READING FOR EVERYBODY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6090, 29 January 1898, Page 7

READING FOR EVERYBODY.

A SLOT-MACHINE TWENTY CENTURIES AGO. The mechanical devices of Hero of Alexandria furnish many examples of the germs of modern . inventions, from the steamengine down, so much so that they seem to be a never-failing source of wonder to those in search of mechanical curiosities. The latest modern device to be unearthed from among them is the slot machine. The Daily Mail, London, gives a sketch of what certainly embodies the principle of the modern "nickle-in-the-slot" weighing , or vending machines, although it is 2000 ! year 3 old. We quote an abstract from : Merck's Report, as follows: — "If anyone j were inclined to throw a doubtuponthatoftS quoted dictum of King Solomon to the effect that ' there is nothing new under the sun,' he would probably feel bound to make an exception in the case of the penny- . in-the-slot machine. There is good evi- '. dence, however, that a coin-actuated j machine was invented, if not actually in | use, more than 2000 years ago. [A correct ! picture of the machine itself is given, j which is copied from that which appears iv ! the book on 'Pneumatics,' which was written by Hero of Alexandria, 150 B.C.] The machine is described as a ' sacrificial j vessel, which flows only when money is introduced," and the manner in which this result is brought about can be readily understood by reference to the drawing. A coin dropped into the slit at th« top of the vase depresses a lever, which lias at its end a broad plate upon which the coin momentarily rests. At the other end this lever raises a plug from the mouth of a pipe, causing any liquid with -which the vase may be charged to flow out at the side. Whether the vase was filled with holy water or what part it took in the religious ceremonial of the time cannot be gathered from Hero's book. There is simply the drawing and description of the apparatus, which, as will be seen, is a penny-in-tha-slot device pure and simple. And, curiously enough, the dispensing of liquids by slotmachines is one of the very latest adaptations of the inventions."