“To all to whom these presents shall come, I, Alexander Cochrane, of Norton Street, Great Portland Street, in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
“And be it remembered, that on the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid Alexander Cochrane came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
“Inrolled the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.”
This rowing-motion carriage has been invented over again several times since 1831.
Dalzell machine, 1845.
“THE ORIGINAL BICYCLE.
“At the late Stanley Show was exhibited the machine which is now generally conceded to be the original bicycle. We present a cut of the machine reproduced from the Scottish Cyclist, also a representation of the features of the inventor, one Gavin Dalzell, a merchant of Lesmahgon, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Dalzell was born August 29, 1811, and died June 14, 1863. He possessed decided talent for mechanical inventions. From the written testimony of a letter, and the testimony of J. B. Dalzell, son of the inventor and present owner of the machine, it is proved that it was in use previous to 1846, and there are eye-witnesses who recollect the inventor riding his bicycle over the roads of Lanarkshire.
“In construction the Dalzell bicycle is the exact prototype of the now popular rear-driving safety.
“It is constructed chiefly of wood, which, though worm-eaten, is still wonderfully strong, especially in the wheels, these seeming to have stood the ravages of time and rough usage much better than the frame-work. The rear wheel—the driver—is of wood, shod with iron, about forty inches in diameter, and has twelve spokes, each about an inch in diameter. The front wheel is of similar construction, but only of about thirty inches in diameter. From the front wheel hub the fork—straight, and with a rake which some of our modern makers could copy with profit—passes up, and is joined together, through the fore-part of the wooden frame-work. A pair of handles are then attached and bent backward into a V shape to suit the rider, who sits about two feet behind the front-wheel hub. These were commonly termed the ‘reins.’ The main frame is somewhat like that which is now termed the ‘dip’ pattern, the design of which is applied in an extended form to ladies’ safeties.