1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
48 
ELLSWORTH'S STPHOjV PUMP OR RAM. 
Editors of the Cultivator —Many of your sub¬ 
scribers who noticed, more than two years since, an 
article in the Cultivator, over my signature, giving 
some account of the successful performance of an ap¬ 
paratus for elevating water, by means of a syphon, will 
probably, at this late day, be more surprised to meet with 
the following description of it, than they were at the 
first announcement of such an invention. The thing, 
however, is not as dead as they have reason to suppose 
it; but, on the contrary, has been in successful, though 
not extensive use, here and elsewhere, ever since the 
date of that communication. But in the interim it has 
received some practical improvements, and, for reasons 
which it is unnecessary to detail here, I have hitherto 
(with one recent exception) abstained entirely from 
publishing any description of it. 
In principle, my machine consists of a syphon, com¬ 
bined with the well known ‘ ‘ hydraulic ram.” Previous to 
the date of my former communication to the Cultivator, 
I did not know that any such combination had been at¬ 
tempted ; but subsequently two analogous inventions 
were brought to my notice, both of which, however, 
were essentially different from my own in construction, 
and are obviously useless as practical machines, the de¬ 
sign of the inventors having been little else than to 
accomplish the feat of constructing a syphon that should 
discharge water at the curve. 
The subjoined figures and description, will give some 
idea of the construction and appearance of my appa¬ 
ratus: 
^rn 
Syphon Pump —Fig. 14. 
In the annexed sec¬ 
tional drawing, a , b, 
is a hollow dome, or 
cap, the cavity of 
which is divided into 
two distinct chambers, 
by the partition c. 
This dome is fastened 
by a flanged joint to 
the circular plate d, d. & 
The central portion of 
d, d, is sunk into the 
form of a box, or chest 
Si /; that part of 
which, lying under 
chamber a , is roofed 
over by cZ, d; but com- Section of Syphon Pump—Fig. 15. 
municates. with a, by a valve n , opening upwards. 
That portion of the chest marked g, is still farther en¬ 
closed by an upright plate m } held to its place by a 
couple of wedges, not shown in the section. This plate 
has an orifice at o, furnished with a valve opening to¬ 
wards g; which is suspended on the spring Z. From 
/, passes h, the long leg of the syphon, and from g, i, 
the short leg. In operating the machine, i, and h , are 
first filled with water through the screw-plug e; as 
soon as the syphon is free to act, a current commences 
in the direction i, o,f, h. This current, acting on the 
valve at g, soon overcomes the elasticity of the spring 
Z, and the orifice o, is suddenly closed. The water in 
i, then acts with a momentum due to its weight, and 
upward velocity, upon the valve n , and a quantity of 
water escapes into a, which, when the impulse in i, is 
exhausted, is prevented from returning by the closing 
of n. The moment that n closes:, a slight r.ecoil of the 
water in i, allows Z to throw open the valve g, and the 
above process is then repeated. The Water which ac¬ 
cumulates in a, is conducted by a curved pipe attached 
at k, to any station above the machine where it may 
be wanted for use. The chambers a and b, never fill 
with water; they confine, each, a quantity of air, 
which, by its elasticity, equalizes the currents through 
k and h. These air chambers are both indispensable 
to the perfect action of the machine; and if k and h 
are of considerable length, it will not operate at all if 
they are filled with water. The air in a, is obviously 
under more or less pressure in proportion to the height 
to which the water is elevated through k; while owing 
to the same cause, operating in an opposite manner at 
h, the air in b, is rarified, or under less than the pres¬ 
sure of the atmosphere. As water under pressure, in 
contact with air, has the property of-absorbing more or 
less of it, and then liberating it when the'•pressure is 
removed, the air in a, has a tendency to diminish, and 
that in b, to increase in quantity ; but the position of 
the valvesfin this machine is such, that, when it is in 
action, a, is constantly replenished from the overplus in 
b: for the recoiling movement in i, above-mentioned, 
which allows val re g, to open, draws in at the same 
moment a few bubbles of air, from b.f, at 6, which 
air lodges in the .cavity, under n, and is driven at the 
next pulsation into, chamber a. 
Persons have often attempted, by a syphon, to con¬ 
vey water over elevated ground, to some situation be¬ 
low the fountain head; but have been troubled, and 
often compelled to abandon the plan, by an accumula¬ 
tion of air in the more elevated portions of the pipe, 
which, in the course of-a few days, has cut off the 
stream- entirely, and rendered it necessary to refill the 
pipe. This is owing either to a want of sufficient fall 
between the level of supply and the point of discharge, 
or to some obstruction of the pipe, either of which 
causes acts by checking the current through the pipe 
to that degree, that the air, liberated from the water, 
(owing to the diminished pressure to which the water 
is subjected in the upper part of the syphon,) remains 
and accumulates in the pipe. The only remedy is to 
obtain more fall, or give the pipe a freer aperture, un¬ 
til the current has sufficient velocity to carry the air 
through! A velocity of between one foot and eighteen 
inches per second, is ordinarily sufficient to accomplish 
this. 
The quantity of water which the machine consumes, 
may be, to a considerable extent, regulated by a small 
crank, the axle of which enters at right angles to the 
plane of the above section, just behind valve g. This 
crank, when turned, gives the valve more or less play, 
and may if desired, be made to close it, and stop its 
