254 New Patents 
happy circumftances. The dear lamented 
fon JT have loft, was the pride and joy of 
my heart; but, I hope, I may be the 
more eafily excufed for having Jooked on 
him in this light, fince he was not fo from 
the outward advantages he poffefled, but 
from the virtues and reétitude of his mind. 
The profpeéts which flattered me in re- 
gard to him, were nct drawn from his dif. 
tinguifhed rank, or from the beauty of 
his perfon; but from the hopes that his 
example would have been ferviceable to 
the caufe of virtue, and would have fhewn 
the younger part of the world, that it was 
_ poffible to be chearfol, without being 
foolifh or vicious; and to be religious, 
without feverity or melancholy. His 
whole life was one uninterrupted courfe of 
duty and affection to his parents; and 
when he tound the hand of death upon 
him, his only regret was to think on the 
agonies which muit rend their hearts, for 
Oa. 1, 
he was perfectly contented to leave the 
world, as his confcience did not reproach . 
him with any prefumptuous fins, and he 
hoped his errors would be forgiven. Thus 
he refigned his innocent foul into the hands * 
of his merciful Creator, on the evening of 
his birth day, which comp!eted him nine- 
teen. You will not be furprized, Sir, — 
that the death of fuch a fon fhall occafion 
the deepeft forrow ; yet, at the fame time, 
it leaves us the moft comfortable aflurance, 
that he is far happier than our fondeft 
withes could have made him, which mutt 
enable us to fupport the remainder of 
years, which it fhall pleafe God to allot 
for us here, without murmuring or dif- 
content; and quicken our endeavours to 
prepare ourlelves to follow him in that 
happy place, where our dear valuable 
child is gone before us. I beg the con- 
tinuance of your prayers, and am, Sir, 
Your’s, C. HERTFORD.” 
lately enrolled. 
NEW PATENTS LATELY ENROLLED. 
=e 
MR. WOODS (BARBICAN) for METHODS 
of cenfirudting HARPS; HARPSI- 
CHORDs, and other STRINGED IN- 
STRUMENTS. 
HE invention, defcribed in the fpe- 
cification, confifts in fixing to the 
firings, at one or beth ends, pullies, 
beams, levers, or other mechanical powers, 
in fuch a manner that one movement fhall 
affe& the whole, or a confiderable num- 
ber, of the ftrings, altering the tenfion of 
the fame ; fo that thefe tenfions, as far as 
the friftion and imperfeétion of machinery 
will allow, fhall be increafed or decreated 
either equally or in geometrical propor- 
tions; but it will generally happen, that 
equal tenfions for the whole inftrument 
‘will anfwer the purpofe, and that fuch ma- 
chinery wil] be more eafily made. — 
In explaining the principle of this inven- 
ticn, Mr. Wood obferves, that there is no 
piece of mechanifm with fo little fri€tion, 
or fo likely to anfwer his purpofe, as the 
beam or fteel-yard, made as the f{eale- 
beam, or in any way fo that the three knife- 
edges, one at each end, and the other ge- 
nerally in the centre, may touch the fame 
firaight line, and be parallel, that is at 
right angles, with the fides of the heam. 
Should the edges be in the leaft out of 
fhe line, there will be only one fituation 
in which the tenfions at each end would be 
equal, and confequently the machinery 
could not anfwer the requifite purpofe, 
viz. that, of preferving to all the ftrings, 
as nearly as poffible, a certain tenfion, 
When an inftrument is in tune, there are 
only three circumftances which can make 
it difcordant ; viz. alteration of length, 
of diameter, of tenfion; of thefe, the 
two firft occafion fcarcely any perceptible 
difference of tone. The grand object is 
therefore to preferve an exact equality of 
tenfion; an’ this the invention before us 
profeffes to attain, without the neceffity of 
continual recourfe to a tuner. 
The Eolian harp is referred to as one of 
the moft fimple inftruments. Let the box 
be made in the ufual manner, but rather 
wider and longer, and pegs at one end to 
wind the catgut on. At the other end is 
to be fixed the machinery ; and, as fhort 
levers require great exa€tnefs, the length 
of the beam from knife-edge to knife- 
edge fhould be three fourths of an inch. 
Here a plate is introduced, being a plan 
of the machinery on the propofed {cale ; 
which is thus iJluftrated ; 
In the firft courfe are fix beams pulling 
the twelve ftrings, all the knife-edges 
being at equal diftances. In the next 
courfe are three beams, each cnd of thefe 
pulling each middle of thofe of the former 
row. In the next courfe is only one beam, 
each end pulling the middle of a beam in 
the row before. In the laft row is only 
one 
