[Illustration: Bramley & Parker’s Specification. English patent. No.
6027. November 4, 1830. See page 211.]
CYCLING ART,
ENERGY,
AND
LOCOMOTION:
A SERIES OF REMARKS ON THE DEVELOPMENT
OF BICYCLES, TRICYCLES, AND MAN-MOTOR
CARRIAGES.
BY
ROBERT P. SCOTT.
_ILLUSTRATED._
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
1889.
Copyright, 1889, by +J. B. Lippincott Company+.
[Illustration]
DEDICATION.
THIS WORK
IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY,
AND AS A BODY CORPORATE,
OF
THE BALTIMORE CYCLE CLUB.
PREFACE.
The average intelligence of the Cycling fraternity can, with justice,
be said to be above that of any other association of men and women,
devoted to pastime, sport, and exercise, in the world; yet withal it is
with some considerable feeling of anxiety that this book is sprung upon
them. There can be no question but that we are a reading community,
and yet all attempts catering to our wants, in the way of books, seem
to have met with a less hearty support than should have been expected.
The author of one of the greatest works connected with Cycling has
recently informed us that he is still many hundreds of dollars behind,
and other authors have good reason to complain that their books can
be searched for even at club-houses, where they surely ought to be
found. Books consisting largely of advertisements have, no doubt,
paid the compilers, as have also the numerous periodicals, but when
we ponder over the colossal efforts of Kron and Stevens, and think of
the poorly-rewarded devotion of Sturmey, “Faed,” the Pennels, Stables,
Cortis, and others, the encouragement is not at all stimulating to
writers; especially since all books of these authors are of the most
attractive character and easily comprehended, whereas a large portion
of this work is written with a view to inspiring a close study of the
art, and for that reason, if for no other, is liable to be dry reading.
However, it is too late now to swerve from the task; if one more must
be added to the procession of dejected, empty-pocketed venturers, “so
mote it be.”
No petition is made to the Fraternity to read this book in particular,
but it is hoped that all cycling books and periodicals will be
patronized, hereafter, with the usual liberality so characteristic of
wheelmen in connection with other matters, and if this work should,
in any way, foster this hope, its mission will be more than filled.
In one way the writer has already been amply repaid; if he had never
undertaken this task it is just possible that he, like many others,
might never have followed a cycler through India, or have made the
acquaintance of “The Best of Bull-Dogs.”
The nature of this book has drifted, to some extent, from the rigid
mathematical character originally intended, partially because it just
drifted, and also perhaps intentionally, in order to give it a more
popular bearing. If some severely practical readers should notice an
attempt at humor, or an amusing turn given to what should be stern
mathematical or mechanical reasoning, it is hoped that it will not be
considered undignified or trivial, for it is done with an object; and
if the popular reader should be averse to running off into abstract
theories, let him but remember how little we realize that everything
we do, or make, in our daily experience rests upon some fundamental
principle which we ought to know and be able to explain. Who would
have thought that the principles underlying the simple matter of
balancing a bicycle would confuse even a school-boy? Perhaps it ought
not; nevertheless, the article on that subject is cut rather short,
for the reason that the writer, even with the help of others more
competent, was unable to definitely determine all points in regard to
it. My thanks are due to Prof. E. W. Davis, of Columbia, S. C., Gustav
Bissing, Ph.D., of Baltimore; Prof. Robinson, of Columbus, Ohio; F. R.
Smith, A.M., of Cambridge, England, and others, for valuable assistance
courteously rendered.
Respectfully,
+R. P. Scott+.
+Baltimore+, 1889.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
+Introductory+ 17
CHAPTER II.
The Cycle Art 20
CHAPTER III.
Can we improve upon the Creator’s Methods? 22
CHAPTER IV.
The Direct Application of Power 28
CHAPTER V.
The Connecting Link between the Legs of Nature and the Wheel of
Mechanics 41
CHAPTER VI.
Graphic Illustration of the Application of Power to
Cycles—Kinematics 48
CHAPTER VII.
Balancing, and Some Questions of Potential Energy—Hill-Climbing 62
CHAPTER VIII.
Comparison of the Curves of Translation, in Machines of which the
Diameters, or Combination of Wheels Differ, of a Point taken
in the same Relative Position on the Several
Saddles—Consequent Concussion and Effect upon Momentum 69
CHAPTER IX.
Springs in Relation to the Curves of Translation, Momentum, and
Concussion 80
CHAPTER X.
Anti-Vibrators and Spring Forks 87
CHAPTER XI.
Saddles and Springs in Relation to Anatomy and Health 94
CHAPTER XII.
Headers or Croppers 103
CHAPTER XIII.
Gearing Up and Down 112
CHAPTER XIV.
The Modern Rover, or Rear-Driving Safety 117
CHAPTER XV.
The Side-Slip of the Safety 128
CHAPTER XVI.
The Ladies’ Bicycle 140
CHAPTER XVII.
Tandems and the Rational 144
CHAPTER XVIII.
Workmanship in Cycles—English and American Makers 149
CHAPTER XIX.
Cranks and Levers and Tangent Spokes 156
CHAPTER XX.
Antifriction Bearings, Ball and Roller 169
CHAPTER XXI.
Aluminum in Cycle Construction—Strength of Tubes 180
CHAPTER XXII.
The Cycle in War—Steam and Electricity 187
CHAPTER XXIII.
Cycle Patents and Inventors 190
CHAPTER XXIV.
Hobbies 197
PART II.
Remarks on Bolton Machine, American Patent 208
Dennis Johnson English Patent 208
Brief of Specification and Remarks on Croft American Patent 208
Extracts from Very Old English Patents 210
Briefs of Specification and Remarks on Bramley & Parker English
Patent 211
Julien French Patent 215
Cochrane English Patent 217
Dalzell Machine, 1845 218
Landis American Patent 220
Way American Patent 221
Lallement American Patent 222
Moores American Patent 225
Gleason American Patent 227
Rhoads American Patent 229
Estell American Patent 231
Christian & Reinhart American Patent 233
Ward American Patent 235
White American Patent 237
Sturdy & Young American Patent 239
Lawson American Patent 240
Flanders American Patent 241
Schmitt American Patent 243
Leftwich English Patent 244
Hemmings American Patent 247
Wortmann American Patent 249
Sawhill American Patent 251
Lowden American Patent 253
Lewis American Patent 254
Mey American Patent 257
Hornig American Patent 259
Scientific American Illustration 260
The Coventry Tricycle 261
Baker American Patent 263
Higley American Patent 264
Klahr American Patent 265
Bruton English Patent 267
Langmaak & Streiff American Patent 268
Monnin & Filliez American Patent 269
Scuri American Patent 270
Smith American Patent 273
Tragardh American Patent 274
Renetti Patent 275
Hull & O’Rear American Patent 277
Schaffer American Patent 279
Burlinghausen American Patent 281
Von Malkowsky American Patent 283
Bevan American Patent 285
Lose American Patent 286
Libbey American Patent 288
Leske German Patent 289
Lawson American Patent 291
Hoak American Patent 293
Burbank American Patent 295
Williamson American Patent 297
Duryea American Patent 299
Latta American Patent 301
The Wheel, Illustration 302
The Spalding Patent Flyer, Illustration 303
Scott Bone-Shaker 305
+Cycling Art+,
ENERGY, AND LOCOMOTION.
PART I.
+Cycling Art+,
ENERGY, AND LOCOMOTION.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Locomotion as applied to the question of transportation of matter in
all its varied forms has always been, and will always continue to be,
one of the great problems of advancing civilization. To such an extent
does the element of transportation enter into our highly organized
system of society that it is said to be the most powerful factor in the
evolution of man. So confidently is this believed, that a great genius
has been led to promulgate the theory that at some future time man will
consist of a head and trunk; that all use for the limbs being entirely
dispensed with in the art of moving and manipulating matter, these will
gradually shrivel up and drop off, as it has been said the tail did
when we no longer used it for swinging our bodies from tree to tree,
like the proverbial monkey, or as a projectile force so valuable to the
locomotion of the kangaroo.
The development of mechanical means for transporting and manipulating
all matter has, to a wonderful extent, excused the use of man’s legs
and arms: and the facility with which a great mass is loaded for
transportation, delivered at its destination, and there manipulated
with scarcely the touch of human hands has, it must be admitted,
greatly diminished the labor otherwise delegated to the limbs. It is
possible that almost all matter could be moved, moulded into desirable
form, and utilized by civilized man for all his requirements, by the
use of mechanical means, and man could no doubt transport himself by
the same means, without using his limbs, and thereby reach a very high
state of civilization; but such means must include a great amount of
mechanical appliance accompanying the transportation, the more in
proportion to each as the number of travellers is less in the same
circuit.
Now, I think we can well admit that the very highest state of
advancement will be marked by the greatest facility each man has to go
his own way, and when we come to think of the world crowded as it must
eventually become, does it not seem apparent to the reader that, since
the natural energy now encompassed within our system is sufficient
to carry us about, it will be for the best to continue to use this
energy in our locomotion and make our improvements with the view to
such a use, not for the purpose of dispensing with the many mechanical
conveniences that now subserve our demands, but in order to add a
simple and convenient means of unit transportation over reasonably long
distances in a reasonably short space of time and accomplish the same
with the least possible increase of mechanism? Humanity without the
power to transport itself is to us an almost incomprehensible idea, and
at the present day it is almost equally hard to conceive the state of
society in which the movement of large masses over even small distances
was impossible; yet there was a time when man could do no more than
transport himself, together with such articles as he could carry upon
his back or hold in his hands. It was probably not till long after this
that he constructed a sled from the bark of a great tree to receive
his chattels, and pulled it along by some rude vine; still nearer to
our own time comes the invention of the wheeled vehicle or wagon, and
when we come to that marvel of modern inventive genius the railway and
steam-driven locomotive we are within a period yet personally known to
our oldest fellow-citizens.
So much inventive ingenuity, so much marvellous energy has been
expended upon the solution of the problem of transporting large masses,
in which we see the wheel has finally played an important part, that
the question of the individual transportation of individual men has
received comparatively little attention, and it is only within the last
twenty-five years that an amount of labor and thought has been given
to this problem at all commensurate with its importance. This recent
labor and thought has not been expended in vain; it has placed the man,
too, upon the wheel, which has done so much towards developing the use
of other energy, and at last there spreads out before him a beautiful
vista of independent locomotion unexampled in all the previous
experience of his race.
As wheel suggests the name “cycle,” let us call this art, appertaining
to the man and the wheel, “The Cycle Art,” or, more definitely, if we
wish, the art of “Man-Motor Carriages.”