114 OUTLINES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 



183. It appears to be a certain fact, that when 

 a man carries only his own weight, the quantity 

 of his action, that is, the height he is able to ascend 

 in a given time, multiplied into his weight, is 

 greater than when he carries any additional load ; 

 and COULOMB thought it probable, that this dimi- 

 nution of action, is in proportion to the additional 

 load carried. Now it appeared from his experi- 

 ments, that when a man carried a load equal to his 

 own weight, his action was reduced nearly one- 

 half; and, therefore, supposing the reduction al- 

 ways proportional to the load, if w be the weight 

 of the man's body, / an additional load, which he 

 is made to carry, H the height to which he ascends 

 in a given time, when waiting freely, and h the 

 height to which he ascends in the same time with 

 the load/; then his action in the latter case, or 



(w+l) h, is reduced to wH (1 ; and there- 





* 1 7 



fore also h ~ 



Suppose that a man is loaded with one-fourth of his 

 own weight ; then h = 



+ 5- 



The 



