Читать книгу Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks онлайн

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ssss1 An examination of the Roman keys in the British Museum sufficiently attests this fact.

The same facts frequently become more clear when described in different words by different writers. We shall make use of this circumstance. Mr. Donaldson, in his Essay on Ancient Doorways, presents us with details which illustrate many of the foregoing remarks. “Homer describes the treasures and other valuable objects (mentioned in the Odyssey) as being kept in the citadel, secured merely by a cord intricately knotted. This, of course, was soon found to be a very insufficient protection, and therefore a wooden bar was adopted inside the doors of houses, to which it was attached by an iron latch, fastened or removed by a key adapted to it; this key was easily applied from within; but in order to get at it from without, a large hole was made in the door, allowing the introduction of the hand, so as to reach the latch and apply the key. The lock called the Lacedæmonian, much celebrated by ancient writers, was invented subsequently; it was especially fitted for the inner chambers of houses, the bar fastenings continuing to be employed for closing the outer doors of dwellings and the entrance-gates to cities. The Lacedæmonian lock did not require a hole to be made in the door, for it consisted of a bolt placed on that side of the entrance-door which opened, and on the inside of a chamber-door. When a person who was outside wished to enter, it was necessary for him to insert the key in a little hole and to raise the bolt; and in time this species of fastening was improved by the insertion of the bolt in an iron frame or rim permanently attached to the door by a chain, and fastening the door by the insertion of the hasp, through the eye of which was forced the bolt inside the lock by applying the key.” After quoting a Latin sentence from Varro in elucidation of his subject, Mr. Donaldson proceeds to observe, that for the most part the locks of the ancients were different in principle from those of modern days, not being inserted or mortised into the doors, nor even attached except by a chain; they were, in fact, padlocks.