similar to this, may be thus described: two buckets of unequal
size must be first suspended by a flexible chain turning on a
double roller or pulley; so that one bucket will be elevated to
the required height, while the other reaches the level of the
water to be raised; a small stream of water must then be made
to communicate with the largest bucket, which will speedily be
depressed and descend to the lower level, while the opposite
bucket will discharge its contents into a cistern or reservoir
at the top of the machine: the larger bucket being likewise
emptied by striking against a projecting beam placed there for
that purpose.
Mr. Sarjeant has described a very simple and powerful machine
for raising water, nearly similar in point of principle to the
above. An engraving of Mr. S.'s engine, together with an account
of its construction, is inserted in the Trans. of the Soc. of
Arts, vol. xix. p. 255.
No. XXII.
To make a river in a garden ebb and flow constantly, though twenty
foot over, with a child's force, in some private room, or place out
of sight, and a competent distance from it.
NOTE.
The very ingenious canal lock lately invented by Peter Bogaerts,
Esq., appears fully calculated for effecting this object. In
this lock, which from its simplicity is no less useful than
economical, a small portion of water is made to assist in
displacing several tons of that element, and there is no doubt
but a _child's force_ would raise double the quantity of water
described by the Marquis. In the model lately exhibited, a
weight of seven pounds was made to raise 10 _cwt._ of water more
than four feet in a few seconds.
No. XXIII.
To set a clock as within a castle, the water filling the trenches
about it; which shall show, by ebbing and flowing, the hours,
minutes, and seconds, and all the comprehensible motions of the
heavens, and counterlibration of the earth, according to Copernicus.
NOTE.
A tide-mill was several years back exhibited in the Museum of
that very ingenious mechanic, Mr. G. J. Hawkins; and a similar
prime mover has been suggested for the purpose of winding
a clock for a bell signal station on the Northern coast of
England. An astronomical machine as described by the Marquis,
must be provided with two barrels, each possessing a maintaining
power sufficient for the correct performance of the whole. In
addition to the line that supports the weight, or maintaining
power, each barrel must be provided with a revolving pulley
resembling those used for old thirty-hour clocks; with chains
passing over their axis; and the chains being attached to large
floats of wood will be alternately raised or depressed by the
ebbing and flowing of the tide; and thus in succession wind up
the weights which form the maintaining power of the clock. The
clepsydræ, or hydraulic clock, was in general use among the
ancients, and a stream of water was frequently employed to give
motion to planetary machines.
No. XXIV.
How to increase the strength of a spring to such a degree as to
shoot bombasses and bullets of an hundred pound weight a steeple
height, and a quarter of a mile off and more, stone bow-wise,
admirable for fire-works and astonishing of besieged cities, when,
without warning given by noise, they find themselves so forcibly and
dangerously surprised.
NOTE.
The strength of a compound spring formed of two metals may,
by the application of heat, be increased to any given power.
_Rationale._--Iron possessing an expansive power of 1/95, and
brass being only 1/60, the weaker metal will be bent by that
whose power of expansion is greater, and the impulse of the
spring increased in an equal ratio.
No. XXV.
How to make a weight, that cannot take up an hundred pound, and yet
shall take up two hundred pounds, and at the self same distance from
the centre; and so, proportionally, to millions of pounds.
NOTE.
This is indeed paradoxical, and so completely contrary to every
established principle or rule in science, that we may fairly set
it down among the number of those inventions which, by partaking
so highly of the marvellous, have contributed to bring the whole
_Century_ into disrepute.
No. XXVI.
To raise a weight so well and as forcibly with the drawing back of
the lever, as with the thrusting it forwards; and by that means to
lose no time in motion or strength. This I saw in the arsenal at
Venice.
NOTE.
The mere application of a crank, such as is used for the
_foot-lathe_, acting upon a drum and fly-wheel, with a chain
attached to move a second lever or upright sliding bar, will
fully effect the object here described.
No. XXVII.
A way to remove to and fro huge weights, with a most inconsiderable
strength, from place to place. For example: ten ton with ten pounds,
and less; the said ten pounds not to fall lower than it makes the
ten ton to advance or retreat upon a level.
NOTE.
A weight attached to an ordinary crane may be moved with the
utmost facility; and it is well known that the employment of
friction wheels furnishes a ready medium of conveyance for
masses of iron and stone of the greatest magnitude.
No. XXVIII.
A bridge, portable upon a cart, with six horses, which, in a few
hours' time, may be placed over a river half a mile broad, whereon,
with much expedition, may be transported, horse, foot, and cannon.
NOTE.
A portable bridge, or rather ferry boat, calculated for crossing
wide and deep rivers, was frequently employed in ancient
warfare, and is still used for the conveyance of horses and
passengers in many parts of Europe. The apparatus for this
purpose may readily be attached to the banks of the most
rapid river, as it merely consists in the employment of two
ropes or wires, tightened by means of a winch, on which slide
pullies connected with a large floating tank or waggon, that is
afterwards intended to be employed as a medium of conveyance.
The apparatus being thus prepared, a communication may readily
be opened by means of two cords between the opposite banks of
the river.
No. XXIX.
A portable fortification, able to contain five hundred fighting
men, and yet, in six hours' time, may be set up and made cannon
proof, upon the side of a river or pass, with cannon mounted upon
it, and as complete as a regular fortification, with half-moons and
counterscarps.
NOTE.
It is difficult to attempt an elucidation of this or the
following articles; but the annexed extract from the _General
Evening Post_ for 1747 appears to throw some light on No. XXX.
"On the 11th instant, Mr. James Allis was presented to the
Royal Society, with a new invented cannon, which charges and
discharges both at one time, and twenty times in a minute: he
had their thanks, and a handsome present."
No. XXX.
A way, in one night's time, to raise a bulwark, twenty or thirty
foot high, cannon proof, and cannon mounted upon it; with men to
overlook, command and batter a town; for, though it contain but four
pieces, they shall be able to discharge two hundred bullets each
hour.
NOTE.
Vide the preceding Article.
Since writing the above, the Editor has been called to witness
the effects of highly elastic vapour applied to the propelling
of leaden bullets, in an apparatus contrived by Mr. Perkins; and
these destructive missile engines are capable of discharging
nearly two hundred bullets, in one sixtieth part of the time
described by our author in the present Article.
No. XXXI.
A way how safely and speedily to make an approach to a castle or
town-wall, and over the very ditch, at noon-day.
NOTE.
A wheel carriage, of sufficient strength to support an heavy
iron tower, must first be provided. It may be constructed of
thick wrought iron, with door, &c., of the same material, and
hung round with sand-bags, through the interstices of which
may project from six to eight small guns to protect it from
musquetry. The most eligible method of moving the tower appears
to be by fixing small handles to the axles of the wheels, which
may be turned at pleasure by those within the walls. To prevent
any attempt of the enemy who may sally forth to drag the machine
within the walls of the town, &c., it will be adviseable to arm
the wheels with long steel studs, which, when the handles are
fastened within, will render it immoveable.
This tower, though but of little use in modern warfare, appears
well adapted for reconnoitring the walls of a fortified town,
and, if fixed upon a hollow iron vessel, will possess the
further advantage of crossing rivers and moats. Nearly similar
machines are described by Vitruvius, and other authors who treat
on military engineering.
No. XXXII.
How to compose an universal character, methodical and easy to be
written, yet intelligible in any language; so that if an Englishman
write it in English, a Frenchman, Italian, Spaniard, Irish or
Welchman, being scholars, yea, Grecian or Hebritian, shall as
perfectly understand it in their own tongue as if they were English,
distinguishing the verbs from the nouns, the numbers, tenses, and
cases, as properly expressed in their own language as it was written
in English.
NOTE.
The great difficulty which the various contrivers of a universal
character or philosophical language have hitherto had to
encounter, from the Marquis of Worcester and Bishop Wilkins
down to M. Lodowick, appears to have arisen rather from the
difficulty attendant on engaging the several nations to use it,
than in inventing the most convenient character.
The _real character_ of Bishop Wilkins, which there is every
reason to suppose strongly resembled that of his contemporary
the Marquis, was repeatedly recommended by Dr. Hook, who, to
engage the world in the study of it, published some curious
inventions of his own, tending to its illustration. But the most
accurate notice on the history of _pasigraphy_ yet published
appeared in the _Spect. du Nord_ for May, 1798. The anonymous
author of this interesting memoir commences by a brief inquiry
into the nature and utility of the universal character, and then
proceeds with this very just eulogium on our immortal countryman
Bacon.
It is generally allowed that Lord Bacon of Verulam comprehended
nearly the whole circle of human knowledge at the period in
which he lived, and foresaw most of the discoveries which have
since been made. He laid the foundation of an Encyclopædia,
and was very near discovering various important philosophical
results, such as the weight of the air, &c. If we open his
book on the progress of the sciences, we shall find the notion
of a pasigraphy in the chapter entitled _The Instrument of
Discourse_. "It is possible to invent such signs," says he, "for
the communication of our thoughts, that people of different
languages may, by this means, understand each other; and
that each may read immediately in his own language, a book
which shall be written in another." But Bacon did not think
of confining this to twelve characters: on the contrary, he
requires a great number, at least as many as the number of
radical words; on which head he quotes the example of the
Chinese; "and although," adds he, "our alphabet may appear
more commodious than this method of writing, the thing itself
nevertheless is well deserving of attention. The problem relates
to the signs by which thoughts may be rendered current; and,
as money may be struck of other materials as well as gold and
silver, it is possible likewise to discover other signs of
things as well as letters and words."
Des Cartes, in his third letter to father Mercennus, discusses
the invention of a Frenchman, whom he does not name, but who, by
means of a certain language and an artificial writing, pretended
to understand all the different idioms. He remarks on this
subject, that it would be very possible to compose a short and
convenient grammar, with general signs, which should render all
foreign languages intelligible.
In the year 1661, John Joachim Becher published a Latin folio,
the title of which was "Characters for the Universal Knowledge
of Languages: a Stenographic Invention hitherto unheard of."
This unheard of invention consists of a method by which a native
of any country may make himself understood by all foreigners by
writing in his own language, and be enabled also to comprehend
what they write in theirs. It was truly at that time a thing
unheard of; for Becher, being the first who had given a complete
treatise on this art, may be considered as the inventor.
He begins his work by a series of highly interesting
observations upon general grammar, and the fundamental relations
of all languages with regard to each other. He gives a learned
comparative table of the relations and harmony of the Latin,
the Greek, the Hebrew, the Arabian, the Sclavonian, the French,
and the German. This work cannot be too highly esteemed, and
assuredly was not unknown to the author of the work _Du Monde
Primitif_. A Latin dictionary then follows, in which every word
corresponds with one or more Arabic numeral figures arbitrarily
taken. Every number is assumed as distinctive, or denoting the
same word in all languages; and consequently nothing more is
required than to compose a dictionary for each, similar to that
which he has given for the Latin.
There is likewise a table of declensions and conjugations, which
presents certain determinate numbers for all the cases, moods,
tenses, or persons. By means of this general disposition, when
a Frenchman is desirous of writing to a German the following
phrase, _La guerre est un grand mal_ (war is a great evil), he
seeks in his index, _guerre_, _être_, _grand_, _mal_; and he
writes the correspondent numbers,
13, 33, 67, 68.
The sentence might be understood by these four characteristic
numbers; but, to leave no room for ambiguity, he says, _Guerre_
is the nominative case, and finds, as the characteristic of
the nominative, the Arabic figure 1. _Est_ is the third person
singular of the indicative mood, present tense, of which the
characteristic is 15. To _grand_, and to _mal_, belong likewise
the figure 1, for the nominative case; he will therefore write
13.1 | 33.15 | 67.1 | 68.1 |
where the numbers are separated by small vertical bars to
prevent confusion. It may easily be conceived how, by the
inverse method, the German will find in his tables the words
denoted by the ciphers, which will form _Der krieg ist ein
grosses uebel_.
This invention of Becher, which is the same thing nearly with
regard to language, as algebra is to arithmetic, is possessed
of considerable simplicity, and even a few hours practice will
render it easy. A great variety of attempts on this principle
may be found in Sturmius, _Essais d'Expériences Curieuses_.
In the same year, George Dalgaru, an Englishman, published in
London a work of which the prolix title is sufficient to show
its object. It runs thus, "The Art of Signs, or an Universal
Character and Philosophical Language, by Means of which, Men
of the most different Idioms may, in the Space of two Weeks,
learn to communicate, whether by Word of Mouth or by Writing,
all their Thoughts, as clearly as in their Mother Tongue.
Besides which, young Persons may therein learn the Principles of
Philosophy, and the Practice of true Logic, more speedily and
more readily than in the ordinary philosophic Writings." The
book of Dalgaru is written in Latin, and Beckman accuses him of
extreme pedantry. His characters likewise were ciphers.
Joachim Frisichius, professor at the Gymnasium at Riga, was
employed on a similar attempt, his object being to introduce a
natural, rational, and universal language, of which some sheets
printed at Thorn in 1681 contain the only specimen extant.
The death of the author interrupted his labours. He purposed
to call his new language Ludovicean, in honour of Louis XIV.,
under whose patronage he pursued his labours; a prince whose
generosity was extended to the learned of all countries.
Athanasius Kircher also published a work on this subject,
entitled "A New and Universal Polygraphia, deduced from the
Art of Combination," and by means of which, says Morhoff,
(Polyhistor, l. ii. c. 5.) he who understands one language only
may correspond in writing with all the nations of the earth.
It would perhaps be unjust to pass in silence the little-known
work of father Besnier, a Jesuit, who, in a book entitled _La
Réunion des Langues, ou l'Art de les apprendre toutes par une
seule_, printed at Paris in 1674, has furnished many important
hints for the cultivation of this branch of language.
The most remarkable work, however, which has been written on
this subject, is that for which we are indebted to Bishop
Wilkins, the brother-in-law of Cromwell: it is entitled,
"An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical
Language, London, 1668." It is divided into four parts: 1st,
Considerations on the various languages, their defects and
imperfections, from which a philosophic language ought to
be exempt. 2dly, Philosophical inquiries respecting all the
things and notions to which proper names ought to be assigned.
3dly, The organic science of native grammar considered as the
necessary means of representing simple ideas in discourse.
4thly, The application of the general rules to every character
and language. Examples, &c. This concise outline sufficiently
shows the importance of the work.
In his appendix, the author explains the utility of a method of
writing without alphabetic characters, by means of signs, which
are to be used to denote all the principal ideas, the relative
attributes being designated by small strokes added at right,
acute, or obtuse angles, to the right or left; &c. Of principal
or chief ideas he admits but forty, under which he ranges
all the others, by that means forming a series of categories.
His new language is calculated to afford great facility of
comprehension, and new openings to the various processes of
science.
After so many attempts, more or less philosophical, and of
different degrees of perfection, with others probably of
which we know nothing, we must not overlook the efforts of
the celebrated Leibnitz. His History and Development of a
Characteristic Universal Language is very generally known.
Leibnitz considered his universal characteristic as the art of
inventing and judging. He stated his conviction that an alphabet
might be formed, and of this alphabet such words as would
afford a language capable of giving mathematical precision to
all the sciences. "Men may thus acquire," says he, "as it were,
a new organ, which would add energy to their moral faculties,
as the microscopic lens increases the power of the eye. The
compass is not more highly valuable to the navigator, than this
philosophical language would be to him who embarks on the sea of
reason and experiments, which is now so full of danger."
In concluding this brief sketch, it may be enough to notice the
ingenious method of the Abbé de l'Epée, who, by means of various
gestures, dictated to his various deaf and dumb pupils certain
discourses, which they wrote with equal readiness in four
languages.
No. XXXIII.
To write with a needle and thread, white, or any other colour, upon
white, or any other colour, so that one stitch shall significantly
show any letter, and as readily and as easily show the one letter as
the other, and fit for any language.
NOTE.
Vide Article LXXV.
No. XXXIV.
To write by a knotted silk string, so that every knot shall signify
any letter, with comma, full-point, or interrogation; and as legible
as with pen and ink upon white paper.
NOTE.
This very ingenious mode of secret writing is the most simple
of any suggested by our author. A silk string of considerable
length having been provided, it will be necessary to furnish the
persons corresponding with a key or graduated gauge, by means of
which the writing will be rendered intelligible. Having procured
a duplicate or corresponding gauge it may then be commenced,
1/16 of an inch being allowed for the first letter, 1/4 for the
second, 3/8 for the third, and so on, in equal proportions,
through the whole alphabet. Should this arrangement be found to
extend the line to an inconvenient length, it may be advisable
to form a certain number of changes on three different lengths,
as in No. LII.; though the former way is the least difficult.
No. XXXV.
The like by the fringe of gloves.
NOTE.
The principle of this and the four following Articles is the
same as the preceding, with this difference, that in the first,
the letters, or words, are formed by knotting the fringe, to
which the gauge is afterwards applied; in the second, and most
desirable way, the beads are set to the required distance; by
the third, the gloves are pierced or pricked in rows, according
to the divisions on the gauge; and by the fourth and fifth, the
rows of parallel holes in a sieve or lantern are stopped at the
required distances, and the gauge applied as before.
No. XXXVI.
By stringing of bracelets.
No. XXXVII.
By pinked gloves.
No. XXXVIII.
By holes in the bottom of a sieve.
No. XXXIX.
By a lattin or candlestick lantern.
No. XL.
By the _smell_.
NOTE.
Pegs of sandal, cedar, and rose woods, may be so varied, that
a person writing in the dark will, by the smell, readily
distinguish the formation of words and sentences.
No. XLI.
By the _taste_.
NOTE.
For writing by the _taste_, it will be necessary to immerse
an equal number of the pegs or beads in weak solutions of
alum, aloes, common salt, or any other liquid whose taste is
sufficiently pungent or aromatic, to be distinguished when dry,
on applying the tongue to them for that purpose.
No. XLII.
By the _touch_.
By these three senses, as perfectly, distinctly, and unconfusedly,
yea, as readily as by the sight.
NOTE.
This object may be readily attained by the use of raised
moveable types and the heavy pressure of an iron pen or mallet.
A mode of corresponding by the touch has been suggested by M.
Haüy, and by this means the blind have been fully instructed,
not only in the rudiments of language, but also in the liberal
arts and sciences. M. Haüy's method of preparing the books, &c.,
which is simple and easy of attainment, is as follows: when the
types have been arranged and fixed, a page of very strong paper
is moistened, so as to be capable of receiving and retaining
impressions, and laid upon the types; and then by the operation
of a press or hammer, frequently repeated over the surface, the
impression of the type is made to rise on the opposite side of
the paper; and it continues, when dry, not only "obvious to the
sight," but to the touch, and is not easily effaced. On the
upper side of the paper, the letters appear in their proper
position; and by their sensible elevation above the common
surface, the blind may easily read them with their fingers. For
epistolary correspondence it will be necessary to moisten the
paper and use a metal pen.
No. XLIII.
How to vary each of these, so that ten thousand may know them, and
yet keep the understanding part from any but their correspondent.
NOTE.
This may be effected by changing the order of their arrangement,
which can only be ascertained by a previous examination of a key
chosen for that purpose.
No. XLIV.
To make a key of a chamber door, which to your sight hath its wards
and rose-pipe but paper thick, and yet at pleasure, in a minute of
an hour, shall become a perfect pistol, capable to shoot through a
breastplate, commonly of carabine proof, with prime, powder, and
fire-lock, undiscoverable in a stranger's hand.
NOTE.
The _rose-pipe_ must in this case be formed like the sliding
tubes of a telescope; that next the wards being furnished with
a screw at the inner and capable of holding the whole of them
together. A small quantity of detonating powder being first
placed within, the pipe may be readily discharged by tightening
of the screw.
No. XLV.
How to light a fire and a candle, at what hour of the night one
awaketh, without rising or putting one's hand out of bed. And
the same thing to be a serviceable pistol at pleasure; yet, by a
stranger, not knowing the secret, seemeth but a dexterous tinder-box.
NOTE.