"Deus ex Machinâ."—From what author is the phrase "Deus ex machinâ" taken? and what was its original application?
T. R.
Dublin.
["Deus ex machinâ" was originally a Greek proverb, and used to denote any extraordinary, unexpected, or improbable event. It arose from the custom or stage-trickery of the ancient tragedians, who, to produce uncommon effect on the audience, introduced a deity on special occasions—Ἐπὶ τῶν παραδόξων καὶ παραλόγων, "it is spoken of marvellous and surprising occurrences," as the German commentator F. Smeider, thus explains the words of the passage in which the adage is to be found, viz. Lucian's Hermotimus, sub finem. The words are, τὸ τῶν τραγῳδῶν τοῦτο, Θεὸς εκ μηχανῆς ἐπιφανείς. To this custom Horace alludes in his Ars Poetica, l. 191.:
"Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
Inciderit."
Conf. Gesneri Thesaurus, in Machina.]
Wheelbarrows.—Who invented the wheelbarrow? It is ascribed to Pascal.
Alpha.
[Fosbroke seems to have investigated the origin of this useful article. He says, "Notwithstanding Montfaucon, it is not certain that the ancients were acquainted with the wheelbarrow. Hyginus, indeed, mentions a single-wheeled carriage, but it may apply to a vehicle of conveyance. Some modern writers ascribe the invention to Pascal, the famous geometer. The one-wheeled carriage alluded to was, perhaps, the Pabo of Isidore. As to the invention by Pascal, we find berewe, a barrow, rendered by Lye, a versatile vehicle; but if more than the hand-barrow had been meant, the addition of wheel would perhaps have been made to the world."—Encyclopædia of Antiquities, vol. i. p. 349.]