THE MECHANISM OF BICYCLES. 
409 
No prize lias yet been awarded by the French Academy for any of the essays 
sent in. Perhaps the writers had not sufficiently remembered the peculiar psy¬ 
chological impressions of the initial stage which I have mentioned; but I hope 
some of the experts in the room may be encouraged to compete for this prize, 
while it is still open. 
The Chairman : I am sure that Members of the Institution who are expert 
bicyclists and who have passed this hyper-elliptic stage must many of them be an¬ 
xious to join in this discussion. Before I offer the few remarks which have 
occurred to me in connection with this extensive subject, I must in the first place 
say how great an honour I feel has been done to me in asking me to take the 
chair on this occasion. I am told by your energetic Secretary that this is the 
first time that a civilian has ever held this honourable position (applause), I feel 
naturally in any case entirely unqualified for such an honour and especially at the 
present time when I see those members who are near me on my right I feel that 
it is quite inappropriate that I should be in the chair ( “no, no”). 
Now coming to the subject of the Lecture itself one would be tempted of 
course to take each head of the lecture and say a good deal about it; the clock 
however, reminds one that that is of course quite inadmissable. I will mention 
one thing that I see I have marked ; itis that ingenious contrivance of Turnbull’s. 
One does not wish, of course, in any way, (since he is a neighbour of the Arsenal) 
to say anything that may appear hard; but it is an obvious thing that any con¬ 
trivance of the kind in which there is so much extra weight, in which there is so 
much extra friction, and in which there is opportunity for so much dirt to get in, 
to clog and interfere with the working of the parts, and which cannot by any 
possibility increase or add to the power, cannot have any very great practical ad¬ 
vantage and it has obvious practical disadvantages. So that it may be classed, I 
think (I am only giving my own view), with a great number of other ingenious 
machines ; none can help admiring their ingenuity but they cannot serve any 
practical purpose. 
In the elliptic Path machine, which is a much more practical thing in its design, 
there is what may perhaps appear to be the advantage of there being no dead 
points. In the first place I ought to state that it is quite obvious, of course, 
though people do not always see it, that there is no dead point in an ordinary 
chain-driven machine such as 99 out of 100 or 999 out of a 1000 people ride. 
There is no dead point in the chain and sprocket wheel connection and even the 
rider himself is not subject to dead points, for with proper pedalling there is some 
power available both at the top and the bottom of the stroke. People do not al¬ 
ways use proper ankle action even if they use any, as can be very easily seen by 
watching the average rider in the street where it is very usual to see the chain 
sag twice in every revolution—a very improper effect. But even if there is a free¬ 
dom from a dead point, in this sense, that the upper foot is already beginning to 
descend before the lower foot has finished descending, that can only be in virtue 
of the fact that the foot is not going at a uniform speed round the path, that it is 
an example of a quick return movement so common in sloping machines. This 
I believe when the speed is high, becomes exceedingly tiresome. It is for this 
reason, I think, more than any other that the simple plain chain machine with 
equable motion is practically advantageous over all these other contrivances. 
I was exceedingly pleased to see Pedersen’s frame of which, up to the present 
I have only heard. Looking at that, as I have done from across the room with¬ 
out seeing it closely, I could not help admiring the design as appearing something 
eminently scientific and correct in every detail. I was a little puzzled when 
I heard that a lady’s machine had been made on those principles, and I can only 
imagine that if that is the case the lady’s dress becomes an essential feature—the 
