MECHANICAL PARADOXES. 



Needless to say, the Japanese jinrikisha 

 man does not usually illustrate the virtues of 

 his nation by taking his passenger back for 

 nothing. But if he refuses, it is for commercial 

 rather than mechanical reasons. 



This account does not apply to journeys 

 up-hill. In such cases, besides the traction 

 labour there is additional work to be done 

 in lifting a given weight a given height. To 

 double this work by taking a passenger would 



B c A 



FlO. 2.-PROPOSED BALANCE WITH EMPTY JINRIKISHA. 



more than neutralise the man's gain from 

 putting half of his own weight on to the wheels. 

 Similarly when the roads are soft. The 

 traction labour is then increased by the necessity 

 of forcing the wheels to cut to some extent 

 into the ground. For the light jinrikisha itself 

 this effect is trifling ; but the addition of a pas- 

 senger's weight, and half the jinrikisha man's, 

 would make it very serious, and a passenger 

 who was not paying a fare would be unwelcome. 

 It would be interesting to know whether 

 there have been any attempts to secure the 



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