The oyster, the rat and the cat; gauging raised water
A fable in pen, plus a red-chalk rule for measuring how high falling water can lift water
A mixed leaf: a fable written in pen at the top, and below it a red-chalk note (numbered 26) on a waterfall and a measuring instrument. The fable tells of an oyster that, begging a rat to carry it to the sea, clamps shut on the rat's head so that a cat can kill it. The hydraulic note gives a rule for measuring how much thinner raised water becomes relative to the fall driving it, illustrated by a small device drawn at the left.
On this page
Fable of the oyster, the rat and the cat
An oyster, unloaded with other fish in the fisherman's house near the sea, begs a rat to carry it to the water. The rat, meaning to eat it, makes it open, but the oyster clamps shut on the rat's head and holds it fast, whereupon the cat arrives and kills the rat.
Measuring how high falling water can raise water
Measure the falling water by its height and multiply it by the height to which you want to raise water; as many times as the fall goes into the lift, so much thinner the raised water becomes than the water that rises. This, he says, is the greatest amount that can be raised.
Instrument for gauging water-lift
A small red-chalk device is drawn at the left beside the number 26, corresponding to the caption's waterfall and measuring instrument. It accompanies the rule for computing how far falling water can raise other water.