11

The name of the inventor of the corkscrew has not been handed

down to these generations. He lived before the days of letters

patent. It is held be a certain school of theorists that he was no

other than Archimedes. The similarity of the corkscrew to the

spiral of Archimedes is r= a theta. The corkscrew cannot have a

constant equation, for the pitch varies not only in different screws,

but in the different spirals of the same screw. A corkscrew

fashioned after the equation of the spiral of Archimedes, with

important modifications, would be serviceable; but there seems to

be no sufficient reason for believing that Archimedes invented the

corkscrew.

An important improvement in corkscrews is mentioned in the

foregoing. In order to comprehend its value, the practical use of

the ordinary corkscrew must be understood. The bottle is grasped by the neck with the

left hand, the top of the cork is pricked with the point of the spiral, and about six or

seven half twists are given to the corkscrew. The body of the

bottle is then gripped between the knees, and a lifting force is

applied to the corkscrew and through it to the cork. The removal

of the cork is accompanied by a sound which may be fairly

imitated by putting the left forefinger in the mouth with its end

against the inner surface of the right cheek, inflating the cheeks,

and then removing the finger by a quick push against the

yielding right hand corner of the mouth. His perfected corkscrew has the blunt end of

the wire brought back through the wooden handle and twisted around the stem of the

corkscrew till it comes down to the top of the spiral, where it is would into a concentric

coil. When the spiral has sunk into the cork the blunt end of this coil strikes against the

cork near its periphery, and with the purchase thus obtained the cork is turned around

in the neck of the bottle and withdrawn far more gently than with the unimproved

corkscrew

[see Clough Patent below]

. A good article of the perfected pattern may be

bought for about fifteen cents in almost any general store in the country. In a cutlery

establishment in the city the price would not be over seventy-five cents.

There are other complications which are intended to increase the usefulness of the

corkscrew or make it more conveniently portable. A metallic

contrivance shaped like the bow of a jews harp, is

substituted for the wooden handle, and the stem of the spiral

is fastened between the ends of the bow with a pin in such a

manner that the implement may be shut up like a pocket knife. This pattern

of portable corkscrew is adapted for excursion or picnics, where there may

be bottles of milk to be opened

[see

“

Barnes 1884 Patent

”

below]

. There is also

a very elaborate kind of corkscrew sold in some of the drug stores and

cutlery establishments. It is nickel plated and looks as formidable as a toy steam engine.