CH. I 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE COACH 



'hind,' to the 'new and elegant Telegraph coaches,' 

 as occurring just before 1816, as well as the date 

 can be made out from the context. 



The suspension of the bodies of carriages, other 

 than stage-coaches, by four leather braces, is con- 

 tinued to the present day, but always in connection 

 with springs. As early as 1669 springs were tried, 

 but they do not seem to have 

 come into general use for many 

 years later, probably not until 

 after 1 700, when the standards, 

 which held the straps on which 

 the body was hung, were made 

 of steel and were called whip- 

 springs (Fig. 5, A). Small 

 springs were also used to attach 

 the ends of the straps to the 

 body, as at B. About 1790, the whip-spring was 

 replaced by the C-spring (Fig. 5, C), which is still 

 used in expensive carriages. 



Down to 1805, all carriages had perches, but in 

 that year the elliptic spring was invented in Eng- 

 land by Elliot, and since that time the majority 

 of carriages are made without perches, although 

 coaches still have them. 



Plate I., which is a reproduction of a picture by 

 Cordery, 1792, shows the coach as hung on whip- 

 springs by short straps attached to pump-handles 

 projecting from the bottom of the body, as in the 

 present C-spring carriage. The front boot is built 



Fig. 5. 



