286 Experiments on the Strength of 



I had made the necessary arrangements so as to be able 

 to load successively the basin of a balance which 1 had at- 

 tached to the hook at the end of the cord wliich descended 

 into the pit, whilst the man who held the other end of this 

 cord employed all his strength without advancing or re- 

 ceding a single inch. 



The following Table gives the weights placed in the l)asin 

 when the workmen were obliged to give up, having no 

 longer sufficient strength to sustain the pressure occasioned 

 by the weight. To proceed with certainty, I increased the 

 weight each time by five pounds, beginning from 60, and 

 I took the precaution to make this augmentation in equal 

 intervals of time, having always precisely a space of 10 se- 

 conds between them. The result of these observations re- 

 peated several days in succession, is contained in the fol- 

 lowing Table. 



When the cord passed over the shoulders of the workipcn : 



When the cord was simply held before the man : 



These two Tables show that men have less power in 

 drawing a cord before them ihan when they make it pass 

 over their shoulders : it shows us also that the largest men 

 have not always the greatest strength to hold, or to draw 

 in a horizontal direction, by means of a cord. To obtain 

 the absolute velocity of these 20 men, I proceeded as fol- 

 lows : 



Having measured very exactly a distance of 120Q0Rhin- 

 Jand i'eet in a plain nearly level, 1 caused these 20 men to 



maxcli 



