76

Horizontal Tread Wheel.

[Book 1.

to his plate, and thence to his mouth. Hence the advice of Ovid, for neither Greeks nor Romans used table-forks:

"Your meat genteelly with your fingers raise;

And-as in eating there's a certain grace,

Beware, with greasy hands, lest you besmear your face.

A German writer in the middle of the 16th century, in suggesting the whirling Eolipile as a turnspit, remarks, "it eats nothing, and gives withal an assurance to those partaking of the feast, whose suspicious natures nurse queasy appetites, that the haunch has not been pawed by the turnspit, in the absence of the housewife's eyes, for the pleasure of licking his unclean fingers." This evil propensity of human turnspits, however, eventually led to their dismissal, and to the employment of another species, which, if not better disposed to resist the same temptations, had less opportunities afforded of falling into them. These were the canine laborers already noticed.

Horizontal tread-wheels for raising water are described by Agricola, from whose work, De Re Metallica, we have copied the figure. Two men on opposite sides of a horizontal bar, against which they lean, push with their feet the bars of the wheel on which they tread, behind them. Similar wheels, inclined to the horizon were also used. For an other kind of tread-wheel, see chapters 14, and 17. On the Noria and Chain-pump.

In all the preceding machines the roller is used in a horizontal position; but at some unknown period of past ages, another modification was devised, one, by which the power could be applied at any distance from the centre. Instead of placing the roller as before, over the well's mouth, it was removed a short distance from it, and secured in a vertical position, by which it was converted into the wheel or capstan. One or more horizontal bars were attached to it, of a length adapted to the power employed, whether of men or animals; and an alternating rotary movement imparted to it, as in the common wheel or capstan, represented in the next figure, No. 26. It appears from Belidor, (Tom. ii, 333) that machines of this kind, and worked by men were common in Europe previous to, and at the

Chap. 10.]

Common Wheel.

77

time he wrote. Sometimes the shaft was placed in the edge of the well, so that the person that moved it walked round the latter, and thus occupied less space.

No. 26. Common Wheel or Capstan.

Circumstances, highly illustrative of European manners during the early part of the 17th and preceding centuries, are associated with the introduction of table-forks. They were partially known in Italy in the 11th century, for in a letter of Peter Damiani, who died in 1073, mention is made of a lady from Constantinople, who was married to the Doge of Venice, and who among other strange customs, required rain-water to wash herself, and was so fastidious respecting her food, as to use a fork, and a golden one too, to take her meat, which was previously cut into small pieces by her servant. Lon. Quart. Review, vol. 58. (April, 1837.) They are mentioned, (probably as curiosities) in a charter of Ferdinand I. of Spain, 1101, and in the wardrobe accounts of Edward I. of England, 'a pair of knives with sheathes of silver enameled, and a forke of chrystal,' are specified. Fosbroke, Ency. Ant. Forks were common in Italy in the 15th century, although nearly unknown in France and England in the following one. At the close of the 16th, they are noticed as a luxury in France, and lately introduced. Henry the Fourth's fork is still preserved -it has two prongs, and is of steel. So late as 1641, they were not universal in Paris. In a representation of a great feast held by the cobblers in that year, and attended by musicians, &c.-no forks are on the table-the carver holds what appears to be a leg of mutton with one hand, while with the other he cuts a slice off, for a lady seated next to him. Hone's Every Day Book, vol. ii, 1055.

They were not used in England till about the same time, a period much later than might have been supposed. In 1611, an Englishman was ridiculed for using one. This was Coryatt the eccentric traveler. "I observed," he says, "a custom in all those Italian cities and townes through the which I passed, that is not used in any other country that I saw in my travels; neither do I think that any other nation of Christendome doth use it, but only Italy. The Italian and most strangers that are commorant, [dwelling] in Italy do alwaies at their meales use a little forke, when they cut their meate. For while with their knife, which they hold in one hand, they cut the meate out of the dish, they fasten their forke which

78

Table-Forks.

[Book I. they hold in the other hand, upon the same dish So that whatsoever he be, that sitting in the company of any others at meale, should unadvisedly touch the dish of meate with his fingers, from which all at the table doe cut, he will give occasion of offense unto the company, as having transgressed the lawes of good manners; insomuch that for his error, he shall be at least brow-beaten, if not reprehended in words. This forme of feeding, I understand, is generally used in all places in Italy, their forkes being for the most part made of yron or steele, and some of silver; but these are used only by gentlemen. The reason of this their curiosity is, because the Italian cannot by any means have his dish touched with fingers, seeing all men's fingers are not alike cleane-hereupon I myself thought good to imitate the Italian fashion, by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I was in Italy, but also in Germany, and oftentimes in England since I came home: being once quipped for that frequent using of my forke, by a certain learned gentleman, a familiar friend of mine, one Master Laurence Whitaker, who in his merry humour doubted not to call me Furcifer, only for using a forke at feeding."

"A

In this extract, we have a view of Italian gentlemen 'feeding' in the beginning of the 17th century, and in the following one, we obtain an insight into British manners during the middle of it. Forty years after the publication of Coryatt's Travels, a Manual of Cookery appeared, containing the following instructions to British ladies, when at table. gentlewoman being at table, abroad or at home, must observe to keep her body straighte, and lean not by any means upon her elbowes-nor by ravenous gesture discover a voracious appetite. Talke not when you have meate in your mouthe; and do not smacke like a pig-nor eat spoonemeat so hot that the tears stand in your eyes. It is very uncourtly to drinke so large a draught that your breath is almost gone, and you are forced to blow strongly to recover yourselfe. Throwing down your liquor as into a funnel, is an action fitter for a juggler than a gentlewoman. In carving at your own table, distribute the best pieces first, and it will appeare very decent and comely to use a forke; so touch no piece of meat without it." This elegant extract is from The Accomplished Lady's Rich Closet of Rarities.' London, 1653. Neither knives nor forks were used at the tables of the Egyptians. A representation of a feasting party is sculptured on a tomb near the pyramids, a copy of which is inserted in Vol. II, of Wilkinson's interesting work. One gentleman holds a small joint of meat in his hand, two are eating fish which they retain in their fingers, while another is separating the wing of a goose with the same implements.

Chap. 11.]

Machines for the Irrigation of Land.

79

СНАРТER XI.

Agriculture gave rise to numerous devices for raising water-Curious definition of Egyptian husbandry-Irrigation always practised in the east-Great fertility of watered land-The construction of the lakes and canals of Egypt and China, subsequent to the use of hydraulic machines-Phenomenon in ancient Thebes-Similarity of the early histories of the Egyptians and Chinese-Mythology based on agriculture and irrigation: Both inculcated as a part of religion-Asiatic tanks-Watering land with the yoke and pots-An employment of the Israelites in Egypt-Hindoo Water Bearer-Curious shaped vessels-Aquarius, 'the Water Pourer,' an emblem of irrigation-Connection of astronomy with agriculture-Swinging baskets of Egypt, China and Hindostan. Arts and customs of the ancient Egyptians. THE last three chapters include most of the methods adopted by the ancients to raise water for domestic purposes. There is, however, another class of machines of equal merit and importance, which probably had their origin in agriculture, i. e. in the irrigation of land. Persons who live in temperate climates, where water generally abounds, can scarcely realize the importance of artificial irrigation to the people of Asia and other parts of the earth. It was this, which chiefly contributed to support those swarms of human beings, who anciently dwelt on the plains of the Euphrates, the Ganges, the Nile, and other large rivers. In Egypt alone, the existence of millions of our species has in all times depended wholly upon it, and hence the antiquity of machines to raise water among that people. The definition of oriental agriculture is all but incomprehensible to an uninformed American or European-it is said to consist chiefly, "in having suitable machines for raising water," a definition sufficiently descriptive of the profession of our firemen, but few people would ever suppose it explanatory of that of a farmer. It is however literally true. Irrigation is everything-the whole system of husbandry is included in it; and no greater proof of its value need be given, than the fact of machines employed to raise water for that purpose in Egypt, being taxed.

The agricultural pursuits of man, must at a very early period have convinced him of the value of water in increasing the fruitfulness of the soil: he could not but observe the fertilizing effects of rain, and the rich vegetation consequent on the periodical inundations of rivers; nor on the other hand, could he possibly have remained ignorant of the sterility consequent on long continued droughts: hence nature taught man the art of irrigating land, and confirmed him in the practice of it, by the benefits it invariably produced. In some countries the soil was thus rendered so exceedingly fruitful as to exceed credibility. Herodotus, when speaking of Babylonia, which was chiefly watered by artificial irrigation, (for the Assyrians he observes, 'had but little rain,') says, it was the most fruitful of all the countries he had visited. Corn, he said never produced less than two hundred-fold, and sometimes three hundred; and after reciting some other examples, he remarks, that those persons who had not seen the country, would deem his account of it a violation of probability-in other words, a traveler's tale. Clio, 193. Five hundred years afterwards, the elder Pliny speaking of the same country, observes, "there is not a territory in all the east comparable to it in fertility;" while in another part of his work, he refers to the cause of its fruitfulness-he says, the principal care required, was, "to keep the ground well watered." Nat. Hist. vi, 26, and xviii, 17.

80

Hydraulic Works of

[Book I. Mr. St. John, mentions a species of Indian corn growing in the fields of Egypt, prodigiously prolific. On one ear, three thousand grains were reckoned! and a lady, who frequently made the experiment in the Thebaid, constantly found between eighteen hundred and two thousand. Egypt and Mahommed Ali, vol. i, 143. Another proof of the value of irrigation is given by Herodotus. When speaking of that part of Egypt near Memphis, he observes, that the people enjoyed the fruits of the earth with the smallest labor. "They have no occasion for the process nor the instruments of agriculture, usual and necessary in other countries." This remark of the historian, has been ridiculed by some authors; but its truth has been verified by recent travelers.a

The advantages of artificial irrigation have not only been known from the earliest ages, but some of the most stupendous works which the intellect of man ever called into existence, were designed for that purpose: works so ancient as to perplex our chronologists, and so vast as to incline some historians to class them among natural formations. Ancient writers unite in asserting that Lake Maris was the work of men's hands,' and constructed by a king of that name; its prodigious extent, however, has led some modern authors to question its alleged origin, although artificial works still extant, equal it in the amount of labor required; as the Wall of China, the Pyramids, and other works of ancient Egypt. Sir William Chambers, when comparing the works of the remote ancients with those of Greece, observes that the city of Babylon would have covered all Attica; that a greater number of men were employed in building it, than there were inhabitants of Greece; that more materials were consumed in a single Egyptian Pyramid, than in all the public structures of Athens; and that Lake Mareotis could have deluged the Peloponnesus, and ruined all Greece. But incredible as the accounts of Lakes Moeris and Mareotis may appear, these works did not surpass, if they equaled, another example of Egyptian engineering, which had previously been executed. This was the removal of the Nile itself! In the reign of Menes, (the first, or one of the first sovereigns) it swept along the Libyan chain of mountains, that is, on one side of the valley that constitutes Egypt; and in order to render it equally beneficial to both sides, a new channel was formed through the centre of the valley, into which it was directed: an undertaking which indicates a high degree of scientific knowledge at that early period.

Before the lakes and canals of Egypt or China could have been undertaken, the inhabitants must have been long under a regular government, and one which could command the resources of a settled people, and of a people too, who from experience could appreciate the value of such works for the purpose of irrigation, as well as the inefficiency of previous devices for the same object; that is, of machines for raising the water for if it be supposed the construction of canals to convey, of reservoirs to contain, and of locks and sluices to distribute water, preceded the use of MACHINES for raising it—it would be admitting that men in ignorant times had the ability to conceive, and the skill to execute the most extensive and perfect works that civil engineering ever produced-to have formed lakes like oceans, and conveyed rivers through deserts, ere they well knew how to raise water in a bucket, or transmit it through a pipe or a gutter. The fact is, ages must necessarily have elapsed before such works could have been dreamt of, and more before they could have been accomplished. Individuals would naturally have recourse to rivers in their immediate vicinity, from which (the Nile for example) they must long have toiled in

St. John, vol. i, 181. Lindsay, Let. 5.