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4Any one will perceive the application of this principle in the instruments called steelyards (stateræ); for when the handle of suspension, on which as a centre the beam turns, is placed nearer the end from which the scale hangs, and, on the other side of the centre, the weight be shifted to the different divisions on the beam, the further it is from the centre, the greater will be the load in the scale which it is capable of raising, and that through the equilibration of the beam. Thus, a small weight, which, placed near the centre, would have but a feeble effect, may in a moment acquire power, and raise with ease a very heavy load.
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