﻿106 PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



V 



placed, saw the size of the rock, they again hesitated, and recom- 

 mended its division into smaller portions. The fear of accidents, 

 however, and the hardness of the stone, caused them to yield to the 

 representations of the engineer, who was now favored by the support 

 and encouragement of the minister, Betzky ; and the intelligence of 

 the empress being superior to the senseless clamor raised by the en- 

 vious and the ignorant, she gave orders for the commencement of the 

 work. 



A working model of the machinery with which it was proposed to 

 remove the rock from its situation, was first made. M. Lascary re- 

 solved on effecting this removal without the use of rollers, as these 

 not only present a long surface, which increases the friction, but 

 are not easily made of the great diameter that would have been re- 

 quired, owing to the soft and yielding nature of the ground on which 

 the work was to be performed. Spherical bodies, revolving in a me- 

 tallic groove, were then chosen as the means of transport. These 

 offered many advantages. Their motion is more prompt than that 

 of rollers, with a less degree of friction, as they present but small 

 points of contact. Stout beams of wood, 33 feet in length, and one 

 foot square, were then prepared. One side was hollowed in the form 

 of a gutter, and lined, the sides being convex to the thickness of two 

 inches, with a compound metal of copper and tin. Balls of the same 

 metal, five inches in diameter, were then made, to bear only on the 

 bottom of the groove. These beams were intended to be placed on 

 the ground in a line, in front of the stone, while upon them were 

 reversed two other beams, prepared in a similar manner, each 42 

 feet long and 18 inches square, connected as a frame by stretchers 

 and bars of iron 14 feet in length, carefully secured by nuts, screws, 

 and bolts. A load of 3000 pounds, when placed on the working 

 model, was found to move with the greatest facility ; and the invent- 

 or hoped to satisfy the minister, as well as the mechanicians, by its 

 public exhibition. The former was well pleased with the experi- 

 ment,, and expressed his belief in the possibility of removing the 

 stone ; while the latter raised absurd objections, with the cry of" the 

 mountain upon eggs." 



The first thing to be done, as the rock lay in a wild and deserted 

 part of the country, was to build barracks capable of accommodating 



