Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/332

 296 ARCHIMEDES. a mind to make an offering to the gods of a golden crown, agreed for one of great value, and weighed out the gold to the maker, who brought one home the full weight ; but it was afterwards difcovered, that a quantity of the gold was ftolen, and fupplied with a like weight of filver. Hiero, being angry at this impoiition, defired Archimedes to take it into confideration, by what method fuch a fraud might be discovered for the future. Whilft he was engaged in the folution of this difficulty, he happened to go into the bath; where obferving, that a quantity of water overflowed, .equal to the bulk of his body, it immediately occurred to him, that Hiero's qucftion might be anfwered by a like method : on which he leaped out, and ran homeward, crying fupvjxa! uc!xa ! He then made two mafJes, each of equal weight with the crown, one of gold and the other of filver: when he had done (his, he filled a laige veflel to the brim with water, and put the filver mafs into it, upon which a quantity cf water oveiflowed equal to the bulk of the mafs; then t;:king the mafs cut, he filled up the veflel again, meafuring the water exactly, which he put in : this (hewed him what rneafure of water anfwered to a certain quantity of filver. Then he tried the gold in like manner, and found that it caufed a Icfs quantity of water to overflow, th? gold being lefs in bulk than the filver, though of the fame weight. Then he filled the vefiel a third time, and putting in the crown itfelf, hs found that it caufed more water to over- Vitruv. lib, flow then ihe golden mafs of the fame weight; whence he ca P' 3- computed the mixture of iilver with the gold, and fo mani- feftly difcovered the fraud. But he became' mcft famous by his curious contrivances, whereby the ci:y of Syracufe was fo long defended, when befieged by JViarcelius. " The vigorous eftbits made tocarry 4i the phce, had certainly fucceeded fooner," fays Livy, "had '* meiJes, fan ous for his fkiil in aftronomy, but moie fo for tl hi? fu'priiing invention (f warlike machines, with which " in an inftant be dtftroycd wha* had colt :Ii ei t-my vail Lib.xxiv. t; labour ro eret. Againft the veflel-, whkh cam? up c!(,ie cap. 34, c; to (^e W all.-, he contrived a kind of crow, pr"jec.ttd ai>ove the " the we'glit of a heavy counterpoife of lead, railed up the " of water, even when i: fell directly on its keel." How- ever,
 * ' they not heen fruftrated by one man : this was Archi-.
 * ' wall, with an iron grapple faftmed to a ftrong chain, f his
 * ' was let down up^n the prow of a fhip, and by means of
 * ' pr> w, and fet the veflel upright upon her poop : then
 * ' dropping it ail of a fudu'en, as if it had fallen from the
 * ' walls, it funk fo far into ;he f-a, that it let in a g;eat deal