His device is explained by the following excerpt from his application:
"My invention consists of a method of applying the weight of the atmosphere upon a wheel in any other fluid, and by that means destroying its spring or reaction, the manner of doing which I describe as follows, agreeable to the drawing (Fig. 6) annexed:
"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:
a is a circular glass vessel 1 foot 6 inches diameter; b b a tube fixed thereunto; c c are funnels containing valves; d, a float of hollow copper, or any light substance; e, an open mouth; f, an open vessel filled with mercury as high as the dotted line.
It is well known that several experiments were made by M. Venturi, Sir Isaac Newton, etc., demonstrating that a vessel shaped thus—
will emit water with a much greater rapidity than a vessel shaped thus—
say, with more than a third as much speed. I propose, then, to have the mouth of the vessel a of the former shape, being the natural form of flowing water. The vessel a, and tube b, must be completely filled with mercury, by means of the funnels c c, which will also contain mercury. In order to set the fluid in motion, the valve in the large vessel c is to be raised; the mercury (which was hitherto held up by a greater weight of atmosphere) will instantly run out of the mouth e, and must be suffered to do so till the mercury in c is level with the dotted line; by this time the mercury in a will have obtained a momentum which will be more than equivalent to the pressure of the atmosphere: consequently, the mercury will run out of the large vessel a, till it falls as low as the dotted line; the float d, resting on the mercury, of course, falls with it, opens the valve, and admits a proportionable quantity of mercury through the tube b, driven by the pressure of the atmosphere (the height from the mercury in f, to the top of the tube b, being only 26 inches, which is 2 inches less than what the atmosphere will at all times raise mercury in a vacuum).
By this means will there not be a continual circulation of mercury?
Orchard's Vacuum Engine
In 1826 there was published in "Mechanics' Magazine," London, a communication from a Mr. Orchard, concerning an invention he considered himself as having made. The account is published in his own words, and is as follows:
A is an iron reservoir nearly filled with mercury; B, a tube twenty-four inches long, having its lower end inserted in that reservoir; and C and D, two cocks for the convenience of filling the tube B. From this another tube M proceeds at right angles, to the vessel G. In this latter tube is the cock F, to admit of, or shut off, a communication between the tube and the vessel G. This communication being closed, the tube B is carefully filled with mercury; after which the cock D is closed and the cap E screwed on.
The vessel G is to be filled with mercury through the cock H, the pipe I being open to allow of the escape of air. When this vessel has been filled, the cock H should be closed and its cap screwed on; and the pipe I be also closed by a valve, which is to be pressed tight by the cap on the head of the pipe. I is a vent-pipe, open at the top. The space represented by the double lines is a panel of thick plate glass having two horizontal lines described on its surface, whereby the attendant may observe the quantity of mercury within the vessel.
The cock F being closed, a quantity of mercury must be allowed to run out of the vessel G, equal to the space 1, 2, 3, 4, which space will become a vacuum. If, therefore, the cock L be then opened, to allow of the discharge of a certain quantity of mercury on the wheel, and the cocks C and L also opened, the mercury will continually rise from the reservoir A into the vessel G, and thence be discharged on the wheel, whence it will again fall into the vessel A, to keep up the supply. The cock F must be so adjusted as to admit into the vessel G a quantity of mercury equal to that which is discharged by the cock L. This can be ascertained and regulated by means of the panel of glass above described.
The specific gravity of mercury being 7½ ounces, it is evident that but a small quantity of it is required to turn the wheel, which has no friction but that of the axis on which it turns.
