PERPETUAL MOTION 73 



of these would-be inventors. Amongst the hundreds, or, 

 perhaps, thousands, of contrivances which have been de- 

 scribed, there is probably not more than a dozen kinds 

 which differ radically from each other ; the same arrange- 

 ment having been invented and re-invented over and over 

 again. And one of the strange features of the case is that 

 successive inventors seem to take no note of the failure of 

 those predecessors who have brought forward precisely the 

 same combination of parts under a very slightly different 

 form. 



It is true that we occasionally find a very elaborate and 

 apparently complicated machine, but in such cases it will be 

 found, on close examination, to owe its apparent complexity 

 to a mere multiplication of parts ; no real inventive ingen- 

 uity is exhibited in any case. 



Another singular characteristic of almost all those who 

 have devoted themselves to the search for a perpetual 

 motion is their absolute confidence in the success of the 

 plans which they have brought forth. So confident are 

 they in the soundness of their views and so sure of the suc- 

 cess of their schemes that they do not even take the trouble 

 to test their plans but announce them as accomplished 

 facts, and publish their sketches and descriptions as if the 

 machine was already working without a hitch. Indeed, so 

 far was one inventor carried away with this feeling of con- 

 fidence in the success of his machine that he no longer 

 allowed himself to be troubled with any doubts as to the 

 machine's going but was greatly puzzled as to what means 

 he should take to stop it after it had been set in motion ! 



These facts, which are well known to all who have been 

 brought into contact with this class of minds, explain many 

 otherwise puzzling circumstances and enable us to place 



