Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

INTRODUCTION.

were in use for centuries before corks were thought of, and these again were employed for generations before a convenient method was hit upon for their extraction. The exhilarating contents could then only be tasted by what is now

technically called "beheading the bottle." More expert practitioners had many opportunities of showing their skill in removing the impediment by a dexterous twist of the fingers; or if that

were impracticable, teeth were called in as their natural auxiliaries: here, however, in many cases it was doubtful, whether the cork would follow the teeth, or the teeth remain in the cork; and if an

xxxvi

INTRODUCTION.

obstinate remnant would remain, a nail was a ready means of dislodging the stubborn plug, particle by particle,-when at any time, through

an impatience of the nibbling labour, or a despair of accomplishing a clean extraction at all, it was resolved at once to send the obstacle the wrong way; this was then, indeed, an invaluable instrument. A pair of skewers, or forks, inserted "witchwise,"

would sometimes accomplish those difficult cases which had baffled the exertions of all the naturals. Twisting the lower extremity of the "bare bodkin" into a spiral form, and adding a handle to it, was the thought of a master genius; and in

INTRODUCTION:

xxxvii

this shape mankind, for ages, were contented to avail themselves of its services-and even at the present hour, some barbarous, uncouth countries and districts may be named where it is still the extractor in most general use. In our civilized

land, it must be yet in the recollection of many, that this was, in numerous cases, a very inefficient machine; and the pleasure of beholding the generous beverage, beaming through a crust of many years, was cruelly damped by the experience, that in proportion to the pains taken in fixing the cork, was the mental agony which must be endured during all attempts to remove it. Jovial fellows, who forget those days, in their moments of inspiration, may talk indeed of their Phillises, their Ianthes, their Delias, their Saccharissas, their Chloes, and their what nots,-let them henceforth mingle a little gratitude with their admiration, and glorify a nymph greater than them all. Miss O'Rourke, like her own exquisite potteen punch, was a delightful compound from ingredients, both mental and corporeal, of the most opposite nature. The friend of Kosciusko, and the authoress of the Rhapsody, which afterwards rung so often throughout the country to the favourite tune (Gramachree) of the patriot Pole,-such another hostess was not in England wide, and no other of d

[ocr errors][merged small]

her order ever conferred so great a benefit on bottlesuckers as she did, by her superlative invention of placing a button at the end of the screw-worm

Henceforth the decantering process was a mere matter of routine. When, in her green old age, Death laid his hand on the inventress-a piratical screwmaker also took to himself the credit and profit of the button addendum. Yet Miss O'Rourke shall never be forgotten, even although her master-piece, some few years later, was eclipsed

and may be yet superseded by the King's Screw,

[blocks in formation]

which can receive no addition either to its beauty or convenience, except it be probably some little steam appendage to make it self-acting. These are trifling additions to a simple instrument*, yet

A shoemaker's AWL is a very simple instrument, much simpler than a corkscrew, but even an awl has had its stages of improvement. "The first awls were plain conical punches, that made a round hole in the leather. It was, however, soon discovered that this form was erroneous, for the hole thus made was never more than half filled with the two waxed threads crossing each other. Indeed, the section of the two threads might be regarded as two circles which touched one another, and were enclosed in a third circle which touched both the others at the opposite extremities of their diameters. Now geometry teaches us that those two small circles are only half the surface of the larger enclosing circle. "The conical awl was then flattened, and had an oval form as to its section given it-and, some time afterwards, the awl was filed so as to give it four faces, the section being a lozenge with cutting edges-but still the awl was straight. Although this straightness is useful in many cases, yet it was improper in the business of shoemaking.

"Suppose it were wished to sew together quite close to the edge two pieces of leather placed one upon the other, and that a straight awl is used; the hole that it will make will constantly push out the leather towards the edge, and give it a convex form, and when the sewing is done the edge will exhibit a row of festoons, which it will be necessary to rub down by means of a knife in order to give a regular edge to the pieces; but which, by this means, will lose much of its strength. Now, if on the contrary a crooked awl is used, and pushed in properly, it may be brought very near the edge, by making it describe the arc of a circle, whose convexity is opposite to the edge-by this simple means the festooned appearance of the edge produced by the straight awl will not be formed, and of course the strength of the leather will be preserved undiminished, and the sewing itself will be strong. Unfortunately the name of the person who conceived the happy idea of bending the awl is lost."

However little we reflect upon the manner in which the hole ought to be made in the two pieces of leather, which are placed one upon the other, we shall be convinced that the awl should come out of the lower piece, at the same distance

« PredošláPokračovať »