Viola organista parts; channel eddies and riverbed
A red-chalk mechanism drawn upside down, with notes on where eddies deepen a channel
The sheet carries red-chalk drawings, sketched upside down, that the transcription identifies as probable details of the viola organista, a mechanical bowed-keyboard instrument. A cylindrical component with a central shaft sits at lower left below a larger open frame. Two short water notes accompany the drawings: one on how eddies mixing with the current mark deep water, the other on how a river shapes its bed in steps.
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Probable details of the viola organista
Drawn in red chalk and turned upside down, the mechanical parts are identified in the note as probable details of the viola organista, a bowed keyboard instrument. A drum-like cylinder with a central shaft and cross-piece appears at the lower left, beneath a larger rectangular frame with hanging elements.
Eddies mixing with the current mark deep water
Where the eddies born of the water's bubbling mix into the main current, the note observes, the depth there will be great. A wavy line and a swirl at the top of the sheet illustrate such a curved reach of channel.
The river shapes its bed in steps
A brief maxim states that water forms the profile of its bed in leaps or steps rather than as a smooth slope, describing the undulating floor of a river.