[ 182 ] 
some oil to keep them supple. I purchased four 
of these, and after covering them with calf-skin^ 
placed them between the two folds of the thorough 
braces behind, and before, where the screw springs 
are sometimes placed. These exceeded myiex- 
pectation. Tho’ I travelled in the months of Febru¬ 
ary and March, when the roads were at their worst, 
through a considerable part of Italy, through the 
Tirol and Germany, and through the paved roads 
of France, by the way of Stratsburgh to Paris, a 
journey of many hundred miles, not a spring gave 
w^ay, nor did any part of the carriage break, tho’ I 
found before I arrived at Munich, that the air had 
escaped from one of the balloons that was placed 
under the front spring. The motion of the coach 
was also much easier than it had been before the 
application of the foot balls. 
Perhaps springs of this kind might be adjust¬ 
ed to saddles, so as to render the motion of a hard 
trotting horse as easy as that of a Narraganset. Air 
cushions would be admirably adapted to the seats 
of the common Dutch waggon. These might per¬ 
haps be made out of the stomach of an ox or horse, 
well tanned and dressed in oil, and blown up to 11- 
atmosphere, or 221b. pressure upon a square inch. 
Nor could a lighter, or warmer coverlid for beds be 
contrived than silk, rendered by elastick gum im¬ 
penetrable to air, and stuffed with that material. I 
do not think it impossible even to make beds of it. 
And I sincerely wish it was effected, if it was only 
