888

Single and Double Gutters.

[Book I.

CHAPTER XII.

Gutters: Single do.-Double do.-Jantu of Hindostan : Ingenious mode of working it-Referred to in Deuteronomy-Other Asiatic machines moved in a similar mannner-Its Antiquity. Combination of levers and gutters-Swinging or Pendulum Machine-Rocking gutters--Dutch Scoop-Flash Wheel.

MOST of the machines hitherto noticed, raise water by means of flexible cords or chains, and are generally applicable to wells of great depth. We now enter upon the examination of another variety, which, with one exception, (the chain of pots) are composed of inflexible materials, and raise water to limited heights only. Another important distinction between them is this-In preceding machines, the mechanical powers' are distinct from the hydraulic apparatus, i. e. the wheels, pulleys, windlass, capstan, &c. form no essential part of the machines proper for raising the water, but are merely employed to transmit motion to them; whereas those we are now about to describe, are made in the form of levers, wheels, &c. and are propelled as such. The following figure, represents one of the earliest specimens.

It is simply a trough or gutter, the open end of which rests on the bank, over which the water is to be elevated; the other end being closed is plunged into the liquid, and then raised till its contents are discharged. It forms what is called a lever of the second order, the load being between the fulcrum and the power.

This figure represents an improvement, being a double gutter, or two of the former united and placed across a trough or reservoir designed to receive the water. A partition is formed in the centre, and two openings made through the bottom on each of its sides, through which the water that is raised escapes. The machine is worked by one or more men, who alternately plunge the ends into the water, and consequently pro

Chap. 12.]

The Jantu.

89

duce a continuous discharge. Sometimes, openings are made in the bottom next the laborers, and covered by flaps, to admit the water without the necessity of wholly immersing those ends. Machines of this kind are described by Belidor, but he has not indicated their origin. From their simplicity, they probably date from remote antiquity. They are obviously, modifications of the Jantu of Hindostan and other parts of Asia, and were perhaps carried to Europe, (if not known there before) among other oriental devices, soon after a communication with that country was opened by the Cape of Good Hope.

THE JANTU.

The jantu is a machine extensively used in Bengal and other parts of India, to raise water for the irrigation of land, and is thus described by by Mr. Ward, in his History of the Hindoos. "It consists of a hollow trough of wood, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, and is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other end is dipped in the water, by a man standing on a stage, plunging it in with his foot. A long bamboo with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to the end of the jantu near the river, and passing over the gallows before mentioned, poises up the jantu full of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter. This machine raises water three fect, but by placing a series of them one above another, it may be raised to any height, the water being discharged into small reservoirs, sufficiently deep to admit the jantu above, to be plunged low enough to fill it." Mr. Ward observes, that water is thus conveyed over rising ground to the distance of a mile and more. In some parts of Bengal, they have different methods of raising water, "but the principle is the same."

There is in this apparently rude machine, a more perfect application of mechanical science, than would appear to a general observer. As the object of the long bamboo lever is to overcome the weight of the water, it might be asked, why not load the end of the jantu itself, which is next the bank sufficiently for that purpose, and thereby avoid the use of this additional lever, which renders the apparatus more complex, and apparently unnecessarily so? A little reflection will develope the reasons that led to its introduction, and will at the same time furnish another proof of oriental ingenuity. As the position of the jantu is nearly horizontal when it discharges the water, if the end were loaded as proposed, it would descend on the bank with an increasing velocity; for the weight would be at the end of a lever which virtually lengthened as it approached the horizontal position; and this effect would be still further augmented by the resistance of the water diminishing as the jantu rose, that is, by its flowing towards the centre-the consequence would be, that the violent concussions, when thus brought in contact with the bank, would speedily shake it to pieces. Now this result is ingeniously avoided by the lever and its weight. Thus, when the laborer has plunged the end of the jantu next him into the water, this lever (as we suppose, for we have not seen a figure of it) is placed, so as to be nearly in a horizontal position, by which its maximum force is exerted at the precise time when it is required, i. e. when the jantu is at its lowest position and full of water; and as the latter ascends, the loaded end of the lever descends, and its force diminishing, brings the end of the jantu gradually to rest. A somewhat similar effect might be produced, by making the load on the le

90

The Jantu.

[Book I.

ver descend into the water, especially if its specific gravity varied but little from that fluid. Traits like this, which are often found in ancient devices, are no mean proofs of skill in the older mechanicians; and as professors of the fine arts, discover the works of masters by certain characteristic touches, and by the general effect of a painting or sculpture-so professors of the useful arts may point to features like the above, as proofs that they bear the impress of the master mechanics of old.

At what period in the early history of our species this class of machines was first devised, can only be conjectured; they are evidently of very high antiquity; this is inferable not only from their simplicity, extensive use over all Asia-where it may be said, machines for raising water have never changed-but also from the mode of working them, by the feet. Every one acquainted with the bible, knows that numerous operations were thus performed. The juice of grapes was expressed by men treading them; and the tombs of Egypt contain sculptures representing this and other operations. Mortar was mixed and clay prepared for the potter by the feet. The Chinese work their mangles by the feet; and both they and modern Egyptians, and Hindoos, move a variety of other machines by the same means: among these are several for raising water, as the Picotah of Hindostan, (described in the next chapter,) the chain pump of China, and we may here remark, that all the machines for raising water described by Vitruvius, with one exception, were propelled by the feet, or as expressed in the English translation, by the "treading of men" It is not at all improbable, that to the JANTU, Moses alluded when describing to his countrymen the land to which he was leading them: "A land of hills and valleys," that "drinketh water of the rain of heaven," where they should not be employed, as in Egypt, where rain was generally unknown, in the perpetual labor of raising it to irrigate the soil: "For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot." Deut. xi, 10. Some authors suppose this passage refers to the oriental custom of opening and closing the small channels for water, that intersect the fields; but this trifling labor would scarcely have been mentioned by Moses, as constituting an important distinction between the two countries. It was in fact common to both. It is much more probable that he referred to the severe and incessant toil of raising water, to which they had been subject in Egypt, and which would be in a great degree superseded in Canaan by the "rain of heaven." He could not possibly have pointed out to them, a more encouraging feature of the country to which they were migrating.

A very interesting proof that the Egyptians in the time of Moses did propel machines by the feet, has recently been brought to light. In one of the tombs at Thebes, which bears the name of THоTHMES III. there is a sculptured representation of some Egyptian bellows which were thus worked. We shall have occasion to refer to them when we come to inquire into the history of the pump, in the third book. This mode of transmitting human energy appears to have been quite a favorite one in ancient times; for the purpose of illustration we will describe one which is identical with the Jantu; and is moreover one of the most common implements connected with ancient and modern agriculture in the east: "The PEDAL," says Mr. Ward, "is a rough piece of wood, generally the trunk of a tree, balanced on a pivot, with a head something like a mallet; it is used to separate rice from the husk, to pound brick dust for buildings, &c. A person stands at the further end, and with his feet presses it down, which raises up the head, after which he lets it fall on the rice or brick.

Chap. 12.]

Combination of Gutters and Levers.

91

"One of these pedals is set up at almost every house in country places." This primitive implement is also in general use in the agricultural districts of CHINA. "The next thing," says a writer in the Chinese Repository, Vol. iii, 233, "is to divest the grain of the husk; this is done by pounding it in stone mortars; two of these are placed in the ground together, and have corresponding pestles of wood or stone attached to long levers. laborer by alternately stepping upon each lever pounds the grain, &c." Paper mills of the Chinese, by which the shreds of bamboo and the farina of rice are reduced to a pulp, are precisely the same, and worked by men treading on levers as in the jantu. And we may add, that the paste of which Macaroni is made, is kneaded by a similar implement, and which the Romans probably received from the east.

Hence it appears that the jantu is merely one of a class of machines of similar construction and moved in the same manner; and as the pedal of the Hindoos is supposed to be as old as their agriculture, the jantu may certainly be considered equally ancient, for it is the more important machine of the two. They both, however, appear to have had a common origin; and to have come down together through the long vista of past ages, without the slightest alteration. The fact of the jantu being still used in India proves its antiquity, for it is well known that the Hindoos retain the same customs and peculiarities that distinguished their ancestors thousands of years ago. "A country," says Dr. Robertson, "where the customs, manners, and even dress of the people, are almost as permanent and invariable as the face of nature itself." This attachment to ancient customs exists with singular force in regard to every thing connected with their agriculture. Like the Chinese and some other people of the east, nothing can induce them to deviate from the practice of their forefathers, either as it regards their implements or modes of cultivation. And when we bear in mind, that the Hindoos were among the earliest of civilized people; that it was their arts and their science which enlightened the people, who, in the early ages dwelt in the valley of the Nile; we can readily admit that the jantu was used, in the time of Moses, and that to it he alluded in the passage already quoted; but, be this as it may, it may safely be considered as a fair specimen of primeval ingenuity in applying human effort, as well as in raising water; and in both respects is entitled to the lengthened notice we have given it.

These machines when worked by the feet raise water only about three feet, but where the elevation is greater, they have been moved by the hands, by means of ropes and a double lever, as in the next figure; the open ends being attached by pins to the edge of the reservoir. In this manner water may be raised five or six feet at a single lift, according to the length of the gutter.

Contrivances of the kind were formerly used in Europe; and, as in the eastern world, series of them were sometimes employed to raise water to great elevations, to the top of buildings, &c. They are figured and described in Serviere's collection. A number of cisterns are placed at equal distances above each other from the ground to the roof. In these, gutters are arranged as in the figure; the lowermost raises water into the first, into which others dip and convey it to the next one, and so to the highest. In some, the gutters are worked by a combination of levers; in others, by ropes passing over pulleys at the highest part of the building and united to a crank that is attached to a water wheel or other first mover.

a Breton's China, Vol. ii, 39, and Vol. iv, 27.

92

Pendulum Machine.

[Book 1.

Various forms of the gutters are figured, (the heads of some like large bowls,) as well as modes of working them. See figure No. 32.

No. 32. Combination of Levers and Gutters.

There is another modification of the jantu, by which water may be raised to great elevations. A number of gutters, open at both ends, are permanently connected to, and over each other, in a zigzag direction, so that while one end of the lowest dips in the water, its other end inclines upwards at an angle proportioned to the length of the gutter and the motion to be given to it, and is united to the lower end of the next one, which also inclines upwards, but in an opposite direction, and is united to the next, and so on, the length of each diminishing as it approaches the top, as in the following figure.

In the bottom of each, an opening is made and covered by a flap or valve to prevent the water, when once past through, from returning.

All