MACHINE. 



to deceive Wm, and make him believe that he (hall take Troy 

 that day. 



It is thus that the epic poets ufed machines in all parts of 

 their works ; in the Iliad, OdyiTey, and TEneid, the pro- 

 pofition mentions them ; the invocation isaddrefTed to them; 

 and the narration is full of them : they are tiie caufes of 

 actions ; they make the knots, and at laft they unravel them. 

 This laft circiimftance is what Ariftotle forbids in the 

 drama ; but it is what Homer and Virgil have both prac- 

 tifed in the epopea. Thus- Minerva fights for Ulyffes 

 againft Penelope's lovers ; helps him to detlroy them ; and, 

 the next day, herfelf makes the peace between Ulyfles and 

 the Ithacans ; which clofes the OdyiTey. The ufe of ma- 

 chines in the epic poem is, on fome accounts, entirely op- 

 pofite to what Horace prefcribes for the theatre. In tra- 

 gedy, that critic will never have them ufed without an ab- 

 iolute neccffity ; whereas, in the epopea, they (honld never 

 be ufed, but where they may be as well let alone ; and 

 ■where the action appears as if it did not neceffarily re- 

 quire them. How many gods and machines does Virgil im- 

 plore to raife the ftorm that drives ^neas into Carthage ; 

 which yet might eafily have happened in the ordinary courfe 

 ©f nature. 



In Milton's Paradife Loft, moft of the aftors are fuper- 

 natural perfonages ; and in Voltaire's Henriade, the poet has 

 made excellent ufe of St. Louis. 



Machines, in the epic poem, therefore, are not contri- 

 vances of the poet, to recover him felf after he has made a 

 falfe ftep, nor to folve any difficulty peculiar to fome part 

 of the poem ; but it is the prefence of a divinity, and fome 

 fupematural and extraordinary adlion, which the poet inferts 

 in moft of the incidents of his work, to render it more 

 majeftic and admirable, and to train up his readers to piety 

 and virtue. This mixture ftiould always be fo managed, as 

 that the machines may be retrenched, without retrenching 

 any thing from the aftion. As to the manner in which the 

 machines are to aft ; it may be obferved, that in the old my- 

 thology, there are gods both good, bad, and indifferent ; and 

 that our pafQons may be converted into fo many allego- 

 rical divinities : fo that every thing, both good and bad in a 

 poem, may be attributed to thefe machines, and may be 

 tranfafted by them. They do not, however, always aft 

 in the fame manner ; fometimes they aft without appearing, 

 and by fimple infpirations, vv-hich have nothing in them ex- 

 traordinary or miraculous ; as when we fay, the devil fng- 

 gefted fuch a thought, &c. The fecond manner of afting 

 is entirely miraculous ; as when a divinity preients itfelf vi- 

 fible before men, fo as to be known by them ; or when they 

 difguife themfelves under fome human form without dif- 

 covering themfelves. The third manner partakes of each 

 of the two, and confifts in oracles, dreams, and extraordi- 

 nary infpira'ions : all which Bofl-i calls dcniimacljims. 



All thefe msn ers ought to be fo managed as to carry a 

 verifimilitude : and though verifimiluude be of a vail extent 

 in machines, as being founded on the divine power, yet it has 

 its bounds. See farther, on the importance and ufe of ma- 

 chinery, the article Epic Poem. 



Machine, in yijricu/lure, a term applied to inftriiments 

 of various kinds which are contrived either for jhe pnr- 

 pofe of leftcning labour or performing rhff different opera- 

 tions and procefles of the art with greater accuracy and 

 correftnefs, fuch as thofe of fowing, drilling, reaping, 

 threlhing, winnowing, and a great many others. The term 

 is moft commonly employed when the nature of the tool 

 is of the more complex kirid. It may, however, be em- 

 ployed with propriety in many other circumftances. See 

 THnESHING Alaehine. 



Vol. XXI. 



Machine, /IrchiteSonical, is an afTcmblage of pieces of 

 wood fo' difpofed, as that, by means of ropes and pullies, 

 a fmall number of men may raife vaft loads, and lav them 

 in their places. Such are cranes, &c. 



It is hard to conceive what fort of machines the ancients 

 mnft have ufed to raife thofe immenfe ftones found in feme 

 of the antique buildings. See Machine, yi/^ra. 



Machine, Blowing. See Bellows, and Blowing Ma- 

 chine. 



Machine, Bruifmg, a contrivance for the purpofe of 

 cruftiing and reducing grain, pulfe, malt, and othcf arti- 

 cles, fome of which are employed as team fo')d. Machines 

 of this kind are made in London by Rowntree and others. 



Machine, Chajf-cutttng, a tool contrived for the purpofe 

 of cutting ftraw, hay, and other fimiiar materials into chaff 

 for the purpofe of food for tcam-horfes, and other animals. 

 There are various dcfcriptions of this kind of machinery 

 which aft on very different principles, and fome of them 

 have lately undergone very much improvement. See Chafp- 



CUTTER. 



Machine, Draught, a fimple contrivance formed for the 

 purpofe of afcertaining the force or power of draught, in 

 drawing ploughs, and various other implements where 

 draught is required. A machine of this fort, invented by 

 Mr. More, late fecretary to the Society for the Encourage- 

 ment of Arts, &c. in London, is thus defcribed by Mr. 

 Young in the firft volume of the Annals of Agriculture. It 

 is a fpring coiled within a cylindrical cafe, havijig a dial- 

 plate, marked with numbers like that of a clock, and fo 

 contrived that a hand moves with the motion of the fpring, 

 and points to the numbers in proportion as the force is 

 exerted : for inftancc, when the draught equals i cwt. 

 over a pulley, the hand points to Jig. i ; when the draught 

 is equal to 2 cwt. it points to Jig. i ; and fo on. Till 

 this, very ufeful machine was invented, Mr. Young fays, 

 it was exceedingly difficult to compare the draught of dif- 

 ferent ploughs, as there was no rule to judge but by the 

 exertions of the horfes as apparent to the eye ; a very in- 

 decifive mode of afcertaini;]g their force. 



Machine, DrilU that fort of tool which is employed in 

 fov.'ing and depoliting various kinds of grain, pulfe, and 

 fnrall feeds, in drills or rows. They are very differently 

 formed, according to the purpofes for which they are in- 

 tended, and the manner of drilKng which is intended to be 

 praclifed. 



They require to be conftrufted with great corrcftnefs, 

 and in as fimple a manner as poffible, in^rder that they may- 

 perform their work with accuracy, both in refpeft to the 

 drills, the quantity of feed, and the depth of depofitiiig it 

 in the foil. 



Iij the choice of this fort of machinery, the farmer (hould 

 be p; incipally directed by the nature and extent of his land, 

 the fituation which it poffeffes, and the kinds of crops which 

 he intends to cultivate. They have lately been fo con- 

 trived, as, by flight alterations in the fowing parts, to be 

 capable of not only fowing grain as well as Imali feeds, but 

 of executing the v.-ork at diflerent diftances, and in a greater 

 or lefs number of rows at once, as circumftances may re- 

 quire. 



There are fcveral machines of this nature, which perform 

 the bufinefs in a very exaft and regular manner; among 

 which arc Cook's, Bailey's, Amofe's, M'Dougal's, and 

 many others ; each of which fow fe-.-eral rows at the fame 

 time, and fome of them are likewife capable of forming 

 horfe-hoes. 



BcfiJes thefe. there are alfo drills conftrufted for parti. 

 % C cuiar 



