In yesterday's 10 letter puzzle Mrs. A and I were a little disappointed that "bellows" was not accepted.
This is much the same as "scissors" in that the root word can mean an action (to scissor or to bellow) but the tool ends in "s" (a pair of scissors or a bellows).
Bellows have been made obsolete in many of their original applications. Old pipe organs used to be powered by a large bellows that forced air into a cylinder with a heavily weighted piston. The constant downward force on the piston regulated the air pressure within the cylinder, which produced a constant pressure for the pipes. Most pipe organs have been fitted with impellers driven by electric motors; very few still use a bellows.
Some blacksmiths still stoke their fires with bellows, but many take advantage of impellers that are either powered by a treadle and flywheel or powered by an electric motor.
Although bellows have been made obsolete in many of their original applications, you still might find bellows around the house. Some sets of fireplace tools include a bellows, some air mattresses come with a bellows foot pump, and of course I must mention the euilleann pipes. After all, what household wouldn't have a set of euilleann pipes?
Bellows are also the forerunner of the diaphragm pump, which is common in many modern applications.
- A