The Eureka
Encyclopedia
The Eureka is a machine for generating Latin verses, created and exhibited in the mid nineteenth century by the Quaker inventor John Clark of Bridgwater
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Clark, a cousin of Cyrus Clark, was born at Greinton
in Somerset in 1785 and moved to Bridgwater in 1809. There he was first a grocer and later a printer. In 1830 he started work on the Eureka and was able to exhibit it in 1845 in the Egyptian Hall
in Picadilly. Visitors, for the admission price of one shilling, could see a machine that resembled a ‘small bureau bookcase’, with six narrow windows in the front. As it prepared each new verse, the machine would play the National Anthem, becoming silent after about a minute, when the verse was complete.
The verses created by the Eureka were gloomy and oracular hexameters, created to a single format, which allowed for many combinations, all metrically sound and (more or less) meaningful.
This method of verse creation was certainly not Clark’s invention: already in 1677 a John Peter had published a work, "Artificial Versifying, A New Way to Make Latin Verses". Clark’s contribution was to fully automate this process.
The mechanism was a series of six drums turning at different rates within the cabinet. The words were not simply printed on the drums, but encoded as rows of stop wires of different lengths, onto which wooden staves would be dropped. The staves had any letters that might be needed printed on them in a vertical series, and would fall onto the stop wires with the desired letter opposite the window for the word.
After Clark’s death in 1853, the machine passed first to his nephew and then to his cousins Cyrus and James Clark. Since 1950, when it was repaired after a period of neglect, it has been housed in the Records Office of Clarks’ factory in Street, Somerset
.
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
.
Clark, a cousin of Cyrus Clark, was born at Greinton
Greinton
Greinton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Somerset Levels and Moors at the foot of the Polden Hills, west southwest of Glastonbury and east of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district...
in Somerset in 1785 and moved to Bridgwater in 1809. There he was first a grocer and later a printer. In 1830 he started work on the Eureka and was able to exhibit it in 1845 in the Egyptian Hall
Egyptian Hall
For the Glasgow building see The Egyptian Halls.The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an Exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson.-History:...
in Picadilly. Visitors, for the admission price of one shilling, could see a machine that resembled a ‘small bureau bookcase’, with six narrow windows in the front. As it prepared each new verse, the machine would play the National Anthem, becoming silent after about a minute, when the verse was complete.
The verses created by the Eureka were gloomy and oracular hexameters, created to a single format, which allowed for many combinations, all metrically sound and (more or less) meaningful.
| Word 1 | Word 2 | Word 3 | Word 4 | Word 5 | Word 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARTIA | CASTRA | FORIS | PRAENARRANT | PROELIA | MULTA |
| dactyl Dactyl (poetry) A dactyl is a foot in meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight... |
trochee Trochee A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one... |
iamb | molossus Molossus (poetry) A molossus is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry. It consists of three long syllables. Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem.... |
dactyl | trochee |
| adjective, neuter plural nominative (or accusative) | noun, neuter plural nominative (or accusative) | adverb (or parenthesis) | verb, third person plural | noun, neuter plural accusative (or nominative) | adjective, neuter plural accusative (or nominative) |
This method of verse creation was certainly not Clark’s invention: already in 1677 a John Peter had published a work, "Artificial Versifying, A New Way to Make Latin Verses". Clark’s contribution was to fully automate this process.
The mechanism was a series of six drums turning at different rates within the cabinet. The words were not simply printed on the drums, but encoded as rows of stop wires of different lengths, onto which wooden staves would be dropped. The staves had any letters that might be needed printed on them in a vertical series, and would fall onto the stop wires with the desired letter opposite the window for the word.
After Clark’s death in 1853, the machine passed first to his nephew and then to his cousins Cyrus and James Clark. Since 1950, when it was repaired after a period of neglect, it has been housed in the Records Office of Clarks’ factory in Street, Somerset
Street, Somerset
Street is a small village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It is situated on a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, south-west of Glastonbury. The 2001 census records the village as having a population of 11,066...
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