"A is a circular vessel, made of copper or any other substance,
capable of containing water, and covered with a top part so as
to be perfectly air-tight. B is a wheel placed in the inside of
the vessel, with its axle perpendicular, the uppermost part of
which comes through the top of the vessel, and is made to work
air-tight; the lower end runs in a step within the vessel, and
no part of the wheel is to touch the vessel but its axis. C is a
cylinder placed firmly upon the wheel. D is the piston, suspended
by a chain to a strong spring fixed on the wheel. This spring
is to be made of such strength as that when the whole weight
of the atmosphere is upon the piston the air will only move it
about one inch down. E is the tube leading from the axle, which
is hollow from the top to the level of the wheel, so as to admit
the external air by this tube to the piston D, which piston is a
circular vessel, made air-tight, and exactly fits the cylinder.
There is a joint in the tube E at F, which is made air-tight by
leathers, so that when the piston descends the tube may give way
to it. G is a small tube leading from the bottom of the cylinder
to the center of the axle, and from thence brought out at the
end of it, and by which the air is extracted from the cylinder
by means of an air pump and a vacuum formed in it. On the top
part or any other convenient place of the vessel, are fixed two
cylinders or tubes of a proportional size to the cylinders on
the wheel, one of which is a condensing cylinder, by means of a
screw and piston, and by which the water in the vessel may be
compressed; the other has its piston suspended at the bottom,
and the top part of the cylinder being filled with air as the
other piston is screwed down this rises, and condenses the air in
the cylinder, the spring of which keeps the water in the vessel
pressed to all parts alike; and when the air is extracted from
the cylinder C and the piston D is forced down by the external
atmosphere into the cylinder, this pressure is continued, and the
condensed air expands in proportion and prevents any tendency
to a vacuum being formed, which would cause a cohesion of all
the parts. By this means the external air is suspended upon the
wheel by the chain, the same as a weight, and the spring of the
atmosphere being taken from the cylinder there is nothing to
oppose this weight, there being no spring in water; and this
power may be increased in proportion to the size and number of
cylinders on the wheel and its diameter."
Siphon and Funnel Device
This was the work of an Englishman whose name is unknown. An account of
it appeared in "Mechanics' Magazine," 1828, in the following language:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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