1sometimes on working
days, and are thus not always near the pump, and as
the pump, if necessary, must continue to draw water all the time, a bell rings
aloud continuously, indicating that this pump, or any other kind, is uninjured
and nothing is preventing its turning. The bell is hung by a cord from
a small wooden axle held in the timbers which stand over the shaft, and
a second long cord whose upper end is fastened to the small axle is lowered
into the shaft; to the lower end of this cord is fastened a piece of wood;
and as often as a cam on the main axle strikes it, so often does the bell ring
and give forth a sound.
the pump, if necessary, must continue to draw water all the time, a bell rings
aloud continuously, indicating that this pump, or any other kind, is uninjured
and nothing is preventing its turning. The bell is hung by a cord from
a small wooden axle held in the timbers which stand over the shaft, and
a second long cord whose upper end is fastened to the small axle is lowered
into the shaft; to the lower end of this cord is fastened a piece of wood;
and as often as a cam on the main axle strikes it, so often does the bell ring
and give forth a sound.
The third pump of this kind is employed by miners when no river capable
of turning a water-wheel can be diverted, and it is made as follows. They
first dig a chamber and erect strong timbers and planks to prevent the sides
from falling in, which would overwhelm the pump and kill the men. The
roof of the chamber is protected with contiguous timbers, so arranged that
the horses which pull the machine can travel over it. Next they again set up
sixteen beams forty feet long and one foot wide and thick, joined by clamps
at the top and spreading apart at the bottom, and they fit the lower end
of each beam into a separate sill laid flat on the ground, and join these by a
post; thus there is created a circular area of which the diameter is fifty
feet. Through an opening in the centre of this area there descends an
upright square axle, forty-five feet long and a foot and a half wide and thick;
its lower pivot revolves in a socket in a block laid flat on the ground in the
chamber, and the upper pivot revolves in a bearing in a beam which is mor
tised into two beams at the summit beneath the clamps; the lower pivot is
seventeen feet distant from either side of the chamber, i.e., from its front and
rear. At the height of a foot above its lower end, the axle has a toothed wheel,
the diameter of which is twenty-two feet. This wheel is composed of four
spokes and eight rim pieces; the spokes are fifteen feet long and three
quarters of a foot wide and thick17; one end of them is mortised in the axle,
the other in the two rims where they are joined together. These rims are three
quarters of a foot thick and one foot wide, and from them there rise and
project upright teeth three-quarters of a foot high, half a foot wide, and six
digits thick. These teeth turn a second horizontal axle by means of a drum
composed of twelve rundles, each three feet long and six digits wide and
thick. This drum, being turned, causes the axle to revolve, and around this
axle there is a drum having iron clamps with four-fold curves in which catch
the links of a chain, which draws water through pipes by means of balls.
The iron journals of this horizontal axle revolve on pillows which are set in
the centre of timbers. Above the roof of the chamber there are mortised
into the upright axle the ends of two beams which rise obliquely; the upper
ends of these beams support double cross-beams, likewise mortised to the
axle. In the outer end of each cross-beam there is mortised a small wooden
piece which appears to hang down; in this wooden piece there is similarly
of turning a water-wheel can be diverted, and it is made as follows. They
first dig a chamber and erect strong timbers and planks to prevent the sides
from falling in, which would overwhelm the pump and kill the men. The
roof of the chamber is protected with contiguous timbers, so arranged that
the horses which pull the machine can travel over it. Next they again set up
sixteen beams forty feet long and one foot wide and thick, joined by clamps
at the top and spreading apart at the bottom, and they fit the lower end
of each beam into a separate sill laid flat on the ground, and join these by a
post; thus there is created a circular area of which the diameter is fifty
feet. Through an opening in the centre of this area there descends an
upright square axle, forty-five feet long and a foot and a half wide and thick;
its lower pivot revolves in a socket in a block laid flat on the ground in the
chamber, and the upper pivot revolves in a bearing in a beam which is mor
tised into two beams at the summit beneath the clamps; the lower pivot is
seventeen feet distant from either side of the chamber, i.e., from its front and
rear. At the height of a foot above its lower end, the axle has a toothed wheel,
the diameter of which is twenty-two feet. This wheel is composed of four
spokes and eight rim pieces; the spokes are fifteen feet long and three
quarters of a foot wide and thick17; one end of them is mortised in the axle,
the other in the two rims where they are joined together. These rims are three
quarters of a foot thick and one foot wide, and from them there rise and
project upright teeth three-quarters of a foot high, half a foot wide, and six
digits thick. These teeth turn a second horizontal axle by means of a drum
composed of twelve rundles, each three feet long and six digits wide and
thick. This drum, being turned, causes the axle to revolve, and around this
axle there is a drum having iron clamps with four-fold curves in which catch
the links of a chain, which draws water through pipes by means of balls.
The iron journals of this horizontal axle revolve on pillows which are set in
the centre of timbers. Above the roof of the chamber there are mortised
into the upright axle the ends of two beams which rise obliquely; the upper
ends of these beams support double cross-beams, likewise mortised to the
axle. In the outer end of each cross-beam there is mortised a small wooden
piece which appears to hang down; in this wooden piece there is similarly