THE ^QUIROTAL CARRIAGE. 381 



vehicle to be turned round, Mr. Adams sought for 

 some mode of enabling this turning to be effected even 

 when all the four wheels are of equal size. This he 

 does by having the carriage so divided in the middle 

 as to turn upon a pivot ; or, rather, the pivot or perch- 

 bolt, which, in a common carriage, is placed imme- 

 diately between the two front wheels, is, on the 

 sequirotal principle, placed much further back, by 

 which the fore wheels have so large a radius in turning, 

 that they do not touch the body, and may therefore 

 be made of equal size with the hinder wheels. 



The mode of adjusting this pivot depends upon 

 the kind of carriage. In a phaeton, which is an open 

 four-wheeled carriage with two seats, the front one 

 higher than the lower, the hinder half of the body 

 is hinged to the front half. In a chariot or a coach, 

 the coach-box is connected with the framework of the 

 front wheels, and the body with that of the hind 

 wheels, and there is a pivot which connects the two 

 halves together ; the late Duke of Wellington had a 

 carriage of this kind. 



The only means, with which we are acquainted, of 

 placing heavy loads in such a position that they may 

 be conveyed with rapidity along a high-road, is to 

 support the vehicle which contains them upon wheels. 

 The advantage of a wheeled carriage over the common 

 sledge is too obvious to require explanation. 



Before quitting the subject of wheels, I would 

 observe that some time ago a patent was obtained for 

 making the felloe of a wheel all in one piece, a method 

 which had long been in practice in the North, and of 

 which I have spoken elsewhere. The plan consisted 

 in selecting a beam of the proposed size of the intended 

 felloe, and boiling it in a bath of water until the wood 

 became reduced almost to a pulp, when it was bent in 



