MECHANICAL CARRIAGE. 



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the depth of water ten inches. A speed of about five-and-a-half miles an 

 hour can be obtained with a pressure of one hundred pounds. It is a twin- 

 screw " ship " with propellers of three blades. The Nina was built on the 

 lines of the Nautilus, of cedar and oak, and coppered. It is stated to be 

 a marvel of solidity and lightness. The chimney is movable, and can be 

 lowered at pleasure if a bridge be too low. There is ample room for pro- 

 visions for the occupant in a frame which can be attached to the sides or 

 fixed astern. The boat is easily carried in sections, and can be transported 

 easily from place to place. 



The weights of the various portions are as follows : The hull 90 lb., 

 boiler 80 lb., engine 25 lb., machinery 20 lb. ; total, 215 lb. Forty pounds 

 of good charcoal can be packed into the sides of the boat in racks. 

 The rudder can be so connected by wires that the feet will perform the 

 function of steering, thus leaving the hands free to attend to the engine, so 

 the occupant is perfectly at liberty to go where and how he pleases. 



Fig. 905. An old clialse. 



For river navigation or calm sea-steaming the Nina is admirably 

 adapted, and any one who can be stoker, steersman, and engineer, as well as 

 passenger and crew, will enjoy a trip in such a boat. Such a steamer costs 

 about 250, but it might be less. It may be added that the Nina has 

 uniformly behaved well, and was built by Fordham of New York. 



A MECHANICAL CARRIAGE. 



A distinguished savant of the seventeenth century, Ozanam by name, 

 a member of the Academy of Science, gave in 1693 a curious description 

 of a mechanical carriage, which may perhaps be regarded as the parent of 

 the velocipede and the bicycle. We here reproduce the engravings from 

 Ozanam's work and his words. 



" Some years ago," wrote the philosopher in 1693, "there may have 

 been seen in Paris a chaise," as in the picture, " and which a servant, by 



