Air Pump in England. 347 



ter's, already given in reference to hia share in constructing 

 Boyle's first pump, adds : — '* The draught of this air-pump 

 and all its parts, as it was after published by Mr Boyle, I 

 have now by me, designed by Mr Hooke ; and I have heard 

 him say, he was then sent to London by Mr Boyle, to get the 

 barrel [not barrels], and other parts for that engine, which 

 could not be made at Oxford.'' 



In a curious way, also, we have tlie united testimony of 

 Boyle and Hooke, as to the configuration and appearance of 

 the great engine. During Boyle's lifetime, he employed 

 Faithorae to engrave his likeness.* The portrait is drawn 

 in an oval or medallion, with pieces of apparatus grouped 

 around it. The latter were designed by Hooke, and one of 

 the two most conspicuous instruments is the great pneuma- 

 tical engine, with a bird in its globular receiver. This draw- 

 ing is copied as a vignette on the title-page of each volume 

 of Birch's Boyle. Three letters from Hooke to Boyle, of 

 date 1664, containing references to the portrait, and its ac- 

 companiments, will be found in the Boyle Correspondence. t 



From all that has been said, it will appear, that the double- 

 barrelled air-pump shewn to visitors at the Royal Society's 

 apartments, is as little Boyle's original air-pump, as the 

 famous mace of the Society is Cromwell's bauble. The wreck 

 of the great pneumatical engine may still lurk in some garret 

 or cellar of Somerset House. If so, it will be readily recog- 

 nised by a reference to the original drawing, and should at 

 once be transferred to a place of safety and honour. There 

 is too much reason, however, to fear, that the original air- 

 pump, like the Dodo, has long been extinct. 



An ominous announcement of Mr Weld's makes this too 

 probable. In a comment on the state of the Royal Society's 

 museum or repository in 1767, he says : — " There appear to 

 have been a great number of models of machines and curious 



* Faithorne was a celebrated engraver and draughtsman of the period. His 

 portraits (,f Cromwell, Cowley, and other celebrated men of the times of the 

 Commonwealth and Restoration, are well known and highly prized by collec- 

 tors. 



t Birch's Boyle, vol. vi., pp. 487, 488, and 501. 



