Chapter III: Part 3

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.

The pistol tinder-box may readily be made to perform the
whole of what is here described. A bell rope attached to the
trigger will suffice to elicit fire, which, communicating with
a quick-match or fusee, will quickly ignite and produce the
required light. If the fire is previously prepared with wood
or some other combustible material, and a small quantity of
inflammable spirits sprinkled over it, the slightest spark will
throw the whole into a blaze. For the latter qualification
mentioned by the noble author, a pistol barrel may easily be
secreted under the tinder.

The inflammable air-lamp contrived by Volta possesses similar
properties: a stream of hydrogen gas being inflamed by the spark
from an electrophorus.--Vide _Brande's Manual of Chemistry_,
vol. i. p. 240.

No. XLVI.

How to make an artificial bird to fly which way and as long as one pleaseth, by or against the wind, sometimes chirping, other times hovering, still tending the way it is designed for.

NOTE.

In the year 1810, two birds were exhibited at the museum of
the late Mr. Merlin; these performed nearly all the evolutions
described by the Author: with this exception, however, that they
were supported by fine wires; and a similar bird was exhibited
in London in the year 1786.--Vide _77th Art. in the Century_.

No. XLVII.

To make a ball of any metal, which, thrown into a pool or pail of water, shall presently rise from the bottom, and constantly show, by the superficies of the water, the hour of the day or night, never rising more out of the water than just to the minute it showeth of each quarter of the hour; and if by force kept under water, yet the time is not lost, but recovered as soon as it is permitted to rise to the surface of the water.

NOTE.

A metal ball graduated on the surface, in the same manner as
the index stem to an hydrometer, with a balance to preserve
its equilibrium, must first be exhausted of air, which being
effected, the water may be allowed to enter by a small aperture,
and it will gradually sink till the vessel is filled: this, if
the ball is about 12 inches in diameter and the aperture of a
proportionate size, will not take place in less than twelve
hours.

No. XLVIII.

A screwed ascent, instead of stairs, with fit landing places to the best chambers of each story, with back stairs within the _noel_ of it, convenient for servants to pass up and down to the inward rooms of them, unseen and private.

NOTE.

It is most probable that the Marquis here alludes to the
geometrical staircase now in such general use, with the addition
of a small flight of stairs in the centre, in lieu of the common
handrail, which being surrounded by a partition of boards,
would readily serve as a private communication with the upper
stories: sufficient space being left between the ceiling and
under side of the principal staircase to admit of a passage to
the inner rooms. Since writing the above, the Editor has seen a
more explicit account of this species of staircase. It occurs
in "Evelin's Memoirs," vol. i. page 59, and forms part of that
learned and amusing author's tour through France in 1644. The
following is an extract. "Quitting our barke, we hired horses
to Blois, by way of Chambourg, a famous house of y^e King's,
built by Francis I. in the middle of a solitary parke, full of
deere; the enclosure is a wall. I was particularly desirous
of seeing this palace, from the extravagance of the design,
especially the _stayrecase_, mentioned by Palladio. It is said
that 1800 workmen were constantly employed in this fabric for
twelve yeares; if so, it is wonderfull that it was not finish'd,
it being no greater than divers gentlemen's houses in England,
both for roome or circuit. The carvings are very rich and full.
The stayrecase is devised w^{th} four entries or ascents, which
cross one another, so that though four persons meete, they never
come in sight, but by small loope-holes, till they land. It
consists of 274 steps (as I remember), and is an extraordinary
worke, but of far greater expense than use or beauty."

No. XLIX.

A portable engine, in way of a tobacco-tongs, whereby a man may get over a wall, or get up again, being come down, finding the coast proveth insecure for him.

NOTE.

It is not very easy to discover to what the noble author here
alludes: if by _tobacco-tongs_, he means a combination of levers
such as is used by gardeners, to gather choice fruit or lop the
upper boughs of trees, the mode of applying them is extremely
easy. A number of short pieces of brass, jointed together, and
made to resemble a row of _trellis_ work, may, by distending the
joints in an horizontal direction, be made to go in the smallest
compass; and again, by closing the arms, the machine will be
elevated. An ingenious mechanic has constructed a _fire-escape_
upon this principle, of which a model is preserved in the Museum
of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c.

No. L.

A complete light portable ladder, which taken out of one's pocket, may be by himself fastened an hundred feet high to get up by from the ground.

NOTE.

A number of light brass tubes, each having a socket to receive
the end of the preceding joint, may be raised to any given
height, and with the assistance of small loops of cord will
fully answer the purpose here described. It will be necessary
to have a small stud at one end of each joint, with a narrow
slit at the end of the following tube to receive it, which
being carried on in a right angle for about twice its width,
will on being turned round serve as a key to prevent the joints
separating.

No. LI.

A rule of gradation, which, with ease and method, reduceth all things to a private correspondence, most useful for secret intelligence.

NOTE.

_Vide_ Article V.

No. LII.

How to signify words, and a perfect discourse, by jangling of bells of any parish church, or by any musical instrument within hearing, in a seeming way of tuning it, or of an unskilful beginner.

NOTE.

By varying the order of arrangement, the whole alphabet may
readily be rung on three bells; and these, being formed into
sentences by short pauses between each word, will fully serve
for distant conversation. For musical instruments, it is merely
changing keys for bells, and the same purpose may be answered
without the trouble of forming changes upon so small a number
of fixed tones. A table is subjoined, by the use of which a
combination of three bells is made to express the whole alphabet:

A represented by 111
B 112
C 113
D 121
E 122
F 123
G 131
H 132
I 133
K 211
L 212
M 213
N 221
O 222
P 223
Q 231
R 232
S 233
T 311
V 312
U 313
W 321
X 322
Y 323
Z 333

No. LIII.

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.

NOTE.

A leathern water-pipe, such as is used by the firemen, being
nailed in a spiral form round a long circular pole, is the
cheapest and most simple method yet discovered of making the
Archimedean screw.

No. LIV.

How to make a water-screw tight, and yet transparent, and free from breaking; but so clear, that one may palpably see the water, or any heavy thing, how and why it is mounted by turning.

NOTE.

This may be readily effected either by making a coarse screw in
the usual manner, and covering it with horn, or by fitting a
spiral tube of glass on a wooden cylinder, and filling up the
interstices with wax or any hard cement so as to project beyond
the glass tube: this appears the most eligible method, though
the former is the most economical.

M. A. Rochon has likewise proposed a most ingenious substitute
for the use of horn in the construction of the Archimedean
screw, and other hydraulic instruments. It is formed (like the
safety lamp of Sir H. Davy) of a coarse wire gauze which, on
being immersed in pure fish-glue or size, forms when varnished a
cheap and durable substitute for the use of glass.

No. LV.

A double water-screw, the innermost 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 of the screw to make the water rise.

NOTE.

This appears one of those extraordinary slight of hand
discoveries in which the noble author is too apt to indulge;
and though we may readily admit that two water-screws may be
most advantageously employed in turning of any water-wheel,
where an abundant supply is found at the top of the machine,
it yet requires a greater share of penetration than we choose
to take credit for, to discover how a larger quantity of water
can descend than has been previously raised, or, if so, how the
machine could be at all applied to the _raising_ of water.

No. LVI.

To provide and make, that all the weights of the descending side of a wheel shall be perpetually farther from the centre than those of the mounting side, and yet equal in number and heft of the one side as the other. A most incredible thing, if not seen, but tried before the late king of happy and glorious memory, in the Tower, by my directions; two extraordinary ambassadors accompanying his Majesty, and the Duke of Richmond, and Duke Hamilton, with most of the court attending him. The wheel was fourteen feet over, and forty weights of fifty pounds a-piece. Sir William Belford, then Lieutenant of the Tower, can testify it, with several others. They all saw, that no sooner these great weights passed the diameter line of the upper side, but they hung a foot farther from the centre; nor no sooner passed the diameter line of the lower side, but they hung a foot nearer. Be pleased to judge the consequence.

NOTE.

The celebrated problem of a self-impelling power, though denied
by Huygens and de la Hire, who have attempted to demonstrate its
fallacy, has yet been supported by some of the most celebrated
among the ancient as well as modern philosophers. Innumerable
have been the machines to which the idea of _the perpetual
motion_ has given birth; but the most celebrated among the
moderns is the _Orffyrean wheel_. This machine, according to
the description given of it by M. Grævesande, in his _Œuvres
Philosophiques_, consisted of a large circular wheel or drum,
twelve feet in diameter, and fourteen inches in depth. It
was composed of a number of thin deals, the spaces between
which were covered with wax cloth, in order to conceal the
interior parts of it. On giving the wheel, which rested on the
two extremities of an iron axis, a slight impulse in either
direction, its motion was gradually accelerated; so that after
two or three revolutions it is said to have acquired so great a
velocity as to make twenty-five or more turns in a minute: and
it appears to have preserved this rapid motion for the space of
two months, during which time the Landgrave of Hesse, in whose
chamber it was placed to prevent a possibility of collusion,
kept his own seal on the outer door. At the end of that time it
was stopped to prevent the wear of the materials. Grævesande,
who had been an eye-witness to the performance of this machine,
examined all the external parts of it, and was convinced that
there could not be any communication between it and the adjacent
rooms. Orffyreus, however, having been informed of the ill-timed
curiosity of the professor, and incensed at the refusal of a
premium of _twenty thousand pounds_, which he had made a _sine
quâ non_ for disclosing the mechanism of its construction,
broke the whole apparatus into atoms, and his life was soon
after sacrificed to chagrin at his disappointment. The analogy
between the Marquis's description and the Orffyrean wheel is
sufficiently evident; and the experiment having been made in the
Tower, more than fifty years prior to the attempt of the German
mechanic, it is more than probable that the idea was derived
from the noble author's work.

No. LVII.

An ebbing and flowing water-work in two vessels, into either of which, the water standing at a level, if a globe be cast in, instead of rising, it presently ebbeth, and so remaineth, until a like globe be cast into the other vessel, which the water is no sooner sensible of, but that the vessel presently ebbeth, and the other floweth, and so continueth ebbing and flowing, until one or both the globes be taken out, working some little effect besides its own motion, without the help of any man within sight or hearing: but if either of the globes be taken out, with ever so swift or easy a motion, at that instant the ebbing and flowing ceaseth; for if, during the ebbing, you take out the globe, the water of that vessel presently returneth to flow, and never ebbeth after, until the globe be returned into it, and then the motion beginneth as before.

NOTE.

This invention, which is evidently more a matter of curiosity
than of real utility, is no doubt effected upon the principle
of an ebbing and flowing spring; the throwing in of the ball,
by causing a commensurate rise of the water, fills a syphon,
and sets the water-work in motion, but as the effect of this
would cease after the two vessels attained an equilibrium, the
machine must be assisted by a moving power attached to one or
both of the vessels, as the Marquis merely says, that it may
be performed "without the help of any man _within sight or
hearing_."

No. LVIII.

How to make a pistol to discharge a dozen times with one loading, and without so much as once new priming requisite; or to change it out of one hand into the other, or stop one's horse.

NOTE.

An attentive examination of this and the subsequent articles
has suggested what appears an improvement of considerable
importance in the principle of modern fire-arms. The expense
attendant on the manufacture of double barrelled guns, and the
inconvenience which arises from their additional weight, have
hitherto prevented their coming into general use, though their
utility in the field is very generally allowed. An economical
gun uniting all the advantages of the one, with the lightness
and portability of the other, must therefore be considered
as a desideratum of the first importance. To effect this, a
common gun barrel must be pierced with the required number
of touchholes, at a sufficient distance to allow of an equal
number of charges. A detonating magazine gunlock may then be
made to slide on the lower part of the barrel, with a parallel
ratchet and click to fix precisely opposite the touchhole to be
inflamed. The gun must then be loaded by a graduated ramrod,
the powder of each charge being brought opposite its proper
touchhole. After the first discharge, the cock must be moved
back one tooth of the ratchet, and this motion continued till
the whole are exploded, each hole being covered successively by
a plate attached to the lock.

No. 60 is evidently performed by filling a cylindrical flask,
made the same size as the barrel, with the required number of
charges and afterwards forcing the whole of them into the barrel.

Nos. 61 and 67 may be performed by filling a flask previously
made to fit the breech of the musket, and forcing forward each
successive charge by a screw or lever, in the same manner as the
charging is effected in a magazine air-gun.

No. LIX.

Another way, as fast and effectual, but more proper for carabines.

_Vide_ Article LVIII.

No. LX.

A way, with a flask appropriated unto it, which will furnish either pistol or carabine with a dozen charges in three minutes' time, to do the whole execution of a dozen shots, as soon as one pleaseth, proportionably.

_Vide_ Article LVIII.

No. LXI.

A third way, and particularly for muskets, without taking them from their rests to charge or prime, to a like execution, and as fast as the flask, the musket containing but one charge at a time.

_Vide_ Article LVIII.

No. LXII.

A way for a harquebuss, a crock, or ship musket, six upon a carriage, shooting with such expedition, as, without danger, one may charge, level, and discharge them sixty times in a minute of an hour, two or three together.

_Vide_ Article LVIII.

No. LXIII.

A sixth way, most excellent for _sakers_, differing from the other, yet as swift.

_Vide_ Article LVIII.

No. LXIV.

A seventh, tried and approved before the late king (of ever blessed memory), and an hundred lords and commons, in a cannon of eight inches and half a quarter, to shoot bullets of sixty-four pounds weight, and twenty-four pounds of powder, twenty times in six minutes; so clear from danger, that, after all were discharged, a pound of butter did not melt, being laid upon the cannon britch, nor the green oil discoloured that was first anointed and used between the barrel thereof, and the engine having never in it, nor within six foot, but one charge at a time.

_Vide_ Article XXIX.

No. LXV.

A way that one man, in the cabin, may govern a whole side of ship muskets, to the number (if need require) of two or three thousand shots.

NOTE.

The plan of this and the following Articles, though not of much
practical utility, may yet be acted upon with a certainty of
success. The powder may be ignited by the means of a powerful
electrifying machine made to communicate with each separate
piece, and the charging must be performed by conducting wires or
rods made to act upon the magazine lever described in Article
LVIII.

Since writing the above, an article has appeared on the subject
in one of the French Journals, of which the following is a
translation: At two o'clock in the afternoon M. Bouche made an
experiment in the _Jardin des Plantes_ at Paris, to try the
effect of electricity applied to gun batteries. Instead of
guns he had fixed about one hundred rockets on long sticks,
disposed in the garden. The rockets were all connected by an
iron wire, and the same spark produced a spontaneous explosion.
The concourse of people was very great, the weather being
remarkably fine. This new invention is not intended to increase
the destructive powers of those formidable weapons; but it is
expected to afford the means of using them without exposing
gunners to the fire of the enemy.

No. LXVI.

A way, that against the several avenues to a fort or castle, one man may charge fifty cannons, playing and stopping when he pleaseth, though out of sight of the cannon.

_Vide_ last Article.

No. LXVII.

A rare way likewise for muskettoons, fastened to the pommel of the saddle, so that a common trooper cannot miss to charge them, with twenty or thirty bullets at a time, even in full career.

NOTE BY THE AUTHOR.

When first I gave my thoughts to make guns shoot often, I
thought there had been but one only exquisite way inventible;
yet, by several trials, and much charge, I have perfectly tried
all these.

No. LXVIII.

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 sphæram 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, stopping and screwing up the broken end, as also the touchhole; and making a constant fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst and made a great crack: so that having found a way to make my vessels, so that they are strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill after the other, 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 abundantly perform in the interim between the necessity of turning the said cocks.

NOTE.

_Vide_ Article C., to which is prefixed a brief historical and
descriptive account of that stupendous machine, the Steam-engine.

No. LXIX.

A way how a little triangle and screwed key shall be capable and strong enough to bolt and unbolt, round about a great chest, an hundred bolts through fifty staples, two in each, with a direct contrary motion, and as many more from both sides and ends, and at the self-same time shall fasten it to the place, beyond a man's natural strength to take it away; and, in one and the same turn, both locketh and openeth it.

NOTE.

This invention, with its two following modifications, is
evidently intended to operate on the principle of applying a
screw for the purpose of forcing the _lock bolt_, in lieu of
using the handle of the key as a lever for that purpose. That
this plan might be applied to locks generally, there can be no
doubt, and by a similar contrivance the large keys at present in
use for outer doors, iron chests, &c. might be advantageously
reduced to the size described by the noble author. By employing
the escutcheon mentioned in No. LXXII. these locks would be
equally safe and much more simple than those in common use. For
the latter part of the Article, any ingenious smith may make a
lock with an hundred bolts; and to fasten it to the place, the
power of a screw key is abundantly sufficient to force an iron
bar through a staple previously fixed in the floor.

No. LXX.

A key, with a rose-turning pipe, and two roses pierced through endwise; together with several handsomely contrived wards, which may likewise do the same effects.

No. LXXI.

A key, perfectly square, with a screw turning within it, and more conceited than either of the rest, and no heavier than the triangle screwed key, and doth the same effects.

No. LXXII.

An escutcheon, to be placed before any of these locks with these properties.

1. The owner (though a woman) may, with her delicate hand, vary
the ways of coming to open the lock ten millions of times,
beyond the knowledge of the smith that made it, or of me who
invented it.

2. If a stranger open it, it setteth an alarm a going, which
the stranger cannot stop from running out; and, besides, though
none should be within hearing, yet it catcheth his hand, as a
trap doth a fox; and though far from maiming him, yet it leaveth
such a mark behind it, as will discover him if suspected; the
escutcheon, or lock, plainly shewing what money he hath taken
out of the box, to a farthing, and how many times opened since
the owner had been at it.

NOTE.

The two principal properties of this escutcheon may be readily
contrived; and the first of them has, in fact, been already
applied to a very ingenious padlock, invented by Mr. Marshall,
and for which the Society of Arts voted him a reward of ten
guineas. In Mr. M.'s escutcheon the letters or figures commonly
used in the ring padlock allow an almost endless variety of
changes, and the owner may in one minute alter the arrangement
in such a manner that even the maker would experience as
much difficulty to open it, as an entire stranger to its
construction. To render the combination of letters variable, the
characters must not be engraved upon the outside of the rollers
themselves, but upon a thin brass hoop made to fit on its outer
surface; and a spring fastened to the roller, and pressing
upon the inside of the hoop, will cause a sufficient degree of
friction to make them move together.

The other part of this invention is equally simple with the
preceding. An alarum, such as is attached to a clock, may easily
be wound up prior to closing the box; and the lid provided with
a chamfered bolt or staple, capable of effecting its discharge
when the box is opened.

To register the amount of money taken from the box, it will
be necessary either to place each distinct piece of money in
separate divisions, or to put a number together in one deep
recess capable of admitting but one piece to pass at a time. As
the pieces are shaken out, they will in their passage raise a
lever capable of moving a wheel one division in the passage of
each piece.

The Bank of England have a method somewhat similar for
registering the number of notes worked from the printing press
of that establishment.

No. LXXIII.

A transmittable gallery over any ditch or breach in a town-wall, with a blind and parapet, cannon proof.

No. LXXIV.

A door, whereof the turning of a key, with the help and motion of the handle, makes the hinges to be of either side, and to open either inward or outward, as one is to enter or to go out, or to open in half.

NOTE.

By making the handle act on a lever communicating with the
hinges, they may be raised from their sockets on the required
side; and to open in half, it is merely necessary to joint them
in the centre.

No. LXXV.

How a tape or riband-weaver may set down a whole discourse, without knowing a letter, or interweaving any thing suspicious of other secret than a new-fashioned riband.

NOTE.

The evident analogy between this Article and No. XXXIII. will
be apparent on the slightest view, and in general principle it
is similar to Nos. XXXIV. XXXV., &c. It may be performed either
by making the stitches of a given length, varying the distance
to distinguish the different letters of the alphabet; or, by
any arbitrary shape which may be previously agreed upon by the
parties corresponding. These arrangements being made, the silk
weaver will have nothing more to do, than set his loom to the
required pattern.

No. LXXVI.

How to write in the dark, as straight as by day or candle-light.

NOTE.

Two planes of ebony of equal length and breadth, similar to the
parallel ruler, and joined at each end by racks, the side of
which being graduated to the width of the line intended will
serve as a certain guide, and by the use of this instrument a
blind person may write with the greatest accuracy. If ivory
tablets or a slate is used, a fine wire drawn with a steel point
may be readily felt by the point of the pencil.

No. LXXVII.

How to make a man to fly: which I have tried with a little boy of ten years old, in a barn, from one end to the other, on a hay-mow.

NOTE.

Innumerable are the schemes that have been proposed by the
learned at different periods, to enable man to support himself
in the air by the means of artificial wings, &c. and some,
indeed, of these ingenious contrivances have formed the labours
of the most distinguished mechanical geniuses, which are
recorded in the early annals of science.

Bacon, and an Italian priest named Francisco Lana, endeavoured
to accomplish it by means of two thin hollow globes, exhausted
of air, which being considerably lighter than that fluid, were
intended to sustain a chair suspended to their lower extremity,
and on which the aeronaut might be seated. But Dr. Hook, in a
work published some time after the _Prodromo_ of Lana, plainly
showed the fallacy of the attempt, though without in the least
attempting to deny the possibility of eventually effecting this
object.

Bishop Wilkins, who was also a disciple of the flying system,
describes a species of land-sailing vessels or chariots, which
were then commonly used in China: and it is rather a curious
fact that a German Count, possessing as much of modesty as the
generality of foreign mechanics, has lately given to the public,
as his own, an invention which has been known in Europe, and
occasionally employed in Asia, for the last four hundred years.

But of all the plans that have hitherto been devised, those only
which have mechanic power as their basis appear to have any
chance of success. This may be considered as an unerring _datum_
to guide the future experimentalist, the certainty of which
is fully demonstrated by a comparison of the powers of the
human frame with those of the feathered tribe: for it has been
calculated by an ingenious anatomist, that the muscles which
move the wings downwards in a bird in many instances, constitute
not less than the sixth part of the weight of the whole body;
while those of a man are not one hundredth part so large. By the
use of springs, however, wound to a certain degree of tension,
prior to embarking upon the intended expedition, and acting
upon cranks working the wings, the same power as that possessed
by the feathered race may be obtained, and the springs may be
readily made to draw more than fifty times their weight. By
this means a whalebone, or other light carriage, may be raised,
though it would be but for a short time, as it would not be in
the power of the aëronaut to wind the springs so quick as the
machine would require.

From this, then, it will be seen that, to produce the effect
necessary for this species of navigation, it is only requisite
to have a first mover, which will produce more power, in a given
time, in proportion to its weight, than the animal system of
muscles.

High pressure steam-engines have been made to operate by
expansion only, and they, it appears, might be constructed so
as to be light enough for this purpose. In that case, however,
it will be evident that the usual plan of a large boiler must
be given up, and the principle of injecting a proper charge of
water into a series of tubes, forming the cavity of the fire,
must be adopted in lieu of it.

The following estimate will show the probable weight of such an
engine with its charge for one hour.

lbs.
The engine itself, from 90 to 100
Weight of inflamed coals in a }
cavity presenting about 4 feet } 25
surface of tube }
Supply of coal for 1 hour 6
Water for ditto, allowing steam }
of one atmosphere to be 1/1800 } 32
the specific gravity of water }
---
163
---

It may at first view appear superfluous to inquire further
relative to a first mover for aërial navigation; but lightness
is of so much value in this instance, that it is proper to
notice the probability that exists of using the expansion of air
by the sudden combustion of inflammable powders or fluids with
great advantage. The French have experimentally shown the great
power produced by igniting inflammable fluids in close vessels;
and several years ago, an engine was made in this country to
work in a similar manner, by the inflammation of spirit of tar.

It appears that eighty drops of this fluid raised eight hundred
weight to the height of 22 inches; hence a one-horse power may
consume from 10 to 12 pounds per hour, and the engine itself
need not exceed 50 pounds weight.

Probably a much cheaper engine of this sort might be produced
by gas-light apparatus, and by firing the inflammable air
generated, with a due portion of common air, under a piston.
Upon some of these principles it is perfectly clear that force
can be obtained by a much lighter apparatus than the muscles of
animals or birds, and therefore in such proportion may aërial
vehicles be loaded with inactive matter. Even the high pressure
steam-engine doing the work of six men, and only weighing
equal to one, will readily raise five men into the air, but by
increasing the magnitude of the engine ten, fifty; or even five
hundred men may equally well be conveyed.

Having rendered the accomplishment of this object probable upon
the general view of the subject, it will now be necessary to
point out the principles of the art itself. The whole problem
is confined within these limits, viz. To make a surface support
a given weight by the application of power to the resistance of
the surrounding atmosphere.

Many experiments have been made upon the direct resistance of
air by Mr. Robins, Mr. Rouse, Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Smeaton, and
others. The result of Mr. Smeaton's experiments and observations
was, that a surface of one square foot met with a resistance of
one pound, when it travelled perpendicularly to itself through
air at a velocity of 21 feet per second.

Having ascertained this point, had our tables of angular
resistance been complete, the size of the surface necessary for
any given weight would easily have been determined. Theory,
which gives the resistance of a surface opposed to the same
current in different angles, to be as the squares of the sine
of the angle of incidence, is of no use in this case; as it
appears, from the experiments of the French Academy, that in
acute angles, the resistance varies much more nearly to the
direct ratio of the sines, than as the squares of the sines
of the angles of incidence. The flight of birds will prove to
an attentive observer, that, with a concave wing apparently
parallel to the horizontal path of the bird, the same support,
and of course resistance, is obtained. And hence it appears
that, under extremely acute angles with concave surfaces, the
resistance is nearly similar in them all.