36. A Satyr pouring Water from a Wine-skin into a full Washing-Basin, without making the contents overflow.
Construct on a pedestal the figure of a satyr holdmg in his hands a
wine-skin: place near a washing-basin, and into this let some liquid be
poured until it is full; water shall be made to flow into the basin
without running over, until all the water in the skin is exhausted. The
following is the construction.
Let A B (fig. 36), be a perfectly
airtight pedestal, either cylindrical or octagonal in shape, as may seem
more elegant, and divided into two chambers by the partition C D,
through which the tube E F fitting closely into the partition, extends
upwards nearly to the roof of the pedestal. Through the roof insert the
tube G H, projecting slightly above the vessel, and lying exactly under
the basin, while, below, it reaches to the bottom except that room must
be left for the passage of water: this tube must be soldered into the
roof of the pedestal and the partition. Another tube, K L M, must also
be inserted through the roof, reaching not quite so low as the
partition, soldered into the roof and carrying its stream into the
basin, which lies above the tube G H and communicates with it. Now let
the vessel A D be filled with water through an orifice N, which must be
afterwards closed. If water is poured into the basin, it will pass
through the tube G H into the vessel B C; and the air in B C, passing
through the tube E F and into the vessel A D, will force the liquid in A
D through K L M into the basin; and this being carried again into B C
will force out the contained air as before, which, again, will force the
water in the vessel A D into the basin: and this will go on until the
water in A D is exhausted. The tube K L M must pass through the mouth
of the skin and be particularly fine, that the display may last a
considerable time.