enemies; first acting as a trocar and canular, and then as a pump to force poison into the wound—“ an awl to bore a hole, [says Paley,] and a syringe to inject the fluid.” It perhaps may be supposed from the form of common pumps, that there is little resemblance between them and these natural machines, but it should be remembered that this form is purely arbitrary, (they are, as we have already seen, sometimes made of flexible materials, and alter¬ nately dilated and collapsed like the chests of animals.) The general custom of making them of hollow cylinders and of inflexible materials, arose from experience having proved that when thus made, they are more durable and less liable to derangement than any others that have yet been devised. J The circulation of the blood in man and other animals is effected by apparatus strikingly analogous to sucking and forcing bellows pumps. The heart is one of these—the arteries are its forcing, the veins its suction pipes, and both pump and pipes are furnished with the most perfect valves. By contraction, this wonderful machine forces the blood through the former to the uttermost parts of the system ; and by distension, draws it back through the latter.® They vary in dimensions as in construction.' Some are adapted to the bodies of animals so minute as to be impercep¬ tible to unaided vision, and from these to others of every size up to the huge leviathan of the deep. The aorta of the whale, says Paley, “ is larger in the bore than the main pipe of the water-works at London bridge; and the water roaring in its passage through that pipe, is inferior m impetus and velocity to the blood rushing from the whale’s heart.” Every human being may be considered as, nay is, a living pump. His body is wholly made up of it, of the tubes belonging to it, and the liquid moved by it-—with such additions as are required to communicate the ne¬ cessary motion and protect it from injury. Health, life itself, every thing, depends upon keeping it in order. If one of its forcing pipes, (an artery,) be severed, we bleed to death ; are any of its sucking tubes (the veins) In the 6th vol. of Machines approved by the French Academy, is the description of a bellows pump, made in imitation of the heart, by M. Bedaut, who named the working part of it ‘ La Cum P Forcing-pump with air-vesse.-Machine of authors US f It8 ^^ V.truvius-Remarks on its origin-Errors of the ancients respecting the him P , , " Vftnt,0nS_ClalmS 0fCteSlbius t0 t,le P um P limited-Air vessel probably invented by him Compressed a, ra prominent feature in all his inventions-Air vessels-!,, Heron’s fountain-Ap^ parcntly referred to by Pliny—Air gun of Ctesibius—The Hookah. P The earliest machine consisting of a cylinder and piston that was ex¬ pressly designed to force ligmds was probably the syringe, an instrument of very high antiquity: see its figure in the foreground of the next illustra- tion. 1 o the closed end a short conical pipe is attached whose dimensions are adapted to the particular purpose for which the instrument is to be used The piston is solid and covered with a piece of soft leather hemn woollen listing', or any similar substance that readily imbibes moisture in order to prevent air or water from passing between it and the sides of the cylinder. \\ hen the end of the pipe is placed in a liquid and the piston drawn back the atmosphere drives the liquid into the cylinder; whence it is expelled through the same orifice by pushing the piston down : in the former case the syringe acts as a sucking pump ; in the latter as a forcing °ne. They are chiefly employed m surgical operations, for which they are made of various dimensions-from the size of a quart bottle to that of a quill They are formed of silver, brass, pewter, glass, and sometimes sr° r !° r r me P ur Pff the s ™all P*pe is dispensed with, the end of the cylinder being closed by a perforated plate, as in those instruments with which gardeners syringe their plants. R has been said that the syringe was invented by Ctesibius, being the result of his first essays in devising or improving the pump; but such could not have been its origin, since it is mentioned by philosophers who flourished centuries before him. It was known to Theophrastus, Anaxa¬ goras, Democritus, Leucippus, Aristotle, and their pupils: to the rushing of water into it when the piston was drawn up, these philosophers ap¬ pealed to illustrate their opposite views respecting the cause of the liquid’s ascent some contending that it proved the existence of a vacuum, others that it did not. 1 o this ancient application of the syringe, most of the early writers on atmospheric pressure allude.* “ It is pretty strange [ob¬ serves esaguliers] that the ancients, who were no strangers to the nature o winds, and knew a great deal of their force, were yet entirely ignorant of the weight and perpendicular pressure of the air. This is evident be¬ cause they attribute the cause of water rising up in pumps, or any liquors being drawn up into syringes (commonly called syphons on that account wh,le P um P s ^l'd sucking-pumps) to natures abhorrence of a v£ cuum, saymg, that it fill’d up with water the pipes of pumps under the moving bucket or piston, rather than suffer any empty space. The syringe ?tesibi„r,v, lnd th r TT its suction oUain’d long Ctesibius, the son of a barber at Alexandria, invented the pump.” b Hydrodtatics a Pr e*fa©e'and **172 wi ' h , Cla K rke ’f N° tes ' Lon. 1723; vol. i. 172. Switzer’s b Ex. Philos.’vol. ii, 249. Chambers Diet. Articles Syringe, Embolus, Vacuum. 2G0 The Syringe, .[Book III. There is reason to believe that the syringe was employed by the Egyp¬ tians in the process of embalming. In various translations of the account given by Herodotus (Euterpe, 87) it is expressly named: “They fill a syringe with germe of cedar wood and inject it.” a Dr. Rees, in his edi¬ tion of Chambers’ Dictionary, (Art. Embalming,) uses the terms “ infusing by a syringe,” and “ syringing a liquid,” &c. The least expensive mode of embalming was “ infusing by a syringe a certain liquid extracted from the cedar.” b Beloe, in his translation, does not indicate the instrument usec [—they “ inject an unguent made from the cedar.” As clysters origi¬ nated in Egypt, and were used monthly by the inhabitants as a preserva¬ tive of health, (Herod, ii, 77,) we are most probably indebted to the people of that country for the syringe. Had it been a Grecian or Roman inven¬ tion, the name of its author would have been known, for from its utility and application to various useful purposes, an account of the circumstances connected with its origin was as worthy of preservation, as those relating to the pump or any other machine. Suetonius uses the term “ clyster” to denote the instrument by which it was administered; and Celsus by it, refers to “a little pipe or squirt.” (Ainsworth.) Hippocrates and the elder Pliny frequently mention clysters, but without describing distinctly the instrument employed : the latter in his 30th book, cap. 7, seems to refer to the common pewter syringe, “ an instrument or pipe of tin this is at least probable, for pewter, according to Whittaker, was borrowed from the Romans. It is well ascertained that pewterers were among the earliest workers of metal in England. A company of them was incorporated in 1474 ; but at what time the syringe became a staple article of their ma¬ nufacture is uncertain. No. 115. Syringes used by Hindoos in celebrating some religious festivals. Had the syringe not been mentioned by ancient authors, its antiquity might be inferred from a particular employment of it by the Hindoos. The arts, manners and customs of these people have remained unchanged from very remote times; and such is their predilection for the religious insti¬ tutions of their ancestors, that nothing has, and apparently nothing can in¬ duce them to admit of the slightest change in the ceremonies that pertain to the worship of their deities: hence the same rites are still performed, a Quoted in Ogilby’s Africa. Lon. 1670, p. 81. b Historical Description of Egypt Newcastle : vol. i. 602. 261 Chap. 3.] And its Applications. and by means of the same kind of instruments as when Alexander or even Ba.cchus invaded India. In some of their religious festivals the syringe is made to perform a prominent part; for a red powder is mixed with water, with which the worshipers “ drench one another by means of a species of squirt; to represent Parasou Rama, or some other hero returning from battle covered with blood.” Some writers suppose the ceremony is designed to celebrate “ the orgies of Krishna with his mis¬ tresses and companions.” No. 115 represents a rajah and some of his wives engaged in this singular species of religious worship and connubial exercise, in honor of Krishna. The instruments are clearly garden syringes, and probably of the same kind as are mentioned by Heron of Alexandria, as used in his time for sprinkling and dispersing water. The Holilee is another Hindoo festival which resembles in some mea sure the Saturnalia of the Homans. It is observed through all Hindostan, and m celebrating it, the syringe is put in requisition. Mr. Broughton’ who, with some other Europeans, visited a Mahratta rajah to witness the ceremony, observes—“ A few minutes after we had taken our seats, large brass trays filled with abeer, and the little balls already described were brought in and placed before the company, together with a yellow-coloured water, and a large silver squirt for each individual. The Muha Raj him¬ self began the amusements of the day, by sprinkling a little red and yellow water upon us from the goolabdans, small silver vessels kept for the pur¬ pose of sprinkling rose-water at visits of ceremony. Every one then began to throw about the abeer, and to squirt at his neighbour as he pleas¬ ed. (Shoberl s Hind. vol. ii, 241, and vol. vi, 14.) A somewhat similar custom prevails in Pegu. At the feast of waters, the king, nobles, and all the people sport themselves by throwing water upon one another; and it is impossible to pass the streets without being soundly wet.” (Oving- ton’s Voyage to Surat in the year 1689. Lon. 1696 : page 597.) The syringe in front of No. 115, is copied from Rivius’ German Trans¬ lation of Vitruvius, A. D. 1548. It is from a view of the barber’s shop belonging to the father of Ctesibius. (See pp. 121 and 122 of this volume.) Across the shop is a partition, behind which the young philosopher is seen intently perusing a book, and on the floor around him are a flute, a syringe, a pair of bellows, bagpipes, &c.; while in front, the old gentleman in the European costume of the 16th century, and with a sword at his side ! is actively engaged in purifying the head and face of a customer. In the third volume of a Collection of “Emblems, Human and Divine” in Latin : Prague, 1601, page 76, a pair of bellows, a syringe, and a flying eolipile are represented as forming the device of some old Italian family, with the singular motto, “ Todo cst viento.” Few ancient devices could be pointed out that have given rise to more important improvements in the arts than the primitive syringe. Its modi¬ fications exert an extensive and' beneficial influence in society. As a pis¬ ton bellows it is still extensively used in oriental smithcries—and as the same, it contributed to one of the most refined pleasures of the ancients, by supplying wind to their organs. It may be considered as the immediate parent of the forcing if not of the atmospheric pump—in both of which it has greatly increased the comforts and conveniencies of civilized life ; in the fire-engine it protects both our lives and our property from the most destructive of the elements; and in the hands of the surgeon and physician it extends the duration of life by removing disease. The mo¬ dern philosophical apparatus for exhausting air, and the ancient one for condensing it; the mammoth blowing machines in our founderies, and the-steam engine itself, are all modifications of the syringe. 262 Single - Valve Forcing Tumps. [Book IIL A forcing pump differs but little from a syringe: the latter receives and expels a liquid through the same passage, but the former has a separate pipe for its discharge, and both the receiving and discharging orifices are covered with valves. By this arrangement it is not necessary to remove a pump from the liquid to transfer the contents of its cylinder, as is done with the syringe, but the operation of forcing up water may be continuous while the instrument is immoveable. A forcing pump, therefore, is merely a syringe furnished with an induction and eduction valve—one through which water enters the cylinder, the other by which it escapes from it. Of the process or reasoning which led to the application of valves to the syringe, history is silent; but as has been remarked in a previous chap¬ ter, their employment in bellows or air forcing machines, probably opened the way to their introduction into water forcing ones. The ordinary bel¬ lows has but one valve, and the simplest and most ancient forcing pumps have no more. One of these is shown at No. 116. It represents a syringe having the orifice at the bottom of the cylinder covered by a valve or clack, opening upwards ; and a discharging pipe connected to the cylinder a little above it: when placed in water the orifice of this pipe is closed with the finger, and the piston being then drawn up, the cylinder becomes charged, and when the piston is pushed down the valve closes and the liquid is forced through the pipe. In this machine the finger performs the part of a valve by preventing air from entering the cylinder W'hen the piston is being raised. Such pumps made of tin plate were for¬ merly common, and were used to wash windows, syringe plants and garden trees, &c. The figure is from plate 57 of “ L’Exploiter des Mines,” in Arts et Metiers, and is described (page 1584) as a Dutch pump, “ pour envoyer commodement de l’eau dans les differents quartiers de l’attelier.” No. 117 is another single-valve forcing pump from the second volume of a Latin treatise on Natural Philosophy, by P. P. Steinmeyer, Friburgh, 1767. It is secured in a cistern, the surface of the water in which is al¬ ways kept above the small openings made through the upper part; so that when the piston is drawn up, as in the figure, the liquid flows in and fill's it; and on the descent of the piston the water is forced up the as¬ cending pipe, the valve preventing its return. This is a very simple and efficient forcing pump ; and having no induction valve and the piston being always under water, it is not very liable to derangement. It has, however, its defects ; for in elevating the piston the whole weight of the atmosphere above it has to be overcome, a disadvantage that in large ma¬ chines would not be compensated by the saving of a valve. As the piston has to pass the holes in the upper part of the cylinder, its packing would be injured if their inner edges were not rounded off. This pump has been erroneously attiibuted to a modern European engineer i see the London Register of Arts, v, 154, and Journal of the Franklin Institute, viii, 379. No. 116. No. 117. Single-Valve Forcing Pumps. 263 Chap. 3.] Common Forcing Pump. The ordinary forcing pump has two valves, as in the annexed figure, which represents it as generally made. The cylinder is placed above the surface ol the water to be raised, and consequently is charged by the pres¬ sure of the atmosphere ; the machine, therefore, is a compound one, dif¬ fering from that last described, which is purely a forcing pump, the water en¬ tering its cylinder by gravity alone. The action of the machine now under consideration is similar to that of the syringe: when the piston is raised the air in the pipe below the cylinder rushes through the valve and is expelled on the descent of the piston through the other valve in the ascending or dis¬ charging pipe ; and on a repetition of the strokes of the piston, water rises in the suction pipe, enters the cylinder, and is expelled in the like manner. Pumps of this kind are sometimes placed in the yards of dwelling houses, the suction pipe extending into a well, and the ascending one to a cistern in the upper parts of the building. In these cases a cock is generally inserted a lit¬ tle above the valve in the ascending pipe to supply water if required in the vicinity of the pump. 1 he beautiful instrument used of late years to transfer liquids into and from the human stomach is a modification of the above machine. It cannot with propriety be named a syringe, for as it is furnished with valves, it is, in every respect, a pump. Having been employed with much success in withdrawing poison from the stomach, it is now justly classed among the essential apparatus of the surgeon. Its origin and history are detailed in a pamphlet published by its inventor, Mr. John Read, of England, who devised it in 1819, and in the following year obtained a patent for it under the name of a “Stomach and Enema Pump.” After visiting London twice in vain for the purpose of procuring suitable tubes, he tried to get some made in the country, but failed. On a third visit to the metropolis he obtained an indifferent one which he thought might answer, and after adapting it to a pump, “ I then [he observes] presented it to Sir Astley Cooper, who asked me for what purpose it was intended ; I told him it was intended for the removal of fluid poisons from the human stomach; after a few minutes inspection of the instrument, Sir A. made the follow¬ ing reply about three weeks ago I was called to attend a young lady about 10 o’clock in the morning who had taken opium; I gave her sul¬ phate of copper, sulphate of zinc and other things: I sat by her until eight m the evening, when she died ! If I had been in possession of this instrument at the time, I could have relieved her in five minutes, and have saved her life.’ After many questions how I came to think of such a thing, which I satisfactorily explained, he said ‘ what can I do for you V my answer was—the publicity of your opinion is all I wish : he replied, that you shall soon have;’ and he ordered me to meet him the next day at Cxuy s Hospital at one o’clock, when he proposed to try an experiment on a dog ; but as no dog could be procured, [that day,] Sir Astley pro¬ posed I 1 riday at the same hour ; when I attended as before, and a do<* o No. 118. Common Forcing Puinp. Stomach Pumps. 264 [Book III. was then ready for the experiment in the operating theatre, which was crowded to excess. The dog was brought to Sir A. who gave him four drachms of opium dissolved in water. The dog’s pulse was first at 120; in seven minutes it fell to 110, and from that to 90. The poison was suf¬ fered to remain in the dog’s stomach 33 minutes, till he appeared to be dead, and I was doubtful it would be the case before Sir A. would let me use the pump. I must confess I was very impatient to be at work on the dog with my instrument in hand ready for action. Sir A. kept his finger on the dog’s pulse, then at 90, and said very deliberately, ‘ I think it will do now, as it is 33 minutes since I gave him the dose.’ A basin of warm water being then brought, Sir A. passed the tube I had provided into the dog’s stomach: I immediately pumped the whole contents of the basin [the warm water] into the stomach, and as quickly repumped the whole from the stomach, containing the laudanum, back again into the basin. Sir A. observed, while I was emptying the dog’s stomach, the laudanum swim¬ ming on the surface, and said ‘ It will do a second basin of water was then injected and withdrawn by the pump as before : I asked for a third, but Sir Astley said it was unnecessary, as the laudanum had all been re¬ turned in the first basin.” In half an hour the animal was completely re¬ vived and running about the theatre. It may be of use to state, that the quickest and easiest mode of employ¬ ing a stomach pump (according to the inventor) is to use it only as a forc¬ ing pump—that is to inject warm water or other dilutents into the stomach until that organ becoming surcharged, the fluid regurgitates by the mouth ; in other words to fill the stomach to overflowing—the liquid passing down the tube and rising through the oesophagus by the side of it; the opera¬ tion being continued till the fluid returns unchanged. In the absence of a pump, a tunnel or other vessel attached to a flexible tube might answer. There are numerous varieties in stomach pumps, arising from the dif¬ ferent modes of constructing and arranging the valves, so as either to in¬ ject or withdraw liquids through the same tube without shifting the appa¬ ratus. No. 119 represents one that is described in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, (vol. xiii, 223.) It consists of an ordinary syringe screwed to a cylindrical valve box which contains two egg-shaped cavi¬ ties. In each cavity is a small and loose spherical valve that fits either of the orifices. Two flexible tubes are attached to each cavity as represented. Suppose the upper tube inserted into a person’s stomach and the lower one into a basin of warm water; if the syringe were then worked, the liquid would be forced into the stomach and the poison diluted : then by turning the instrument in the hand so as to bring the upper tube down, (without withdrawing the one in the stomach,) the valves would drop upon the other orifices in each cavity, and the syringe would raise the contents of the stomach into the basin, as represented in the figure. Chap. 3.] Forcing Pump vnth Air Vessel. J>65 We have no idea that the inventor of the stomach pump was indebted to Hudibras for the hint, yet that old warrior seems not only to have been a pi oper subject for its occasional application, but he appears to have had some notions that might eventually have led to it. Those readers who are familiar with Butler’s account of him will remember that when he was insulted by Talgol the butcher, the knight, as he justly might, ..... . “ grew high in wroth, And lifting hands and eyes up both, Three times he smote on stomach stout From whence at last these words broke out: ******* Nor all that farce that makes thee proud, Because by bullocks ne’er withstood, Shall save, or help thee to evade The hand of justice, or this blade. Nor shall those words of venom base, Which thou hast from their native place Thy stomach, pump'd to fling on me Go unrevenged: * * * * Thou down the same throat shall devour ’em, Like tainted beef, and pay dear for ’em.”— Canto xi, Part I. It was a common practice with the ancient Roman epicures to empty the stomach by an emetic before dinner. Had the application of the pump for such a purpose been then known, it would of course have been pre¬ ferred as the more agreeable and certain device of the two. But if the ancients had no apparatus for withdrawing the contents of the stomach, they were not destitute of means for conveying nauseous or corroding liquids into it. Pliny, in his Nat. Hist, xxx, 6. says such medicines were swallowed “ through a pipe or tunnel” inserted into the mouth for that purpose. . 1 he pump figured at No. 118 ejects water as a syringe and only when the piston is forced down; but by the addition of what is called an air-vessel , the stream from the discharg¬ ing pipe may be made con¬ tinuous : this vessel is clos¬ ed at its upper part, and open at bottom, where it is connected by screws to the forcing pipe directly over the valve, as represented in the annexed illustration. A discharging pipe may then be connected to the lower part of the vessel, or it may be, as it often is, inserted through the top, in which case its lower end should extend nearly to the bottom. When by the descent of the piston water is forced out of the cylinder, part of it enters the pipe, and part rushes past it and compresses the air confined in the upper part of the vessel; and when the piston is raised to draw a fresh portion into the cylinder, this air expands and drives out the water that compressed it and thus renders the stream constant. It will be per¬ ceived that the quantity of water raised is not increased by this arrange- 266 Description of the Machine of Ctesibius by Vitruvius. [Book III. ment; its flow from the discharging orifice being merely rendered uniform, or nearly so. In the ordinary use of forcing pumps a constant instead of an inter¬ rupted flow of water from the discharging orifice, may be a matter of no importance ; but when those of large dimensions are required to raise it to great elevations, air vessels are not only valuable but indispensable adjuncts; for the elastic fluid within them forms a medium for gradually overcoming the inertia of the ascending liquid columns, and thereby pre¬ vents those jars and shocks which are incident to all non-elastic substances in rapid motion, when brought suddenly to a state of rest. A column of water moving with great velocity through a pump, produces, when in¬ stantly stopt, a concussion like that of a solid rod of the same length, when its end is driven against an unyielding object; but with an air-vessel, the effect is like that of the same rod when brought in contact with a bale of cotton or caoutchouc. Less force is required also to work pumps that have air-vessels, because in them the column of water in the discharging jffpe is continued in motion during the ascent of the piston, hence it has not to be moved from a state of rest on the piston’s return. When two or more cylinders are connected to one discharging pipe, one air-vessel only is required, as in fire-engines, water-works, &c. It is this kind of forcing pump that is generally adopted in water-works for the supply of towns and cities ; the piston rods being moved by cranks or levers attached to water wheels: sometimes they are driven by windmills, steam-engines, and by animals. The cylinders are commonly used perpendicularly as in the figure, but they are sometimes worked in an inclined and also in a horizontal position. The celebrated pump of Ctesibius was constructed like that represented in the last figure, except that it had two cylinders. It seems to have been almost identical in its construction with our fire-engines. “ It remains now [says Vitruvius] to describe the machine of Ctesibius which raises water very high. This is made of brass; at the bottom a pair of buckets [cylin¬ ders] are placed at a little distance, having pipes like the shape of a fork annexed, meeting in a basin in the middle. At the upper holes of the pipes within the basin, are made valves, hinged with very exact joints; which, stopping the holes, prevent the efflux of the water that will be pressed into the basin by the air. Upon the basin a cover like an inverted funnel is fitted, which is adjoined and fastened to the basin by a collar, riveted through, that the pressure of the water may not force it off: and on the top of it, a pipe called the 1 tuba , is affixed perpendicularly. The buckets [cylinders] have valves placed below the lower mouths of the pipes, and fixed over holes that are in their bottoms : then pistons turned very smooth and anointed with oil, being inclosed in the buckets [cylin¬ ders] are worked with bars and levers from above ; the repeated motion of these, up and down, pressing the air that is therein contained with the water, the holes being shut by the valves, forces and extrudes the water through the mouths of the pipes into the basin; from whence rising to the cover, the air presses it upwards through the pipe; and thus from the low situation of the reservoir, raises it to supply the public fountains.” Book x, cap. 12. Newton’s Trans. The machine as thus described is a proof of the progress which the an¬ cients had made in hydraulics : the whole appears to have been of the most durable materials, and of the best workmanship. Although the figures of this and other machines which Vitruvius inserted in his work are lost, there is little difficulty in realizing its construction from the text. Transla- 267 Chap. 3.] Machine of Qtesibim. tors and commentators have generally agreed in tlieir views of it as re¬ presented below, viz : two ordinary forcing pumps connected to an air- vessel and one discharging pipe. No. 121. Machine of Ctesibius. The cylinders are secured in a frame of timber, and the piston rods are attached by joints to levers, one end of which are depressed by cams on the axis of the wheel, as shown above and also at No. 89. Barbaro has figured a crank at the axis which gives a reciprocating motion to a hori¬ zontal shaft placed over the pumps, and projecting pieces from which impart motion to the piston rods. Vitruvius informs us that when machines were employed to raise water from rivers, they were worked by undershot wheels impelled by the stream, and hence the pumps of Ctesibius were believed to have been moved by the same means. But for Vitruvius we should not have known that forcing pumps con¬ stituted part of the water works of antiquity; and had he not remarked that they were employed to supply “ public fountains,” it might have been supposed that water never rose higher in the dwellings of ancient cities than that which was drawn directly from the aqueducts. It would be almost unpardonable to pass over this celebrated machine without further remark, since it is, in several respects, one of the most interesting of all antiquity. An account of its origin and early history would form a commentary on most of the arts and sciences of the ancients, and would, we believe, furnish evidence of their progress in some of them that few are willing to believe. Although it was attributed to Ctesibius, there is some uncertainty respecting the extent of his claims. It may ap¬ pear invidious to attempt to rob this illustrious man of inventions ascribed to him, but our object is to ascertain, not to depreciate them or diminish 268 Claims of Ctesibius, [Book III. their number. It has frequently been remarked that little dependence can be placed on ancient writers as regards the authors of the useful ma¬ chines. Generally those who introduced them from abroad, who im¬ proved them, increased their effects, or extended their application, were reputed their inventors. This has been the case more or less in every part of the world, and is so at the present day. The Greeks found au¬ thors among themselves for almost every machine, although most of them were certainly derived from Egypt. Thus, the sails and masts of ships, the wedge, auger, axe and level, were known before Daedalus. The saw, drill, compasses, glue and dovetailing, before Talus. Cast iron was employed, and moulding practiced, and the lathe invented, long before Theodoras of Samos lived; and the screw and the crane before Archytas. The last individual was celebrated for various inventions, and among others, Aristotle mentions the child’s rattle, from which it may be infer¬ red that he was an amiable man and fond of children—but Egyptian children were amused with various species of toys, centuries before he flourished; and they then had dolls whose limbs were moved by the pulling of strings or wires, as ours have at this day. Wilkinson’s Man¬ ners and Customs of the Ancient Eygptians. Vol. ii, 426-7. As regards machines for raising water, we have already seen, that some have been ascribed to others than their authors. Even the siphon has been attributed to Ctesibius, (Adams’s Lectures, vol. iii, 372,) because it was found in the construction of his clepsydra, and no earlier application of it was then known ; but it is now ascertained to have been in common use among his countrymen in the remote age of Rameses—in the Augustan era of Egypt, when the arts, we are informed, “ attained a degree of per¬ fection, which no after age succeeded in imitating.” Had the “ Commenta¬ ries of Ctesibius” to which Vitruvius referred his readers for further infor¬ mation, been preserved, we should have had no occasion to attempt a defi¬ nition of his claims to the forcing pump; unfortunately, however, these and Archimedes’ Treatise on Pneumatic and Hydrostatic Engines have perished, and have left us in comparative ignorance of the history of such machines among the ancients. We have already seen that the syringe was in common use ages before Ctesibius, and that it was employed by philosophers to illustrate their hy¬ pothesis of water rushing into a vacuum. Now a forcing pump is merely a syringe with an additional orifice for the liquid’s discharge, and having both its receiving and discharging orifices covered by valves or clacks. Cte¬ sibius therefore did not invent the piston and cylinder, nor was he the first to discover the application of these to force water, for they were in pre¬ vious use and for that purpose. Was he the inventor of valves 1 No, for they were usedin the Egyptian bellows thirteen or fourteen hundred years before he lived, and appear always to have been an essential part of those instruments. They were employed in clepsydra ; and were most likely used in the hydraulic organ of Archimedes, which Tertullian has des¬ cribed. Is the arrangement of the valves, by which water is admitted through one and expelled by the other, to be ascribed to him? We believe not, for the same arrangement was previously adopted in the bellows, so far as regards the application of one of them, and the principle of both : and if it could be shown that the Chinese bellows was then in use, as we suppose it was, and possibly known in Egypt, (for that some intercourse did take place in ancient times betwen Egypt and China, even if one peo¬ ple be not a colony of the other, is proved by Chinese bottles and inscrip¬ tions found in the tombs at Thebes,) then the merit of Ctesibius would seem to be confined principally to the construction of metallic bellows as Chap. 3.] 269 To the invention of the Pump limited. water foi cers, or, to the application of valves to the ordinary syringe, try which it was converted into a forcing pump, either for air or water. But it is not certain that the last was not done before, for neither "Vitruvius nor Pliny asserts that “ water forcers” were not in previous use. The former says he applied the principle of “ compressed air” to them, in common with ‘ hydraulic organs,” “ automatons,” “ lever and turning machines,” and “ water dials,” (Book ix, cap. 9;) hence it may as well be concluded from this passage, that he invented these as the pump. It is, indeed, almost impossible to believe that the Egyptians, of whose sagacity and ingenuity, unrivalled monuments have come down, did not detect the application both of the bellows and syringe to raise water long before Ctesibius lived ; hence we are inclined to place the forcing pump in its simplest form, with the syringe and atmospheric pump, among the works— “ Of names once famed, now dubious or forgot And buried ’midst the wreck of things that were.” That the forcing pump was greatly improved by Ctesibius,.there can be no question; but that which gave celebrity to his machine was proba¬ bly the air-vessel, an addition, which though not very clearly described by Vitruvius, appears to have originated with him. By it the pump instead of acting as before like a squirt or syringe produced a continuous stream as in a jet d'eau, a result well adapted to excite admiration, and to give eclat to his name. The whole account of his machine shows its connec¬ tion with and dependence upon air; whereas had it been simply a forcing pump it would have had nothing to do with it: it would have raised water independently of it; and without an air-vessel Vitruvius never could have asserted that it forced water up the discharging tube by means of “ air pressing it upwards.” Compressed air acted a prominent part in all his machines. In his wind guns, water clocks, and numerous automata; some of the latter in the shape of birds, &c. appeared to sing, others “ sounded trumpets,” and these results are said to have been produced with “ fluids compressed by the force of air.” We may add that he compressed air in his hydraulic organs and precisely in the same manner as in the pump, viz : by water, and by either air or water forcing pumps. The commence¬ ment of his discoveries was the experiment on air with the weight and speculum in his father’s shop, (see page 122) in which the descending weight “ compressed the inclosed air” and forced it through the several apertures into the open air, and thereby produced distinct sounds. “ When therefore Ctesibius observed that sounds were produced from the com¬ pression and concussion of air, he first made use of that principle in con¬ triving hydraulic organs, also water forcers, automatons,” 1840 . 312,932 300 Philadelphia Water-works. [Book III. to assist him and to superintend the works, and several contracts were made for materials. To meet the expense =£2500 in treasury notes were ordered to be issued, and subsequently further amounts were printed and issued. One of the small notes is now in the possession of John Lozier, Esq., superintendent of the Manhattan water-works, and is in these words: NEW-YORK WATER-WORKS. No. 3842. This note shall entitle the hearer to the sum of TWO SHILLINGS, current money of the colony of New-York, payable on demand, by th „ Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of New- York, at the office of chamberlain of the said city, pursuant to a vote of the said Mayor, Al¬ dermen and Commonalty of this date. Dated the second day of August, the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-fve. By order of the Corporation, Wm. Waddell, ii s. J. H. Cruger. It appears that the well (near White street) was enlarged, and a reser¬ voir built, but no pipes were laid nor machinery to raise water erected before the war broke out and put a stop to the work. The project was not again revived till 1797, when the Manhattan Company was incorpo¬ rated : the present wells were then made and the water raised by three or four common forcing pumps, worked by horses. These pumps raised the water by atmospheric pressure twenty-five feet, and forced it forty feet higher, into a reservoir in the Park where the post office is now (1840) located. In 1804 the pumps were replaced by two double acting ones (No. 122) fifteen inches in diameter and with a stroke of four feet. They were and still are worked by one of Watt’s steam-engines. The water is raised to the same elevation as before. These works will probably be discontinued as soon as the Croton aqueduct, now being constructed, is finished. The first water-works of Philadelphia were commenced in 1799, and consisted of forcing pumps, worked by steam-engines which raised water from the Schuylkill intt) a reservoir constructed, at an elevation of 50 feet, on the banks of that river ; and from which it was conveyed to the city in pipes of bored logs. In 1811 the “ city councils” appointed a com¬ mittee to devise means for procuring a more perfect supply than these works afforded : and shortly after it was determined to erect two steam- engines and pumps on another location, viz : at Fair Mount, two miles and a half from the city, and near the upper bridge that crosses the Schuyl¬ kill. A reservoir 318 feet in length, 167 in width, and 10 in depth, was made at an elevation of 98 feet, into which the pumps forced water from the river. The great expense attending the employment of steam-engines led to the adoption (in 1819) of water as the moving power. A dam was erected, and in 1822 three water wheels were put in operation; these, by cranks on their axles imparted motion through a connecting rod to the pistons of the pumps. In addition to the water consumed in turning these wheels, a surplus remained to work five additional ones, whenever the wants of the city might require them. An additional reservoir was also made, which contains four millions of gallons. The water in both is 102 feet above low tide, and 56 above the highest ground in the city. Iron pipes were also substituted for the old wooden ones. The whole was executed under the directions of F. Graff, Esq. We took the opportunity while at Philadelphia in October of the pre- Chap. 6.] A fine specimen of Hydraulic Machinery. 301 • sent year (1840) to visit Fair Mount. Six breast wheels (15 feet lon^ and 16 feet in diameter) were in operation; each, by a crank on one end of its axle, communicating motion to the piston rod of a single pump. a The pumps are double acting, the same as figured and described at page 271. They are placed a little below the axles of the wheels and in nearly a ho¬ rizontal position. The cylinders are 16 inches diameter; and, that the water may not be pinched in its passage into and escape from them, the induction and eduction pipes are of the same bore; and all angles or abrupt changes in their direction and those of the mains are avoided. The stroke of two or three of the pumps was four feet, and their wheels made fourteen revolutions per minute : the others had a stroke of five feet ten inches, and the wheel)^ performed eleven revolutions in a minute, conse¬ quently the contents ot the cylinders of the latter were emptied into the reservoirs twenty-two times in the same period, and those of the former twenty-eight times. The cylinders are fed under a head of water from the fore bays and they force it to an elevation of 96 feet, through a dis¬ tance of 290. An air chamber is adapted to each. It is impossible to examine these works without paying homage to the science and skill displayed in their design and execution; in these res¬ pects no hydraulic works in the Union can compete, nor do we believe they are excelled by any in the world. Not the smallest leak in any of the joints was discovered ; and, with the exception of the water rushing on the wheels, the whole operation of forcing up daily millions of gallons into the reservoirs on the mount, and thus furnishing in abundance one of the first necessaries of life to an immense population—was performed with less noise than is ordinarily made in working a smith’s bellows ! The picturesque location, the neatness that reigns in the buildings, the walks around the reservoirs and the grounds at large, with the beauty of the sur¬ rounding scenery, render the name of this place singularly appropriate. Dr. T. P. Jones, the talented editor of the Journal of the Franklin In¬ stitute, promised his readers “ A history of the origin, progress and pre¬ sent state of the Water-works at Fair Mount,” some years ago, but which has not yet been published. His familiarity with the subject in general, and with those works in particular, would make the history highly inter¬ esting to the present generation, and a source of valuable information to future ones. See Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. iii, first series; which contains a plan and section of one of the wheels and one of the pumps. * What a contrast with the old works at London bridge, where one wheel worked six¬ teen small pumps ; the friction of the numerous pistons and the apparatus for moving them consuming a great portion of the power employed 302 Fire Engines. [Book m. CHAPTER VII. Fire-engines : Probably used in Babylon and Tyre—Employed by ancient warriors—Other devices of theirs—Fire-engines referred to by Apollodorus—These probably equal in effect to ours: Spiritalia of Heron : Fire-engiue described in it—Pumps used to promote conflagrations—Greek fire, a liquid pro¬ jected by pumps—Fires and wars commonly united—Generals, the greatest incendiaries—Saying of Crates respecting them—Fire pumps the forerunners of guns—Use of engines in Rome—Mentioned in a letter of Pliny to Trajan, and by Seneca, Hesychius and Isidore. Roman firemen—Frequency of fires noticed by Juvenal—Detestable practice of Crassus—Portable engines in Roman houses—Modern en¬ gines derived from the Spiritalia—Forgotten in the middle ages—Superstitions with tegard to fires—Fires attributed to demons—Consecrated bells employed as substitutes for water and fire-engines—Extracts from the Paris Ritual, Wynken de Worde, Barnaby Googe and Peter Martyr respecting them—Emble¬ matic device of an old duke of Milan—Firemen’s apparatus from Agricola—Syringes used in Loudon to quench fires in the 17th century—Still employed in Constantinople—Anecdote of the Capudan Pacha— Syringe engine from Besson—German engines of the 16th century—Pump engine from Dccaus—Pump engines in London—Extracts from the minutes of the London Common Council respecting engines and squirts in 1667—Experiment of Maurice mentioned by Stow the historian—Extract from 1 a history of the first inventors.’ Of the machines described in the 1st and 2d books some are employed in raising water for the irrigation of land, and for numerous purposes of rural and domestic economy ; others in various operations of engineering and the arts, but with the exception of the centrifugal pumps, (Nos. 95, 6, and 7,) the liquid falls inertly from them all— i. e. it is not forcibly ejected as from a forcing pump or syringe : whether it be poured from a bucket, drawn from a gutter, escape from a noria, or from the orifice of a screw, or the spout of an atmospheric pump, it flows from each by the influence of gravity and consequently descends as it flows—such machines are there¬ fore inapplicable for projecting water on fires, because for this purpose the liquid is required to ascend after leaving the apertures of discharge and with a velocity sufficient to carry it high into the air; and also when conveyed to a distance through flexible or other tubes, to be delivered from them at elevations far above the machine itself. As these effects are produced by the pumps described in the present division of the subject, most of them have at different times been adopted as fire-engines; some account of these important machines may therefore be inserted here. Water is the grand agent that, nature has provided for the extinguish¬ ment of flames, and contrivances for applying it with effect have, in every civilized country, been assiduously sought for. In the absence of more suitable implements, buckets and other portable vessels of capacity, at hand, have always been seized to convey and throw water on fires; and when used with celerity and presence of mind at the commencement of one have often been sufficient; but when a conflagration extends beyond their reach, the fate of the burning pile too often resembles that of the ships of Eneas: Nor buckets poured, nor strength of human hand Can the victorious element withstand. Eneid, v. The necessity of some device by which a stream of water might be forced from a distance on flames must have been early perceived, and if we were to judge from the frequency and extent of ancient conflagrations, the pro¬ digious amount of property destroyed, and of human misery induced by them, we should conclude that ingenious men of former times were stimu¬ lated in an unusual degree to invent machines for the purpose. That this was the case cannot well be questioned, although no account of their la- 303 Chap. 7.J Fire-engines employed in Ancient Wars. bors has reached our times. It seems exceedingly probable that some land of fire-engines were used in the celebrated cities of remote antiquity —in Nineveh, Tyre, Babylon and others. It is scarcely possible that the Tyrian and Babylonian mechanicians, whose inventive talents and skill were proverbial, should have left their splendid cities destitute of such means for preserving them from the ravages of fire. If the great extent of Babylon, for example, be considered, its location, (on an extensive plain,) the length of its streets, (fifteen miles,) the height of its buildings, (three and four stories,) and its unrivaled wealth, together with the heat and dryness of the climate; the necessity of such machines will be apparent, and what appears necessary to us, we may rest assured, appeared equally so to its mechanicians, and that they were quite as capable of providing by their ingenuity for the emergency. Nor are we left wholly to conjec¬ ture respecting their knowledge of hydraulic or pneumatic machinery, since the most memorable machine for raising water in the ancient world was made and used at Babylon, and one which, as has been elsewhere observed, greatly exceeded in the elevation to which it raised it, all, or nearly all the water-works of modern days. Had they engines like ours then? We dare not say they had, although we see nothing improbable in the opinion: the antiquity of the syringe is unquestionable; and its ap¬ plication to project water on flames must have been as obvious in remote as in present times ; and people would as naturally be led then as now, to construct large ones for that purpose. There are other reasons for believing that syringes or pumps for squirt¬ ing^ water on fires were in use previous to the time they are first mention¬ ed in history. Fire was one of the most common and most destructive agents employed in ancient wars. When a city was besieged or assaulted, it was the first object with the assailants to protect the moving towers, in which their battering engines, &c. approached the walls, from being con¬ sumed by fire, oil and pitch, &c. thrown upon them from the ramparts. Every source was examined that ingenuity could unfold, for materials and devices to protect them; and as not only the lives and property of the in¬ habitants, but often the destinies of armies and even of nations were on such occasions at stake, it is reasonable to conclude that the most perfect apparatus which could then be procured, were employed both for destroy¬ ing buildings by fire, and also for preserving them from it. We know that men were specially trained to fire buildings, and that they were ex¬ pert in their profession, especially in shooting lighted arrows and darts into and upon structures that could not be approached; hence the neces¬ sity of devices for throwing water upon these missiles and the places in¬ flamed by them. There is an allusion to both practices in the Epistle to the Ephesians, vi, 16. Such a system of warfare could never have been carried to the extent that it was, and for so many ages too, among the cele¬ brated nations of old, without forcing pumps or something like them bein°' used to squirt water on such parts as could not be reached by it when thrown from the hand. We cannot conceive how the constant repetition ol one army applying its energies to the destruction of another by means • ot fire, and the latter equally intent on devising and applying means to extinguish it, without the application of the syringe and of machines on the principle of the bellows occurring to them—an application so obvious (even then) that the slightest mental effort to produce a contrivance for the purpose could not have overlooked it, even if the occasions were of little moment, much less, when the inventive powers of armies, and of militat y engineers in particular, were engaged in the research, and the fate of nations depended upon the result. From a remark in one of Pliny’s 304 Fire Engines mentioned ,hy Apollodorus. [Book III. letters, to which we shall presently refer, it appears that among the Romans individuals were brought up to th e j/rofiession of extinguishing fires. The Helepoles , or ‘town takers’ of Demetrius, although proofs of his me¬ chanical genius, would have availed him little at the siege of Rhodes, nor the movable towers of Hannibal at Saguntum, if these warriors had not been in possession of means to prevent them from being consumed by the fire of the besieged—of materials to resist its effects, and apparatus to ex¬ tinguish it. That the resources of the ancients in these respects were not inferior to ours, may be inferred from several historical facts respecting their modes of securing these towers. They were generally covered with raw hides, leather soaked in water, or cloth made of hair, and sometimes, although seldom, they were plated with metal. Such were some of those employed by Titus at the siege of Jerusalem. They were seventy-five feet high and were covered all over with sheets of iron ; perhaps nothing else could have resisted the incessant torrents of fire which the infuriated Jews showered upon them. But a singular proof of the sagacity and re¬ searches of the ancients is, that the modern application of alum to render wood incombustible was also known ; for Archelaus, one of the generals of Mithridates in a war with the Romans, washed over a wooden tower wdth a solution of it and thereby defeated all the attempts of Sylla to set the structure on fire. Thus we see that when mechanical means failed them, or were not at hand, they had recourse to chemical ones. But that water and machines for dispersing it, were extensively employed on such occasions appears from a remark of Vitruvius. He observes that the lower stories of the towers contained large quantities.of water for the purpose of extinguishing fire thrown upon them. Of course they had means of projecting it wherever required, but of these unfortunately he is silent. Montfaucon has engraved a figure of a species of wheel for the purpose, but its representation is too imperfect to indicate the nature of the ma¬ chine of which it seems to have formed a part. That machines of the jmmp kind were used on these occasions is evi¬ dent from the temporary contrivance of Apollodorus, mentioned in the re¬ mains of a work of his On War Machines, and quoted by Professor Beck¬ man. We have noticed, at page 235, one of his plans for extinguishing fire in the upper parts of a building, and that to which we now refer is from the same passage. Water, he observes, may be conveyed to elevated places when exposed to fiery darts, by means of the entrails of an ox : these natural tubes being connected to a bag filled with water; by com¬ pressing the bag the liquid will be forced through them to its place of destination. This device, he says, may be adopted when the machine called sipho is not at hand. Now if w'e had not known that the term sipho was anciently used to designate syringes and other tubular instru¬ ments, the substitute which Apollodorus here proposes sufficiently proves that it was a forcing pump to which he refers, and one too that, like our fire-engines, was furnished with leathern hose through which- the water was conveyed to the “ elevated places” he mentions. The importance of flexible pipes accompanying the pump or sipho, when employed in war, is obvious; for one of the objects of those who threw “fiery darts” on the towers and other structures, was to fire them, if possible, at places inac¬ cessible to water for the most difficult to be reached—hence the necessity not only of engines, to project streams of that liquid, but also of such tubes to direct it to the places inflamed: and hence the suggestion of the tubes mentioned by Apollodorus when artificial ones were not to be procured: an ox was always within the reach of an army. As these engines would of course be similar to such as were used to Chap. 7.] Fire-Engine described by Heron. 305 Ap"oEra!Tor n v“ruviu S "hTdlcXd"them -'’perhfpfth " eitIlCr engines. Some persons may doubt this, buTksCwh 7 h ° U ] ^ the nature of ancient wars naturallv led ,i e remembered that Iitary machinery anjof Hefen.• y d ‘° the best construction of all mi- conlS not ZtZ “ sally employed. The contests r,F+\> ’ • D ^ at e ^ ement was umver- nical skill rather than of fighting—craflicfcTof Ta^^ ° f mecha ' isstSitz »- sss&Sf 5 «" fz ic engineers. Uie successes of Demetrius nnrl xr„„ -i , were often due to the novelty of their engines • the • Hann , lhal ists were indeed proverbially skilful ° i ' . rthagenian machm- curious piece of mechanism w t ’ 7 S °’ ^ m Romc itself a »J Cien, armies wereatofcneml^ed A "' water ; the hydraulic engines of Ganymede nearly ruined CUttin f , off r/h“,ei:iZ r ^Xen*usf„Yhy n d bj *? ~ f ^ No. 141. .Egyptian Fire-Engine of the 2d century before Christ, from Heron’s Spiritalia. in the a “mr d o e f a A°n f ° r r cin S P um P s a * fire-engines was not new AmoL he smaU P m mf rUS f 0 ‘' we W evidence It Jlarin"/ 1 ' 11 ^*“o^t'aTwtk rfftrtS eral Lata translations were made and published in the 16th and 17th 39 306 Fire-Engine described by Heron. [Book III. centuries, and most of them were ornamented with copies of the original illustrations. This was the Spiritalia of Heron, to which we have already referred, (page 270.) As the engine may interest some readers, a figure of it is annexed. See No. 141 on the preceding page. To persons not familiar w{th hydraulic machinery this figure will ap¬ pear a rude and imperfect affair; but notwithstanding its antiquity and the mutilations which it has unquestionably sustained in passing through the hands of copyists, it exhibits nearly all the essential elements of a modern engine. Like the machine of Ctesibius, Heron’s engine consists of two brass forcing pumps connected to one discharging pipe. The cylinders are secured to a base of wood and are partly immersed in water; they are described in the text as turned or bored very smooth, with pistons ac¬ curately fitted to work in them. The piston rods are attached by bolts to a double lever at equal distances from the centre or fulcrum at A. The carriage not being necessary to elucidate the principle of the machine was omitted by Heron. The rectangular figure into which the upper part of the discharging pipe is formed, has certainly been added by some trans¬ criber of the manuscript. Neither Heron nor his contemporaries could have made such an obstacle to the issuing fluid, and nothing of the kind is mentioned in the text. There is, moreover, conclusive evidence that the figure has been altered; for example, there is no provision represented by which the-direction of the perpendicular jet can be changed, and hence an engine made according to it, would, on this account alone, be useless; now Heron not only describes a movable tube, fitted by a joint (goose neck) to the perpendicular one, by turning of which the water could be discharged on any given place, but he refers his readers to the figure of it in the illustration. Had Heron’s machine an air chamber ? This is an interesting question, since if it were determined in the affirmative, there would be little left for the moderns to claim in fire-engines except details in the construction of the carriages and other matters of minor importance, that have been left unnoticed in the Spiritalia. The accounts of machines by ancient au¬ thors are generally very concise ; they did not think it necessary to enter into that minutiee of narration that characterizes the specifications of modern patents, nor would it. have been of much use to us if they had, but the contrary, for the multiplicity of mere technical terms would rather have increased than removed our embarrassments. This is evident from the variety of explanations given of a few such terms that Vitruvius employs in describing some of the inventions of Ctesibius and other mechanicians : hence in all the accounts of ancient machinery , it was of more importance to preserve the figures or illustrations than the text from corruption. The description of Heron’s engine which the text and the figure afford, is, to persons conversant with such machines, sufficiently explicit, with the exception of that part of both which relates to the discharging pipe and apparatus connected to it—or in other words, to the air vessel, for that there was one, we think every intelligent reader will presently admit. Had the figure been always exactly copied by the multipliers of manu¬ scripts, of course no obscurity would here have been felt, but even in the state in which it has reached us, an air vessel is certainly portrayed. It may be asked, If this be so, why was it not discovered before 1 Possibly because no one sought particularly for it: its diminutive size and general resemblance to a plain tube would prevent any one else from recognizing it. It will be seen in the figure that one part of the discharging pipe descends into an enlarged portion of that below it, and that a space is left between them; thus constituting an air chamber, and precisely of the same Chap. 7.] Greek Fire projected by Pumps 307 Fand thif.Tn g f ne p 11 ^ USed ! n “S™ at this day. This part of the figure and this alone) in Commandine’s translation of the Spiritalia is not shown in section, but the arrangement of the pipes is precisely as shown in the cut theToth 8 ad f dm ° n *° th ® discharging pipe could not have been made in the 16th century, when the work fell into the hands of printers and en¬ gravers, for at that time the use of it was not known, white from the small dimensions figured it could have been of no service. That To^iZed with Heron and formed a prominent feature in the original figure Is evi- paFt o^the'm h^ = k ^ ° f the esca P e of ^ water from this pait of the machine, he expressly states that it was forced out, in the same manner as out of a vase or fountain, which he had previously described can ht m \ co ™P res * e . d air— 1 per aerem in ipso compressum Nothing an be plainer than tnis; for every manufacturer of pumps knows that in the absence of an air vessel there could have been no air to compress that'thedrv^H 5 S ?"? 06 the hist ° r ^ of this anciint engine that the an vessel should have been preserved through so many a^es when t dned W Tt T ° Wn i T lMl8 i ^ ,? Ze WaS diminished its fora?was re¬ tained. It is no wonder that die old copyists considered it an unsightly and unnecessary enlargement of the discharging pipe, and hence they rJ ^ced it accordmgly-ce^ the fancy that could add the rectangular twist to the upper part, would not hesitate to remove the supposed defor¬ mity from the lower one. Some persons, deceived by the' imperfect re¬ presentation, have supposed that such engines were not used in the time mere 2/f 1 fW ^ ^ description were inserted in his work as meie_hmts for future mechanicians to improve on: but the descrintion sufficiently indicates that similar machines were in actual use. b The P ma- te rials and workmanship of the pumps—metallic pistons and spindle valves lfth g eT t0 pi Tl! nt ^ F atte ; fr ° m ° penin ^ t0 ° far i the mode of form- ng the goose-neck by a kind of swivel joint, somewhat like the union or oupling screw ; the application of an air vessel; two pumps forcing water machine Te w W ° rked b J. a double lever, are proofs that the machine described by Heron was neither an ideal one, nor of recent ongin or use. There are features m it that were very slowly developed by manufacturers m modern times. It is not at all improbable thatFm cient engines were equal in effect to the best of ours; but, whether th ev ' were or not one thing is certain, that to the ancients belongs the merit o{ fhpm? nng P nn T C1 P les employed in these machines and of applying them to practice. It is remarkable too, that fire engines made their first appearance m Egypt, thus adding another to the numerous obligations under which that wonderful country has placed civilized nations in all umes to come. Having noticed the use of pumps to extinguish fires in ancient warfare we may remark that they were also employed in the middle age! if noj before, to promote conflagrations, viz: to lanch streams of Greek fire This Zr° U8 Substanc , e 18 ^presented as a liquid : Beckman says it cer- menledbv7 e i ^ *1 &r ^ T being ^ Uencbed ’ its violence was aug¬ mented by contact with water. It was principally employed in naval St 0i 'was aI S o C bifwnl OSed u Were tll!wn into the h ° st!le it was also blown through iron and copper tubes planted on the Drows of foraTstiefmron ly i 1, fi Ped n m ° UtllS of an ™ a,s - which seamed to in the old Gerrm'^t 'f • a mong the figures of war machines h d German translation ofYegetms already mentioned, one that * Spiritalia, p. 70. b aiph ° ne8 aUtem quibus utuntu ' ^ incendia hoc mode constmuntur.-Ibid. 308 Warriors the greatest Incendiaries. [Book III. (judging from the flames issuing from monstrous animals’ mouths) seems to have been designed for projecting Greek fire, though it is difficult to per¬ ceive how it was done. Another mode of using this terrible material, was by forcing it in jets “ by means of large fire-engines,” and sometimes “ the soldiers squirted it from hand engines.” Its effects upon those on whom it was thrown, seem to have been somewhat similar to those pro¬ duced bv the composition of alcohol and spirits of turpentine recently adopt¬ ed as a substitute for oil in lamps, and which has occasioned so many fatal disasters, by the explosion of vessels containing it and its consequent dis¬ persion over the persons of the sufferers. It was easy (says Beckman) to conceive the iaea of discharging Greek fire by means of forcing pumps, because the application of them to extinguish fires was known long before its invention. It is supposed to have originated with Callinicus, a Syrian engineer of Balbec, in the 7th century. It may however have been known to the old Greeks and Romans, for they made use of similar devices for projecting fire : Montfaucon, in describing their marine combats, observes “ another mode of annoying enemies’ ships was by throwing fire therein, which they did after different ways, some using for that purpose siphones, and fire buckets, others threw in pots filled with fire.” From an expres¬ sion of Dr. G. A. Agricola, a physician of Ratisbon of the last century, in a work on Gardening, (see page 127 in Bradley’s translation) it would ap¬ pear as if something like the Greek fire was then in use. Enumerating several pernicious inventions, he notices “'That infernal one of gunpowder. How many cities and fortresses has it ruined '( How many thousands of men has it destroyed 1 And what is most deplorable is, that this art grows more and more complete every day, and is brought to that perfection, that in Holland and some other parts they have fire pumps filled with burning compositions, wherewith they eject fiery torrents to a great distance, which may occasion dreadful and irreparable damages to mankind.” Fires and wars have ever been deemed the most awful of earthly cala¬ mities, and, unfortunately for our race, they have too often been united, for warriors have generally had recourse to the former to multiply the mi¬ series of the latter; and in almost every age cities have, like Jericho and Ai, Hebron and Ziglag, Troy and Thebes, Carthage and Athens, Sagun- tum and Bagdat, been burnt with fire; and in some cases “ all the souls therein destroyed”—cities burned without inhabitants.” It was, we be lieve, from the horrible, the inconceivable sufferings endured on such oc¬ casions, that much of the thrilling imagery of the Bible was derived. To the offending Jews, God was represented as “a consuming fire,” and they were urged to repentance “ lest his fury come forth like fire, and burn, that none can quench it—lest he break out like fire in the house of J oseph and there be none to quench it in Betheland some of the sublimest ef¬ fusions of the prophets have reference to “ firebrands, arrows and death” —to “ blood and fire and pillars of smoke.” In modern times, too, war¬ riors have been the greatest incendiaries: hamlets, towns and cities have been wantonly consumed, and the “ gallant” actors have made the air shiver with their shouts of acclamation on witnessing the spreading con¬ flagration. Well did the anejents represent Mars fierce in aspect, bran¬ dishing a spear, and driving in his chariot o’er mangled corses, amid the clangor of arms and the shrieks of the dying—Fear, Terror and Discord in his train, while before went Bellona, with her hair loose and clotted with gore, and a firebrand in her hand. And these are the demons that men professing Christianity worship with all the fervor of deluded hea¬ then ; and, what will in future ^imes appear incredible, they demand re¬ verence for the act, and they—receive it! Strange, that notwithstanding Homan Firemen. 309 Chap. 7.j the boasted superiority of the age and the benign spirit and precepts of religion—the profession of war—the most prolific source of human misery and crime, is still deemed honorable; and men under whose tyranny na¬ tions and provinces groan, and by whom human life is extinguished not only without remorse but with indifference, are permitted to take prece¬ dence in moral society. Crates was certainly correct when he intimated that wars would never cease till men became convinced of the folly and wickedness of allowing themselves to be driven as soldiers like sheep to the slaughter, or like wolves to devour each other—but as he expressed it, not till men become sensible that generals are only ass drivers. As Greek fire preceded gunpowder in Europe, so pumps or the ‘spout¬ ing engines’ for projecting it may be considered the forerunners of guns: it is even possible that the first idea of the latter (supposing they were not introduced from the east) might have been derived from accidental explo¬ sions of the liquid in the pump cylinders, when the pistons would of course be driven out of them like balls out of cannon. But be this as it may, enough has been adduced to show that the forcing pump and its modifica¬ tions have exerted no small degree of influence in ancient wars and con¬ sequently in the affairs of the old world. Although the police and other arrangements for the actual suppression of fires in ancient Rome are not well ascertained, some interesting particu¬ lars are known. A body' of foremen, named matricularii, was established whose duty it was to extinguish the flames. Similar companies were also organized in provincial cities. This appears from Trajan’s reply to Pliny respecting the formation of one in Nicomedia, and from which we learn that these ancient firemen frequently created disturbances by their dissen¬ sions and tumults. Pliny (the younger) was governor of Bithynia; after giving the emperor an account of a fire in Nicomedia, a town in his pro¬ vince, he continues, “ You will consider, sir, whether it may not be ad¬ visable to form a company of firemen, consisting only of one hundred and fifty members. I will take care none but those of that business shall be admitted into it; and that the privileges granted them shall not be ex¬ tended to any other purpose. As this corporate body will be restricted to so small a number of members, it will be easy to keep them under proper regulations.” In answer the emperor sent the following letter : “ Trajan to Pliny. —You are of opinion it would be proper to establish a company of firemen in Nicomedia, agreeably to what has been prac¬ ticed in several other cities. But it is to be remembered that societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general, and of those cities in particular. Whatever name we give them, and for what¬ ever purpose they may be instituted, they will not fail to form themselves into factious assemblies, however short their meetings may be. It will therefore be safer to provide such machines as are of service in extin¬ guishing fires, enjoining the owners of houses to assist in preventing the mischief from spreading, and, if it should be necessary, to call in the aid of the populace.” Pliny’s Letters, B. x. Ep. 42 and 43. Melmoth’s Translation. The direction to procure “ machines as are of service in extinguishing fires” was in consequence of Nicomedia being destitute of them—an un¬ fortunate circumstance for the. inhabitants, but one that is hardly now re¬ gretted by those who are in search of information respecting fire-eno-ines among the ancients ; since it led Pliny to mention them, and thereby af- ford us a proof of their employment by the Romans. “ "While I was mak- mg a progress [he writes to Trajan] in a different part of the province, a most destructive fire broke out in Nicorhbdia, which not only consumed 310 Fire-Engines and Fires in Ancient Rome. [Book Ill several private houses, but also two public buildings, the town house and the temple of Isis, though they stood on contrary sides of the street. The occasion of its spreading thus wide was partly owing to the violence ol the wind, and partly to the indolence of the people, who, it appears, stood fixed and idle spectators of this terrible calamity. The truth is, the city was not furnished with either engines , buckets, or any single instrument proper to extinguish fires ; which I have now however given directions to be provided.” It has been generally imagined [observes Melrnoth] that the ancients had not the art of raising water by engines, but this pas¬ sage seems to favor the contrary opinion. The word in the original [for engine] is sipho, which Hesychius explains instrumentum ad jacvlan- dus aquas adversus incendia —an instrument to throw up water against fires. But there is a passage in Seneca which seems to put the matter beyond conjecture, though none of the critics upon this place have taken notice of it. Solemus (says he) duabus manibus inter se junctus aquam concipere et compressa utrinque palma in modum siphonis exprimere. Q. N. ii, 16, where we plainly see the use of this sipho was to throw up water. In the French translation of De Sacy, (Paris 1S09,) the word is rendered q^mps ■—“ D’ailleurs, il n’y a dans la ville, ni pompes ni seaux publics, enfin nul autre des instrumens necessaires pour eteindre les em- brasemens.” And Professor Beckman quotes both Hesychius and Isidore to prove that “ a fire-engine, properly so called, was understood in the 4th and in the 7th centuries by the term si]d/o,” and we may add that Agri¬ cola in the 16th century designated syringes for extinguishing fires by the same term. Heron’s engine is also named a siphon. See note p. 307. From an expression in the letter of Pliny just quoted, we learn that men were regularly brought up to the art of extinguishing fires, the same as to any other profession: Of the company that he proposed to estab¬ lish, he remarks, “ I will take care that none but those of that business shall be admitted into it.” The buildings in ancient Rome were very high, the upper stories were mostly of wood, and the streets and lane*s were extremely narrow, hence the suppression of conflagrations there must have been an arduous business, and one that required extraordinary intrepidity and skill; qualifications that could only be obtained by expe¬ rience. Besides engines for throwing water, the firemen used sponges or mops fixed to the end of long poles, and they had grapples and other instruments by means of which they could go from one wall to another, (Encyc. Antiq.) Of the great elevation of the houses several Roman writers speak. Seneca attributed the difficulty of extinguishing fires to this cause. Juvenal mentions Roofs that make one giddy to look down. Sat. vi. When the city was rebuilt after the great conflagration, (supposed to have been induced by Nero,) the height of the houses was fixed at about seventy feet. These were raised to a certain height without wood, being arched with stone, and party walls were not allowed. That fires were constantly occurring in obi Rome is well known. Juvenal repeatedly mentions the fact : Thus in his third satire:— Rome, where one hears the everlasting sound Of beams and rafters thundering to the ground, Amid alarms by day and fears bynight. And again: But Io ! the flames bring yonder mansion down ! The dire disaster echoes through the town ; Men look as if for solemn funeral clad, Now, now indeed these nightly fires are sad. Chap. 7.] 311 'Portable Engines in Roman Houses. Their frequency induced Augustus to institute a body of watchmen to guard against them, and, from the following lines of Juvenal, it appears that wealthy patricians had servants to watch their houses during the night: With buckets ranged the ready servants stand, Alert at midnight by their lords’ command. Sat. xiv. As every calamity that befalls mankind is converted by some men to their own advantage, so the numerous fires in Rome led to the detestable practice of speculating on the distresses they occasioned. Thus Crassus, the consul, who, from his opulence was surnamed the Rich, gleaned his immense wealth, according to Plutarch “ from war and from fires ; he made it a part of his business to buy houses that were on fire, and others that joined upon them, which he commonly got at a low price on account of the fear and distress of the owners about the event.” But the avarice of Crassus, as is the case with thousands of other men, led to Ins ruin. "With the hope of enlarging his possessions, he selected the province of Syria for Ins government, or rather for his extortion, because it seemed to promise him an inexhaustible source of wealth: but by a retributive Provi¬ dence his army was overthrown by the Parthians, whom he attempted to subdue, and who cut off his head, and in reference to his passion for gold fused a quantity of that metal and poured it down his throat. Among other precautions for preventing fires from spreading that were adopted in Rome on rebuilding the city, was one requiring every citizen to keep in his house “ a machine for extinguishing fire.” What these ma¬ chines were is not quite certain, whether buckets, mops, hooks, syringes or portable pumps. That they were the last is supposed to be proved by a passage in the writings of Ulpian, a celebrated lawyer and secretary to the Emperor Alexander Severus, wherein he enumerates the things that belonged to a house when it was sold, such as we name fixtures, and among them he mentions siphones employed in extinguishing fires. Beckman thinks the leaden pipes which conveyed water into the houses for domestic purposes might be intended ; but they would hardly have been designated as above, merely because the water conveyed through them was occasionally used to put out fires. This was not their chief use, but an incidental one. That they were pumps or real fire-engines was the opinion of Alexander ab Alexandro, a learned lawyer of the 15th century; an opinion not only rendered probable by the terms used and the necessity of such implements for the security of the upper stories, which neither public engines nor streams from the aqueducts could reach, but also from the apparent fact, that syringes or portable pumps have al¬ ways been kept (to a greater or less extent) in dwellings from Roman times. And a sufficient reason why they should generally be sold with the houses, might be found in their dimensions being regulated according to those of the buildings for which they were designed. The population of Rome was so great that the area of the city could not furnish sites sufficient for the houses ; and hence (as Vitruvius has ob¬ served, B. ii, cap. 8) the height of the walls was increased in order to multiply the number of stories—‘ for want of room on the earth the build¬ ings were extended towards the heavens.’ Portable fire-engines were therefore particularly requisite, in order promptly to extinguish fires on their first appearance, whether in the upper or lower floors. In the latter case, when this was not done, the people in the higher stories would be cut off from relief and the means of escape. Were some of our six and seven story buildings in the narrow streets, densely filled with human beings, and a raging fire suddenly to biirst out on the ground floors, the 312 Fire-Engines forgotten in the Middle Ages. [Book III. probability is that many lives would be lost, notwithstanding the great number of our public engines, and hose and ladder companies. Juvenal intimates the distressed situation of those dwelling above under such circumstances. Hark ! where Ucalegon for water cries Casts out his chattels, from the peril flies, Dense smoke is bursting from the floor below. Sat. iii. However perfect or imperfect hydraulic and hydro-pneumatic engines in ancient Alexandria and Rome may have been, it is certain that these machines and the arts related to them experienced the withering influ¬ ence of that moral and mental desolation which raged throughout Europe during the dark ages. The decline of learning was necessarily accom¬ panied with a corresponding decay in all the useful and ornamental arts : some of these have disappeared altogether, and have never been recover¬ ed, so that the attainments of the ancients in them have perished. But the connection between literature and the arts was as apparent in their resto¬ ration as in their declension—if they departed together they also returned in company. The revival of learning not only led to the introduction of printing and the invention of the press, but it furnished, in the multiplica¬ tion of ancient manuscripts, then extant, immediate employment for both; and although it may be supposed that there can be little or no relation be tween Greek or Latin manuscripts and modern fire-engines, yet there really is an intimate one, for it is all but certain that the first idea of these machines as now made, was derived from Heron’s Spiritalia; just as the application of double and treble forcing pumps in modern water-works, was from Vitruvius’ treatise on architecture. The printing press, there¬ fore, not only opened the literary treasures of the ancients to the world at large, which had previously been confined to a few, but at the same time it made us acquainted with some of their machinery and their arts, that had long been forgotten or lost sight of. Fire-engines were nearly or altogether forgotten in the middle ages : portable syringes seem to have been the only contrivances, except buckets, for throwing water on fires, and from their inefficiency and other causes, their employment was very limited. The general ignorance which then pervaded Europe not only prevented the establishment of manufactories of better instruments; but the superstitions of the times actually discouraged their use. There is not a more singular fact (and it is an incontrovertible one) in the history of the human mind, than that the religious doctrines and opinions of a large portion of mankind should have in every age produced the most deplorable results with regard to conflagrations. The Parsees, Ghebres, &c. of Asia, and other religious sects, which have sub¬ sisted from the remotest ages, never willingly throw water upon fires— they consider it criminal to quench it, no matter how disastrous the result may be: they had rather perish in it than thus extinguish the emblem of the Deity they worship. “ They would sooner be persuaded to pour on oyl to increase, than water to assuage the flame.” 0 Among such people fire- engines of course were never used. Another and a larger part of the human race though they entertain no such reverence for fire, are so far influenced by the pernicious doctrine of Fatalism, as to make little or no efforts to suppress it. They look upon fires as the act of God ! deter¬ mined by him ! and therefore conclude it useless to contend with him, in attempting to extinguish those which He has kindled ! Hence the pro¬ verbial indifference of Mahommedans in the midst of conflagrations. What a Ovington’s Voyages 10 Surat in 1689, page 372. 313 Chap. 7.] Bells used as Substitutes for Fire-engines. Torcen has said of Surat in particular, is applicable to every city of Asia and of the East. “ Many fine buildings have been destroyed by fire which, according to the Mahommedan doctrine of predestination, it is in vam to withstand.” Of the Chinese, by far the shrewdest of Asiatics, Mr. Davis remarks, “ Ihe foolish notion of fatalism which prevails amono- the people, makes them singularly careless as regards fire ; and the frequent occurrence of accidents, has no effect upon them, although the fearful con¬ flagration of 1822, went far to destroy the whole city,” (Canton.) The miserable delusions which ecclesiastics established in Europe during the middle ages were quite as preposterous, and equally effective in par- alizing the energies of the people. It is difficult to reflect on them without feeling emotions of wonder as well as pity, at the wretched condition of our r^ce when void of knowledge ; and of gratitude, that in our times the shackles of ignorance and superstition are rapidly rusting away. It was a common belief that fires (and various other calamities) were induced by wicked spirits, and that the best mode of removing the evils was by driv¬ ing the authors of them away ! These intangible workers of mischief according to the demonologists of the times, consisted of numerous classes] £nd the labors of each were confined to certain elements. It was those who roamed in the air that were the greatest incendiaries. “ Aeriall spirits, or divells, are such as keep quarter most part in the aire [they! cause many tempests, thunder and lightnings, teare oakes, fire steeples houses ,” &c. (See Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy.) When a house] therefore, was on fire, the priests, instead of stimulating by their exam¬ ple the bystanders to exert themselves in obtaining water, & c . had re¬ course to the images and pretended relics of saints, which they brought out of the churches, in order to exert their influence in stopping the pro¬ gress of the flames, and expelling the invisible authors of them. °The'pall or sacred covering of the altar, was also frequently carried in procession] to contribute to the overthrow of the fiends. But when a church itself took fire, (such was the ignorance of the times,) the people then heartily olasphemed the saint to whom it was dedicated, for not preventing the mischief; (Encyc. Antiq.) like Sylla abusing the image of Apollo when he was defeated in battle. Other curious but popular substitutes for water and fire-engines, were church Bells: these were consecrated with imposing ceremonies. They were washed inside and out with holy water—perfumed with censers—anointed with sacred oil—named and signed with the cross, that devils (says the ritual) “ hearing this, bell may tremble and flee from the banner of the cross designed upon it.” Besides striking demons with horror and driving them from the vicinity, these bells had the wonderful power of allaying storms, tempests, thunder and lightning, and extinguishing fires; and some of them had the rare gift of ringing on important occasions of their own accord. 4 M. Arago, in a paper on Thunder and Lightning, inquires (among other alledged means of dissipating thunder clouds) into this old superstition of “ Ringing of Bells;” and he cites specimens of prayers, stilt offered up, on their consecration, according to the Paris Rituaf, “ O eternal God ! grant that the sound of this Bell may put to flight the fire strokes of the enemy of man, the thunder bolt, the rapid fall of stones, as j w j d ! sasters and tempests.” In the “Golden Legend” of Wynken de Worde, the old English printer, it is said “ the evil spirytes that ben in the region of th’ ayre, doubte moche when they here the Belles rin°- e n: * See a author of partieular aceount of the ceremonies of consecrating bells as Observations on a Journey to Naples.”' Lon. 1691. witnessed by the 40 314 [Book III. Ancient Apparatus for Extinguishing Fires , and tkis is the cause why the Belles nngen whan it thondreth, and whan grete tempeste and rages of wether happen, to the end that the feinds and wycked spirytes should ben abashed and flee, and cease of the movynge of tempeste.” The following lines to the same effect, are from Barnaby Googe, an old British poet: If that the thunder chaunce to rore, And storuiie tempestes shake, * * * * * * The clarke doth all the belles forthwith At once ill steeple ring : With wondrous sound and deeper farre Than lie was wont before, Till in the loftie heavens darke, The thunder bray no more, For in these christned belles they thinke Doth lie such powre and might As able is the tempeste great, And storme to vanquish quight. The application of bells to the purposes of fire-engines is also mentioned by Peter Martyr, in his “ Common Places,” a work dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. Black letter, 1583. Speaking of things consecrated by ptK pists in common with the ancient heathen, he says of bells —“ they be washed, they be annointed, they be conjured, they are named and handled with far greater pomp and ambition, than men are when they are bap¬ tized, and more is attributed to them than to the prayers of godly men. For they say, that by the ringing of them—the wicked spirits, the host of adversaries, the laying await of enemies, tempestes, hayle, stormes, whirl- windes, violent blastes and hurtfull thunderclaps, are driven away, flames and fires are extinguished , and finally whatever else soever!” Part iv, cap. 9, p. 125. There is no small ringing of bells in this city (New-York) during fires; but their unaided effects on the devouring element, ere other means have arrived, has, we believe, been but small. Few have, however, been con¬ secrated ; but as from one to two hundred Spanish bells have recently been sold here, (having been taken from the convents in consequence of the civil war which has so long raged in that country,) this virtue of sacred bells may soon be tested. Certainly, if they can do a moiety of the good things mentioned above, they were worth much more than forty cents per lb. the average price at which they were sold. We have had recourse in a few instances to heraldry, or rather to the emblems or personal devices of ancient families, for information respecting machines, some of which are no longer in use ; as the eolipile, and the atmospheric sprinkling pot: see pages 261 and 396. Besides these the syringe and the bellows have also been adopted on such occasions; and it may be here observed that the device of Galeaz, duke of Milan, the second of the name, was a brand burning and two fire buckets.® This, although no proof that machines of the pump kind were not in use to extinguish fires in Italy during the 15th century, is an indication that none were employed at the time when the device was adopted. The oldest sketch of a complete set of apparatus for extinguishing fire that we have seen, is in a cut representing the interior of a laboratory or smelting furnace, in the De Re Metallica of Agricola, page 308. The implements are, a syringe, a sledge hammer, two fire hooks and three leathern buckets ; conveniently arranged against a wall. See the annexed illustration. These figures seem to have escaped the notice of Beckman a Devices Heroi'ques. A Lyon. 1577, page 50. 315 Chap. 7.] From Agricola „ and subsequent authors, nor is this surprising since they form a very small and obscure part of the original engraving. We noticed the latter several times before observing them. The syringe was made of brass ; it is de¬ signated siphunculus ori- chalceus, cujus usus est in incendiis. In these figures we behold all that was preserved through the middle ages of ancient firemen’s machinery : the engine of Heron seems to have been quite forgotten. Indeed the syringe itself was not generally used in Europe till late, for it was not till the close of the 16th century that “ hand squirts,” as they were named, were introduced into London. Previous to that time watchmen, buck- i „ ets, hooks and ladders, on- ly were m use. Cutting away with axes and throwing water from buckets are mentioned (observes Fosbroke) by Petronius and Gervase of Canterbury. The owners of houses or chimneys that took fire were fined; and men were appointed to watch for fires and givq the alarm. In 1472 a night bellman was em¬ ployed m Exeter to alarm the inhabitants in case of fire, and in 1558, leathern buckets, ladders and crooks, were ordered to be provided for the same city; no application of the pump seems to have been then thought of. Syringes continued to be used in London till the latter part of the 17th century, when they were superseded by more perfect machines. An ac¬ count of them and the mode of working them would make a modern fire¬ man smile. They were usually made of brass and held from two to four quarts. The smaller ones were about two feet and a half long, and an inch and a half in diameter; the bore of the nozzles being half an inch. Three men were required to work each, which they achieved in this man¬ ner : two, one on each side, grasped the cylinder with one hand and the nozzle with the other; while the third one worked the piston ! Those who held the instrument plunged the nozzle into a vessel of water, the operator then drew back the piston and thus charged the cylinder, and when it was raised by the bearers and in the required position, he pushed in the piston and forced, or rather endeavoured to force, the contents on the fire. We are told that some of these syringes are preserved in one or two of the parish churches. It can excite no surprise that London should have been almost wholly destroyed in the greht fire of 1666, when such were the machines upon which the inhabitants chiefly depended for protecting their property and dwellings. If the diminutive size of these instruments be considered, the number of hands required to work each, beside others to carry water and vessels for them, the difficulty and often impossibility of approaching sufficiently near so as to reach the flames with the jet, the loss of part of the stream at the beginning and end of ' each stroke of the piston, and the trifling* effect produced—the whole act of using them, appears rather as a farce, or the gambols of overgrow** 316 Turkish Fire-Engines. [Book III- boys at play, than the well directed energies of men to subdue the raging element. In Asia syringes have probably been always in limited use. They are the only instruments of the pump kind now known there, if China be ex¬ cepted. Very effective engines on the European plan are made by the Chinese. (Chinese Repos, vol. iv.) The fire-engine of the Turks is an improvement on the syringe, but not much more effective. The author of “ Sketches of Turkey” observes, when speaking of fires in Constantinople, “ Indeed, when we afterwards saw the machines used by the Turks to extinguish fires, we were not sur¬ prised at the feeble resistance which they could oppose to the progress of the devouring element. The engines, in fact, are not larger than those employed with us to water gardens : they have but a single chamber, which is about eight inches long by three or four in diameter ; they are readily carried about by hand.” Commodoi-e Porter, in his interesting account of “Constantinople and its Environs,” says their fire-engines “are like those we use in our gardens, for watering the beds and walks, and de¬ liver about as much water as a good large syringe. When an alarm of fire is given, a man seizes on one of these and runs to the spot indicated, with the engine on his shoulder, another brings a skin of water, pours it into the reservoir and they pump away.” A characteristic anecdote is thus facetiously related by Commodore Porter. “ They had heard of the fire- engines and fire companies of the United States—how half a shingle could be burnt, and the engines save the other half from the flames. They could not understand it. Mr. Eckford fortunately arrived with his beautiful ship, having one of our engines on board, requiring some twenty men to work it. The Capudan Pacha heard of it—‘ Mash Allah ! let us see it,’ exclaimed the old man. The engine was brought on shore and placed in the Navy Yard ; a short suction was fixed to it and put into the Bospho¬ rus; men were set to work it—the Navy Yard was soon inundated, and the Bosphorus began to run dry ! ‘ Mash Allah !’ said he, ‘ very good —but it will require a sea to supply it with water. It won’t do for us, for there is no sea in the middle of the city.’ They therefore have thought best to stick to their squirts, and to let the fire spread until the wind changes, or it is tired of burning.” Sandys, in the beginning of the 17th century, visited Constantinople, and speaks of the frequency of fires in that city : he observes, “ It is not to be marvelled at, for the citizens dare not quench the fire that burneth their own houses, because officers are appointed for that purpose.” He is si¬ lent respecting the instruments then used. When the useful arts began to excite attention, the defects of portable syringes were too apparent to be neglected, hence in the early part of the 16th century several attempts were made to remedy them, by those no¬ ble spirits who burst through the prejudice that had so long consigned the subjects of practical mechanics to the mere makers of machines, as one unworthy of a philosopher’s pursuit; and from the cultivation of which no distinction, sa^e such as was allied to that of a skilful artisan, could be derived—a species of fame from which professors of philosophy shrunk, like Plato, with feelings of horror. To render the syringe an efficient fire- engine, would seem to be impossible, except by converting it into a forc¬ ing pump, and in that case it would be no longer a syringe. As long, therefore, as such an idea did not occur to engineers, they had no resource but to improve the “ squirt” as well as they could ; and however hope¬ less the task may now appear, it was. not only attempted, but to a certain extent accomplished, and with considerable ingenuity too, as will appear Chap. 7.] Syringe Engine from Besson. 317 from the following figure, No. 143. It is described in Besson’s “ Thea¬ tre,” and must therefore have been invented previous to 1568, the date of the permission to print his work. No. 143. Syringe Engine from Besson. A. D. 1568. “ Proposition De UAutheur :—Artifice autant singulier (comme je “ pense) que non point commun, pourjecter l’eau contre un grand feu, “ mesmement lors que pour la grandeur de la damme, nul ne peut entrer “ ny approcher de la maison qui brusle. Declaration de la mesme figure : “ Cest instrument, qui est faict en forme de Cone, se soustient sur deux “ Roues : ayant sa bouche tournee vers le septentrion : et aupres de sa “ base il y a des demi cercles, qui servent a l’hausser, au baisser, d’avan- “ tage vers sa dicte bouche septentrionale est un Entonnoir, pour y verser “ l’eau dedans: et en sa base, ou bien partie meridionale, est une vis, dont “ est pousse dedans et recule un Baston auquel sont des Estouppes, ainsi “ qu’aux sii-ingues. Le reste appert.” In reading the above, it should be remembered that letters of reference to designate the different parts of machines were not then in general use, but the sides and’ angles of the pages were marked with various points of the compass; and particular parts pointed out by their position with re¬ gard to these, and by the intersection of lines drawn between them. In this engine several defects of the “ hand squirts” are avoided ; as the ne¬ cessity of inverting the instrument to refill it by plunging the nozzle into the vessel of water, the small quantity contained in the former, and the consequently incessant repetition of the operation and interruption of the jet, and the difficulty of directing it on the flames with certainty or preci¬ sion. Besson, (if he was the inventor,) therefore, greatly enlarged the capacity of the cylinder, making it sufficient to contain a barrel, or more ; and as a matter of necessity, placed it on a carriage. To eject the water uniformly, he moved the piston by a screw; and when the cylinder was emptied, it was refilled through the funnel by an attendant, as the piston was drawn back by reversing the motion of the crank. When recharged, the stop cock in the pipe of the funnel was closed and the liquid forced out as before. As flexible pipes of leather, the “ ball and socket” and “ goose-neck” joints had not been introduced, some mode of changing the direction of the jet of this enormous syringe was necessary. To effect this, it is represented as suspended on pivots, which rest in two upright posts: to these are secured (see figure) two semicircular straps of iron, whose centres coincide with the axis, or pivots, on which the syringe turns. A number of holes are made in each, and are so arranged as to be opposite each other. A bolt is passed through two of these, and also through a similar hole, in a piece of metal,., that is firmly secured to the upper part of the open end of the cylinder; and thus holds the latter in 318 Old German Engines. [Book III. any position required. The iron frame to which the box or female part of the screw is attached, is made fast to the cylinder ; and it is through a projecting piece on the end of this frame that the bolt is passed. By these means, any elevation could be given to the nozzle, and the syringe could be secured bv passing the bolt through the piece just mentioned, and through the corresponding holes in the straps. When a lateral change in the jet was required, the whole machine was moved by a man at the end of the pole, as in the figure. To the frame, jointed feet were attach¬ ed, which were let down when the engine was at work. The women represented (one only is given in our figure) reminds us of a remark by Fosbroke: “ In the middle ages during fires women used to fetch water in brazen pails to assist.” Considering the age when this engine was devised and the objects intended to be accomplished by it, it certainly has the merit of ingenuity as well as originality. Beroald says of it: “ Ceste noble invention est si souvent requise, pour esteindre les grand feux desquels on ne peut approcher ; que sans faute elle merite d’estre plus au long, et plus ouvertement expliquee, afin qu’elle soit mieux en- tendue.” It will be obvious to every practical mechanic that engines of this kind, of large dimensions, must have been at best but poor affairs. To make the piston work sufficiently accurate and tight, and to keep it so, must have been a work of no small difficulty. A correspondent, in a late number of the Lon. Mechanics’ Magazine, vol. xxx, has communicated a very imperfect figure of this engine to that work, extracted from an English book, published in 1590, entitled “A Treatise named Luc Anson ace, divided into four books, which in part are collected out of diverse authors, diverse languages, and in part devised by Cyprian Lucar, Gentleman.” London: 1590. It is very obvious that Lucar copied the engine in question from Besson’s work, which was published in 1579, but was authorized to be printed in 1568; and which Besson’s death then prevented. The following extract from Lucar’s book is not without interest. “And here at the end of this chapter I will set before your eyes a type of a * squirt’ which hath been de¬ vised to cast much water upon a burning house, wishing a like squirt and plenty of water to be alwaies in a readinesse where fire may do harme; for this kind of squirt may be made to holde an hoggeshed of water, or if you will, a greater quantity thereof, and may be so placed on his frame, that with ease and a smal strength, it sahl be mounted, imbased or turned to any one side, right against any fired marke, and made to squirt out the water upon the fire that is to be quenched.” The Germans were proverbially in advance of the rest of Europe in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, in almost every department of the arts. “ The excellency of these people [observes Heylin in his Cosmography] lieth in the mechanic part of learning, as being eminent for many mathe¬ matical experiments, strange water-works, medicinal extractions, chemistry, the art of printing, and inventions of like noble nature, to the no less be¬ nefit than admiration of the world.” As early as A. D. 1518, some kind of fire-engines were used in Augsburg, being mentioned in the building accounts of that city. They were named “ instruments for fires,” and “ water syringes useful at fires.” Their particular construction is unknown; but from a remark in the accounts respecting wheels and poles, they are supposed to have been placed on carriages: they were probably large syringes and mounted like the one represented in the last figure. The oldest pump engines of modern times were certainly made in Ger¬ many, and about the close of the 16th or beginning of the next century. The first one noticed by Beckman is that of Hautsch, which the Jesuit 319 Chap. 7.] Pump Engine from Decaus. Schottus saw tried at Nuremberg in 1656. In giving an account of it ochottus remarks that the invenrion was not then new, it being known in other cities, and he himself remembered having seen a small one in his nat 1V e city (Komgshofen) forty years before, consequently about 1617. e are not informed by either the professor or jesuit of the particular construction of this small engine, but there is a book extant that was pub¬ lished m 1615, which contains a figure and description of a German engine oi that time, and which furnishes the information desired. This book is the “ Forcible Movements” of Decaus, a work which, like the theatre des Jnstrumens of Besson, escaped the notice of Beckman* No. 144. German Pump Engine from Decaus. A. D. 1615. This machine is named “ A rare and necessary Engin, by which you may give great reliefe to houses that are on fire we give the whole of the explanation : “This engin is much practiced in Germany, and it hath been seen what great and ready help it may bring; for although the fire be 40 loot high, the said engin shall there cast its water by help of four or five men lifting up and putting down a long handle, in form of a lever, where the handle of the pump is fastned : the said pump is easily un- derstood : there are two suckers [valves] within it, one below to open when the handle is lifted up, and to shut when it is put down ; and another to open to let out the water: and at the end of the said engin there is a man which holds the copper pipe, turning it to and again to the place where the fire shall be.” In other words, this was a single forcing pump, such as figured at No. 118, and secured in a tub. For the convenience of . ° f Decaus history scarcely any thing is known—even his name is left in doubt, for ho 1 " s ° mel ‘ , * lcs named Isaak, at others Solomon de Caus. An account of his book may an error » Uart * A,, . ecdote jJ ° f the Steam-Engine, vol. i, p. 27. But there seems to be been mar o „ gl u Sn of ] he Ell § llsl1 translation by Leak, which is stated to have neen mat e in 1707, whereas the copy in our possession is dated nearly fifty years ear- li .r. It is entitled New and rare inventions of Water-works, shewing the easiest iI'nronn«mJ S m Wate u l ^ en 8 P r ' n « » by which invention the perpetual motion ,‘ I .1 * ’ labours performed and varieties of motions and sounds pro U •*] ' p° r I “^ 'isefull, profitable and delightfull for all sorts of people: first 11 . , m T reilc ' by Isaak de Caus, a late famous Engenier, and now translated into English by John Leak.” London : printed by and for Joseph Moxon. 1659. 320 Engines and Squirts at the Fire of London , 1666. [Book IIL transportation the whole was placed on a sled, and dragged to a fire by ropes. The bore of the forcing pipe seems to have been small compared with that of the pump cylinder, a circumstance combined with the long lever and the number of men employed in working the latter, that contri¬ buted to increase the elevation of the jet. This machine exhibits a de¬ cided improvement on the primitive syringe, and constitutes a great step towards the modern engine. In the short angular tube to which the jet pipe is attached, we behold the germ of the more valuable goose-neck. Notwithstanding the superiority of pump engines over the syringe, many years elapsed before they were generally adopted. “ The English [ob¬ serves a British writer] appear to have been unacquainted with the pro¬ gress made by the German engineers ; or to have been very slow in availing themselves of their discoveries, for at the close of the 16th cen¬ tury “ hand squirts ” were first introduced in London for extinguishing fires; and it was not till the beginning of the next, that they began to place them in portable and larger reservoirs—when placed in the latter and worked by a lever, the engines thus obtained were considered a great mechanical achievement; for when in 1633, three of them were taken to extinguish a large fire on London bridge, they were considered “ such excellent things, that nothing that was ever devised could do so much good, yet none of them did prosper, for they were all broken.” The ob¬ servation that “ hand squirts” or syringes were placed in reservoirs and then worked by a lever is not strictly correct: they were small forcing pumps that were employed. A syringe could not act at all if permanently fixed in a vessel, because it discharges the water through the same orifice by which it receives it. Some improvements were made on fire-engines by Greatorix in 1656, as mentioned by Evelyn : what they were is not known. The probability is, that they related to the carriage or sled. If his engines were the same that were advertised in 1658, this was the case, for they were recommended as “ more traversable in less room, and more portable than formerly used.” Fosbroke’s Encyc. Antiq. But the fire-engine as thus improved had still many imperfections : the water was projected in spurts as from a syringe ; and the jet not only ceased with the stroke of the piston, but a portion of the water was in consequence lost by falling between the fire and engine at the termination of each stroke. An obvious mode of rendering the jet constant was by connecting two pumps to one discharging pipe, (as in the figure of Heron’s,) and working the pistons alternately either by a double lever or two single ones. This was first adopted by the old German engineers, and thus another step was taken towards perfecting these useful instruments. In¬ stead of a circular tub, a square box or cistern was adopted and mounted on four solid wheels in place of a sled; and a strainer, or false bottom, perforated with numerous small holes, was placed within the cistern to prevent gravel or dirt, thrown in with the water, from entering the pump. Such appear to have been the best fire-engines in England when the great fire in London occurred in 1666. They are referred to in the official account of the fire, dated Whitehall, September 8th, of the same year— “ this lamentable fire in a short time became too big to be managed by any engines .” But nothing can show their general inefficiency in a stronger light than the measures adopted by the city government the following year to guard against a similar calamity. Instead of relying upon engines, they seem to have retained their confidence in the old syringe. 1. By an act of the Common Council, the city was divided into four districts, and “ each thereof was to be provided with eight hundred lea¬ thern buckets—fifty ladders, of different sizes, from twelve to forty-two 321 Chap. 7.] English Engines in lpj j. feet m length —two brazen hand squirts to each parish—four-and-twentv picka.x sledges—and forty shod shovels. y 2. That each of the twelve companies provide themselves with an en- ^ uck ® ts three ladders six pickax sledges-and two hand squuls to be ready upon all occasions. And the inferior companies such a number of small engines and buckets, as should be allotted them by the Lord May of and court of Aldermen. J 3. That the Aldermen passed the office of Shrievalty, do provide their several houses with four-and-twenty buckets, and one hand squirt each squi^Zh mVe n0t SerVed dmt ° ffice ’ twelve buckets and one hana 4. Ana for the effectual supplying the engines and squirts with water pumps were to be placed in all wells; and fire plugs in the several main pipes belonging to the New River and Thames Water-works.” Maitland. ie oldest account of English fire-engines that we have seen is in a small old quarto in our possession, the title page of which is wanting 1 rom two poetical addresses to the author, it appears that the initial let¬ ters of his name were I. B., and that the work was entitled “A Treatise on Art and Nature Two thirds of it are occupied with “ water-works ” and the rest With “fier-works,” except four or five pages “on voyces cals ciyes and sounds z. e. on making of whistles, &c. for sportsmen to imi¬ tate the voices of certain birds and other game. The date of publication was about 1634: this, we infer from page 51, where, speaking of “ The engin near the north end of London bridge, [he observes] which engin I circumspectly vieued as I accidentally passed by, immediately after the late fier that was upon the bridge. Anno 1633.” Shops and dwelling housms were built on both sides of the bridge at that time. Alter describing several modes of raising water by sucking, forcing and Cham pumps, he continues Having sufficiently spoke! concerning mils and engins for mounting water for meer conveyance, thence we ma? derive divers squirts and petty engins to be drawn upon wheeles from p ace to place, for to quench fier among buildings ; the use whereof hath been found very commodious and profitable in cities and great townes.” Mence engines were at this time not uncommon in England No less than seven are figured by the author, and all are placed in cisterns or tubs mounted on wheels: neither air vessels nor hose pipes are described or Mentioned. Five of the engines consist of single cylinders ; of these some are in a perpendicular position, others are laid horizontally, and one is inverted and fed by a branch pipe covered by a valve. The last one figured has two horizontal cylinders, a suggestion of the author’s, and the piston r 6 rr aS ' VOrke 4 Ornately by pallets or arms on a vertical i 1 .t° whl °h a reciprocating rotary movement was imparted by pushing a honzcutal lever to and fro. One of these old fire-engines is a specie! of bellows pump, the construction of which we will endeavour to explain* 1 wo brass vessels were connected at their open ends to a ba Q f lea- resemble, both in shape and size, two men’s hats, the linings r t hlch beirj g pulled out and sewed together form a cylindrical ba. 1675. One might suppose that when this account of the construction and ef- fcects of air chambers was published to the world, and in the standard journals of France and England, that they would speedily have been •adopted in fire-engines throughout Europe. Such, however, was not the fact; on the contrary, they appear to have remained comparatively un¬ known for nearly fifty years longer; for it was not till the expiration of the first quarter of the 18th oentury that they began to be much used, and •some years more elapsed before they were generally employed. We can •only account for this by the limited circulation of the scientific journals •named, and their being confined principally to learned men ; who then as formerly felt indifferent towards mechanical researches : mechanics in 'daose days were no great readers, and the few who possessed a taste for 328 Dutch Engines and Hose Pipe. [Book III. books were commonly without the means to gratify it. It is however, singular that this account of the air vessel should have escaped the re¬ searches of Beckman, and especially so as it was republished in 1704 by Harris in his Lexicon Technicum, and in 1705 by Lowthorp in the abridg¬ ment of the Philosophical Transactions. He observes, “ I can find no older engine with an air chamber than that described by PerrauLt, and of which he has given a figure. He says it was preserved in the king’s library at Paris; that it was employed for throwing water to a great height during fires ; and that it had only one cylinder, and yet threw out a continued jet of water. He neither mentions the period of the invention, nor the name of the inventor, and I can only add that his book was printed in 1684.” Beckman, in a note, states that he had not seen the first edi¬ tion of Perrault’s work, and therefore knew not whether the French en¬ gine was described in it. We may here make the same remark, since the only copy in our possession is of the edition of 1684,, having endeavored, but without success, to procure an impression of the previous one. In 1672 hose or leathern tubes were first publicly used, in modern times, to convey water from engines to fires by John and Nicholas Van der Heide, in Amsterdam, of which city they were inspectors or superintend¬ ents of fire apparatus. They made the tubes in fifty feet lengths, with brass screws fitted to the ends, so that any number could quickly be con¬ nected together, as occasions might require. The introduction of hose pipes forms an epoch in the history of fire-engines, for they wonderfully increased the effect and extended the application of these machines. Pre¬ vious to their adoption large engines could not be used to- extinguish fires in the interior of dwellings—it was only when the flames burst through the windows or roof, that they came into play ; and even then, it was often with difficulty and danger that they could be brought sufficiently near to> discharge the water with effect, while in most cases the jet was so much diffused by the resistance of the air or wind as to descend rather in a shower of spray than in a compact stream. For want of hose the engines- themselves were also frequently burnt; this was indeed a common occur¬ rence, and is often mentioned in the notices of conflagrations. In the great fire of London the rapid spread of the flames drove the firemen from their engines, and many were consumed. In 1731 a great part of the town of' Blandford, England, was destroyed, and in an account published by one- of the sufferers, it is said “ the engines were play’d, but were soon burnt.”' This loss of engines was invariably caused by the want of hose ; for when plenty of the latter is at hand, the former can be placed and worked at any convenient distance from the fire, and the liquid discharged upon almost any part of it. Another advantage resulting from the introduction of leathern pipes- was in making the engines supply themselves. Before the use. of hose, water was poured from buckets into the cistern in which the pumps were placed; hence when a fire broke out, one of the first objects was to form a lane of men, extending from the engine to the nearest rivulet, pond, well, or other source of water ; those on one side passed along the full buckets to the engine, while those on the other returned the empty ones. To- dispense with this number of men, the Van der Heides screwed one end of a hose pipe to the lower part of the cistern and extended the other to the edge of a pond or well, where its orifice was widened into a bag that was kept open by a frame. Into this bag the labourers poured the con¬ tents of their buckets, and sometimes portable pumps were used to raise water into it, for it was necessary that it should be sufficiently elevated above the cistern of the engine that its- contents might readily flow inlo» Chap. 8.] Perier's Engines. 3 29 the latter. This was the first step towards using suction hose .,.,,1 which*,h^ 5 r ° per t y pr ? ferred ™ ki "S ”<>" machines alto'e,her. " made ,bou{l67 a / te i„T677 n PA, “Foments were an expire privilege ,„ l^su" t f 1695 there were in Amsterdam upwards of sixtv of d 3, ^ L ? When a fire broke out, the six thal were located^eares,^ VerFTl’ “ d extinguish it. The use of leather and canvas hose became generaUn",he next century. In 1720 the lntt^ ,xr Q c , • t caine b enera ‘ m the and other places in Germany “ WOV °" "’ lth ° Ut sea ™ ” Leipsic taiS 16 Pmfe 6 en r\ 8 0f the Van , der Heides had «“• is not ascer- wfn. T SSyS . j leIr interMl construction is no where iepiesented. 1 here is strong evidenre that ttmi i n j Tj ie :^ e ' er ^ een common in all the towns of the Netherlands ” as V der Heide s engines were. Mr. Chambers, in his Cyclopedia A ’ 1)^28 observes, article Hydrocanisterium, “ The Dutch and others use a I ~ 8 ’ Si tu J» ofleather, sail-cloth, or the like, which^; caZ or conduct m the hand from one room to another, as occasion requires ^so that the engine may be applied where the fire is only withinside and dl ? burst out to expose it to its external action. To^mprovJ ’ on L or L i fire engine, they have since contrived to make it yield P a continual in 1744 'd 3 Beh e° r Wr0t ®’. air vesse ls were not common in Holland and in 1744, Desaguliers speaking of their advantages, remarks “ In the of engines to put out fires which have no air vLsdsHike V Dutch en gines, oi old parish engines, a great deal of water is lost at the bemnnine and end of the jet or spouting of the water.” Philos, ii, 164. Be^kmaif the con nection of thmV SCr ^ 8 ’ ^ C ’ W6re concerned, the engine was perfected before rp, • lme . ; mdeed not one of them contributed any thing essential to it in the mem C ° nS1Sted ; n improving these machines in various minor details • m the arrangement of the different parts, construction of the Targes' moi duXTiId'T 5 m0 l i0n “ ‘ h ° Pis '° ns ' a ” d “ re ” de >mg the whole these respects the P rT y - 8Upen ° r w° rkmanshi P and materials. In Initll C t , S “i e , nslneer ' we '"dicve surpassed his competitors belt Leopold tdt tl,ree th8t e “ ered the field .1*erierestarted No account of P ^ ' We ? some advance of Newsham. XNo account of Pener s engines is to be found in modern books • even Behdor ha, taken no notice of them. To supply this deTciencv weTn tended to insert, figure of one, taken from the 2ded. of Poliniere’s “Ex- aCllnied lha?c y oT e ’” ***■ 1718 ’ < the work with which we am acquainted that contain, a representation of them,) but on account of the 42 330 Perier's Engines. [Book III unusual number of illustrations required in this chapter, it is omitted. A short description will suffice. After describing an atmospheric pump be¬ longing to the arsenal of Paris, and another attached to a hotel in the fau¬ bourg St. Antoine, which had two spouts and two valves in the suction pipe, the author observes, J’ay vu a Paris des pompes dont on se sert pour tacher d’ eteindre le feu quand il arrive des incendies; and he then enters into a minute description of one of these Parisian engines. In its general appearance it resembled the Dutch one No. 148, consisting of two work¬ ing cylinders with an air vessel between them, the piston rods moved by a double lever, through the ends of which staves four feet in length were inserted. The pump cylinders were sixteen inches long and four in dia¬ meter, but instead of being placed in a square wooden box or cistern, they were secured in an open copper pan, of an oval shape, and the same depth as the cylinders, and fastened by bolts to a base of wood or piece of plank, to the four corners of which short ropes were fastened. At one end of the pan, the leather hose which conveyed the water to the fire was connected by a screw to a copper pipe that communicated with the lower part of the air chamber. The leather tubes, Poliniere observes, were lubricated with a composition of tallow and wax to render them pliable; and, to prevent mice and other vermin from destroying them, soaked in an infusion of colycinth or bitter apple. In furnishing the pumps with water, Perier adopted the first device of the Van der Heides, and hence we infer that he was ignorant of the better mode of making them supply themselves through suction pipes. As they could only draw water out of the vessel in which they were placed, and it being too small and inconve¬ nient for numbers of people to pour the contents of their buckets into it when the engine was in use, a canvas or sail cloth bag, coated with pitch or tar, was connected by a flexible pipe of the same material, to the lower part of the pan. This bag was of a conical form, the wide end be¬ ing uppermost, and supported with the mouth open on a folding frame, something like a high camp stool. Into this bag the water for the supply of the pumps was poured. It might of course be placed at any conveni¬ ent distance from the engine, by means of additional lengths of pipes that were always kept ready and which were connected together by screws. These engines, Poliniere says, forced the water through the orifice of the jet pipe to a surprising distance. He observes also that smaller ones were in use; which consisted of a single cylinder and air chamber, and were worked by a single lever. The following extract relating to Perier’s engine is from the Diction- naire CEconomique, 3d. edit. Paris, 1732, from which it appears that at that date they were small affairs, and differed but little from our garden engines ; in other words, they were then nothing more than pompes porta¬ tive , the name by which they were designated at the first. “ La pompe que le Sieur du Perier a inventee ou perfectionnee est tres commode dans les incendies. Deux hommes la peuvent ais^ment transporter avec tout son attirail, et la placer dans tel lieu que l’on voudra. Il n’est pas neces- saire qu’elle soit dans l’endroit ou se trouve l’eau, il y a un canal de coutil cire en dedans, qui sert a conduire l’eau jusqu’a’la pompe. Ce canal peut £tre augmente en y adaptant d’autres canaux faits de la m6me facon. La pompe etant placee dans le lieu le plus commode, ou peut encore por¬ ter l’eau dans le plus fort de l’incendie par le moien d’un canal, qui est fait de cuir, et qu’on augmente, autant qu’on veut, en y ajoutant d’autres canaux par le moien de quelques vis. La matiere dont est compose, ce canal donne la facilite de passer d’un appartement dans l’autre pour ap- pliquer l’eau dans l’endroit le plus necessaire. Les circonvolutions du Chap 8.] Leopold's Engines. 331 eanal n’emp6chent point l’eau d’agir avec violence, et la force avec la- quelle elle agit est d autant plus grande, que les hommes qui font aller la porape, emploient eux-memes plus de force, la quantite d’eau depend en¬ core du nombre de pistons.” r In 1699 Perier obtained from the king an exclusive privilege to con¬ struct fire-engines, which Professor Beckman thinks were the first public ones employed m Paris. In 1716 an ordinance of the king directed a larger number than those already m use, to be distributed in different parts of the city, and public notice to be given where they could be found in case of fire a In 1722 there were thirty in use, besides others belong- P^ llc b V lldln g s - As these machines had air vessels, it is strange that Belidor neither mentions the fact nor refers to Paris engines ht all. After describing a Dutch one, No. 148, he quotes (as if he knew of no others with air vessels) Perrault’s description of the one that was in the king’s bbrary fifty years before, and an account of another that Du Fay saw at Strasbourg in 1725. J Leopold’s engines do not appear to have possessed any peculiar feature to which he could lay claim as inventor. They seem to have been iden¬ tical or nearly so with the one described in the Journal des Savans forty years before, (No. 147.) Each consisted of a single pump with an air ves¬ sel enclosed in a copper chest. One man raised a jet by it to the height of from twenty to thirty feet. Leopold kept the construction for some time a secret, and with this view the pump was entirely enclosed in the chest; a cover being soldered on the latter. Beckman says he made and sold a great number of them. In 1720 he published a description of them in a pamphlet; and in 1724 he inserted an account of them in his Theatrum Machmarum Hijdraulicarum, a work published that year at Leipsic in three volumes folio. r The annexed figure, No. 148, exhibits an improvement on Leopold’s engine, having two cylinders and workingby a double lever. Small engines seem to have been prefer¬ red to those of large dimensions, such as were made by Hautsch, or those of modern times. Before the introduction of hose pipes, small ones were certainly more useful, since they could be carried into any part of a house when on fire, but when flexible pipes of lea¬ ther and canvas became common, their efficiency was not to be com- No. 148. Dutch Fire-Eugine. A. D. 1739. pared w i t h that of the large sizes. English fire-engines were much the same dimensions as those used on the continent till Newsham and contemporary engineers introduced others that approached in size those in present use ; but for several years after the smaller ones retained the preference. The London ma¬ nufacturers made six different sizes, the larger one only being placed on wheels. JSven in the middle of the 18th century such as are re¬ presented by the figure on the next page were common in that city. A similar figure was published by Mr. Clare in 1735 in his work on the motion of fluids, and so late as 1765 it was described (in the London Ma¬ gazine for that year) as the engine in commqn use. As an indication that * Supplement to Diet. CEconomique. Amsterdam, 1740. Tom. ii, 163. 332 English Fire-Engine of the 18 thou S h very light’ as alternate motions with quick returns require; yeVwill not spring and fl th 6aSt: u the StaVGS ° f such ^gines as are wrought at the ends of the eastern, will spring or break, if they be of such a le^h as is necessary for a large engine, when a considerable power is appVd ■ and cannot be fix’d fast, because they must at all tij s be taken o^t before do neit£. ne ^ tbrough a P assa ge. The playing two streams at once o neither issue a greater quantity of water, W is it new or so useful’ diere havmg been of the like sort at the steel-yard, and other places, thirty . r y years; and the water being divided, the distance and force are accordingly lessen’d thereby. are “ Those who pretend to make the forcers work in the barrels, with a per- P 1CU , ar ® tr ° ke » wl thout rack, wheels, chains, crank, pully, or the like rq a - n ^ of co ntnved leavers, or circular motion whatsoever, with less fnction,than if guided and work’d by wheel and chains, (wl ich of all methods is the best,) do only discover their ignorance ; they may as ret Httle'steenSh’a^Td Weigllt , Caa be dra gg’ d u P on a sledge, with as iuue strength, as if drawn upon wheels. w ,, V° th ° treddles > on which the men work with their feet, there is no ”.d s°ai S for P thT rfUl ' "r h ‘ he Hke Ve '° cit y or ‘l u!cklre *b rtnd more natural / , j 1 th ® men - Gw»t attempts have been made to exceed but none yet could equal this sort; the fifth size of which hath play’d above the ylldVkigh^nd ?° yal Exchan g e ; which is upwards of fifty-five V “ Thom’ \i 118 ‘ n 1 h p P resence of man y thousand spectators. well &c or out ITT fCed themSelV f T kh WatGr fr ° m a cana] > P ond , terruptino’ the streamTh™ C1Ste / n % by tbe * urn cock, without in- durable in all flip' 1 ’ , ey arG ^ ai * ^ CSS Iab e to disorder, much more water to a t-eat dFr’ a » d P% off large quantities of pipes of anvlnml' d,stan . c e» eitk fr from the engine, or a leather pipe, or cumbersome cnm-P U<1Ulr - d ’ ( the screws all fitting each other.) This the 1 1 Ulg en gmes, which take up four times more room, can- 334 Newsham's Engine. [Book III. not perform; neither do they throw one fourth part of their water on the fire, at the like distances, but lose it by the way; nor can they use leather pipe with them to much advantage, whatever necessity there may be for it. The five large sizes go upon wheels, well box’d with brass, fitted to strong iron axles, and the other is to be carried like a chair.” No. 150 is a vertical section of the pumps in Newsham’s engine, with the air vessel between them, and showing also the sectors and chains by which motion is transmitted from the levers to the piston rods, and the latter preserved in a perpendicular position. The chains are similar to watch chains in their construction, and the length of each is equal to the arc of one of the sectors. Pour are used, two to each sector. Their mode of operation is in this manner: One end of a chain is fastened to the top of a piston rod, by a bolt and nut as represent¬ ed, and the other end riveted to the lower extremity of the sector; so that when the latter is turned down by depressing the lever, it necessarily draws, by this chain, the piston down with it. Another chain is fastened in the same manner to the lower part of the piston rod, (that is above the cy¬ linder,) and the upper extremity of the sector, and hence when the lever is elevated, this chain raises the piston with it. He probably derived the idea of thus working them from Newcomen’s mode of working pumps by the atmospheric steam-engine. The round opening below the valves in the above figure, is where the suction pipe is continued to the hose, shown at one end of the cistern in the next figure No. 150. Section of Newsham’s Engine. Chap. 8.J Modern English Engines. 335 No. 151 is an external view of one of Newsham’s engines at the time of his death, as drawn by Mr. Labelye, the engineer of Westminster bridge, and inserted by Desaguliers in the second volume of his Philoso¬ phy, in 1744. Its general appearance is far inferior to modern ones, but the essential parts—the pumps—were equal to those now used. The strong iron shaft by which the pistons were raised and depressed was continued along the top of the cistern, and to it the levers were secured as at present; but in addition to the levers, sectors, like those that moved the pistons, were also fastened to it—portions of two of these are shown in the cut, and there were two others near the upright case : to their upper parts, two long strips of plank, or treddies, were suspended by short chains, and on these planks, six men, who stood upon the cistern and held by the hand rails, alternately threw their weight; first on the tred- dle on one side of the carriage, and then on the other, and thus aided the firemen at the levers in working the engine. The box or trough, with a grate within it, at the end of the cistern, was for the purpose of emptying buckets of water to supply the pumps, when the suction pipe (figured be¬ low it) was not used. The small flap on the end of the upright case co¬ vered printed directions how to use and keep the engine in order. If the section, No. 150, be compared with English engines in previous use, one of which is figured at No. 149, it will be seen"at a glance how great were the improvements that Newsham introduced. Independently °* j jf ^ ree most original of his contributions—the sectors and chains_ treddles—and working the pumps with long staves at the sides of the carriage instead of short ones at the ends—the whole machine was im¬ proved more or less in every part. To keep the cistern and levers as low as possible, the carriage was placed on bent axles. He introduced and improved the three-way cock, and the goose-neck was perfected in his hands ; the elbows being jointed to each other by very fine screws. De¬ saguliers thought that no part of the engine could be altered for the bet¬ ter. A writer m the London Magazine for 1752, (page 395,) says that Newsham in these machines gave “ a nobler present to his country than if he had added provinces to Great Britain.” Their merits w^ere gene¬ rally acknowledged : he received orders for them from various parts of Europe, and it will be seen in a subsequent part of this chapter that those first used in this city were made by him. The celebrity his engines acquired had a blighting effect on other ma¬ nufacturers—like Aaron’s rod swallowing up those of his competitors. His engines were purchased for the use of the parishes throughout the country generally, and also by the various insurance companies, which, unlike ours, are at the sole expense of extinguishing fires, and of provid¬ ing the means to effect it. Every insurance company in English cities keeps in its pay a number of firemen to take charge of and work its own engines. Two horses are attached to each engine to draw it to and from fires. The height of the jet from Newsham’s engines was about ^ He mentions in his circular having thrown it to an elevation °i jyLyj 1 ^ yards , but he was certainly mistaken. Several^ improvements have been made in English fire-engines since Newsham s time, but they are chiefly confined to the carriage, and to de¬ tails and arrangements of the various parts. Treddles are dispensed with, and the carriages are made longer, so that a greater number of men can be employed in working them. They resemble American engines so closely, that a separate figure of a modern English engine is unnecessary. I he reader is therefore referred to N®. 154. Others on the principle of the •emi-rotary pump, (No. 140,) are also used to a limited extent in London. 336 Modern French Engine. [Book III. The following figure of a modern French fire-engine is from the Ma- nuel du Fondeur; Paris, 1S29. It consists of two cylinders and an air vessel arranged in the usual way. One of the pumps, and half of the air chamber, is shown in section. The cistern is more elevated than in Eng¬ lish or American engines, and from the consequent height of the levers would seem more inconvenient to be Worked. The suction pipe is of copper with folding joints, and a perforated hollow ball at the extremity to prevent dirt or gravel from entering with the water. A short leathern tube connects this pipe with the suction cock. This engine is worked at the ends of the carriage, and the piston rods are connected to the lever by slings, and made to rise and fall in a perpendicular position by radius bars jointed to the upper ends of the latter, and to permanent pieces that pro¬ ject from the frame that supports the fulcrum. No. 152. Modern French Fire-engine. The elevation of the jet depends upon the pressure to which the air in the air chamber is subjected; the elasticity or spring of that fluid being inversely as the space it is made to occupy. Before an engine is set to work the interior of the chamber, like that of all empty vessels, (to use a vulgar solecism,) is filled with common air, of that degree of density in which it appears near the earth’s surface ; but when the pumps are set to work, the water forced by them into the chamber crowds the air into the dome or upper part of that vessel, whence there is no passage for its es¬ cape; and, as the liquid accumulates, the air is condensed more and more, until, by its reaction on the surface of the water, it drives the latter through the jet or hose pipe, and with a force exactly proportioned to the degree of its compressure. Thus if the volume of air in the chamber be com¬ pressed into half its bulk, the jet would rise to about 32 or 33 feet, (if not retarded by friction, angles or other imperfections in the pipe;) and if it were made to occupy one third of its former space, its spring would be three times greater than common air, and would force the jet to an eleva¬ tion of about 64 or 66 feet; and so on. A tabular statement, similar to Chap. 8.] Modes of Working Fire-Engines , 337 the following, exhibiting the relation between the height of a jet and the air s compressure, has long been published. It is, however, of little use to practical men. We doubt if a column of water of the size of those thrown by ordinary engines could be raised by any means, two hundred feet above the orifice of the pipe whence it issued : the resistance of the atmosphere would disperse it before it could reach that elevation. Volume of air contained in the air chamber compressed to JL 2 JL 3 JL 4 1 5 JL 6 T 1 8 X 9 X 0 Ratio of the air’s elasticity. - 2 - - 3 - - 4 - - 5 - - 6 - - 7 - - 8 - - 9 - 10 - Height to which it is said the water will spout. - 33 feet 66 “ 99 “ - 132 “ 165 “ - 198 “ - 231 “ - 264 “ - 297 “ Great as are the advantages derived from air chambers, some attention to them is required in order to secure at all times the benefit they are designed to impart. When neglected (and we believe few parts of an engine exercise the attention of firemen less) they often become actually injurious, for when no advantage is derived from the elasticity of the con¬ fined air, the water is impeded in its progress by passing through them. Upon the trial of engines it sometimes occurs that the water is thrown higher at their first working than after they have been a few minutes in use, and this notwithstanding all the efforts of the firemen to make the jet reach the first elevation. This result has sometimes been attributed to fatigue in the men—to obstacles in the pipes—to grit or sand under the valves, &c. whereas in fact it was often due to the air vessel alone ; i. e. to the escape of air from it. This escape may be occasioned by mi¬ nute leaks in the chamber, but when no such imperfections exist the air frequently makes }js exit, and its place becomes occupied by the liquid. Whenever air is subjected to great pressures in contact with water, it is quickly absorbed by the latter, and in this way it is that it often disappears from the air chambers of fire-engines, and also from those of pressure-en¬ gines, Heron’s fountain, water rams, &c. When a long suction hose is attached to an engine and the latter worked at a moderate velocity, a sufficient supply of air to replace that taken up by the water, commonly enters, unknown to the firemen, through the seams and joints ; but when one engine is fed by another pouring water into its cistern, there is little chance for the requisite supply of air, unless a minute opening were left in the cap that screws over the orifice of the suction pipe, at one end of the engine. # The suction cocks of some engines diminish their useful effect in con¬ sequence of the holes through the plugs being smaller than other pas¬ sages for the water. The great desideratum in modern fire-engines is an improved mode of working them. At page 72 we remarked that experimental researches have shown the useful effect of a man working a pump, in the ordinary way with a lever, to be fifty per cent less than when he turns a crank ; and that when his strength is applied as in the act of rowing, the effect is nearly one hundred and fifty per cent more than in moving a pump lever This is sufficient to induce efforts to supersede the present mode of work¬ ing the pumps of fire-engines, and particularly so, as the labor is so se- 43 338 Steam Fire-Engines. [Book III. vere that few can continue it above a minute or two at a time, when if relays of men are not ready, buildings on fire are left to fate. The jars or concussions produced by the violent contact of the levers with the sides of the carriage at every stroke, is a source of waste of firemen’s energy, and want of uniformity in their movements when at work, is another. In the 29th vol. of the London Mechanics’ Magazine, a contri¬ vance is described for diminishing the shocks consequent on the contact of the levers with the carriage. It consists of three spiral springs enclosed in cylindrical cases secured on each side of the carriage ; pads rest on the springs and project above each case, and upon them the levers strike when pulled down. Blocks of caoutchouc were previously tried, but the vio¬ lence of the blows soon rendered that material useless. The velocity with which engines are sometimes worked also occasions a useless expen¬ diture of their strength ; we have seen some drawing water through long suction pipes, and the pumps worked so quickly that the water certainly had not time to pass through the hose and Jill the cylinders, ere the pis¬ tons began to descend. If some mode of making the carriage immovable, and the pumps were worked by long cranks on each side, the firemen could not only perform fifty per Cent more labor, but they could do it with less exertion, and consequently endure it longer. A modification of the plan adopted in the Ypres engine, page 325, would be still more effective; in addition to which ropes might be attached to the bars, and any number of specta¬ tors could then assist. If we review the progress of fire-engines in modern times, from the simple syringe to the splendid machines of the present day, we shall find that every important improvement in the apparatus for raising the water, was a nearer approach to the engine described by Heron. Previous to the 16th century, syringes or squirts only were in use, and not till the Spiritalia had been translated and printed do we meet with the applica¬ tion of pumps. At first a single working cylinder was employed, and the piston moved by a single lever as in No. 144; then two cylinders, each worked by a separate lever, were united to one discharging pipe—next the double lever, as figured by Heron, by which an alternating movement of the pistons, and a more efficient application of the force employed was secured ; then the goose-neck, also mentioned by Heron—and lastly, the air vessel made its appearance-. If the beautiful and philosophical device ^st mentioned, be, as some persons have supposed, a modern invention, why is it that no one has ever rose up to claim it 1 is not this a tacit ad¬ mission that it was derived directly from the Spiritalia, or from Vitruvius’s description of the machine of Ctesibius 'l To the ancients, then, we are indebted for the most valuable features in our fire-engines, and it is not unreasonable to conclude that those used in ancient Egypt and old Rome were as effective as ours. If they \i|ere not, it is very strange that Heron should have hit upon that construction of them and that arrangement of their parts, which we have only acquired after a century spent in ex¬ periments. Of late years “ steam fire-engines” have been introduced with success in some parts of Europe : a small horizontal steam-engine with its boiler, being arranged, on the carriage of the fire-engine. One large pump cylin¬ der only is used, and its piston and that of the steam cylinder are attached to the same rod. Mr. Braithwaite, a London engineer, was, we believe, the first who made one of these machines. The steam cylinder was seven and a half inches diameter, and the pump six and a half; the water was forced through an ajutage of seven-eighths of an inch, to an elevation of Chap. 8.J American Fire-Engines. 339 of n iSiW tW T ° fget ! lngt}ie a PP aratus int0 P la y from the moment • i b mtmg the fuel, was eighteen minutes. When an alarm of fire was given the fuel was kindled and bellows attached to the engine were work- ed by hand. When the horses were harnessed to drag the machile to ie hre, the bellows were worked by the motion of the wheels (See London Mechanics’ Magazine for 1830, and in volume xviii, for 1832 theie is a figure and description of one made by Mr. B. for the Prussian government, being designed to protect the public buildings of Berlin.) ne or two of these machines on an improved plan by Mr. Ericsson are now being constructed in this city. J ’ Fire-engines in America.— The first use of fire-engines is an impor- tant event m any country, and may be considered as constituting an epoch n the history of its useful mechanism: moreover, wherever the'fare made they indicate a certain degree of refinement in civilization and an ad- anced state of the mechanic arts. To their introduction into this conti- pecW thTsmteT 8 ^ and , Probabiywill, have recourse for data res- pecting the state of society in the early days of the republic, and the still i iei times during which the country was subject to Europe • for the circumstances which precede, and eventually lead to the adoption of fire- engines, invariably reflect light on the manners and customs, the police and othei municipal regulations of the times, as well as on many of the arts particularly those connected with building. The following extracts from c°it V C1 o a NeT Yo m k th6 ,^ S °5 Ce ’ th6ir intr °duction into tlm y ew \ oik, will oe found to illustrate some of the above remarks : d t ? eS T appear 1 j at . either sc l uirts or engines were used during the ini ! i rrl Te ™ me( \ ln Possession of its founders; viz: from A. D. 1614 to 1664. 1 he volume of Dutch records preserved in the clerk’s of¬ fice to which we referred page 299, contains several enactments relating to fires and fire wardens, but no mention is made of instruments for extin¬ guishing fires until 1648, when ladders, hooks and buckets were ordered from the ‘«n d A T hav< L never been P™ted, a few extracts om the Ordinances of the Director-General and the Council of the New M»v 9Q la iR?v Wl1 be aCCe P table to most waders. The first one is dated lay 29, 1647: it cannot perhaps, be strictly considered as related to our subject, although it was designed to remove a fruitful source of fires viz • inebriety. On the above date the Director-General, Petrus Stuyvesant , issued a proclamation, addressed to certain of the inhabitants “ who are in the habit of getting drunk, of quarrelling, fighting, and of smiting each other on the Lord’s day of rest, of which on the last Sunday, we our- seIves witnessed the painful scenes.” It appears from this and other cts to the same effect, that the governor had considerable difficulty in keeping a portion of his people sober; and from following a practice which e denounces as the “ dangerous, injurious, and damnable selling, giving tive/of thisMnd ” Ut ’ WmeS> beerS ’ and ardent s P irits to the Indians or na- to P P? ama ;°" is m ° re '° our pur P° se - “ Wherem it has come knowledge of his excellency, the Director-General of New Ne¬ eles the d Cmm a n° a ' ^ and ° f - he Islands ° f the Same ’ and tbeir Excellen- es the Councillors, that certain careless persons are in the habit of neg- fires” wherpb Q l^T cbiran ! es b y sweeping, and paying no attention to thefr fi by - ately fires have occurred in two houses; and whereas the ger ot hre is greater as the number of houses increases here in New- Amsterdam; and whereas the greater number of them are built of wood re covere with reeds, together with the fact that some of the houses have wooden chimmes, which are very dangerous: Therefore, by the 340 Extracts from old Dutch Records. [Book III prompt and excellent Director-General and tkeir honours the Councillors, it has been deemed advisable and highly necessary to look into this mat¬ ter, and they do hereby ordain, enact, and interdict, that from this time forth no wooden or platted chimnies shall be permitted, . . . Those already standing shall be permitted to remain during the good pleasure of the fire wardens . As often as any chimnies shall be discovered to be foul, the fire wardens aforesaid shall condemn them as foul, and the owner shall immediately, and without any gainsaying, pay the fine of three guilders, for each chimney thus condemned as foul; to be appropriated to the maintenance of fire ladders, hooks, and buckets ; which shall be pro¬ vided and procured [from Holland] the first opportunity. And in case the house of any person shall be burned, or be on fire, either through his own negligence, or his own fire, he shall be mulcted in the penalty of twenty- five guilders, to be appropriated as aforesaid. Thus done, passed and pub¬ lished at Fort Amsterdam, this 23d day of January, 1648.” This ordinance does not appear to have produced the desired effect, since a similar one was published in September of the same year. In Fe¬ bruary 1656 another was issued, by which the fire wardens were directed to establish such penalties for chimneys or houses taken fire “ as shall befound among the customs of our Fatherland.” At the close of the following year the mse of squirts or engines does not appear to have occurred to the inha¬ bitants, a circumstance from which it may be inferred that such machines were at that time little used in Holland, and this also appears from an al¬ lusion to the practice of quenching fires there, in a proclamation prohibit¬ ing wooden chimneys, flag roofs, &c. “ In all well regulated cities and corporations, it is customary that fire buckets, ladders and hooks, are in readiness at the corners of the streets, and in public houses, for the time of need. [Here is no mention of engines, although the instruments used in Holland are obviously alluded to.J The Director-General and the coun¬ cillors do ordain and authorize in these premises, the burgomasters of this city, either personally or by their treasurer, promptly to demand for every house, whether small or large, one beaver, or eight guilders in sea- want, according to the established price; for the purpose of ordering from the revenue of the same, by the first opportunity, from Fatherland, two hundred and, fifty leather fire buckets; and out of the surplus, to have made some fire ladders and fire hooks: and in addition to this, once a year, to demand for every chimney, one guilder for the support and maintenance of the same. Thus done in the session of the director-general and coun¬ cillors, held in the fort of Amsterdam, in New Netherlands, this 15th day of December, A. D. 1657.” After New Netherlands became a British province, similar ordinances continued to be enacted till the year 1731, when two of Newsham’s en¬ gines were ordered from London. These were probably the first fire-en¬ gines used on this continent. The following extracts are from the mi¬ nutes of the common council. “ At a common council held the 16th day of February 1676-7, in the 28M. year of Charles II. Ordered that all and every person and persons that have any of the city’s ladders, buckets or hooks in their hands or custody, forthwith bring the same unto the mayor, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.” The same date some wells were ordered to be made “for the public good of the city,” among which was “one over against Youleff Johnson’s the butcher; and another in Broadway against Mr. Vandike’s.” “ At a common council held the 15th day of March 1683, in, the 36 th of the reign of Charles II. Ordered that provision be made for hooks, ladders and buckets, to be kept in convenient places 341 Chap. 8.] And from Minutes of the Common Council. within this city, for avoyding the peril of fire.” No mention is here made of engines, nor in the next extract, wherein the want of instruments to quench file is especially referred to. “ Feb. 28, 1686 : Whereas great damages have been done by fire in this city, by reason there were not instruments to quench the same. It is ordered that every inhabitant within the city whose dwelling house lias two chimnies shall provide one bucket for its use : and every house having more than two hearths, shall have two buckets.” Every brewer was to provide six, and every baker three buck¬ ets, under a penalty of six shillings for every bucket ordered. “ January, 1689 : Ordered that there be appointed five Brent masters for the city of New-\ork, as follows: Peter Adolf, Derek Vanderbrink, Derek Ten Eyk, Jacob Borlen, Tobias Stoutenburgh ; and that five ladders be made to serve upon occasion of fire, with sufficient hooks thereto.” November 16, 1695 : Every dwelling in the city was to be provided with one or more buckets by New-Year’s day. The tenants were to provide them for the houses they occupied, and the cost to be deducted from the rent. Every brewer was again ordered to procure for his pre¬ mises six, and every baker three. Several buckets were lost, and the public crier was directed to give notice. These “ orders” do not appear to have been implicitly obeyed, for they were frequently repeated, and in November 1703, a penalty was attached for noncompliance. “ Octo¬ ber 1, 1706 : Ordered that Alderman Vanderburgh do provide for the public use of this city, eight ladders and two fire hooks, and poles of such length and dimensions as he shall judge to be convenient, to be used in case of fire.” November 20, 1716, a committee was appointed “to pro¬ vide a sufficient number of ladders and hooks for the public use of this city in case of fire.” In November 1730, fire-engines are first men¬ tioned. On the 18th of that month among other provisions enacted for the prevention and extinguishment of fires, one is in the following words: 11 And be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, that forthwith provision be made for hooks, ladders and buckets, and fire-engines, to be kept in convenient places within the city for avoiding the peril of fire.” At the same time the inhabitants were again directed to provide and keep buckets in their houses. It does not appear that any active measures to procure the engines were taken till the next year, for under the date of May 6 1731, the common council “ Resolved that this corporation do with all convenient speed procure two complete fire-engines , with suction and all materials thereunto belonging, for the public service: that the sizes thereof he the fourth and sixth sizes of Mr. Newsham's fire-engines : and that Mr. Mayor, Alderman Cruger, Alderman Rutgers and Alderman Roosevelt, or any three of them, be a committee to agree with some proper merchant or merchants to send to London for the same by the first conveyance, and report upon what terms the said fire-engines, &c. will be delivered to this corporation.” On the 12 th of June the committee reported that the engines could be imported at an advance of 120 per cent on the invoice ; and they were ordered accordingly. They seem to have arrived about the 1 st of De¬ cember , for on that day, a room in the City Hall was ordered to be fitted up “for securing the fire-engines.” On the 14 th of December a committee of two was appointed “ to have the fire-engines cleaned and the leathers oiled and put into boxes, that the same may be fit for immediate use.” January 2d, 1732. The mayor and four members of the court were au¬ thorized to employ persons to put the fire-engines in good order, and also So agree with proper persons to look after a;id take care of the same. It Appears that Anthony Lamb was the first superintendent of fire-engines, 342 Fire-Engines in America [Book III for on the 2ith of January 1735, the mayor was ordered “ to issue his war¬ rant to the treasurer to pay Mr. Anthony Lamb, overseer of the fire-engines, or order, the sum of three pounds, current money of this colony, in full of one quarter of a year’s salary, due and ending the first instant.” On the same date a committee was appointed to employ workmen “ to put them in good repair, and that they have full power to agree with any person or persons by the year, to keep the same in such good plight, re¬ pair and condition, and to play the same as often as there shall be occasion upon any emergency.” April 15, 1736. “ A convenient house [was ordered] to be made conti¬ guous to the watch-house in the Broad street for securing and well keeping the fire-engines of the city.” This seems to have been the first engine house. May 1, 1736. Jacobus Turk, a gunslnith, was appointed to take charge of the fire-engines and to keep them in repair at his own cost, for a salary of ten pounds current money. Mr. Turk undertook during the next year to make an engine , for May 15, 1737, the common council or¬ dered the sum of ten pounds to be advanced “ to the said Jaeobus Turk, to enable him to go on with finishing a small fire-engine he is making for an experiment:” probably the first made in America. November 4, 1737. The common council drew up a petition to the le¬ gislature to enable the corporation “ to appoint four-and-twenty able bo¬ died men, inhabitants within this city, who shall be called the firemen of this city, to work and play the fire-engines within the same, upon all occasions and emergencies, when they shall be thereunto required by the overseer of the said engines, or the magistrates of the said city : and that the said firemen as a recompense and reward for that service, may by the same law be excused and exempted from being elected and serving in the office of a constable, or being enlisted, or doing any duty in the militia regiment, troop, or companies, in the said city, or doing any duty in any of the said' offices during their continuance as firemen aforesaid.” This law was passed by the assembly in September folio wing, and the duty of firemen de¬ fined. The next notice of engines occurs ten years afterwards, in March 1748, when the corporation “ ordered that one of the fire-engines of this city, of the second size, be removed to Montgomery’s Ward of this city, near Mr. Hardenbrooks; and that a shed be built thereabouts at the charge of this corporation for the securing and keeping the same.” By this it appears that several engines besides the two original ones were then in use: The one just named was a different size (much smaller) than those first ordered. It is uncertain whether the additional ones were made by Mr. Turk, but probably not, since both large and small ones were ordered; from London for several years after this date. From the following ex¬ tract we find that several of the large fire-engines (the sixth size of New- sham) belonged to the city. February 28, 174$, “Ordered that Major Vanhousand and Mr. Provost do take care to get a sufficient house .built for one of the large fire-engines, to be kept in some part of Hanover square at the expense of this corporation, and that there be a convenience made therein for hanging fifty buckets: and also ordered that there be one hun¬ dred new fire buckets made for the use of this corporation with all con¬ venient speed.” May 8, 1752. “ Ordered that Jacob Turk have liberty to purchase six small speaking trumpets for the use of this corporation,” i. e. for the pur¬ pose of giving directions to firemen during conflagrations. June 20, 1758. “ One large fire-engine, one small do. and two hand do.” were ordered to be procured from London. July 24, 1761. Mr. Turk, after superin¬ tending the engines foe twenty-five years, was superseded by Jacobus Chap. 8.] Before the TVar of Independence. 343 Stoutenburgh, who was directed to take charge of them at a salary of thirty pounds ; and “the late overseer, Mr. Jacobus Turk, [was ordered toj deliver up to the said Jacobus Stoutenburgh, the said several fire-en¬ gines. November 19, 1762. The firemen were directed to wear leather caps when on duty. May 7, 1772. An engine was ordered to be pro¬ vided for the Out ward July 10, 1772. “Alderman Gautier laid before this board an account of the cost of two fire-engines belonging to Thomas liiher: and Alderman Gautier is requested to purchase the same.” Sep¬ tember 9, 1772. A committee was authorized “to purchase one other fire- engine of David Hunt.” The three engines last named were probably ftom L n gland, for at the time these machines were in the list of ordinary imported manufactures. . J It is not impossible that some engines were made in Massachusetts about the time of the Revolutionary war. In October 1767, the people of Bos¬ ton, irritated by the exactions and disgusted with the parasites of mo¬ narchy, determined in a town meeting to cease importing from the 31st of December following, numerous articles of British manufacture, amono- which were enumerated anchors, nails, pewter-ware, clothing, hats car¬ nages, cordage, furniture, and fire-engines. And in March 176S the As¬ sembly resolved, “ that this house will, by all prudent means, endeavour to discountenance the use of foreign superfluities, and to encourage the manufactures of this province;” hence it is reasonable to suppose that en¬ gines either had been, or then could be made in the province ; otherwise it is not likely that their importation would have been denounced As an article of trade they were, from the limited number required, insio- n ifi- cant—they had no connection with luxury; and so far from bein^ “ su _ pernuities,” they were necessary to protect the property of the people rom destruction they would therefore be among the last things that a people would cease to import while unable to make them. It was not till several years after the close of the struggle for indepen¬ dence that fire-engines were made in this and some other cities. They have however, long been made here and in Philadelphia, Boston &c femall engines were formerly used, but they have gradually disappeared' the manufacturers confining themselves principally to the largest. The use of budgets has also been discontinued on account of the extensive applica¬ tion of hose Village engines are sometimes constructed with single cy- imders and double acting, but being more liable to derangement, they are not extensively used. Rotary engines are also made 'in some parts of vuai"& lanc h. on principle of Bramah and Dickenson’s pumps, (No. •) As ordinary fire-engines are merely forcing pumps, arranged in carnages and furnished with flexible pipes ; it is not to be supposed that any radical improvement upon them can be effected. The pump itself is, perhaps, not capable of any material change for the better; and it is at present essentially the same as when used by Ctesibius and Heron in ’ gypb twenty centuries ago: hence fire-engines, since hose pipes and air chambers were introduced, have differed from each other chiefly in the carriages and in the arrangement and dimensions of the pumps_as the posmon of t ha cylinder,, modes of working the pistons, borl direction of the passages for the water, &c. In these respects there is not much tc Eur °Pf an . and American engines; nor in the varieties e latter. Those made in Philadelphia rather resemble French and wkhom r? 1 " 68 ; ^ pumps at the ends of the carriages, and without the sectors and chains; while New-York engines are precisely the same as Newsham’s, both in the arrangement of the pumps and mo de of working them, with the exception of treddles, w'hich are not used. 344 Philadelphia Fire-Engine. [Book III. No. 153 represents an external view of a Philadelphia, engine : the pumps and air vessel are arranged as in No. 150, but the piston rods are connected directly to the bent lever, which is moved by a double set of handles or staves. A number of men stand upon each end of the cistern and work the engine by the staves nearest to them, while others on the ground apply their strength to the staves at the extremities of the lever. The staves turn upon studs at the centre of the cross bars, and when put in operation, fall into clasps that retain them in their places. Provision is made to convey the stream either from the lower or from the upper part of the air chamber. Hose companies supply the engines with water. The firemen, as in all American cities, are volunteers, and generally con¬ sist of young tradesmen and merchants' clerks, &c. They are exempt from militia and jury duty. Each member pays a certain sum on his admission, and a small annual subscription. A fine is also imposed upon any one appearing on duty without his appropriate dress (see figure in the cut) as well for being absent. A generous spirit of rivalry exists among the different companies, which induces them to keep their engines in a high state of working order. No. 153. External Viotv of a Philadelphia Fire-engine. No. 154 exhibits a New-York engine. The pump cylinders are ar¬ ranged and worked precisely as shown in the section No. 150. They are six and a half inches diameter, and the pistons have a stroke of nine inches. Previous to the formation of hose companies, each engine was provided with a reel of hose; this, when not in use, was covered by a case of varnished cloth or leather. Most of the engines still have reels, which are carried as shown in the cut. The stream of water is invariably taken from the top of the air chambers, which resemble the one at No. 150. This practice is bad, because in most cases that part of the hose between the goose-neck and the fire descends to the ground, and hence the water in the pipe is unnecessarily diverted from its course and a corresponding diminution of effect is the result. In all cases the hose had better be con¬ nected to the bottom of the air chamber, or to its side near the bottom, as in Nos. 148, 152, 155. Very long chambers (as the one in No. 160) 345 Chap. 8.] New-York Fire-Engine. retard the issue of the liquid more than others which discharge it from e top, because the water has to descend in them nearly perpendicu¬ larly to enter the orifice of the pipe, and its direction is then precisely iClosed, for it has to rise perpendicularly in order to escape. No. 154. New-York City Fire-engine. In exterior decoration American engines are probably unrivaled : the firemen take pride in ornamenting their respective machines, and hence most of them are finished in the most superb and expensive manner. The whole of the iron work, except the tire of the wheels, is frequently plated with silver; every part formed, of brass is brought to the highest polish* and while all the wood w*ork, including the wheels, is elegantly painted and gilded, the backs, fronts, and panels of the case that encloses the air chamber and pumps, are enriched with historical and emblematical paintings and carved work, by the first artists. . A new organization of the fire department of New-York has lono- been in contemplation, and the project of a law to that effect, is at this time under the consideration of the legislature of the state, and of the corpo¬ ration of the city. r 1 he most valuable contribution of American mechanicians to the jneans °‘ c ;*Anguishing fires is the riveted hose, invented by Sellers and Pennock of I hiladelphia. It is too well known both here and in Europe to re- quire particular description. No modern apparatus is complete without it. i q , ha ? lCS ' Institute of> New-York offered a gold medal (in January lb40) for the best plan of a Steam fire-engine. The publication of the notice was very limited, and but two or three plans were sent in. Of these, one by Mr. Ericsson, a European engineer now in this country re¬ ceived the prize. No. 155 represents a view of the engine. No. 156 a longitudinal section of the boiler, steam engine, pump, air vessel and blow¬ ing apparatus. No. 157, plan. No. 158, a transverse section of the boiler through the furnace and steam chamber. No. 159, the lever or handle ( Y' ? r ' ln .® ^ ie Awing apparatus by hand. The following is the inven¬ tor s escription, in which the same letters of reference denote the same parts in all the figures. 44 346 Steam Fire-Engine. [Book III “A the double acting force pump, cast of gun metal, firmly secured to the carriage frame by four strong brackets cast on its sides, a, a, Suction valves, al , a', Suction passages leading to the cylinder, a", Chamber containing the suction valves, and to which chamber are connected suction pipes a 1 ", a'", to which the hose is attached by screws in the usual man¬ ner, and closed by the ordinary screw cap. The delivering valves and passages at the top of the cylinder are similar to those just mentioned. B the air vessel, of a globular form, made of copper, b b delivery pipes, to which the_ pressure hose is attached i when only one jet is re¬ quired, the opposite pipe may be closed by a screw cap, as usual. The piston or bucket of the force pump to be provided with double leather packing: [cupped leathers] the piston rod to be made of copper. Steam Fire-Engine. 347 Chap. 8.] “ C the boiler, constructed on the principle of the ordinary locomotive boiler, and containing 27 tubes of 1£ inch diameter. The top of the steam- chamber and the horizontal part of the boiler should be covered with wood prevent the radiation of neat, c the fire door, o' the ash pan. o' a box attached to end of boiler, inclosing the exit of the tubes. The hot air from the tubes received by this box is passed off through smoke pipe d , which is carried through D D, making a half spiral turn round the air vessel in the form of a serpent, c*, iron brackets riveted to the boiler, and bolted to the carriage frame, c 6 , a wrought iron stay, also bolted to the carriage frame, for supporting the horizontal part of the boiler. 348 Steam Fire-Engine. [Book III “ E, a cylindrical box attached to the top of the steam chamber, contain¬ ing a conical steam valve e, and also safety valve e'. e" screw with handle connected to the steam valve, for admitting or shutting off the steam. e"' induction pipe, for conveying the steam to ’ F. the steam cylinder, provided with steam passages and slide valve of the usual construction, and secured to the carriage frame in the same man¬ ner as the force pump. _/Educt-ion pipe, for carrying off the steam into the atmosphere, f Piston, provided with metallic packing, on Barton’s plan, f", Piston rod of steel, attached to the piston rod of the force pump by means of G. a crosshead of wrought iron, into which both piston rods are inserted and secured by keys, g, Tappet rod attached to the crosshead, for mov¬ ing the slide valve of the steam cylinder by means of nuts g', g 1 , which may be placed at any position on the tappet rod. H. Spindle of wrought iron, working in two bearings attached to the cover of the steam cylinder, the one end thereof having fixed to it, h a lever, moved or struck ultimately by the nuts g J , g'. h' a lever, fixed to the middle part of the spindle H, for moving the steam valve rod. I. Force pump for supplying the boiler, constructed with spindle valves on the ordinary plan ; the suction pipe thereof to communicate with the valve chamber of the water cylinder, and the delivering pipe to be connected to the horizontal part of the boiler, i, Plunger of force pump, to be made of gun metal or copper, and attached to the crosshead G. J. Blowing apparatus, consisting of a square wooden box, with pan¬ eled sides, in which is made to work a square piston j, made of wood, joined to the sides of said box by leather, f, Circular holes or openings through the sides, for admitting atmospheric air into the box; these holes being covered on the inside by pieces of leather or India rubber cloth to act as valves, j", are similar holes through the top of the box, for passing off the air at each stroke of the piston, into K. Receiver or regulator, which has a movable top k, made of wood, joined by leather to the upper part of the box ; a thin sheet of lead to be attached thereto, for keeping up a certain compression of air in the regu lator. k', Box or passage made of sheet iron, attached to the blowing apparatus, and having an open communication with the regulator at k" : to this passage is connected a conducting pipe, as marked by dotted lines in No. 156, for conveying the air from the receiver into the ash pan, under the furnace of the boiler at k!" ; this conducting pipe passes along the in¬ side of the carriage frame on either side. L. L. Two parallel iron rods, to which the piston of the blowing ap¬ paratus is attached : these rods work through guide brasses l, l, and they may be attached to the crosshead G, by keys at V, V. The holes at the ends of the crosshead for admitting these rods are sufficiently large to al¬ low a free movement whenever it is desirable to work the blowing appa¬ ratus independently of the engine. M. Spindle of wrought iron, placed transversely, and working in two bearings fixed under the carriage frame: to this spindle are fixed two crank levers m, m , which by means of two connecting rods m‘ in', give motion to the piston rods L, L, by inserting the hooks m", m", into the eyes at the ends of the said piston rods. N. Crank lever, fixed at the end of spindle M, which by means of O. Crank pin, fixed in the carriage wheel, and also P. Connecting rod, will communicate motion to the blowing appara¬ tus, whenever the carriage is in motion, and the above parts duly con¬ nected. Fire Escapes. 34S Chap. 8.] P« W , 1S fi * eci . ln lever N > P^ced at such distance from the centre of spindle M, that it will fit the hole n' of the lever shown in No. 159 whilst n receives the end of the spindle M. Whenever the blowing apparatus to . j. worked by the engine or by manual force, the connecting rod P should be detached by means of the lock at^. The carriage frame should be made of oak, and plated with iron all over the outside and top ; the top plate to have small recesses, to meet the brackets of the cylinders as shown in the drawing. The lock of the carriage, axles, and springs to be made as usual, only differing by having the large springs suspended below the axle. Ihe carriage wheels to be constructed on the suspension prin¬ ciple ; spokes and rim to be made of wrought iron, and very lio-ht. The principal object of a steam fire-engine being that of not depending on the power or diligence of a large number of men, one or two horses should always be kept in an adjoining stable for its transportation. The hre grate and flues should be kept very clean, with dry shavings, wood and coke, carefully laid in the furnace ready for ignition ; and a torch should always be at hand to ignite the fuel at a moment’s notice. To this fire- engine establishment the word of fire should be given, without interme¬ diate orders: the horses being put to, the rod attached connecting the car¬ riage wheel to the bellows, and the fuel ignited, the engine may on all or¬ dinary occasions be at its destination, and in full operation in ten minutes.” Attempts to supersede fire-engines were formerly common. Zachary Greyl is said to be the first who, in modern times, devised a substitute. 1 his consisted of a close wooden vessel or barrel, containing a considera¬ ble quantity of water, and in the centre a small iron or tin case full of gun¬ powder: from this case a tube was continued through the side or head of the barrel, and was filled with a composition that readily ignited. When a room was on fire, one of these machines was thrown or conveyed into it, and the powder exploding dispersed the water in the outer case in every direction, and instantly extinguished the flames although ragin with violence a moment before. In 1723, Godfrey, an English chernis?, copied this device, and impregnated the water with an “ antiphlogistic” substance. He named his machines “water bombs.” In the year°] 734 , the States of Sweden offered a premium of twenty thousand crowns for the best invention of stopping the progress of fires; upon which M. Fuches, a German chemist, introduced an apparatus of the same kind. Similar de¬ vices have been brought forward in more recent days ; but after making a noise for a time, they have passed into oblivion. (See London Maga¬ zine for 1760 and 1761.) ° Among the devices of modern times for securing buildings from fire, may be mentioned the plan of Dr. Hales, of covering the floors with a layer of earth; and that adopted by Harley in 1775, of nailing over joists, floors, stairs, partitions, &c. sheet iron or tin plate. To increase the effect of fire-engines, the author of this work devised in 1817, and put in practice at Paterson, New Je'rsey, in 1820, the plan of fixing perforated copper pipes over or along the ceilings of each floor of a factory or other build¬ ings, and connecting them with others on the outside, or at a short dis¬ tance from the walls, so that the hose of a fire-engine could be rea¬ dily united by screws; but the plan had been previously developed by Sir W. Congreve. It has recently been brought before the public as a new invention. r Of the numerous Fire Escapes that have bqen brought forward in modern times, the greater part are such as were employed by the ancients to scale walls and to enter fortresses, &c. in times of war. It is indeed obvious 350 Couvre Feu. [Book III. that the same devices by which persons entered buildings, would also an¬ swer the purpose of escaping from them: and as the utmost ingenuity of the ancients was exercised in devising means to accomplish the one, it was exceedingly natural that modern inventors should hit upon similar contri¬ vances to effect the other. In the cuts to the old German translation of Vegetius, to which we have so often referred, there are ladders of rope and leather, in great variety, with hooks at the ends which when thrown by hand or an engine, were designed to catch hold of the corners and tops of the walls or windows—folding ladders of wood and metal, some con¬ sisting of numerous pieces screwed into each other by the person ascend¬ ing, till he reached the required elevation ; others with rollers at their upper ends to facilitate their elevation by rearing them against the front of the walls—baskets or chests containing several persons raised perpen¬ dicularly on a movable frame by means of a screw below, that pushed out several hollow frames or tubes contained within each other, like those of a telescope, whose united length reached to the top of the place at¬ tacked—sometimes the men were elevated in a basket suspended at the long end of a lever or swape. Several combinations of the lazy tongs, or jointed parallel bars are also figured—one of these moved on a car¬ riage raised a large box containing soldiers, and is identical with a fire escape described in volume xxxi of the Transactions of the London So¬ ciety of Arts. Anciently the authors of accidental fires were punished in proportion to the degree of negligence that occasioned them ; and they were com¬ pelled to repair to the extent of their means, the damage done to their neighbors. A law of this kind was instituted by Moses, probably i« imitation of a similar one in force among the Egyptians. Other preven¬ tive measures consisted in the establishment of watchmen, whose duty it was to arrest thieves and incendiaries, and to give alarm in case of fire. From the earliest days, those who designedly fired buildings were put to death. A very ancient custom which related to the prevention of fires, is still partially kept up in Europe, although the design of its institution is almost forgotten, viz : the ringing of town bells about eight o’clock in the evening, as a signal for the inhabitants to put out their lights, rake together the fire on their hearths, and cover it with an instrument named a curfeio ; a corruption of couvre feu, and hence the evening peal became known as “the curfew bell.” It has been supposed that the custom origi¬ nated with William the Conqueror, but it prevailed over Europe long be¬ fore his time, and was a very beneficial one, not only in constantly remind¬ ing the people to guard against fire, but indicating to them the usual time of retiring to rest; for neither clocks nor watches were then known, and in the absence of the sun they had no device for measuring time. Alfred the Great, who measured time by candles,* ordered the inhabitants of Oxford to cover their fires on the ringing of the bell at carfax every night. The instrument was made of iron or copper. Its general form may be understood by supposing a common cauldron turned upside down and divided perpendicularly through the centre; one half being furnished with a handle riveted to it would be a couvre feu. When used it was placed over the ashes with the open side close to the back of the hearth. (See Diet. Trevoux: Hone’s Every Day Book, vol. i. 243, and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act iv, scene 4.) In the thirteenth year of Edward I. (A. D. 1285,) an act was passed » In Shakespeare’s play of Richard III. act v. scene 3, there is a reference under the name of a watch to these candles. They were marked in sections, each of which was a cer¬ tain time in burning, and thus measured the hours during the night or cloudy weather. Chap. 8.J Ancient Laws vespecting Fives. 351 E#>%:SSS=:=S =S#j?33£=S3SKS£t vented and practised a new damnable kind of • vice disnll ! V i damnifying of the kings true subjects and the commonwealth of this realm, as m secret burning of frames of timber, prepared and made bvt Sffi 1 ? », be Set U P and edified L houses cutdn e go y u of Heads and dams of pools, motes, stews and several waters - outfit. JZ pleasure of Almtghty God and of the kings majesty,” & c . (Statute, at The crime of arson was rife in old Rome, and it is singular that the 5JS J*p Sirr'l -M t; f' 1 hence arose the peculiar dress w^m by he ctims in those horrible, those demoniacal “Acts of faith!” the Auto da in ^° f ifi a u n ’ S P am , sh ' and Portuguese inquisitions, (to which the scenes he mile, f "! d 0ther part ? 0f En S'“ d W be bded,) acts To which dte order of just.ee was completely reversed-the sufferers being theTnno- cents, and the court and judges the real criminals. & 35Z Pressure Engines. [Book III. CHAPTER IX. Pressure engines: Of limited application—Are modifications of gaining and losing buckets and pumps—Two kinds of pressure engines—Piston pressure engine described by Fludd—Pressure engine from Belidor—Another by Westgarth—Motive pressure engines—These exhibit a novel mode of employ¬ ing water as a motive agent—Variety of applications of a piston and cylinder—Causes of the ancients being ignorant of the steam engine—Secret of making improvements in the arts—Fulton, Eli Whitney ana Arkwright—Pressure engines might have been anticipated, and valuable lessons in Science may be derived from a disordered pump—Archimedes—Heron’s Fountain—Portable ones recommended in FlowerGardens and Drawing-rooms, in hot weather—Their invention gave rise to a new class of hydrau¬ lic engines—Pressure engine at Chemnitz—Another modification of Heron’s fountain—Spiral pump of Wirtz. Pressure engines, named by tbe French Machines a colonne d’eau, form an interesting variety of hydraulic devices belonging to the present division of the subject. They consist of working cylinders with valves and pistons, and resemble forcing pumps in their construction, but differ from them in their operation; the pistons not being moved by any exter¬ nal force applied to them through cranks, levers, &c. but by the weight or pressure of a column of water acting directly upon or against them. Pressure engines are not very common, because they are only appli¬ cable to particular locations—such as afford a suitable supply of water for the motive column; but wherever refuse, impure, salt or other water can be obtained from a sufficient elevation, such water may be used to raise a quantity of fresh by these machines. In some forms pressure engines appear rather complicated, but when analyzed, the principle of their action and mode of operation will be found extremely simple :—If two buckets, partly filled with water, be suspend¬ ed and balanced at the ends of a scale beam, and a stream be directed into one of them, that one will preponderate, and consequently the other with its contents will be raised, and to a height equal to the descent of the former; but when it is required to raise water in this manner to an eleva¬ tion that exceeds the distance through which the descending vessel can fall; then the capacity of the latter is enlarged, and it is suspended nearer to the fulcrum or centre on which the beam turns, as in the gaining and losing bucket, page 66 :—It is virtually the same principle that is em¬ ployed in pressure engines; the difference is principally in the manner of performing the operation. Instead of vessels suspended as above, two solid pistons, moving in cylinders, are attached by rods or chains to the ends of a beam, or to the ends of a cord passed over a pulley, so that the pressure of a longer or heavier column of water resting upon one piston forces it down, and thereby raises the other and with it the lighter or shorter column reposing upon it. By referring to the 16th illustration on page 64, it will be apparent that if a cylinder extended from B to the top of the cistern Z, and a hollow piston like the upper box of an atmospheric pump fitted to work in it were substituted for the bucket B, the effect produced •would be much the same as with the two buckets, for the same quantity of water could be raised through the cylinder into the cistern Z, if allowance were made for Chap. 9.] Piston Pressure Engines. 353 der eT,e a „rt P ff friCti ?? “ !> le P assa S e ° f the P*'™'* And if another cylin- sure engine, alth^hAe pri^le’ ofILmCe partof k would™ Ce' been essenaaUy Ranged. The cylinders in this^xa^p e would perfom the part of the buckets A B; they might be considered as permanent ed, and very long buckets with movable bottoms, i. e. the pistons which ./ n , ! ‘ 3Ce , nd j n ff and descending in them received and discharged their con- from',h And “ Wlth '!’ e buckets A and B, the quantity of water expended memio„ e s of h V e e o°, r h deS “ n * n ? colu “n "onld be proportionate to the db ensions of the other and the elevation to which it was raised Pressor ffabWandV heref r e i, be COns 1 idered as a peculiar modification of the ftm \ 1 T/ b - UCket macWs ’ and a s a combination of these with atmospheric and forcing pumps. They admit of various forms according by hem Ca T V ^ *** “V* ^ tbe ob j ects to be a -o "pS y them. As liquids press equally m all directions, the cylinders may be placed m any position—horizontal, inclined, or vertical.^ Sometimes a pressure engine consists of a single cylinder with its appropriate pineTand valves hke a double acting pump, foe water to be^aised ente^at one e of the piston, and the motive column at the other; but more com- on y a distinct cylinder and piston receives the impulse of the motive column, and in order to transmit it to the other, the two pistons are some reVd?of Cted h t0 the l ame r0d - as in No - 161 ~ at oth er times to oppo¬ site ends of a vibrating beam as m No. 162—so that while one cylinder and its apparatus act as a pump to raise water, the other is exclusively employed to work it. In this respect pressure engines may be considered rather as devices for communicating motion to machines proper for raising a er, t an as the latter, and they are sometimes used as propellers of SzxgZS.'ZZZ'*™' %ht they be ^.4™ £ and transmits it to the other. In one, a solid body (a pistol) is used for that purpose—m the other, a volume of air; but while a slight variation is thus caused in the two machines, the essential features, as well as the moving pnnciple of both remains the same. Piston pressure enfones are giniar - k I 66 " lnTent \ d t ‘\ 6 1S ! h Centur y ^ M Hoell, a Ge™a„ en- f , ls more probable that he improved them only, for thev cer taifl^ were known much earlier : still it may be that he was ignorant of waKmrt U w’ and - Vas led t0 - their re ' invention b y bis efforts to raise water fiom the Hungarian mines, m which he erected several pressure machines on the principle of Heron’s fountain: the transition from these ° er . j’ as ® a ®y and natural, and may have resulted from his endea- rion r of°th a rA \ T t0 Which A tbe former are object, viz : the absorp¬ tion ot the air by the water. About A. I). 1739, an improved form of bv^Relid GngI "? s ^ as devised « and introduced into some mines in France by Belidor, which he has described in his Architecture Hydraulique Some him the author of piston rod/bemg loaded whhweiihr- WOrked , in that manner : the pistons or water suspended at thl onSS dien ?’ are raised by a bucket of contents are discharged Tike the b.ickit A e . beam ’ ^‘ch when it reaches the bottom its b “Machine A colnnnl h b J? cket A in No ’ 16 ’ D ,n No - 17 > °r G in No. 162. M. Hoell, premier Machinistp'd’T ,T ern ', an : .Wasser Saulene. Machine ; inventee par Le. MinA Folio "d PaS 1779 SSSto' A"’ e, J Meliere *' L ’ Aft eu., raris 1779, page 1449. Quarto ed. tom. xviii, p 131. 45 354 Pressure Engine from Fludd. [[BooUJJT. the honor of first inventing them is not, in fact, due to either Belidor or Hoell, as the following figure, No. 160, from a work published a century before either of those engineers flourished, will show. It is from Fludd’s Natures simia seu techniea macrocosmi , 467. The character of this author as an astrologer and alchymist, and that of his works, which abound with absurdities, have probably caused the figure to be overlooked by modern writers on hydraulic and hydrostatic apparatus. Chemistry, however, is not the only science that is indebted to the shrewd but mistaken seekers of universal panaceas and of the philosopher’s stone. The lower end of the pipe B D having a valve opening upwards, is inserted into the water to be raised. The pipe A receives the descend¬ ing or motive liquid column, which in this case was refuse or stagnant water, flowing from a source of sufficient altitude. This pipe may be at a considerable dis¬ tance from B D, and is so repre¬ sented in the original figure. It terminates below in a pit, drain, or low ground, whence the wa¬ ter discharged from it may es¬ cape. The end of it should be lower than that of D, and should be sealed or covered by water as represented, to prevent the entrance of air. A comrriunica- tion is made between both these pipes by the horizontal one C. This last is connected to A at one of the apertures of a three- way cock, the upper and lower part of A being united to the other two. The other end of C terminates at the bottom of a working cylinder, which is closed at the top, by a short tube com¬ municating with B D, immediate¬ ly below a valve placed in the latter. In the cylinder, a piston (indicated by the dotted fees) is fitted. It is described frs a wooden plug covered with lea¬ ther and loaded with lead, so as to make it descend in the cy- No. 160. Pressure Engine from Fludd. A. D. 1618. linder by its Weight. To put this machine in operation, the cylinder and pipe D are first filled with water through the funnel and small cock, after which the latter is closed. The plug of the three-way cock is then so arranged, that its two orifices coincide only with the upper part of A, and with C, when the pressure of the column in A will force up the piston, and with it all the water previously in the cylinder, which is thus compelled to ascend through the upper valve into the discharging pipe B. When this has taken place, the vessel Cr, su pended at one end of the rod that passes through the shank of the plug, has become filled with water, from the small jet issuing from A, and descending, turns the plug of the cock, so as to close the communication of the upper part of A with C, and open it be- Chap. 9.] Improved Pressure Engine from Belidor. 355 tween C and the lower part.of A, upon which the piston descends in the cylinder ana the foul water in C escapes through the lower end of A and runs to waste. By the time the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder, he latter is refilled with water by the pressure of the atmosphere, as in a common pump ; and the contents of G have escaped through an orifice in its bottom, which is closed by a valve—this valve being opened by a projecting pm upon which the vessel descended, as shown in the figure As soon as G is emptied, the weight on the opposite end of the rod prepon¬ derates, ana turns the plug of the cock into its former position; and thus 1 rcn- 1 tHe 1 ma 1 chin , e 13 continued without intermission. The operation ol filling the cylinder through the funnel, is required only at the first, like the priming of a new pump. The origin of this machine is uncertain. It does not appear to have been invented by h ludd himself, but is inserted among others, which he copied from older authors ; and such as he examined abroad. As he tra- veled in Germany and has described some of the hydraulic machines used in the mines there, (see one figured on page 219,) it is probable that he derived a knowledge of it in that country. It possesses considerable interest _ it is self acting, and that by a very simple device—it shows an old application of the three-way cock—it exhibits the application of refuse or putrid water, to raise fresh, and in a way somewhat similar to one re- cent y proposed and it is the oldest piston pressure engine known. 1 he next figure from Belidor, shows a great improvement on the last so much so, that in some respects it may be considered a new machine! A, conveys the descending column from its source to the three-way cock F; to one of the openings of which it is united. This cock is con¬ nected, at another opening, to the horizontal cylinder C, whose axis coincides with that of a smaller one D. Both cylinders are of the same length; and their pistons are attached to a common rod, as represented. Two valves are placed in the ascending pipe B—one below, the other above its junction with the cylinder D. The horizontal No. 161. Pressure Engine from Belidor. A. D. 1739. • tj „ i t. . Horizontal pipe ±i connects B and D with the third opening of the cock. By turning the plug of this cock, a communication is opened alternately between each cylinder and the water in A. Thus when the water rushes into C, it drives the piston before it to the extremity of the cylinder, and conse¬ quently the water that was previously in D is forced up the ascending pipe B; then the communication between A and C is cut off, (by turn¬ ing the cock) and that between A and D is opened, when the pistons are moved back towards F by the pressure of the column against the smaller piston—the water previously in C escaping through an opening shown in front of the cock and runs to waste, while that which enters is necessarily forced up B at the next stroke of the pistons. The cock Wa opened and closed by levers, connected to the middle of the piston rod, and was thus worked by the machine' itself. By the air chamber, the discharge from B is rendered continuous. 356 Westgarth's Pressure Engine. [Book III. Suppose the water in A has a perpendicular fall of thirty-four or thirty- five feet, and it were required to raise a portion of it to an elevation of seventy feet above F; it will be apparent that if both pistons were of the same diameter, such an object could not be accomplished by this ma¬ chine—for both cylinders would virtually be but one—and so would the pistons; and the pressure of the column on both sides of the latter would be equal. A column of water thirty-five feet high presses on the base that sustains it with a force of 151bs. on every superficial inch; and one of seventy feet high, with a force of 301bs. on every inch—hence without re¬ garding the friction to be overcome, which arises from the rubbing of the pistons; from the passage of the water through the pipes: and from the ne¬ cessary apparatus to render the machine self-acting—it is obvious in the case supposed that the area of the piston in C must Be more than double that in D, or no water could be discharged through B. Thus in all cases, the relative proportion between the area of the pistons, or diameter of the cy¬ linders, must be determined by the difference between the perpendicular height of the two columns. When the descending one passes through a perpendicular space, greatly exceeding that of the ascending one, then . the cylinder of the latter may be larger than that of the former : a smaller quantity of water in this case raising a larger one : it, however, descends like a small weight at the long end of a lever, through a greater space. In 1769 the London Society of Arts, awarded to Mr. Westgarth a pre¬ mium of fifty guineas, for his invention of a pressure engine. It is des¬ cribed by the celebrated Smeaton, in vol. v, of their Transactions, as “one of the greatest strokes of art in the hydraulic way, that has appeared since the invention of the fire [steam] engine.” Several were erected by Mr. W. in 1765, to raise water from lead mines in the north of Eng¬ land. They were simple in their construction, and somewhat resembled the engines of Newcomen. They differed from those of Belidor in the position of the cylinder; the introduction of a beam; the substitution of cylindrical valves in the place of cocks ; and using the motive column to move the piston in one direction only. The cylinder of Westgarth’s en¬ gine was placed in a r>ertic,al position, the piston rod of which was sus¬ pended by a chain from the arched end of a “ walking” or vibrating beam ; while the other end of the latter, projected over the mouth of the mine or pit, and was connected (by a chain) to the rod of an atmospheric pump placed in the pit. This rod was loaded as in Newcomen’s engine, so as to descend by its weight and thereby raise the piston of the pressure en¬ gine when the column of water was not acting on the latter. Thus, when the motive column of water was admitted into the cylinder, the piston was depressed, and the end offthe beam also, to which it was connected; consequently the pump rod and its sucker were raised, and with them water from the mine. Then as soon as the piston reached the bottom of the cylinder, the motive column was cut off, by closing a valve ; and a passage made for the escape of that within the cylinder, by opening another—upon which the loaded pump rod again preponderated—the valve to admit the column on the piston of the pressure engine was again Qpened, and the operation repeated as before. In another form these machines have been adopted, in favorable loca¬ tions, as first movers of machinery, and when thus used, they exhibit a very striking resemblance to high pressure steam-engines. Indeed, the elemental features of steam and pressure engines are the same, and the modes of employing the motive agents in both are identical—it is the dif¬ ferent properties of the agents that induces a slight variation in the ma¬ chines—one being an elastic fluid, the other anon-elastic liquid. In steam- 357 Chap. 9.] Motive Pressure Engine. engmes a piston is alternately pushed up and down in its cylinder by steam; and by means of the rod to which the piston is securedfmotion l neTtoTeT 'V 5^“? fl ^ whee1 .’ and throu g h ***> to the machi- J' } e pi °P? Hed : ^ is the same with pressure engines when used to Column of ! XCept ; hat InStead of the elastic va P°r of water, a column of that liquid drives the pistons to and fro, as will be perceived bv an examination of the following figure. °e perceived No. 162. Motive Pressure Engine. E represents the lower part of the pipe which conveys the water down from its source into the air chamber C, from the lower part of which it passes through a short tube and stop cock into the valve case, or “side pipe D. This pipe is parallel with the working cylinder of the engine A, and rather longer : it communicates with A through two passages for ^ admisslon op t ^ ie water to act upon both sides of the piston. The ends of D are closed by stuffing boxes, through which a rod in the direction of its axis is made to slide, and upon this rod are secured two plugs, shown m the cut, that fill the interior of the pipe like pistons, and as the rod is raised or lowered, alternately open and close the passages into the cylin¬ der. Suppose the position of the various parts of the engine as indicated in the figure, and the stop-cock in the short tube that connects the “ side pipe to the air vessel be opened, the water would then rush into the upper part of the cylinder A, as shown by the arrows, and by its statical pressure force down the piston; while any water previously below the piston would escape through the lower passage into the side pipe (be¬ neath the plug) and run off to waste through the tube B, marked by dot¬ ted lines, and the circular orifices of which are also figured. When the piston has reached the bottom of the cylinder, the rod to which the plugs are attached is drawn down, so as to close the upper passage and open the lower one, upon which the water enters through the latter and drives up the piston as* before, the previous contents of the cylinder being orced through the circular orifice in the upper part of the side pipe into B. In this_manner the operation is continued and motion imparted to the leam, crank and fly-wheel. The apparatus for moving the rod that opens 35S Pressure Engines. [Book III. and closes the passages into the cylinder is analogous to that of steam en¬ gines, being effected by an eccentric on the crank shaft. It is omitted in the cut, that the essential features of the machine might appear more conspicuous. It is obvious that engines of this kind may be employed to impart mo¬ tion to pumps or any other machinery. The intensity of the force trans¬ mitted by them depends upon the perpendicular height of the motive column and the area of the piston. The use of the air vessel is, as in the hydraulic ram and other machines, to break the force of the blow or con¬ cussion consequent on the sudden stoppage of the descending column by closing the passages. Wherever the waste pipe B can descend thirty- five or thirty-six feet, the engine may derive an additional power from the vacuum thus kept up behind the piston, as in low-pressure steam-engines. The application of this feature to pressure engines was included in an English patent granted to John Luddock in February 1799. (Repertory of Arts, vol. xi, page 73.) The invention of pressure engines brought to light a new mode of em¬ ploying water as a motive agent; and also the means of applying it in locations where it could not otherwise be used. When water moves an under or overshot wheel, the machinery to be propelled must be placed in the immediate vicinity—hence saw, grist, and fulling mills, &c. are erected where the falling liquid flows ; and when steam is the moving force, the engines are located where the fluid is generated ; but with pres¬ sure engines it is different, for the motive agent may be taken to the ma¬ chine itself. In valleys or low lands, having no natural fall of water, but where that liquid can be conveyed in tubes from a sufficient elevation, (no matter how distant the source may be,) such water, by these machines, may be made to propel others. And by means of them the small lakes often found on mountains, and water drawn from the heads of falls and rapids, may furnish power for numerous operations in neighboring plains. When cities are supplied from elevated sources, an additional revenue might be derived from the force with which the liquid issues from the tubes : the occupant of a house into which a lateral pipe from the mains is conveyed, might connect the pipe to a pressure engine, and thereby impart motion to lathes, or printing presses; raise and lower goods on dif¬ ferent stories ; press cotton, paper, books, &c. as by a steam-engine. But unlike the machine just named, ajpressure engine is inexpensive, and sim¬ ple in its construction—it requires neither chimneys, furnaces, nor loads of fuel; neither firemen nor engineers, nor is there any danger of explo¬ sions. It may be placed in the corner of a room, or be concealed under a counter or a table. It may be set in operation in a moment, by opening a cock, and the instant the work is done, it may be stopped by shutting the same, and thus prevent the least waste of power—and when the work is accomplished, the water can be used for all ordinary purposes as if just drawn from the mains, for the engine might be considered as merely a continuation of the lateral tube. Pressure engines afford another illustration of the variety of purposes to which a piston and cylinder may be applied. These were probably first used in piston bellows ; next in the syringe ; subsequently in pumps of every variety ; and then in pressure and steam-engines. The moving piston is the nucleus or elemental part that gives efficiency to them all; and the apparatus that surround it in some of them, are but its appendages. To what extent it is destined to be employed when steam becomes super¬ seded by other fluids, time only can reveal; but if we may judge of the future by the past, this simple device will perform greater wonders in the Chap. 9.] Discoveries in the Arts . 359 world than it has yet accomplished. It is by it only that the energy of elastic fluids can be economically employed. Those ingenious men who first constructed a bellows, a syringe, or a pump little thought that similar implements should become self-acting- and even be motive engines to drive others. What weary laborer at the pump in ancient Greece or Rome, ever dreamt, while indulging in those reveries that the mind conjures up to divert attention from toil or pain at a machine similar to the one upon which his strength was expended,’ should be devised to work without human aid .—and that a modification ol it, excited by the vapor of a boiling cauldron, should exert a force compared with which the power of the Titans was impotence-a force that should drive fleets of gallies through a storm—hurl missiles like the balistas propel chariots “ without horses”—polish a mirror—forge a hatchet, a tripod or a vase—and spin thread and weave it into veils fine as those worn by the vestal virgins—and yet should never tire ! Could the imaginations of the depressed plebeians and slaves of antiquity have had a glimpse of such a machine, and had they been informed that it would in some future time, which the oracles had not revealed, be gene¬ rally employed—how vehemently would they have importuned the gods to send it in their days ! And why did they not have it % Because the useful arts were neglected and their professors despised—while those professions the most destructive of human felicity were cultivated. War was accounted honorable, and hence nations were incessantly engaged in conflicts with each other—a military spirit pervaded the minds of the people, a.nd it rewarded them by soaking every land with their blood. I he histqry of machines composed of pistons and cylinders also illus¬ trates the process by which some simple inventions have become applied to purposes, foreign to those for which they were originally designed_ each application opening the way for a different one. In this manner de¬ vices apparently insignificant have eventually become of the utmost value, and it is probable that there is no mechanical combination or device, how¬ ever useless it may now appear, but which will be thus brought into play. . ese machines also teach us how new discoveries are made in the arts, viz : by observing common results, and applying the principles or processes by which they are induced, to other objects or designs. Every mechani¬ cal movement and manufacture—an unsuccessful experiment—defects or derangements of ordinary machines, &c. are all practical demonstrations that indicate the means to produce analogous effects, or to avoid them. Fulton employed steam-engines to turn paddle wheels—Eli Whitney adopted circular saws as cotton gins; and both became benefactors of their country—a poor barber in England, after exercising his ingenuity on the perpetual motion, applied some of his devices to cotton spinning, and not only became one of the most opulent of manufacturers, but secured’ a place in the biography of eminently useful men. Nearly all modern improvements and inventions have been brought about in a somewhat similar manner, and there are few but what mmht have been anticipated by attention to every-day facts. Suppose pressure engines had not yet been known: they might be developed by reflecting on a very common circumstance connected with ordinary pumps. When one of these no longer retains water in the cylinder and trunk, it is neces- sary to prime it, by pouring in a quantity sufficient to fill the space in which the sucker moves: this water resting upon the latter presses it down, and consequently raises the lever or pump handle, which again descends as soon as the water escapes below ; thus illustrating the principle bv which piessure engines act the lever being moved by the water instead of the 360 Heron's Fountain. [Book III. water by it. How many ages have elapsed, and how many millions of people have witnessed this operation, without a useful idea having been derived from it 1 And without any one thinking that valuable lessons in science might be learnt from a disordered pump, or from the irregular movements of a pump handle 1 Those observing minds, however, that are constantly on the alert for facts—like bees incessantly on the wing for honey—would not now suffer even such an occurrence to pass unnoticed; nor would they hesitate to consider those unpleasant knocks which hundreds of people (and the writer among them) have occasionally expe¬ rienced from the unexpected descent of a heavy pump handle on their persons, and in some instances more unpleasant ones from its sudden as- 7 * cent—as admonitions to turn the experiment to advantage. The simple rise of water which his body displaced in a bathing tub, was seized in a twinkling by the mathematician of Syracuse to solve a new and difficult problem ; yet the same thing had been previously witnessed for thousands of years, but no one ever thought of applying the result to any such purpose. It perhaps may be a question whether the machines already described in this chapter were known to the engineers of antiquity, but there is no room to doubt their acquaintance with another variety of pressure engines, since we have obtained a knowledge of them from the Spiritalia of Heron, whose name they still bear. It is obvious that a liquid may be forced out of a vessel by pressing into the latter any other substance, no matter what the nature of it may be, whether solid or fluid, liquid or aeriform: thus, the solid plunger or piston of a pump does not more effectually expel the contents of the cylinder in which it moves, than the elastic fluid in a soda fountain drives out the aerated water; hence, if air be urged by the pres¬ sure of a liquid column, or by any other force, to occupy the interior of a vessel containing water, the liquid may be raised through a tube to an elevation equal to the force that moves it; the air in this case performing the part of pistons in the pressure engines already described ; and its ef¬ fects are greater than can be produced by solid pistons, for the friction of these consumes a considerable portion of the motive force, so that a co¬ lumn of water raised by them can never equal the one that raises it; whereas air, from its extreme mobility, receives and transmits the momen¬ tum of the motive column undiminjshed to the other. The fountain of Heron is the oldest pressure engine known, and in it a volume of air is used as a substitute for a piston. It is not certain that it was invented by him, for it may have been an old device in his time, and one which he thought worthy of preservation, or of being made more extensively known, and therefore inserted an account, of it in his book. See No. 163. The two vessels A B, of any shape, are made air tight. The top of the upper one is formed into a dish or basin; in the centre of which the jet pipe is inserted, its lower end extending to near the bottom of A : a pipe C, whose upper orifice is soldered to the basin extends down to near the bottom of the lower vessel, either passing through the top of B, as in the figure, or inserted at the side. Another pipe D is con¬ nected to the top of B, and continued to the upper part of A. This pipe conducts the air from B to A. Now suppose the vessel A filled with water, through an aperture made for the purpose, and which is then closed; the object is to make this water ascend through the jet, and it is accomplished thus:—water is poured into the basin, and of course it runs down the pipe C into B ; and as it rises in the latter, the air within is ne¬ cessarily compressed, and having no way to escape but up the pipe D, it ascends into the upper part of A, where being pressed on the surface of Chap. 9.] Heron's Fountain. 361 if D B e water, the latter is compelled to ascend through the jet pipe, as shown n the cut. 1 he water thus forced out, falls back into the basin, and run¬ ning down C into B continues the play of the machine, until all the water in A is expended. The elevation to which water in A can be thus raised through a tube, will be equal to the perpen¬ dicular distance between the two orifices of C. Toper- sons who are ignorant of the construction of these foun¬ tains, the water in the basin appears to descend, and to rise again through the jet. Such is not the fact; were it so, this machine would be a perpetual motion, or something very like one. Some persons beguiled by the apparent possibility of inducing it to ascend, have attempted the so¬ lution of that problem by a similar apparatus. AVe may as well confess that in our youth we were of the number, ihe younger Pliny seems to have fallen into the same mistake respecting a fountain belonging to his country seat. Portable fountains of this kind might be adopted as ap- propnate appendages to flower gardens, and even drawing rooms. The pipes might be concealed within, or modeled into a handsome column, whose pedestal formed the lower vessel, while the upper end assumed the figure of a vase. Such an addition to the furniture of an apartment would be a useful acquisition at those seasons when the atmos¬ phere, glowing like the air of an oven, scorches our bodies duung the day, and in the evening we gasp in vain for the cooling breeze : at such times a minute stream of water spouting and sparkling in a room would soon allay the heat and invigorate our drooping spirits—imparting the refreshing coolness of autumn amid the burning heats of summer; and if the liquid were perfumed with attar of roses or oil of lavender, we might realize the most innocent and . delicious of oriental luxuries. The play of such a fountain might be continued for two or three hours at a time, for the size of the stream need hardly exceed that of a thread, and by a slight modification the jet could be renewed as often as the upper vessel was emptied bv simply inverting the machine : or, the whole might be arranged without except the ajutage and the vase in which the jet played. (See remarks on fountains in the fifth book.) v This fountain has been named a toy , but it is by such toys that impor¬ tant discoveries have been made in every age. It is clearly no rude or imperfect device : not a first thought; on the contrary, it bears the evi¬ dence of a matured machine, and of being the result of a familiar acquaint¬ ance with the principles upon which its action depends. Unlike older hydraulic machines, it requires no distinct vessel within Avhich to raise a a liquid; nor does it resemble pumps, since neither cylinders, suckers valves or levers are required, nor any external force to keep it in motion’ its invention may be considered as having opened a new era in the his¬ tory of machines for raising water, for it is susceptible of an almost endless variety of modifications, and of being applied to a great number of pur¬ poses. I o understand this it is only necessary to bear in mind that the relative position of the two columns is immaterial : they may be a mile ^ fr0r V aCh 0t ! ier ’ ,° r the y be nea % together. The one that raises the other may be above, below, or,on a level with the latter; both may be conveyed m pipes along or under'the surface of the ground, and in any direction : the only condition required is, that the perpendicular 46 IP No. 163. Heron’s Fountain. 362 Pressure Engine at Chemnitz. [Book III distance between the upper and lower orifices of the pipe in which the motive column flows, shall be equal to the force required to raise the other to the proposed elevation. A pressure engine on the principle of Heron’s fountain, erected by M. Hoell in 1755, to raise water from one of the mines in Hungary, has long been celebrated. In the vicinity of one of the shafts at Chemnitz, there is a hill upon which is a spring of water, one hundred and forty feet above the mouth of the shaft. This spring furnishes more water than that which rises at the bottom of the mine, which is one hundred and four feet below the mouth of the shaft. The water in the mine is raised by means of that on the hill by an apparatus similar to the one figured in the annexed cut. A represents a strong copper vessel eight feet and a half high, five feet diameter, and two inches thick. A large cock marked 3 is inserted near the bottom, and a smaller one 2 near the top. From this vessel a pipe D, two inches in dia¬ meter, reaches down and is connected to the top of the vessel B at the bottom of the shaft. This vessel is smaller than the upper one, being six feet and a half high, four feet diameter, and two inches thick, and of the same material as the other. A pipe E, four inches diameter, rises from near the bottom of B to the surface of the ground, where it discharges the water. The pipe C conveys the water from the spring on the hill; it is also four inches diameter, and descends to near the bottom of A. It is furnished with a cock 1. Water is admitted into B through a cock 4, or a valve opening inwards, which closes when B is filled. The vessel A is sup¬ posed to be empty, or rather filled with air, and its two cocks shut. The cock 1 is then opened, when the water rushing into A con¬ denses the air within it and the pipe D, and this air pressing on the water in B, forces.it up the pipe E. As soon as it ceases to flow' through E, the cock 1 is shut and 2 and 3 are opened, when the water in A is discharged at 3. The cock or valve at the bottom of B is opened, and the water entering drives the air up D into A where it escapes at 2. The operation is then repeated as before. If, when water ceases to run at E, the cock 2 be opened, both water and air rush out of it together, and with such violence that the liquid is, by the generation of cold consequent on the sudden expansion of the con¬ densed air, converted into hail or pellets of ice. This fact is generally shown to strangers, who are usually invited to hold their hats in front of the cock so as to receive the blast; when the hail issues with such violence, as frequently to pierce the hats, like pistol bullets. This mode of pro¬ ducing ice was known to the marquis of Worcester, who refers to it in the eighteenth proposition of hisCentury of Inventions, relating to an “ artifi¬ cial fountain, holding great quantity of water, and of force sufficient to make snow, ice, and thunder.” Some additions to the machine at Chem¬ nitz, by which it might be rendered self-acting, were proposed in 1796. They consisted of small vessels suspended from levers that were secured 363 Chap. 9.] Wirtz's Pump. to the shanks of the cocks, which they opened and shut in the same man¬ ner as shown in No. 160. A similar contrivance may be seen in several old authors it is in the Spiritalia: Decaus, Fludd, Moxon and Switzer have all given figures of it. The quantity of water raised from the shaft compared with that expended from the spring was as 42 to 100. By arranging a series of vessels above each other and connecting them by pipes as in No. 163, water may be raised to almost any height, in lo¬ cations that have the advantage of a small fall. The distance between the vessels not exceeding the perpendicular descent of the motive column, which last is made to transmit its force to each vessel in succession—forc¬ es the contents of one into the next above, and so on. Such a machine is interesting as showing the extent to which the principle of Heron’s fountain may be applied, but for practical purposes it is of little value. It is too complex (if made self-acting) and too expensive for common use ; and it is far inferior to the water ram. It was described by Dr. Darwin, in his Pkytologia, to which modern writers generally refer, but it is an old affair. It is figured by Moxon in his “Mechanick Powers,” Lon. 1696, and is mentioned by older authors. It is substantially the same as the double fountain of Heron, as found in the Spiritalia and the works of most writers on hydraulics. By far the most novel and interesting modification of Heron’s fountain was devised in the year 1746 by H. A. Wirtz, a Swiss pewterer or tin¬ plate worker of Zurich. It is sometimes named a spiral pump, and was made to raise water for a dye house in the vicinity of that city. What the circumstances were that led Wirtz to its invention we are not informed— whether it was suggested by some incident, or was the result of reasoning alone. It is represented in the illustrations Nos. 165 and 166, the first being a section and the latter an external view. No, 165. Section of Wirtz’* Pump. No. 166. View of Wirtz’a Pump. Wirtz’s machine consists either of a helical or a spiral pipe. As the former it is coiled round in one plane as A B C D E F in No. 165. As a spiral it is arranged round the circumference of a cone or cylinder, and then resembles the worm of a still. The interior end at G is united by a water tight joint to the ascending pipe H. See No. 166. The open end 364 Wirtz’s Pump. [Book III. of the coil is enlarged so as to form a scoop. When the machine, im¬ mersed in water as represented, is turned in the direction of the arrow, the water in the scoop, as the latter emerges, passes along the pipe driv¬ ing the air before it into G H, where it escapes. At the next revolution both air and water enter the scoop ; the water is driven along the tube as before, but is separated from the first portion by a column of air of nearly equal length. By continuing the motion of the machine another portion of water and another of air will be introduced. The body of water in each coil will have both its ends horizontal, and the included air will be of about its natural density ; but as the diameters of the coils diminish to¬ wards the centre, the column of water which occupied a semicircle in the outer coil, will occupy more and more of the inner ones as they approach the centre G, till there will be a certain coil, of which it will occupy a complete turn. Hence it will occupy more than the entire space within this coil, and consequently the water will run back over the top of the succeeding coil, into the right hand side of the next one and push the water within it backwards and raise the other end. As soon as the water rises in the pipe G IT, the escape of air is prevented when the scoop takes in its next quantity of water. Here, then, are two columns of water acting against each other by hydrostatic pressure, and the intervening co¬ lumn of air. They must compress the air between them, and the water and air columns will now be unequal. This will have a general tendency to keep the whole water back and cause it to be higher on the left or ris¬ ing side of each coil, than on the other. The excess of height will be just such as produces the compression of the air between that and the preced¬ ing column of water. This will go on increasing as the water mounts in H. Now at whatever height the water in H may be, it is evident that the air in the small column next to it will always be compressed with the weight of the water in H—an equal force must therefore be exerted by the water in the coils to support the column in H. This force is the sum of all the differences between the elevation of the inner ends of the water in each coil above the outer ends; and the height to which the water will rise in H will be just equal to this sum. Dr. Gregory observes that the principles on which the theory of this machine depends are confessedly intricate ; but when judiciously constructed, it is very powerful and effec¬ tive in its operation. It has not been ascertained whether the helical or spiral form is best. Some of these machines were erected in Florence in 1778. In 1784, one was made at Archangelsky, that raised a hogshead of water in a minute to an elevation of seventy-four feet, and through a pipe seven hundred and sixty feet long. See Gregory’s Mechanics, vol. ii. It perhaps may facilitate an understanding of this curious machine, by remarking that the pressure exerted by the column of water in one side of each coil is proportioned to its length, and that this pressure is- transmit¬ ted, through the column of air between them, to that of the next: the com¬ bined force of both is then made to act, by the revolution of the tubes, upon the third column, and so on, till the accumulated force of them all is communicated to the water in H; and hence the elevation to which water can be thus raised, can never exceed the sum of the altitudes of the liquid columns in the coils. END OF THE THIRD BOOK. BOOK IY. MACHINES FOR RAISING WATER, (CHIEFLY OF MODERN ORIGIN 1 INCLUDING EARLY APPLICATIONS OF STEAM FOR J THAT PURPOSE. CHAPTER I. °r?; f the ,0Wer ^als-Some animals aware that force is increased by the space through ich a body moves Birds drop shell fish from great elevations to break the shells-Death of .Eschylus Combats between the males of sheep and goats—Military ram of the ancients—Water rams—Waves -Momentum acqu.red by running water-Examples-Whitehurst’s machine-Hydraulic ram of Mont¬ golfier —* 1 Canne hydraulique” and its modifications. Of the machines appropriated to the fourth division of this work, (see page S,) centrifugal pumps and a few others have already been described. 1 here remain to be noticed, the water ram, canne hydraulique, and de¬ vices for raising water by means of steam and other elastic fluids. j j 16 Vari ° US °P erat i ons °f the lower animals were investigated, a thou¬ sand devices that are practised by man would be met with, and probably a thousand more of which we yet know nothing. Even the means by which they defend themselves and secure their food or their prey, are calculated to impart useful information. Some live by stratagem, laying concealed till their unsuspecting victims approach within reach—others di°- pitfalls to entrap them ; and others again fabricate nets to entangle them, and coat the threads with a glutinous substance resembling the birdlime of the fowler. . Some species distill poison and slay their victims by infusing it into their blood; while others, relying on their muscular energy, suffocate their prey in their embraces and crush both body and bones into a pulpy mass. 1 he tortoise draws himself into his shell as into a fortress and bids uefiance to his foes; and the porcupine erects around his body an array of bayonets from which his enemies retire with dread. The strength of the ox the buffalo and rhinoceros is in their necks, and which they apply with resistless force to gore .and toss their enemies. The elephant by his weight treads his foes to death; and the horse by a kick inflicts a wound that is often as fatal as the bullet of a rifle ; the space through which his foot passes, adding force to the blow. 1 here are numerous proofs of some of the lower animals being aware that the momentum of a moving body is increased by the space through which it falls. Of several species of birds which feed on shell fish, some, when enable to crush the shells with their bills, carry them up in the air, and let them drop that they may be broken by the fall. (The Athe¬ nian poet iEschylus, it is said, was killed by a tortoise that an eagle drop¬ ped upon Ins bald head, which the bird, it ie^ supposed, mistook for a stone.) 366 Momentum of Running Water. [Book IV When the males of sheep or goats prepare to butt, they always recede backwards to some distance ; and then rushing impetuously forward, (ac¬ cumulating force as they go,) bring their foreheads in contact with a shock that sometimes proves fatal to both. The ancients, perhaps, from witness ing the battles of these animals, constructed military engines to act on the same principle. A ponderous beam was suspended at the middle by chains, and one end impelled, by the united efforts of a number of men at the op¬ posite end, against walls which it demolished with slow but sure effect. The battering end was generally, and with the Greeks and Romans uni¬ formly, protected by an iron or bronze cap in the form of a ram’s head ; and the entire instrument was named after that animal. It was the most destructive of all their war machinery—no building, however solid, could long withstand its attacks. Plutarch, in his life of Anthony, mentions one eighty feet in length. The action of the ram is familiar to most people, but it may not be known to all that similar results might be produced by a liquid as by a solid —that a long column of water moving with great velocity might be made equally destructive as a beam of wood or iron—yet so it is. Waves of the sea act as water-rams against rocks or other barriers that impede their progress, and when their force is increased by storms of wind, the most solid structures give way before them. The old lighthouse on the Eddy- stone rocks was thus battered down during a storm in 1703, when the engineer, Mr. Winstanley, and all his people, perished. The increased force that water acquires when its motion is accelerated, might be shown by a thousand examples : a bank or trough that easily retains it when at rest, or when slightly moved, is often insufficient when its velocity is greatly increased. When the deep lock of a canal is opened to transfer a boat or a ship to a lower level, the water is permitted to de¬ scend by slow degrees: were the gates opened at once, the rushing mass would sweep the gates below before it, or the greater portion would be carried in the surge quite over them-—and perhaps the vessel also. A sluggish stream drops almost perpendicularly over a precipice, but the mo¬ mentum of a rapid one shoots it over, and leaves, as at Niagara, a wide space between. It is the same with a stream issuing from a horizontal tube—if the liquid pass slowly through, it falls inertly at the orifice, but if its velocity be considerable, the jet is carried to a distance ere it touches the ground. The level of a great part of Holland is below the surface of the sea, and the dykes are in some parts thirty feet high : whenever a leak occurs, the greatest efforts are made to repair it immediately, and for the obvious reason that the aperture keeps enlarging and the liquid mass behind is put in motion towards it; thus the pressure is increased and, if the leak be not stopped, keeps increasing till it bears with irresistable force all obstructions away. A fatal example is recorded in the ancient history of Holland :—an ignorant burgher, hear Dort, to be revenged on a neighbour, dug a hole through the dyke opposite the house of the latter, intending to close it after his neighbor’s property had been destroyed; but the water rushed through with an accelerating force, till all resistance was vain, and the whole country became deluged. The ancients were well aware of this accumulation of force in running waters. Allusions to it are very common among the oldest writers, and various maxims of life were drawn from it. The beginning of strife, says Solomon, “ is as when one letteth out water”—the “ breach of waters”—“ breaking forth of waters”—“rushing of mighty waters,” &c. are frequently mentioned, to indicate the irresistable influence of desolating evils when once admitted. That the force which a running stream thus acquires may be made to 367 Chap. 1.] Hydraulic Ram. drive a portion of the liquid far above the source whence it flows, is obvi¬ ous from several operations in nature. During a storm of wind, long swelling waves in the open sea alternately rise and fall, without the crests or tops of any being elevated much above those of the rest; but when they meet from opposite directions, or when their progress is suddenly arrested by the bow of a ship, by rocks, or other obstacles, part of the water is driven to great elevations. There is a fine example of this at the Eddystone rocks—the heavy swells from the Bay of Biscay and from the Atlantic, roll in and break with inconceivable fury upon them, so that vo¬ lumes of water are thrown up with terrific violence, and the celebrated light-house sometimes appears from this cause like the pipe of a fountain enclosed in a stupendous jet d'eau. The light room in the old light-house was sixty feet above the sea, and it was often buried in the waves, so im¬ mense were the volumes of water thrown over it. The hydraulic ram raises water on precisely the same principle : a quantity of the liquid is set in motion through an inclined tube, and its es¬ cape from the lower orifice is made suddenly to cease, when the momen¬ tum of the moving mass drives up, like the waves, a portion of its own volume to an elevation much higher than that from which it descended. This may be illustrated by an experiment familiar to most people. Sup¬ pose the lower orifice of a tube (whose upper one is connected to a reser¬ voir of water) be closed with the finger, and a very minute stream be al¬ lowed to escape from it in an upward direction—the tiny jet would rise nearly to the surface of the reservoir; it could not, of course, ascend higher—but if the finger were then moved to one side so as to allow a free escape till the whole contents of the tube were rapidly moving to the exit, and the orifice then at once contracted or closed as before, & the jet would dart far above the reservoir; for in addition to the hydrostatic pres¬ sure which drove it up in the first instance, there would be a new force acting upon it, derived from the motion of the water. As in the case of a hammer of a few pounds weight, when it rests on the anvil it exerts a pressure on the latter with a force due to its weight only, but when put in motion by the hand of the smith, it descends with a force that is equiva¬ lent to the pressure of perhaps a ton. Every person accustomed to draw water from pipes that are supplied from very elevated sources, must have observed, when the cocks or dis¬ charging orifices are suddenly closed, a jar or tremor communicated to the pipes, and a snapping sound like that from smart blows of a hammer. These effects are produced by blows which the ends of the pipes receive from the water; the liquid particles in contact with the plug of a cock, when it is turned to stop the discharge, being forcibly driven up against it by those constituting the moving mass behind. The philosophical instrument named a water hammer illustrates this fact. The effect is much the same as if a solid rod moved with the same velocity as the water through the tube until its progress was stopped in the same manner, except that its mo¬ mentum would be concentrated on that point of the pipe against which it struck, whereas with the liquid rod the momentum would be communi¬ cated equally to, and might be transmitted from any part of, the lower end of the tube; hence it often occurs that the ends of such pipes, when made of lead, are swelled greatly beyond their original dimensions. We have seen some f of an inch bore, become enlarged to 1 \ inches before they were ruptured. At a hospital in Bristol, England, a plumber was employed to convey water through a leaden pipe from a cistern in one of the upper stories to the kitchen below, and it happened that the lower end of the tube was burst nearly every time the cock was used. After several at- 368 Whitehurst's Water-Ram. [Book IV. tempts to remedy the evil, it was determined to solder one end of a smaller pipe immediately behind the cock, and to carry the other end to as high a level as the water in the cistern; and now it was found that on shutting the cock the pipe did not burst as before, but a jet of considerable height was forced from the upper end of this new pipe : it therefore became ne¬ cessary to increase its height to prevent water escaping from it—upon which it was continued to the top of the hospital, being twice the height of the supplying cistern, but where to the great surprise of those who constructed the work, some water still issued : a cistern was therefore placed to receive this water, which was found very convenient, since it was thus raised to the highest floors of the building without any extra labor. Here circumstances led the workmen to the construction of a water- ram without knowing that such a machine had been previously devised. The first person who is known to have raised water by a ram, designed for the purpose was, Mr. Whitehurst, a watchmaker of Derby, in England. He erected a machine similar to the one represented by the next figure, in 1772. A description of it was forwarded by him to the Royal Society, and published in vol. lv, of their Transactions. A, represents the spring or reservoir, the surface of the water in which was of about the same level as the bottom of the cistern B. The main pipe from A to the cock at the end of C, was nearly six hundred feet in length, and one and a half inches bore. The cock was sixteen feet below A, and furnished water for the kitchen offices, &c. When it was opened the liquid column in A C was put in motion, and acquired a velocity due to a fall of sixteen feet; and as soon as the cock was shut, the momentum of this long column opened the valve, upon which part of the water rushed into the air-vessel and up the vertical pipe into B. This effect took place every time the cock was used, and as water was drawn from it at short intervals for household purposes, “ from morning till night—all the days in the year,” an abundance was raised into B, without any exertion or expense. Such was the first water-ram. As an original device, it is highly honor¬ able to the sagacity and ingenuity of its author; and the introduction of an air vessel, without which all apparatus of the kind could never be made durable, strengthens his claims upon our regard. In this machine he has shown that the mere act of drawing water from long tubes for ordinary purposes, may serve to raise a portion of their contents to a higher level; an object that does not appear to have been previously attempted, or even thought of. The device also exhibits another mode, besides that by pressure engines, of deriving motive force from liquids thus drawn, and consequently opens another way by which the immense power ex¬ pended in raising water for the supply of cities, may again be given Chap. 1.] Montgolfier's Ram. 369 out with the liquid from the lateral pipes. Notwithstanding the advan- ages derived from such an apparatus, under circumstances similar to those indicated by the figure, it does not appear to have elicited the at¬ tention of engineers, nor does Whitehurst himself seem to have been aware ot us adaptation as a substitute for forcing pumps, in locations where the water drawn from the cock was not required, or could not be used. Had 6 P ur ® ued the sub J e ct, it is probable the idea of opening and closing the cock (by means of the water that escaped) with some such apparatus as figured m No 160, would have occurred to him, and then lTm‘chi„“ being made self-acting, would have been applicable in a thousand loca- Uons. hut these additions were not made, and the consequence was, that the invention was neglected, and but for the one next to be described it would most likely have passed into oblivion, like the steam machines of lanca, Kircher, and Decaus, till called forth by the application of the same principle in more recent devices. Whenever we peruse accounts of the labors of ingenious men, in search ot new discoveries in science or the arts, sympathy leads us to rejoice at .heir success and to grieve at their failure : like the readers of a well written novel who enter into the views, feelings and hopes of the hero • realize his disappointments, partake of his pleasures, and become interested in his late; hence something like regret comes over us, when an indus¬ trious experimenter, led by his researches to the verge of an important discovery, is, by some circumstance diverted (perhaps temporarily) from it;_ and a more fortunate or more sagacious rival steps in and bears off the prize from his grasp—a prize, which a few steps more would have nut him in possession of. Thus Whitehurst with the water-ram, like Papin with the steam-engine, discontinued his researches at the most interesting point at the very turning of the tide that would have carried him to the goaf; and hence the fruit of both their labors has contributed but to en¬ hance the glory of their successors. The Belier hydraulique of Montgolfier was invented in 1796. (Its au¬ thor was a French paper maker, and the same gentleman who, in conjunc¬ tion with his brother, invented balloons in 1782.) Although it is on the principle of Whitehurst’s machine, its invention is believed to have been entirely independent of the latter. But if it were even admitted that - Montgolfier was acquainted with what Whitehurst had done, still he has y his improvements, made the ram entirely his own. He found it a comparatively useless device, and he rendered it one of the most efficient it was neglected or forgotten, and he not only revived it, but gave it a permanent place among hydraulic machines, and actually made it the most interesting of them all. It was, previous to his time, but an embryo- when, like another Prometheus, he not only wrought it into shape and eaut y, but imparted to it, as it were, a principle of life, that rendered its movements self-acting ; for it requires neither the attendance of man, nor any thing else, to keep it in play, but the momentum of the water ’it is employed to elevate. Like the organization of animal life, and the me- c amsm by which the blood circulates, the pulsations of this admirable machine incessantly continue day and night, for months and years: while nothing but a deficiency of the liquid, or defects in the apparatus can in- nf W L V*’ com P ared to Whitehurst’s, what the steam-engine of Watt is to that of Savary or Newcomen. g ontgolfier positively denied having borrowed the idea from any one— he claimed the invention as wholly his own^and there is no reason what- ° < i ue ®^ 10 ? ver &city. The same discoveries have often been, and 8 aie, ma e in t e same and in distant countries, independently of each 47 370 Montgolfier's [Book IV other. It is a common occurrence, and from the constitution of the hu¬ man mind will always be one. A patent was taken out in England for self-acting rams in 1797 by Mr. Boulton, the partner of Watt, and as no reference was made in the specification to Montgolfier, many persons ima¬ gined them to be of English origin, a circumstance that elicited some re¬ marks from their author. “ Cette invention (says Montgolfier) n’est point d’origine Anglaise, elle appartient toute entiere a la France; je declare que j’en suis le seul inventeur, et que l’idee ne m’en a ete fournie par personne; il est vrai qu’un de mes amis a fait passer, avec mon agrement, a MM. Watt et Boulton, copie de plusieurs dessins que j’avais faits de cette machine, avec un me moire detaille sur ses applications. Ce sont res memcs dessins qui ont ete fidelement copies dans la patente prise par M. Boulton a Londres, en date du 13 JDecembre 1797; ce qui est une verite dont il est bien eloigne de disconvenir, ainsi que le respectable M. Watt.” We have inserted this extract from Hachette, because we really supposed on reading the specification of Boulton’s patent in the Repertory of Arts, (for 1798, vol. ix,) that the various modifications of the ram there des¬ cribed were the invention of that gentleman. The patent was granted to “ Matthew Boulton, for his invention of improved apparatus and methods for raising water and other fluids.” No. 168. Montgolfier’* Ram. No. 169. The same. No. 168 represents a simple form of Montgolfier’s ram. The motive column descends from a spring or brook A through the pipe B, near the end of which an air chamber D[, and rising main F, are attached to it as shown in the cut. At the extreme end of B, the orifice is opened and closed by a valve E, instead of the cock in No. 167. This valve opens downwards and may either be a spherical one as in No. 168, or a common spindle one as in No. 169. It is the play of this valve that renders the machine self-acting. To accomplish this, the valve is made of, or loaded with, such a weight as just to open when the water in B is at rest; i. e. it must be so heavy as to overcome the pressure against its under side when closed, as represented at No. 169. Now suppose this valve open as in No. 168, the water flowing through B soon acquires an additional force that carries up the valve against its seat; then, as in shutting the cock of Whitehurst’s machine, a portion of the water will enter and rise in F, the valve of the air chamber preventing its return. When this has taken place the water in B has been brought to rest, and as in that state its pressure is insufficient to sustain the weight of the valve, E opens; (descends) the water in B is again put in motion, and again it closes E as before, when another portion is driven into the air vessel and pipe F ; and thus the Water-Ram. Chap. l.J Water-Ram. 3 7 j operation is continued, as long as the spring affords a sufficient supply and the apparatus remains in order. - ^ J The surface of the water in the spring or source should always be kept at the same elevation, so that its pressure against the valve E may always be uniform-otherwise the weight of E would have to be altered as the sui face of the spring rose and fell. This beautiful machine may be adapted to numerous locations in every country. M hen the perpendicular fall from the spring to the valve E is mt a few feet and the water is required to be raised to a considerable height through F, then, the length of the ram or pipe B, must be in¬ creased, and to such an extent that the water in it is not forced back into the spring when E closes, which will always be the case if B is not of sufficient length. Mr. Millington, who erected several in England, justly observes that a very insignificant pressing column is capable of raisino-a very high ascending one, so that a sufficient fall of water maybe obtained m almost every running brook, by damming the upper end to produce the -eservoir and carrying the pipe down the natural channel of the stream until a sufficient fall is obtained. In this way a ram has been made to raise one hundred hogsheads of water in twenty-four hours to a perpendicular i g r °[™ e J™ dred ,T* thirt J- four feet > by a fall of only four feet and a hall. M. hischer of Schaffhausen, constructed a water-ram in the form of a beautiful antique altar, nearly in the style of that of Esculapius as represented m various engravings. A basin about six inches in depth, and Irom eighteen to twenty inches in diameter, received the water that formed the motive column. I his water flowed through pipes three inches in di¬ ameter that descended in a spiral form into the base of the altar; on the valve opening a third of the water escaped, and the rest was forced up to a castle several hundred feet above the level of the Rhine. A long tube laid along the edge of a rapid river, as the Niagara above the falls, or the Mississippi, might thus be used instead of pumps, water vv heels, steam-engines and horses, to raise the water over the highest banks and supply inland towns, however elevated their location might be; and there is scarcely a farmer in the land but who might, in the absence of other sources, furnish his dwelling and barns with water in the same way, from a brook, creek, rivulet or pond. If' a ram of large dimensions, and made like No. 168, be used to raise water to a great elevation, it would be subject to an inconvenience that would soon destroy the beneficial effect of the air chamber. When speak¬ ing of the air vessels of fire-engines, in the third book, we observed that if air be subjected to great pressure in contact with water, it in time be¬ comes incorporated with or absorbed by the latter. As might be supposed, the same thing occurs in water-rams; as these when used are inces¬ santly at work both day and night. To remedy this, Montgolfier ingehi- ously adapted a very small valve (opening inwards) to the pipe beneath the air chamber, and which was opened and shut by the ordinary action of the machine. Thus, when the flow of the water through B is suddenly stop¬ ped by the valve E, a partial vacuum is produced immediately below the air chamber by the recoil of the wate^, at which instant the small valve opens and a portion of air enters and sppplies that which the water ab¬ sorbs. feometimes this snifting valve, as it has been named, is adapted to another chamber immediately below' that which forms the reservoir of air, as at B in No. 169. In small rams a sufficient supply is found to enter at the valve E. t v J Although air chambers or vessels are not, strictly speaking, constituent e ements of water-rams, they are indispensable to the permanent operation 372 Came Hydraulique [Book IV. of these machines. Without them, the pipes would soon be ruptured by the violent concussion consequent on the sudden stoppage of the efflux of the motive column. They perform a similar part to that of the bags of wool, &c. which the ancients, when besieged, interposed between their walls and the battering rams of the besiegers, in order to break the force of the blows. The ram has also been used in a few cases to raise water by atmos¬ pheric pressure from a lower level, so as to discharge it at the same level with the motive column or even higher. See Siphon Ram, in next book. The device by which Montgolfier made the ram self-acting, is one of the neatest imaginable. It is unique : there never was any thing like it in practical hydraulics, or in the whole range of the arts ; and its simpli¬ city is equal to its novelty, and useful effects. Perhaps it may be said that he only added a valve to Whitehurst’s machine : be it so—but that sim¬ ple valve instantly changed, as by magic, the whole character of the ap¬ paratus—like the mere change of the cap, which transformed the Leech Hakim into Saladin.® And the emotions of Cceur de Lion, upon finding his great adversary had been his physician in disguise, were not more ex¬ quisite than those, which an admirer of this department of philosophy ex¬ periences, when he contemplates for the first time the metamorphosis of the English machine by the French Savan. The name of Montgolfier will justly be associated with this admirable machine in future ages. When all political and ecclesiastical crusaders 'are forgotten, and the me¬ mories of all who have hewed a passage to notoriety merely by the sword, will be detested—the name of its inventor will be embalmed in the recol¬ lections of an admiring posterity. The water cane, or canne hydraulique, raises water in a different man¬ ner from any apparatus yet described. A modification of it in miniature has long been employed in the lecture room, but it is seldom met with in descriptions of hydraulic machines. It is represented at No. 170 ; and consists of a vertical tube, in out¬ ward appearance like a walking cane, having a valve opening up¬ wards at the bottom, and placed in the liquid to be raised. Sup¬ pose the lower end twelve or fif¬ teen inches below the surface, the water of course would enter through the valve and stand at the same height within as with¬ out : now if the tube were raised quickly, but not entirely out of the water, the valve would close and the liquid within would be carried up with it; and if, when the tube was at the highest point of the stroke, its motion was sud¬ denly reversed (by jerking it back) the liquid column within would still continue to ascend until the momentum imparted to it at the first was expended ; hence a va¬ cuity would be left in the lower part of the instrument into which a fresh portion of water would enter, and by repeating the operation the * Walter Scott’s Tales of the Crusaders. No. 170 No. 17L No. 172. Chap. l.J And its Modifications. 373 tube would become filled, and a jet of water would then be thrown from the upper orifice at every stroke. This effect obviously depends upon the rapidity with which the instrument is worked, i. e. a sufficient velocity must be given to the water by the upward stroke to prevent it descend¬ ing till the tube again reaches the lowest point, and consequently receives another supply of water. The instrument should be straight and the bore smooth and uniform that the liquid may glide through with the least pos- si ile obstruction. As its length must be equal to the elevation to which the water is to be raised, it is necessarily of limited application, and espe¬ cially so since the whole (both water and apparatus) has to be lifted at every stroke—not merely the liquid that is discharged, but the whole contents of the machine. By making the upper part of the tube slide within another that is fixed a short part only of the apparatus might then be moved, and by connect¬ ing an air chamber as in No. 171, a continual stream from the discharging orifice might be produced. A stuffing box should be adapted to the end of the fixed tube. Hachette suggested the application of a spring pole (like those used m old lathes) to communicate the quick reciprocating mo¬ tion which these machines require. No. 172 represents another form of the instrument. Two spiral tubes coiled round in opposite directions are secured to and moved by a verti¬ cal shaft. i heir upper ends are united and terminate in one discharging orifice; the lower ones are enlarged, and each has a valve or clack opening inwards to retain the water that enters. By means of the handle A, which is mortised to the shaft, an alternating circular motion is im¬ parted to the whole and the water thereby raised through these coiled tubes on precisely the same principle ns through the perpendicular ones just desenhed. Thus, when the handle is moved either to the right hand or to the left, one valve closes, and the water within receives an impulse that continues its motion along the tube after the movement of the latter is reversed ; and by the time its momentum is expended a fresh portion of water has entered that prevents its return. In this manner all the coils become filled, and then every additional supply that enters below drives before it an equal portion from the orifice above. This machine, there- ore differs from Nos. 170 and 171 only, in being adapted to a horizon¬ tal instead of a perpendicular movement. Each tube in the figure forms a distinct machine, and should be considered without reference to the other 1 heir discharging onfiees are united to show how a constant jet may be produced. By making the upper part turn in a stuffing box in the bottom ot a hxed tube, as in No. 171, water might then be raised higher than the movable part of the apparatus. That property by which all bodies tend to continue either in a state of rest or motion, viz: inertia , increases the effect of these machines, for when the momentum imparted to the liquid in the tubes is exhausted, inertia alone prevents * from instantaneously flowing back, and hence there is time tor an additional portion of water to enter at the valve. The action cl the eanne hydraulique is similar to that by which persons throw water to a distance from a bucket, or a wash-basin. The momentum given to these vessels and their contents carries the latter to a distance, while the ormer are held back or retained in the hands. Coals are thus thrown from a scuttle, earth from a shovel, and it is the same when a traveler on a ga oping horse or when drawn furiously in an open carriage, continues lls .J out,n ^7 . a ter t ^ ie suddenly stops—his adhesion to his seat, evdt being sufficient to resist the motal inertia of his body. 374 Machines for Raising Water by Fire. [Book \V * CHAPTER II. Machines for raising water by fire: Air machines—Ancient weather-glasses—Dilatation, of air by heat and condensation by cold—Ancient Egyptian air-machines—Statue of Metunon—Statues of Serapis anti the Bird of Meinnon—Decaus’ and Kircher’s machinery to account for the sounds of the- Theban Idol— Remarks on the Statue of Memnon—Machine for raising water by the sun's heat, from Heron—Similar machines in the sixteenth century—Air-machines by Porta and Decaus—Distilling by the sun’s heat— Mu¬ sical air machines by Drebble and Decaus—Air machines acted on by ordinary fire—Modifications of them, employed in ancient altars—Bronze altars—Tricks performed by the heathen priests with fire—Others by heated air and vapor—Bellows employed in ancient altars—Tricks performed at altars mentioned by Heron—Altar that feeds itself with flame, from Horon—Ingenuity displayed by ancient priests—Secrets of the temples—The Spiritalia—Sketch of its contents—Curious Lustral Vase, A separate book might with propriety have been devoted to machines which raise water through tubes by means of the weight, pressure, mo¬ mentum, or other natural properties of liquids, without the necessary in¬ tervention of wheels, cranks, levers, &c. With such, those now to be described might also have been classed, since they too require neither external machinery nor force. They differ however from pressure- engines and water-rams, and every other device yet noticed, in bringing into action a new element, viz. heat or fire. It is by this that the force upon which their movements depend is generated, viz. in the expansion of elastic fluids. There are two kinds of these machines which difler ac¬ cording to the fluid medium upon which the fire is made to act. In some this is common air, in others steam or vapor of water, and sometimes both, steam and air have been employed. The present chapter is appropriated to air machines. These might be divided into two classes, according to the nature of the heat employed ; in some- this is derived from the sun in others, from ordinary fire. Those in each class might also be arrang¬ ed according to that property of the air upon which their action depends, viz. 1. the force developed by its expansion; 2. the vacuum formed by its condensation ; 3. those in which both are combined'. The first might be compared to forcing pumps, the,second to sucking or atmospheric ones,, and the third to those which both suck and force up the water. It was observed in the second book (page 176) that all gases or airs are expanded by heat and contracted by cold. A proof of this is afforded by the usual mode of employing cupping-glasses ; a minute piece of cot¬ ton or sponge dipped in alcohol is inflamed and placed in a glass; upon which the air becomes dilated or increased in hulk, so that a great part is driven out to make room for the rest; the mouth of the instrument is then applied to the place from which blood is to. be withdrawn; the flame of the cotton is thereby extinguished' and as the remaining air becomes cool it cannot resume its previous state of density, and consequently a vacuity or void is left in the glass. Plumbers sometimes make small square boxes of sheet lead; and on soldering in the covers the temperature of the contained air is so greatly increased, that before the soldering is completed a large portion is expelled, and when the boxes become cool every side is found slightly collapsed. This result is the required proof of the ves- Chap. 2.] Dilatability of Air by Heat. 375 sels being tl ^ t * . ^. ow 11 * s clear that if a communication was opened bv a tube between the interior of one of these boxes and a vessel of water placed a few feet below, that the liquid would be forced into it (bv the atmosphere) until the contained air occupied no greater space than it did before any part was driven out by the heat. This mode of raising liquids may be il ustrated at the tea-table : Let a saucer be half filled wii,h cold water hold an inverted cup just over it and apply for a moment a small s p of lighted paper to the interior of the cup, drop the paper on the water and cover it with the cup, when the liquid contents of the saucer Tr* be lnStantl y ^ orce d U P lnt0 the inverted vessel, f an inverted glass siphon be partly filled with water and the orifice of one eg be then closed and that leg be held to the fire, the air expand¬ ing will drive out the liquid and cause it to ascend in the other leg. Several philosophical instruments illustrate the same thing. Previous to the discovery of atmospheric pressure and the invention of the barometer the expansion of air by heat was the principle upon which the ancient weather glasses were constructed. They were made in great variety. he simplest consisted of a glass tube having a bulb blown on the closed end. It was held over a fire to dilate the air, and the open end was then plunged into a vessel cf water. Its construction was the same as the modern barometer. Variations in the temperature and density of the atmosphere caused the water to rise and fall in the tube, as the contained air was dilated and contracted, and thus changes in the weather were indicated. From these instruments the barometer received its former name of the weather glass.” 3 - The degree of elevation to which water can be thus raised depends upon the temperature to which the contained air is subjected ; its dilatation or increase of bulk being, according to some authors, in common with * The following extract from a book published ten years before the discovery of at¬ mospheric pressure, may interest some readers. Although the instruments to which it refers are no longer in use, they ought, not to be entirely forgotten. “A weather-glasse is a structure of at the least two glasses [a tube and the vessel containing the water] sometunes of three, foure, or more as occasion serveth, inclosing nf ter ’ f"? . S P ° rCI0U of a >' er proporcionable; by whose condensacion or ran faction the included water is subject unto a continual mocion, either upward or downward ; by which mocion of the water is commonly foreshown, the state, change. r° f weather11 s Peak no more than what my own experience hath made me bold to affirm ; you may (the time of the year, and the following observacions nnderstaiidingly considered) bee able certainly to foretell the alteracion or uncertainty of Pie weather a good many hours before it come to pass. Iliere are divers severall fashions of weather-glasses, but principally two. 1. The circular g ; asse. 2. The perpendicular glasse. The perpendiculars are either single double or treble. The single perpendiculars are of two sorts, either fixt or moveable: 1 •u. ij arG j ? ontrar > r ; either such whose included water doth move upward wdh cold, and downward wUh heat, or else upward with heat and downward with cold, in the double and treble perpendiculars, as the water ascendeth in one, it descendeth as much or more ra the other. In the moveable perpendiculars, the glasse being artificially hanged, it moveth up and down with the water.” ° Y 1 he author then describes the various kinds mentioned and tells his reader “ if you doe well observe the form of the figures you cannot go amisse.” He also gives directions for making coloured water for the tubes, such as “ may be both an ornament to the work and Sk T , T / e ‘! ise «“ Art A. D. 1033 or 4. See locouni ofthi, dook pa = e A modification of an air-glass may be found in the Forcible Movements ot Uecaus, f plate vui,) which he names an Engine that shall move of itself. Lord Bacon, m whose time these air glasses were common, presented what appears to have been an improved one and of his own invention, to the Earl of Essex, who it is said, was so capti- vated xvith it that he presented the donor with Twickenham Park and its garden, as a p a 0 ,s s uc * es - Tiie instrument was named ‘ A secret curiosity of nature, ichercby to >,noic ic season of everyhour of the year, by a Philosophical Glass, placed (with a smallprupor* twn of water) m a chamber. An account of Lord Bacon’s Works, London, 1672. 376 Air Machines. [Book IV. other permanently elastic fluids, in a geometrical progression to equal in¬ crements of heat. A volume of air at ordinary temperatures is increased over one third, if raised to 212° Fahrenheit. At the fusing point of lead (about 600°) it is more than doubled, and at the heat ol 1100°, it would be tripled. Let a small glass tube be attached to the neck of a Florence flask, and heat both in boiling water; if the end of the tube be then placed in mercury, the latter will as the air becomes cooled rise in the tube, to the height of ten inches—equal to about eleven feet of water. If they were heated to 600° it would rise to fifteen inches ; and if to 1100° to twenty- one or two inches. We have connected a tube to the mouth of a common quart bottle, and after heating the latter over a fire, placed the end of the tube in mercury, and on removing the whole to the open air, then at 50°, the mercury in a few minutes rose to sixteen inches; hence rather more than one half of the air had been expelled by the heat. These effects take place when the enclosed air is Ary; but if it be moist, or if a drop or two of water be in the vessel, the results are greater, because the vapor of the liquid would alone fill or nearly fill the vessel and would drive out a corresponding quantity of air. This mode of creating a vacuum and raising water by the dilatation and condensation of air is now seldom used, because superior results, as just intimated, are obtained from steam and with less expense. Air machines are however interesting in several respects. They are among the earliest examples of elastic fluids being employed as a moving power, induced by alternate changes of temperature. They constitute the first link in that chain of devices that has now terminated in the steam engine, but which will probably be prolonged through future ages by the addition of even more efficient mechanism. In this view of the subject, air machines will connect the researches and inventions of antiquity, in the development and applications of the most valuable because most pliable of all motive forces, with every improvement future engineers may make to the end of time. The oldest air-machines known were made in Egypt, and the oldest account extant of such devices is also derived from that country, viz. from the Spiritalia. It is also worthy of remark that they are associated by Heron with other devices of the priesthood, for exciting wonder and per¬ forming prodigies before the people; thus affording a collateral proof that occupants of the ancient temples at Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis were intimately acquainted with the principles of natural philosophy; and fully capable of teaching those who flocked to them for information, from Greece and neighboring countries. There is a circumstance too that indicates a more thorough and practical acquaintance with the me¬ chanical properties of elastic fluids, and the means of exciting those pro¬ perties than might at first be supposed, viz. in the substitution of the sun’s heat for that of ordinary fires. This seems to have been adopted in cases where the miracle to be wrought could not be accomplished by the latter without danger of detection, or when it could not be so secretly effected, or could not be performed with such imposing effect. Of this, the vocal statue on the plain of Thebes is an example. This gi¬ gantic idol saluted the rising sun and continued to utter sounds as long as the solar beams were shed over it, and while surrounded bv the myriads that worshipped at its shi’ine. Now these sounds were produced, accor¬ ding to Heron, by the dilatation of air, or by vapor evolved by the sun’s heat from water contained in close vessels, that were concealed in or con¬ nected to the base of the statue, and exposed to the solar rays. The expanded fluid, it is supposed, was conveyed through tubes whose orifices were fashioned to produce the required sounds. 377 Chap 2.] Statue of Memnon. Cainbyses desirous of ascertaining the concealed mechanism, it is said broke the statue from the head to the middle. According to some writers he discovered nothing; while others mention an opinion prevalent among the Egyptians that the image previously uttered the seven mysterious vowels, but never afterwards. Strabo has recorded a tradition that the in¬ jury was caused by an earthquake. He visited Egypt in the first century and remarks, that early one morning as he and Gallus the prefect, with many other friends, and a large number of soldiers were standing by the statue, they heard a certain sound, but could not determine whether it came from tne trunk or the base; there was however a prevailing belief that it pro¬ ceeded from the latter or its vicinity. The sounds finally ceased in the fourth century, when Christianity became established in the country, ^ome authors have supposed two different devices were employed ; one previous to, and the other subsequent to the mutilation of the statue ’; and that one or both consisted of springs, &c. on the principle of some of the speaking heads of the middle ages. Heron, however, who must have been familiar with the image and the sounds uttered by it, attributed the latter to air or vapor, evolved and expanded by solar heat; so that, how¬ ever we may speculate on the subject, in his opinion the Pharaonic priest¬ hood were well acquainted with the dilatation and contraction of airs by heat and cold, and with various modes of employing them. Moreover, the movements of the famous statue of Serapis and also those of the Bird of Memnon (an image which we have previously mentioned) were also produced by air or vapor dilated by the sun’s heat; and we shall present¬ ly see that tricks on the same principle were frequently performed at an¬ cient altars. Modern expositions of the mechanism or supposed mechanism of the Theban Idol are derived from the Spiritalia. That of Decaus consists of a close vessel, of the form of a pedestal, having a partition across it by which two air-tight compartments are formed. One of these is half filled with water and exposed to the solar rays—the other contains air and to its upper part are connected two organ pipes or reeds that communicate with the statue. A communication is formed between the two compart¬ ments by a siphon, the legs of which are inserted at the top and descend nearly to the bottom of each compartment. Thus when the sun warmed the vessel containing water, the air and vapor within, became expanded and pressing on the surface of the liquid forced part of the latter through the siphon into the other compartment, by which a corresponding portion of atr was forced through the organ pipes. A figure and detaifs of this apparatus form the 23rd plate of Decaus’ Forcible Movements. Pausa- nias and some other ancient authors compared the sounds to those produ¬ ced by the vibration of harp strings; and Juvenal, who was exiled to Egypt by Domitian, seems to have been of the same opinion. - - - when the radiant beam of morning rings On shatter’d Memnon’s still harmonious strings.—xv. Sat. Hence Ivircher in his explanation, instead of conveying the rarefied air, or vapor through a wind instrument, made it act against the vanes of a wheel, as in Branca’s steam machine, and as the wheel was thus blown round, a number of pins attached to its periphery struck a series of wires so arranged as to receive the blows. A figure of this device is inserted m his CEdipus JEgyptiacus. Rome, 1652, Tom. iii, page 326. Whatever the device was, it seems to have been as admirable in its execution and the disposition of the mechanism, as in its conception. We are not ceitain that it was ever fully understood except by the priests of 48 378 Air Machine—From Heron. [Book IV (he adjoining temple. The Romans do not appear to have had sufficient curiosity to give it a critical examination. What a contrast it forms with some modern wonders ! These have puzzled people only while exami¬ nation was prohibited—while access to them was denied, as the chess¬ player of Kempelen ; but the colossal android of Thebes defied the scruti¬ ny of the world through unknown periods of time. In it, the old priests of Egypt have sent down a surprising specimen of their skill. We know from the Bible that they had a profound knowledge of Natural Magic ; i. e. of the applications of science to purposes of deception, and this statue confirms the scriptural account:—it shows us what an amount of labor and ingenuity was expended in the fabrication of idols, and to what a prodigious extent the ancient systems of delusion were carried—how the very magnitude and even sublimity of the impostures were calculated to bear down the intellect and establish an unshaken belief in the communion of the priests with the gods. If a close metallic vessel containing water be exposed to the sun, the air in the upper part will become dilated by the heat and may be employ¬ ed to raise the water: for if a tube be inserted at the top, and the lower end reach nearly to the bottom, the elasticity of the air will be expended in forcing the liquid up the tube and to an elevation according to the increase of its temperature. A device of this kind is described by Heron which is represented in the annexed cut. On the lid of a box or cis¬ tern containing water is placed a globe, also partly filled with the same fluid. A pipe rises from the cistern to about the centre of the globe. Another pipe through which the water is to be raised proceeds from near the bottom of the globe and terminates over a vase or cup, which communicates with the cistern as represented. When the sun beams fall on the globe, the air within is ra¬ refied and by its expansion forces the water through the No. 173. Raising Water by the Sun. Frqm Heron. pipe into the vase, through which it descends again into the cistern. When the sun beams are withdrawn and the surface of the globe becomes cool, a partial vacuum is formed in the globe, and the pressure of the atmosphere then drives a fresh portion into it from the cistern below ; when it is again ready to be acted on by the sun as before. In addition to the air, at first contained in the globe, a quantity of vapor or low steam would be evolved by the heat and contribute greatly to the result. The cistern represents an open reservoir which may be at a dis¬ tance from the globe, and the vase merely exhibits the place of discharge —having no necessary connection with the reservoir. The apparatus as a model, is figured just as philosophical instruments still are. Thus in modern books, a pump (for example) is often shown as discharging water into the reservoir from which it raises it. We make these remarks be¬ cause some persons are too apt to consider these ancient figures as literal representations of working machines, whereas, they were designed merely to illustrate the principles upon which the movements depended ; and as 379 Chap. 2.] Porta's Natural Magic. specimens from which others for practical purposes might be deduced. It is quite a common remark in old authors, after describing a device, to observe that various machines for other purposes may be derived from it, and excuse themselves for not pointing out particular modes of doing this, because they considered them too obvious to require it. Whether such modes of raising water were practised in Europe previ¬ ous to the sixteenth century, we have no means of ascertaining; but in the middle of that and the beginning of the following one they are frequently to be met with in old authors. Baptist Porta, in his Natural Magic, after describing a method of rais¬ ing water from the bottom to the top of a tower, by means of a vacuum formed by water flowing from a close vessel;—next proposes a mode of accomplishing the same object “ by heat alone” A close vessel of brass was to be placed upon the tower, having a pipe connected to its upper part and extending down to the water to be raised ; the orifice being a short distance below the surface. The vessel was then “ to be made hot by the sun, or fire' to rarefy the contained air and expel a portion of it through the pipe. As the vessel grows cold, he observes, the remaining air is condensed, and because it cannot then fill the vacuity, “ the water is called in and ascends thither.” 3 (Book xix. chap. 3.) He does not men¬ tion the height of the tower because the philosophers of that age had no idea tha.t the elevation to which water would ascend into a vacuum had any limits—and hence in another part of the same work Porta uses the following language—“ A vacuum is so abhorred by nature that the world would sooner be pulled asunder than any vacuity can be admitted.” (Book xviii. chap. 1.) There is another passage in the 5th chapter of the 19th Book, from which it seems that he employed the elastice force of air or steam, or a mixture of both as in No. 174—and generated either by the beat of the sun, or by that of lamps or candles, as shown at No. 189. After describing a fountain of compression, which he exhibited to some of the great Lords of Venice, and the operation of which he says caused great surprise as there was no visible cause for the water flying so high— he continues, “ I also made another place near this fountain that let in light, and when the air was extenuated, so long as any light lasted the fountain threw out water, which was a thing of much admiration, and yet but little labor.” This passage is probably imperfectly translated. No. 174, on the next page, forms the 9th plate attached to the “ Forcible Movements” of Decaus. (Translated by Leak, London, 1659.) It exhi¬ bits an extension of Heron’s machine already noticed, (No. 173.) Decaus says “ this engine hath a great effect in hot places as in Spain and Italy.’ Four air tight copper vessels, a foot square and 8 or 9 inches deep, are so arranged that the sun may shine strongly upon them. A pipe, having a valve o, opening upwards, communicates with the lower part of each, to supply them with water from the spring below. Another pipe passes over the upper surfaces, having branches which descend nearly to the bot¬ tom of each vessel. A valve is also placed in this pipe, from the upper end of which the jet of the fountain issues. At the commencement, each vessel is about one third filled with water, through openings on the top, which are then plugged up. “ Then the sun shining upon the said en¬ gine shall make an expression by rarefying the enclosed air and force the a Natural .Magick in twenty boohs by John Baptist Porta, wherein are set forth all the riches and delights of the Natural Sciences.”—London, 1658. It contains, beside a multitude of absurdities, many ingenious devices. The trombe, camera obscura, air gun, repeating guns, air tubes, ear trumpets, &c. &c. are described. The work was first published in 1560. 3S0 Air Machines—From Decaus. [Book IV water to How out as in the figure. And after the heat of the day is pass¬ ed and the night shall come, the vessels shall draw the water of the cistern [spring] by the pipe and sucker [lower valve] and shall fill the vessels as before. . And you must observe that the two suckers [valves] must be made very light and likewise very just, so as the water may not descend by them after it is raised." An improvement upon the preceding machine is next given by Decaus. The form of the vessels is altered, and double convex lenses or “ burning glasses" are so arranged on their covers as to collect “ the raies of the sun within the said vessels, the which will cause a great heat to the water, and by that means make it spring forth with great abun¬ dance, and also higher if it be required.” (See the figure below.) It is, we think, in the range of probability that the heat of the solar rays may yet be applied in some situations to raise water with effect No. 175. Air Engine, from Decaus. Whether this application of lenses “ to encrease the force of the sun" in air engines, was a device of Decaus, we know not. The idea however Distilling by the Sun's Heat. 381 Chap. 2.] would naturally occur to any engineer of the time, engaged on the im provement of such machines, because distilling by the sun both with len¬ ses and without them was a common practice with chemists in that age and some centuries before. Baptist Porta described the process in the tenth book of his Natural Magic, and observes that “ the waters extract¬ ed by the sun are the best.” See also Maison Rustique, Paris, 1574, page 211. Kircher’s Mundus Subterrancus, Tom. ii, 392. Other au¬ thors also describe the application both of convex and concave lenses to concentrate the solar rays on distilling vessels ; a practice probably as old as the time of Archimedes, or even older. We give an extract from an English translation of one of Gesner’s works, who died in 1545. “ Further, although that the Chimisticke authours doe teach and shew diverse fashions of distilling by ascension, yet may all these waies be brought into three orders.. The first manner is, when we distill anie liquide substance or flowers in the sunne by force of his heate. manner, that the beames of the hote sunne falling into the hollow glasse, maie so beate backe and extende to the glasse bodie with the proper matter (as to the object standing righte against) - - - - as more livelie appeareth by this figure here described.” 11 Air dilated and vapor evolved by the sun’s heat were also used to pro¬ duce music in the middle ages, a device which often caused that celestial melody which, like the harp of Dunstan, acquired for its authors a repu¬ tation, sometimes of superior sanctity, and at others of dealing with the wicked one. The musical machine of the famous Drebble, according to Bishop Wilkins, was of this kind: i. e. a modification of the supposed one in the Statue of Memnon. Drebble’s machine, says the Bishop, “ would of itself render a soft and pleasant harmony when exposed to the sun’s nays, but being removed into the shade would presently become silent. The reason of it was this; the warmth of the sun working upon some 11 The p rac Hc e of the new und old phisicke, wherein is contained the most excellent secrets oj phisiclce and philosophic, devided mtofoure Books—in the which arc the best approved reme¬ dies Jor the diseases, as well inward as outward, of al the parts of mans body: treatin'r very amplie of al distillations of waters, of oyles, balmcs, quintessences, icith the extraction of arti- Jicial suites, the vse and preparation of antimony, and potable gold, gathered out of the best aiul most approved authours, by that excellent Doctor Gesnerus. Also the pictures and maner to make the vessels, furnaces and other instruments thereunto belonging. Newly corrected and published in Englishe, by George Baker, one of the Queenes Majesties cliufc Chirurgians in ordinary. London, Black Letter, 1599. 382 "Brazen Altars. [Book IV moisture within it, and rarefying the inward air unto so great an extension that it must needs seek for vent or issue, did thereby give several motions unto the instrument.” (Math. Magic, Book ii, chap. 1.) Decaus, besides his explanation of the vocal statue of Egypt, has given a description of a musical summer , a device apparently similar to Dreb- ble’s ; and in the twenty-second plate of his work he has figured another which Switzer has copied into his system of hydrostatics. The heat of the sun is too uncertain to be relied upon in those pro¬ jects that require immediate and certain results. During the evening, night, and early dawn, nothing could be effected; and even in mid-day, clouds and showers often intercept or divert the rays : moreover a ma¬ chine when placed so as to be heated directly by the sun, soon experien¬ ces a diminution of its influence by the motion of the earth. Those rays which fall directly upon it becoming, in consequence of this motion, oblique. These and other unfavorable circumstances are common to most countries where the solar heat is sufficiently intense, while in others it is too feeble to be used with effect; hence, in the temperate zones, within which the arts have at all times been chiefly cultivated, the application of ordinary fire has superseded, for nearly all practical purposes, that derived from the sun. In some parts of the earth saline waters are concentrated, and salt produced by the heat of the glowing orb of day, but for every thing like the devices belonging to our subject it is now seldom employed, if at all. The oldest applications of fire to raise liquids are, singularly enough, also to be found among the philosophical tricks of ancient priests, and among the prodigies which they performed at the altar itself. The selec¬ tion of altars for such displays was natural, because it was at them the will of the gods was more particularly expected to be made known. It must not be supposed that ancient altars were all simple structures of wood, stone, brick, or marble ; on the contrary, many of them were elaborately designed, and constructed entirely of metal. Every one knows that bronze or brazen altars are of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, and the descriptions of some prove them to have been splendid specimens of workmanship and design. The altar for “ burnt offerings,” being up¬ wards of eight feet square and five deep, was covered with plates of brass. The grate, fire place, vessels, &c. were also of the same material. One of the numerous brazen altars built by Solomon was an extraordinary affair, being twenty cubits, or thirty-three feet square, and sixteen feet high. The large number of victims consumed on it and the necessary fires ac¬ count for these dimensions. As some of the most effectual frauds were consummated at and by means of altars, the civil governors of the heathen, and some of the worst princes of the Jews, made use of them for the performance of state tricks, to intimidate the people and subdue them to their will. In such matters a collusion between the priests and statesmen of antiquity is . very obvi¬ ous. (By a similar combination of church and state it is that the people of Europe are still oppressed.) When Themistocles could not otherwise carry out his measures, he did not fail to make the oracles interfere. There are some interesting particulars in 2d of Kings, chap. xvi. respecting a brazen altar which Ahaz examined at Damascus, and an exact copy of which he had made and erected in Jerusalem. It evidently was of a no¬ vel construction and was probably designed for working pretended mira¬ cles for state purposes, for it was among those destroyed by his son He- zekiah. Montfaucon in the supplement to his antiquities describes some singular altars, and among others, one on which an eagle was made sud* Chap. 2.] Tricks performed at Altars by means of Fire. 383 denly to rise as in the act of flying away. This he observes was effected by machinery moved by a person appointed for the purpose. 1 here are numerous intimations in history of frauds practiced at altars by fire, and by water and other liquids. We shall notice a few here and ot ers in the next chapter. A very ancient tradition taught that those were the greatest gods that answered their worshippers by fire This was a prevailing belief among the ancient heathen, and hence the ingenuity of the priests was particularly exercised in devising means to produce a spontaneous or “ divine fire,” to consu-me the sacrifices. Servius, a Roman writer, affirms that in ancient times fire was never kindled on the altar* but was drawn down from heaven by prayers. Solinus another Roman author, .who wrote m the first century, speaks of one in Sicily upon which the fuel though ever so green, would kindle of itself if the sacrifice was acceptable to the gods. Pausamus relates an example of which he was a witness. Some of the devices are known. When the victim was laid on the altar and the fuel ready to be kindled, a libation of wine or oil was poured upon it; streams of the liquid trickled through fissures or secret channels into a pan of coals concealed below, and instantly the sacrifice was enveloped in flames, and the desired proof of its acceptance given At other times naptha, a mineral oil that takes fire on being exposed to the air, was adroitly dropt on the fuel by the priests as they officiated. This is the substance by which Medea is supposed to have destroyed Creusa by impregnating with it the enchanted gown which she presented to her’ When Cieusa had put it on and was approaching the altar, it burst into flames and she expired in excruciating torments. The Druids had the ait of kindling without fire a sulphurous substance by which they struck terror into their enemies There are presumptive proofs that both they and the priests of Delphos had gunpowder, with which they imitated thunder and lightning; and this accords with a remark of Pliny in the second book of his Natural History, (chap. 53.) “ It appeareth upon re¬ cord m chronicles that by certain sacrifices and prayers, lightninL may either be compelled or easily intreated to fall upon the earth.” And he observes that there was an old tradition in Etruria, that lightning- was procured “by exorcisms and conjurations.” The ancient priests of Ethio¬ pia worshiped the sun, and at the close of harvest they separated a portion of the fruits from the rest as a sacrifice to the Deity: if the offer ing was acceptable it instantly took fire. The Vestal iEmylia rekindled t le sacred fire on the a l tar G f Vesta, by putting her veil over it, that is, by some device which the act of adjusting her veil concealed : in fact enough is known to convince us that old temples were perfect laboratories. (See an expose of the pretended descent of celestial fire on Good Fridays, into the holy ^sepulchre of Jerusalem (which is, we believe, still kept up) in Motraye s Travels, vol. i, page 79.) f ^ But it was not by the sudden appearance of flames only that fire was employed as an agent of deception. Equally surprising effects, and as secietly produced, were derived from the heat which the fuel and burn¬ ing sacrifice gave out. It will readily be imagined that this heat must lave .een intense when a bullock, a sheep, or a goat, was consumed ; and s me times several animals were offered at once upon the same altar. In urnt-offermgs, every part was to be reduced to ashes, and hence particu- otherwUetk re( ^ uired ‘ *J at 't^e fuel should be dry as well as in abundance; vise the mass of flesh and juices might extinguish the fire—a circum¬ stance that was deemed very inauspicious. It was also customary to pour me anc oi upon tie sacrifice, and spices and perfumes to correct the ’ or. Ihese, of course, increased the heat, and in addition to which, it 384 Ancient Altar from Heron's Spiritalia. [Book IV. appears from one of the Hamilton Vases, that large bellows were some times used to promote the combustion by a blast. A modern mechanician will at once perceive that the radiation of heat from such fires into the interior of altars offered an effective and unsuspi¬ cious source of fraud—one from which a distinct series of prodigies might be derived. Let us see how they could be realized. Suppose a bronze altar made air-tight, with a cylindrical or other opening through its centre, in which to place the fire and to afford a draft, (as in those wooden boilers in which water is heated by a fire in the centre ; the liquid being in con¬ tact with the heated sides of the furnace, and the ashes from the grate falling through the draft opening, which is continued through the bottom of the boilers) or the passage for the draft might be made at right angles to the furnace or fire-place, and terminate at one side of the altar; the up¬ per part of the furnace would then be level with the top of the altar upon which the victim was laid. Suppose the air-tight cavity round the fur¬ nace filled to a certain height with wine, oil, or other inflammable liquid, a vapor would then be evolved by the heat, and mixing with the contain¬ ed air would press upon the surface of the liquid, which, by concealed tubes might be conveyed to the fire and thus sustain it without any addi¬ tional fuel. The vapor might also be made to produce sounds as in Dreb- ble’s machine—images of birds might by it be made to sing—dragons and serpents to hiss. The current, like the blast of a bellows, might be made to excite the flames ; and by appropriate mechanism impart motion to various automata—cause the doors of the temples mysteriously to fly open and to close, &c. &c. Now it so happens that these very things were done and by means of air and vapor. The annexed figure, from Problem XI, of the Spiritalia, will serve as a specimen of the ingenuity of the ancients in these respects. It is merely one of a number that Heron has given. The altar was of metal, hollow and air-tight, and placed on a hollow base or pedestal (also air¬ tight) which contained a quantity of oil or wine. Upon the base stood two statues, each holding a vase in one hand as represented. Pipes, as shown by the dotted lines, communi¬ cated through the statues with the liquid. As the air within the altar be¬ came dilated by the heat, it necessarily forced the liquid up the pipes and drove it out of the mouths of the va¬ ses in which the pipes terminated. It is not easy to see why the bottom of the altar did not open directly into the base or reservoir of wine, instead of the pipe that connects them, since it would have promoted the evolution of vapor; but the figure represents only one of the numerous modifica¬ tions employed. It is obvious from this and some other devices described by Heron, (as No. 173) that vapor from the contained liquids contributed chiefly to the result, although he has not in all cases mentioned it. Indeed it is not certain that he did not confound steam with air, as the philoso¬ phers of the sixteenth century did, of which some examples are given in the next two chapters. Had air alone been used in the above altar, the effect could only have have been momentary ; for part of it would be soon absorbed by the liquid and carried out with it, and there appears No. 177. Liquids raised by heat in ancient al¬ tars—from the Spiritalia. Chap. 2.] Ingenuity of Ancient Priests. 3S5 ™ T pel! 1 ed ' air was made^o"'perfom ^mpol^a p^^enrL'X'i.o? *“ pSX ° g "Z ufo^o^tlZ^wi m 7nlff° r f- knowledge of old priests we chrml H ji P 6 : the philosophical the art S£& *“ .4 ^ the application oflt" ^rou«e ”fSt ed f- ,m0 ""»•* so that had their energies been devoted to the development of? P 'f t™ ’ st": ££* W0UU Prob ‘ b ^ *>~n indebted™ 0 ,h“ e forX What wonders would an insight into the nlrl f-rrarai r To have had an opportunity of Inspecting ,he u- PM h&Ve revealed ! to have been present at the consultations^! the prilnT—wfm “d "'f ^dTe^Xrwotog 8 ^^.”^ 4 d h ects of this device S£3S5S&“iSiS&*S ?=^/'2feiSKteSaS^ Bacchus and was represented by the priests as having been chan c '”j g 'im„°[ & *:"t Trii&;t ^ f tzt feT’fy ■>¥»*«^ se:™s;; o e"e«:fr£ meaas ? »»* 4«. hadttetfluttl re^A^Sy of" E This ,itde b r k ’ ,L * stimulated if \?VT S Europe in the sixteenth century T t tal research which thTn comm and experTmen- present time It seems h ? § C ° nt, ? U / d unim P-red to the Philosophers, chem,s“ and oLsl “ “"“p aI d< * r ? !e ° f their writings by its problems alid figures. 8 "porm Sr:S.»£ ,** works, whilefmany^v'rirers debted to it than any other. ’ B seems t0 have been less in- 49 386 Contents of Heron’s Spiritalia. [Book IV. The Spiritalia formed but a small part of the writings of Heron : had all of them reached our times, we should have possessed an almost per¬ fect system of ancient mechanical philosophy. He wrote books on clepsydra, automata, dioptrics, war machinery, engines for raising weights; and an introduction to mechanics, which is said to have been the most complete work on the subject which the ancients possessed. Taken as a whole, the Spiritalia seems more like the manual of an ancient magician than any thing else—a collection of deceptions with the pro¬ cesses by which they were matured. In it Heron, instead of appearing in the character of a philosopher, rather assumed (perhaps for amusement or to expose the frauds of the Egyptian hierarchy) that of a minister of Isis, initiating an acolyte into the mysteries of his profession. And numerous as are the devices described, they doubtless formed but a small part of those which constituted the active and efficient capital of the Egyptian priesthood. With the exception of an hydraulic and another organ, a syringe, fire engine, fountain of compression, three lamps and two eolipiles, (and most of which were also used for unworthy purposes) the whole may be considered as a text book for conjurers. Of the seventy- six problems contained in the book, twelve relate to the working of prodigies at the altars, by air dilated by the heat of the sacred fires, &c. as already noticed; upwards of forty relate to sacrificial vases, Tantalus’ cups, magic pitchers, &c. In some of these were concealed cavities, in which the liquid was retained or discharged, by closing with the thumb a minute opening in the handle. Water was poured into some and they gave out wine, and vice versa. In these we have a solution of the trick by which water was changed into wine in the temple of Bacchus, on the 7th of January at the annual feast of the god, as mentioned by Pliny. In others were disguised partitions forming various compartments in which different liquids were retained, and all discharged at one orifice (by a species of three or four-way cock) so that those in the secret could draw wine, oil, or water, at pleasure; besides many other merry conceits , as the old authors name them. There is we think among them abundant evi¬ dence that our solution of Tutia’s miracle of carrying water in a sieve was the true one. It is probable that in some of these vases, specimens of the old divining cups may be found. The ingenious reader will not repine at our inserting a specimen of a lustral vase. We have selected this because it shows that me¬ chanical as well as hydrodynamical devices were adopted as occasions required. It shows also that the mode of increasing or diminishing the pressure of a valve to its seat, by a loaded lever, as in the safety valve of a steam engine, was known—a circumstance that may be deemed quite in¬ significant by some persons; but attention to such little things often enables us to arrive at correct estimates of an ancient device, and of the ingenuity and fertility of conception of ancient devisers. Most readers are aware that holy water was derived from that of the heathen. When a worshiper was about to enter the temple, he sprink¬ led himself from a vase of it placed near the entrance. On some particu¬ lar occasions the people were sprinkled by priests. (See an example at page 196.) Those who celebrated the Eleusinian mysteries were parti¬ cularly required to wash their hands in holy water. In the middle ages the liquid was a source of considerable profit to monks, and it was even a custom for clerks and scholars to hawk it for sale. From Heron’s de¬ scription of the following figure, (No. 178,) we learn that heathen priests also made it a source of revenue ; the vessels containing lustral water not being always open for public use, free of charge, but closed, and like a Chap. 2.] Ancient Lustral Vase. No. na Ancient Vase of Lustral Water. 387 child’s money box provided with a slit at the top, through which a certair sum was to be put before the donor could receive any of the nurlXf contents, in the vase before us Jive drachma, or"IblsevCtvTvf ents, were required, and it will be perceived from the construction of the apparatus that no less sum could procure a drop, although al much mne might be put in as the donor thought proper. 3 The device is a very neat specimen of religious ingenuity, and the more so since it required no attending minister to keep it in play. We J u< % e °f ot her apparatus belonging to the old temples by the talent displayed in this. A portion of the vase is removed in the figure to show the interior. Near one side is seen a cylindrical vessel at A. It is this only that contained water. A small tube attached to the bottom is continued through the side of the vase at o, where the liquid was discharged. The in¬ ner orifice of the tube was formed into the seat of a valve, the plug of which was fixed on the lower end of the perpendicular rod, whose up¬ per end was connected by a bolt to the hon- zontal lever or vibrating beam R. One end of „ R 1S spread out into a flat dish and so arranged as to receive on its surface every thing dropped through the slit. The lever turns on a pm or fulcrum very much like a pump handle, as re- presented. The operation will now be understood. As the weight of the rod kept the valve closed while nothing rested upon the broad fnd of the lever, so no liquid could escape; but if a number of coins of sufficient dr0 PP e , d th f ou g h the slit upon the end of R, the valve ould then be opened and a portion of liquid escape at o ;—the quar.titv bo^of the tT^ h °7 ever be ver y sma11 - n °t only from the contracted bore of the tube but from the fact that the valve would be open only a moment; for as the lever became inclined from its horizontal position the p eces of money would slide off into the mass accumulated at H, and the efflux would as quickly be stopped : the apparatus would then be ready to supply the next customer on the same terms. This certainly was as simple and ingenious a mode of dealing out liquids as it was a profitable ne, and after all was not half so demoralizing as the retailing of ardent spirits in modern times. ° One would suppose the publication of such a work as Heron’s Spiri- fs soZ S V ? V \ be f n asdistastefulto th e occupants of ancient temples, VatiXn ° f L her ® wntln S s were t0 Leo X and his associates of the 8^2,“!”'““ ' !ain “*at it should probably give place to other agents, still more P~ and beneficial, which science and observation should discover. What a proof is steam of the high destiny that awaits our species! Ihe most fervid imagination cannot realize the importance of those disco¬ veries in science and the arts, of which it is merely the forerunner ; the hr S t m that new catalogue of motive agents that are ordained to change the condition of men, and to regenerate the earth; for all that is yet done is but as the twilight that ushers in the orb of day. Hitherto man has been, comparatively, asleep, or in a state resembling it—insensible of the ric i inheritance which the Creator has placed at his disposal in the elas¬ tic fluids, and of their adaptation to impart motion to every species of me¬ chanism. How few persons are aware that the grand invention of imparting motion to a piston by steam and other elastic fluids, is the pivot on which the chief affairs of the world is destined hereafter to turn? And the time is not distant when, by means of it, the latent energy of the gases, or other properties of inert matter, will supersede, in a great de¬ gree, the drudgery of man—will perform nearly all the labor which the bones and sinews of our species have hitherto been doomed to accomplish. I here are persons, however, whose minds biased by the eternal bondage m which the mass of our race has always been held, who will startle at the idea of the whole becoming an intelligent and highly intellectual body. I hey cannot conceive how the affairs of life are to be continued the execution of innumerable works which the constitution of society requires should be performed, if these helots become free. But can they, can any one seriously believe that the all-wise and benevolent Creator could possibly have intended that the highest class of beings which he as p acec on this planet—the only one capable of appreciating his works and realizing correct ideas of his attributes—that' the great por¬ tion of these, should pass through life in ^incessantly toiling for mere 390 Benefits to be derived from Steam. [Book IV. food;—and undergoing privations and sufferings to obtain it, from which the lowest animals are exempt 1 Assuredly not. -Had such been his design, he would not have created them with faculties expressly adapted for nobler pursuits. It is the glory of modern science, that it calls into legitimate use both the physical and mental powers of man. It rewards him with nu¬ merous forces derived from inanimate nature, and instructs him in the application of them, to all, or nearly all, the purposes of life ; and even¬ tually it will require from him no greater amount of physical toil, than what conduces to the full development of all the energies of his com¬ pound nature. It is destined to awaken that mass of intellect which has hitherto lain dormant, and been all but buried in the laboring classes ; and to bring it into active exercise for the benefit of the whole. And for aught we know, the “ neiv earth” spoken of in the scriptures, may refer to that state of society, when science has thus relieved man from all inju rious labor—when he will walk erect upon the earth and subdue it, rather by his intellect than by the sweat of his brow—when the curse of ignorance will be removed, and with it the tremendous punishment that has ever attended it. Then men will no longer enter in shoals into a new state of existence in another world, as utterly ignorant of the wonders of creative wisdom in this, as if they had never been in it, and had not pos¬ sessed faculties expressly adapted to study and enjoy them. There is no truth in the observation of some people, that all discoveries of importance are already made ; on the contrary, the era of scientific research and the application of science to the arts may be considered as but commenced. The works of creation will forever furnish materials for the exercise of the most refined intellects, and will reward their labors with a perpetual succession of new discoveries. The progress which has been made in investigating the laws that govern the aqueous, atmospheri¬ cal, mineral and vegetable parts of creation, is but a prelude to what is yet to be done—it is but the clearing of the threshold preparatory to the portals of the temple of science being thrown open to the world at large. There is no profession however matured, no art however advanced, that is not capable of further improvement; or that, so far as we can tell, will not always be capable of it. If an art be carried to the utmost perfection it is capable of in one age, discoveries in others will in time be made, by means of which it will be still further advanced ; for every improvement in one has an effect, more or less direct, on every other. The benefits already derived from steam, then, are but as a drop to the ocean when compared with those that posterity will realize; for if such great things have been accomplished by it in one century, what may not be expected in another 1 and another 'i It has been calculated that two hundred men, with machinery moved by steam, now manufacture as much cotton as would require twenty millions of persons without ma¬ chines; that is, one man by the application of inorganic motive agents can now produce the same amount of work that formerly required one hun¬ dred thousand men. The annual product of machinery in Great Britain, a mere spot on the earth, would require the physical energies of one half the inhabitants of the globe, or four hundred millions of men : and the various applications of steam in different parts of the world now produce an amount of useful labor, which if performed by manual strength would require the incessant exertions of every human being. Hence this great amount of labor is so much gained, since it is the result of inorganized forces, and consequently contributes so much to the sum of human happi¬ ness. Now if such results have been brought about so quickly and by Chap. 3.] Primitive Experiments with Steam. 391 steam alone, what may not be expected from it, and other aeriform fluids, in ages to come, when the progressive improvement of every art and every science shall have brought to light not only other agents of the kind, but more efficient means of employing them 1 There is no end to the beneficial applications of the gases as motive agents, and no limits to the power to be derived from them. As long as rain falls or rivers flow— while trees (for fuel) grow, or mineral coal is found, man can thus wield a power that renders him almost omnipotent. The question may be asked, why was not the elastic force of steam earlier used as a source of motive power ? Because, as we observed be¬ fore, men neglected to employ those powers of reflection and invention which God had given them. It certainly formed no part of the Creator’s plan of governing the world that they should have so long remained ig¬ norant of its application. He has placed man at the head of creation and furnished him with powers appropriate to his position. Every object in nature he can use for good or for evil. They are the materials from which he may, as an expert machinist, fabricate at will all that his wants require : he may prostitute them to the miseries of himself and his fel¬ lows ; or he may neglect them to the injury of all. It is the order of nature that her latent resources shall be discovered and applied by diligent research. Hence some of the finest specimens of the Creator’s wisdom can only be appreciated after careful study, a fact which is itself a proof of his wisdom and beneficence, since their realization is thus held out as an inducement to investigate them. Steam has of course been noticed ever since the heating of water and boiling of victuals were practiced. The daily occurrence implied by the expression “ the pot boils over” was as common in antediluvian as in mo¬ dern times ; and hot water thus raised was one of the earliest observed facts connected with the evolution of vapor. From allusions in the most ancient writings, we may gather that the phenomena exhibited by steam were closely observed of old. Thus Job in describing Leviathan alludes to the puffs or volumes that issue from under the covers of boiling vessels. “ By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning; out of his nostrils goeth smoke [steam] as out of a seething pot or cauldron.” In the early use of the vessels last named, and before experience had rendered the management of them easy and safe, females would naturally endeavour to prevent the savory contents of their pots from flying off in vapor ; hence attempts to confine it by covers; and when these did not fit sufficiently close, a cloth or some similar substance interposed between it and the edge of the vessel, would readily occur; and a stone or other weight placed upon the top to keep all tight would also be very natural. Then as the fluid began again to escape, further efforts would be made to retain it by additional weights. In this manner, doubtless many a contest was kept up between a pot and its owner, till one gained the victory ; and we need not the testimony of historians to determine which this was. In those times it was not generally known that a boiling cauldron contained a spirit, impatient of control—that the vessel was the generator of an irresistible power, and the cover a safety- valve ; and that the preservation of the contents and the security of the operator depended upon letting the cover alone, or not overloading it:—hence it no doubt often happened that the confined vapor threw out the contents with violence, and then it was that primitive cooks began to perceive that there was death as well as life in a boiling pot. In this manner, we suppose females were the first experimenters on steam, and the earliest witnesses of steam boiler explosions. 392 Ancient Tricks 'performed by Steam. [Book IV The domestic exhibitions of the force of steam must have excited the attention of mechanicians in every age, nor could its capabilities of over¬ coming resistances opposed to it, have escaped them. Thus we find that experimenters are almost always said to have derived the first hint from a culinary vessel : hence the Marquis of Worcester, according to a tradi¬ tion, had his attention drawn to the use of this fluid to raise water, by witnessing, while a prisoner in the Tower of London, the lid of a boiler thrown off by the vapor—but the anecdote is of much older date, and was applied to many others before his time as well as since. Vitruvius illustrates his views respecting the appearance of springs on mountains, by a cauldron which, he says, when two thirds filled with water and heat¬ ed ffy the fire, “ communicates the heat to the water; and this on account of its natural porosity, receiving a strong inflation from the heat, not only fills the vessel, but swelling with the steam and raising the cover , over¬ flows,” &c. (Book viii, chap. 3.) Such occurrences are nature’s hints, by attention to which important discoveries have always been made. Even when people in former limes were injured by the 'explosion of a cauldron, the misfortune should have been considered as an indication of nature to employ the force thus developed—and also as a punishment for having neglected to do so. Nay, we don’t see why such occurrences may not, in this view of them, be considered providential, as well as simi¬ lar ones, which theological writers avail themselves of, to establish a similar doctrine. * There are intimations that the elastic force of steam was employed by several people of antiquity, but the details of its application are unfortu¬ nately not known. Some relics of its use, as well as that of heated air, are to be found in the deceptions practiced by the heathen priesthood. Its application for similar purposes was continued till comparatively modern times, for it was the animating principle in the eolipilic idols of the middle ages ; and, from an incidental notice of some experiments of a Greek archi¬ tect, it is probable that the trembling of the earth, and other horrors expe¬ rienced by those who were initiated into the greater mysteries of ancient worship, were also effected by steam. Artificial thunder, lightning from the vapor of inflammable liquids, and unearthly music, were produced by its means. Some of the tricks performed by the Pythoness and her co¬ adjutors at Delphos seemed to have been matured by it. The famous tripod against which she leaned is represented as a brazen vessel-from which a miraculous vapor arose. Steam was one of the agents of decep¬ tion in trials of ordeal. Those persons condemned to undergo that of boiling water, were protected by the priests (when it was their interest or inclination to do so) by admitting a concealed stream of steam into the lower part of the cauldron containing tepid water—the consequent agita¬ tion of the liquid and the ascent of the vapor that escaped condensation presented to the ignorant and unsuspecting beholders every appearance of genuine ebullition. On similar occasions air was forced through the liquid in the dark ages. Ancient priests, both among the Jews and heathen, were from their ordinary duties necessarily conversant with the generation of steam. Its elastic force could not therefore escape the shrewd observers among them. Sacrifices were frequently boiled in huge cauldrons, several of which were permanently fixed in the vicinity of temples—in “ the boiling places” as their locations are named by Ezekiel, “ where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.’’ (See an example from Herodotus at page 200.) It would seem moreover as if some of the boilers were made on the principle of Papin’s Digester, in which bones were softened Anthemius and Zeno. 393 Chap. 3.] by * high steam’—at any rate a distinction is made between seething pots and cauldrons, and from the manner in which both are mentioned they seem to have been designed for different purposes ; the former to seethe or soften bones, the latter to boil the flesh in only. “ They roasted the passover with fire, but the other offerings sod they in pots and in caul¬ drons.” (2 Chr. chap, xxxv, 13.) “Set on a pot, set it on, and also \ pour water into it. Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good ' piece, the thigh and the shoulder ; fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock and burn [or heap] also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.” (Ezek. xxiv. 3, 5.) The opinion of the Jews having close vessels in which steam was raised higher than in common cauldrons is also rendered probable from the fact that the Chinese, a contemporary people, employ similar ones, and which from their tenacity to ancient devices have probably been used by them from times anterior to those of the prophet. (Davis’ Chinese, ii, 271. John Bell’s Travels, i, 296 and ii, 13.) Similar processes have been common with chemists in all ages, in the making of extracts, and sometimes in preparing food. There is an ex¬ ample in Porta’s Natural Magic. He tells us (in the xiii chap, on distil¬ lation) that he has restored persons at the point of death to health by “ an essence extracted out of flesh.” He directs three capons to be dressed and boiled “ a whole day in a glass vessel close stopt, until the bones and flesh and all the substance be dissolved into liquor.” Some of the ancient philosophers, who were close observers of nature, compared the earth to a cauldron, in which water is heated by internal fires; and they explained the phemonena of earthquakes by the accumu¬ lation of steam in subterraneous caverns, until its elastic energy rends the superincumbent strata for a vent. Vitruvius explains by it the existence of boiling springs. In the reign of Justinian, Anthemius, an architect and mathematician illustrated several natural phenomena by it; but of this we should probably never have heard, had it not been for a quarrel between him and his next door neighbor, Zeno, the rhetorician. This orator appears to have inherited a considerable share of credulity and supersti¬ tion, which gave his antagonist the advantage. Anthemius, we are in¬ formed, had several steam boilers in the lower part of his house, from each of which a pipe conveyed the vapor above, and by some mechanism, of which no account has been preserved, he shook the house of his enemy as by a real earthquake, upon which the frightened Zeno rushed to the senate “ and declared in a tragic style that a mere mortal must yield to the power of an antagonist who shook the earth with the trident of Neptune.” There are reasons for believing that the expansive force of the steam which was evolved in heating the immense volumes of water for the hot baths at Rome, was employed to elevate and discharge the contents of the boilers. Sir W. Gell has given, in his Pompeiana, a representation of a set of cauldrons belonging to the Thermae, at Pompeii, derived from im¬ pressions left in the mortar or cement in which they were embedded. It would seem that several series or sets were used, each consisting of three close boilers (in shape not unlike modern stills,) placed directly upon, and connected by pipes to each other. The manner in which they were con¬ nected is not known; Gell says by a species of siphon. The lowest boiler was the largest and was placed directly over the furnace; and the arrangement was such, that when any part of the boiling liquid was with¬ drawn, an equal quantity, already warmed, entered from the next boiler above, which at the same time derived a supply from the uppermost one; 50 394 Eolipiles, from Heron. [Book IV. this last being always kept filled by a pipe from the aqueduct or castel- lum. Remains of the pipes, cocks, copper flues, &c. have been found in abundance, but the details of the heating apparatus and those connected with the elevation and distribution of the liquid have not been ascer¬ tained : this is to be regretted because, from the number and magnitude of the hot baths at Rome, the operations of boiling and dispersing the water must have been conducted on a scale far more extensive than any thins: in modern times—the most extensive breweries and distilleries not excepted. Some idea of the operations may be derived from the fact that a single establishment could accommodate two thousand persons with warm, or rather hot, baths at the same time. Seneca, in a letter to Luci- lius, says “ there is no difference between the heat of the baths and a boiling furnace and it would, he observes, appear to a reasonable man as a sufficient punishment to wash a condemned criminal in them. The persons who had the charge of heating in close vessels and distributing daily such large quantities of water, must necessarily have been conver¬ sant with the mechanical properties of steam, and with economical modes of generating it. In some cases the water was heated by passing through a coiled copper tube, like a distiller’s worm, which was embedded in fire. We have previously remarked that the Romans also heated water by making it pass through the hollow grates of a furnace. (See Pompeii, vol. i, 196, and Gell’s Pompeiana.) Besides the various applications of heated air and of vapor already noticed, there is in problem XLV of Heron’s Spiritalia, a description of a close boiler, from the upper part of which a current issues that supports at some distance above the boiler a light ball like those that are made to play on jets of water. (See the annexed figure, No. 179.) The whir¬ ling eolipile, No. 180, is the subject of problem L—and is the earliest representation of a machine moved by steam that is extant. It consists of a small hollow sphere, from Eolipiles, from Heron. which two short tubes proceed in the line of its axis, and whose ends are bent in opposite direc¬ tions. The sphere is suspend¬ ed between two columns, their upper ends being pointed and bent towards each other. One of these columns was hollow and conveyed steam from the boiler into the sphere, and the escape of the vapor from the small tubes by its reaction imparted a revolving motion to the sphere. These two applications of steam have been considered the result of a fortunate random thought, which Heron, or some other old mechanic, stumbled on by a species of chance medley, whereas they cer¬ tainly indicate an intimate though it may be a limited acquaintance with the mechanical properties of that fluid. We should never suppose that this elegant application of the jet to sustain a ball in the air was the fruit of a first attempt to use steam, much less that the complex movement of the whirling eolipile was another thought of the moment. Did any modern experimenter in hydraulics ever hit upon the suspension of a ball by a jet of water in his first essays, or devise Barker’s mill at a sitting, No. 179. No. 180. Chap. 3.] Eolipiles described by Vitruvius. 395 without having ever heard of either? No more than any old mechanician ever invented the above before experimental researches on steam had be¬ came familiar to him if not to his contemporaries. Besides, there have been within the last half century not less than half a dozen patents taken out for rotary steam engines identical in principle with the whirling eo ipile. The fact seems to be that Heron selected the two devices above, on the same principle as the rest of the illustrations, i. e. such as m his judgment would be the most interesting 0 From a remark of Vitruvius in the first book of his Architecture, chap. 6 we learn that those portable steam machines named Eolipiles , (from Eolus the god of wind, and their application to create artificial winds) were in common use in his time. Speaking of the town of Mytilene, he observes that the inhabitants were subject to colds, in those seasons when cer¬ tain winds blew; and which might have been in some degree avoided by a more proper disposition of the streets. “ Wind, [he remarks] is only a current of air, flowing with uncertain motion ,*—it arises from the action 1 hea ^, U P°" raoisture ~ tlie vlolenc e of the heat forcing out the blasts of air. _ ihat this is the fact, the brass eolipiles make evidentfor the op¬ erations of the heavem and nature may be discovered by the action of artificial machines. These brass eolipiles are hollow and have a very nar¬ row aperture, by which they arejilled with water, and then placed on the fire:—before they become hot, they emit no effluvia, but as soon as the icater begins to boil, they send forth a vehement blast .” As these instruments have been adapted to a great variety of purposes, as well as being- inti¬ mately connected with this part of our subject, we shall notice them with some detail. From the times of Vitruvius to those of Des Cartes, and up o the present century, they have been used as philosophical instruments to illustrate the nature of winds and meteors, as well as for other scien¬ tific pursuits. They were used as substitutes for bellows in blast furna¬ ces and ordinary fires. The draft of chimneys was increased by means ol them. They were made to produce music and disperse perfumes. 1 hey constituted the distilling vessels of the alchymists, and in another form were employed as weapons of war, and were even deified in the steam idols of old. They were the first instruments employed to raise water by steam, and the first to produce motion by it; and hence they constitute the germ of modern steam engines, to which we may add that • l Yo \ ?/ he inventl0n of steam guns. (See Martin’s Philosophy, vol. n, 90.) I hey are commonly made of iron, brass, or strong copper, hav¬ ing a short neck in which a very minute opening is made. In order to charge one with water (or other liquid) it is placed on a fire until nearly red hot ; it is then taken off, and the neck placed in water or the whole p unged in it, which, as the vessel cools, takes the place of the air driven ou iy the heat. . It is then placed on a brazier of charcoal or other fire unti steam is rapidly evolved and discharged with violence at the orifice. ltruvius has not mentioned the particular purposes for which eolipiles were used by the Romans. It is however known that they were Em¬ ployed as bellows for exciting fires; and as this was not for want of the atter instruments, they must have had properties which rendered them ffarden'wfiTwfrkl 1 7 ate r and air> W , ere a favorite accompaniment of the old been in use ZiZlth* t ?J &C ' of ItaI y> where the device has probably wK^sr dic " w ‘" b £ T 1 ” ,he ^ tchrs,,-,” z'oS wlmre its motions, varymg wuh the force of the current, produce a very agreeable 396 Eolipilesfrom Rivius and Cardan. [Book IV preferable, on some occasions, to bellows. One perhaps was their occu¬ pying little room on the hearth; and another, their requiring no attendant to keep up the blast. It has already been observed (page 237-8,) that human bellows-blowers formed part of the large domestic establishments in ancient Egypt, and Nos. 103 and 104 of our illustrations represent some at work in one of the kitchens of the Pharaohs. The practice was probably common among all the celebrated nations of old, and we know that it was continued in Europe till the sixteenth century if not later. To supersede these workmen might therefore have been one reason for the employment of eolipiles. In a Latin collection of “ Emblems human and divine ,” (Prague, 1601,) there is a device of one of the old Counts of Hapsburg, which consists of a blowing eolipile with a stream of vapor issuing from it, and the motto Lcesus Juvo. (Vol. ii, 372.) The same device is also given in a treatise on Heroic Symbols, Antwerp, 1634. Hence this ancient domes¬ tic instrument was adopted on such occasions as well as the bellows, syringe, watering pot, &c. Rivius in commenting on the eolipiles mentioned by Vitruvius describes those in use in his own time, (A. D. 1548,) and gives several figures, from which we have selected the first three of the following ones. Eolipiles, from Rivius and Cardan. ^ No. 181. No. 182. No. 183. No. 184. Rivius names them “ wind holders” and “ fire blowers.” He says they were made in various shapes and of different materials, and were used “to blow the fire like a pair of bellows.” Some, designed for other pur¬ poses, that will presently be mentioned, were made of gold or silver and richly ornamented, as represented-above. At a subsequent period of the sixteenth century, Cardan gave a figure of one. (See No. 184.) Fludd, Porta and other old writers also describe them. The latter, in book xix, chap. 3, of his Natural Magic, speaks of them as used in houses to blow fires. Sir Hugh Platte, in 1594, published a figure and description of “ a rounde ball of copper, or latton [brass] that blows the fyre verie stronglie by thq attenuation of the water into ay re.” Bishop Wilkins, in his Mathematical Magic, (published in 1648) speaks of eolipiles as then common. They are made, he observes, “ of some such material as may endure the fire, having a small hole, at which they are filled with water, and out of which (when the vessels are heated) the air doth issue forth with a strong and lasting violence. These are fre¬ quently used for the exciting and contracting of heat in the melting of glasses or inetals. They may also be contrived to be serviceable for sun¬ dry other pleasant uses, as for the moving of sails in a chimney corner, the motion of which sails may be applied to the turning of a spit, or the like.” (Book ii, chap. 1.) Ivircher has given a figure of an eolipile turning a joint of meat, (as indicated by the Bishop) in the first volume Chap. 3.] Smelting Ore with the blast of an Eolipile. 397 of his Mundus Subterraneus , page 203.) We do not remember to have met with a figure of an eolipile applied to the fusing of glass or metal, except in the Aula Subterranea of Lazarus Erckers (or Erckern) on Me¬ tallurgy, published in German, in 1672, and which, like that of Agricola, is illustrated with numerous cuts. The author was superintendent of the mines of Hungary, Germany, and the Tyrol, under three Emperors, and his work is said to contain every thing necessary to be known in the assaying of metals. The annexed figure is copied from the fifth edition, (with notes) published at Frankfort on the Mayn, in 1736. It is named Eine tupfferne kugel darinn wasser ist, wird ubers feuer geseht, und an statt Eines blas-balgs gebraacht, and is represented as smelting copper ore in a cupelo fur¬ nace. Erckers has figured it twice— at pages 1 and 136. It is not a little singular that this mode of increasing the intensity of fires by a jet of steam directed into the burning fuel has recently been patent¬ ed both in this country and Europe. It does not however appear to have answered the expectations formed of it, since it has never come into general use, nor are we aware that it is at present employed at all. Two obvi¬ ous discrepancies between ancient and modern applications of steam for such purposes may here be noticed, since they will, we think, account for the failure of the latter: one is in the nature of the fuel—the other in the temperature of the blast. In the old eolipiles, the steam, having but a very minute passage through which to escape, was raised to a temperature which far exceeded that which is generated in ordinary steam engine boilers—the vapor was perfectly- in¬ visible, and its escape only known by the sound of the blast, and its effect on the fire. But in late experiments the current consisted of steam loaded with moisture—a mass of aqueous globules poured into the fire, instead of the rarefied and glowing aura that rushed with such impetuous velocity from eolipiles. The powerful effect of the latter on fires of wood and charcoal is unquestionable, but the results of similar blasts on other kinds of fuel (as stone coal) has not yet we believe been sufficiently ascertained. Another difference consisted in the dimensions of the volumes of the blasts :—the one from the eolipile was small and compact—that of the other large and diffuse, a circumstance that may account still further for the different results; for it should be remembered that in using an eolipile it is not the jet of steam alone that is impelled against the burning fuel, but a volume of atmospheric air is set in motion by the blast and carried into the fire along with it: the same thing takes place in using a common bellows, more air being forced against the fire than what issues from the nozzle ; and hence as the velocity of the jet from an eolipile was much greater and the jet itself smaller than those of modern applications of steam for the same purpose, a much larger proportion of air was also borne along with it. It is probable that on particular occasions the an¬ cients filled them with oil or spirituous liquors instead of water, in order to promote a more rapid combustion. The idea of increasing the heat of fires by water is very old. Pliny No. 185. Smelting ore with the blast of an Eolipile. 398 Ancient Tenures. [Book IV. says that charcoal which has been wetted gives out more heat than that which is always kept dry. (Nat. Hist. B. xxxiii, cap. 5.) Dr. Fryer speaks of “ water cast on sea coal” rendering the heat more intense. (Travels, Lon. 1698, p. 290.) If there was no evidence that eolipiles had been moulded into various shapes of men, animals, &c. we might have concluded that such was the fact from what is known of the practice of the ancients. Whenever the design, action or movement of a machine or implement corresponded at all with those of men, it was sure to resemble them in form, if its use could possibly admit of it. The taste for such things jvas universal in former times, and is to a certain extent indulged in all times. It seems inhe¬ rent in savage people; hence then -esque and monstrous statues or idols, speaking heads ar other androidii of the old mechanics. There has in fact always been a predominating disposition to imitate the human form; and in accordance with it, eolipiles were made to assume the figures of men, boys, &o. the blast escaping from the eyes, mouth, or other parts of the figure. Even so late as the seventeenth century we are told that “ to render eolipiles more agreeable , they commonly make them in the form of a head, with a hole at the mouth.” (Ozanam’s Mathematical and Phy¬ sical Recreations, English translation, London, 1708, 419.) It was in¬ deed natural that these machines should be made to resemble figures of the god from whom they were named. An old one is described in the Encyclopedia of Antiquities as “ made in the shape of a short fat man with very slender arms, in a curious wig, cheeks extremely swollen, a hole behind for filling it, and a small one at the mouth for the blast.” Most readers are aware that tenures by which lands were held in the middle ages were often based on 1 most trifling and ridiculous consi¬ derations. Camden has noticed a gr. j,„ number in his Brittannia, and in the description of the county of Suffolk, there is one which seems to have had reference to the employment of an eolipile ; but whether it had or not, there is in Dr. Plott’s History of Shropshire an account of one of these “merry tenures” in which blowing the fire with an eolipile formed part of the duty required. The instrument was of the human form and de¬ signated, like many other domestic utensils, by the soubriquet “ Jack." “Jack of Hilton, a little hollow image of brass, about twelve inches high, with his right hand on his head and his left on pego,” blows the fire in Hilton-hall every new year’s day, while the Lord of Essington drives a goose three times round it, before it is to be roasted and eaten by the Lord of Hilton or his deputy. In some accounts it is stated that the image blew the fire while the goose was roasting, which is more proba ble than the other. The custom is supposed to have been continued at Hilton-hall from the tenth or eleventh to the seventeenth century. This image is considered by some writers as an ancient idol. From the above use of eolipiles it will be perceived that there is a similar analogy between them and machines to raise water by steam, as between pumps and bellows ; every device for blowing a fire having oeen used to raise liquids. It will readily be imagined that these blowing images offered too many advantages to escape being pressed into the secret services of the temples, even supposing they did not originate in them. By charging the interior with different fluids the results could be varied according to circum¬ stances, and if an inflammable liouid was employed, as oil, spirits of wine, turpentine, &c. &c. streams and flashes of fire could be made to shoot from any or every part of the figure. Enough is known to convince us that such things were often done. Notwithstanding all the care of the 399 Cap. 3.] Puster, a Steam Deity of the Germans. old priests to conceal, and when concealment was impracticable to des¬ troy their apparatus, some specimens of their machinery have come down. In the fifteenth or early part of the sixteenth century, an eolipilic idol of the ancient Germans was found in making some excavations, and is we believe still extant. A figure of it is inserted in the second volume of Montfaucon’s Antiquities. It is made of a peculiar species of bronze and is between three and four feet in height, and the body two and a half in circumference. Its appearance is very uncouth. It is without drapery, with one knee on the ground, the right hand on the head, and the left, which is broken off, rested upon the thigh. The cavity for the liquid holds about seven gallons, and there are two openings for the escape of the vapor, one at the mouth and the other in the forehead. These openings were stopped with plugs of wood, and the priests had secret means of applying the fire. It appears from Weber and other German writers on the subject that this idol was made to express various passions of the deity it represented, with a view to extort offerings and sacrifi¬ ces from the deluded worshippers; and that the liquid was inflammable. When the demands of the priests were not complied with, the ire of the gocl was expressed by sweat (steam) oozing from all parts of his body ; and if the people still remained obdurate, his fury became terrible : murmurs, bellowings, and even thunderbolts (the wooden plugs) burst from him ; flashes or streams of fire rushed from his mouth and head, and presently he was enveloped in clouds of smoke; when the people, horror stricken, consented to comply with the requisitions. It is very evident from the accounts that the priests had the means of rapidly increasing or diminish¬ ing the intensity of the fire, as the disposition of the worshippers required the idol to express approbation or displeasure. It further appears that the monks in the middle ages made use of this idol, and found it not the least effectual of their wonder-working machines. It was in fact in this man¬ ner chiefly that the great body of ecclesiastics then maintained their in¬ fluence over the multitude. The very same devices which their prede¬ cessors had found effectual in the temples of Osiris, Ceres, and Bacchus, were repeated; and such images of the heathen gods and goddesses as had escaped destruction were converted into those of Christian saints, and being repaired were made to perform the same miracles which they had done before in pagan Greece and Rome. Monks, as we have before observed, were then the most expert mechanicians, and some of their most elaborate productions were imitations of ancient androidii—and the speaking heads of Bacon, Robert of Lincoln, Gerbert and Albertus, were considered proofs of an intercourse subsisting between their owners and spirits, as much so as in the cases of Orpheus and Odin, and other magicians of old. The name of the German idol is written differently : Puster, Pluster, Plusterich, Buestard, Busterich, are all names given to it and the deity it represents. The name is said to be derived from the Saxon verb pusten , to blow—or puster, a bellows : this shows its connection with the eolipile as a “ fire blower; and it is probable that from these eolipilic idols the term JEolist, “ a pretender to inspiration,” is derived. (See Dictionary Trevoux. Art. Puster.) This ancient steam idol was, A. D. 1546, placed for safe keeping in the fortress of Sunderhausen, where it remained dur¬ ing the last century. How singular that steam should have been among the motive agents of the most ancient idols of Egypt (as the Statue of Memnon and others) and in some of the deified images of Europe ! That it should formerly have been employed with tremendous effect to delude men, to lock them 400 Eolipiles used in War. . [Book IV. in ignorance ; while it now contributes so largely to enlighten and benefit mankind. These instances of early applications of steam make us regret that detailed descriptions of the various apparatus have not been preserved. Many ingenious devices were evidently employed, and although we con¬ demn the contrivers of such as were used for purposes of delusion, we cannot but admire the ingenuity which even these men displayed, in ex¬ hibiting before a barbarous people their gods in the most imposing man¬ ner and with such terrific effect—in making idols express by means of steam approbation and anger with the voice of thunder or the hissing of dragons, and causing them to appear and disappear in clouds of smoke and sheets of flame. It is probable from the antiquity of these idols and of eolipiles that allusions to both might be found in the Bible. May not such expressions as “ the blast of his mouth,” “ the blast of the terrible ones,” “ the blast of his nostrils,” &c. have reference to eolipiles or steam idols of old 1 “ Their molten images [says Isaiah] are wind and confusion.” Hospita¬ bly receiving a traveler into the house during a storm, and protecting him from the inconvenient heat of the fire when urged by an eolipile, may be alluded to by the same prophet in the following passage : “ Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a re¬ fuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the walls.” The expression ‘ terrible ones/ probably referring to the hideous forms into which we have already seen those blowing instruments were moulded. Eolus the god of winds was represented “ with swoln cheeks, like one who with main force blows a blast, with wings on his shoulders and a fiery countenance.” Idols were always made of a terrific form, and are so made by barbarous peo¬ ple at the present day. When God is personified as blowing on the fire, is there not an allusion to these instruments 1 Eusebius, in the third book of his life of Constantine, says that when images were subverted, among other things found in some of them were “ small faggots of sticks”—perhaps the remains of fuel employed to raise steam in them. a From the observation of one of the early travelers into the East, it seems that eolipiles were employed even in war and with great effect. Carpini, in the account of his travels, A. D. 1286, describes a species of eolipile of the human form, and apparently charged with an inflammable liquid, as having been used in a battle between the Mongals and the troops of Prester John. The latter, he says, caused a number of hollow figures to be made of copper, which resembled men, and being charged with some combustible substance, “ were set upon horses, each having a man behind on the horse with a pair of bellows, to stir up the fire. When approaching to give battle, these mounted images were first sent forward against the enemy, and the men who rode behind set fire by some means to the combustibles, and blew strongly with their bellows ; and the Mongal men and horses were burnt with wild fire and the air was dark¬ ened with smoke.” b Supposing these eolipiles to have been charged with alcohol or spirit of wine, they must have been (as we see they were) of terrible effect, since, as modern experiments show, a jet of flame from each might have extended to a distance of twenty-five or thirty feet. Besides blowing directly upon or against a fire, eolipiles were employed to increase the draft of chimneys, for which purpose the jet rose perpen¬ dicularly from the centre of the dome, as in No. 181. One or two stand- 1 Peter Martyr’s Common Places, Part ii, 336. b Kerr’s Collection of Voyages, vol. 1,135. 401 Chap. 3.] Music produced by Eolipiles. ing on the hearth and heated by the fire, close to which they were placed the vapor rushed through the orifice and drove the smoke before it; and at the same time induced a current of atmospheric air to follow in the same direction. Sometimes those designed for this purpose had a handle or bail to suspend them over the fire, as No. 183. As several ancient domestic customs still prevail in Italy, and numerous culinary and other implements found in Herculaneum and Pompeii are similar to those now used it might be supposed that some relics of eolipiles and their uses would be still met with in that country. The supposition has been veri¬ fied ; lor we are informed that these instruments are, or were in the seventeenth century, “ commonly made use of in Italy to cure smoaky chimneys, for being hung over the fire, the blast arising from them carries up the loitering smoke along with it”—and again, “ an eolipile has been sometimes placed in a chimney where it can be heated, the vapor of which serves to drive the smoke up the chimney.” This application of steam n will be perceived, is similar to that lately adopted to increase the draft of chimneys of locomotive carriages. Rivius mentions another use of eolipiles. He says some were made of gold, silver and other costly metals, and were filled with scented water, “ to cause a pleasant temperature, to refresh the spirit and rejoice the heart, not only of the healthy but also of the sick.” He observes that they were used for these purposes in the halls and chambers of the wealthy. Rhenanus, an old German writer, who died in 1547, enumera- tmg the treasures belonging to the ancient church at Mentz, mentions eolipiles in the form of “ silver cranes, in the belly of which was put fire” and which gave out “ a sweete savour of perfumes by the open beake.” Seneca has observed that perfumes were sometimes disseminated in the amphitheatres, by being mixed with boiling water, so that the odor rose and was diffused by the steam. We learn from Shakespeare that perfum¬ ing rooms was common in his time, the neglect of cleanliness rendering such operations necessary. It is probable that he refers to the same pro¬ cess as that mentioned by Rivius. “ Being entertained for a perfumer, as I was smoking a room.” “ Much ado about Nothing ,” Act 1, Scene 3.’ Eolipiles were also employed to produce music. By adapting trum¬ pets, flutes, clarionets, and other wind instruments to the neck or orifice of one, they were sounded as by currents of air. This application of eolipiles is probably coeval with their invention. It is indeed only a variation of the supposed musical apparatus of the Memnonian Statue, and of the devices described by Heron. All the old writers on eolipiles mention it. Fludd figures a variety of instruments sounded by currents of steam; and Rivius, after noticing the use of eolipiles for blowing fires and fumigating rooms, observes “they are also made to produce music, the steam passing through reeds or organ pipes, so as to cause astonish¬ ment in those who have no idea of such wonderful operations.” Gerbert applied eolipiles in place of bellows to sound an organ at Rheims in the tenth century; and the instrument according to William of Malmsbury was extant two hundred years afterwards. (During the middle ages the churchmen were the only organ makers; and even so late as ^the sixteenth century, they retained the manufacture chiefly in their own hands : in the household book of Henry VIII. mention is made of two payments of ten pounds each to John, or “ Sir John, the organ maker,” °* the . ltor s . a J s > ‘ ^’ s almost certain that he was a priest.’) The preceding notice of eolipiles is due to them as the true germ of modern steam engines, for such they were, whether the latter be consider¬ ed as devices for raising water only, or as machines to move others. We 51 402 Applications of Steam. [Book IV. have seen that the oldest apparatus moved by steam, of which theie is any account, was an eolipile suspended on its axis, at once both boiler and engine, (No. 180) and we shall find that the first attempts to raise water by the same fluid were made with the same instruments. Indeed, all the early experiments on steam were made with eolipiles, and all the first steam machines were nothing else. CHAPTER IV. Employment of steam in former times—Claims of various people to the steam engine—Application of steam as a motive agent, perceived by Roger Bacon—Other modern inventions and discoveries known to him—Spanish steam-ship in 1543—Official documents relating to it—Remarks on these—Antiquity of paddle-wheels as propellers—Project of the author for propelling vessels—Experiments on steam in the sixteenth century—Jerome Cardan—Vacuum formed by the condensation of steam, known to the Alchymists—Experiments from Fludd—Others from Porta—Expansive force of steam illustrated by old authors—Interesting example of raising water by steam from Porta—Mathesius, Canini and Besson— Device for raising hot water from Decaus—Invention of the steam engine claimed by Arago for France— Nothing new in the apparatus of Decaus, nor in the principle of its operation—Hot springs—Geysers— Boilers with tubular spouts—Eolipiles—Observations on Decaus—Writings of Porta—Claims of Arago in behalf of Decaus untenable—Instances of hot water raised by steam in the arts—Manufacture of soap— Discovery of iodine—Ancient soap makers—Soap vats in Pompeii—Manipulations of ancient mechanics— Loss of ancient writings—Large sums anciently expended on soap—Logic of Omar. It will have been perceived from the preceding chapter that eolipiles for blowing fires and for other purposes were formerly common, and conse¬ quently that people were familiar with the generation of steam, and of high steam too, long before modern steam engines were known. Of the applications of this fluid to produce motion or raise liquids, during the long period that intervened between the time of Heron and the introduc¬ tion of printing into Europe, scarcely any thing is known ; yet there can be no doubt that it was occasionally used to a limited extent for one pur¬ pose or the other, and perhaps for. both. As the origin and early progress of the steam engine are necessarily con¬ nected with this part of our subject, the inquisitive reader will not object to dwell a little upon it, although some parts of the detail do not relate directly to the elevation of liquids. From the important and increasing influence of the steam engine on human affairs, a controversy has arisen between writers of different na¬ tions respecting the claims of their countrymen to its invention; and some acrimonious feelings have been displayed. This is to be regretted as fostering prejudices and passions which it is the province of philosophers to eradicate—not to cherish. National vauntings may form articles in the creed, as they are made to contribute to the capital of politicians; but should find no place in that of a savan. Philosophy, like Christianity, contemplates mankind as one family, and recognizes no sectional boast¬ ing. Neither science nor the arts are confined by degrees of longitude, nor are the scintillations of genius to be measured by degrees from the equator. As in the republic of letters, so in that of science and the arts, Chap. 4.] Spanish Steam Ship in 1543. 403 unknown! 011 disdnCti ° nS res P ecdn g the abode of its citizens should be A few scattered relics of ingenious men who flourished in the dark ges are still extant, which serve to convince us that experimental re- infho 6S f° S ° me ° f the monks and otker ar dent inquirers after knowledge n those times were more extensive, and evinced a more thorough a & c quamtance with the principles of natural philosophy, than is generally themw^ rhe From and Z m 7 mfCr that , he WaS aware of the elastic f °rce of steam d its applicability to propel vessels on water and carriages on land That he was acquainted with gunpowder is generally admitted and it would seem that neither diving bells nor suspension bridges escaped him Men may construct for the wants of navigation such machines Tai the greatest vessels, directed by a single man, shall cut through the rivers and seas with more rapidity than if they were propelled by rowers- chariots may be constructed which, without horses, shall run with imm^ surable speed. Men may conceive machines which could bear the diver without danger, to the depth of the waters. Men could invent a multil tudeof other engines and usefnlmstruments, such as bridges that shall span the broadest rivers without any intermediate support. Art has its thunders more terrible than those of heaven. A small quantity of matter produces a horrible explosion, accompanied by a bright light; and this ay be repeated so as to destroy a city or entire battalions.” .tfacon was not a man to speak or write in this manner at random. His experiments led him to the conclusions he has thus recorded, for he was y far the most talented and indefatigable experimental philosopher of his age. His discoveries however were not understood, or their minor mri ( -T? PP n iated ’ f ° r He 7 aS ™P risoned ten y ea ^ as a practised of magic &c. There is a remark m his treatise “ on the secret works of art and nature, that is too valuable to be omitted: he says a person who s pertectly acquainted with the manner that nature observes in her over a toons, can not only rival but surpass her. “ That he was acquainted with thm ” ^ ° f r r ' ^ tke . stracture of tke air pump, is past contradic- tion. He was (says Dr. Friend) the miracle of the times he lived in and the greatest genius perhaps for mechanical knowledge which ever appeared in the world since Archimedes. The camera obscura and telescope were known to him, and he has described the mode of making lafd t ng K & r Se \ ° f - the °P erations now use 1 course he was acquainted with the works of Porta, for this Neapolitan philosopher and his writings were greatly celebrated throughout Eu¬ rope. Now had Decaus turned his thoughts at all to the elevation of water by steam, he would at once have perceived the advantages of a device like No. 137, by which the liquid could be raised in unlimited quantities without being heated at all, as well as under all possible circumstances : and having perceived this, would he not (if the project of thus raising water had ever entered his head) have given it, or a modification of it, instead of No. 183 ? It is clear that he wanted an illustration of a propo¬ sition merely, and the one he has given he considered as good as any As long as the Natural Magic and the Sjnritali of Porta are admitted to have been published, the former about fifty and the latter at least ten years before the work of Decaus, there is little if any thing whereon to found a claim for the latter. If we were to concede, what certainly is not established beyond dispute, that the first idea of raising a weight by means of the elastic power of steam belongs to the French author,” the fact would still remain that the Neapolitan had long before show,n how this could be done ; and M. Arago has himself observed, that “ in the arts, as in the sciences, the last comer is supposed to be acquainted with the labors of those who preceded him—all denial in this respect is without value.” The object of Porta in introducing the device referred to was not to show its application to raise water, and it is not fair to conclude that he was igno¬ rant of its adaptation for that purpose because he has not gone out of 3 his way to point it out. It has also been objected, that his apparatus raised the liquid to a very limited height. We do not know that Decaus’s did more, for we are only told that the contents of the ball would be driven out, without the slightest intimation of an elevated discharge. Well, (an advocate of the latter will say) but his apparatus is capable of raisino-wa¬ ter to all heights. And so is Porta’s. But had Porta “ the least idea of the great power which steam is susceptible of acquiring]” The extracts which we have given from his Natural Magic, on the rupture of vessels by steam, prove that he was well aware of it; and the book from which these extracts are taken was his earliest production, being published in 1560, at which time (he observes in the preface) he was only about fifteen years old. To conclude, we are constrained to embrace the opinion, not¬ withstanding the arguments and eloquence of M. Arago, that the device described by Decaus brought to light no new fact, and gave rise to no new or useful result. Although instances rarely occur in the arts in which the elevation of hot water by the steam evolved from it could be of service, there are some, as in chemical manipulations, in a few breweries and distilleries, and also in soap manufactories. The operation in the latter is worth noticing:— In the ordinary process of manufacturing common hard soap, three or four tons are often made at once in a deep iron vat or boiler. Into this several 414 Hot water raised by Steam in soap manufactories. [Book IV. hundred gallons of ley, with the other ingredients, tallow, rosin, lime, &c. are put. After the whole has been several times boiled, the semi-fluid mass is suffered to remain some time at rest, when the ley collecting at the bottom leaves a thick stratum of soap formed above. As no openings are made in the sides or bottom of the boiler, the hot ley is drawn off at the top, and is usually done by a common pump. Long after the fire is with¬ drawn steam continues to rise from the liquid, below; for, from the vast mass of heated materials, their non-conducting property, and that of the furnace, the heat is slowly dissipated. The soap in the mean time acquires a firmer consistence, and prevents the vapor from escaping above almost as effectually as the bottom of the boiler does below; so that not until the steam attains considerable elastic force can it open a passage through, and when it does the opening is instantly closed as before. When there¬ fore the pump is pushed through the whole to the bottom of the vat, and started to work, the liquid continues of itself to pass up, being urged by the steam. (It is necessary to work the pump at first because the open¬ ings in its end become stopped with soap in passing it down. The end of a plain tube would be choked in the same way ; but by a pump at¬ tached to it, the pressure of the atmosphere is added to that of the steam to force the passage open.) The large body of soap keeps settling down as the ley is discharged, and thus preserves the steam at the same degree of tension until all the ley is ejected, when the steam itself escapes also through the pump. The soap, it will be perceived, acts as a flexible pis¬ ton, its adhesion to the sides of the boiler and its spissitude and weight effectually confining the vapor below. Of the origin of this mode of raising ley, and the extent to which it is practiced, we are not informed. It affords however an example of the truth of the remark, that important results may be deduced from attention to simple facts, as well as from the observance of common products. An examination of the residuum of a soap-boiler’s kettle, it is well known, led to the discovery of a new chemical element, (iodine,) and of its virtues as a specific in the cure of the goitre ; and from the preceding remarks it may be inferred, that an observing Greek or Roman soap-boiler might have discovered the applicability of steam to raise water, since he possessed all the requisite machinery in his ordinary apparatus, and might have per¬ formed the operation as often as he made soap. His ingenuity would also have been rewarded by a diminution of his labor. And who can prove that such a plan was not in use in some of the old soap-factories of former times ? In that, for example, which has been discovered in Pompeii, in one apartment of which are the vats, placed on a level with the ground, and in another were found heaps of lime of so superior a quality as to have excited the admiration of modern manufacturers . 1 11 Of the manipulations of ancient mechanics and manufacturers we know little or nothing. Of the thousands of their devices, many valuable ones have certainly been lost. Some of these have been revived or rediscovered in modern times, among which we think may be mentioned various appli¬ cations of steam. There were indeed so many occasions for the employ¬ ment of this fluid by the ancients, and particularly in raising of water, that, taken in connection with the information respecting it in the Spiritalia, the part it was made to perform in the temples, the traces of it in the hot 1 Soap must have been an expensive article among the Greeks, at least such as was used in the toilette, if we were to judge from the amount that Demetrius extorted from the Athenians, viz. 250 talents, which, says Plutarch, “he gave to Lamia and his other mistresses to buy soap." 415 Chap. 4.J Ancient Writings on the Arts destroyed. baths at Rome, and the apparatus of Anthemius, by which last it was adapted to a very novel purpose as a motive agent, thus exhibiting re¬ sources in its appplication that could only be derived from experience_ we cannot divest ourselves of the idea that the ancients were better ac¬ quainted with the mechanical properties of steam and its application to the arts than is commonly supposed. But for the destruction of the numerous libraries of the ancients, some of which contained volumes that treated on every subject, we should have been intimately acquainted with their arts and machinery ; and but for the logic of Omar, a we might have been in possession of those treatises on mechanics that Ctesibius studied, and which supplied Heron with ma¬ terials for the Spiritalia; for the latter refers to inventions and writings of his predecessors, and admits having incorporated some of their produc¬ tions with his own. Possibly the very books out of which he selected the applications of steam No. 179 and No. 180 might now have been extant. The destiuction of such works as these was a severe loss to the world. Had they been saved, the state of society would not, in the following ages, have been so greatly degenerated, nor would the arts have sunk to so low an ebb. Mechanics have therefore as much reason, if not more, to deplore the loss of those volumes that treated on the subjects of their pur¬ suits, as learned men have to regret the destruction of those that related to literature only. It was also easier to replace the latter than the former —to revive the literature than the arts of the ancients; for reflections on history, politics, morals, literature, romance, &c. are more or less common to our race in all times, and in every age men will be found to clothe them, or selections of them, in glowing language; whereas mechanical inventions, though often brought about by the observance of common facts, are frequently the results of fortuitous thoughts which local occur¬ rences or singular circumstances induce, and if once lost can hardly be revived, except by congenial minds under similar circumstances. Besides, it is not by the mere arresting an idea as it floats through the mind that discoveries or improvements in mechanism are effected : on the contrary, it requires to be cultivated and matured by reflection ; the accuracy of the device suggested by it has to be tested by models, and these by experi¬ ment, before the incipient thought becomes embodied in a working ma¬ chine. a Amrou, his general, having taken Alexandria, wrote for directions respecting the disposition of the famous library which it had been the pride of the Ptolemies to collect. The reply was—if the writings agreed with the doctrines of the Koran, they were use• less; and if they did not, they ought to be destroyed. The argument was irresistible, and the whole were burnt. 416 Few Inventions formerly recorded. [Book IV. CHAPTER V. Few Inventions formerly recorded—Lord Bacon—His project for draining mines—Thomas Bushell— Ice produced by hydraulic machines—Eolipiles—Branca’s application of the blast of one to produce motion—Its inutility—Curious extract from Wilkins—Ramseye’s patent for raising water by fire—Ma¬ nufacture of nitre—Figure illustrating the application of steam, from an old English work—Kirrher’s device for raising water by steam—John Bate—Antiquity of boys’ kites in England—Discovery of at¬ mospheric pressure—Engine of motion—Anecdotes of Oliver Evans and John Fitch—Elasticity and condensation of steam—Steam-engines modifications of guns—A moving piston the essential feature in both—Classification of modern steam engines—Guerricke’s apparatus—The same adopted in steam-en¬ gines—Guerricke one of the authors of the steam-engine. How few, how exceedingly few of the conceptions and experimental researches of mechanics have ever been recorded ! How many millions of men of genius have passed through life without making their discove¬ ries known ! Even since printing was introduced, not a moiety of those who possessed in an unusual degree the faculty of invention have pre¬ served any of their ideas on paper. Of some men celebrated for the no¬ velty of their devices, nothing is known but their names ; they have gone, and not a trace of their labors is left. Of others, the title by which they designated their inventions is nearly all that has come down—no particu¬ lars by which we might judge of their merits. This is the case with many of the old experimenters on steam, especially those who raised or at¬ tempted to raise water by it. Among these we have sometimes thought Lord Bacon should have a place, under the impression that he employed, or designed to employ, that fluid to raise water from the deluged mines which he undertook to recover. He obviously had some new modes and machines for the purpose. An account of these he laid before the King, (James I) who approved of the project, and consented that the aid of parliament should be invoked. In the “ Speech touching the recovery of drown’d mineral works,” which Bacon prepared to be delivered before parliament, is the following passage : “And I may assure your Lordships that all my proposals, in order to this great architype, seemed so rational and feasable to my Royal Sovereign, our Christian Salomon, [!] that I thereby prevailed with his Majesty to call .this honorable Parliament, to confirm and impower me, in my own way of mining, by an act of the same.”® This great man was therefore in possession of a novel plan of accomplishing one of the most arduous undertakings in practical hydraulics; and so im¬ pressed with a belief in its efficiency that the king was induced by him to call, or agree to call, a parliament, chiefly it would seem to give sanction to it. What the plan was, we are not informed, nor is any account of it believed to be extant. Dr. Tenison, (Archbishop of Canterbury) the au¬ thor of “ Baconiana,” alluding in 1679 to Bacon’s “ Mechanical Inventions,” observes, “His instruments and ways in recovering deserted mines, I can give no account of at all; though certainly, without new tools , and peculiar inventions, he would never have undertaken that new and hazardous work.” b That the project consisted chiefly in some peculiar mode of raising the water is certain ; and it is worthy of remark that a member of a Baconiana. Lond. 1679, p. 133. b “An Account of all the Lord Bacon’s Works," subjoined to Baconiana, p. 17. 417 Chap. 5.] Lord Bacon's Project for raising Water from Mines. his household was a mining engineer, and celebrated for the invention or construction of hydraulic engines, viz. “ Mr. Thomas Bushell, one of his ordship s menial servants; a man skilful in discovering and opening of mines, and famous for his curious water-works in Oxfordshire, by which he imitated rain, hail, the rainbow, thunder and lightning.” 11 This was probabiy the same individual who is mentioned in some & biographies as “ Master of the Royal Mines in Wales,” under Charles I. * That the application of steam to drain mines and impart motion to ma¬ chinery had begun to excite attention in England before the death of Ba con, (in 1626) is very obvious. Of this there are several indications; and within four years of his demise, a patent was granted for a method of dischargmg water “from low pitts by fire? Then he was acquainted with the writings of Porta, and consequently with the apparatus No. 187. No experiment or fact of the kind illustrated by this could have escaped him, even if he had not been engaged in the project of recovering flooded mines; and he was, to say the least, as likely as any other man of his a^e to perceive the adaptation of such an apparatus as No. 187 for raisin*- wa¬ ter, and also to apply it. We hear of no such uses of steam in England before his time, but soon after his death they make their appearance with¬ out any one very distinctly to claim them. It may however be said if Bacon raised water by steam, Bushell, his engineer, would most likely have done the same after the death of the chancellor, and proofs of this fact might be obtained from an examination of the water-works of the latter Had we any account of these, the question most likely could be settled; but almost the only information we have respecting the machines and labors of Bushell is contained in the extract above, and there is but one particular from which any thing respecting their construction can be inferred, viz. had is said to have been produced by them. How this was done we know not; possibly by admitting high steam into a close vessel, from which water mixed with air b was expelled with a velocity sufficient to produce ice, somewhat in the same manner as the operation is performed by compressed air in the pressure engine described at page 362. The same thing was done by others who we know did experiment on steam, and who performed the operation without the aid of a great fall of water. The Marquis of Worcester makes it the subject of the 18th pro¬ position of his “ Century of Inventions,” in a fountain which he says a child, could invert. And a century before, Cornelius Drebble “ made certain machines which produced rain, hail and lightning, as naturally as if these effects proceeded from the sky.” But whether Lord Bacon used steam or not—and it must be admitted that there is no direct evidence that he did—it is interesting to know that his great mind was bent to the subject of raising water on the most ex¬ tensive scale, and this too at the time when steam first began to be propo¬ sed for that purpose in England. On this account, if on no other, are his labors entitled to notice here.® * Account of Lord Bacon’s Works, p. 19. Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Burnett, in his Letters from Italy, noticing the water-works , 0b l er y es ’ “ the mixture of wind with the water and the thunder and storms that tins maketh, is noble.” 3d edition, Rotterdam, 1687, p. 245. ,<«l,^I/.? aCOnS ! ems , tC l have been greatly interested in mining and in the reduction, componndmg and working of metals. In his treatise on the Advancement of Learning e divides natural philosophy into the mine and furnace, and philosophers into pioneers smi is, or iggers and hammerers; the former being engaged in the inquisition of causes, and the latter in the production of effects. In his “ Physiological Remains,” we hnd the saving of fuel thus noticed under the head of “ Experiments for Profit:” “Build mg of chimneys, furnaces and ovens, lo give out heat with less wood.” 53 418 Branca's Eolipile. Book IV. Three years after Bacon’s death, the first printed account was published of any modern attempt (yet discovered) to communicate motion to solids by steam, and as usual an eolipile was employed. Occupying a place on the domestic hearth, as this instrument did, the shrill current proceeding from it must have often excited attention, and led ingenious men to ex¬ tend the application of the blast to other purposes. The first idea that would occur to a novice when attempting to obtain a rotary movement from a current of vapor, would be that of a light wheel, having its wings or vanes placed so as to receive the impulse, in a similar manner as little paper wheels are made to revolve, which children support on a pin or wire and blow round with the mouth—or those which resemble ventila¬ tors and revolve when held against the wind at the end of a stick. These toys are vertical and horizontal windmills in miniature, and windmills and smoke-jacks were the only instruments in the 16 th century that revolved by currents of air. Hence it was natural to imitate the movements of these in the first applications of steam; and the more so since steam at that time was generally considered to be nothing but air. a Such was the device of Giovanni Branca, as described in a work entitled The Ma¬ chine, written in Italian and Latin, and published at Rome in 1629. The volume contains sixty-three engravings. The twenty-fifth represents an eolipile, in the form of a negro’s head, and heated on a brazier: the blast proceeds from the mouth, and is directed against pallets or vanes on the periphery of a large wheel, which he thus expected to turn round; and by means of a series of toothed wheels and pinions, to communicate mo¬ tion to stampers for pounding drugs. He proposed also to raise water by it with a chain of buckets, to saw timber, drive piles, &c. It is hardly necessary to observe that the apparatus figured by Branca in all probability never existed except in his imagination, and that his stampers, buckets, saws, piles, &c. could no more have been moved by the blast of his eolipile, than those venerable trees were which Wilkins and older writers have represented being torn up from the earth by a man’s breath —the blast being directed against the vanes of a wheel, and the force multiplied by a series of toothed wheels and pinions, until its energy could no longer be resisted by the rootsl* 5 Branca seems to have had these childish dreams in his mind when he proposed a continuous stream ot steam from an eolipile, in lieu of intermitting puffs of air from a person’s mouth. Italian writers have however claimed for him the invention of the steam-engine, a claim quite as untenable as that put forth in behalf of Decaus; for, in the first place, his'mode of producing a rotary motion by a current of vapor was not new : all that can be accorded to him in this respect is, that he perhaps was the first to publish a figure and description of it. Then it indicates neither ingenuity nor research. There probably never was a boy that made and played with “ paper windmills” who would not have at once suggested it, had he been consulted; and when eolipiles were common, many a lad doubtless amused himself by making his “ mills” revolve in the current of vapor that issued from them. Moreover, the device is of no practical value. How infinitely does it fall short when compared with that of Heron, (No. 180.) The philosophical principle of a A horizontal and a vertical windmill are figured at folio 49 of Rivius’ translation of Vitruvius, A. D. 1548. b By the multiplication of wheels and pinions it were easy to have made, says Wilkins, “one of Sampson’s hairs that was shaved off, to have been of more strength than all of them when they were on : by the help of these arts it is possible, as I shall demonstrate, for any man to lift up the greatest oak by the roots with a straw, to pull it up with a /tair, or to blow it up with his breath." Math. Magic, book i, chap. 14. Chap. 5.] Ramseye's Patent, A.D. 1630 419 recoil by which the Alexandrian engineer imparted motion by steam has often been adopted, and engines resembling his are made even at this day but one on the plan of Branca never was, and, without presumption ^t may be said, never will be. The principle being bad, no modification or extension of it could be made useful. No boiler could by it be made to W ° 1 ^ 1 -- a P um P to inject the necessary supply of water t r Mr : Fare y has well observed that steam has so little density, that the he utmost effect it can produce by percussion is very triflingf notwith¬ standing the great velocity with which it moves. The blast i£uinJ from an eohpile, or from the spout of a boiling tea-kettle, appears to rush out with so much force that at first sight it might be supposed its power on a larger scale, might be applied in lieu of a natural current of wind to’give motion to machinery; but on examination it will be found, that the steam being less than half the specific gravity of common air, its motion .s im¬ peded and resisted by the atmosphere. As steam contains so lie e matter or weight, it cannot communicate any considerable force by its impetus or concussion when it strikes a solid body. The force of a current o ? f steam also soon ceases. This may be observed in a tea-kettle : the vapor which issues with great velocity at the spout, becomes a mere mist at a few inches distance, and without any remaining motion or energy; and if the issuing current were directed to strike upon any kind of vanes, with a view of obtaining motion from it, the condensation of the steam would be still more sudden, because the substance of such vanes would absorb the heat of the steam more rapidly than air. Branca’s apparatus has been made to figure in the history of the *team- f^?W bU J™ th e(?Ual mi g ht the child’s windmill be introduced nto that of air-engines, for the analogy is precisely the same in both. His device had no influence in developing modern engines. Instead of lead¬ ing to the employment of the fluid in close vessels, and to the use of a piston and cylinder, its tendency was the reverse : hence so far from indi eating the right path, it diverted attention from it. At the time Branca was preparing his book for the press, some experi¬ ments on steam were being made in England—or so it would seem from banderson s edition of Rymer’s Foedera. In vol. xix is a copy of a patent or special privilege granted by Charles I to David Ramseye, one of the fuar^l 1630 ™^ Chamber ’ f ° r the followin g inventions; and dated Ja- “ 1. To multiply and make saltpeter in any open field, in fower acres oi ground sufficient to serve all our dominions. 2. To raise water from low puts by fire. 3. To make any sort of mills to goe on standing waters by continual motion, without the help of wind, waite [weight] or horse. 4. lo make all sorts of tapistrie without any weaving loom, or waie ever vet m use in this kingdome. 5. To make boats, shippes and barges to soe against strong wind and tide. 6. To make the earth more fertile than usual. 7. To raise water from low places, and mynes, and coalvitts bv a K ln l S \ - 8 ' T ° makG hard ir ° n S0ft > and likewise copper to tie tutte and soft, which is not in use within this kingdome. 9 To make yellow wax white vene speedilie.” The privilege was for fourteen years, and the patentee was to pay a yearly rent of 3/. 6s. 8 d. to the king. Mr. r says that Ram seye had patents for other inventions from Charles I but does not enumerate them. As it was not then customary to file spe¬ cifications, there is no record of the details of his plan. It is singular that English writers have passed over this patent almost without comment, and yet it contains the first direct proposal to raise water in that country by steam of which any account has yet been produced. 420 Ramseye's Patent. [Book IV It may perhaps be said, that steam is not mentioned; still it is clearly im¬ plied in the second device, and was probably used in the third, fifth and seventh. The very expression “ to raise water by fire,” is the same that. Porta, Decaus, and other old authors, used when referring to such ap¬ plications of steam. Worcester, Papin, Savery and Newcomen, all de¬ scribed their machines as inventions for “ raising water by fire;” and hence they were named “ fire water-works,” “ fire machines,” and “ fire engines.” It should moreover be remembered that the word steam was not then in vogue. It is not once used by the translators of the Bible. The fluid was generally referred to as air, or wind, or smoke, according to the appear¬ ances it presented. ‘‘Rarefying water into ayer by fier,” and similar ex¬ pressions, were common. The idea of air in motion, or wind, was also applied to currents of steam: thus we read of “heating water to make wind,” and eolipiles were designated “ vessels to produce wind.” From the form of clouds which steam assumes when discharged into the atmosphere, it was also named smoke: thus Job calls it, in a passage already quoted; and Porta, in describing the apparatus No. 1S7, speaks of it both as smoke and air. “ The water [in the bottle] must be kept heated in this way until no more of it remains; and as long as the water shall smoke, (sfumera) the air will press the water in the box,” &c.—and again, “from that you can conclude how much water has run out, and into how much air it has been changed.” Had Ramseye therefore called his device a steam ma¬ chine, its nature would not have been so well understood as by the title he gave it, if indeed it could have been comprehended at all by the former term. The expression “ raising water by fire” appears to have as dis¬ tinctly indicated, in the 17th century, a steam-machine, as the term steam- engine does now; and there is no account extant of any device either pro¬ posed or used, in that century, for raising water from wells and mines by fire , except it was by means of steam. The date of this patent being so near that of the publication of Branca’s book, it may perhaps be thought that Ramseye derived some crude notions from it of applying a blast of steam to drive mills and raise water, as sug¬ gested by the Italian ; but we should rather suppose some modification of, or device similar to, Porta’s (see page 408) was intended in No. 2, and that Nos. 3, 5 and 7 were deduced from it. When once an efficient mode of raising water by steam (like No. 187) was realized, some application of it to propel machinery would readily occur. We know that both Savery and Papin and others proposed to work mills, by discharging the water they raised upon overshot wheels;- and this idea was so obvious and na¬ tural, that hundreds of persons have proposed it in later times without knowing that it had previously been done. From the order in which the first three devices are noticed in the privi¬ lege, it is possible that they were all modifications of the same thing; that the second and third were deduced from the first, and consequently in¬ vented independently of any previous steam machines. The operation of making saltpetre or nitre consists principally in boiling, in huge vats or cauldrons, the lixivium containing the nitrous earth ; and from the large quantities of water and fuel required, was formerly carried on in such places only as afforded these in abundance. At such works, the idea of employing the vast volumes of vapor (which escaped uselessly into the air) to raise the hot, and subsequently cold, liquids, would naturally occur to an observing mind, and especially when the subject of raising water by steam was exciting attention. Certainly the idea was as likely to occur to practical men while engaged in the manufacture of nitre in the beginning of the 17th century, as it was to Worcester and others in the middle of it 421 Chap. 5.] Figure from an old English Work. and to Papin and Savery at the close. Perhaps it will be said, nitre was not made in England at that time, and therefore Ramseye could not have taken the hint from such works ; and that the suggestion could only have been derived from a long practical experience in them, which he probably never had ; 1 his may be true, and it is not improbable that he was merely an agent in the business, having by his influence at court obtained the patent lor his own as well as the inventor’s benefit. The clause attached to the 8th device, “notin use within this kingdome,” implies that they were not all of English origin. But whatever were the origin and details of those or raising water, it is clear that the subject of steam was then abroad in the world, and ingenious men in various parts of Europe were exercising their wits to employ it. B It appears to us from the caption of Ramseye’s patent, that No. 2 (raisinc water by fire) was not the first thing of the kind proposed in England* since if it were he would have said so, as well as of No. 8, (softening iron and copper) and this further appears from what he remarks of No. 7, “ raising water from low places, mynes and coal pitts,” probably an im¬ provement upon No. 2, and differing from all previous applications of steam for the purpose ; hence we are told that it was a “ new waie,” one neve/ yet in use.” Had not steam therefore been previously applied to. raise water, it is exceedingly probable that he would have attached a simi¬ lar remark to No. 2. The Treatise on Art and Nature, mentioned page 321, is the oldest English book we have met with that illustrates the raising of water by steam with a cut. The annexed figure is from page 30. It possibly may have been deduced from the one given by Decaus, (No. 185) but we should think not; since, although the volume is a compilation, and two thirds of it taken up with “water-works,” there is nothing except this from which to infer even the slightest acquaintance with Decaus’s book. . It seems to have been copied without alteration from some other author. It is named “A conceited a Lamp, having the image of a cock sitting on the top , out of whose mouth by the heat of the lamp either water or ayer may be sent” The device consists of an eolipile con¬ taining water and heated by a lamp of several wicks. The image of the bird is hollow, and communicates by a species of three-way cock with the steam, and also with a pipe that de¬ scends into the liquid; so that when the bird is turned round till an opening in the moveable disk to which its lower part is attached coin¬ cides with another which communicates with the steam in the upper part of the vessel, vapor issues from the mouth; and when it is turned till the upper orifice of the pipe corresponds with the opening in the disk, then hot water is driven out; and when the opening in the disk does not coincide with either, nothing can escape. After observing that an opening with a proper stop¬ per should be made in the vessel, to charge it with water, the writer con- a No. 45 of Worcester’s Century of Inventions, is named “A most conceited Tinder- Box No. 71 “ A Square Key more conceited than any other;” and No. 74 “Aeon ecited Door.” 422 Raising Water by Steam, from Kircher. [Book IV. tinues—“ The larger you make this vessel, the more strange it will appear in its effects, so the lights [wicks] be proporcionable. Fill the vessell halfe full of water, and set the lights on fire underneath it, and after a short time, if you turn the holes that are on the sides of the pipes, that they may answer one another, the water being by little and little con¬ verted into ayer [steam] by the heat of the lights that are underneath, will breath forth at the mouth of the cock : but if you turn the mouth of the cock the other way, that the holes at the bottom of the pipes may answer each to other, then there being no vent for the ayer to breath out, it will presse the water and force it to ascend the pipe, and issue out where the ayer breathed out before. This is a thing may move great admiracion'in the unskilfull, and such as understand it not. Other devices, and those much more strange in their effects, may be contrived from hence.”* Kircher, in 1641, described in his Ars MagneticaP the device for raising water figured in the margin, a model of which was found in his museum after his death. A close vessel containing the water to be elevated is connected by a pipe that pro¬ ceeds from its upper part to the top of the boiler, which is supported on a trevet. When the boiler was heated, steam ascended through the pipe, and accumulating in the upper vessel, forced the water up the jet-pipe as repre¬ sented. This, it will be seen, is Porta’s machine (No. 187) adapted to the operation of raising liquids, which it ex¬ hibits in a very neat and satisfactory manner. It is not however equally clear that Kircher had any idea of adapt¬ ing the plan to the draining of mines, or other hydraulic purposes in the arts. Had such been the case, he would most likely have mentioned it in his Mundus Sublerrancus, a work published some years afterwards, and in the se¬ cond volume of which he figures and describes the ordi¬ nary machines then in use, viz. the bucket and windlass, chain of pots, chain pump, and atmospheric pumps. The form of the model (an imitation of a vase supported on a column) rendered it an appropriate addition to his phi¬ losophical apparatus. In 1643, the great discovery of atmospheric pressure was made; a discovery whose influence, like that of the atmosphere itself, is felt more or less in every art and every No. 190. Kircher. 1641. science. It led in a very short time to a series of inventions of the highest value, among which the reciprocating steam-engine should probably be placed. We mention it here in chronological order, that its influence in developing and improving the machine just named may be more readily appreciated when we come to notice subsequent attempts to impart motion by steam. a John Bute, who published a treatise on Fire-works in 1635, was perhaps the compiler of this curious volume. Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, quotes Bate’s book, but it would seem that the same cuts were not in both, for when speaking of boys’ kites, Strutt observes that the earliest notice of them that lie could find in books was in an English and French Dictionary of 1690; whereas there is a figure of a man flying one, with crackers and other fire-works attached to the tail, in the se¬ cond part of’ 1 Art and Nature.” b This work was published in quarto, at Rome and Colonne, in 1641 ; and in folio, at Rome, in 1654. Catalogue of Kircher’s Works at the end of the first volume of Mundus Sublerrancus. Amsterdam, 1665. Chap. 5.] Motive Engine in 1651. 423 Some remarkably ingenious experimentalists flourished about the middle o the nth century, whose names have perished; and of their labors no¬ thing is known except an enumeration of the uses to which some of their inventions could be applied. An example of this is furnished by an ano¬ nymous pamphlet,a published in 1651, from which the following extract is taken. 1 he device referred to seems to have possessed every attribute ot a modern high-pressure engine, and the various applications of the latter appear to have been anticipated. “ Whereas, by the blessing of God who only is the giver of every good and perfect gift, while I was search¬ ing after that which many, far before me in all humane learning- have sought but not yet found, viz. a perpetual motion, or a lessening the dis¬ tance between strength and time ; though I say, not that I have fully ob¬ tained the thing itself, yet I have advanced so near it, that already I can, with the strength or helpe of four men, do any work which is done in England, whether by winde, water or horses, as the grinding of wheate rape oj raising of water; not by any power or wisdome of mine own’ but by God s assistance and.(I humbly hope, after a sorte,) immediate di¬ rection, 1 have been guided in that search to treade in another pathe than ever any other man, that I can hear or reade of, did treade before me • yet, with so good success, that I have already erected one little engine or great model , at Lambeth, able to give sufficient demonstration to either artist or other person, that my invention is useful and beneficial, (let others Kay upon proof how much more,) as any other way of working hitherto known or used.” And he proceeds to give “ a list of the uses or applica¬ tions for which these engines are fit, for it is very difficult, if not impossi¬ ble, to name them all at the same time. To grind malt, or hard corne- to grind seed for the making of oyle ; to grind colours for potters, painters, or glasse-houses; to grind barke for tanners; to grind woods for dyers •’ to grind spices, or snuffe, tobacco ; to grind brick, tile, earth, or stones for plaster; to grind sugar-canes ; to draw up coales, stones, ure, or the like, or materials for great and high buildings; to draw wyre; to draw water from mines, meers, or fens ; to draw water to serve cities, townes, castles* and to draw water to flood dry grounds, or to water grounds ; to draw or hale ships, boates, Sfc. up rivers against the stream ; to draw carts, wagons 4 c. as fast without cattel: to draw the plough without cattel to the same despatch if need be; to brake hempe, flax, &c.; to weigh anchors with less trouble and sooner; to spin cordage or cables; to bolt meale faster and tine; to saw stone and timber; to polish any stones or mettals; to turne any great works in wood, stone, mettals, Sfc. that could hardly be’done be¬ fore ; to fie much cheaper in all great works; to bore wood, stone, mettals; to thrashe corne, if need be; to winnow corne at all times, better, cheaper, &c ; ^For paper mills, thread mills, iron mills, plate mills; cum multis aliis.” If this extraordinary engine of motion, observes Mr. Stuart, to whom we are indebted for the extract, was not some kind of a steam- engine, the knowledge of an equally plastic and powerful motive a^ent has been utterly lost. 6 Steam is not here indicated, but it is difficult to conceive any other agent, unless some explosive compound be supposed, by which the pres¬ sure of the atmosphere was excited. That the engine consisted of a working cylinder and piston, and the latter moved by steam, must we Invention of Engines of Motion lately brought to perfection; “ whereby may be despatch- ed any work now done m England, or elsewhere, (especially works that require strength and swiftness,) either by water, wind, cattel, or men, and that with better accommoda¬ tion and more profit than by any thing hitherto known and used.” Loudon, 1651. 424 Oliver Evans and John Fitch. [Book IV. think be admitted ; for although most of the operations mentioned might have been performed by forcing up water on an overshot wheel, by an apparatus similar to Papin’s or Savery’s steam-engines, there are others to which such a mode was quite inapplicable, as raising of anchors, or propelling carts, wagons and ploughs. The inventor, whoever he was, has given proofs of an extraordinary sagacity, for every operation named bv him is now effected by the steam-engine, except raising the anchors of steam-vessels and ploughing. The latter is at present the subject of ex¬ periment, and the former will in all probability be soon adopted. The author’s labors were most likely not appreciated by his contemporaries, and as the world is always too apt to think the worst in such cases, the whole will probably now be set down by some persons as the dream of a sanguine projector—the judgment commonly passed upon those who are in advance of the age they live in. Of this lamentable truth several ex¬ amples will be found in this volume, and in the history of every important invention. We shall notice two here, as they relate to two of the most valuable applications of steam. Oliver Evans, in 1786, urged upon a committee of the legislature of Pennsylvania, the advantages to be derived from steam-boats and “ steam-wagons,” and predicted their universal adoption in a short time. The opinion which the committee formed of him was expressed a few years afterwards, by one of its members, in the following words: “To tell you the truth, Mr. Evans, we thought you were deranged when you spoke of making steam-wagons .” The other relates to John Fitch, a clock and watch maker, than whom a more inge¬ nious, persevering and unfortunate man never lived. In spite of difficulties that few could withstand, he succeeded in raising the means to construct a steam-boat, which he ran several times from Philadelphia to Burlington and Trenton in 1788. As a first attempt, and from the want of proper manufactories of machinery at the time, it was of necessity imperfect: then public opinion was unfavorable, and the shareholders finally aban¬ doned the scheme. His feelings may be imagined, but not described ; for he saw and predicted the glory that awaited the man who should suc¬ ceed in introducing such vessels in more favorable times. “ The day will come [he observes] when some more powerful man will get fame and riches by my invention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do any thing worthy of attention.” He declared that within a century the western rivers would swarm with steam-vessels, and he expressed a wish to be buried on the margin of the Ohio, that the music of marine en¬ gines in passing by his grave might echo over the sods that covered him. In a letter to Mr. Rittenhouse, in 1792, he shows the applicability of steam to propel ships of war, and asserts that the same agent would be adopted to navigate the Atlantic, both for packets and armed vessels. Descanting on one occasion upon his favorite topic, a person present observed as Fitch retired, “ poor fellow! what a pity he is crazy !” He ended his life in a fit of insanity by plunging into the Allegany. 8 In tracing the progress of discovery which resulted in the steam-engine, we have seen that the two grand properties of aqueous vapor—its elastic energy, and the instant annihilation of this energy by condensation—were well known in tho 16th century. On these properties of steam were based all the efforts of experimenters to accomplish the two great objects they had in view; i. e. to impart motion by it to general mechanism, and to employ it as a substitute for pumps to raise water. Before either the » Supplement to Art. “Steam-Boat,” Ed. Encyclopedia, l>y Dr. Mease; and Watson’s “ Early Settlement and Progress of Philadelphia,” &c. Phil. 1833. Chap. 5.] Classification of Modem Steam Engines. 425 4 elastic force or the condensation of steam could be beneficially applied to give motion directly to solids, some plan very different from that of Branca was required—one by which the fluid could be used in close vessels. Now there is in the whole range of mechanical combinations but one de¬ vice of the kind yet known, and it has but few modifications, viz. a piston and cylinder. Experience has proved, that of all contrivances for trans¬ mitting the force of highly elastic fluids to solid bodies, this is the best. Thus guns are cylinders, and bullets are pistons, fitted to fill the bore and at the same time to move through the straight barrels. It is the same, whatever the impelling agent maybe; whether gun-powder, steam, or compressed air. The air-guns of Ctesibius are the oldest machines of the kind on record, and from them we see that the ancients had detected this mode of employing aeriform fluids. Steam-engines simply considered are but modifications of guns. In the latter, the bullet or piston is driven entirely out of the cylinder, and in one direction only, because the intention is to impart the momentum to a distant object at a blow : but by the former the design is to derive from the moving bullet a continuous force; hence it is not allowed to leave the cylinder, but is made to traverse incessantly backwards and forwards within. In order to transmit its impetus to the outside of the cylinder and to the objects to be acted upon, a straight rod is attached to it, and made to slide through an opening in one end of the cylinder. It is by means of this rod that motion is imparted to the machinery intended to be moved. All the mechanism, the wheels, cranks, shafts, drums, &c. of steam-engines are but appendages to the cylinder and piston; they may be removed and the energy of the machine still remains; but take away either cylinder or piston and the whole becomes inert as the limbs of an animal whose heart has ceased to beat. Therefore it is the working cylinder and piston alone that give efficiency to modern steam-engines; and it is to those persons who contributed to introduce them, that the glory attending the invention of these great prime movers is chiefly due. Whatever may be said respecting more ancient applications of steam as a moving power, modern engines are one of the results of the discovery of atmospheric pressure. All the early ones of which descriptions are extant were rather air than steam machines, not being moved by the latter fluid at all. Their inventors had no idea of employing the elastic force of steam, but confined themselves to the atmosphere as a source of motive force : hence they merely applied steam in lieu of a syringe to displace air from a cylinder, that, when the vapor became condensed by cold into a liquid, the atmosphere might force down the piston. That this was the way in which modern engines took their rise appears, further, from the same feature being retained in a great portion of them to this day. They are now ranged in three classes—1st atmospheric, 2d low pressure, and 3d high pressure engines; and this we know is the order in which they were developed. In the first, the power is derived exclusively from the atmos¬ phere, the vapor employed being used only as a substitute for an air-pump in making a vacuum under the piston. In process of time the second was devised, in which the elastic force of steam is made to act against one side of the piston, while a vacuum is formed on the opposite side. The next step was to move the piston by the steam alone, and such are named high- pressure engines. The term ^raw-engine is therefore not so definite as some persons might suppose, since it is not confined to those in which steam is the prime mover. Had it not been for Torricelli’s discovery, it is possible that we should never have known any other species of steam- engine than those of the third class; and hence we repeat, that whatever 54 % 426 Guerricke's Illustration of Atmospheric Pressure. [Book IV may be thought of engines made previous to the 17th century, those of modern days were obviously derived from atmospheric ones of the first class, while these in their turn were very likely deduced from the appa¬ ratus described in the next paragraph. Otto Guerricke, of whom we spoke at page 190, one of the earliest, and as far as mechanical ingenuity went perhaps the most gifted, of the early elucidators of atmospheric pressure, exhibited in his public experiments at Ratisbon, in 1654, the following application of that pressure as a mo tive force. A large cylinder, A, was firmly secured to a post or frame. It was open at the top and closed at the bottom, and had a piston accu¬ rately fitted to work in it. A rope was fastened to the piston-rod and passed over two pulleys, B C, as rep¬ resented, by which was suspended a scale, D, containing several weights. When the air was withdrawn from the lower part of the cylinder, the pressure of the atmosphere depress¬ ed the piston and raised the scale and weights. To vary the experiment, the weights were removed and No. 191. Guerricke. A. D. 1654. twenty men were employed to pull at the rope with all their strength ; but as soon as a vacuum was made by the small air-pump attached to the bottom of the cylinder, the piston descended, notwithstanding all their efforts to prevent it. This is the oldest apparatus on record for transmitting motion to solids by a piston. We can however hardly believe that it was the first devised for the purpose. It would be strange if it were; for whatever may have been the nature of Anthemius’s, Garay’s, and other old machines in which steam was the active principle, pumps and syringes had been too common, and experiments with them too frequent, for such a device to have been unknown. Such men as Aristotle and Archimedes, Ctesibius, Heron, Roger Bacon and their successors, were all aware that a syringe presented the same phenomenon as Guerricke’s apparatus, when the pis¬ ton was drawn up while the discharging orifice was closed : the same thing was also observed with common pumps when the suction-pipes were •either closed or choked. Experiments therefore to illustrate the force thus excited were in all probability made, and with apparatus similar to that of the Prussian philosopher, long before his time, although no account of them is extant. But if even such had been made, they would not lessen in any degree the merit of Guerricke, since his experiment undoubtedly originated with himself, and all knowledge of similar ones had been lost. In this device we behold the same moving force, and the same mecha¬ nism for applying it, as were subsequently adopted in steam-engines, which at first were little more than copies of this : for example, had a loaded pump-rod been suspended to the rope instead of the scale and weights, the apparatus would have differed from Newcomen’s engine only in the mode of exciting the atmospheric pressure. To Guerricke, therefore, is due the credit of having not only pointed out the power which alone gave efficiency to the first steam-machines, but also of devising the most effec* Chap. 6.] Old Inventors concealed their Discoveries. 427 tual means of employing it. No one could, we think, claim an equal de¬ gree of merit for simply applying (not inventing) another mode of produ¬ cing a vacuum under the piston; but without insisting on this, it may be observed that even at present, in all low-pressure engines, the vacuum is made just as Guerricke made it, viz. by an air-pump; so that the impress of his genius on the steam-engine is no more obliterated in this respect than it is in others. Every unbiassed mind will therefore admit, that an honorable place in its history should be assigned to the philosopher of Magdeburg. CHAPTER VI. Reasons of old Inventors for concealing their discoveries—Century of Inventions—Marquis of Wor¬ cester—His Inventions matured before the Civil Wars—Several revived since his death—Problems in the “Century” in older authors—Bird roasting itself—Imprisoning Chair—Portable Fortifications Flying—Diving—Drebble’s Submarine Ship—The 68th Problem—This remarkably explicit—The device consisted of one boiler and two receivers—The receivers charged by atmospheric pressure—Three and four-way cocks—An hydraulic machine of Worcester mentioned by Cosmo de Medicis—Worcester’s machine superior to preceding ones, and similar to Savery’s—Piston Steam-Engine also made by him_ Copy of the last three Problems in the Century—Ingenious mode of stating them—Forcing-Pumps work¬ ed by Steam-Engines intended—Ancient Riddle—Steam-Boat invented by Worcester—Projectors des¬ pised in his time—Patentees caricatured in a public procession—Neglect of Worcester—His death Persecutionof his widow—Worcester one of the greatest Mechanicians of any age or nation—Glauber. As yet we have not met with any definite description of a steam-engine in actual use. This can only be accounted for from the fact that old in¬ ventors were all jealous of the printing-press. They believed their inte¬ rest required concealment on their part, that pirates might not rob them of their labors. They have been blamed for this, and so have some mo¬ dern mechanics, but we think without reason ; for, to obtain satisfaction at law in such cases, was formerly as difficult as it is now in most cases. To have to purchase justice, as in a lottery, with money, is bad in itself, and worse because those without money cannot obtain it; but to have to give more for it than it is worth, if perchance it be awarded, is a disgrace to enlightened nations—an evil that savages would not for a moment en¬ dure. It is thus that law, though ordained to promote justice, is so pros¬ tituted as not only to defeat the object for which it was designed, but to cherish the grossest injustice. It has always been a bar to the progress of the arts. The difficulty and expense of obtaining and preserving an ex- elusive right to their inventions—that is, to their own property—have in¬ duced inventors more or less, in every age, to conceal their discoveries till death, and even then to destroy all records respecting them. When old inventors were solicitous of public patronage, instead of es¬ tablishing their claims to it by explaining the principles and operations of their machines, they contented themselves with enumerating their uses and good qualities merely. They proclaimed the great things that could be done, but studiously concealed the modes and means of doing them: hence new inventions were sometimes announced enigmatically, the mov¬ ing or constituent principles being so obscurely hinted at that few readers 428 [Book IV, Marquis of Worcester. could apprehend them. Of this mode of exciting public attention, the account of the engine of motion in the last chapter is an example ; and several more may be seen in the pamphlet published by the Marquis of Worcester, in 1663, entitled “ A Century of the Names and Scantlings [outlines or hints] of such Inventions as at present I can call to mind to have tiied and perfected; which, my former notes being lost, I have, at the instance of a powerful friend, endeavored, now in the year 1655, to to set down in such a way as may sufficiently instruct me to put any of them in practice.” This book is made up of one hundred inventions, numbered from one upwards. It contains a distinct reference to a work¬ ing steam-machine for raising water, and also hints by which its nature and construction are pretty clearly ascertained. There is some reason to believe that the modern high-pressure engine is also referred to. From the circumstanee of the author having figured largely in the civil wars, he having been an enthusiastic adherent of Charles I. and of monarchy, his character and that of his book have been represented in the best and worst of lights. By his enemies he was held up as false and unprincipled in the highest degree; by his friends, as chivalrous and of unspotted honor. The “ Century” has been denounced as a scheme to impose on the cre¬ dulity of mankind—the dream of a visionary—and Hume, in his History, goes so far as to name it “ a ridiculous compound of lies, chimeras, and impossibilities.” On the other hand, it has been received by many (and generally by practical men) in the light in which the author represents it, viz. as a memorial of inventions actually put in practice by him—such as he had really “ tried and perfected.” With the political conduct of Worcester we have nothing to do. He naturally enough supported that system by which he and the rest of the Lords acquired and entailed their exclusive privileges; among which the abominable one of being legislators by birth was perhaps the most odious and unnatural. On the fall of the king he retired to the continent, but, at the request of Charles II, ventured to visit London in disguise in 1656. Being discovered, he was arrested, and confined in the Tower until the reestablishment of monarchy in 1660. He died in 1667. We have no positive information respecting the time when he com¬ menced his mechanical researches. There is however reason to believe that most, if not all, the inventions enumerated in the “ Century ” were matured before the civil wars broke out, and consequently that the account of them was drawn up, as he declares, in 1655. a No. 56 he observes was tried before Charles I, Sir William Balfour, and the Dukes of Richmond and Hamilton; and this could not have been later than 1641, for Balfour was dismissed that year. In addressing the Century to Parliament, he mentions having had “ the unparalleled workman, Caspar Kaltoff,” in his employment “ these five and thirty years,” and who was at that time (1663) engaged in his service. This carries back his experiments to 1628. Some of his “ water-works ” were in operation in his father’s castle (at Ragland, in Wales) at the commencement of the Long Parliament, (1640) for by their sudden movements he is said to have frightened certain adhe¬ rents of the Parliament, who went to search the castle for arms. The na¬ ture of these works is not indicated, except that they consisted of‘‘several engines and wheels,” and that large quantities of water were contained in reservoirs on the top of a high tower. Whether steam was the agent em¬ ployed to raise this water is unknown. It could not have been if the tra¬ dition, credited by some writers, was true, viz. that his attention was first a The Century is copied in vol. xiii of Tilloch’s Phil. Mag.; and the editor remarks, “ this little tract was first published in 1655.” 429 Chap. 6.] Century of Inventions. drawn to the employment of steam by observing, while a prisoner in the Tower, a pot-lid raised or thrown off by it. If this was the case, then no dependence can be placed on Worcester’s assertion, that the whole Cen¬ tury was written in 1655; but there is no reason to question his veracity in this respect. On the contrary, the tradition is obviously a fable ; one that has been applied to others as well as to him. Although many of the devices in the Century appear at first sight ex¬ tremely absurd, and others impossible, yet every year is producing a solu¬ tion of one or more of them. One half, at least, of the number have been realized; among which are telegraphs, floating baths, short-hand, combi¬ nation locks, keys, escutcheons and seals, rasping mills, candle-moulds, engines for deepening harbors and docks, contrivances for releasing unruly horses from carriages, torpedoes, diving apparatus, floating gardens, bucket engines, (see page 64 of this volume) universal lever, repeating guns and pistols, double water screws (p. 140 of this vol.) abacus, portable bridges, floating batteries &c. besides his applications of steam, which will be no¬ ticed more at large farther on. It must not be supposed that Worcester was the first projector of every problem in the Century, although his solutions may have been peculiar to himself. The greater part may be found in the works of Porta, Fludd, Wilkins, and others of his predecessors and contemporaries; so that the charges of absurdity brought against many of them are not attributable to him alone. Indeed, the Century is in a great measure free- from those puerile conceits that abound in old authors* No. 3 he names “a one-line cypher,” that is, a character composed of a single line, which by its posi¬ tion was made to represent each and every letter of the alphabet. (Now used in short-hand.) No. 4 is an improvement, and consists in substituting points or dots in place of lines. No. 5, “a way by circular motion, either along a rule or ringwise, to vary any alphabet, even this of points,” &c. Now these three systems were explained and illustrated by diagrams in detail, twenty-two years before the publication of Worcester’s book, by Bishop Wilkins, in his “ Mercury, or secret and swift Messenger,” a tract printed in 1641. The eleventh chapter treats “ of writing by invented characters ”—“ how to express any sense either by lines, points or figures.” The last was by arranging the points or dots in the forms of circles, squares, triangles, &c. Wilkins speaks of the whole as an old device. Another problem in the Century is “ a universal character.” This had been often attempted, and Wilkins wrote also upon it. Another, “a water- ball,” to show the hour of the day. There were some singular specimens of these clocks in Serviere’s museum, which was celebrated for its col¬ lection of mechanical devices, and which doubtless Worcester had often visited. (See page 285, and note foot of page 63.) The universal lever, No. 26 of the Century, he admits having seen at Venice, and the bucket engine (No. 21) at Rome. It is probable he derived his “ imprisoning chair” from the same place; for there was in his time, as well as since, a 3 ' s a singular one in book xiv of Porta’s Magic, “ Of a bird which roasts it¬ self which, had Worcester mentioned, few would have credited without the explana¬ tion. '‘Take a wren and spit it on a hazel stick, and lay it down before the fire, the two ends of the hazel spit being supported by something that is firm; and you’ll see with admiration the spit and the bird turn by little and little, without discontinuing, till ’tis quite roasted.” This, says Ozanum, was first found out by Cardinal Paloti, at Rome. The motion may be accounted for on a similar principle as the rotation of glass tubes when supported at each end before a fire, and even when inclined against the fire-place with one end on the hearth, viz. : the heat, being applied to one side only, causes the tubes to bend, and consequently to preponderate and thus turn round. See Phil. Trans, vol. xxx—Abridg. vol. x 551. 430 Century of Inventions. [Book IV. famous machine of the kind exhibited in the Borghese villa, which could not have escaped his notice. It is described by Blainville as “ very art¬ fully contrived; and strangers, who are not acquainted with the trick, are infallibly caught as in a trap when they are prevailed upon to sit in it.” Travels, vol. ii, p. 35. We shall notice a few more: “A little engine portable in one’s pocket, which placed to any door, without any noise but one crack, openeth any door or gate.” A similar device is quoted by Wilkins from Ramelli, thus : “ A little pocket engine wherewith a man may break or wrench open any door.” (Math. Magic, book i, chap. 13, first published in 1648.) Again—“ An instrument whereby an ignorant person may take any thing in perspective as justly and more than the skil- fullest painter can do by the eye.” Probably the camera obscura, which Baptist Porta had described, about a century before, in his Natural Magic. See page 364 of the English translation of 165S, and also Fludd’s Natural Simia seu Tcchnica, 1618, page 308, for another mode. No. 29 of the Century relates to “A moveable fortification—as complete as a regular one, with half-moons and counterscarps.” Such a one is figured in Fludd’s Simia. It is of a triangular form, with breast works and cannon ranged along two sides. The whole is made of thick timber clamped together, and moved by horses, which are yoked to a long pole or mast, also sup¬ ported on wheels and attached to the rear or base of the triangle, so as to be out of the reach of shot from the enemy. The horses have their faces to the fortification, just as if yoked to the pole of a common carriage and fronting it—or, according to the old saying, “the cart is put before the horse.” His modes of discoursing by knotted strings, gloves, sieves, lanterns, &c. are similar to others mentioned in the Natural Magic of Porta, and in other works. Wilkins’s Secret and Swift Messenger also contains much curious information on such subjects. Several numbers of the Century relate to repeating guns. These, as is well known, exercised the wits of inventors long before his time. Porta, in his Magic, book xii, speaks of “ great and hand guns, discharged ten times” although loaded but once. They are even of much older date. Sometimes several barrels were joined together. The “ arithmetical instrument, whereby persons ignorant of arithmetic may perfectly observe numerations and subtractions of all sums and fractions,” was in all probability the abacus, or Chinese swan-pan , now used in schools. Flying and diving, also mentioned by him, have occupied the ingenuity of inventors in every age. Cornelius Drebble constructed a diving-vessel which was propelled by oars worked through openings in the sides. Short conical tubes of leather, through which the oars were passed, were con¬ nected to the openings so as to exclude the water; hence the joints some¬ what resembled those of the feet of a tortoise when protruded from the shell. The vessel was lowered by admitting water, and raised by pump¬ ing it out. (The distance of diving-vessels below the surface is easily and accurately ascertained by a curved tube containing a little mercury, one end being within the vessel and the other without.) Charles, Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, hearing of Drebble’s diving-ship, requested Papin to contrive one. Papin’s machine is figured and described in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1747, page 581. Drebble’s vessel did not require a constant supply of fresh air, for he had, or pretended to have, an elixir in a small vial, a few drops of which restored the vitiated air so as to make it again fit for respiration. Something of this kind was known even before Dreb¬ ble’s time, if we may judge from one of several illustrations of diving in the old German translation of Vegetius, A. D. 1511. A man clothed in 431 Chap. 6.] Worcester's 68 th Proposition. a dress of thin skin or oiled silk fitted close to his body, and covering every part except his head and hands, is represented walking on the bottom of a river. In his left hand he holds a leathern flask, through the contracted neck of which he is drawing a portion of the contents with his mouth. Wilkins devoted a chapter of his Math. Magic to diving. He notices Drebble s machine, and many other curious devices ; so that on this sub¬ ject Worcester had an abundance of materials and hints to work upon. No. 50 of the Century relates to portable ladders. A variety of these are figured in the old translation of Vegetius just referred to. There are several other things named in the Century which might be traced to older sources, but it is not necessary; for Worcester has not, that we are aware of, ever claimed all the devices he has named. He mentions two whose authors he recollected, but as the account was drawn up from memory, he could hardly recall to mind the sources whence all were derived. He says they were such as he could call to mind to have tried and perfected: he does not say invented. While many originated with himself, others were such as he improved only. That he had sources of information which have not been discovered, there can be little doubt. Of the thou¬ sands of old treatises on the “ Mysteries of Nature and Art,” a staple sub¬ ject, and title too, from Roger Bacon to Moxon, how few are extant! But some will perhaps yet be met with on the shelves of antiquaries and the lovers of old books in Europe. Those numbers of the Century which relate to steam are 68, 98, 99 and 100; but it is in 68 only that steam is clearly indicated. The device is named “a fire water work,” and is described in the following manner : “An admirable and most forcible way to drive up water by fire, not by drawing or sucking it upwards, for that must be, as the philosopher calleth it, Infra sphasram activitatis, which is but at such a distance. But this way hath no bounder, if the vessels be strong enough; for I have taken a piece of a whole cannon, whereof the end was burst, and filled it three quarters full of water, stopping and screwing up the broken end, as also the touch-hole; and making a constant fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst, and made a great crack :—So that having a way to make my vessels, so that they are strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill after the other, I have seen the water run like a constant fountain stream forty feet high. One vessel of water rarefied by fire driveth up forty of cold water; and a man that tends the work is but to turn two cocks, that, one vessel of water being consumed, another begins to force and refill with cold water, and so successively, the fire being tended and kept constant, which the self same person may likewise abun¬ dantly perform in the interim, between the necessity of turning the said cocks.” We here see clearly what was meant by Ramseye and others when they spoke of raising water by fire , viz. that it was by steam, which the fire was employed to produce. Tt will be perceived that Worcester does not here claim to be the first to raise water in large quantities in this man¬ ner, thus tacitly admitting that he was aware of previous applications of steam for the purpose. Had he indeed made such a claim, little reliance could have been placed on his statements; but, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary, we have seen nothing in the whole tenor of his conduct with regard to his inventions to shake our confidence in his sincerity. In one respect No. 68 differs from the rest, viz. in the detail with which the device is described ; but this was most likely designedly done, in order to show its superiority over other “ fire water-works,” and to point out where it differed from them. Had it been an original idea, 432 Worcester's 68 th proposition. [Book IV. there could have been no more inducement to be thus explicit than with the rest; but being of the same nature as others, he would naturally be led to notice the difference. Some writers are incredulous of his having ever put it in practice, notwithstanding his assertions, and the particulars he has specified; and they further contend that his description was not sufficiently perspicuous to enable a person to make such a machine in his own time, and is not now. To neither of these positions can we assent; and the latter, if true, does not affect the character of Worcester, either for veracity or ingenuity, since the avowed design of the Century was rather to enable himself than others to realize the inventions named. The description appears not only that of a machine in actual use, and from which a similar one might have been made, but, as just intimated, some particulars are mentioned apparently with the sole view of distin¬ guishing it from other devices of the same kind. Had he given a figure we should have learnt more of the details, but not of the general plan. The nature of the force employed (the expansive power of steam) he shows in the clearest light; and its irresistible energy is admirably illus¬ trated by bursting the cannon : indeed, he could not possibly have se¬ lected any thing better adapted for the purpose. Few writers however believe the experiment was ever made, from the seeming difficulty of closing the broken end—a circumstance which, perhaps more than any other, has led people to doubt the accuracy of other of his statements : and it must be admitted that if he is not to be believed in this, his assertions in general must be received with great caution. But what great difficulty after all was there in driving a plug tight into the smoothly bored although broken end of a cannon, and securing the plug effectually in its place, by iron straps and screws round the trunnions 1 Lest the idea of danger should be connected with his apparatus in the public mind, he remarks that he had a way of preventing his vessels from being exploded. He mentions at least three vessels; one, a boiler in which to generate steam, the others, to receive the water previously to its being raised. A separate boiler shows that the apparatus was a modification of Porta’s and Kircher’s, (Nos. 1S7, 190)—and lest any one should suppose that the water was re¬ quired to be heated before it was elevated, he states distinctly that it was not: hence his device bore no resemblance to that of Decaus, (No. 188)— so far from it that the boiler, or “ one vessel rarefied by fire,” forced up forty times its contents “ of cold water.” It appears that the water was raised forty feet only ; perhaps being limited to that height by local cir¬ cumstances, or by the building i-n which the apparatus was erected. The pressure of steam in his boiler did not therefore much exceed 301bs. on the inch. As the elevation exceeded that to which the liquid could be raised by atmospheric pressure, he also takes occasion to notice distinctly that it was not done by sucking; and in this he possibly may allude to some such modes of raising water, viz. by using the steam only to produce a vacuum, and to show the difference ; for, by employing its elastic force, he could raise water at one lift to any height, and his apparatus, instead of a limited application, was adapted to mines and pits of every depth, and hence he appropriately names it “ a most forcible way.” The receiving vessels were charged or filled “ one after another,” and the stream dis¬ charged from them was uninterrupted. One person only was required to attend to the fire under the boiler and “ to turn two cocks,” i. e. to admit steam alternately into each receiver, so that when one was “ consumed ” or emptied, the contents of the other began to “ force ” or be forced up, and the empty one to “ fill ” or be refilled with cold water, “ and so suc¬ cessively.” The vessels were large, or it took a long time to fill them. 433 Chap. 6.] Three and four way Cocks. since the man had abundant time to attend the fire in the intervals of turn¬ ing' the cocks. Notwithstanding the comprehensive sketch that Worcester has given of this machine, a variety of opinions prevails respecting some of its parts, and the arrangement of the whole. In these respects scarcely two writers agree, while some differ widely. Some have supposed it to have consisted of two eolipiles, like those of Heron or Decaus, (Nos. 179 and 188) con¬ nected to one ascending pipe, (see Galloway on the Steam-Engine)_an idea, we think, entirely out of the way, since such a plan would possess neither “ merit ” nor “ originality,” which the writer just named accords to Worcester’s device. It is moreover opposed to the description given, which expressly states that the contents of one vessel rarefied by fire| driveth up forty of cold water; whereas, by the supposed construction, all the water must have been heated to the boiling point before it could have been elevated at all, and to a temperature still higher before it was raised forty feet. The principal point undetermined is the mode by which the receivers were charged. Were they so placed that the water flowed into them through a pipe and cock 1 Or, were they wholly immersed in the tank, well or pond, and furnished with valves opening inwards for the admis¬ sion of the liquid, and to prevent its return when the steam was turned on ? Or, were they placed above the water, and charged by atmospheric- pressure I The first and second modes have been suggested, because Worcester says he did not raise the liquid by “ sucking ;”° but it does not appear that he meant any thing more than that the contents of the receivers were not expelled from them in this way. As the elevation to which water could be raised at one lift by his machine was only limited by the strength of the vessels, he very naturally observed, to remove an objection which he foresaw might be made to his assertion, that this was not effected by sucking, but by forcing the liquid up. His plan bears the same relation to a forcing pump, as using steam to produce a vacuum in a receiver does to a sucking one; and in distinguishing between the two applications of the vapor to raise water, viz. by its condensation and its expansion, he uses the same terms that we do to show the difference between the two instruments just named. Of a forcing pump we say, it does not raise water by atmospheric pressure, but in opposition to it; and that the ele¬ vation is only limited by the strength of the materials and the power em¬ ployed : now every person acquainted with the subject knows, that it is the expulsion of the water from the cylinder that is referred to, not the mode of filling it; for almost invariably are the vessels or cylinders of forcing pumps charged by sucking, and so they were in Worcester’s time. If the receivers were placed below the reservoir that supplied them, and were fed from it by a pipe, then as there were but two cocks used, they must have been such as are known by the term “ three-way,”—one passage to supply steam to each of the receivers, and the other water. There is no difficulty in admitting this, for both three and four way cocks were in use ages before Worcester’s days. They are described in the Spiritalia, (problem 31) in Besson’s Theatre, Fludd’s Simia, (see our 160th illustration, page 354) Ozanam’s Recreations, and in several other old au¬ thors. One form of them is seen at page 421. Tavernier found, in baths of the east, cocks which at the same mouth supplied “ either hot water or cold,’ (Relation of the Seraglio) and they are described and figured in the Forcible Movements of Decaus : thus prop, xix of Leak’s translation is “ Of the cock with four vents,” and its application is shown in a self-acting “ Phneumatique Engine.” M. Arago is therefore greatly mistaken, in his 55 434 Worcester’s Machine seen by Cosmo dc Medicis. [Book IV r History of the Steam-Engine, in attributing the invention of the four-way cock to Papin. In his zeal to confer honor on the philosopher of Blois, he inadvertently overlooked the old engineer of Normandy. This plan of supplying Worcester’s receivers is certainly far more probable than that of burying them in the water they were to raise. In¬ deed, we cannot perceive how the latter could answer at all, as the steam would be condensed by the surrounding medium almost as fast as it en¬ tered the receivers; so that instead of “ one vessel of water rarefied by fire ” driving up forty of cold water, it would hardly be able to drive up any. It appears to us impossible for ingenuity to suggest a worse plan, and yet several writers have adopted it. a As a proof that Worcester had an engine at work somewhat similar to the one referred to in his 68th proposition, the following extract from the Journal of Cosmo de Medicis, who visited England in the 17th century, has been adduced : “ His high¬ ness, that he might not lose the day uselessly, went again, after dinner, to the other side of the city, extending his excursion as far as Vauxhall, be¬ yond the palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to see an hydraulic machine invented by my Lord Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. It raises water more than forty geometrical feet, by the power of one man only; and in a very short space of time will draw up four vessels of water through a tube or channel not more than a span in width; on which ac¬ count it is considered to be of greater service to the public than the other machine near Somerset-House.” Now if this engine for raising water from the Thames, and which was managed by one man, was moved by steam—and it probably was—we may rest assured that Worcester knew better how ,to charge his receivers than by immersing them in the river, or in any tank supplied from it. Had he done so, the machine would never have been “considered of greater service to the'public ” than the engine at Somerset-House, which was worked by horses, and distributed water over “ a great part of the city.” (This last engine most likely con¬ sisted of pumps, such as were erected by Bulmer in 1594. See page 296.) As four vessels are here mentioned, there were probably that number of receivers employed. It would be strange if Worcester’s receiving vessels were not charged by atmospheric pressure, considering the examples he had before him. To say nothing of this well known mode of charging eolipiles, and other vessels represented in the Spiritalia, (see 173 and 177 of our illustrations) both Porta and Fludd exhibited experiments expressly to show how water is raised into a vacuum formed by the condensation of vapor, (page 407) and Decaus gives such striking applications of it (page 3S0) that Worcester never could, with a knowledge of these, have plunged his receivers under water. But was he acquainted with the writings of these men 1 Unques¬ tionably he was. There is evidence in the Century that he examined every source of information, both at home and abroad, and with an eager¬ ness that has perhaps seldom been equalled; and then no person had greater facilities for ascertaining what had been accomplished. He was not a man to set about devising new modes of raising water while ignorant of old ones, or without perusing those writings which treated directly or indi¬ rectly upon the subject. Of all his researches, this of raising water was a See Millington’s Epitome of Philosophy, and Stuart’s Descriptive History of the Steam-Engine. The last named writer speaks however very differently in his valuable “ Anecdotes of the Steam-Engine.” Further reflection convinced him that Worcester was something more than a charlatan, and the machine in question very unlike the one represented in his previous work. Cnap. 6 .] Opinions respecting the 68 th Proposition. 435 among the earliest and most favorite, as it was the last and most important • and it was impossible for him and Kaltoffto have spent so many years as they did on this and other subjects, without improving old devices and introducing new ones. Then he was most likely acquainted with the ma- chines of Bacon, and with those of Ramseye, and with Ramseye himself ;.;' nf USh f t 0 v^ \ a , nd als ° With the en g )ne of motion noticed in the last chapter, of which he was possibly both the inventor and describer. So far therefore from Worcester’s machine being imperfect, as some writers a\e supposed, we are justified in believing it was superior in its general plan, and in the arrangement and execution of its several parts, So any thing then extant, or previously proposed. * ^ It would be easy to devise a machine corresponding with these remarks and coinciding with the Marquis’s account; but the intelligent reader is aware that it would be substantially the same as Savery’s. It is surprising that some authors have supposed Worcester could not have filled his ves sels by atmospheric pressure, because, say they, the production of a vacuum by the condensation of steam was not then known, “ nor even thought of. But such writers were not aware of the experiments of Porta a & nd they forgot the employment of eolipiles. It has also been said that a ma¬ chine as perfect as feavery s, and one m which steam acted on a piston was beyond the state of the arts in Worcester’s days. The Century of Inventions is a proof to the contrary, and so is the Collection of Serviere Ii s *ose mentioned by Glaubei. Speaking of the action of such safety-valves he observes hLTthit ifth” -!T ° f a St0pple H ve ] there ma y be fastened some 1 tt i h Spi . nt be to ° stron g> Jt will only heave up the stonole an,l le I fall down agatn.” Papin's claim therefore is not toAe v 2Titself u izrr' or r th 7 to ? e moje ° f beingblown!S Tf fi '7 reb J "« onl y preventing the valve from and rendering the device of universal appSon.” 5 ' he “ Wi "' that Panin nronosn^lf^n 9 ^^ ^ aver ^ bad introduced his steam machine entitled “ Nouvelle m '° owln & one > w bich he announced in a work lZIre na, M D r mere T , P ° Ur leVer i’ 6aU par la d ” p -i, mise en umiere, pai M D. Panin, Docteur en Med. Prof, en Mathem. a Case!. 452 Steam Machine by Papin. [Book IV 1707.” It is inserted here out of chronological order, to keen this notice of his labors unbroken. No. 192. Papin. A. D. 1707. A copper boiler, A, is set in brick work and furnished with a safety- valve, B, whose lever is loaded with the weight C. The steam pipe and cock D connect the boiler with the receiving cylinder F. A hollow float or piston is made to move easily in F, to prevent the steam from coming in contact with the water. A cavity is made in this float for the reception of an iron heater, Z, designed to keep up the temperature of the steam when the latter is admitted into F. The heater is admitted through the opening on the top of F, which is closed by the valve G. X, a funnel through which the water to be raised is introduced, which is kept from re¬ turning by closing the cock or valve H. The lower part of F is connected with the rising main K by a curved and tapered tube. The pipe K ter¬ minates in a reservoir or air chamber, whence the water is discharged by the pipe O upon an overshot wheel, or conveyed to the place where it may be required. If the receiver be charged from below, a suction pipe (im¬ perfectly represented by the pipe I) was continued to it from the under side of the curved pipe. The steam flowing through the pipe D presses down the piston, and the water beneath it is forced up the pipe K, (the valve at the lower part of K preventing its return.) When the piston has reached the bottom of F, the cock D is shut and the one marked E is opened. H is then opened, and the water rushes in and drives up the piston as before, when the operation is repeated. Water was raised by one of these machines to an elevation of 70 feet, whence it descended and formed a jet d’eau in the court of the Hessian Academy of Arts. Belidor inserted a figure and description of this machine in the second volume of his Architecture Hydraulique, p. 328. Chap. 8.] Thomas Savery. 453 \ CHAPTER VIII. Experimenters contemporary with Papin-Savery-This engineer publishes his inventions-His project for propelling vessels—Ridicules the Surveyor of the Navy for opposing it-His first experiments on steam made in a tavern-Account of them by Desaguliers and Switzer-Savery’s first engine-Its operation Engine with a single receiver—Savery’s improved engine described—Gauge cocks—Excel¬ lent features of his improved engine-Its various parts connected by coupling screws-Had no safety- valve Rejected by miners on account of the danger from the boilers exploding-Solder melted by steam-Opinions respecting the origin of Savery’s engine-It bears no relation to the piston engine -Modifications of Savery’s engine by Desaguliers, Leopold, Blakey and others-Rivatz-Engines by Gensanne—De Moura—De Rigny—Francois and others—Amonton’s fire mill—Newcomen and Cawley— Their engine superior to Savery’s—Newcomen acquainted with the previous experiments of Papin— Circumstances favorable to the introduction of Newcomen’s engine—Description of it—Condensation by injection discovered by chance—Chains and Sectors—Savery’s claim to a share in Newcomen’s patent an unjust one—Merits of Newcomen and Cawley. Both philosophers and mechanics were engaged in experiments on air and steam machines about the same time as Papin. Of these, Savery, Amontons, Newcomen and Cawley were the most successful. The two last named have not generally been considered so early in the field ; but, from an observation of Switzer, such appears to have been the case. As weekly and monthly ‘Journals of Arts’ and ‘ Mechanics’ Magazines"’ had not then been introduced, those who were disposed to communicate their discoveries to the public had no appropriate medium for doing so, except by a separate publication, and this mode but an exceedingly small number of inventors ever adopted : hence it is that not only the dates of several modern inventions are uncertain, but numerous devices and valuable floating thoughts have, with their authors, been constantly passing into utter oblivion. The history of steam as a mechanical agent affords signal proofs of the advantages of inventors recording their ideas : thus the name of Decaus had long been forgotten, when an old tract of his was disco¬ vered containing the device we have figured at page 410. This he pro¬ bably considered the most trifling thing in his book, yet on account of it a place has been claimed for him among the immortal authors of the steam- engine. . Moreland, of whose speaking trumpet an account was inserted in the sixth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, and his ideas of the power required to force water to different elevations in the ninth, omitted to publish through the same or any other medium a description of his steam-engine; and by this neglect has lost a large portion of honor that might have been attached to his name. The same may be said of Garay, Ramseye and Worcester. Savery, however, knew better, for he laid his machine before the Royal Society and got it noticed in their Transactions; and when he had subsequently improved it, he published a separate ac¬ count with illustrations; in consequence of which he has sometimes been considered the author as well as describer of the first working steam- engine. b Of Savery’s personal history, less has transpired than of either More- land s or Worcester s. He evidently was a man of great energy, who raised himself from obscurity by his talents—a self-made man. According to a tradition he commenced life as a working miner, and in process of time 454 Savery's Project for propelling Boats. [Book IV. became an engineer and tlius acquired the title of Captain, agreeably to a custom which is said still to prevail among the Cornish miners. He seems to have acquired a competence, if not wealth, previous to the com¬ mencement of his experiments on steam, and we shall find that he was as independent in his spirit as in his purse. Switzer, who was intimately acquainted with him, says he was a member of the board of commissioners for the sick and wounded ; but this was probably in the latter part of his life, and subsequent to the introduction of his steam machines. The first invention of Savery that we meet with is in a pamphlet pub¬ lished by him in 1698, on the propulsion of ships in a calm. His plan consisted of paddle-wheels to be worked by the crew. In the first edition of Harris’s Lexicon Technicum, A. D. 1704, there is a description, and in the second, 1710, a figure of Savery’s “ engine for rowing ships.” A horizontal shaft passes through the vessel between decks, and to each end a paddle-wheel is attached. On the middle of the shaft is a pinion or trundle wheel, and underneath a capstan upon which a cog wheel is fixed, whose teeth are made to work between those of the pinion. A number of bars are arranged in the capstan, and the crew were to apply their strength to these as in raising an anchor. As the officers of the admiralty after examination declined to adopt it, Savery tells them he had two other important inventions, which he would not disclose until they did him jus¬ tice in this ! He even held up his opponents to ridicule. On the Surveyor of the Navy, who reported against the adoption of his plan as one neither new nor useful, he was very severe. At that time large wigs were com¬ monly worn, and Savery gave a smart rap on that which covered the head of his official adversary. “ It is [he observed] as common for lies and nonsense to be disguised by a jingle of words, as for a blockhead to be hid by abundance of peruke.” Had Savery been of a timid disposition, we should probably never have heard of him. After enduring one or two rebuffs in attempting to introduce his inventions, he would have re¬ tired and sunk unknown into the grave, like thousands of inventors before him. Of the few incidents preserved respecting his private life, there are two from which it seems that he loved a glass of good wine and a pipe of to¬ bacco ; and that, to obtain them, he was in the habit of visiting a tavern. Let not those who eschew such things complain of us for unnecessarily mentioning them, for Savery’s first experiments on steam were made in a bar-room, with a wine flask and a tobacco pipe. At such a place and with such implements he is said to have become acquainted with the principles of his famous machine. The circumstance has not been commonly known, or some scientific Boniface would, long ere now, have adopted Savery’s head for a sign; and artists would have made him, in the act of experi¬ menting, the subject of a picture. There is a rich but neglected field for historical painters in the facts and incidents connected with the origin and development of useful mechanism. According to Desaguliers, Savery declared that he found out the power of steam by chance, and in the following manner: “ Having drank a flask of Florence [wine] at a tavern, and thrown the empty flask upon the fire, he call’d for a bason of water to wash his hands, and perceiving that the little wine left in the flask had filled up the flask with steam, he took the flask by the neck and plunged the mouth of it under the surface of the watef in the bason; and the water of the bason was immediately driven up into the flask by the pressure of the air.”* This illustration of the ascent * Exper. Philosophy, edition of 1744, vol. ii, page 4G6. Chap. 8 .] His first Steam-Engine. 455 of water into a vessel from which the air had been expelled by steam, was of course^not new in Savery’s time, although it appears to have been so to him. Switzer gives a different account. “ The first hint from which u is said he took this engine was from a tobacco pipe, which he immers’d to. was h cool it, as is sometimes done : he discover’d by the rarefaction of the air in the tube, by the heat or steam of the water and the gravitation or impulse of the. exterior air, that the water was made to spring through the tube of the pipe in a wonderful surprising manner.”® It was an old practice of veteran smokers, when their (clay) pipes became blackened through use, and more particularly when choked or furred up, to place them in a bright fire till they became red hot, then to remove and allow them to cool. By this operation they were whitened and purified like the incombustible cloth of the ancients, which was cleansed in the same way But frequently when taken from the fire the mouths of the pipes were plunged slowly into water; steam was thus formed, and rushing through the tubes, was sometimes preceded, often accompanied, and sometimes followed by jets of water. There are however different causes, and far from obvious ones, for the liquid issuing through tobacco pipes under such circumstances, so that it is difficult to perceive what inference Savery drew from the experiment. But whatever may have led Savery to the subject of steam, he had so far matured his ideas respecting its application to raise water as to erect several engines, and to secure a patent as early as 1698. In June of the following year he submitted a working model to the Royal So¬ ciety, and made successful experi¬ ments with it at the same time. A figure of this engine was published in the Transactions of that year, and may also be found in the first volume of Lowthorp’s Abridgment. No. x 193 is a copy. It consisted of a close boiler, B, set in a brick furnace A, and two receivers D D support¬ ed on a stand, and made of strong copper and air-tight. A suction pipe whose lower end descends into a well, or other place whence water is to be raised, (which may be about 24 feet below D D) and whose up¬ per part, divided into two branches, communicates with the top of the receivers. Each branch is furnished with a valve at E E, opening up wards, to prevent the water from returning when once raised. The lower part of the forcing pipe G has also two branches, F F, which communicate with the bottom, of the receivers, and these branches have also valves, E E, like the others opening upwards. Each receiver has a communication with the upper part of the boiler by 6team pipes and cocks C C. I he operation was as follows:—The boiler was two thirds filled witn No. 193. Savery’* First Engine. A. D. 1698. a Hydrostatics, edition ofJ729, page 325. 456 Savery's Single Engine. [Book IV. water, a firs made under it and the steam raised. One of the cocks was then opened, and the steam passing through filled the receiver by driving the air previously within it into the forcing pipe : the cock was then closed, and the steam within the receiver soon became condensed by the cold air in contact with its exterior surface, or by pouring cold water upon it ; hence a vacuum was produced within, and consequently the water in which the lower end of the suction pipe was immersed was driven up by the pressure of the atmosphere so as to fill the void. When this had taken place the same cock was again opened, and the steam rushing in urged by its expansive force the contents of the receiver up the forcing pipe. In this manner water was alternately raised into and expelled from both vessels. As a practical miner, and consequently conversant with the subject of raising water on a large scale, Savery was better qualified to carry his views into operation than a mere philosopher. His first essay in employing steam was a proof of this. “ I have heard him say myself [observes Switzer] that the very first time he play’d, it was in a potter’s house at Lambeth, where tho’ it was a small engine, yet it [the water] forc’d its way through the roof, and struck up the tiles in a manner that surpris’d all the spectators.” No. 194. Savery’s Single Engine. Sometimes Savery employed but one receiver. No. 194 represents an engine of this kind, erected by him at Kensington. A description of it was first published by Mr. Bradley in his “ New Improvements of Planting and Gardening.” It is also figured and described by Switzer, who exa¬ mined it and thought it “ the plainest and best proportion’d of any ” he had seen. Its effects were considered proportionally greater than those with two receivers. C, a spherical boiler of the capacity of forty gallons, and charged through the tunnel. B, the receiver, which held thirteen gallons A, the suction pipe, sixteen feet long and three inches bore. D, the forc- ing pipe, of the same bore and forty two feet long. A valve opening upwards was placed in A, and another at the lower part of D, at H. E, the steam pipe, an inch in diameter. G, a sliding valve or cock, furnished with a lever handle. F, a cock in the forcing pipe, to admit cold water 457 Chap. 8.] 'Publication of the Miner's Friend. to flow upon the receiver. A pipe attached to the tunnel descended into the boiler and served the purpose of a gauge cock. The operation will be understood from the description of figure No. 193. By turning the handle of G steam is admitted into B, and as soon as the air is expelled from the latter, G is closed and F opened; the affusion of cold water (see the figure) quickly condenses the contained vapor, and hence the receiver becomes charged with water by the pressure of the atmosphere through the suction pipe A. F is then shut and G opened, when the steam issuing from the boiler displaces the water from the re¬ ceiver, and having no other way to escape the liquid is driven up the pipe D into the reservoir prepared to receive it. As soon as all the water is expelled from the receiver, (which was known by applying the hand to the lower part, for it would be hot) G is shut and F again opened, when the operation is repeated as before. “ When this engine begins to work [says Switzer] you may raise four of the receivers full in one minute, which is fifty two gallons, [less the quan¬ tities drawn from F for the purposes of condensation]—and at that rate in an hour’s time may be flung up 3120 gallons. The prime cost of such an engine is about fifty pound, as I myself have had it from the ingenious author’s own mouth. It must be noted that this engine is but a small one, in comparison of many others of this kind that are made for coal-works ; but this is sufficient for any reasonable family, and other uses required for it in watering all middling gardens.” Here is no provision made to replenish the boiler with water except through the tunnel: hence the working of the machine had to be stopped, and the steam within the boiler allowed to escape, before a fresh supply could be admitted. Under such circumstances the boilers were very liable to become injured by the fire when the water became low. Thev were also exposed to destruction from another cause, the force of the steam; for they had no safety-valves to regulate it, and hence the necessity of the following instructions : “ When you have rais’d water enough, and you design to leave off working the engine, take away all the fire from under the boiler, and open the cock [connected to the tunnel] to let out the steam, which would otherwise, was it to remain confin’d, perhaps burst the engine .” Savery, from his profession, was aware of the want of an improved mode of draining mines. The influence of the useful arts in enriching a nation was then beginning to be understood. A stimulus was imparted to manufactures, and the demand for coal and the ores of England rapidly increased. As a necessary consequence the depth of the mines increased also; and hence proprietors became anxious to possess some device for clearing them of water, and by which the old, inefficient and excessively expensive horse-gins and buckets might be dispensed with. The cost of drainage was so great in some mines, that their produce hardly equalled the cost of working them : in one mine five hundred horses were constantly employed. Numerous novel projects had been tried and abandoned: what they were we are not informed, but as Ramseye and Worcester and probably others had proposed fire machines for the purpose, steam had probably been tried in some way or other and had failed. Having greatly improved his machine, Savery published an account of it, illustrated with engravings, in a pamphlet entitled The Miner's Friend; or a Description of an Engine for Raising Water by Fire, with an Answer to the Objections against it. London, printed for S. Crouch, 1702. In his address he begs proprietors not to let the failure of other plans prejudice them against the trial of his. “ Its power [he observes] is in a manner infinite and unlimited, 58 453 Savery’s Double 'Engine. [Book IV and will draw you water 500 or a 1000 feet high, were any pit so deep. .I dare undertake that this engine shall raise you as much water for eight-pence, as will cost you a shilling to raise the like with your old engines.” The original figures in the Miner’s Friend were inserted in Harris’s Lexicon Technicum, in 1704, and copied into Switzer’s Hydro¬ statics in 1729, and by Desaguliers in his Experimental Philosophy in 1744, (which works are before us) and subsequently into almost every treatise on the steam-engine. No. 195 is a reduced copy : the figure of the firo man is an addition. No. 195. Sayery’s Double Engine. A. D. 1702. A detailed description of this elegant apparatus is not necessary, since its operation will be understood from the explanation of the two preceding machines. . It is substantially the same as No. 193, except that this one has two boilers, which are heated by separate furnaces, G H. The addi tional boiler G was designed merely to supply the other with hot water, and need not therefore divert the attention of the reader in realizing the working of the essential parts. The upper end of the suction pipe shown at the mouth of the pit consists of two branches, which are connected to similar branches on the lower part of the forcing pipe N. The suction valves are at B A, and the forcing ones at E F, all opening upwards. Chap. 8 .] Its excellent features—Coupling Screws. 459 Between these valves two short curved tubes connect the bottoms of the receivers I M with the branches, as represented, and two other bent tubes, P Q., unite the top of the receivers with the boiler H. On the top of this ooiler, and forming a part of it, is a stout round plate, having two openings of the same size as the bore of the tubes last mentioned. In these open¬ ings the two steam tubes P Q, terminate. Between the openings, and on the under side of the plate, is a moveable disk, which by a short arm is connected to an axle and moved by the long lever shown on the top of the boiler; so that by moving this lever the disk can be made to close either opening, so as to admit or exclude steam from the receivers, and answering every purpose of a three-way cock. It is made somewhat on the plan of the one in No. 189, page 421. The face of the disk is ground smooth, so as to fit close to the under side of the plate, against which it is pressed by the steam. The perpendicular axle by which the disk is turned passes through the plate, and the opening is made tight by a stuffing box. (The plate and moveable disk are represented in the small figure at the top, one of the openings being covered by the disk and the other exposed.) A small cistern, U, is placed over the receivers, and kept supplied with cold water from the forcing pipe by means of a ball cock, viz. a cock that is opened and shut by a ball floating in the cistern. From the bottom of this cistern a short pipe, T, proceeds; and to it is connected, by a swivel joint or stuffing box, another one at right angles. This pipe furnishes water to condense the steam in the receivers, over both of which it can be moved by the rod attached to the plug of the cock as shown in the figure. The upper cistern denotes the place where the water raised by the engine is to be discharged., A communication is made between the boilers by a siphon or bent tube, R, whose legs extend nearly to the bottom of the boilers. In the leg within the small boiler is a valve opening upwards, which permits the water of G to pass into H, but prevents any returning from the latter. When the attendant wishes to inject into H a fresh supply of water, he increases the little fire kept up under the boiler G, (which is always kept supplied with water by the pipe S,) and as soon as the liquid boils and the force of the steam exceeds that in H, the contents of G, both steam and hot water, are forced through the valve; and thus H is kept supplied without the action of the machine being stopped. The cock on the pipe S is then opened, the small boiler again charged, and the water becomes gradually heated; so that by the time it is wanted in the other boiler, a small addition to the fuel quickly raises its temperature, and it is again forced in as before. The quantity of water in the boilers was ascertained by gauge cocks. These were inserted at the top, (see figure) and pipes soldered to them descended to different depths. The principal boiler had two of these, the other but one. The general arrangement of this engine and the adaptation of its various parts to each other are admirable, and could hardly be improved. The obviously good workmanship—the improved form of the receivers—and the connection of these with the boilers and pipes, and the latter with each other, by coupling screws, thus securing easy access to the valves—are highly creditable to Savery and the workmen he employed. Every part was made of the best materials. The cocks, coupling screws, regulator, valves, and all the pipes immediately connected with them, were of brass; while the boilers, receivers and suction pipes were of “ the best hammered copper, of sufficient thickness to sustain the force of the working engine : in short, [continues the inventor] the engine is so naturally adapted to 460 Joints melted by Steam—Origin of Saverfs Engine. [Book IV perform what is required, that even those of the most ordinary and meanest capacity may work it for some years without injury, if not hired or em¬ ploy’d by some base person on purpose to destroy it—that is, by inat¬ tention or design to permit steam to accumulate within the boilers till they were burst. Some device to prevent this was wanting, viz. a safety-valve or something analogous to it; and it is astonishing that he never thought of such a thing, but permitted his machine for lack of it to fall into dis¬ repute. The miners could not be induced to adopt it, in consequence of the danger of explosion. “ Savery [says Desaguliers] made a great many experiments to bring this machine to perfection, and did erect several, which raised water very well for gentlemen’s seats, but could not succeed for mines, or supplying towns where the water was to be raised very high and in great quantities; for then the steam required being boiled up to such a strength, as to be ready to tear all the vessels to pieces. ------ I have known Captain Savery at York’s Buildings make steam 8 or 10 times stronger than common air; and then its heat was so great, that it would melt common solder, and its strength so great as to blow open several of the joints of his machine; so that he was forced to be at*the pains and charge to have all his joints soldered with spelter or hard solder.” Ex. Philos, ii, 467. There has been much discussion respecting the origin of this famous engine ; some writers contending that it was wholly Savery’s own, others that he derived it from one of Worcester’s, or from the Century of In¬ ventions. Desaguliers asserts that Savery, to conceal its origin, “ bought up all the Marquis of Worcester’s books that he could purchase in Pater¬ noster Row, and elsewhere, and burn’d ’em in the presence of the gentle¬ man his friend, who told me this.” But as Savery denied being indebted to any one for it, and as he was certainly a man of great mechanical genius, it is probable that the doctor was imposed upon by his informant. It is not likely that Savery would have committed such an act in the presence of a witness, when there was not only no necessity for one, but every possible inducement for secrecy. Many years before the publication of this charge by Desaguliers (in 1744) the opinion was prevalent that the machine was not original with Savery. In 1729 Switzer remarks, “others say that the learned Marquis of Worcester, in his Century of Inventions, which book I have not seen, gave the first hint for this raising of water.” (Hydr. 325.) Dr. Hutton, in his Math. Dictionary, asserts, though on what authority we know not, that Savery knew more of Moreland’s experiments than he was willing to acknowledge; and Desaguliers maintains that he invented the story of the experiment with the wine flask “ to make people believe that he had not got the idea from Worcester’s Century of Inventions.” In reply to the above it may be remarked, that independently of those coincidences of thought that always have and will happen to inventors, there are circumstances which strongly corroborate Savery’s own account In the first place, the experiment with the wine flask was one very likely to occur in the manner he has mentioned, and to a mind like his would naturally lead to a practical application of it. His thoughts, we are told, “ were always employed in hydrostatics or hydraulics, or in the improve¬ ment of water-works.” Then there is no evidence that he was much of a reader : had he been conversant with books, he would not have proposed the propulsion of vessels with paddle-wheels as new. These occurred to him as they have done to thousands in every age when devising means to increase the speed of boats; and so it may have been with his steam ma- 461 Chap. 8.] Modifications of Savery’s Engine. chine : a device like it would naturally be the result of the experiment with the wine ilask, and even without it, when his thoughts were once directed to raising water by steam. Moreover, Savery was ignorant of the safety-valve, the very thing wanted to remove the most formidable objection to his machine ; and yet, as we have shown, he might have found it in some popular works on chemistry and distillation,—besides which, Papin’s improved application of it had been published several years. (The single machine figured No. 194 was erected by Savery himself as late as 1711 or ’12, and it had no safety-valve.) But whether he derived the hint from Worcester or not, he is entitled to all the honor he has received. He was the first effectually to introduce the device, and the first to publish a description of it in detail. He con¬ cealed nothing, but, like a sensible and practical man, explained the whole, and left it to its own merits. No one’s claims to a place in the history of the steam-engine were better earned, whether he be considered the rein ventor, or improver only of Worcester’s 68th proposition. There are several points of resemblance in the characters of Savery and Oliver Evans. By their energy and indomitable perseverance they forced their inventions into public notice in spite of public apathy, and so worked their way into the temple of honorable fame. Both published curious pamphlets, that will preserve their names and inventions from oblivion. But Savery’s steam-engine does not belong to the same family as the modern one, nor can he be said to have contributed to the invention of the latter, except so far as making his contemporaries more familiar with the mechanical properties of aqueous vapor. ’Tis true he employed this fluid in close vessels, and so far he succeeded ; but his ideas seem to have been wholly confined to its application to raise water, and in the most direct manner—hence he never thought of pistons. Had he turned his attention to impart motion to one of these, he would have left little for his successors to do ; but as it was, he did not lead engineers any nearer to the piston engine. He proposed to propel machinery by discharging the water he raised upon an overshot wheel; hence his patent was “ for raising water, and occasioning motion to all sorts of mill woi-k.” But this was obviously an afterthought, an accidental result, rather than one originally designed or looked for. A piston and cylinder only could have given his machine a permanent place in the arts, either as a hydraulic or a motive one. He accomplished almost all that could be realized without them. The most splendid talents of the present times could have done little more. Papin abandoned the piston and cylinder, and in doing so quenched a halo of glory that would have shone round his name for ever ; and Savery, for want of them, notwithstanding his ingenuity, perseverance and partial success, lived to see his device in a great measure laid aside. Savery died about the year 1716. As Savery’s engine became known, several additions to and modifica¬ tions of it were proposed. A few of these may be noticed :— Drs. Desaguliers and Gravesande, from some experiments, concluded that single engines were more economical than double ones—a single receiver being “ emptied three times whilst two succeeding ones [of a double engine] could be emptied but once a piece.” Of single engines Desaguliers erected seven between the years 1717 and 1744. “The first was for the late Czar, Peter I, for his garden at Petersburgh, where it was set up. The boiler of this engine was spherical, (as they must all be in this way, when the steam is much stronger than air) and held between five and six hogsheads; and the receiver held one hogshead, and was filled and emptied four times in a minute.. The water was drawn up by 462 Leopold—Blalcey — Rivatz. [Book IV. auction or the pressure of the atmosphere 29 feet high, out of a well, and then pressed up 11 feet higher. Another engine of this sort which I put, up for a friend about five and twenty years ago, [1719] drew up the water 29 feet from the well, and then it was forced up by the pressure of the steam 24 feet higher,” &c. But these “ improved ” engines differed in reality but little from Savery’s single one, No. 194. Desaguliers furnished his boiler with Papin’s steelyard safety-valve; a three-way cock alternately admitted steam into the receiver and water from the forcing pipe to con¬ dense it: in other respects the engines were much the same. Savery made no provision to secure his boilers from being exploded ; but the safety-valve was not always a preventive in former times, any more than at present. “ About three years ago [says Desaguliers] a man who was entirely ignorant of the nature of the engine, and without any instructions, undertook to work it; and having hung the weight at the farther end of the steel-yard, in order to collect more steam to make his work the quicker, he hung also a very heavy plumber’s iron upon the end of the steel-yard: the consequence prov’d fatal, for after some time the steam, not being able with the safety-clack to raise up the steel-yard loaded with all this unu¬ sual weight, burst the boiler with a great* explosion, and kill’d the poor man.” Exp. Philos, ii, 489. In a double engine by Leopold, A. D. 1720, the receivers were placed below the water they were to raise : hence the principle of condensation was not required—for as soon as the steam expelled the contents of a re¬ ceiver, a communication was opened between the upper part of the latter and the atmosphere, so as to allow the steam to escape and a fresh supply of water to enter below. He produced a rotary movement by discharging the water into the buckets of a water-wheel. When steam is admitted into a receiver, a portion is immediately con densed by the low temperature of th6 vessel and the cold water within; so that not till a film or thin stratum of hot water is thus formed on the surface, can the full force of the vapor be exerted in expelling the contents. This waste of steam is not however so great as might be imagined, because the water with which it comes in contact still remains on the surface, having become lighter than the mass below by the accession of heat, and consequently preventing the heat from descending: yet various attempts were made to interpose some non-conducting substance between the steam and the water. Papin, as we have seen, used a floating piston. In 1766, Mr. Blakey, an enterprising English, mechanic, took out a patent for the application of a stratum of oil or air. To use these he made some corres¬ ponding alterations in the receiver; but the advantages were not so great as had been expected. Blakey also introduced a new boiler, consisting of tubes or cylinders completely filled with water and imbedded in the fire. It caused considerable excitement among scientific men, but the danger arising from them, and the explosion of one or more, caused them to be laid aside. He spent several years in France, where he erected some of his engines. He wrote on several subjects connected with the arts. There is a copious and interesting extract from his Dissertation on the Invention and Progress of Fire Machinery, in the Gentlemen’s Maga¬ zine for 1792, page 502. Other modifications of Savery’s engine were made previous to and about Blakey’s time, of which no particular accounts are now extant. In his Comparisons of French and English Arts, (article Horology) Blakey says, “About 1748 another Swiss, named Rivatz, appeared in Paris: he understood all the known principles and methods for regulating time in equal parts, to which he added others of his invention..And I Chap. 8.] Gensanne—De Moura — Amontons ’ Fire Mill. 463 can say without pretending to prejudice any one’s merit, that I never met with any French or English man who had so much ingenuity and knowledge in mechanical, hydraulic, fire machinery principles, &c. as Ri vatz.” (Gent. Mag. 1702, page 404.) In 1734 M. Gensanne, a French gentleman, made some improvements on Savery’s engine, and by additional mechanism rendered it self-acting. The alternate descent of two vessels of water opened and closed the cocks, on much the same principle as that exhibited in Fludd’s pressure engine, page 354. (Machines Approuvees, tome vii, 222.) In 1740 M. De Moura, a Portuguese, accomplished the same thing by the ascent and descent of a copper ball or float within the receiver; but the device was too complicated for practical purposes. It is figured and described by Smeaton in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlvii, 437, in the Supple¬ ment to Harris s Dictionary of the Arts, and in other English works. In 1766, Cambray de Rigny, an Italian, made some additions to Savery’s engine so as to make it in a great measure independent of manual assistance. Professor Francois, of Lausanne, having been consulted respecting the draining of an extensive marsh between the lakes Neuchatel, Bienne and Morat, adopted a fire engine on Savery’s plan, and which he made self¬ acting by a more simple device than either of the preceding. A descrip¬ tion and good figure of his machine may be seen in the fourth volume of the Repertory ol Arts, (1794) page 203. Nuncarrow’s improvement on Savery’s is described in the American Phil. Transactions, vol. i, 209, in Tilloch’s Phil. Mag. vol. ix, 300, and in Galloway’s History of the Steam- Engine. An English patent was issued in 1805 to James Boaz, and an¬ other in 1819 to Mr. Pontifex, both for improvements on Savery’s engine. For further information see the Repertory of Arts, Nicholson’s Journal, vol. i, 419, and the Journal of the Franklin Institute. “ A commodious way of substituting the action of fire instead of the force of men and horses to move machines,” was proposed in 1699, by M. Amontons, one of the earliest and most useful members of the French Academy of Sciences. He named his machine a fire mill. It resembled a large wheel, supported on a horizontal axis, but was composed of two concentric hollow rings, each of which was divided by partitions into a dozen separate cells. The small or interior ring was at a considerable distance from the axis, and the cells communicated with each other through openings made in the partitions and covered by valves or clacks. The cells of the exterior rings had no communication with each other, but a pipe from each connected them with the inner ones. The outer cells contained air, and about one half of the inner ones contained water. The object was to keep this water always on one side, that its weight might act tangentially, and so cause the wheel to revolve, and the machine con¬ nected to it. A furnace was built close to a portion of the periphery, and the lower part of the wheel was immersed in water, to a depth equal to that of the exterior cells. When the fire was kindled, the air in the cell against which the flame impinged became rarefied, and, by means of a pipe communicating with an inner cell below the axle, forced the water contained in that cell into an upper one. This caused that side of the wheel to preponderate, which brought another air cell in contact with the fire, and the fluid becoming expanded by the heat forced up the contents of another of the inner cells into a higher one, as before : in this way every part of the periphery of the wheel was brought in succession in contact with the fire, and the water in the inner cells kept constantly rising on one side of the wheel, thus causing the latter to revolve. The air in the 464 ' Newcomen and Cawley. [Book IV. outer cells was cooled as they passed through the water in which the lower part of the wheel dipped. This device of Amontons is rather an air than a steam machine. It hardly belongs to this part of our subject; but as it may be considered the type of most of the steam wheels subsequently brought forward, we have been induced to notice it here. As a theoretical device, it is highly meritorious, but as a practical one, of little value. There is in Martyn and Chambers’s abridged History of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, Lond. 1742, a full account of this wheel, and of the experiments from which it was deduced. (See vol. i, 69.) It was simplified by Leopold. Towards the close of the 17th century there lived in Dartmouth, a small seaport town on the English channel, two mechanics who combined their energies to devise a machine for raising water by means of steam. Their names were Thomas Newcomen and John Cawley; the first a blacksmith, but sometimes called an ironmonger, the latter a plumber and glazier. The circumstances that led them to the subject have not been recorded, nor have the particular contributions of each been specified. Their efforts were however eminently successful, for to them belongs the honor of having permanently established the employment of steam as a mechanical agent. The date of the commencement of their efforts is unknown, but from the observation of a contemporary writer it seems to have been as early as the first attempts of Savery. The principal objection of miners to Savery’s machine, viz. the enor¬ mous force of the steam required, and the consequent frequent explosion of the boilers, &c. was completely avoided by Newcomen and Cawley; for they used steam of little or no greater force than cooks do in common cauldrons—hence it could never explode a boiler or endanger human life. Savery’s engine had other disadvantages. It was required to be placed within a mine or pit, and in no case farther from the bottom than 25 or 30 feet; whereas Newcomen and Cawley’s was erected on the surface, near the mouth of the shaft. Moreover, in those mines which were previ¬ ously drained by pumps, it could be used to work these as before, without any additional cost for newpipes and pumps; the engine in such cases merely superseding the horses and their attendants. Instead of applying steam like Savery directly to the water to be raised, these mechanics made use of it to give motion to a piston and vibrating beam, and through these to common pump rods; hence the device may be considered rather for im¬ parting motion to machines proper for raising water, than as one of the latter. It is in evidence that Newcomen had some correspondence respecting his machine with Dr. Hooke, and that he was acquainted with what Papin had previously done. This however might very well consist with the idea of giving motion to a piston originating with himself or partner; yet as their labors were subsequent to those of the French philosopher, their claims to it, if they ever made any, could not be sustained. Their machine in its essential features is a copy of Guerricke’s, and the mode of producing a vacuum under the piston similar to Papin’s; but as Papin did not suc¬ ceed, the reintroduction of a device similar to his, and its successful appli¬ cation to the important purpose of draining mines, belong wholly to them; and the merit of doing this was certainly much greater than can ever be claimed for the abortion of Papin. Fulton did not invent steam boats, but he was the first to demonstrate their utility and to introduce them into use here after they had been tried and abandoned in Europe. It should not be supposed that the piston engine would not have been realized at the close of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century, if Papin 465 Chap. 8.] Their first Engine. ^ ewcomen ^ad not lived. The spirit of inquiry that was abroad in their days, and the number of ingenious men engaged in devising means to employ steam as a motive agent, would assuredly have soon brought it into use. Indeed, every improvement in the application of steam seems to have been always perceived by some contemporary projectors, among whom the contest of maturing it was, as in a race, one of speed. “ Watt [observes Prof. Renwick] found a competitor in Gainsborough, and but a few weeks would have placed Stevens on the very eminence where Fulton now stands.” The circumstances of the times, the increase of English manufactures, and the general want of some substitute for animal labor, were all then favorable to the introduction of the steam-engine. “ Had the mines of Cornwall been still wrought near the surface, Savery or New¬ comen would hardly have found a vent for their engines. Had not the manufacturers of England been wanting in labor-saving machinery, the double-acting engine of Watt would have been suited to no useful appli- catton. A very few years earlier than the voyage of Fulton [to Albany] the Hudson could not have furnished trade or travel to support a steam boat, and the Mississippi was in possession of dispersed hordes of savages.” No. 196. Newcomen and Cawley’s Engine. A. D. 1705. The above figure will sufficiently explain the principles and operation of Newcomen and Cawley’s first engine ; and, when compared with those 59 466 Condensation by Injection discovered by chance. [Book IV already noticed, will enable the reader to do justice to all concerned. It will be perceived that although steam is an essential agent, it is not the primum mobile of the apparatus: the pressure of the atmosphere is the first mover, and to excite this only was steam employed. A, in the figure, (No. 196) represents a vibrating beam with arched ends or sectors, from one of which the main pump rod is suspended by a chain. This rod descends into the mine or pit, and is connected to as many other rods as there are pumps to be worked. A counterpoise or heavy weight m is fixed to the rod, so as to depress it and raise the other end of the beam in the position represented, a, the steam cylinder, open at top, its sides being surrounded by another, and the space between them containing water, r, the piston rod and piston, attached to the beam by a chain, b, the boiler, c, gauge cock. N, safety valve with weights placed directly upon it. d, a cock to admit steam into the cylinder, e, a pipe and cock to convey the water round a, into the well or tank o. f, a pipe and cock to supply cold water to condense steam in the cylinder, h , another pipe and cock to furnish occasionally a little water to the upper side of the piston, to prevent air from passing between the packing and sides of the cylinder : this water was kept at the depth of about two inches. t t, a pipe proceeding from one of the pumps in the pit to supply the small cistern with water, p, a pipe to convey the steam condensed within a into the tank o. to the ash pit. x x, flues round the boiler. Fire being applied to the boiler and steam generated, the cock d is opened and the cylinder filled with steam, provision being made for the escape of the air previously within, d is then closed and f opened, by which cold water from the cistern is admitted to flow round a: this con¬ denses the vapor within, and a vacuum being thus formed under the piston, the latter is pushed down by the atmosphere ; consequently the opposite end of the beam is raised, and with it the pump rods and the load of water with which they are burthened. f is now closed and d again opened, when the counterpoise m preponderates, the piston is raised, the cylinder again filled with steam, and the operation repeated. But previous to the admission of vapor the second time into the cylinder, the cock f is closed and the one on pipe e opened, to allow the water between the cylinders to escape into the tank o, this water having become heated by its contact with a. As soon as the cylinder is charged anew with steam, a fresh supply of cold water to condense it is admitted by again opening f. The amount of force thus excited depends upon the diameter of the cylinder a, or the area of its piston, and the state of the vacuum made under the latter. The dimensions of a must therefore be proportioned to the resistance to be overcome—to the quantity of water to be raised from a mine, and the height at which it is to be discharged—and to render an engine of the kind effective, the whole of the steam in a should be con¬ densed, and as quickly as possible. These conditions were not very well fulfilled by the apparatus as figured above. Time was required for the cold water between the cylinders to extend its influence from the cir¬ cumference to the centre of the inner one, in order completely to condense the vapor ; hence the movements were extremely slow, the strokes seldom exceeding seven or eight per minute. An accidental circumstance pointed out the remedy, and greatly increased the effect. As the engine was at work, the attendants were one day surprised to see it make several strokes much quicker than usual; and upon searching for the cause, they found, says Desaguliers, “ a hole in the piston which let the cold water [kept upon the piston to prevent the entrance of air at the packing] into the inside of the cylinder.” The water falling through the steam condensed it al- Chap. 8.] Savery claims a share in Newcomen's Patent. 4 G 7 most instantaneously, and produced a vacuum with far less water than when applied to the exterior of the cylinder. This led Newcomen to emove the outer cylinder, and to insert the lower end of the pipe f into the bottom of a., so that on opening' the cock f a iot nf n ^ ^ Pieced through the vapor. 'nifSSj rf£ injection pipe still used m low-pressure engines. ° !e £»7'^ n in n i712 engi ? e ’ “ S , figUre j a P a « e 465 ’ ™> improved in “raSX L’," d soon . a ^ ter . adopted as a hydraulic machine for ainin the coal and iron mines m various parts of Europe Very elaborate engravings of some used in French mines may be seen in the folio edition of Arts et Metiers. See also Desaguliers’ Ex. Philos, vol ii and Switzer’s Hydrostatics. ’ The application of sectors and chains to pump rods did not originate with Newcomen. They are figured by Moxon, and were probab/empWd in working pumps m mines previous to the invention of the steam-engine. e have often thought the heaviest charge against Savery was to be found in his conduct towards Newcomen and Cawley. Their machine was ecscnua ly different fluu, his in its principle, con£ucriJ» action yet he insisted that it was an infringement upon his patent He employed the pressure of the atmosphere in charging his receivers bv condensing with cold water the steam within them So far as regards this mode of forming a vacuum, (he in his receivers and they beneath a piston) there is a resemblance between the two machines, but no farther- and this plan of making a vacuum was not original with him any more tnan with them It was no more a new device in his time than his paddle wheels were. The object of Newcomen and Cawley in forming a vacuum was also quite different from his; for they did not raise water into the vacuity, but employed it solely to excite the pressure of the atmosphere upon the upper side of a piston, in order to impart motion to common pump rods. Again, he used the expansive force of high steam : this was t e prominent feature in his machine, and the great power that gave effi¬ ciency to it; but they did not use this power at all. The weight of the external air, not the expansive force of steam, was the primum mobile in their machine, and it was brought into action by the vapor of water at the ordinary boiling point. But as they formed a vacuum in their cylinder by the condensation of steam, he insisted on having a share in their patent! The fact was his machines had become m a great measure laid aside, and he doubtless per- ^ eiv , e r r i tha J the y were destined to be wholly superseded. Desaguliers (in 1744) observes that the progress and improvement of the fire eno-ine were stopped by the difficulties and dangers attending it, till Newcomen and Cawley “ brought.it to the present form, in which it is now used and has been near these thirty years.” Unless his name was included as a joint patentee, Savery threatened an appeal to the law; and it is said his influence at court, as commissioner for the sick and wounded, gave weight to this ungenerous and unjust demand. Newcomen we are informed was a (Quaker, or like Cawley a Baptist, and therefore on principle averse to legal controversy : he was moreover a man of “ a great deal of modesty,” and so yielded the point. The patent was consequently issued (in 1705) to ihomas Newcomen and John Cawley of Dartmouth, and Thomas Savery of London.” Another point has been generally overlooked : so far from Newcomen’s mac me eing an infringement or improvement upon Savery’s, it was really invented as early if not earlier than the latter. Switzer (Savery’s friend) says, it [r ewcomen s engine] is indeed generally said to be an improve 468 Extensive adoption of Newcomen's Engine. [Book IV. ment to Savery’s engine, but I am well inform'd that Mr. Newcomen was as early in his invention, as Mr. Savery was in his, only the latter being nearer the court, had obtain’d his patent before the other knew of it; on which account Mr. Newcomen was glad to come in as a partner to it.” (Hydrostatics, 342.) That is, as a partner to his own invention. To Newcomen and his associate belongs the honor of laying the found¬ ation for the modern engine. The piston engine of Worcester had been forgotten, Papin’s was an abortion, and Savery probably never thought of one; hence, whether the Dartmouth mechanicians were aware of its pre¬ vious employment or not, to them a large share of merit is justly due. They were moreover amiable and unassuming in their manners, and seem to have passed through life without exciting much of that envy that em¬ bitters more or less the nights and days of successful inventors. From such men, who can withhold expressions of approbation and esteem % Had they been members of the Roman church, they should have been canonized —could we believe in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, we would have masses performed for the repose of their spirits—and had we the power, every contributor to useful mechanism should be commemorated by an apotheosis. Cawley died in 1717, but the date of Newcomen's decease has not been ascertained. CHAPTER IX. General adoption of Newcomen and Cawley’s engine—Leopold’s machine—Steam applied as a mover of general machinery—Wooden and granite boilers—Generating steam by the heat of the sun—Floats_ Green-houses and dwellings heated by steam—Cooking by steam—Explosive engines_Vapor engines_ English, French and American motive engines—Woisard’s air machine —Vapor of mercury_Liquefied gases—Decomposition and recomposition of water. Newcomen and Cawley’s engines were found to answer the purpose of raising water so well, that in a few years they were introduced into Russia, Sweden, France and Hungary; and about 1760, one was imported by the proprietors of the old copper mine near Belleville, New Jersey. They in fact imparted a new and very beneficial impulse to mining opera¬ tions, and quickly raised the value of mining stock. Deluged works were recovered, old mines deepened, and new ones opened, in various districts, both in Great Britain and continental Europe: nor were they confined to draining mines, but were employed to raise water for the use of towns and cities, and even to supply water-wheels of mills. By exciting the attention of ingenious men to their improvement, they became the means of extending manufactures generally, and introduced one which had never before been known in the world, viz. the fabrication of motive engines —a manufacture upon which the wealth, power and happiness of nations are destined in a great degree hereafter to depend. Chap. 9.] Leopold’s Engine. 469 Leopold, to whom we have frequently referred, reflecting on Papin’s expenments, suggested the following application of steam to move pistons and to raise water:— * No. 197. Leopold’^ Kigli Pressure Engine. A. D. 1720. Two steam cylinders, open at top and provided with pistons a b, were placed over the boiler c, from the upper part of which a four-way cock d admitted steam alternately into the bottom of each. The pistons were connected by inflexible rods to the ends of two working beams, and to the opposite extremities of the beams were connected, by similar rods, the pistons/^ of two forcing pumps, whose lower parts were placed in the water to be raised.. An attendant turned the plug of the cock to admit steam under one piston, which was pushed up by the expansive force of the fluid, and consequently the piston of the pump connected to the same beam was foreed down, and the water in its chamber driven up the rising main i. . The cock was then turned to admit steam into the other cylinder, whose piston was raised in like manner; at the same time one passage of the cock opened a communication with the interior of the first cylinder and the external air, 60 as to allow the steam within to escape.—(See the figure.) v This is the first high-pressure piston engine figured in books. It has been greatly admired, and yet as represented it is useless and impracticable; for when the steam pistons were once raised the whole would remain im¬ moveable, there being no means for causing them to descend. Had Leo¬ pold used one beam instead of two, and placed a pump and steam cylinder under each end, the device would have been complete and very effective. It is singular that the researches of Leopold had not made him ac¬ quainted with the fact that four-way eoeke were used long before Papin, to whom he attributes them. With this device of Leopold, we take leave of steam machines. Hitherto t icy a een employed only to raise water, but the period was now ap- pioacung \\ len the agency of . this fluid as a first mover of machinery in gener , was to become indefinitely extended. The engines of Newcomen 470 Wooden and Granite Boilers. [Book IV. and Leopold were the links which# connected the labors of Heron, Garay, Porta, Worcester, Moreland, Papin and Savery with those of Watt. They opened the way for the introduction of the crank and fly-wheel, which changed completely the character of the old engines. Like Worcester’s and Savery’s, Newcomen’s engine required the constant attention of an attendant to open and close the cocks; but a boy named Potter employed in this service, stimulated by the love of play, ingeniously added cords to the levers by which the cocks were turned, and connecting the other ends of the cords to the moving beam, rendered the machine self-acting, and thus acquired opportunities of joining his sportive companions unknown to his employers. Iron rods were soon after substituted for the cords by Beighton, and finally Watt and Gainsborough, Hornblower, Evans and Trevithick, See. appeared and made the steam-engine the great prime mover of man. A few subordinate devices relating to steam and steam-engines may here be noticed. There is in Stuart’s Anecdotes an historical note respecting wooden boilers, in which water is heated by furnaces or flues within them. They are traced back to 1663. It may be interesting to some readers to state, that they were in use in the preceding century, and that the device in all probability dates from even a more remote period. They are described in Gesner’s “ Secrets of Phisicke and Philosophic.” In the English translation of 1599, by Baker, to which we have already had re¬ course, they are twice figured, and thus described : “ A wooden bowle or tubbe of a sufficient compasse and largnesse over: in the middes of which tubbe erect and set from the bottom unto the edge or brinke of the same, or rather above it, a great copper vessel, in the forme of a hollow pype. Let a parte of the copper pype descende, in such sort and manner, that the water be contained betweene the outward bored wall of the pype and the parte within of the tubbe : But within that parte of the pype which de- scendeth by the bottome of the tubbe, let the fire be put and kindled, for the heating of the water.” Folio 25. The third part of Glauber’s Treatise on Philosophical Furnaces also relates to wooden boilers, in which liquids were heated by a copper retort placed in a fire, and whose neck was in¬ serted in the lower part of the boiler, the liquid circulating through the retort. Eng. Trans, by Dr. French, London, 1652. We have been informed that an enormous steam boiler for an atmos¬ pheric engine was in use many years ago at a copper mine near Redruth, in Cornwall, England, which was composed entirely of large blocks of granite, or “ moor stone.” The water was heated by a furnace, from which iron pipes traversed backwards and forwards in the water. The old chemists often boiled liquids by the sun’s heat, and a writer in the London Magazine for 1750 proposed to substitute the solar rays for common fires in heating steam-engine boilers, viz. by collecting the rays in a focus “by means of a common burning glass, or a large concave reflecting mirror of polished metal, or perhaps more conveniently by the newly re¬ vived method of Archimedes, which by throwing the focal point to a greater distance may be capable of many advantages that the others have not.” He anticipates three objections :—1. “ The focus will vary with the motion of the sun.” To obviate this he proposes to make the mirror moveable by machinery attached to the engine itself. 2. “ The extreme heat of the focal point.” If this should be too intense, it may be moderated by en¬ larging the focus. 3. “ The sun does not constantly shine”—therefore the engine must stop. This objection, he remarks, is common to wind, tide Chap. 9.] Explosive Engines. 47 j and other mills; and he thinks in the hot months, at least, a steam-engine might be made to raise by the sun’s heat water enough from a well to replenish fish ponds &c. as opportunity served. We have long thought that solar heat will yet supersede artificial fires to a limited extendn raisins steam, as well as in numerous other operations in the arts, especially in places where fuel is scarce. It is a more legitimate object of research than one half of the new projects daily brought forward. The mode adopted by Watt for supplying water to his boilers by means of a float attached to a lever, and so arranged as to open and close a valve m an adjoining cistern, was not invented by him. It was employed by Mr. Tnewald, the Swedish engineer, in 1745, in his apparatus for commu¬ nicating heat to green-houses by steam, and is described, with a figure, in the London Magazine for 1755, p. 18—21. Heating green-houses by steam is mentioned by an English writer in 1660. Rivius, in 1548, speaks of eolipiles being employed to impart an agreeable temperature to apartments in dwellings. Col. Wm. Cook’s “ Method to warm rooms by the steam of boiling water,” is described, with a cut, in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1747, p. 171. A boiler was to be heated by the kitchen fire, and the steam pipe to ascend through one tier of rooms, and descend through another, traversing backwards and forwards in each room according to the temperature required; the escape of the condensed and waste steam being regulated by a cock. A patent for cooking by steam was taken out in England by Mr. How¬ ard in 1793. He named his apparatus “a pneumatic kitchen.” Repertory of Arts, vol. x, 147. There are two other classes of motive machines that we intended here to notice in some detail; but as they have not come into general use, and this volume having already nearly reached its prescribed limits, a brief sketch may suffice. The origin of most of them may be traced to attempts to supersede steam by more portable fluids, or such as require less fuel to generate. We allude to explosive and to vapor engines. Of all the devices to which the steam-engine has given birth, none possess greater interest than these. Some were designed to raise water directly, and all of them indirectly. The first class are named from the force by which they act being developed by the firing (generally under pistons) of explosive com¬ pounds. These are either concrete or aeriform substances, as gunpowder, a mixture of hydrogen gas and common air, &c. Those of the second class are similar to steam-engines, except that they are worked by elastic fluids evolved from volatile liquids, or such as pass easily and at low tem¬ peratures into the aeriform state, as alcohol, ether, &c. Explosive like steam engines have been made to act in two different ways, according to two opposite properties or effects of the exploded sub¬ stance—the expansive force developed, and the vacuum or partial vacuum which succeeds. For the purpose of explanation, suppose two large re¬ peating guns or muskets, provided with small charges of powder only, to be secured by a frame in a perpendicular position, with their muzzles up¬ wards, and three or four feet apart. Directly over them let there be adapted a working beam, somewhat as in the last figure, suspended on a fulcrum at an equal distance from each. Suppose the ramrods placed in the barrels with their buttons or plugs so made as to fill the bore, and work.air-tight like the piston of a syringe or pump. Let the upper ends of these rods then be connected by a bolt to the ends of the beam, which should be at such a distance above the muzzles that when the plug of one rod is at the bottom of its barrel, that of the other may be just within the 472 Gunpowder and Vapor Engines. [Book IV. muzzle of the other barrel. Now let that musket with whose breech the plug of its ramrod is in contact be first fired, and the rod will instantly be forced like a bullet up the barrel, and by its connection with the beam will cause the other rod to descend. The musket in which this last rod moves is then in its turn to be fired and the rod forced up in the same way. Thus the operation is continued. The reciprocating motion of the beam is converted, if required, into a continuous rotary one by means of a crank or some analogous device. Engines on this plan have not succeeded, nor is there any probability of their success. There are apparently insuperable objections to them, but which need not here be detailed. The explosion of gunpowder has therefore been more frequently employed to produce a partial vacuum in a cylinder when its piston is raised, in order to excite the pressure of the atmosphere to force it down. Suppose one or more openings, covered by valves or flaps, were made near the upper ends of the muskets mentioned above, i. e. just beneath the pistons or plugs of the ramrods when at the highest point in the barrels, and the powder exploded when they are in that position : the sudden expansion would drive out through the valves most of the air previously in the barrel, the valves would instantly close, and the atmosphere would push down the rod and thus raise the other; which in its turn might be caused to descend by exploding the charge under it, and so on continually. Instead of openings in the cylinders for the escape of the air, some experimenters have made large openings in the pistons and covered them with flaps, (like the suckers of common pumps) so that when the explosion ceased the flaps closed and prevented the air’s return. Others have used solid pistons and removed the bottoms of their cylinders, and covered the openings with leather flaps so as to operate as valves and give a freer exit to the air and heated gases. This was the plan adopted by Mr. Morey. Papin used hollow pistons. The vacuum produced in this manner by gunpowder has always been very imperfect. Instead of obtaining a pressure of 14 or 15 pounds on the inch, Papin could not realize more than six or seven. Gunpowder has also been applied to raise water directly, by exploding it in close vessels like the receivers of Savery, with a view to expel their contents by its expansive force, and also to produce a vacuum in order to charge them—but with no useful result. Explosive mixtures, formed of certain proportions of an inflammable gas and common air, have been found to produce a better vacuum than gunpowder; for a volume of air equal to that of the gas used is displaced from the cylinder by the entrance of the gas previous to every explosion, and when this takes place nearly the whole of the remaining air is expelled. As yet, however, the best of explosive engines have had but an ephemeral existence. Besides other disadvantages, the heat generated by the flame attending the explosion expands the air that remains, so as to diminish considerably the effect. Of vapor engines, the most promising at one time were those in which the moving force was derived from ether and alcohol. The former boils at about blood heat, or 9S° of Fahrenheit’s scale, and the latter at 174°, while water requires 212°. The vapor of alcohol, it has been stated, exerts double the force of steam at the same temperature; and if to this it be conceded that the same quantity of fuel produces equal temperatures on both alcohol and water, then the former would seem to be more econo¬ mical than than the latter. Moreover, in consequence of the different spe¬ cific gravities of water, alcohol and ether, the cost of vaporizing equal volumes of each varies in a still greater ratio than their boiling points— 473 Chap. 9 ] Vapor Engines — Woisard’s Machine. tins cost being as the numbers 11, 4, 2—thus making the scale preponde¬ rate still more in favor of alcohol and ether. Why then, it may be asked have they not superseded water 1 Principally because the different vo¬ lumes of vapor from equal quantities of the three liquids turn back the scale in favor of steam. _ A cubic inch of water affords 1800 cubic inches of steam, while a cubic inch of alcohol produces about 600 and ether only 300 inches; hence the expense of producing equal volumes of vapor (and that is the main point) is actually in favor of steam. It has therefore been deemed more economical to use this fluid than the others, even if they were equally cheap—to say nothing of the danger arising from such an employment of highly inflammable liquids, and the practical difficulties attending their application. In 1791, Mr. John Barber obtained a patent for an explosive motive engine: he used gas or vapor from “coal, wood, oil, or any other com¬ bustible matter,” which he distilled in a retort, and “ mixed with a proper quantity of atmospheric or common air.” See Repertory of Arts, vol. viii, 371. Another patent was issued in 1794 to Robert Street, for an “in¬ flammable vapor force,” or explosive engine. He exploded spirits of tar or turpentine mixed with common air under a piston, and forced it entirely out of the cylinder, into which it was again returned (by its own weight) and guided by grooves in the frame work. Repertory of Arts, vol. i, 154. In 1807, a patent was granted in France to M. De Rivaz, for another, in which hydrogen and common air were mixed and exploded. De Rivaz moved a locomotive carriage by the power he thus derived. He also inflamed the gaseous mixture by the electric spark. Dr. Jones, in 1814, made experiments on another. See Journal of the Franklin In¬ stitute, vol. i, 2d series, page 18. Mr. Cecil, in 1820, published in the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, (Eng.) a description of an explosive f engine of considerable merit. In 1825, Mr. Brown, of London, patented his pneumatic or gas vacuum engine. The very sanguine expectations it excited have now died away. It is figured and described in too many works, both English and Ameri¬ can, to require insertion here. In 1826, Mr. Morey, of New Hampshire, patented an explosive engine, and soon after exhibited a large working model in this city, (New York) which we took several opportunities to examine. The piston rods of two vertical and open cylinders were con¬ nected to the opposite ends of a vibrating beam. The pistons were made of sheet copper, in the form of plungers, about nine inches diameter, and were made to work air-tight by means of a strip of oiled listing or cloth tied round the upper ends of the cylinders. This was all the packing. Mr. Morey employed the vapor of spirits of turpentine and common air. A small tin dish contained the spirits, and the only heat he used was from a common table lamp. By means of a crank and fly-wheel a rotary move¬ ment was obtained, as in the steam-engine. A singular device for making the atmospheric changes of temperature a means for raising water, was devised by M. Woisard. It consisted of two vessels, one above the other, connected by a tube. The lower one, having a valve in its bottom, was placed in the water to be raised. The upper vessel was exposed to the sun’s heat, and within it was a bag or small balloon containing air, and a little ether, or other volatile liquid. “ As the atmospheric temperature falls, the balloon will diminish in bulk, the surrounding air will become rarer, and the water will introduce itself into the machine through the valve ; and when the temperature again rises, the pressure exerted within the machine by the increasing volume of the bal’oon, will cause the excess of water to flow out.” With the ex- * « *> 474 Decomposition and recomposition of Water. [Book IV. ception of the ether, this device is a modification of the air machines Nos. 174 and 175, figured at page 380. The vapor of mercury has been tried as a substitute for steam, but without much success. This metal boils at 660°. Another source of power has been sought in the tremendous force with which the liquefied and solidified gases expand at common temperatures. Liquid carbonic acid, at the low temperature of 32°, has been found to exert a force equivalent to thirty five atmospheres ! and every increment of heat adds to its energy. No very practical mode of employing this force as a mechanical agent has yet been matured. The alternate decomposition and recomposition of water has also been suggested. By decomposing this liquid by galvanic electricity, oxygen and hydrogen gases are produced in the exact proportions in which they combine in water. If these gases be made to occupy the interior of a cylinder when the piston is raised, and the electric spark be then passed through them, they instantly become condensed into a few drops of water, and an almost perfect vacuum is the result, when the atmosphere acts on the piston. The water is then to be reconverted into its constituent gases, and the operation repeated. See “ The Chemist,” for 1825. For further and more recent information respecting motive engines, consult the Re¬ pertory of Arts, Hebert’s Register of Arts, London Mechanics’ Magazine, and the Journal of the Franklin Institute. • END OP THE FOURTH BOOK. t BOOK V. NOVEL DEVICES FOR RAISING WATER, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SIPHONS, COCKS, VALVES, CLEPSYDRAE, &c. &c. CHAPTER I. SuDjects treated in the fifth book—Lateral communication of motion—This observed by the ancients— Wind at the Falls of Niagara-The trombe described-Natural trombes-Tasting hot liquids-Water¬ spouts—Various operations of the human mouth-Currents of water—Gulf Stream-Large rivers-Ad ventures of a bottle-LUperiments of Venturi-Expenditure of water from various formed ajutages- Contracled vein—Cause of increased discharge from conical tubes—Sale of a water power—Regulation of the ancient Romans to prevent an excess of water from being drawn by pipes from the aqueducts. In this book we propose to notice some devices for raising water that are either practically useful, or interesting from their novelty or the prin¬ ciples upon which they act. An account of siphons is added, and also remarks on cocks, pipes, valves, and other devices connected with practical hydraulics. r A fluid moving in contact with another that is comparatively at rest drags along those particles which it touches, and these by their mutual adhesion carry their neighbors with them; the latter also communicate the impulse to others, and these to more distant ones, until a large mass of the fluid on both sides of the motive current is put in motion. Whatever may be the process by which this is effected, or by whatever name the principle involved may be called, (lateral communication of motion or any other) there is no question of the fact. The operation moreover is not confined to any particular fluid, nor is it necessary that the one moved should be of the same nature as the mover: thus air in motion moves water and other liquids as well as air, and aqueous currents impart motion to aeriform fluids as well as to standing waters. A stream of wind from a bellows bears with it the atmospheric particles which it touches in its passage to the fire—i. e. it sweeps along with it the lining of the aerial tube through which it is urged. Blowing on a letter sheet to dry the ink, or on scalding food to cool it, brings in contact with these substances streams of other air than what issues from the thorax.® The operations by which the man in the fable blew hot and cold “out of the same mouth ” Does not the same principle perform an important part in respiration ?—the lungs not being wholly inflated by air directly in front of the lips, where particles of that previously exhaled might still linger, but also by currents flowing in from all sides of the mouth or nostrils. % s 476 The Trombe. [Book V. may here be explained : in the first case the hollow hands closely encom¬ passed the mouth and received the warm air from his chest; in the latter, his food was at a distance from his lips, and consequently the heat of his breath was absorbed by the surrounding air and that which was carried along with it to his soup. A blast of wind directed over the surface of a placid pond or lake not only creates a current on the latter, but sometimes bears away part of the water with it. A vessel sailing before the wind is aided in her course, though it may be but slightly, by the liquid current produced on the ocean’s surface. Storms of wind long continued heap up the sea against the mouths of rivers, and cause them to overflow their banks, while low tides often result from the same agent driving the ocean away in opposite directions. These effects of wind were observed in remote ages. “ He raiselh the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves.” The river Jordan was “ driven back ” by wind, so that “ all the Israelites passed over on dry ground.” By its agency, a passage for the same people was opened through the Red Sea. “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back, by a strong east vnnd all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” Exodus xiv. 21. On the other hand, rivers and water-falls bear down immense quantities of air with them. Strata of this fluid on the surfaces of rapid streams ac¬ quire a velocity equal to that of the latter, and in some places aerial cur¬ rents thus produced are very sensible. At Niagara they are sufficient to drive mills or supply blasts for a long line of forges. In 1829, while as¬ cending the path on the Canadian side, in order to pass under the grand chute, we entered suddenly into one of those invisible currents under the Table Rock, and were nearly prostrated by it. It is the ascent of this air loaded with minute particles of water, (which are borne up by it in the same manner that it is itself carried down) that contributes to the forma¬ tion of the solar and lunar rainbows seen at the great North American and other cataracts. Heavy rains bring down oceans of air, and in the shower bellows, or trombe, blasts of wind are produced on the same principle. Could we see the air brought down by heavy showers, we should behold it rebounding from the earth, something like smoke when driven against a wall or any other plane surface. As the trombe illustrates this part of our subject, a figure of one may as well be given. The pipe A discharges water from a reservoir into a funnel placed on the vertical tube C. The end of A terminates in the funnel, and opposite to it is made a number of openings in C, two of which are shown in the cut. The lower end of C enters the close vessel D, and discharges its contents on a stone placed directly under it. As the water from A passes down C, it draws air along with it through the top of the funnel, and also through the holes in the upper part of C. As the liquid dashes against the stone, the air sepa¬ rates and rises to the top of the vessel, whence it is forced by successive volumes through B to the fire, while the water collects at the bottom and is let off by a regulating valve or cock. This machine it will be perceived is a miniature imitation of some of na¬ ture’s operations ; for cascades, water-falls, and also No. 198. The Trombe. heavy showers of rain, are all natural trombes. 477 Chap. 1.] Gulf Stream. The trombe is of considerable antiquity. It was known to Heron, and is referred to in Pliny’s Natural History. Kircher has given several figures of it. See tom. i, 203, of his Mundus Subterraneus, and tom. ii, pp. 310, 347, of his Musurgia Universalis; in which last work he shows its appli¬ cation to supply wind to organs, and by discharging the water from the bottom of the vessel upon a wheel he imparted motion to the keys of those instruments. See also Phil. Trans. Abridg. vol. i, 498. Liquids raised by currents of air may be illustrated by operations in common life. Whenever water in a well settles to a level with the orifice of the pump pipe, air rushes in (on the ascent of the sucker) and sweeps up with it portions of the liquid in the form of dense rain. On the same principle people are enabled to taste scalding liquids. The next time the reader sips hot soup, or tea, or coffee, he will find himself involuntarily keeping the edge or rim of the spoon or vessel a short distance from his mouth, and protruding his lips till the upper one projects a little over the edge : then drawing in his breath, the entering air ripples the surface of the liquid, and by its velocity bears broken portions along, precisely like the pump just mentioned. The liquid particles being thus mixed with comparatively large volumes of cool air, are so reduced in their tempera¬ ture as to be received without injury and without inconvenience . 8 Water-spouts appear to be charged in much the same way, whatever may be the active agent in the formation of these singular phenomena; for the sea immediately under their orifice has often been observed to bubble or boil violently, and rise into the spout in disjointed masses. A stream of water directed into or through a body of the same liquid, also communicates motion to those particles of the latter that are in contact with or adjacent to the current. Examples of this are furnished in several of nature’s hydraulic operations. That constant oceanic current produced by the trade winds is one. It sweeps round the globe, but is deflected and divided by the varying configuration of the lands that lie in its way. Under the torrid zone, it passses through the Pacific and Indian oceans, whirls round the southern point of Africa, inclines to that continent in again approaching the equator, then stretching across the Atlantic is di¬ vided by the South American coast—one part turning northward to the Gulf of Mexico—thence this last division issues as the Gulf Stream, and being turned in an easterly direction by the coast of the United States, it bears away past the banks of Newfoundland, and extends its influence to Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the North Sea. This mighty current not only draws with it the liquid channel through which it flows, but the ocean for leagues on each side is carried along with it, or follows in its train; a Some of the operations of the mouth are deserving of particular notice. They will be found to elucidate several philosophical principles, and attention to them would cer¬ tainly have enabled inventors to have anticipated many useful discoveries. We have in a preceding book observed that the mouth is often employed as a forcing pump in ejecting liquids, and as a sucking one when drawing them through siphons, or through simple tubes. We have just seen how it raises hot liquids by drawing a stream of air over them, and machines on the same principle have been made to raise water. It is often used as a bellows to kindle fires, and every body employs it to cool hot victuals by blowing. It even acts as a stove to warm our frozen fingers, by giving out heated air. Many make a condensing air-pump of it, to fill bladders, air-beds and air-pillows; some make an exhausting one of it, and in all it acts continually as both in respiration. How often does it perform the part of a fife, an organ, or a whistle, to produce music ? —of an air-gun to shoot bullets and arrows from the sarbacan ?—and, not to weary the reader, when employed in smoking a pipe of tobacco, we see in operation the identical principle of increasing the draft of locomotive chimneys by exhaustion—i. e. a sucking apparatus is applied to that extremity of the flue that is the farthest from the fire—a device patented in Europe a few years ago. ' 478 Water raised by currents of the same liquid. [Book V. and thus it is incessantly transferring to northern latitudes the warm waters of the equinoctial regions.® The volumes of water which shoot from the mouths of the Amazon, Oronoco and Mississippi, continue with almost unabated velocity for leagues into the sea, and impart motion to the contiguous portions of the latter, which are compelled to accompany them in their course. A current of water not only imparts motion in this manner to a mass of the same liquid when on a level with itself, but it may be applied to raise water from a lower level. This at first sight does not appear very obvious. A person having a field which he is unable to drain for want of a place of discharge sufficiently low for the purpose, would hardly think his object could be obtained by passing a rapid stream into it from a higher level. To some farmers this would seem the most direct way to deluge the land; yet the thing is not only possible, but in some cases quite easy, as w T ill appear from the following experiments made by M. Venturi in 1797. From the lower part of the cistern D, No. 199, a horizontal tube pro ceeded into the vessel A C. The water in D was kept at 32£ inches above the centre of the pipe. Opposite and at a short distance from the pipe was placed the mouth of an inclined rectangular channel or gutter open at top. The water issuing from the pipe rushed up this channel, anc was discharged at B; but as it entered the gutter, the current dragged it with it the contents of A C, until the surface sunk from A to C. Frorr this experiment it is obvious that land on a low level, as at C, might bf drained in this manner, and the water discharged above, as at B, where- ever a motive current could be obtained. Venturi applied the principle with success to some marshy land belonging to the public. In the next experiment both air and water are moved by the current, and the pressure of the atmosphere excited to raise water as in the pipe of a pump. The cylindri¬ cal tube K (No. 200) was connected to a reservoir of water, D, the surface as before being 32^ inches above its orifice. The pipe K was 18 lines in diameter and 57 long. A glass tube A B was connected to its upper surface at the dis¬ tance of eight lines from its junction with the reser¬ voir. The other end of the glass tube descended hen water flowed through a Floating substances have often been thrown into the Gulf Stream to ascertain its direction. Upwards of twenty years ago we cast overboard, near the Banks, a common quart bottle carefully corked and sealed, and having a few inches of red bunting tied to the neck The bottle contained a letter addressed to a gentleman in London, and an open note in English and French, requesting the finder to put the letter into the nearest posl-olfice, American or European, and also a memorandum of the circumstances, date and place of its discovery. Precisely eleven months from the day the bottle was com¬ mitted to the deep, the letter was delivered by the postman, and accompanied with an¬ other from an Irish clergyman. The fragile vessel floated safely ashore near Sligo. Its little pennon excited the attention of a peasant, who broke the bottle, and not knowing what to make ot the contents, carried the whole to his priest. This gentleman politely forwarded the letter to its destination, and wrote another containing the particulars just mentioned. Both letters, we believe, were laid before the British Admiralty by the gen¬ tleman to whom they were addressed. T No. 199. No. 200. into a vessel, T, containing a colored liquid. 479 Chap. l.J Vacuum produced by liquid currents. K it dragged the air at the mouth of the glass tube with it, the remaining' air dilated, and finally the whole was carried out with the effluent water and the colored liquid rose to the height of 24 inches in A B. The glass tube was then shortened to about 22 inches, .when the contents of T rose up and were discharged from K. In another experiment Iv was placed m nearly a perpendicular position, being inclined a little that the jet might not fall back on itself, but the liquid rose through A B as before. The end of A B where it joined Iv was flush with the interior surface of the latter. Several small holes were made round K; these diminished the velocity of the issuing current, but no water escaped through the openings There is a singular fact relating to the discharge of liquids from different shaped ajutages : for example, more water flows through a short tube than through a simple orifice of the same diameter. A circular opening, of the same diameter as the bore of K in the last figure, was made in a sheet of tm, and the latter attached to a cistern in which the water was kept at a constant altitude of 3 2\ inches : now while four cubic feet of water escaped through the opening in 41 seconds, an equal quantity passed through K in 31 seconds; and when the length of K was only twice its diameter, the quantity discharged was still greater. But the quantity discharged may be still further increased if the end of K next the reservoir be made to assume the form of the contracted vein. This term is used to designate that contraction which a liquid column un¬ dergoes when escaping through an orifice, or when entering a tube. Sup¬ pose an aperture, an inch in diameter, made in the bottom of a bucket or a cauldron, and closed by a plug, dhen fill the vessel with water, and withdraw the plug. Upon examination the descending column will be found contracted or tapered for a short distance below the orifice, viz. half an inch, or half the diameter of the orifice. The area of the section of the smallest or most contracted part will be to the orifice as 10 to 16 according to Bossut, but when a short cylindrical tube was applied to the orifice, he found the contraction as 10 to 12.3. (The same thing occurs whether the opening be made in the side or bottom of a vessel.) & Hence by enlarging the end of K next the reservoir, in the proportions named, the contraction within the cylindrical part of the tube would be avoided, and the discharge consequently increased. No. 201. No. 202. By substituting for Iv a compound tube of the form and proportions gui ed at No. 201, the quantity discharged has been ascertained to be more than doubled, being to that delivered by the orifice in the tin plate as 24 to 10 ! A, the cistern; B, a short conical tube connecting the cylin 430 Discharge of Liquids through Conical Ajutages. [Book V. drical one to the conical frustrum C D. Supposing the diameter of C to be unity or 1, that of D should be 1.8, and the distance between them 9. The increased discharge ceases when the cylindrical part of the tube B C is of considerable length, and of the same bore as the smaller end of C D. A tube of the form represented at No. 202 wa3 applied by Venturi to the same reservoir, the depth of water in which was also kept at 32£ inches. Three glass tubes, ABC, were connected to the under side of the pipe, and their lower ends inserted into a vessel containing mercury. When water flowed through the pipe the mercury rose 53 lines in A, 20 in B, and 7 in C. These quantities correspond with 62 inches of water in A, 24 inches in B, and 8 in C. The length of the pipe should not ex¬ ceed four times the diameter of its smaller end, and its sides should not diverge from each other more than what is required to form an angle of from three to four degrees. By this principle it will be perceived, that water may also be raised from a lower level and discharged at an upper one, and in many situations it might doubtless be adopted with advantage. See Nicholson’s Journal, vol. ii, and Hachette’s Traite Elementaire des Machines. Different causes have been assigned for the increased discharge of liquids through conical tubes. One is certainly to be found in the material of which they are made ; for when formed of or lined with any substance that repels or refuses to coalesce or be wetted with the effluent water, as wax, tallow, &c. the effect ceases. The phenomenon therefore depends upon the attraction and adhesion of the liquid to the sides of the tubes, which sides exert a capillary force in drawing the particles of the liquid towards them, so as not only to prevent its assuming the figure of the con¬ tracted vein when entering the tube No. 202, but also drawing the particles to the diverging sides of the discharging ajutage. A knowledge of the increased discharge of liquids from conical tubes has led some persons to take advantage of the fact, to the serious injury of others. We have heard of the purchaser of a water power, who ac¬ cording to the covenant was to connect his mill-race with the dam by a trunk of a certain specified bore at the junction. This he did, but making the sides of the trunk diverge as in the last figure, the proprietor of the dam was astounded to find the water, as if moved by instinct, giving the new channel the preference, and unaccountably persisting in rushing through it with a velocity that threatened to drain the well supplied reser¬ voir, and leave his own mill to take its rest. This increased discharge is not confined to tubes of a cylindrical or conical form. The walls of* the channel may be straight, and its section may be a square, a triangle, &c. as well as a circle. There is some reason for believing that overreaching in this way is not wholly a modern discovery. No city, ancient or modern, was perhaps ever supplied with water in greater profusion than old Rome ; yet the con¬ tents of her aqueducts were meted out with economy, and, as in modern times, a revenue was derived from the sale of the water. The superin¬ tendence of the aqueducts and of the distribution of the liquid through the streets and houses were always intrusted to a citizen of rank and talents. The celebrated Frontinus held the office under Nerva, by whose directions he wrote two books on the water-works of Rome, the times of their erec¬ tion, districts of the city supplied by each, the number of public and pri¬ vate fountains, quantities of water discharged from different sized orifices, &c. From him we learn that numerous frauds were practiced in obtaining more than the assigned quantity of the liquid, one of the means for pre- 48) Chap. 2.] Water raised by Currents of Air. venting which was this: when a pipe for the supply of a house was to he connected to the castellum or reservoir, (which received the water from one of the aqueducts) a brass calix, or short bent tube, (probably the same as the modern ones vyhich connect the lateral pipes to the mains) was de¬ livered by the officer in charge to the workmen, to insert into the castellum • and it was enacted that the bore of the cylindrical leaden pipe should be the same as that of the calix for at least fifty feet from the castellum. 1 1 8 ther ®^ e pretty clear that Roman engineers were aware, that the in¬ creased discharge through enlarged orifices ceases when a considerable ength of pipe of the same bore as the calix intervened. CHAPTER II. Water raised by currents of air-Fall of the barometer during storms-Hurricanes commence at the leeward-Damage done by storms not always by the impulse of the wind-Vacuum produced by storm, of w.nd-Draft of chimneys-Currents of wind in houses-Fire grates and parabolic jambs-Expen- ments with a sheet of paper—Experiments with currents of air through tubes variously Connected- Effect of conical ajutages to blowing tubes—Application of these tubes to increase the draft of chimneys and to ventilate wells, mines and ships. Currents of air and other elastic fluids may be employed to raise water m a manner different from any yet noticed; i. e. not by any modification ot the lateral communication of motion, nor by breaking the liquid into minute particles by the motive fluid mixing with them, but by the removal or diminution of atmospheric pressure. The principle to which we allude is to be found more or less active in nature, and illustrations of it are not infrequent in common life, although for want of reflection they are seldom noticed and are not always understood. Meteorologists have long observed that storms of wind are accompanied with a diminution of the air’s pressure, and that the descent of the mercu¬ rial column in the barometer keeps pace generally with the violence of the tempest: thus in hurricanes the depression is much more than durino- ordinary gales, while in the vortex of a tornado or a whirlwind it is excessive. Some persons are apt to consider winds as proceeding directly from the power that generates them, as a stream of water proceeds from a fire- engine or one of air from a bellows, whereas they as often rush towards the source that gives them birth; and hence it is that hurricanes, some¬ times if not always, commence at the leeward. Should any mystery ap¬ pear m this it is easily explained :—if a person blow through a tube, the blast proceeds from him; if he suck air through it, the current is directed to him : when we close a pair of bellows, wind issues from the nozzle ; if they are opened while the valve in the lower board is shut, it rushes back through the same channel: so it is with currents in the atmosphere. A partial void is formed in the upper regions, perhaps by electricity, by c anges of temperature or humidity, by rarefaction or other causes, and • 61 482 Removal of Atmospheric Pressure by Currents t>f Air. [Book V. mstantly oceans of the fluid matter around rush to restore the equilibrium: then the removal of these oceans necessarily induces others to move also to take their place, and in this way various strata of the atmosphere, for miles and hundreds of miles, are put in motion towards the place where the cause of their movements is located, and in a way not unlike that by which streams of air enter a person’s mouth while he sucks an empty tube, or a bellows during the act of opening them. When the lowering sky and flitting clouds announce the approach of a violent storm, and when, like a demon broke loose, it destroys in its fury nearly every thing in its track, we commonly suppose the mischief is done by the direct impulse of the blast—that agitated and groaning forests, trees prostrated, walls and fences leveled, buildings o’erturned and others un¬ roofed, &c. are th6 results of a tempest sweeping these objects before it, somewhat as we blow dust &c. from a table or from the cover or edge of a book. But this, though sometimes the case, is not always so; for if it were, almost every object blown down by the wind would be found lying in the direction of the blast, whereas they are frequently discovered in the opposite one. The effects enumerated are sometimes caused by winds blowing over a district of country without coming in contact with the earth or the objects upon it, but merely sweeping at some distance above them: at other times similar results are met with at the extreme edge of a storm, and even beyond it. In these cases a partial vacuum produced by the aerial currents often works all the mischief, although it may be. as it fre¬ quently is, but of momentary duration. Close buildings have been instan¬ taneously destroyed by the expansion of the air within them , their walls being thrown outwards, and their roofs projected aloft. The tornado by which the city of Natchez was recently destroyed furnished striking proofs of this removal of atmospheric pressure, and of fearful damages occasioned by the void. The doors and windows of one or two houses left standing amid the general wreck happened to be open, and thus furnished avenues for the dilated air to escape. In some houses the leeward gable ends were pushed out, and the windward ones stood; in others, the leeward walls remained standing while those to the windward were thrown out¬ wards in the face of the storm. Both gable ends were burst out in some, and of others the sudden expansion of the air raised the roofs for a pas¬ sage, and left more or less of the walls standing.® Persons whose ideas of a vacuum are inseparably associated with air¬ tight vessels, would hardly suppose that any thing approaching to one could be formed in the open regions above and about us ; yet every breath of wind—the gentle zephyr as well as the furious tempest—destroys the equilibrium of the air’s pressure, and consequently produces a partial void; and it will be seen in this and the following chapter that a vacuum may be produced and maintained in open tubes. It should however be kept in mind, that an absolute vacuity is not found in nature nor to be obtained by art: the slightest rarefaction and the best results of the best air-pump are but degrees in the range of a scale, of whose limits we know but little. A few more familiar illustrations of the removal or diminution of atmos¬ pheric pressure by currents of air will not be out of place. And first, who has not, while sitting by a winter’s fire, witnessed the coals in the grate brighten suddenly up, and heard the flames and heated air roar in the chimney as if urged for a few moments by some invisible bellows-blower? —phenomena attributed, we believe, in the days of witchcraft, to elves and * See an interesting account of this tornado by Dr. Tooley, of Natchez, in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for June, 1840. 483 Chap. 2.] Experiments mth a Sheet of Paper. fairies, those mischievous imps who, in their wayward moods, sometimes undertook to blow the fires as well as to sweep and sand the floors of the houses they visited, and who, by their screams of delight on leaving their work were supposed to produce the hollow sounds in the flue as they darted up to join their comrades m the tempest without! It need hardly thVtonTn^ ? at 18 gUS ? °u W1 n nd ’ SWee P in £ in P ar ticular directions over he tops Oi chimneys, and thereby causing a partial vacuum within them, that thus powerfully increases the draft. But it is not necessary to have fire in the grate, for the effect may be noticed in parlors during the summer cover^the V f 6n f th °f e v. llght ^ ° nmmental P a P er a P ro ns with which ladies tZ disfigured £dh££T "" 0ft “ draW " ““ ^ fl “ S ’ be ‘ Other examples may be derived from the movements of interior doors blinds and curtains of windows, &c. While we are writing, the front cioor of our dwelling is opened, which affords a clear passage from the street to a garden in the rear. The door of the room we occupy opens mto the passage, through which a flaw of wind has just passed, and in a cwinkling the blinds swing from the windows, and the door is slammed to its frame, by the air in the room rushing to join the passing current, or to fill the slight vacuum produced by it. An open fire-place creates a draft up the chimney, which acts as a pump to draw cold air into the room • hence the complamt, not at all uncommon, of being roasted in front while acing the fire, and at the same time experiencing the unmitigated rio- or s of winter behind. _ (In such cases the combustion should be supported by air drawn from without by a pipe terminating beneath the grate—a device patented in modern days, though it was known two centuries ago, and is aescribed by M. Gauger in his treatise on “Fires Improved,” a work translated by Desaguliers in 1715.* *) The motion of every object in nature produces currents of air, and in every possible direction—the movement or the hand in writing or sewing—the trembling of a leaf or of an earth¬ quake—the flight of an eagle or of an insect—the ball whizzing from a cannon s mouth, the creeping of a snail, or a wasp using her forceps. , Artificial illustrations might be quoted without end. Lay two books of tne same size, or two pieces of board, six or eight inches apart upon a table, and place a sheet of paper over them; then blow between the books, and the paper, instead of being displaced by the blast, will be pressed down to the table by the atmosphere above it, and with a force propor¬ tioned to the intensity of the blast. Instead of the mouth next use a pair bellows, by inserting the nozzle under one edge k bore, was attached to the vertical or exhausting tube of eafh. In No 205 a portion of B protruded into A, so as to form a partition or partial cover to the orifice. Upon blowing through A (in the direction of the arrow) the water sprung up B to the height of 12 inches, and in subsequent trials varied from 10 to 20 inches, according to the strength of the blast Bv Z n „T B S A ? laS3 ,, tUbe ? rf A and 1 then blowing thtou 0 h B, the liquid rose from 8 to 10 inches; the difference no doub? of a,r having bad We next united two tubes at right angles, but instead of making the joint flush within as No. 203, the upper end of B was eut obliquely as if to form a mitred or elbow joint. This end was inserted into the under side of A, as represented at No. 206, the open part of B facing A The object of this device was to ascertain whether the convex part of the ver¬ tical tube within A would be sufficient to divert the blast from entering B w nle it swept over the upper edge and passed round each side. Previous to connecting the lower end of B with the glass tube we inserted it in ater, and upon blowing smartly through A, the liquid rose (10 inches) and was expelled with the air, forming a dense shower. The glass tube was then attached (by a slip of India rubber) and upon blowing^gain the »v atei lose, on different trials, from twenty to thirty indies. The tube A was half-inch bore, and B three-eighths. Various experiments were made © determine the best length of that part .of A in advance of the joint: the resiilt was generally in favor of the extent already mentioned. * , ° f . B Cut °bhquely, as in the preceding experiment, was now inserted into A at an acute angle. See No. 207. The ascent of the liquid , n . s . ev ^ raI tnals varied from 20 to 28 inches. A moderate puff raised it inches, but a strong effort of the lungs was required to elevate it over , , ° ^ hen the g lass tut >e was connected to A, as in No. 208 and a i ast directed through B, the highest range of the liquid was nine inches lhe tubes were next united as in No. 209; that is, the axis of the part of B which entered A coincided with that of the latter, thus leaving an annular space one-eighth of an inch wide for the passage of the blast The effect of this did not differ so much from No. 208 as was expected I he rise varied from 20 to 30 inches; and not more than half the former amount was produced by reversing the tubes, as in No. 210. The annular passage for the blast in No. 209 was too small, the current was pinched in H’, and ltS veloci 7 consequently diminished. In another tube in > hich the space was enlarged, the water rose six inches higher. e next endeavored to ascertain the effects of varying the form of the discnargmg ends of the blowing tubes, either by adapting additional ones 486 Effects of Conical Ajutages, [Book V’. of a tapering form to them, or by enlarging the ends themselves. 01 a number of experiments, the following will be sufficient for our present purpose. In two of the tubes (Nos. 211 and 212) the exhausting pipe did not protrude into the blowing one : in No. 213 it did. As it is difficult to keep up a strong blast from the lungs through a pipe so large in the bore as half an inch, No. 211 was made of quarter-inch tubing, and No. 212 of five-sixteenths. The blowing tube of No. 213 was seven-sixteenths, and the exhausting one three-sixteenths, and all were made of lead. Besides the tubes just named we prepared a dozen conical ones, nine inches long, the small ends one-quarter inch bore, and the large ones varying from three-fourths to 2£ inches. They were made of tin plate, the seams were lapped, and no particular care was taken in their formation. From nu¬ merous trials with them m a variety of ways, we obtained the best results with two, one of which was 1£ inches at the large end, and the other seven- eighths. But of these the latter, marked C in the cut, generally caused the water to rise highest in the exhausting tube. The discharging end of No. 211 extended 1^ inches from the joint, and the opposite end 2£ inches. When blown through in the direction of the arrow, part of the current descended through the water, but when the conical pipe C was held close to the discharging end the liquid rose in the vertical pipe inches. A quarter of an inch was next cut off the discharging end and C again ap¬ plied, when the water rose 12 inches. The end was next remered out with the tapered prong of a file, when the water rose (without C) 11 inches. Another portion was next cut off, leaving only half an inch in front of the joint, and the end swelled out as before, upon which the rise was 7£ inchest hut when C was applied the water rose 17^ inches. In all the trials with C it was necessary, in order to obtain the best results, that its axis should coincide with that of the blowing tube; other¬ wise the current of air is deflected in its passage. The length of the blowing end of the tube should be no more than what is necessary to give a straight direction to the current. If longer than this, the velocity and strength of the blast is unnecessarily diminished by friction against the prolonged sides. The blowing tube should also be straight and smooth within; for the energy of the blast is less diminished in passing through a straight than through a crooked channel—through a smoothly polished tube than through one whose interior is marked with asperities. Moreover, dints or bruises in a pipe produce counter currents, and materially diminish the ascent of the liquid. In small tubes, the end received into the mouth might be enlarged or cut obliquely to facilitate the entrance of the air; for if the fluid be retarded in its entrance, part of the force exerted by the lungs is uselessly expended. It is immaterial in what position the blowing tube is used. In No. 212 the blowing tube was jointed to the exhausting one at an angle of 20°. The part in advance of the joint was 1^ inches. Upon trial, the liquid rose seven inches. The tube D was applied, (its small end being enlarged to five-sixteenths) and the water rose nine inches. The tube was then swelled out by the prong of a file until its orifice was seven-sixteenths of an inch, when the rise was lOi inches. D was then applied, its end en¬ tering the other, and the water rose 18 inches. Previous to this trial B No. 211. No. 212. No. 213. 487 Chap. 2.] When applied to Bloioing Tubes. had become slightly bruised in the middle of its length by a fall- the bruises were taken out, and the water rose 24 inches. ° Various portions while "4 i T thS arge ti t e lower orifice of the latter be sufficiently immersed, a pipe w ose o\,et end is closed be plunged perpendicularly in water, 63 49S [Book V. Experiments vnth Spouting or Open Tubes. the liquid will rise within it the moment its end is opened ; hut it will depend upon the length and figure of the tube, and the relative proportion of its two orifices, whether the liquid rush up above the surface without, or slowly reach it and there remain. The following are selected from a number of experiments made several years ago. Instead of closing the lower orifice, the upper one was closed with the fore finger, the confined air acting the part of a cork, and pre¬ venting the liquid from entering until the finger was removed. Nos. 222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. 223. Exper. I.—No. 222, a cylindrical glass tube, 18 inches long and half-inch bore. Its upper orifice was closed air-tight by the finger, and the lower one then held four inches under the surface of the water in the vessel. Upon raising the finger, the liquid rose in the tube six inches; i. e. its momentum carried it two inches higher than the surface in the cistern, and after a few oscillations it settled at the same level. Cylindrical tubes of various sizes were tried at different depths, and the average ex¬ tent of the rise (above the surface) was equal to half the length of the part of the tube immersed below the surface. If No. 222 dipped four inches, the rise was two—if eight inches, it was four—and if twelve, it was six. By contracting either orifice the effect was diminished. Exper. II.—No. 223, a tube slightly conical, 16 inches long, the dia¬ meter or bore of the large end half an inch, and that of the small end one- third of an inch. The rise of the liquid in this exceeded that in No. 222. When tried with the large end up, little or no rise took place.. Exper. III.—No. 224, another tube, IS inches in length, the diameter of whose upper orifice was three-sixteenths and of the lower seven-eighths of an inch. Four and a half inches of the lower part was cylindrical. When dipped four inches in water and the finger removed, the liquid rose but two inches above the surface. This was owing to the cylindrical form of the lower part of the tube, all the water that entered being required to fill the lower part. When the dip was six inches, the rise was five; when eight, the jet passed out of the tube and ascended sixteen inches. When the tube was lowered to ten inches below the surface, the jet rose thirty inches; and when the end of the tube was twelve inches under the surface, the jet ascended four feet and a half. Fourteen inches dip threw it six Chap. 4.] Experiments with Spouting or Open Tubes. 499 feet, and sixteen inches dip caused it to ascend over seven feet * m cylindrical tubes, we have seen, bore the same reTaIfo n t o the / ! conicaf t d b PthS bUt lhlS ex P eriment shows th at the elevation of the fot in comcal tubes increases m a much greater ratio. J * x p E R. IV.— To include the extreme proportions between the two ori¬ fices, we next took a matrass or bolt head (No 29M from the globe opposite the junction of tL neck orpine The* thus made was 3£ inches, and the orifice of the tube three-tenths When t le lower end was thrust two inches below the surface, scarcely’any rise )k place upon removing the finger; and when half the length of the rp .10 e was lmm ersed, S ay ten inches, the rise did not exceed six or seven' The reason was p ain the large volume of air contained in the lower part ould not be expelled instantaneously by the pressure of tlie li 'A 1 ^ (lie small orifice above, but L'fKi? consumed m doing this. Various portions were now cut from the lower p rt, with a vievv to ascertain the greatest rise that could be obtained with dip of four inches. This occurred when the diameter of the lower end was reduced to If inches : the liquid then rose between nfne an" ten dies above the surface. 1 he upper end was now heated in the flame A a ™P’ at1( ^ ^ ,e b°re enlarged by pressing into it a tapered piece of vood till the end resembled the conical ajutage C D in No. 201. This caused the liquid to rise an inch higher. ,^ XPER .' ^ prober of conical tubes of the same length, (21 inches! whose wide ends diverged or flared differently, were next 1 procured S the view of selecting those through which the jet rose the highest as affording an approximation to the best form. The one represented at No 226 gave a better result than any other. With a dip of four inches the jet rose thirteen. The diameter of its lower orificewas 1.6 inches and that of the upper one 4 : three inches below the latter, the bore w’as 2 At seven inches from the small end, the bore was .3—at fourteen inches' .4-and at seventeen inches, .5. The curve given to the flaring part of the lower end should be that which the fluid itself assumes in enterine- sm*ll hat f 1Ven 10 th J \ S Sufficien . t for a11 Poetical purposes to which small instruments of this kind are applicable. Before proceeding we may observe, that'these instruments, simple as they are, and even when charged in the manner indicated above, are sus- ceptible of some useful applications ; among which may be named siphons If the tube No. 226 were bent in the form of one, it might be applied in' numerous cases to transfer acids or other liquids; and as it would be dialled by the mere act of inserting its short leg into the liquid to be thdrawn, there could be no danger from sucking, & c . as in using the rdinary instrument. It will moreover be perceived from the third expe- T 1 j at eXt , e - n ^ l ? Which these si P hons are applicable increases ith the depth to which the short leg can be immersed : but as this chapter is approbated to the application of spouting tubes to raise water from one level and discharge it at a higher one, their employment as siphons will be illustrated in a subsequent part of this volume. ^ It will at once occur to every machinist, that to render these tubes of any practical value for.raismg water, some mode of working them very different from that of alternately opening and closing the upper orifice with houid g wontd b raiSin& - th r Whoi y °r f and then P Iun gingthem into the the in„ 7 d ^quired : a, mode of regularly and rapidly depressing fall unifornffy. hm Hem ’ ^ ^ f ° rmed ^ its ascent m ‘S ht rise an ^ There is a simple way of doing this :—If the whole of the tube No. 227 500 Raising Water with Open Tubes. [Book V. be sunk perpendicularly in water, except one or two inches by which it is held, and then raised eight or ten inches, air will enter the small orifice and fill the part previously occupied by the liquid : if the upward move¬ ment be very slow, the air will gradually fill the interior without disturbing the surface of the liquid; but if the tube be raised by a rapid movement or slight jerk, the air will then rush into the void with a force that will push down the liquid before it to a considerable depth, so that on the re¬ ascent of the liquid its momentum will project a portion in the form of a jet, precisely like Nos. 224, 225 and 226. It is surprising how elevated a wave is generated in the tube by the slightest ascent of the latter, pro¬ vided its movement be made sufficiently quick. The l'ise of the water, too, follows that of the tube so rapidly that most observers at first suppose them to rise simultaneously. The fact is, the liquid when depressed re¬ turns with such velocity as to escape from the tube the instant the stroke is finished, and even before its motion be slackened. Exper. VI. A jet may be produced by the descent of the tube as well as by its ascent. Let No. 22S be so held that its lower end dip not more than an inch or an inch and a half in the water, and then be pushed quickly down eight or ten inches—a stream will be projected from its upper ori¬ fice to an elevation of six or seven feet, and will be instantly followed by another that will reach nearly as high. The same cause operates here as in the upward movement, but it is differently excited. A small part only of the air within is expelled at the end of the stroke, on account of the tube’s rapid descent, and consequently the water is prevented from enter¬ ing ; but as soon as this movement of the tube ceases, the liquid rushes in and a portion ascends in the form of a jet. On the subsequent ebb of the wave within, another one rises nearly equal to the first, and causes the second jet. The following experiment will illustrate both movements :— A small glass tube eight inches long, its wide end an inch and five-eighths diameter and its small end one-eighth, was employed. By its upward movement or stroke the extremity of the jet reached to an elevation of nine feet. By the downward stroke a jet rose six feet, which was succeeded by another that reached four feet and a half. Now if both movements are properly combined in a spouting tube of large dimensions, we believe the instrument may be made to raise as much water, in circumstances adapted to its employment, as any other hydro-pneumatic machine. If the figure given to No. 226 should be found better adapted than any other when the tube is used as a siphon, it does not therefore follow that the same form would be the most suitable to produce jets of water. In the former case the instrument acts while at rest, but in the latter a con¬ stant and rapid movement is required : hence, to prevent an unnecessary expenditure of the power employed, it should be so formed as to present as little opposing surface to the resistance of the dense fluid in which it works as is consistent with the elevation, or quantity of water to be raised by it. This remark applies particularly to the lower or wide end, for if that part be suddenly expanded or flared like a trumpet, a volume of water of equal diameter has to be displaced in the reservoir every time the tube is pushed down, and also a ring of water whose external diameter is the same (the internal one being bounded by the tube) every time the latter is lifted up. When used as spouting tubes the lower end should there¬ fore flare very little, if any, unless in cases where the outlay of power to work them is of little consequence or of secondary importance. The upper end of a spouting tube, when intended to throw jets from its orifice, should not diverge like that of No. 226, since the elevation of the stream would be thereby diminished : instead of rising in a compact jet, it would Chap. 4.] 501 ' Raising Water vnth Open Tubes. sooner become expanded and broken. When, however, orje of these instruments is intended to deliver water at a level with its upper orifice only, then the discharging orifice should resemble that of No. 226, or C D in No. 201, as an increased discharge of the liquid would in that case take place : a greater flow of air would . 5.] Nature's devices for raising Water. 505 i CHAPTER V. Nature’s devices for raising water—Their influence—More common than other natural operations— The globe a self-moving hydraulic engine—Streams flowing on its surface—Others ejected from its bowels—subterranean cisterns, tubes aud siphons—Intermitting springs—Natural rams and pressure engines—Eruption of water on the coast of Italy—Water raised in vapor—Clouds—Water raised by steam-Geysers—Earthquakes-Vcgetation—Advantages of studying it-Erroneous views of future hap- piness Circulation of sap—This fluid wonderfully varied in its effects and movements—Pitcher plant and Peruvian canes—Trees of Australia—Endosmosis—Waterspouts—Ascent of liquids by capillary attraction—Tenacity and other properties of liquids-Ascent of liquids up inclined planes-L.quid drops Their uniform diffusion when not counteracted by gravity—Their form and size—Soft and hard soldering—Ascent of water in capillary tubes limited only by its volume—Cohesion of liquids-Ascent of water through sand and rags—Rise of oil in lamp wicks and through the pores of boxwood Before taking leave of artificial machines for raising water, a few of the most prominent of those which nature employs may be noticed ; for, after all, the best ol human contrivances are but imitations of hers. The extent to which raising of water is carried by nature is wonderful. Persons who have not reflected on the subject would hardly suspect the influence which this operation exerts on our globe ; yet it is one which c 1 V r , eat0r , haS ad °P ted t0 brin g about results upon which the happiness of all things living depend. To the elevation of water into the atmosphere and its return to the earth, the formation of continents and islands, lakes' rivers, fountains, valleys, plains, gravel, sand, mould, &c. are due' The fertility of soil, growth of vegetables, and life of animals, are also to be attributed in,a greater or less degree to the same source. Of nature s machinery, devices to raise, diffuse and collect water are the most common. They pervade all her works—the most magnificent and the most minute : and if we turn our thoughts to the world at laro- e and contemplate it as a whole, we find it performing the part of an immense hydraulic engine, one which never stops working, and whose energy never ags. In almost every point of view this feature is obvious. In its ex¬ terior our planet is rather aqueous than terrene. Three-fourths of its surface are sunk into basins and scooped into channels for the reception and transmission of water; more than one-half is occupied by the ocean the principal Veservoir; while the other half is intersected in every direc¬ tion by lakes, rivers, and rivulets innumerable, that convey the dispersed liquid back to the sea. The motion imparted to water also exhibits every degree of activity and agitation, from overwhelming torrents and moun¬ tainous waves, to the gentle shower that descends as if dropt through the finest cullender, and the placid stream that glides imperceptibly by. bometimes we behold it running with the speed of a race horse, roar¬ ing among rapids, leaping over precipices and darting down cataracts— here dashed into spray, there churned into foam; now winding in eddies and gyrating m whirlpools ; passing through channels whose paths are tortuous as those of a serpent, and shooting through others straight as an arrow. ° Open channels and reservoirs constitute, however, but a part of nature’s hydraulic machinery. In the interior of the earth, are close and air-tight reservoirs, and tubes of every imaginable size and figure, and of incon- 64 506 Natural Syphons—Pressure Engines — Vapor. [Book V. ceivable strength. These receive and transmit liquid columns whose hydrostatic pressure would shiver the strongest conduits made by man, while the volumes of water that play within and pass through them render utterly insignificant all the products of artificial engines. We know tliat rivers sometimes discharge themselves into subterraneous tubes, which, transporting the fluid to a distance, again vomits it up. In this manner water is often conveyed to places where its appearance is difficult to account for, because of the level of all the neighboring regions being far below the aperture of discharge—this being sometimes on the summit of mountains, and often at their sides. But the transmission of water from one level to another through pipes, is one of the simplest operations in natural as it is in artificial hydraulics. The flexure of the tubes fabricated by nature convert some of them into siphons, and these often decant the contents of caverns in which water slowly accumulates. The liquid rises till it flows over the highest bend in the tube, and the siphon being thus charged continues in operation, like one of ours, until the reservoir that supplies it be emptied, or the contents reduced to a level with the external orifice of the discharging leg. The action then ceases until the cavern be again filled and the operation renewed. Hence intermitting springs, and some of those that ebb and flow. Natural machines analogous to water-rams, pressure engines, and foun¬ tains of compression are doubtless also in operation in the bowels of the earth. In the intricate and infinitely variegated chasms and fissures through which water is falling and gases collecting, the principles of these machines must necessarily be often excited, and on scales of magnitude calculated to strike us with awe. It is not improbable that some of those horrible eruptions mentioned in history and others that have occurred at sea without human witnesses were effected by machinery of this descrip¬ tion. The subaqueous eruption which occurred on the south-west coast of Italy, in 1831, was probably an example. A column of water, 800 yards in circumference, was forced to an elevation of sixty feet, and an island formed of the solid materials displaced. But natural devices are not confined to such as raise liquids by the mo¬ mentum they acquire in flowing through tubes, or oscillating in waves, nor by the hydrostatic pressure of one volume transmitted by means of airs to another. There are some in which water is raised by solar heat. The liquid is converted into stearn or vapor, in which state it is rendered lighter than air, and consequently ascends. This may be considered as nature’s favorite plan. It is in operation everywhere, and always. By it water is drawn from every part of the earth’s surface—both sea and land, and by it oceans of the liquid are kept suspended above us in the form of clouds, until it again returns in showers of rain and drifts of hail and snow. Of the quantity thus elevated, we may form some rude idea from the calculations of Halley respecting that drawn daily from the surface of the Mediterranean, viz. between five and six millions of tons ! a result which he deduced from experiments. Every person knows that canals require an extra supply of water to meet the expenses of evaporation. By experiments on the canal of Languedoc in France, the annual quan¬ tity thus borne off was found to be nearly three feet in depth over its whole area. Clouds of vapor or steam are often observed hanging over marshy ground, until the wind rises and bears them away. In hot sea¬ sons copious steams may be seen ascending just after a shower; but in general aqueous vapor thus generated, is invisible as it is impalpable. In clear weather, we are not sensible of its presence or of its movements. 507 Chap. 5.] Water raised ly Steam—Vegetable Kingdom. We literally live in it, as in the spray of a fountain, but our perceptions are too gross to detect it. How simple is this mode of raising water, and yet how effective ' How silently does it work, and yet how sure ! In its liquid state, water is too heavy to be suspended in the firmament; hence the Creator has made this provision to attenuate its particles by heat. It then rises upwards of its own accord neither Avheels nor cranks, pumps, pistons, pipes, nor even power is required to send them up, or to keep them there; and yet billions of tons are rising every hour, and accumulating in masses so great as to baffle language to describe or thought to grasp. And, what is equally remarkable, neither cisterns are required to contain, nor con¬ duits through which to convey them. The phenomenon teaches us how a heavier fluid may be suspended in a lighter one, and that the proposition of water being 800 times heavier than air, is only conditionally true— dependmg merely upon the state in which those fluids are ordinarily exhibited to us. To increase our admiration, the salt water of the ocean is during the process of elevation distilled into fresh, thus furnishing among other suggestions that by which navigators have often adopted to sustain life in the extremities of thirst. Water is also continually being converted into vapor and urged into the atmosphere by subterranean heat. Our planet may be considered, as indeed it was by the ancients, as a cauldron, in which steam is gene¬ rated by those fires whose flues are volcanos. Oceans of the liquid are incessantly but silently thrown up from this cause. But, as might be expected, from the intricate arrangement of internal chambers and channels of communication, steam must often accumulate in cavities until its elasticity drives up the water that seals the passage- to the surface. Hence boiling and thermal springs, and hence also the hot spouting springs of Iceland. According to Olafsen, a Danish traveler, one of the Geysers exhibited a jet at one time 19 feet in diameter and 360 feet high ! Modern authors explain the phenomenon of earthquakes bv the accu¬ mulation of steam in the bowels of the earth. Plutarch says the Stoic philosophers did the same ; but long before Zeno appeared the opinion prevailed, and caused the epithet “ shaker of the earth” to be given to Neptune. The mechanical as well as chemical operations going on within the earth, are wonderful in their nature and terrible in extent. Well might mythologists locate the workshops of the gods there, and place the forges of Vulcan and the Cyclops at the base of volcanos. Of contrivances for raising liquids, as developed in the organization of animals, we took some notice in the second and third books. Most if not all of them may be considered modifications of bellows and piston pumps. In the vegetable kingdom, other devices, and such as are based on other principles, are in active operation. This portion of creation exhibits in a striking light the important part which devices for raising water perform in the constitution of our globe. Every tree and every plant, from the towering cedar of Lebanon, to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall, from the wide-spreading banyan to a wheaten straw or melon vine, is a natural pump, through whose tubes water is drawn from the earth or imbibed from the air. There is something exceedingly pleasing and sublime in the contempla¬ tion of the growth of vegetables, the germination of seeds, appearance of sprouts, development of stems, branches, leaves, buds,. blossoms, flowers, and fruits their variegated forms, dimensions, movements, colors, and odors. Some persons who have never turned their attention to this subject till the evening of their days, have been astonished at the wonders which 508 Ascent of Sap. [Book V. burst on their view. A new state of existence seemed to open upon them. Their perception and estimate of things were changed. Instead of con¬ sidering the world as calculated only for what man too generally makes i t —a scene for the display and gratification of the most groveling and sordid passions, they find it a theatre crowded with enchanting specimens of the Creator’s skill, the study of which imparts the sweetest pleasure, and the knowledge of which constitutes the greatest wealth. Those pious but mistaken people, who incessantly murmur against the world, and long to depart from “ this howling wilderness,” as they are pleased to term it, reproach their Maker by reviling his work. They are waiting for future displays of his glory, and neglect those ravishing ones by which they are surrounded, forgetting that “ the whole earth is full of his glory”—looking for sources of pleasure to come, and closing their eyes on those before them—thirsting for the waters of heaven, and despis¬ ing the living fountains which the Father of all intellects has opened for them on earth. They seem to think happiness hereafter will not depend upon knowledge, or that knowledge will be acquired without effort—a kind of passive enjoyment, independent of the exercise of their intellectual- or spiritual energies. But they have no ground to hope for any such thing. Reasoning from analogy and the nature of mind, the happiness of spirits must consist in being imbued with a love of nature—in contemplating the wisdom and other attributes of the Deity, as they are unfolded in the works of creation. In what else can it consist! It is not probable that human or finite beings of any class can ever know God except through the medium of his works. It is admitted that the study of nature is a source of exquisite pleasure to intelligent beings, and the most refined one too that the mind can con¬ ceive : it is also one that can never be exhausted. Those persons, therefore, who take no pleasure in examining the works of creation here, are little prepared to enter upon more extensive and scrutinizing views of them in other worlds. If they have no relish for an acquaintance with the Crea¬ tor’s works while they live, they have no right to expect new tastes for them after death. The works of God are all perfect; those in this world as well as those in others ; and he that can look with apathy on a tulip or a rose, a passion flower or a lily, or any other production of a flower garden or a forest, has. not begun to live. Besides, we are not sure that other worlds possess more captivating or more ennobling subjects for contemplation and research—more - thrilling proofs of the wisdom and beneficence of God. The circulation of sap (sometimes called the blood of plants) is one of the most interesting of natural phenomena. It is connected with some of the most delightful feelings of our nature, and with the activity and jovs of the brute creation. When in spring its action commences, a sensation of buoyancy pervades all organized beings. The earth begins to put on her richest attire—her inhabitants rejoice in her approaching splendor, and exult in view of the feasts preparing for them. On the other hand, when in autumn her freshness fades and her glory withers, all feel the change. How infinitely varied are the effects of sap and the energy of its move¬ ments ! Rushing to the summit of the tallest trees, and lingering in the grass of our meadows—shooting up perpendicularly in the poplar and pine, horizontally in the branches of the baobab and oak, and descend¬ ing in those of the Indian fig-tree and willow. In some plants, accumu- ’ating chiefly in their roots, as in the turnip, radish, and potato, and emerging above ground in cucumbers and melons—ascending higher in the bushes of currants and gooseberries, and ranging over those in apple Chap. 5.] Natural Pitchers—Trees in Australia. 509 and pear trees. By what wonderful process is sap distilled into liquid honey in the maple, and into wine in the grape 1 How is it elaborated into fruits of every flavor, and exhaled in perfumes from sweet scented herbs, and in what manner does it contribute to produce every imaginable color and tint in flowers 1 By what means does sap form a natural vase in the pitcher plant , and then enter it as limpid water, along with rain and dew 1 This singular production of the vegetable kingdom collects water from the earth 3 and atmosphere in vessels of the same consistence and color as the leaves. Each pitcher is strengthened by a hoop, and furnished with a cover or lid that turns on a fibrous hinge. When dew or rain falls, this cover opens ; and as soon as the weather clears, it closes and prevents the water that entered from being wasted by evaporation. There are other plants which store up water much in the same way. Such were the reeds that relieved Alvarado (one of the conquerors of Peru) and his companions from perish¬ ing of. thirst. Garcilasso, in his Commentaries observes, “The infor¬ mation they had of the water was from the people of the country, who guided them to the canes, some of which contained six gallons, and some more.” We know that the juices of plants cannot be raised without force, and that this force must be increased with the elevation to which the liquid is to be lifted. Animals exert a muscular power in working the pumps formed in their bodies, and these machines they put in motion at will. This is not the case with vegetables : yet sap, the pabulum of their life, is elevated to the tops of the highest trees, and apparently with the same facility as it is diffused through microscopic plants. That the force by which this is done is not latent or negative in its nature, is clear, since it may easily be rendered manifest. Cut a branch from a vine in the spring when the sap is rising, and stretch a piece of india rubber over the end of the part that remains, secure it by thread wound round the stump, so as to exclude the air and prevent the wound from healing. In a little while the caoutchouc will be swelled or bulged out by the exuding fluid, and it will continue to swell, however thick it may be, till it burst. A few years ago we treated in this way some branches of an Isabella grape vine, and afterwards applied to one of them a close vessel contain¬ ing mercury, in which the lower end of a long glass tube was immersed with a view to measure the force excited. In four days the mercury rose 36 inches in the tube, being pushed up by the sap which took its place in the vessel; and but for an accident, by which the apparatus was broken, it would probably have ascended still higher. But this force, great as it was, is small when compared with that which sends the fluid through trees that grow on the Australian continent and islands. Some of these resemble single tubes, and are filled with a semi¬ fluid or soft pith. Tasman, the discoverer of Van Dieman’s Land, found trees there whose lowest branches were between 60 and 70 feet above the ground. The French expedition sent in search of the lamented Perouse, found on Cocos island a tree nearly 100 feet high, and only three inches in diameter. It was of so hard a texture, that it resisted at first the heaviest blows of an axe ; and when the pith was taken out, the thick¬ ness of the wood did not exceed t 4 q of an inch—forming a perfect tube. But this tree was only half the height of some others in the same regions; for several were seen whose diameters were only seven or eight inches, and whose tops towered upwards of 200 feet above the earth ! The force that drives sap to such elevations is wonderful indeed ; and could it be applied as a mechanical agent, it would be resistless as steam. It might 510 Water Spouts—Capillary Attraction. [Book V. be supposed that a force so energetic—one that would rupture pipes which convey water to our dwellings—would rend asunder most of the delicate pores through which it circulates; and so it would were not their diameter so exceedingly small—for the strength of tubes increases as their bore is diminished. The ascent of sap has been explained by Endosmosis, or transit of bodies through pores. See two interesting papers on this subject in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, vols. xvii and xviii, byJ. W. Draper, now Prof, of Chemistry in the New-York University. Water Spouts constitute a peculiar class of nature’s contrivances for raising water. Electricity is supposed to have a controlling influence in their formation ; but the mode by which it acts is not clearly understood. More water is drawn up by them within the same space of time than by any other natural device. The liquid appears to be borne up the vortex mechanically as solid substances are raised by whirlwinds, except that it is broken by masses of air rushing into and mixing with it. After arriving at the top of the spout, it is dispersed by lateral currents of wind. A drop of water suspended from the conductor of an electrifying machine is supposed to exhibit a miniature water spout. When a vessel of water is placed under it, and the machine put in operation, the drop assumes the various appearances of a spout in its rise, form, and mode of disap¬ pearance. Clouds act as cisterns in holding water raised by evaporation; but in water spouts they perform a more singular part, since they are moulded into visible pipes, through which volumes of liquid are conveyed as securely as through those made of solid materials. Although the rise of sap in trees is attributed to endosmosis, there is reason to believe that capillary attraction takes part in the process, as well as in a thousand other operations of nature. When one end of a small glass tube is placed in water, the liquid rises within it; and the height to which it ascends in different tubes, is inversely as their diame¬ ters. The phenomenon is more or less common to all liquids when the tubes dipped in them are made of such materials as they readily unite with. This condition is necessary, otherwise the liquid would be de¬ pressed. Water rises higher than other liquids in glass tubes ; and as these instruments are transparent, they are always adopted in experiments on this subject. The phenomenon of capillarity has exercised the ingenuity and learn¬ ing of the most eminent philosophers, and various are the causes to which they have attributed it. Some supposed the atmospheric pressure less within the tubes than without. Others imagined an unknown fluid cir¬ culating through them that bore the liquid up; and some ascribed it to moisture on the inside of the tubes. An attractive force existing between the glass and the water is now more generally admitted ; and hence in tubes of very small bore, it is said, the glass being nearer the water, at¬ tracts it more powerfully, i. e. raises it higher—other writers think the effect is due to electricity. The subject is admitted to be an intricate one, and the manner in which it has been handled by scientific men, has not rendered it very accessible to ordinary readers. Without looking for ultimate causes, the phenomenon, like that of an increased discharge, through diverging ajutages, may be traced to the relative properties of the liquid and the material of the tube, and to the force with which particles of liquids cohere among themselves. Capillary attraction is exhibited in a great variety of forms. Particles of water, like those of all other liquids, require some force to separate them. A needle or film of lead while dry, will float; and myriads of Chap. 5.] 511 Forms of Drops. gnats career on the surface of a pond as securely as on land. Some liquids are viscid, and may be drawn into threads; and even water may be stretched into sheets ere its substance be broken: bubbles produced during rains, and those pellicles sometimes formed over the mouths of small vials and the interstices of sieves are examples. Water, moreover, in common with other fluids, unites with some substances more readily than with others. It does not combine with oils, nor adhere to substances impregnated with grease. Hence umbrellas and water-proof dresses are made of oiled silk ; and rain rolls off the backs of ducks and other aquatic birds without wetting them, because these fowls dress their feathers with an unctuous fluid which their bodies secrete. When a vessel contains a liquid that readily unites with it; the liquid stands highest at the edges. Thus in cups of tea or tumblers of water, the fluid climbs up against the sides until it is considerably elevated above the general level. This is observable with milk in a pot, pitch in a caul¬ dron, oil in cans, mercury in vessels lined with an amalgam; melted tin in tinned iron or copper vessels, and fused brass in an iron ladle whose interior has been coated with the alloy, as in the process of hard soldering. If, on the other hand, a liquid has no affinity for, or will not unite with the substance of which the vessel is made, an effect the reverse is pro¬ duced ; that is, the liquid is depressed at the sides, as when mercury is contained in a vessel of glass, wood, or earthen ware; or even in one of metal not lined with an amalgam, or with which the mercury cannot form one. The same thing occurs to fused brass, or lead or tin in crucibles, to water in greasy tubes or dishes, &c. The same thing, in another form, occurs with drops of liquid. When water is sprinkled on a greasy surface, the particles remain separate how¬ ever near to each other. By blowing against them, they may be rolled over the plate on which they rest without leaving any portion behind ; but if the substance on which they are dropped combine readily with moisture their figure is changed ; each becomes flattened by spreading, so that two adjacent drops quickly run together. A drop of oil or speck of grease makes a large stain on a lady’s dress or a marble table. Quick¬ silver will not unite with marble, but a small portion dropped on a sheet of tin will spread over it like water on damp paper. A portion of tin¬ men’s solder kept in fusion on clean plates of tin or lead spreads, and is absorbed in like manner. When ink is spilt upon unsized paper, the lat¬ ter is stained to a considerable extent: round each drop a broad ring of moisture is formed; the darker and grosser particles remaining as a nucleus in the centre. The different forms which drops assume when pendent from solid bodies, are governed by the parts with which they are in contact. When water is sprinkled on a plate partly covered with grease, those particles that fall on the clean parts resemble very flat segments of spheres, while those on the greased parts are larger portions of smaller spheres ; the liquid in these swelling out above the base on which they rest, in pre¬ ference to extending itself like the others upon it. A drop hanging from the point of a wire is elongated vertically—if held between the finger and thumb, it may be stretched out horizontally. If suspended in a ring, its upper surface becomes hollow and its lower one convex, forming a species of liquid cup, and supported somewhat like the dishes which che¬ mists hang over lamps in moveable rings of brass. A drop of liquid in a capillary tube is thus supported ; the tube being nothing more than a deep ring. The quantity of liquid contained in pendent drops varies with the 512 Ascent of Liquids against Gravity. [Book V. extent of surface in contact with the supporting body. When one is ready to fall from an inclined object, as the bottom of a bucket or a tea cup, it may be retained by making the bottom approach nearer to a level; the fluid then spreads and holds by a larger surface. This is illustrated in the case of metals : tin-plate workers commonly take up solder on the face of their irons. The under sides of these instruments are tinned, and being placed upon the metal, a larger or smaller portion is melted and borne off at pleasure. An equal quantity of water may probably be thus suspended from a plane surface, as within a cylinder of the same area. Numerous facts show, that when not pulled down by gravity, liquids diffuse themselves uniformly on substances with which they combine—as much upwards as downwards. Small drops of water or ink dashed against vertical sheets of paper equally extend themselves from the centre. We are so much in the habit of contemplating fluids in masses, where gravitation greatly preponderates, that we overlook this property in them, or do not suspect its existence. The observation that water never runs “ up hill” is proverbial, but it is not correct. Examples might be quoted, in which it prefers to ascend an inclined plane to going down one—to rise in a wet channel, than descend in a dry one. Take a dry piece of glass, or china, the blade of a knife, or the bottom of a saucer, or almost any solid material, and dampen or slightly wet a part of it: place a drop of ink or water near the edge of the wetted part, then incline the saucer so that the drop may be beneath, and make a channel of com¬ munication between them, by drawing with a pointed instrument a small streak of fluid from one to the other. The instant this is done, a cur¬ rent will set up with considerable velocity from the drop into the thin sheet above. This effect takes place on wood and on metals, and even paper. Pen¬ men, who have their paper inclined towards them often witness the experiment in another form, especially when they make the bottom of their strokes thicker than the rest. The ink may then be seen to ascend from the bottom upon the removal of the pen. This takes place if the paper be held vertically. Again, when a large drop of ink falls on a book, it is customary to shake out that which remains in the pen, and to place the latter over the drop as in the act of writing; upon which a large portion of the liquid enters the quill. This is then shaken, and the opera¬ tion renewed. Here the principle 'of distribution again appears. There is a surplus below, and a deficiency (or less depth of it) above, and the liquid ascends to produce an equilibrium. Were the pen fully charged with ink before applied to the drop, it could take none from the latter. Other examples of the ascent of liquids, and even of solids against gravity are familiar to some classes of mechanics, but not to all. When two sheets of tin plate are soldered together in an inclined position, small pieces of solder laid near the lower edge of the joint are drawn up under the face of the iron as soon as the fused mass touches them. Illustrations of this occur in whatever position the joint may be. They are still more common in hard soldering, for copper and silversmiths commonly charge their joints on the outside, so that the solder is below or next to the fire when fused. These experiments are all based on the same principles as the ascent of water in capillary tubes. We see that when a mass of liquid (wholly resting on a plane surface or enclosed in a cylinder) is connected by a short channel to a thin sheet of the same substance above, a part of the mass below will ascend. The channel it should be remembered is a fluid Chap. 5.] Cohesion of Liquids. 5^3 one, for neither water nor any other liquid will thus rise except in channels of the same substance as themselves. The effect does not therefore appear to be due wholly to the material that sustains the liquid, but, to some ex¬ tent, to that force by which particles of matter congregate with their kind in preference to mingling with others. The aqueous vapor floating in the atmosphere moistens more or less the surfaces of all bodies. Glass tubes are coated with it; but if a capillary tube previous to its use was not thus prepared, it becomes so the instant one end is immersed in water_a stream of vapor (though not obvious to sight) then passes through it : the whole interior is thus coated with aqueous molecules accumulating upon it at insensible distances from each other, and those adjacent to the surface of the liquid operate to solicit its ascent through the channel thus prepared 1 r % J | . he .^ scent of va P or under these circumstances is unlimited but that of a liquid column is soon arrested. This however does not prove that the force excited is insufficient to raise liquids to great elevations, but that it is the volume which determines the height. If the quantity be indefi¬ nitely small it will be raised indefinitely high. Experiments so far as they have been made prove this ; but as the finest of artificial tubes are when compared to nature’s, as a mast is to a needle or a cable to a thread! the ascent of liquids 111 them must necessarily be very limited. As long as the liquid column can be sustained by adhesion to the sides of a tube 11 T b Ut w ^ en the weight of the central parts (which not beino- attached to the tube are sustained by cohesion alone) exceeds this force & the ascent ceases. The force with which particles of some fluids cohere is so energetic that they present the singular spectacle of liquid rods, pendent like icicles or stalactites. When one of these rods is broken an interesting contest between gravitation and cohesion takes place, during which the figure of the pendent changes as one or the other of those forces prevails : it becomes longer while the first predominates, shorter when the latter controls, and stationary when both are balanced. These phenomena may be observed by letting a drop of molasses fall from the point of a knife or a spoon. The globule descends to a considerable distance before it is wholly separated from the portion above, because a rod of the liquid continues to be formed that unites them. When this rod breaks, the part suspended from the mass above is drawn up : a thread over a foot in length is sometimes thus contracted to less than £ of an inch, strongly remind¬ ing one of the elasticity of caoutchouc. Water rises to considerable heights through sand and other porous bodies also through rags and threads of cotton, &c. Oil ascends in the wicks of lamps. Capillary siphons formed of cotton wick are employed to supply oil to the journals and working parts of machinery. It is cus¬ tomary with stereotype founders to oil the faces of engraved wooden blocks previous to taking casts from them. These blocks are of box, a species of wood whose texture is exceedingly close. We have often placed some of those used in the illustration of this work on receiving them from the engraver, into a dish containing oil to the depth of \ inch, and have wit¬ nessed the appearance of the liquid at the top within half a minute, and frequently in a quarter of one. Unlike water in glass tubes, the oil here rises entirely out of the tubes in the wood and collects in globules over the orifices. From the infinite variety and importance of devices for raising liquids that are at work in the animal and vegetable kingdoms and in general nature, the wisdom displayed in their formation and movements, and their wonderful effects, it would seem as if the Creator designed particularly 65 514 Siphons. [Book V. to call man’s attention to this department of knowledge, and to induce him to cultivate it. Sources of hydraulic contrivances and of mechanical movements are endless in nature ; and if machinists would but study in her school, she would lead them to the adoption of the best principles, and the most suitable modifications of them in every possible contingency. CHAPTER VI. Siphons —Mode of charging them—Principle on which their action depends—Cohesion of liquids— Siphons act in vacuo—Variety of siphons—Their antiquity—Of Eastern origin—Portrayed in the tombs at Thebes—Mixed wines—Siphons in ancient Egyptian kitchens—Probably used at the feast at Cana— Their application by old jugglers—Siphons from Heron’s Spiritalia—Tricks with liquids of different specific gravities—Fresh water dipped from the surface of the sea—Figures of Tantalus’ cups—'Tricks of old publicans—Magic pitcher—Goblet for unwelcome visiters—Tartar necromancy with cups—Homan baths—Siphons used by the ancients for tasting wine—Siphons, A. D-1511—Figures of modern siphons— Sucking tube—Valve siphon—Tin plate—Wirtemburg siphon—Argand’s siphon—Chemists’siphons— Siphons by the author—Water conveyed over extensive grounds by siphons—Limit of the application of siphons known to ancient Plumbers—Error of Porta and other writers respecting siphons—Decaus- Siphons for discharging liquids at the bend—Ram siphon. The siphon, or as it is sometimes named the crane, is in its simplest form merely a tube bent so as to resemble an inverted letter U or V; and is employed to transfer liquids from one level to a lower one, in circum¬ stances where natural or artificial obstructions prevent a straight pipe from being used ; as when rocks or rising grounds intervene between a spring and the place where the water is required, or when the contents of casks and other vessels are to be withdrawn without making openings for the purpose in their bottom or sides. Thus farmers occasionally have water conveyed over hills to supply their barn-yards and dwellings ; and portable siphons are in constant requisition with oil and liquor merchants, chemists and distillers. The two branches of a tube that constitute a siphon are commonly of unequal lengths, and named legs ; the “ short” or receiving leg, and the “ long” or discharging one. The highest part where the legs are united is known as the apex or bend. As liquids are raised in siphons by atmospheric pressure, the perpen¬ dicular length of the short leg, like the suction pipe of a pump, should never exceed 25 or 28 feet. To put siphons in operation, the air within them must be first expelled. Small ones are sometimes inverted and filled with a portion of the fluid to be decanted, but more frequently the liquid is drawn through the tube by sucking. Other devices for charging them will be noticed farther on. The action of a siphon does not depend upon any inequality of atmo¬ spheric pressure, as some writers on natural philosophy have inadvertently intimated. In one popular work, it is said, “ the pressure of the air is more diminished ;” and in another, more “ weakened or abated” over the discharging than over the receiving orifice; whereas, philosophically speaking, the reverse is the fact: for as the discharging end is nearer the earth, a deeper and consequently heavier column of atmosphere rests over 515 Chap. 6.] Variety of their forms and materials. No. 234. l ‘* md C ° lumns w j th “ *<=. >«gf *at causes a siphon L act: the column! discharging leg must exceed in this respect that contained n the receiving one, or no action can take place. Bv — ng , the g T 10 the mar ^ in ’ « wi]1 ^ perceived that the column in the receiving leg extends only from the suiface of the liquid in the vessel to the bend, whereas in the other it extends from the bend to the orifice. As the pressure of fluids is as their depth without regard to their volume, the hydrostatic equilibrium of the two columns is destroyed, when the longer one necessarily preponderates, upon which the vacuity left in the upper part of the tube other leg ^ atm ° S P here drivin g fresh portions up the ^ ? ut could not act at all were it not for that property of fluids by which their particles cling to each other. The tena¬ city of liquids may be considered like that of solids, only less intense • and thus it is when water flows through a siphon, the descending particles actually drag down those above them, somewhat like a chain or rope unequally suspended over a pulley, when the longer end pulls the shorter one after it. A siphon is m fact a contrivance by which liquid chains or ropes are thus made to act. But for the cohesion of liquids the contents of the discharging leg would drop out like sand, and no further effect would follow—the rope would be broken, and the separated parts fall asunder. The influence of cohesion in the action of siphons is proved bv tlie tact that very short ones continue to operate when removed into a vacuum* . T he te "^ il y, or what might almost be called the malleability of liquids is beautifully exemplified in soap bubbles. These yield to impressions without breaking. They fall on and rebound from the floor like bladders or balls of India rubber. They shake in the wind, and their figures be¬ come altered like that of balloons tossed to and fro in the air: all this they often endure before their shells are broken by evaporation. Siphons are exceedingly diversified in their forms, materials and uses, lhey are made of cylindrical and other shaped tubes, and both of uniform and irregular bore. The legs of some are parallel, while in others they meet at every angle—sometimes straight and often crooked—one may be larger than the other, or both may be alike ; they also may be separate one loosely slipping into or over the other. Instead of tubes siphons are sometimes formed by an arrangement of plates, and also by a combination of vases. I his plastic property has occasioned their concealment in more various forms than Proteus ever assumed. Siphons are made of tin cop¬ per, iron, silver, glass, lead, earthenware, leather, wood, canes:’ and (capillary ones) of paper, strips of cloth, threads of cotton, &c. Examples of their various forms and applications will be found noticed in the follow¬ ing historical sketch. The origin of siphons like that of pumps is l ost j n antiquity. Some vnl f °L'r f ° r TT at i° n ° n aCt '. 0n 8 jP h °ns in vacuo, see Boyle’s Works, by Shaw, rtA history an d Memoirs of the French Academy, translated by Marlin and Chambers, vol. iv. 374; and Desaguhers Exper. Philos, vol. ii. 168. 516 Siphons in Ancient Egypt. [Book V. writers of the last century attributed them to Ctesibius, (see page 268,) because they were»used in some of his water-clocks, and no earlier appli¬ cation of them was then known. For the same reason the invention of toothed wheels has been erroneously ascribed to him. All the informa¬ tion extant respecting the ancient nations of the East is exceedingly limited, while of their arts and details of their mechanism we know next to nothing. The greater part of our ordinary machines cannot be traced to a higher source than Greece, but Greece itself was colonized by Egyp¬ tians ; and however much the children of Cadmus may have refined on some departments of the useful arts, the general mechanism of their ancestors is believed to have passed through their hands to those of the Romans, and from the latter to us with little alteration. This was cer¬ tainly the case with their hydraulic and hydro-pneumatic devices. The siphon is an example. The name of this instrument is taken from a Greek word, which signifies simply a tube ; but it has been ascertained that the word is of a remoter—of an oriental origin, being derived from siph or sif, to imbibe or draw up with the breath, and whence comes our expres¬ sion to sip. Now if it can be proved that the siphon was in use, and was charged by sucking before the times of Grecian history, we may safely conclude that a more ancient people furnished the Greeks with both the instrument and its name. The researches of Rosellini and Wilkinson have settled this point. These gentlemen have brought to light irresistible evidence that siphons were used in Egypt at least as early as 1450 years before Christ. In a tomb at Thebes, which bears the name of Amunoph II, who reigned at the period just named, they are delineated, and in a manner too distinct to admit of any doubts. See No. 235. Several jars are represented upon a frame or stand. Into three of them siphons are inserted ; two apparently in operation, and a man is in the act of charging the other by sucking : the contents of the jars being transferred into a large vase sup¬ ported upon an ornamental stand. Mr. Wilkinson supposes that siphons were invented in Egypt, and were used to decant the Nile water from one vessel to another. He says it is necessary to let this water stand for some time before being used, that the mud suspended in it may settle to the bottom. On this account vases containing it cannot be moved without rendering it again turbid, and the same effect is produced by dipping ; hence the use of siphons. The con- Chap. 6.] Common in Kitchens. 517 jecture may be correct, but it does not derive much support from the use of those instruments figured at No. 235; for unless tlfire was Tome contrivance to prevent the ends of the siphons from going too near the bottom of the jars, scarce y any thing would more effectually disturb and draw off the sediment with the water. The tubes were obviously of some flexiWe material, and from the manner in which they are held it wou d be impossible for the person using them to regulate by hand the epth to which the short legs were immersed. Moreover, another indi¬ vidual (omitted in our illustration) is represented pouring a liquid into one of the jars, an operation that would effectually disturb the sediment. nstead of water, jars so small probably contained wines, and the artist designed to exhibit the mode of mixing them ; a common practice of old and one referred to in several parts of the scriptures. The Egyptians were much given to luxurious living, and especially with regard to wine a fact which the sculptures corroborate, for scenes of gross excess, and in emales too, are portrayed The Jews we know carried with them into Palestine not only the arts but many of the worst habits of the Egyptians and the excessive indulgence of mixed wines was one. “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Isaiah v, 22 “ She hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished “k T - X ’ » ;; tar ^ at wine, they that go to seek mixed wine.” Ibid xxm, 30. J Other examples of the early use of siphons are met with. In the tomb of Remeses III. who flourished- 1235 B. C., is a representation of an Egyptian kitchen, with the various operations of slaying animals, cutting up the joints and preparing them for cooking—kneading dough with the met and paste with the hands—making cakes and confectionary, &c — ■Of kitchen furniture, there are tables, jars, plates, cauldrons, bellows ovens, molds, pestle and mortar, knives, baskets, &c., and suspended on ropes or rods, a number of siphons; showing evidently that those instruments were in constant requisition. See No. 236. These were probably adapted for jars of certain depths, unlike those in the preceding figure, which seem to have been appropriated to different sized vessels and their shape altered as occasions might require. How singular that these philosophical instruments should have been more common before the siege of Troy than at the present day ! And * ow P re cious are those monumental records that have preserved this and ■other facts of the kind 1 The circumstance of siphons having been used in Egypt at so early a period may be deemed conclusive that other nations were not ignorant of them. With Egypt, all the famous people of antiquity maintained an intercourse ; and enterprising men flocked from all parts to acquire a tin £ . e ar . ts and sciences that were cultivated on the banks of the Nile. Their neighbours, the Jews, as a matter of course, were ac- quainted with siphons, and there is probably a reference to them in John 11 . “ Jesus saith unto them, fill the water pots with water. And they tilled them to the brim. And he said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bare it.” How did they draw this liquid 1 Certainly not by inclining the jars and pouring it out; nor yet does it appear to have been done by dipping: for as the large pots were filled to the very brim, this would have caused the liquid to over¬ flow. It is more reasonable to suppose that small siphons were used on aT llT l °ru* nd ? a J. the y Were char £ ed by sucking, as represented in , .. and tin* onl y clearly accounts for the fact that those who Alaewthe liquid were first aware, as they must have been, of the chancy it 518 [Book Y. Siphons from Heron's Spiritaiia. had undergone. This change does not seem to have affected the color, for not till he tasted of it was the presiding officer himself sensible of its being wine. “ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine,” he “ knew not whence it was, but the servants that drew the water knew.” No. 235 probably was designed to represent one of Pharaoh’s butlers engaged in that part of his duty which required him to draw and mix the king’s drink. Such officers formed part of large establishments among the ancients, and so they do in modern times. Switaer, speaking of small siphons observes, “ the insinuation of air is such that wine will not always keep on its regular ascent, without the butler puts his mouth sometimes to it, to give it a new suction.” One of the modes by which Ctesibius applied siphons to clepsydrae, will be found figured in a subsequent chapter. Were the old philosophers of Egypt acquainted with the principle on which the siphon acts l Doubtless they were, else they could never have diversified its form and adapted it with such admirable- ingenuity to the great variety of purposes both open and concealed, which we know they did. In connection with bydromancy it was made to play an important part. Magical goblets were often nothing else than modifications of siphons ; and from the Spiritaiia we learn that they formed the basis of more com¬ plex and imposing apparatus. The tricks connected with the glass tomb of Belus, and the miraculous vases in the temple of Bacchus probably depended upon siphons ; and most writers on the vocal statue of Memnon have introduced them as essential parts of the supposed machinery ; imi¬ tating in this respect the apparatus described by Heron for producing mysterious sounds from the figures of men, birds, &c. Heron is more diffuse on the subject of siphons than any other writer. Upwards of twenty problems in his Spiritaiia relate to or are illustrrated by them; and from him we learn that these instruments were in his time employed on a large scale in draining and irrigating land, via. by transfer¬ ring water over hills from one valley to another. . This use of the siphon was probably quite as common under the Pharaohs as under the Ptolemies; for Heron does not intimate that it was novel in his time any more than the instrument itself. The above figures are illustrations of the first, second, third, and thirtieth problems of Heron’s work. , Chap. 6.] Liquids of different Specific Gravities. 519 r„5 0 ' 237 (t a e fi ( St ?P r 5 the S P !rit ? ,!a ) represents an ordinary siphon resting ovei the handle of a vase, within which the short leg is inserted 1 his instrument was charged by sucking, as the more ancient ones in the’ last cut. No. 23S exhibits another form of the siphon, consisting of two straight and separate tubes, the smaller one of which is inserted through the bot¬ tom of the covered vase, and reaches as high within it as the liquid is required to stand. Over this tube another one is slipped whose upper end is closed air-tight. _ Hence it is obvious that when the liquid is higher han the orifice of the inner tube which forms the long leg, it will ascend between the tubes and continue to be discharged as in the common siphon until the surface descends below the lower end of the outer tube, or short leg. Here the liquid is discharged from the bottom of the vessel not over its rim as in the preceding figure. The siphon admits of a areat variety of modifications, some of which in the hands of ancient jugglers contributed not a little to amaze the ignorant. The contents of the large vases, often permanently fixed in temples, could and doubtless often were secretly emptied by contrivances of this kind ; the siphons of course being- concealed in the ornaments, handles, or other adjuncts. The six vessels of wine placed daily m the temple of Bel, which the priests clandestinely emptied every night, might have been more neatly robbed of their contents by concealed siphons, than by entering through a secret passage under the altar ; but as the abstraction of the more solid food which the priests pre¬ tended was consumed every day by the brazen deity, (forty sheep and twelve measures of floor,) required some contrivance like the latter • the vases were emptied at the same time. [Story of Bel and the Dragon.] I he romantic account by Herodotus of the robbery of Rhampsinitus’trea¬ sury, shows to what extent the system of secret passages was/carried, and the ingenuity with which they were made and concealed. The velocity with which water flows from an ordinary siphon necessarily diminishes as the surface in the reservoir falls. In some cases a uniform discharge is desirable. No. 239 shows how ancient engineers accomplished this. A float or hollow dish was attached to the end of the short lea-, so that the instrument descended with the water. The long leg was passed loosely through two openings in projecting pieces that preserved it in the proper position. 1 he difference in the specific gravity of liquids was a fruitful source of deception.. Many capital tricks were based upon it, especially when the lighter fluids employed were of the same color as those on which they reposed. If for example, a vessel contained oil, wine and water, these liquids could be discharged by a siphon like No. 239 in the same order; and by secretly raising or lowering an ordinary one, or the moveable tube in No. 238, any one liquid could be drawn off. Fresh water being lio-hter than salt is often found some distance at sea; and sailors, like old jugglers, can draw up either, according to the depth to which their buckets are' immersed. Four miles from the mouth of the Mississippi the fresh water is- about two feet deep, and at ten miles it may be obtained by careful dipping. In problem XXX of the Spiritalia, Heron shows how siphons may be concealed within the figures of oxen or other animals in the act of drink¬ ing ; the orifice of the short leg being at the mouth, and that of the Iona one in one of the feet. See No. 240. When the bore of the siphon is properly adjusted*to the quantity of water flowing into a basin, the animal will appear to drink the whole. 520 Tantalus' Cups—Magic Pitchers. [Book V. The following represent a number of Tantalus’ cups, magic goblets, &c. In No. 241, tbe long leg of the siphon passes through the bottom of the vessel, and the short one remains above ; so that when the liquid rises over the bend, it will be discharged by the siphon into the cavity below. No. 241. No. 242. No. 243. No. 244. No. 245 Devices of this kind admit of numerous modifications by which the tube may be concealed. When it is enclosed within the figure of a man,' (the water entering at one foot slightly raised, and passing out through the other,) the vessel is named a Tantalus' cup , and the liquid instead of enter¬ ing the mouth, as in No. 240, only rises to the chin, and then runs away— illustrating the classical fable, which represents Tantalus suffering the tortures of thirst in the midst of water that reached to his lips, but which on his attempting to taste sunk below his reach ; hence the origin of our word tantalize , and its relatives. Next, suff’ring grievous torments, I beheld Tantalus : in a pool he stood, his chin Wash’d by the wave; thirst parch’d he seem’d, but found Nought to assuage his thirst; for when he bow’d His hoary head, ardent to quaff, the flood Vanish’d absorb’d, and at his feet, adust The soil appear’d, dried instant, by the gods. Odys. xi. Cowper. It is supposed the fable was intended to illustrate the influence of ava¬ rice, by which misers in the midst of plenty often deny themselves the necessaries and comforts of life. Sometimes the sides and bottom of Tantalus’ cups are made hollow and the siphon formed within them. No. 242 is one of these. An examina¬ tion of it will sufficiently explain the construction. A small opening near the bottom (which may easily be concealed) communicates with a passage formed by a partition, above the top of which the liquid must rise beforg it can pass down the other side into the base of the cup. In No. 243 the siphon is formed within the handle. The short leg communicates with the lower part of the cup at the swell, so as not easily to be detected, and the long one with the cavity formed below. The figure represents a Tantalus’ cup in our possession. A liquid is retained in one of these as in an ordinary goblet, so long as the surface does not reach above the highest part of the siphon ; but if the cup be once inclined so as to set the latter in operation, the contents will gradually be transferred to the hollow base, and this whether the vessel be replaced in an upright position or not. Thus tankards have Chap. 6.] Goblet for unwelcome Guests. 521 been so contrived that the act of applying them to the lips charged the siphon, and the liquid instead of entering the mouth then passed through an illegal passage into the cavity formed for its reception below By making the capacity of the siphon sufficiently large, a person ignorant of t le device would find it a difficult matter even to taste the contents how¬ ever thirsty he might be. In the dark ages, simple people would naturally on such occasions give credit to legends respecting mischievous demons loving beer and taking these opportunities to get it. Dishonest publicans whose sign-boards announced “ entertainment for man and beast ” are said to have occasionally thus despoiled travelers of a portion of their ale or mead, as well as their horses of feed. Oats were put into a perforated manger, and a large part forced through the openings into a receptable below, by the movements of the hungry animal’s mouth. Martial the Roman poet refers to tricks of ancient publicans, and what will surprise some readers, he complains of having had wine foisted on him instead of water. Ravenna was originally built like Venice on piles and was a sea-port, though now several miles inland. Water has always been extremely scarce at this city, and probably was more so formerly than at present In the poet’s time it seems to have brought a hi°her price than inferior kinds of wine. Hence his complaint: By a Ravenna vintner once betray’d, So much for wine and water mix’d I paid; But when I thought the purchas’d liquor mine, The rascal fobb’d me off with wine. L. iii, Ep. 57. Addison. v No. 244, a magical pitcher, from the eighth problem of the Spiritalia. The siphon is nut employed, but the device is allied to the preceding ones. A horizontal partition or diaphragm perforated with minute holes divides the vessel into two parts. The handle is hollow and air-tiy equals the capacity of the siphon. To use this instrument, fill the wide tube with water or some other fluid, and place the short leg into the liquid to be decanted ; then close the orifice of the long leg with the finder, and raise the moveable tube (by the ring attached to it) and the siphon will be charged. In using this instrument, the fluid by which it is charged does not mix with that which is decanted, as in No. 260. The apparatus is more simple than a syringe and is not liable to be deranged. By usincr mercury both the length and bore of the charging tubes may be greatly reduced. As these tubes themselves constitute a siphon, (see No. 238,) the upper end of the small exhausting one should extend a little above that which contains the charging fluid, lest this should occasionally rise over the orifice—in which case the whole would be drawn off. A descrip¬ tion of this siphon was published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for November, 1834. Nos. 265-6 represent another mode of charging siphons on the same piinciple, but the apparatus is more simple and is accompanied with some peculiar advantages. The siphon itself has no exhausting pipe attached to it, but is a bent tube simply. It is put in operation by means of a moveable tube of about the same length as the discharging leg, and having the bottom closed and a lip or spout formed on its upper edge. This tubular vessel is filled with water (or other fluid) and the long leg of the siphon inserted into it. The short leg is then placed into the°liquid to be decanted and the moveable tube drawn gently down. The air within becomes rarefied and the instrument charged in consequence of the vacuity , left in the long leg by the receding liquid. The moveable tube may then be wholly withdrawn or not as circumstances may dictate. If the liquid is to be decanted at intervals, or the stream increased or diminished, the tube should be used ; thus, to lessen or stop the discharge, slide up the tube and as the lip approaches to a level with the surface in the reservoir the stream will become less and less, and by raising it still higher, as in No. 265, entirely stopped. Hence the instrument acts as a perfect cock , by which the liquid may be' discharged in single drops or in a full stream' and unlike the ordinary brass taps, it can never leak nor require repairs. The apparatus also performs the part of a guage, viz. by accurately indi¬ cating the surface of the fluid within any vessel to which it is attached. Suppose we wish to know the quantity of liquid remaining in a demijohn, or other close vessel, after drawing off part by one of these siphons; all that ts required is to slide up the tube till the liquid barely drops from the bp its surface in the tube will then be on the same level as in the demi¬ john. If the moveable tube be made of glass, the quantity left can always be known at sight, because its surface in the tube would always be visible. A device of this kind might be employed to draw off and to guage the 528 Ewhank's Siphons. . [Book V. contents of standing casks. It would be better to make the discharging leg of this siphon of rather larger bore than the short one, since the rare¬ faction would then be more perfect. The discharging leg must always be inserted in the moveable tube before the short one is placed in the liquid to be transferred. (See Journal of the Franklin Institute for July and November, 1834.) No. 267 is formed of a conical tube, and charged by the act of placing it in the fluid to be transferred. The end of the long leg is first closed tight by the finger, and the short one then immersed as deep as can be conveniently in the liquid. The air being thus confined prevents the liquid from entering, but when the finger is withdrawn, it is urged up the short leg by the hydrostatic pressure of the column over the orifice of the latter, and the momentum of the large volume contained in the lower part drives sufficient over the bend to put the instrument in operation. The action of this siphon depends upon the same principle as the spouting tubes described in the last chapter. This siphon is in fact merely one of these bent into a proper form. The bend should be a regular curve in order to present as little obstruction as possible to the liquid in passing over : it should also be short , so as to require less of the passing fluid to fill it than a longer one. The proportions of the different parts of these siphons should approach those represented in the cut. Small siphons on this plan are limited in their application to those cases where the short legs can be immersed half their depth or more; but the application of large instruments increases with the depth. (See No. 226 and remarks upon it, page 499.) Nos. 268-9 are bloioing siphons, being charged by blowing with the mouth through the tubes connected to the orifices of the discharging legs. This mode of producing a vacuum in one pipe by blowing air through another is sufficiently explained in a previous chapter. In No. 269, the junction of the siphon with the blowing tube is flush or smooth in the interior of the latter, and whenever this is the case a conical ajutage must be added as represented, or the instrument cannot be charged. (See remarks on blowing tubes, pp. 486-7.) The better way is to make the siphon like No. 268, in which a part of the leg projects into the blowing tube and diverts the current of air from the lungs over the orifice, as in Nos. 205-’6, ’7, and ’13. These are more readily charged than the others, and although they will operate without the conical ajutage, they are much easier charged with it. By such siphons water may be raised one or two feet by a smart puff. They are safe and convenient to transfer acids, &c. as there is not the least danger of receiving any portion into the mouth, as when sucking siphons are used. Siphons are now used, as they were by the Egyptians in Heron’s time, to convey water to considerable distances. When they are laid over ground that is elevated from 20 to 25 feet above the spring, a quantity of air is disengaged from the water at the highest parts of the tube, and accu¬ mulating there is very apt to cause the action to cease. To prevent this, a close vessel, furnished with a cock and funnel at the top, should be con¬ nected at its bottom to the highest part of the siphon by a stop cock or valve. The air evolved from the water will collect in this vessel and should be occasionally drawn off in the following manner. Shut the lower cock and open the one attached to the funnel; then expel the air by filling the vessel with water and turn the cocks as at first. As fresh portions of air arise from the liquid, they will enter the vessel and drive the water down the discharging leg. When the ground is very uneven at the highest parts, the several eminences of the siphon should be connected by small tubes to the air-chamber. Chap. 6.] Water conveyed over rising grounds by Siphons. 529 We have known siphons from a quarter to half a mile in length, and formed of leaden pipes only half an inch in the bore continue runnino- f ro m nine to fifteen months without once stopping, although no air-vessels were attached to them. In one case the pipe was 1200 feet in length, the orifice of the discharging leg was but five or six feet below that of the receiving one and the highest part of the tube was from 12 to 15 feet above the surface of the spring. An opinion is current with some writers, that the extreme elevation to which water can be carried by siphons was unknown to the ancients, and that Heron, the most celebrated writer of antiquity upon these instru¬ ments, was not himself aware of its limitation to about 30 feet. It is not clear that Heron was thus ignorant; but if he were, it would only show that in this department of the arts he was no practical man. That ancient plumbers and pump-makers, who prepared and laid large siphons were aware of the limitation there can be no doubt, just as the same class of mechanics were in modern times with regard to pumps, before philosophers were informed of the fact or able to account for it. As however siphons for conveying water over hills and to great distances have always been of rare occurrence, (comparatively speaking,) it is not at all surprising that even some hydraulic engineers should have been thus ignorant with regard to them, although familiar with the extent to which water can be raised by atmospheric pumps. If some of these men have talked of conveying water by siphons over mountains, we never hear them speak of raisins it to equal elevations through the suction pipes of pumps. Daily experience in applying the latter to various depths prevented them from falling into the error. Baptist Porta, in the 19th Book of his Natural Magic, speaks of raising water by a siphon to the top of a high tower, and several old writers have the same conceit. This was in accordance with the ancient doctrine of the plcnists , who denied the possibility of a vacuum. They attributed the ascent of liquids through siphons to nature’s abhorrence of a void, and imagined the elevation to be unlimited. But these men were philosophers, whose practical knowledge was confined to portable experiments; had they been working pump-makers they would have known better; they would have become advocates for the opposite doctrine— vacuists. So long was the error of the plenists maintained, observes Switzer; “ that I have seen a book of Machines, written even in Queen Elizabeth’s time, by one Ward, an engineer, who ventur’d to give a sketch of a high hill, and a house at the bottom or side, over which, by a vast extended syphon, the water was to be convey’d from one vale to another.” The author of the old treatise, entitled, ‘ Art and Nature,’ quoted at pp. 321, 375, was of the same opi¬ nion. “ How to convey water over a mountain : this experiment is as easie to be performed as any of the former, and indeed after the same manner, for you must lay a pipe of lead over the mountain, with one end in the* spring or wate$ that you desire to convey, and the other end must lie somewhat lower; then open the pipe at the top of the mountain; stop both ends of the pipe, and with a tunnell fill the pipe full of water; then close it up exactly that neither aver nor water may come out thereat; then unstop both the ends of the pipe, and the water will run continually,” (p. 10.) Decaus appears to have been better informed, if we may judge from his remarks respecting the perpendicular length of pipes of atmo¬ spheric pumps. In large engines, he recommends that they be not made over 20 feet; and including the working cylinders, he says, “ I am of opinion that it [the water] must not be constrained to rise more than thirty feet in height.” The second plate of his “ Forcible Movements” repre- 67 530 Discharging Water alone its Source by Siphons. [Book V. sents two atmospheric pumps placed one above the other, and the lowest one raised it frfom “24 to 30 feet,” and the upper one “may raise it from thence 24 or 30 feet” higher. The “ Forcible Movements,” it will be remembered, was published about thirty years before the discovery of atmospheric pressure. Contrivances for discharging water from the highest part of siphons have often been proposed. They are to be met with in several old authors, and the principle of most of them may be found in the Spiritalia. They are however seldom employed, because circumstances on which they de¬ pend rarely occur ; and other devices are preferable even under those circumstances. A descriptive account of a few of them may interest some machinists, and be serviceable to others, viz : by preventing them from expending their energies in devising similar things. Indeed in this respect books which contain accounts only of the best machines are not always the most useful to inventors. In whatever department of the arts these men exercise their talents they are almost certain to fall at one time or another on old devices, which appear to them both new and equal to similar plans in common use. Books therefore which describe rejected and antiquated contrivances are not so worthless as some persons imagine. One plan to raise water by a siphon consists in enlarging or swelling it out at or near the bend, or what amounts to the same thing, connecting the legs to an air-tight vessel; and when this becomes filled the commu¬ nication between it and the legs is cut off by valves or cocks, and the contents drawn off. When this is done the vessel remains filled with air, which if admitted into the legs would stop the action of the siphon. It must therefore, in order to expel the air, be filled with some liquid to replace that drawn out. Suppose a siphon of this kind be designed to raise water for the supply of a dwelling, in or near which the vessel is placed, it may then be refilled with refuse or impure water, which on adjusting the cocks will pass down the discharging leg. Then after a short time elapses, the vessel will again be filled with fresh water, which may be again exchanged for the same quantity of impure. In locations where river, salt, or any other water can thus be exchanged for fresh, and it is desirable to do so, such devices are applicable. (In breweries, distilleries, &c. the descent of one liquid may thus be made to raise another.) It should however be observed that an equal quantity must be given for that received, and it-must descend rather more than the latter rises. But when circumstances allow these conditions to be fulfilled, the apparatus is not always to be depended upon ; air insinuates itself through the minutest imperfections in the pipes and cocks, and often deranges the whole. One of these siphons is described in Nicholson’s Journal, 4to. vol. iv, and in vol. ii, of Gregory’s Mechanics. Another in the Biblio- theque Phisico-Economique, which is copied in vol. x, of the Repertory of Arts, 2d series. Another is figured in Art and Nature, A. D. 1633, with two close reservoirs at the top; and Porta, in cap. 3, book xix, of his Magic, describes another, with the close vessel on the top of a tower : the discharging leg is described as terminating in another close vessel of the same size as the one above, and furnished with a cock and funnel through . which to fill it, and another cock jto discharge the contents : this charg¬ ing vessel from his description appears to have been placed on the ground a little below the spring and then emptied—if so, the apparatus could not act. He does not appear to have been aware of the necessity of the con¬ tents of the lower vessel being discharged from the orifice of a pipe a3 much below as the receiving vessel on the tower was above the spring. The device (which he probably imperfectly copied from some older author) Chap. 6.] Ram Siphon. 531 would then be tne same ns the siphon for raising water which Gravesande has figured in the second volume of his Philosophy, p. 39, plate 74 wear of ,Z of ‘ hese de ™ es only subject to derangement by the wear of the cocks and valves, and want of care in opening and closing {hem {nffire r Per T SB ' T f €y 7T re almost as --ch attendance as w ould suffice to raise the water directly from the spring. On this account various contrivances have been proposed to render them self-acting gazhie 'fofrny 8 olS ^ ^ J"? *? "“ ” the Gentleman's Ma- gazine lor 1747, p 582. It is named a “ lifting siphon.” Water from a spring is received into an open cistern, from the bottom of which a Tne descends to a perpendicular depth of 33 feet. The bore of this pipers osedI and opened by two stop-cocks, one at its lower end and the other near the upper, or just below its junction with the cistern. A close noTeit£3£Tao ftTT r e h is -° be fixed at an ^ re ^“ ired not exceeding 30 feet above the cistern : and from its bottom » ™ ’ descends to within two inches of the bottom of the cistern This avTT 8 the Sh ° r i5 ° f tH u e Siph ° n ’ and its u PP er orifice is covered by th e ° r P' event l ^ e water that ascends through it from returning From he top of the close vessel a small or exhausting pipe proceeds^ down m ThuT 6 TT the C1St i ern and 18 connecte d to it below the upper cock Thus united they may be considered as the long leg of the mUon al- ough water only descends through the lower branch and air through’the upper one. The apparatus for alternately opening and closing the^cocks (upon which the action of the machine depends) is somewhaf similar in principle to that represented at page 354. A bucket containing water is the prime mover ; a rope attached to it is passed twice round two rollers and a counterpoise is suspended from the other end of the rope. When • the bucket is partly filled it preponderates, and when it is emptied the counterpoise prevails ; hence an alternating movement is imparted to the r ofthe,w ° cocks - as shanks ° f A plan for making siphons of this description self-acting by means of four vessels placed one over the other, and each provided with a sTphon y hmh its contents may be discharged, was proposed by Mr. Wm. Close, in^Nicholson s Journal before referred to. M. Hachette has combined the ram of Montgolfier with the siphon, in order to discharge water from the apex of the latter : see the annexed figure. A the short leg and R the long or discharg¬ ing one. The upper end of each termi¬ nates in a close chamber within which two valves attached to a perpendicular rod are made to work. The upper valve closes an opening in the horizon¬ tal partition that separates the interior of the chamber from the air-vessel and jet pipe above. The seat of the lower valve is at the orifice of R. The dis¬ tance between the valves is such that when one is closed the other is open. Their movements are produced as in the ram; a coiled spring keeps the upper one^closed till the momentum of the fluid in passing through the siphoD No. 270. Ram siphon. 532 Fountains and Jets d’eau. [Book V. shuts the lower one. The lower end of R is furnished with a cock, and that of A with a valve opening outwards, for the purpose of charging the siphon through an opening at B. When in operation, the water after running a little while acquires sufficient momentum to shut the lower valve, upon which a portion rushes into the air-vessel and escapes in a jet; the spring then closes the upper valve, and the fluid descends through R till the lower valve is again closed and another jet produced. CHAPTER VII. Fountains: Variety of their forms, ornaments and accompaniments — Landscape gardeners—Curious fountains from Decaus—Fountains in old Rome—Water issuing from statues—Fountains in Pompeii— Automaton trumpeter—Fountains by John of Bologna and M. Angelo—Old fountains in Nuremberg, Augsburg and Brussels—Shakespeare, Drayton and Spencer quoted—Fountains of Alcinous—The younger Pliny’s account of fountains in the gardens of his Tuscan villa—Gating in gardens—Alluded to in Solomon’s Song—Cato the Censor—Singular fountains in Italy—Fonntains described by Marco Paulo and other old writers—Predilection for artificial trees in fountains—Perfumed and musical foun¬ tains—Fountains within public and private buildings—Enormous cost of perfumed waters at Roman feasts—Lucan quoted—Introduction of fountains into modern theatres and churches recommended- Fountains in the apartments of Eastern princes—Water conveyed through pipes by the ancients into fields for the use of their cattle—Three and four-way cocks. Artificial fountains and jets d’eau are of extreme antiquity : although they were not (like natural ones) objects of worship among the ancients, they were at least held in great estimation, and unusual care was often taken in designing and decorating them. Indeed no other hydraulic deviceshave ever been so greatly and so variously enriched with ornament. The pipes of supply were concealed in columns, &c. and their orifices wrought into numerous emblematic figures, (see page 119,) while the basins that received the fluid were generally of polished marble. Some¬ times the pipes terminated in statues of men, women, children, animals, birds, fishes, vases, gods, goddesses, &c. From them the fluid spouted high in the air, or was discharged directly into receivers, or broken in its descent by intervening objects : oftentimes it was made to flow over the rim of a vase, to issue from others that seemed to have been accidentally overturned, and not infrequently the figure of a female poured it from a pitcher. From the facility of applying water as a motive agent another feature was added. Various automata were put in motion by mechanism con¬ cealed in the base or pedestal from which the fluid issued— figures of men blew trumpets and played on organs, and automaton birds warbled forth notes on adjacent trees. (Such devices are described by Heron.) All the senses were often gratified at these fountains; the sultry atmo¬ sphere was cooled and rendered grateful to the feeling—the sparkling liquid quenched the thirst—sight was gratified in contemplating the design and execution of the whole, and noticing the ever-changing forms assumed by the moving fluid—the pleasure derived from the sound of falling water has ever been noticed by poets—and not to forget the sense of smelling, in those fountains that were designed only to moderate the temperature of the air, the water was often j>erfumed. Chap. 7.] Fountains in Decaus—others in Rone . 533 The taste of old landscape gardeners for fountains and cascades, ser¬ pentine streams, and other “ pieces of water-works” although derived from the East, had its origin in nature. “ Even as Paradise itself (says witzer) must have been deemed an immodelled and imperfect plan, had it not been watered by the same Omnicient hand which first made it, so our gardens and fields, the nearest epitomy and resemblance to that happy place which is to be met with here below, cannot be said to be any way perfect or capable of subsisting without it.” These men contemplating the world as a garden endeavored to copy it in miniature. They con¬ structed lawns for deer and reared diminutive forests for game—they formed lakes and stocked them with fish—walks were made on the margin of brooks, torrents fell from artificial mountains, and tiny streams wound their way through labyrinths of reeds and of sedge. Springs were seen bursting out of rocks rudely piled up, as if thrown together by nature while aquatic birds sported in basins below. But they went further for ascending jets were thrown up so as to resemble bundles of reeds, others were crested like wheat sheafs, or branched out like trees. Sometimes the streams were directed so as to form avenues and alcoves, as of chrystal which when the sun shone produced a magical effect. Even hedges and borders of gardens were imitated. “ The hedge of water (says Evelyn) m forme of lattice-worke which the fontanier caused to ascend out of the earth by degrees exceedingly pleased and surprised me.” Giving the reins still more to their imaginations, these artists were hur- ned into singular puerilities. They made the fluid to spout from the sides of ships, the mouths of birds, and other incongruous figures. Swarms of heathen deities were also pressed into their service ; and not content with a Triton blowing water through his shell, or Neptune pouring it from an urn, figures of the latter were made to rise from the bottom of deep basins, and drawn by spouting dolphins and accompanied with Amphitrite and a legion of sea nymphs, sailed over his fluid domains to allay the tempest that called him up ! r Old treatises on water-works are full of such things. In “ Art and Nature,” Neptune is figured “ riding on a whale, out of whose nostrils, as also out of Neptune’s trident the water may bee made to spin thorow small pin holes.” Other devices consisted of “ divers forms and shapes of birds, beasts, or fishes; dragons, swans, whales, flowers, and such like j pretty conceits, having very small pin holes thorow them for the water to spin out at.” The 15th and 16th plates of Decaus’ Forcible Movements represent the mechanism of “ an engin by which Galatea is drawn upon the water by two dolphins, going in a right line and returning of herself, while a Cyclope plaies upon a flajolet.” And the 17th and 18th plates shew Neptune drawn by sea horses, preceded and followed by Tritons, sailing round a rock on which Amphitrite is reposing, and from which water js gushing forth. Fountains for supplying the inhabitants of tovms and cities are frequently mentioned in scripture, but it is difficult to discriminate between artificial ones and those that were natural. In the early history of Rome some are mentioned. The news of the victory obtained over the Tarquins and the people of Latium was conveyed in an incredibly short time by two young men, said to have been Castor and Pollux, who were met “ at the fountain in the marliet-place, at which their horses foaming with sweat were drink¬ ing'* (Plutarch in Paulus ArCmilius.) Statues of Jupiter Pluvius, of the Egyptian g°d Canopus and others, were erected over fountains, the liquid tssuing from different and sometimes from air parts of the bodies. On the day Julius Cassar was assassinated, he was implored by Calphurnia in 534 Ancient and Modern Fountains. [Book V. consequence of a dream, to remain at home instead of meeting the sena tors according to appointment, a circumstance to which Shakespeare thus alludes :— Decius. Most mighty Caesar, let tne know some cause, Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so. Caesar. Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home ; She dreamt to-night she saw my statue, Which like a fountain, with a hundred spouts, Did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it. Pliny (xxxi, 2.) speaks of a fountain from which water ran “ at many pipes.” From excavations made at Pompeii, it appears that in almost every street there was a fountain, and that bronze statues, through which the water issued were common. Several have been found—four or five are boys of beautiful workmanship ; the fluid issued from vases resting on their shoulders or held under their arms, and in some cases from masks. Paint¬ ings of elegant fountains, from which the water issued in perpendicular jets from vases, have also been discovered both at Herculaneum and Pompeii. A circumstance mentioned by Suetonius in his Life of Claudius, the successor of Caligula, although not directly related to this part of our sub¬ ject, shows that Roman engineers were quite at home in devices analogous to those moving and musical statues, which two centuries ago were so common in European fountains. Previous to drawing off the waters of the lake Fucinus, the emperor exhibited a naval conflict, in which 19,000 criminals were engaged against each other in two fleets. An immense multitude of spectators attended. Claudius presided dressed in a coat of mail, and with him was Agrippina in a mantle of cloth of gold. When the two fleets were ready to engage, a Triton of silver rose up in the midst of tire lake and pounded the charge. Of modern street fountains many curious ones are to be seen in Italy, France and Germany, while descriptions of others, no longer extant, may be found in Misson, Blainville, and other writers of the last century. Thirty folding plates, representing some of the most remarkable, are attached to Switzer’s Hydrostatics. A colossal statue of Jupiter Pluvius, in a singu¬ lar stooping position, was designed for a fountain at Tratolino, by John of Bologna. The extremities are of stone, but the trunk is formed of bricks overlaid with cement that has acquired the hardness of marble. A num¬ ber of apartments are constructed within it—one in the head is lighted through the eye-balls, which serve as windows. To add to the extraordi¬ nary effect, a kind of crown is formed by little jetteux that drop on the shoulders and trickle down the figure, shedding a sort of supernatural lustre when irradiated by the sun. One hand of the figure rests on the rock as if to support itself, while the other is placed on the head of a lion, from the mouth of which the principal stream issues. A fountain designed by Michael Angelo is described by Sir Henry Wotton as ‘ a matchless pattern,’ being ‘the figure of a sturdy woman, wash¬ ing and winding linen clothes; in which act she wrings out the water that made the fountain, which was a graceful and natural conceit in the arti¬ ficer, implying this rule that all designs of this kind should be proper.’ Of remarkable fountains at Nuremberg, Blainville has noticed several. Of one he observes, “ Its basin is an octagon in the middle of which stands a large brass pillar ; from its chapiters project six muzzles of lions, each of which spurts water into the air out of a twisted pipe. On the cornish are the six cardinal virtues, which squirt water from their breasts. On tl is 535 Chap. 7.] Shakespeare, Drayton and Spencer quoted. pillar stands a less one fluted, upon which are six infants, every one of whom leans on an escutcheon bearing the arms of the empire, those of Nuremberg and other towns ; they are all of them sounding trumpets, out of which water jets in plenty. On the top of this second pillar is a fine statue of Justice, with her sword in one hand and her balance in the other; she likewise sends water from her breasts, and supports herself upon a large ostrich which spouts water most bountifully. All this is in brass surrounded with an iron grate carved and gilt.” (Travels, i, 197.) Another at Augsburg he thus describes : “ In the middle of the basin is a double pedestal, at the foot of which are several sphinxes and statues jetting water into the basin, some by the mouth, others by their breasts, and three by trumpet-marines. On the four corners of the first pedestal are four fine statues big as life ; their feet rest upon four very large shells into which they pour water, some out of vases, others in another fashion. Upon the top of the second pedestal is a Hercules combating; the Lernean Hydra.” (Ibid. 291.) Old writers represent Brussels as well supplied with water 150 years ago as Rome itself. There were twenty public fountains at the corners of the principal streets, and all adorned with statues. In the herb-market were figures of four beautiful females “squeezing water out of\their breasts”—a favorite device, and another equally popular was adopted in a splendid fountain near the Carmelite church in the same city : “ Tout pres de cette Eglise est le Manneke-pis, c’est la statue d’un gar 5 on, elevee sur une colonne ; du haut, de laquelle il jette de 1’eau, comme s’il pissoit, par sa pipe, jour et nuit, dans un bassin qui est au pied de la colonne. C’est une des sept merveilleuses fontaines de la ville.” (Le Curieux Antiquaire, tome i, 175.) Shakespeare often alludes to the figures of old English fountains. In Winter’s Tale, Act iv, Scene I, he compares the old shepherd to “ a weather bitten conduit of many king’s reigns that is, to a statue from which the water flowed. .Henley in commenting on the passage observes : “ Con¬ duits representing a human figure were heretofore not uncommon. One of this kind, a female form, and weather beaten still exists at Hoddesdon in Herts.” In As You like It, Rosalind says, she will weep “ like Diana in the fountain”—an allusion to that erected at Paul’s Cross, where, after the religious images had been destroyed, (see page 106,) “ there was set up a curious wrought tabernacle of gray marble, and in the same an alabaster image of Diana, and water conveyed from the Thames, prilling from her naked breast,” Drayton, a poet contemporary with Shakespeare, alludes to fountains and their basins in his Quest of Cynthia. At length I on a fountain light, Whose brim with pinks was platted, The banks with daffodilies dight With grass, like sleave was matted. And Spencer in the Fairy Queen — And in the midst of all a fountaine stood, Of richest substance that on earth might bee, So pure and shiny, that the silver flood Through every channel running one might see. Fountains have always been indispensable adjuncts in oriental gardens, and they doubtless formed conspicuous objects in those of Babylon. The two fountains in the gardens of Alcinous, from their elevated position and 536 Fountains in Pliny’s Gardens. [Book V the abundance of water they poured forth, must have greatly contributed to the beauty and effect of the surrounding scenery. Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect crown’d : This through the garden leads its streams around, Visits each plant and waters all the ground ; While that in pipes beneath the palace flows, And thence its current on the town bestows. Ody. vii. Pope. The younger Pliny’s description of his Tuscan villa contains the only detailed account extant of an ancient Roman garden. As might be sup¬ posed, fountains and jets d’eau frequently occur. The front of the house faced the south and had several porticos. The terrace was embellished with hedges of box, and the lawn overspread with the soft acanthus. At one end of the front portico a dining room opened on the terrace, and opposite the centre of the portico there was a small area shaded by four plane trees, “ in the midst of which a fountain rises, from whence the water running over the edges of a marble basin, gently refreshes the sur¬ rounding plane trees and the verdure underneath them.” In the same vicinity he describes “ a little fountain playing through several small pipes into a vase.” Speaking of the view from the front windows of a spacious chamber, he observes, they look “ upon a cascade, which entertains at once both the eye and the ear, for the water dashing from a great height foams over the marble basin that receives it below.” After mentioning bathing rooms and other apartments, walks, meadows, groves, trees, &c. Pliny continues—“ In one place you have a little mea¬ dow, in another the box is cut into a thousand different forms, sometimes into letters, expressing the name of the master, sometimes that of the artist; whilst here and there little obelisks rise, intermixed alternate with fruit trees ; when on a sudden in the midst of this elegant regularity you are surprised with an imitation of the negligent beauties of rural nature. In the centre is a spot surrounded with a knot of dwarf plane trees. Beyond these is a wall planted with the smooth and twining acanthus, where the trees are also cut into a variety of names and shapes. At the upper end is an alcove of white marble shaded with vines, supported by four small Carystian pillars. From the bench [or triclinium, a species of couch on which the Romans reclined to eat] the water gushing through several little pipes, as if it mere pressed out by the weight of the persons who repose themselves upon it, falls into a stone cistern underneath, whence it is received into a fine polished marble basin, so artfully contrived that it is always full without ever overflowing. When I sup here this basin serves for a table, the largest sort of dishes being placed round the margin, while the smaller ones swim about in the form of little vessels and water- fowls. Corresponding to this is a fountain which is incessantly emptying and filling ; for the water which it throws to a great height, falling back into it, is by means of two openings returned as fast as it is received.” This must have been either a modification of Heron’s fountain, (No. 163,) in which the water would appear to be returned, or some concealed force pump threw it back. The practice of eating, and even of sleeping, in gardens during the summer months, has always been more or less common in the East. In Solomon’s Song it is obviously alluded to. “ Thou that dwellest in the gardens,” that “ feedeth among the lilies, in a fountain of gardens,” or rather a garden of fountains. Indeed a great part of this song seems to refer to that season, (and anxiety for its approach,) when the custom was for the wealthy to remove, like Pliny, to their country villas. It was very common with the rich Greeks and Romans, as well as with the Jews and 537 Chap. 7.] Singular Fountains at Pratolino. other Asiatics, “ when the winter was past, the rain over and gone • when the flowers appeared on the earth, and the time of the singing of birds was come, and the voice of the turtle heard in the land ; when the fio- tree put forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes gave a &