the frame, and spoken into one of the trumpets, and an answer
immediately proceeded from the whole of them, so loud as to
be distinctly heard by the inquirer, and yet so distant and
feeble, that it appeared as if coming from a very diminutive
being. In this the whole of the artifice consisted; and the
variations were so contrived that the answer might be returned
in several languages, a kiss might be returned, the breath
producing the voice was felt, and songs were sung, accompanied
by the piano-forte, &c. To produce this illusion, the sound was
conveyed by a tube, in a manner similar to the old and well
known contrivance of the _speaking bust_; the invisible girl
only differing in one circumstance; that an artificial echo
was produced by means of the trumpets and hollow globe, in
consequence of which the sound was completely reversed.
In the invisible girl the orifice of the tube was in one of
the handrails just opposite the mouth of one of the trumpets,
the opening being concealed by reeds and other mouldings; the
tube itself, which was about half an inch in diameter, ran
through half the handrail, then down one of the corner posts,
and from thence under the floor till it reached a large deal
case almost similar to an inverted funnel, along the side of
which it rose till it came nearly into contact with the ear of
the confederate, who with a piano-forte, &c. was concealed in
this case. Any question asked by a voice directed into one of
the trumpets was immediately reflected back from the concave
interior surface of the globe to the orifice of the tube, along
which it was conveyed so as to be distinctly heard by the person
in the deal case, who returned the requisite answer, which
appeared to come precisely from the interior of the globe. A
small hole closed with glass was likewise left through the deal
case and side wall of the apartment, by means of which the
concealed person had an opportunity of observing and commenting
upon any circumstance which occurred in the room.
No. LXXXIX.
White silk, knotted in the fingers of a pair of white gloves, and so
contrived without suspicion, that, playing at _primero_ at cards,
one may, without clogging his memory, keep reckoning of all sixes,
sevens, and aces, which he hath discarded, and without foul play.
NOTE.
That sliding knots or rings may be formed on the fringe of silk
or other gloves, by which means a reckoning can be kept, may
easily be conceived; but it is scarcely too much to aver that
an undue advantage taken of an opponent, even at cards, savours
very much of foul play, if not absolute cheating.
No. XC.
A most dexterous dicing-box, with holes transparent, after the usual
fashion, with a device so dexterous, that with a knock of it against
the table, the four good dice are fastened, and it looseneth four
false dice, made fit for this purpose.
NOTE.
There are few who profess the science of cheating at cards or
dice, or to be encouragers of those who do; and it may fairly be
conceded that there are not two periods in our regal annals, in
which this detestable meanness had become fashionable enough to
sanction a nobleman in inscribing to the King and his Parliament
a method by which it might be advantageously effected.
No. XCI.
An artificial horse, with saddle and caparisons fit for running at
the ring, on which a man being mounted, with his lance in his hand,
he can at pleasure make him start, and swiftly to run his career,
using the decent posture with _bon grace_, may take the ring as
handsomely, and running as swiftly as if he rode upon a barbe.
NOTE.
Any person who is acquainted with the various automaton figures
that have been constructed by those celebrated mechanics,
Vaucanson, Kempelen, and Maelzel, will readily admit the
possibility of making a horse of this description; nor should
we too readily undervalue those mechanical pursuits, which,
though not of any immediate national advantage, have formed the
employment of one of the greatest potentates of modern Europe.[7]
[7] CHARLES V., after his abdication, retired to the monastery
of St. Justus, in Estramadura, where he amused himself, during
the latter period of his life, in the making of automatons, in
which he was assisted by a very ingenious artist named
Turriano.
The most celebrated of the modern automata were those made by
Vaucanson, and which are thus described by Beckman:--
"One of them, which represented a flute-player sitting,
performed twelve tunes, and, as we are assured, by wind issuing
from its mouth into a German flute, the holes of which it opened
and shut with its fingers."
"The second was a standing figure, which in like manner played
on the Provençal shepherd's pipe, which it held in its left
hand, and with the right beat upon a drum."
"The third was a duck, of the natural size, which moved its
wings, exhibited all the gestures of that animal, quacked like
a duck, drank water, ate corn, and then, after a little time,
let drop behind it something that resembled the excrement of a
duck."[8]
[8] History of Inventions, vol. iii. p. 326.
Of these automata, or rather _androides_, the flute-player of
Vaucanson is the only one of which a correct description has
been preserved; a particular account of its mechanism having
been published in the Memoirs of the French Academy. The figure
was about five feet six inches high, and was placed upon an
elevated square pedestal. The air entered the body by three
separate pipes, into which it was conveyed by nine pairs of
bellows, which expanded and contracted in regular succession,
by means of an axis of steel turned by the machine. The three
tubes, which conveyed the air from the bellows, after passing
through the lower extremities of the figure, united at the
chest; and ascending from thence to the mouth, passed through
two artificial lips. Within the cavity of the mouth was a small
moveable tongue, which by its motion at proper intervals,
admitted or intercepted the air in its passage to the flute. The
fingers, lips, and tongue derived their specific movements from
a steel cylinder turned by clockwork. The cylinder was divided
into fifteen equal parts, which by means of pegs, pressing
upon a like number of levers, caused the other extremities to
ascend. Seven of these levers directed the fingers, having rods
and chains fixed to their ascending extremities; which, being
attached to the fingers, made them to ascend in proportion
as the other extremity was pressed down by the motion of the
cylinders, and _vice versa_. Three of the levers served to
regulate the ingress of the air, being so contrived as to open
and shut, by means of valves, the communication between the lips
and reservoir, so that more or less strength might be given, and
a higher or lower note produced as occasion required.
The lips were directed by four similar levers; one of which
opened them to give the air a freer passage; another contracted
them; a third drew them backward, and the fourth pushed them
forward. The remaining lever was employed in the direction
of the tongue, which by its motion shut or opened the mouth
of the flute. The varied and successive motions performed by
this ingenious androides, were regulated by a contrivance no
less simple than efficacious. The axis of the steel cylinder or
barrel was terminated by an endless screw composed of twelve
threads, above which was placed a small arm of copper, with
a steel stud made to fit the threads of the worm, which, by
its vertical motion, was continually pushed forward. Hence,
if a lever was moved, by a peg placed on the cylinder, in any
one revolution, it could not be moved by the same peg in the
succeeding revolution in consequence of the lateral motion
communicated by the worm. By this means the size of the barrel
was considerably reduced; and the statue not only poured forth a
varied selection of instrumental harmony, but exhibited all the
evolutions of the most graceful performer.
No. XCII.
A screw, made like a water-screw, but the bottom made of iron-plate
spadewise, which, at the side of a boat, emptieth the mud of a pond,
or raiseth gravel.
NOTE.
The Archimedean screw, though hitherto only applied to the
raising of water, appears to be equally applicable to many
other purposes; as the procuring of sand from pits, taking dry
goods of small dimensions from carts or barges, clearing rivers,
&c. though in that case it will be necessary to make the lower
end of the machine in a conical form, gradually increasing the
size of the orifice from the point to its upper extremity, in
order to prevent the materials from clogging the screw, which
would otherwise occur.
The _dredging machine_ worked by a steam-engine, and employed in
the Thames for a similar purpose, is well known.
No. XCIII.
An engine, whereby one man may take out of the water a ship of five
hundred tons, so that it may be caulked, trimmed, and repaired,
without need of the usual way of stocks, and as easily let it down
again.
NOTE.
Beckman, in his History of Inventions, says, that a machine
of this description was invented by a citizen of Amsterdam,
in the year 1690, and was by him called the _water camel_. It
consisted of two half ships, and on the deck of each were placed
horizontal windlasses from which proceeded ropes made to pass
under the keel of the vessel intended to be raised. The two
sides of the camel having been sunk by the admission of water,
the ropes were drawn tight, and the pumps being put in motion,
the vessel was gradually raised to the surface. It appears
to have been principally employed in crossing the bar of the
Zuyderzee.
No. XCIV.
A little engine, portable in one's pocket, which placed to any door,
without any noise, but on crack, openeth any door or gate.
NOTE.
The simple engine called a _Jack_, used for the purpose of
raising great weights, with small manual exertion, appears to
be admirably calculated for this purpose; and its even uniform
motion is evidently described by the noble author.
Ramelli has also given a description of several very curious
instruments for the same purpose. Vide _Artificiose Machini_, p.
255, &c.
No. XCV.
A double cross-bow, neat, handsome, and strong, to shoot two arrows,
either together, or one after the other so immediately, that a deer
cannot run two steps, but, if he miss of one arrow, he may be
reached with the other, whether the deer run forward, sideward, or
start backward.
NOTE.
The cross-bow, though long since superseded in point of general
utility by the invention of fire-arms, might still be found a
useful auxiliary in the sports of the field, and as such, it
has been thought advisable to notice what appears to be the
plan on which this instrument must be constructed. To fire two
arrows in immediate succession, it will be necessary either
to attach a second bow to the under side of the stock, which,
after discharging one arrow, may immediately be reversed, and
the second fired. Or, where a bow of sufficient length is used,
the string may communicate the required degree of impetus to
two arrows in succession, a stud being previously prepared for
its reception, about half-way down the stock, from which it may
readily be liberated for the second discharge.
No. XCVI.
A way to make a sea-bank so firm and geometrically strong, that a
stream can have no power over it; excellent likewise to save the
pillar of a bridge, being far cheaper and stronger than stone walls.
NOTE.
The _break-water_ erected by Mr. Rennie at Plymouth is, in its
results, precisely what the noble author has here described. The
plan of its construction is this: a mass of stone in blocks, of
about three feet in diameter, is thrown promiscuously into the
sea, and left to find their own base, the extremity of which is
generally about seventy yards. This sea-wall has been carried
about eight hundred fathoms in length, and the total expense
attendant on its erection is estimated at £1,150,000. In 1766,
Mr. Smeaton also applied loose stones to strengthen the middle
piers of London bridge, which was the means of preserving
that venerable structure from the almost certain ruin which
threatened it.
But the most economical sea-bank yet constructed was executed at
Rye, in 1804, under the superintendence of the Rev. Daniel Pape,
curate of that place.
The dam or bank was formed in its lower part in two parallel
ridges close to each other, like the double roof of a house,
which were covered over, first with straw, and then with hazel
faggots about thirteen feet long; and the whole was then pinned
down with piles, which were united to each other at their heads
by pieces put across the direction of the faggots. When this
bank was completed, Mr. Pape formed another bank, on the top
of the preceding, by filling up the interval between the two
ridges, and covering the whole in the manner above described.
All this was accomplished in one tide, and when completed it
fully answered the purpose for which it was intended.
No. XCVII.
An instrument, whereby an ignorant person may take any thing in
perspective, as justly, and more so than the most skilful painter
can do by the eye.
NOTE.
Vitruvius is the first author who directly treats on this
branch of the fine arts, though there can be no doubt but the
ancients fully understood its most essential rules, which they
must have practised at a very early period in the decoration of
their theatres. Vitruvius, in the _proem_ to his seventh book,
informs us, that Agatharchus of Athens noticed the subject,
when preparing a tragic scene for a play exhibited by Æschylus:
but the principles of the art were more distinctly taught by
Democritus and Anaxagoras, the disciples of the former painter.
Pietro del Borgo, early in the fourteenth century, constructed a
very ingenious machine, which was afterwards employed by Albert
Durer for the above purpose. It consisted of a transparent
tablet, through which the object being viewed from a small
aperture, the artist contrived to trace the images which the
various rays of light emitted from them would make upon it.
Mr. Ferguson has also described a machine for this purpose, the
invention of which he ascribes to Dr. Bevis. But the most simple
and efficient instrument yet discovered for large objects is
the camera obscura and camera lucida; both of which fully answer
the description given by the noble author.
No. XCVIII.
An engine, so contrived, that working the _primum mobile_ forward
or backward, upward or downward, circularly or cornerwise, to and
fro, straight, upright or downright, yet the pretended operation
continueth and advanceth; none of the motions above mentioned,
hindering, much less stopping the other; but unanimously, and
with harmony agreeing, they all augment and contribute strength
unto the intended work and operation; and therefore I call this a
_semi-omnipotent engine_, and do intend that a model thereof be
buried with me.
No. XCIX.
How to make one pound weight to raise an hundred as high as one
pound falleth, and yet the hundred pounds descending doth what
nothing less than one hundred pounds can effect.
No. C.
Upon so potent a help as these two last mentioned inventions,
a water-work is, by many years' experience and labour, so
advantageously by me contrived, that a child's force bringeth up, an
hundred feet high, an incredible quantity of water, even two feet
diameter. And I may boldly call it, _the most stupendous work in
the whole world_: not only with little charge to drain all sorts of
mines, and furnish cities with water, though never so high seated,
as well to keep them sweet, running through several streets, and
so performing the work of scavengers, as well as furnishing the
inhabitants with sufficient water for their private occasions: but
likewise supplying the rivers with sufficient to maintain and make
navigable from town to town, and for the bettering of lands all the
way it runs; with many more advantageous, and yet greater effects of
profit, admiration, and consequence: so that deservedly I deem this
invention to crown my labours, to reward my expenses, and make my
thoughts acquiesce in way of further inventions. This making up the
whole Century, and preventing any further trouble to the reader for
the present, meaning to leave to posterity a book, wherein, under
each of these heads, the means to put in execution and visible trial
all and every of these inventions, with the shape and form of all
things belonging to them, shall be printed by brass plates.--Besides
many omitted, and some of three sorts willingly not set down, as not
fit to be divulged, lest ill use may be made thereof, but to show
that such things are also within my knowledge, I will here in myne
owne cypher sett down one of each, not to be concealed when duty and
affection obligeth me.
_In bonum publicum, et ad majorem Dei gloriam._
NOTE.
The three last inventions may justly be considered as the most
important of the whole "Century," and when united with the 68th
article, they appear to suggest nearly all the data essential
for the construction of a modern steam-engine. The noble
author has furnished us with what he calls a "definition" of
this engine; and although it is written in the same vague and
empirical style, which characterises a large portion of his
Inventions, it may yet be considered as affording additional
proofs of the above important fact.
The Marquis's "definition" is exceedingly rare, as the only copy
known to be extant is preserved in the British Museum.--It is
printed on a single sheet without date, and appears to have been
written for the purpose of procuring subscriptions in aid of a
Water Company, then about to be established.
"A stupendous, or a water-commanding engine, boundless for
height, or quantity, requiring no external, nor even additional
help or force to be set, or continued in motion, but what
intrinsically is afforded from its own operation, nor yet
the twentieth part thereof. And the engine consisteth of the
following particulars:--
'A perfect counterpoise, for what quantity soever of water.
'A perfect countervail, for what height soever it is to be
brought unto.
'A _primum mobile_, commanding both height and quantity,
regulator-wise.
'A vicegerent or countervail, supplying the place, and
performing the full force of man, wind, beast, or mill.
'A helm or stern, with bit and reins, wherewith any child may
guide, order, and control the whole operation.
'A particular magazine for water, according to the intended
quantity, or height of water.
'An aqueduct, capable of any intended quantity or height of
water.
'A place for the original fountain or river to run into, and
naturally of its own accord incorporate itself with the rising
water, and at the very bottom of the aqueduct, though never so
big or high.
'By divine providence, and heavenly inspiration, this is my
stupendous water-commanding engine, boundless for height and
quantity.
'Whosoever is master of weight, is master of force; whosoever is
master of water, is master of both: and consequently to him all
forcible actions and atchievements are easie.'"
It may now be adviseable to trace the history of the steam-engine
through some of its earlier modifications; and we shall find that,
although the present form of this stupendous machine almost deserves
the title of an invention, yet that many steps have been taken,
and much labour and much ingenuity expended, before it was brought
to that point from which the more modern improvements may be said
to have begun. And whilst we admire the genius of those who have
perfected the application of a mighty power, let us not refuse the
tribute of praise to those, who first pointed out that such a power
existed.
[Illustration]
The first apparatus of this description, of which any authentic
account has been preserved, was suggested by Hero of Alexandria,
and consisted of a vessel F in which steam was generated by the
application of external heat. The ball G was supplied with the
elastic vapour thus procured, by means of the bent pipe E B, a steam
tight joint being provided for that purpose. Two tubes bent to a
right angle at A and D, are the only parts open to the air, and as
the steam rushes out from very minute apertures, a rotatory motion
is produced. An account of this apparatus is preserved in Hero's
_Spiritalia_, published by the Jesuits in 1693; and a copy of this
highly curious work, with a Latin translation prefixed, is now in
the Library of the London Institution.
A modification of Hero's apparatus is represented beneath: It was
constructed by Mr. Styles for the use of the Editor in his public
lectures. The circular tube _a_ is in this case supported by the
upright pillar _c d_; and the flame of alcohol in the trough _b_, by
generating high pressure steam, which rushes from the apertures _e_,
produces a rotatory motion.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Brancas's revolving apparatus, as will be seen by reference to
the diagram in the preceding page, was still more simple than
that contrived by Hero. A copper vessel filled with water, (in
the original figure made in the form of an ornamental head,) was
furnished with a pipe _c_, through which the steam was propelled,
and striking against the vanes of the float wheel _d_, readily gave
motion to a pestle and mortar, which was employed in the alchemist's
laboratory.
The only work in which a description of this engine has been
preserved, was published in 1629; it is exceedingly rare, and the
above diagram is engraved from a copy in the possession of Major
Colby.
A slight examination of the principle upon which this simple
apparatus is constructed, will shew that no very considerable
force could have been obtained; as the steam passing through the
atmosphere in its passage to the wheel, must, to a certain extent at
least, be converted into water.
After the publication of the work by Brancas, more than thirty years
elapsed ere the publication of the Marquis's "Century" recalled
the attention of the scientific world to this important subject;
and this invention, which he states as having been completely
carried into effect, was evidently very different from that of his
predecessors.
It is said that the Marquis, while confined in the Tower of
London, was preparing some food in his apartment, and the
cover of the vessel, having been closely fitted, was, by the
expansion of the steam, suddenly forced off and driven up the
chimney. This circumstance attracting his attention, led him to
a train of thought, which terminated in the completion of his
"water-commanding engine."[9] Of the Marquis's invention no record
has been preserved beyond the articles to which we have already
alluded in the present work: and in the absence of other data, the
Editor readily introduces Professor Millington's design for an
engine on similar principles; and which, with a few alterations,
might be made available for the purposes recommended by our author.
[9] _Vide_ Historical and Descriptive Account of the Steam-engine,
by C. F. Partington, p. 6.
[Illustration]