Huygens attempted to correct these irregularities in the verge
escapement in watches by amplifying the arc of oscillation of the
balance itself. He constructed for that purpose a pirouette escapement
shown in Fig. 155, in which a toothed wheel _A_ adjusted upon the verge
_V_ serves as an intermediary between that and the balance _B_, upon the
axis of which was fixed a pinion _D_. By this method he obtained
extended arcs of vibration, but the vibrations were, as a consequence,
very slow, and they still remained subject to all the irregularities
arising from the variation in the motive power as well as from shocks. A
little later, but about the same epoch, a certain Dr. Hook, of the Royal
Society of London, contrived another arrangement by means of which he
succeeded, so it appeared to him at least, in greatly diminishing the
influence of shock upon the escapement; but many other, perhaps greater,
inconveniences caused his invention to be speedily rejected. We shall
give our readers an idea of what Dr.
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