Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Sir Walter Scott to Daniel Terry, 14 February 1823
“I will not fail to send Mr Atkinson, so soon as I can get it, a full account of
Mr Holdsworth of Glasgow’s improved use of
steam, which is in great acceptation. Being now necessarily sometimes with men
of science, ![]()
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I hear a great deal of
these matters; and, like Don Diego
Snapshorto with respect to Greek, though I do not understand
them, I like the sound of them. I have got a capital stove (proved and
exercised by Mr Robison,* who is such a
mechanical genius as his father, the
celebrated professor,) for the lower part of the house, with a communication
for ventilating in the summer. Moreover, I have got for one or two of the rooms
a new sort of bell, which I think would divert you. There is neither wire nor
crank of any kind; the whole consisting of a tube of tin, such as is used for
gas, having at one extremity a cylinder of wider dimensions, and in the other a
piece of light wood. The larger cylinder—suppose an inch and a half in
diameter—terminates in the apartment, and, ornamented as you please, is the
handle, as it were, of the bell. By pressing a piston down into this upper and
wider cylinder, the air through the tube, to a distance of a hundred feet if
necessary, is suddenly compressed, which compression throws out the light piece
of wood, which strikes the bell. The power of compression is exactly like that
of the Bramah patent—the acting element being air instead of water. The bell
may act as a telegraph by sinking once, twice, thrice, or so forth. The great
advantage, however, is, that it never can go out of order—needs no cranks, or
pullies, or wires—and can be contorted into any sort of twining or turning,
which convenience of communication may require, being simply an air-tight tube.
It might be used to communicate with the stable, and I think of something of
that kind with the porter’s lodge with the gardener’s house. I have
a model now in the room ![]()
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| 266 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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with me. The only thing I have not explained is, that a
small spring raises the piston B when pressed down. I wish you would show this
to Mr Atkinson: if he has not seen it, he will be
delighted. I have it tried on a tube of fifty feet, and it never fails, indeed
cannot. It may be called the ne plus ultra of bell-ringing—the pea-gun
principle, as one may say. As the bell is stationary, it might be necessary
(were more than one used) that a little medallion should be suspended in such a
manner as to be put in vibration, so as to show the servant which bell has been
struck.—I think we have spoke of wellnigh all the commodities wanted at
Conundrum Castle worth mentioning. Still there are the carpets.
“I have no idea my present labours will be dramatic
in situation: as to character, that of Louis
XI., the sagacious, perfidious, superstitious, jocular, and
politic tyrant, would be, for a historical chronicle, containing his life and death, one of the most powerful ever
brought on the stage.—Yours truly,
William Atkinson (1774-1839)
English architect who worked at Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford; he published
Views of Picturesque Cottages (1805).
John Robison (1739-1805)
Educated at Glasgow University, he was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh
University (1773) and contributor to the
Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Sir John Robison (1778-1843)
Scottish inventor, the son of Professor John Robison (1739–1805); he was a founder (1821)
and president (1841-42) of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.
Daniel Terry (1789-1829)
English actor; after a career in provincial theater made his London debut in 1812. A
close friend of Walter Scott, he performed in theatrical adaptations of Scott's
novels.
