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2I will proceed to the explanation of this. The pulleys revolve on axles which go across the blocks, and are acted upon by straight ropes which coil round the axle of the windlass when that is put in motion by the levers, thus causing the weight to ascend. The pivots of the windlass axle are received into, or play in the gudgeons of the cheeks, and the levers being inserted in the holes provided for them in the axle, are moved in a circular direction, and thus cause the ascent of the weight. Thus also, an iron lever being applied to a weight which many hands could not remove; if a fulcrum, which the Greeks call ὑπομόχλιον, be placed under it, and the tongue of the lever be under the weight, one man’s strength at the end will raise the weight.
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