60 



1'KIM'KIT A I. MOTION 



giving out inure than wa derived from the heat of 

 the eoal. Thin, of courne, i impoMiihle ; it is fnmi 

 Ute uwilmni.til.lr u>re> of nature alone, -uric UK 

 Bra, water, wind, chemical action, ami electricity, 

 UuU force in derived in give iniiiinn tu .-my machine 

 whatever. In/Head of producing more force tlutn it 

 ban received, and HO laying up a stork >f energy 

 which ini^li: rvn<1rr it 'perpetual.' every machine 

 inii-t in it* reoulUi show lem energy tliiin has been 

 trammittod to it. Some of the machine '* work 

 i nln\ p*Mit on frictiim anil the atmospheric 

 resistance, to that it cannot give out all the force 

 that wax put in. 



A Minple pendulum' swinging in an exhausted 

 receiver, or a top Miinning there, might illu.-tnite 

 the trrin Perpetual Motion, if friction could be 

 avuideil. Neither of the*e, however, could lie called 

 a perpetual machine, (iive the top aouie work to do 

 )>y putting it in gear, aav, with a wheel or a crank, 

 and pvedily it motion slackens; which pi -oven that, 

 for a 'machine,' new force is constantly required 

 (ram witliout, especially if anything more than 

 men motion U required. In the \oid <>f tin- 

 French Academy (lltttoirr, 1775): 'Neglecting 

 friction and reautance (of the air), a body t<> which 

 motion hai been given will retain it for ever, I nit 

 only on condition that it does nut act on other 

 bodies; and the only perpetual motion (HMwilile, 

 even on thi* bypotbeui, would be uaelea* fur the 

 purpoae of the devuen. . . . Numerous mechanics 

 whti might have been of great net-vice have wasted 

 (mi tin- kind of research) their meitns, time, and 

 ulenta.' 



The mere enumeration of all the chief attempts 

 made in various countries tu contrive a ttelf-mov- 

 in_- machine wouM he tedious. We shall only 



typical raaen in each clan. In one 



dam of > railed perpetual machine* the essential 

 part wan a wheel revolving on a horizontal axis. 

 with lereral movable weight- so distributed round 

 'ii a* apparently to act always nion- on one 

 We than the other, and tlnm contimn- tin- i>-\olu 

 One of the*e wa by the iujreniou.-. MaripiU 

 I Worcorter, and U deKribed in hi* i' f ,,/,iri/ >,f 

 Imotmtiont a* having I--.-M un-.| in the Towi-r lii-fore 

 the king and court. On tin- -..ML- priiid|>le MILS 

 Jarknon marhine -li-.n in li^.. I. In other 

 iit^.-ni|.t- of I hi- el aw the -<ii|e of the wheel wits 

 dni.li-.! vmmetrirally into cells with cuin-.! si,|,.s, 

 each cell holding a ball which rolled about a* the 



l | ' 



' I I 



revolution look i.lare. M , tl,t the hall* Mmuld, 

 bvbeinj: farther fn.m the centre, act more on one 

 W OMB on the other, a* *hon in M K . 2. A 

 foreign ianuncr, dwribed in a Int. , i,, Net,,n iw 

 an ndouhlMl t>urrMi, wan that of Orlhi. 

 Mag ol a larx* whiwl noTered with can vu.. \\ I,. ,, 

 Mt in Motion UM cpeed inrn>a*e<l till it reached a 

 rate of twenty-Ore revolution, a minute ; and when 

 ealed qp by the F.lector of Cael it wan found 

 at the end nf two month* to )* moving u, rapiillv 

 a* evw. We moat of cmine amuiiip the exUtenoe 

 of MOM imposition in t hu and more recent cacea. 



In another clasn of Helf-nioving inachinefi water 

 or inercurv became the prime motor, ami was wmn- 

 time- used in defianre of the mo8t elementary I 

 of livilniKtatirx. One of these consisteil essentially 



of H large veaael having a rurveil mln- N-ailiiiL- n 



the Ixittotn up one wide and lieiiding over the lirim. 

 The inventor iictnally conchiileil that the great 

 weight of the liiiuiil in tin- vessel wlien full, or 

 nearly -o. must force the liijiiiil in the tulie up 

 higher than the edge of the vessel, and thus 

 cause a perpetual circulation. 



Another class ilepemleil on nmgrietir action, such 

 as HiHliop Wilkins's inclined plum- up which an iron 

 Ixill was drawn in a groove by the attraction of a 

 loadotone fixed at the top (fig. 3). Before reaching 

 the loadstone the ball wax ingeniously intended to ' 

 fall through a hole in its path on to arm v ing incline 

 beneath, and thus IM- conveyexl by a second groove 

 to the foot of the first inclined plane, in order to 

 recommence ita upward journey under exact I \ 

 similar cii cumstanc.-s. The bishop overlookel t he 

 fact that the magnetic action would also ti-nd to 

 prevent a fall ; but for that fallacy, he hail cmm- 



Fig. a 



Fig. 4. 



as near success as the laws of nature permit. 

 In Addeley's perpetual motion the wheel \\.is 

 surrounded by a set of magnets, projecting like 

 teeth in a slanging direction, and having the 

 S [Miles all towards the centre (lig. 4). Four 

 larger fixed magnet* were disposed outside tin- 

 wheel, two of which at opposite points of theiir 

 cumference presented their S poles to attract tin- 

 revolving miignels, while half-way lietweeii them 

 the other two presented tin-it N jioles to retard 

 them. All the four magnets, however, acted 

 against the inventor's purpose, as well as in t In- 

 direction which he intended. In fart, if magnetic 

 action or gravity could IK- temporarily nullified in 

 a particular direction f as light is l.\ interposing an 

 opiupie Imdv) the proldem of perpetual motion 

 could immediately In- solved. 



Innumerable patent* ha\e Keen taken out for 

 magnetic iind electric- maclcines. Inn in the principle 

 of each s<ime fallacy lurks, due to a misconception 

 of the lawn of fence transmission. A typical > 

 U an electric machine driven by a gas-engine 

 where the latter in heated by the decomposition 

 of water by the electricity produced : just as if a t 

 uteani. engine, for example, could lie heated l>v tin- 

 friction of certain lilies set in motion by it>lf. 



Some intelligent and practical propotab have 

 from time to time been made to utilise the rise and 

 fall of tide* an the motive power of machir 

 These, however, should not l>e clawed, as is some- 

 times done, under those named 'perpetual,' since 

 the supply of |Hiwer is obviously derived from a 

 natural source the moon's attraction combined 

 with the earth's daily rotation. A tide-mill, e\ 

 actly as a water-mill or windmill, is entirely 

 ile|-ndent on an outward supply of power, anil 

 run in no sense 1- termed self moving or ' per- 

 petual.' Ultimately, of course, all the forms of 

 natural energy are to lie ref.-n.-d to the sun, the 



