150 PORTABLE WIND MOTORS APPLIED TO 



of a valley. There the winds follow their natural movement 

 without encountering any obstacles ; or the configuration of 

 the surrounding country may be such as to send many winds 

 from different points of the compass in one direction; this 

 should be chosen to install a motor. The Mediterranean 

 region is favoured as much as the plains of Holland as far 

 as the constancy and frequence of wind are concerned, 

 and the results of meteorological observation, which will be 

 given subsequently, allow us to estimate the number of days 

 such a motor may be worked. 



The natural forces, such as water or wind, are gratuitous 

 forces, as is often remarked. These forces, it is true, do .not 

 cost anything, but they must be mastered and transformed, 

 and the motor used for their transformation and application 

 of it to a certain class of work represents a certain amount 

 of capital which must be written off ; the presence of a man 

 is also necessary for the supervision of the machine. That 

 is why wind, of all motive power, is generally the last to 

 which recourse is had, for industrial or agricultural opera- 

 tions, for it is too capricious ; but we must acknowledge 

 that such a motive power presents economic advantages, for 

 the power is spread naturally over a great area. On a large 

 plain the number of the points upon which that force may 

 be rendered available is considerable. 



If it is preferable to utilize a water-course whenever the 

 opportunity exists, on account of the great regularity, it is 

 nevertheless true that a wind motor has the advantage of 

 being erectable in any point of the region and more so in 

 large plains, generally deficient in water, where the wind 

 blows with great force ; and Lucet's motor has the advantage 

 of being very portable. 



This could not apply to the use of water as a motive 

 power, but water can be carried to the motor, its force 

 adjusted so as to obtain regular work. In the case of wind 

 this, however, does not apply. We must take it as it comes, 

 both in force and direction. 



UTILIZATION OF THE MOTIVE POWER OF WIND. 

 In all mechanical operations requiring constant and regular 

 motive power, all those consisting of a series of operations 

 dependent on one another, and to which much manual labour 

 has to be applied, wind cannot be used. It can only serve 

 for operations requiring little manual labour, in Avhich the 



