364 INVENTION OF THE BALANCE SPRINO-. 



themselves aUne sufficient to form a catalogue. Dr. Hooke 

 is however allowed, even by foreigners, to have been the first 

 who applied the pendulum spring, to the balance of a watch j 

 but this they say was straigl)t in its form, and that it was M. 

 Huyghens who afterwards made the gieut in})!Gvement in it, 

 or rather invented it, by that of giving it tlie spiral form. 

 This tnatter has been scrutinized before. a"nd the dispute which 

 Dr. liookc had with Mr. Oldenburgh on this subject is very 

 well known. Yet there are many circimistances that seem to 

 have been ovei'loykeu, which carry along with tl.vm such 

 strong arguments in favoui of Dr, Hooke, that I am much 

 surprized how they have been passed over and never noticed 

 by any of his friends. Had M. Huyghens been the genuine 

 inventor of the pendulum spring, which I confess, from all 

 circumstances taken together, I think there are strong reasons 

 to conclude against; had he been really the inventor, I say, 

 it is much more than probable that he would have seen its 

 properties as well as Dr. Jiooke did, and would have pub- 

 lished them ; and this might have prevented the serious quar- 

 rel that afterwards took place between two very celebrated and 

 rival French artists, M. Le Roy and M. Berthoud. Ex- 

 tracts from them on ihis subject of quarrel I shall afterwards 

 give you, and in the meantime shall i^tate Dr. Hooke's case, 

 with extracts from him; which, although they came not out 

 until immediately after M, Huyghens had published his ac- 

 count of the pendulum spring about the years 1674 or l675, 

 are sufficiently conclusive. Dr. Hooke was so much hurt 

 with it, that he gave such a full account of his experiments, 

 and so complete a demonstration of the principle or properties 

 of springs, that it is evident, that the subject was not 7iew to 

 him. 

 Oalileo inven. It is necessary to pay attention to dates. Galileo died in 

 ff mmended^' ^^^^i ^^^ had given an account of the equality of the wide 

 the pendulum, and narrow vibrations of the pendulum, and strongly recom- 

 mended it to astronomers, as infinitely preferable to the 

 balance, which they were attempting to use in their observa- 

 tories. Riccioli pressed this matter exceedingly ; and it came 

 into general use as a measure of time, the astronomers pa- 

 tiently sitting by it and counting the vibrations. 

 Robert Hooke's Ii) l655, Mr. Robert Hooke came to Oxford as a pocr 

 intmduction at scholar, 



Qxford. ' 



