542 Reviews. [July? 



Inventions 69 to 72 and 79 relate to locks and keys. The lock 

 mentioned in 72 is so constructed that the way of opening it may be 

 varied ten millions of times by the owner ; moreover, if a stranger 

 attempts to unlock it, an alarum is set going, and his hand is simul- 

 taneously caught in a trap ; the lock also shows how much money has 

 been extracted from the box to which it is affixed, and how often it has 

 been opened since the owner last opened it : the latter part of this 

 description unfortunately annuls the former, for it shows that the 

 lock, in spite of all its advantages, can be opened by others than tho 

 owner. 



We have next to mention various automata, which remind us 

 greatly of some of those described by Hero, of Alexandria. First (18), 

 we have an artificial fountain capable of producing ice, snow, thunder, 

 and the chirping and singing of birds ; next (46), comes the mention 

 of an artificial bird which may be made to fly ; 77 is entitled " How 

 to make a man fly ; which I have tried with a little boy of ten years 

 old in a barn, from one end to the other, on a hay mow." From the 

 time of Daedalus men have attempted to fly ; not two months ago we 

 read an account of a Frenchman who had succeeded in constructing 

 wings which enabled him to fly a short distance ; Eoger Bacon be- 

 lieved in the possibility of flying ; Hooke employed his fine mind for 

 a length of time in endeavouring to devise modes of flying ; indeed, 

 the intellect wasted on this futile search, might, if directed into other 

 channels, have produced gigantic results. Invention 88 relates to a 

 brazen head, into the ear of which if a man whispers, he receives an 

 answer from the mouth of the figure in French, Latin, Welsh, Irish, 

 or English ; this was by no means the first talking automaton — Roger 

 Bacon, Albertus Magnus, William Bourne, and Bishop Wilkins had 

 each constructed a similar device. 



Inventions 85 and 86 relate to instruments of torture : the one, 

 a chair which imprisons those who sit in it ; the other, " A little ball 

 made in ye shape of a plum or peare, which being dexterously con- 

 veyed or forced into a bodyes mouth shall presently shoote forth such 

 and soe many bolts of each sydes, and both ends, as that without ye 

 owners key can neither bee opened, nor fyl'd of, being of tempered 

 Steele, and as effectually locked as an iron chest." " It is difficult," 

 writes Mr. Dircks, " to understand the intended use of this instru- 

 ment, but it is more likely to have been suggested from a feeling of 

 humanity than from any other motive. A desperate and ferocious 

 enemy thus rendered helpless before being manacled would, assuredly, 

 be less dangerous than he could otherwise be considered ; and it would 

 not therefore be requisite to take his life for personal safety ; once 

 thus secured he would be likely to listen to any terms of mercy." 

 We entirely agree with the opinion expressed in this last sentence, but 

 we cannot receive the explanation given of the intended object of this 

 invention. Mr. Dirck's hero can apply his intellect to no ignoble 

 purpose : " a feeling of humanity" we call this a relic of Middle-Age 

 barbarity ; an instrument to be classed with the rack, the thumb-screw, 

 and the spiked collar, worthy to have been used in the darkest and 

 most gross period of the Spanish Inquisition ; we think, moreover, 



