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 A TEXTBOOK OF
ENGINEERING MECHANICS
 A TEXTBOOK OF
ENGINEERING MECHANICS
(In SI Units)

For

B.E./B.Tech. Ist YEAR

Strictly as per the latest syllabus prescribed by

Gautam Buddh Technical University, Lucknow

By
Dr. R.K. BANSAL
B.Sc. Engg. (Mech.), M. Tech., Hons. (I.I.T., Delhi),
Ph.D., M.I.E. (India)
Formerly
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Delhi College of Engineering
Delhi
AND
SANJAY BANSAL
B.E. (Computer)

LAXMI PUBLICATIONS (P) LTD

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BOSTON (USA) • NAIROBI (KENYA)
A TEXTBOOK OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Compiled by Smt. Nirmal Bansal

Copyright © by the Authors and the Laxmi Publications Pvt. Ltd.
All rights reserved including those of translation into other languages. In accordance with the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012,
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 Contents
Chapters Pages

UNIT-I: FORCE SYSTEMS AND FRICTION

1. Basic Concepts of Engineering Mechanics 3–27
1.1. Definitions ... 3
1.2. Scalar and Vector Quantities ... 3
1.3. Free, Forced and Fixed Vectors ... 4
1.4. Law of Parallelogram of Forces ... 4
1.5. Lami’s Theorem ... 7
1.6. System of Units ... 7
1.7. Resolution of a Force ... 17
1.8. Moment of a Force ... 20
1.9. Laws of Mechanics ... 22
1.10. The Principle of Transmissibility of Forces ... 24
Highlights ... 25
Exercise 1 ... 25

2. Force System and Classification 28–48

2.1. Coplanar Collinear and Concurrent Forces ... 28
2.2. Classification of a Force System ... 28
2.3. Resultant of Several Forces ... 29
2.4. Resultant of Coplanar Forces ... 30
2.5. Resultant of Collinear Coplanar Forces ... 30
2.6. Resultant of Concurrent Coplanar Forces ... 31
2.7. Resultant of Non-concurrent Coplanar Forces ... 42
Highlights ... 46
Exercise 2 ... 46

3. Moment of a Force and Varignon’s Theorem 49–66

3.1. Parallel Forces ... 49
3.2. Moment of a Force ... 49
3.3. Varignon’s Theorem (or Principle of Moments) ... 50
3.4. Types of Parallel Forces ... 53
3.5. Resultant of Two Parallel Forces ... 53
3.6. Resolution of a Force into a Force and a Couple ... 58
3.7. General Case of Parallel Forces in a Plane ... 61
Highlights ... 63
Exercise 3 ... 63
(v)
 ( vi )
Chapters Pages
4. Equilibrium of Coplanar Force System and Free Body Diagram 67–102
4.1. Equilibrium of Coplanar Force System ... 67
4.2. Action and Reaction ... 78
4.3. Free Body Diagrams ... 79
4.4. Equilibrium of a Body Under Three Forces ... 97
4.5. Lami’s Theorem ... 98
Highlights ... 100
Exercise 4 ... 100

5. Determination of Support Reactions 103–127

5.1. Introduction ... 103
5.2. Types of Supports ... 103
5.3. Types of Loading ... 104
5.4. Determination of Reactions of a Beam ... 105
Highlights ... 125
Exercise 5 ... 125

6. Friction 128–173
6.1. Introduction ... 128
6.2. Co-efficient of Friction (µ) ... 128
6.3. Angle of Friction (φ) ... 129
6.4. Cone of Friction ... 130
6.5. Types of Friction ... 130
6.6. Coulomb’s Laws of Friction ... 130
6.7. Angle of Repose ... 135
6.8. Equilibrium of a Body Lying on a Rough Inclined Plane ... 136
6.9. Applications of Friction ... 148
6.10. Wedge Friction ... 149
6.11. Belt Friction ... 153
6.12. Brakes and Screws Friction ... 160
6.13. Friction in a Square Threaded Screw ... 164
Highlights ... 171
Exercise 6 ... 172

UNIT-II: BASIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

7. Plane Truss 177–214
7.1. Difference between Truss and Frame ... 177
7.2. Perfect and Imperfect Truss ... 178
7.3. Assumptions and Analysis of Plane Truss ... 179
7.4. Method of Joints ... 179
7.5. Method of Sections ... 200
 ( vii )
Chapters Pages

7.6. Zero Force Members ... 207

Highlights ... 208
Exercise 7 ... 208

8. Beams (Shear Force and Bending Moment) 215–265

8.1. Types of Beams ... 215
8.2. Types of Load ... 216
8.3. Statically Determinate Beams ... 216
8.4. Shear Force and Bending Moment in Beams ... 217
8.5. Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams ... 217
8.6. Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams for a Cantilever ... 219
8.7. Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams for a Simply Supported Beam... 234
8.8. Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams for Overhanging Beams ... 247
8.9. Shear Force and Bending Moment Diagrams for Beams
Subjected to Couples ... 255
8.10. Relations between Load, Shear Force and Bending Moment ... 259
8.11. Support Reactions from given Shear Force Diagram or given
Bending Moment Diagram ... 260
Highlights ... 262
Exercise 8 ... 263

UNIT-III: CENTROID AND MOMENT OF INERTIA

9. Centroid and Moment of Inertia 269–325
9.1. Centre of Gravity ... 269
9.2. Centre of Mass ... 269
9.3. Centroid or Centre of Gravity of Simple Plane Figures ... 269
9.4. Centroid (or Centre of Gravity) of Areas of Plane Figures by the
Method of Moments ... 269
9.5. Centroid of Composite Bodies ... 271
9.6. Determination of Centroid by Integration ... 278
9.7. Centroid of Volume ... 290
9.8. Definition of Moment of Inertia of Area ... 293
9.9. Perpendicular Axis Theorem and Polar Moment of Inertia ... 295
9.10. Parallel Axis Theorem ... 295
9.11. Moment of Inertia of Simple Areas by Integration ... 296
9.12. Moment of Inertia of Composite Areas ... 304
9.13. Polar Moment of Inertia of Masses ... 311
9.14. Parallel Axis Theorem for Mass Moment of Inertia ... 312
9.15. Mass Moment of Inertia of Simple Bodies by Integration ... 312
9.16. Mass Moment of Inertia of Composite Bodies ... 318
Highlights ... 319
Exercise 9 ... 321
 ( viii )
Chapters Pages

UNIT-IV: KINEMATICS AND KINETICS OF RIGID BODIES

10. Kinematics of Rigid Bodies 329–394
10.1. Introduction ... 329
10.2. Absolute Motion ... 329
10.3. Plane Rectilinear Motion of Rigid Body ... 329
10.4. Plane Curvilinear Motion of Rigid Body ... 347
10.5. Rotation of Rigid Bodies ... 350
10.6. x – y and n – t Components ... 358
10.7. Relative Motion ... 362
10.8. Plane Motion of Rigid Bodies ... 366
10.9. Instantaneous Centre of Zero Velocity ... 382
Highlights ... 390
Exercise 10 ... 391

11. Kinetics of Rigid Bodies 395–468

11.1. Introduction ... 395
11.2. Force, Mass and Acceleration ... 395
11.3. Newton’s Laws of Motion ... 396
11.4. D’ Alembert’s Principle and Dynamic Equilibrium ... 401
11.5. Laws of Motion Applied to Planer Translation ... 407
11.6. Momentum and Angular Momentum (or Moment of Momentum) ... 428
11.7. Laws of Motion Applied to Rotary Motion ... 432
11.8. Laws of Motion Applied to Plane Motion ... 441
11.9. Work and Energy ... 442
11.10. Kinetic Energy ... 448
11.11. Principle of Work and Energy ... 449
11.12. Conservative Forces ... 451
11.13. Law of Conservation of Energy ... 451
11.14. Linear Impulse and Momentum ... 459
11.15. Conservation of Linear Momentum ... 462
Highlights ... 465
Exercise 11 ... 466

UNIT-V: MECHANICS OF DEFORMABLE SOLIDS

12. Simple Stresses and Strains 471–497
12.1. Introduction ... 471
12.2. Simple Stress and Strain ... 471
12.3. Normal and Shear Stresses ... 472
12.4. Elasticity and Elastic Limit ... 475
12.5. One Dimensional Loading ... 476
 ( ix )
Chapters Pages

12.6. Stress on an Inclined Plane ... 481

12.7. Members of Varying Cross-Sections ... 486
12.8. Bars in Series ... 491
12.9. Tensile Test Diagrams for Ductile and Brittle Materials ... 493
Highlights ... 494
Exercise 12 ... 495

13. Elastic Constants 498–516

13.1. Introduction ... 498
13.2. Longitudinal Strain ... 498
13.3. Lateral Strain ... 498
13.4. Poisson’s Ratio ... 499
13.5. Volumetric Strain ... 501
13.6. Volumetric Strain of a Cylindrical Rod ... 507
13.7. Bulk Modulus ... 508
13.8. Expression for Young’s Modulus in Terms of Bulk Modulus ... 508
13.9. Relationship between Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity ... 510
Highlights ... 513
Exercise 13 ... 514

14. Strain Energy and Impact Loading 517–526

14.1. Introduction ... 517
14.2. Some Definitions ... 517
14.3. Expression for Strain Energy Stored in a Body when the Load is
Applied Gradually ... 517
14.4. Expression for Strain Energy Stored in a Body when the Load is
Applied Suddenly ... 519
14.5. Expression for Strain Energy Stored in a Body when the Load is
Applied with Impact ... 521
Highlights ... 525
Exercise 14 ... 525

15. Bending of Beams 527–543

15.1. Introduction ... 527
15.2. Theory of Pure Bending ... 527
15.3. Neutral Surface and Neutral Axis ... 530
15.4. Stresses in Beams of Different Cross-Sections ... 532
Highlights ... 541
Exercise 15 ... 542

16. Theory of Torsion 544–559

16.1. Torque and Twist ... 544
16.2. Shear Stress Produced in a Circular Shaft Subjected to Torsion ... 544
 (x)
Chapters Pages

16.3. Maximum Torque Transmitted by a Circular Solid Shaft ... 546

16.4. Torque Transmitted by a Hollow Circular Shafts ... 548
16.5. Power Transmitted by Shafts ... 549
Highlights ... 557
Exercise 16 ... 558

Objective Type Questions 561–593

Examination Paper with Solutions 595–605
 Preface to the Eighth Edition
The course contents of the eighth edition of the book entitled, ‘A Textbook of
Engineering Mechanics’ are planned in such a way that the book covers the complete course
of first year students of all disciplines of Gautam Buddh Technical University, Lucknow
(Formerly known as U.P. Technical University, Lucknow) strictly as per the latest syllabus
prescribed by G.B. Technical University, Lucknow. This edition has been thoroughly revised
and made up-to-date.
The book contains following five units:
Unit I : Force Systems, Basic Concepts, Resultant of a Force System, Free Body
Diagrams, Equilibrium and Equation of Equilibrium and Friction.
Unit II : Basic Structural Analysis, Plane Truss and Beam (Shear Force and Bending
Moment Diagrams).
Unit III : Centroid and Moment of Inertia.
Unit IV : Kinematics and Kinetics of Rigid Body.
Unit V : Mechanics of Deformable Solids, Simple Stress and Strain, Bending of Beams
and Theory of Torsion.
The following additions have been made in this edition:
1. Free, Forced and Fixed Vectors. Application of Friction, Wedge, Belt, Brakes and
Screws.
2. Zero Force Member and Statically determinate Beams.
3. Mass Moment of Inertia of Composite Bodies.
4. Relative Velocity, Plane Motion of Rigid Bodies and Conservative Forces.
5. Tensile Test Diagrams for Ductile and Brittle Materials.
Also the latest solved papers of U.P. Technical University have been added at
proper places. These additions makes the book more useful to the students.
The book is written in a simple and easy-to-follow languages, so that even an average
student can grasp the subject by self-study. At the end of each chapter, highlights, theoretical
questions and many unsolved problems with answers are given for the students to solve them.
Though every care has been taken in checking the manuscripts and proofreading, yet
claiming perfection is very difficult. We shall be very grateful to the readers and users of this
book for pointing any mistake that might have crept in. Suggestions for improvement are
most welcome and would be incorporated in the next edition with a view to make the book
more useful.

—AUTHORS

( xi )
 SYLLABUS
B. Tech. Ist Year

NME-102 : ENGINEERING MECHANICS L T P [310]

UNIT I: FORCE SYSTEMS 9
• Basic concepts: Definitions, Basic assumptions, Scalar and Vector quantities, Free,
Forced and fîxed vectors.
• Force System; Force, Classification and Representation, Force as a Vector, Composition
of forces, Parallelogram Law, Resolution, Principle of Transmissibility of forces.
• Moment of a force, Vector representation, Moment for coplanar force system, Varignon’s
theorem.
• Couple, Vector representation, Resolution of a force into a force and a couple.
• Force Systems: Coplanar Concurrent Force system and Coplanar Non-concurrent force
systems, Resultant of coplanar force system.
• Equilibrium of coplanar force system, Free body diagrams, Determination of reactions,
Equilibrium of a body under three forces, Lami’s theorem.
Friction
• Introduction, Wet and Dry friction, Theory of Dry friction, Angle of friction, Angle of
Repose, Cone of friction, Coulomb’s laws of friction, Applications of friction: Wedge,
Belt, Brakes and Screws.
UNIT II: BASIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS 8
• Plane Truss: Difference between truss and frame, Perfect and imperfect truss,
Assumptions and Analysis of Plane Truss, Method of joints, Method of section, Zero
force members.
• Beams, Types of beams, Statically Determinate Beams, Shear force and bending moment
in beams, Shear force and bending moment diagrams, Relationships between load, shear
and bending moment.
UNIT III: CENTROID AND MOMENT OF INERTIA 8
• Center of Gravity, Center of Mass and Centroid of curves, areas, volumes, Determination
of centroid by integration, Centroid of composite bodies.
• Definition of Moment of inertia of area, Perpendicular axis theorem and Polar moment
of Inertia, Parallel axis theorem, Moment of inertia of simple areas by integration,
Moment of Inertia of Composite Areas.
• Moment of Inertia of masses, Parallel axis theorem for mass moment of inertia, Mass
moment of inertia of simple bodies by intégration, Mass moment of inertia of composite
bodies.
UNIT IV: KINEMATICS OF RIGID BODY 9
• Introduction, Absolute motion, Plane rectilinear motion of rigid body, Plane curvilinear
Motion of rigid body, x–y and n–t components, Rotation of rigid bodies, Relative Motion,
Plane Motion of rigid bodies, Instantaneous center of zero velocity

( xii )
 ( xiii )
Kinetics of Rigid Body
• Introduction, Force, Mass and Acceleration, Newton’s law of motion, D’ Alembert’s Prin-
ciples and Dynamic Equilibrium, Laws of motion applied to planar translation, rotation
and plane motion.
• Work and Energy, Kinetic energy, Principle of work and energy, Conservative forces,
Law of conservation of energy.
• Linear Impulse and Momentum, Conservation of linear momentum.

UNIT V: MECHANICS OF DÉFORMABLE SOLIDS 8

• Simple Stress and Strain: Normal and shear stresses. One Dimensional Loading;
Stress on an inclined plane, members of varying cross-section, bars in series. Tensile
Test diagram for ductile and brittle materials, Elastic constants, Strain energy, resilience.
• Bending of Beams: Theory of pure bending, neutral surface and neutral axis, stresses
in beams of different cross-sections.
• Theory of Torsion: Torque and twist, Shear stress due to torsion circular sections.
 UNIT I

FORCE SYSTEMS AND FRICTION

Chapters
1. Basic Concepts of Engineering Mechanics
2. Force System and Classification
3. Moment of a Force and Varignon’s Theorem
4. Equilibrium of Coplanar Force System and Free Body Diagram
5. Determination of Support Reactions
6. Friction
 1
Basic Concepts of Engineering Mechanics

1.1. DEFINITIONS

Engineering mechanics is that branch of science which deals with the behaviour of a
body when the body is at rest or in motion. The engineering mechanics may be divided into
Statics and Dynamics. The branch of science, which deals with the study of a body when the
body is at rest, is known as Statics while the branch of science which deals with the study of a
body when the body is in motion, is known as Dynamics. Dynamics is further divided into
kinematics and kinetics. The study of a body in motion, when the forces which cause the
motion are not considered, is called kinematics and if the forces are also considered for the
body in motion, that branch of science is called kinetics. The classification of Engineering
Mechanics are shown in Fig. 1.1 below.
ENGINEERING MECHANICS

1. Statics 2. Dynamics
(Body is at rest) (Body is in motion)

(i) Kinematics (ii) Kinetics

(Forces which cause motion (Forces are considered)
are not considered)
Fig. 1.1
Note. Statics deals with equilibrium of bodies at rest, whereas dynamics deals with the motion
of bodies and the forces that cause them.

1.2. SCALAR AND VECTOR QUANTITIES

1.2.1. Vector Quantity. A quantity which is completely specified by magnitude and

direction, is known as a vector quantity. Some examples of vector quantities are : velocity,
acceleration, force and momentum. A vector quantity is
represented by means of a straight line with an arrow as
shown in Fig. 1.2. The length of the straight line (i.e., AB) A B
represents the magnitude and arrow represents the direction
→ Fig. 1.2. Vector Quantity.
of the vector. The symbol AB also represents this vector,
which means it is acting from A to B.
3
4 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

1.2.2. Scalar Quantity. A quantity, which is completely specified by magnitude only,

is known as a scalar quantity. Some examples of scalar quantity are : mass, length, time and
temperature (4 kg mass, 3.2 m length, 2 second etc.)
1.2.3. A Particle. A particle is a body of infinitely small volume (or a particle is a body
of negligible dimensions) and the mass of the particle is considered to be concentrated at a
point. Hence a particle is assumed to a point and the mass of the particle is concentrated at
this point.

1.3. FREE, FORCED AND FIXED VECTORS

1.3.1. Free Vector. A vector which can be moved parallel to its position anywhere in
space provided its magnitude, direction and sense remain the same, is known as free vector.
Fig. 1.3 (a) shows free vector.
1.3.2. Fixed Vector. A vector whose initial point is fixed, is known as fixed vector.
Fig. 1.3 (b) shows fixed vector.
A B A
A
Line of
action

Initial point fixed

(a) Free vector A (b) Fixed vector (c) Forced vector
Fig. 1.3
1.3.3. Forced Vector. A vector which can be applied anywhere along its line of action
is known as forced vector. Fig. 1.3 (c) shows a forced vector.

1.4. LAW OF PARALLELOGRAM OF FORCES

The law of parallelogram of forces is used to determine the resultant* of two forces
acting at a point in a plane. It states, “If two forces, acting at a point be represented in magnitude
and direction by the two adjacent sides of a parallelogram, then their resultant is represented
in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram passing through that point.”

B B C

Q Q R

α
α θ α
O P A O P A D
Fig. 1.4 Fig. 1.4 (a)
Let two forces P and Q act at a point O as shown in Fig. 1.4. The force P is represented
in magnitude and direction by OA whereas the force Q is presented in magnitude and direction

*The resultant of a system of forces may be defined as a single force which has the same effect as
system of forces acting on the body.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS 5

by OB. Let the angle between the two forces be ‘α’. The resultant of these two forces will be
obtained in magnitude and direction by the diagonal (passing through O) of the parallelogram
of which OA and OB are two adjacent sides. Hence draw the parallelogram with OA and OB as
adjacent sides as shown in Fig. 1.4 (a). The resultant R is represented by OC in magnitude
and direction.
1.4.1. Magnitude of Resultant (R)
From C draw CD perpendicular to OA produced.
Let α = Angle between two forces P and Q = ∠AOB
Now ∠DAC = ∠ AOB (Corresponding angles)
=α
In parallelogram OACB, AC is parallel and equal to OB.
∴ AC = Q.
In triangle ACD,
AD = AC cos α = Q cos α
and CD = AC sin α = Q sin α.
In triangle OCD,
OC2 = OD2 + DC2.
But OC = R, OD = OA + AD = P + Q cos α
and DC = Q sin α.
∴ R2 = (P + Q cos α)2 + (Q sin α)2 = P2 + Q2 cos2 α + 2PQ cos α + Q2 sin2 α
= P2 + Q2 (cos2 α + sin2 α) + 2PQ cos α
= P2 + Q2 + 2PQ cos α (Q cos2 α + sin2 α = 1)

∴ R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α ...(1.1)
Equation (1.1) gives the magnitude of resultant force R.
1.4.2. Direction of Resultant
Let θ = Angle made by resultant with OA.
Then from triangle OCD,
CD Q sin α
tan θ = =
OD P + Q cos α
FG Q sin α IJ
∴ θ = tan–1
H P + Q cos α K ...(1.2)

Equation (1.2) gives the direction of resultant (R). C

The direction of resultant can also be obtained by
using sine rule [In triangle OAC, OA = P, AC = Q, )
OC = R, angle OAC = (180 – α), angle ACO = 180 – [θ + (–
R
180 – α] = (α – θ)] Q
sin θ sin (180 − α) sin (α − θ) (180–)
= = 
AC OC OA 
sin θ sin (180 − α) sin (α − θ) O A
= = P
Q R P Fig. 1.4 (b)
Two cases are important.
1st Case. If the two forces P and Q act at right angles, then
α = 90°
6 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

From equation (1.1), we get the magnitude of resultant as

R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α = P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos 90°
= P 2 + Q2 (Q cos 90° = 0) ...(1.2 A)
From equation (1.2), the direction of resultant is obtained as
FG Q sin α IJ
θ = tan–1
H P + Q cos α K
FG Q sin 90° IJ = tan −1 Q
= tan–1
H P + Q cos 90° K P
(Q sin 90° = 1 and cos 90° = 0)

2nd Case. The two forces P and Q are equal and are acting at an angle α between them.
Then the magnitude and direction of resultant is given as
R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α = P 2 + P 2 + 2 P × P × cos α (Q P = Q)

= 2 P 2 + 2 P 2 cos α = 2 P 2 (1 + cos α)

2 P 2 × 2 cos 2
α FGQ 1 + cos α = 2 cos 2
α IJ
=
2 H 2 K
α α
= 4 P 2 cos 2 = 2 P cos ...(1.3)
2 2
and θ = tan–1
FG
Q sin α IJ
= tan −1
P sin α
(Q P = Q)
H
P + Q cos α K P + P cos α
P sin α sin α
= tan–1 = tan −1
P (1 + cos α) 1 + cos α
α α
2 sin cos
2 2 FGQ α α IJ
= tan–1
2 cos 2 α
H sin α = 2 sin
2
cos
2 K
2
α
= tan–1
sin
FG
2 = tan −1 tan α = α IJ ...(1.4)
cos
α 2H K2
2
It is not necessary that one of two forces, should
be along x-axis. The forces P and Q may be in any Q
direction as shown in Fig. 1.5. If the angle between the
two forces is ‘α’, then their resultant will be given by
R
equation (1.1). The direction of the resultant would be
obtained from equation (1.2). But angle θ will be the
angle made by resultant with the direction of P.
1.4.3. Law of Triangle of Forces. It states that,
“if three forces acting at a point be represented in a q P
magnitude and direction by the three sides of a triangle,
taken in order, they will be in equilibrium.” O Fig. 1.5
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS 7

1.5. LAMI’S THEOREM

It states that, “If there forces acting at a point Q

are in equilibrium, each force will be proportional
to the sine of the angle between the other two
forces.”
Suppose the three forces P, Q and R are b a
acting at a point O and they are in equilibrium as
shown in Fig. 1.6. O P
Let α = Angle between force P and Q. g
β = Angle between force Q and R.
γ = Angle between force R and P. R
Then according to Lami’s theorem, Fig. 1.6
P α sine of angle between Q and R α sin β.
P
∴ = constant
sin β
Q R
Similarly = constant and = constant
sin γ sin α
P Q R
or = = . ...(1.5)
sin β sin γ sin α
Proof of Lami’s Theorem. The three forces
acting on a point, are in equilibrium and hence they b
can be represented by the three sides of the triangle
taken in the same order. Now draw the force triangle
as shown in Fig. 1.6 (a). b)
–
Now applying sine rule, we get R 80
(1 Q
P Q R
= = (180 – a)
sin (180 − β) sin (180 − γ ) sin (180 − α) (180 – g) a
O
This can also be written
P
P Q R g
= = Fig. 1.6 (a)
sin β sin γ sin α
This is same equation as equation (1.5).
Note. All the three forces should be acting either towards the point or away from the point.

1.6. SYSTEM OF UNITS

The following system of units are mostly used :

1. C.G.S. (i.e., Centimetre-Gram-Second) system of units.
2. M.K.S. (i.e., Metre-Kilogram-Second) system of units.
3. S.I. (i.e., International) system of units.
1.6.1. C.G.S. System of Units. In this system, length is expressed in centimetre, mass
in gram and time in second. The unit of force in this system is dyne, which is defined as the
force acting on a mass of one gram and producing an acceleration of one centimetre per second
square.
8 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

1.6.2. M.K.S. System of Units. In this system, length is expressed in metre, mass in
kilogram and time in second. The unit of force in this system is expressed as kilogram force
and is represented as kgf.
1.6.3. S.I. System of Units. S.I. is abbreviation for ‘The System International d’Units’.
It is also called the International System of Units. In this system length is expressed in metre
mass in kilogram and time in second. The unit of force in this system is Newton and is
represented N. Newton is the force acting on a mass of one kilogram and producing an
acceleration of one metre per second square. The relation between newton (N) and dyne is
obtained as
One metre
One Newton = One kilogram mass ×
s2
100 cm
= 1000 gm × (Q one kg = 1000 gm)
s2
gm × cm
= 1000 × 100 ×
s2
= 105 dyne
RSQ gm × cm
dyne =
UV
T s2 W
When the magnitude of forces is very large, then the unit of force like kilo-newton and
mega-newton is used. Kilo-newton is represented by kN.
One kilo-newton = 103 newton
or 1 kN = 103 N
and One mega newton = 106 Newton
The large quantities are represented by kilo, mega, giga and tera. They stand for :
Kilo = 103 and represented by .......k
Mega = 106 and represented by .......M
Giga = 109 and represented by .......G
Tera = 1012 and represented by ........T
Thus mega newton means 106 newton and is represented by MN. Similarly, giga newton
means 109 N and is represented by GN. The symbol TN stands for 1012 N.
The small quantities are represented by milli, micro, nano and pico. They are equal to
Milli = 10–3 and represented by .......m
Micro = 10–6 and represented by .......μ
Nano = 10–9 and represented by ........n
Pico = 10–12 and represented by .......p.
Thus milli newton means 10–3 newton and is represented by mN. Micro newton means
–6
10 N and is represented by μN.
Table 1.1 shows the multiples and sub-multiples of the S.I. units prefixes.
Table 1.1. S.I. Prefixes

Prefix Symbol Multiplying factor

Tera T 1012 = 1 000 000 000 000

Giga G 109 = 1 000 000 000
Mega M 106 = 1 000 000
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS 9

Kilo k 103 = 1 000

Milli m 10–3 = 0.001
Micro μ 10–6 = 0.000 001
Nano n 10–9 = 0.000 000 001
Pico p 10–12 = 0.000 000 000 001

The relation between kilogram force (kgf) and newton (N) is given by one kgf = 9.81 N
Weight of a body is the force with which the body is attracted towards earth. If
W = weight of a body, m = mass in kg, then W = m × g Newtons
If mass, m of the body is 1 kg, then its weight will be,
m FGQ m IJ
W = 1 (kg) × 9.81
s 2 = 9.81 N. H N = kg
s 2 K
1.6.4. Trigonometric Formulae and Expressions. The following are the trigonometric
formulae in a right-angled triangle ABC of Fig. 1.7.
AC AB
(i) sin θ = (ii) cos θ =
BC BC
AC
(iii) tan θ =
AB
C
(iv) sin (A + B) = sin A cos B + cos A sin B
(v) sin (A – B) = sin A cos B – cos A sin B
(vi) cos (A + B) = cos A cos B – sin A sin B
(vii) cos (A – B) = cos A cos B + sin A sin B
tan A + tan B
(viii) tan (A + B) =
1 − tan A tan B
tan A − tan B 90°

(ix) tan (A – B) =
1 + tan A tan B A B
(x) sin 2A = 2 sin A cos A Fig. 1.7
(xi) sin2 θ + cos2 θ = 1.
1.6.5. Differentiation and Integration
1. Differentiations. (i) Differentiation of a quantity (say A) with respect to x is written
d dA
as ( A) or
dx dx
d d d
(ii) ( x 4 ) = 4x3, ( x n ) = n xn – 1 and ( x) = 1
dx dx dx
d
(iii) (8x + 5)4 = 4 (8x + 5)3 × 8
dx
d
(iv) (4) = 0 as differentiation of constant is zero.
dx
d dv du
(v) (u.v) = u . + v. [when u and v are functions of x]
dx dx dx
(vi) Differentiation of trigonometrical functions
d
(sin x) = cos x
dx
10 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

d
(cos x) = – sin x
dx
d
(tan x) = sec2 x.
dx
2. Integrations. (i) Integration of a quantity (say A) with respect to x is written as
∫ Adx.

(ii)
z x n dx =
x n+1
n+1
(iii) ∫ 4dx = 4x

(iv) z (8 x + 5) 4 + 1
(8 x + 5) 4 dx =
(4 + 1) × 8
.
Problem 1.1. Two forces of magnitude 10 N and 8 N are acting at a point. If the angle
between the two forces is 60°, determine the magnitude of the resultant force.
Sol. Given :
Force P = 10 N
Force Q=8N
Angle between the two forces, α = 60°
The magnitude of the resultant force (R) is given by equation (1.1)
R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α = 10 2 + 8 2 + 2 × 10 × 8 × cos 60°
1
= 100 + 64 + 2 × 10 × 8 × 2 (Q cos 60° = 1
2
)
= 100 + 64 + 80 = 244 = 15.62 N. Ans.
Problem 1.2. Two equal forces are acting at a point with an angle of 60° between them.
If the resultant force is equal to 20 × 3 N, find magnitude of each force.
Sol. Given : Angle between the force, α = 60°
Resultant, R = 20 × 3
The forces are equal. Let P is the magnitude of each force.
Using equation (1.3), we have
α FG 60° IJ = 2P cos 30°
R = 2P cos
2
or 20 × 3 = 2P × cos H2K
3 FQ cos 30° = 3 I
= 2P ×
2
=P× 3 GH 2 JK
20 × 3
∴ P== 20 N.
3
∴ Magnitude of each force = 20 N. Ans.
Problem 1.3. The resultant of the two forces, when they act at an angle of 60° is 14 N. If
the same forces are acting at right angles, their resultant is 136 N. Determine the magnitude
of the two forces.
Sol. Given :
Case I
Resultant, R1 = 14 N
Angle, α = 60°
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS 11

Case II
Resultant, R2 = 136 N
Angle, α = 90°
Let the magnitude of the two forces are P and Q.
Using equation (1.1) for case I.

R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α

or 14 = P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ × cos 60° = P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ × 1
2

or 14 = P 2 + Q 2 + PQ
Squaring, 196 = P2 + Q2 + PQ ...(i)
Using equation (1.2 A) for case II,

R= P 2 + Q2 or 136 = P 2 + Q2
or 136 = P2 + Q2 (Squaring both sides) ...(ii)
Subtracting equation (ii) from equation (i), we get
196 – 136 = P2 + Q2 + PQ – (P2 + Q2)
or 60 = PQ ...(iii)
Multiplying the above equation by two, we get 120 = 2PQ ...(iv)
2 2
Adding equation (iv) to equation (ii), we get 136 + 120 = P + Q + 2PQ
or 256 = P2 + Q2 + 2PQ or (16)2 = (P + Q)2
or 16 = P + Q
∴ P = (16 – Q) ...(v)
Substituting the value of P in equation (iii), we get
60 = (16 – Q) × Q = 16Q – Q2 or Q2 – 16Q + 60 = 0
∴ This is a quadratic equation.

16 ± (− 16) 2 − 4 × 60 16 ± 256 − 240 16 ± 4

∴ Q= = =
2 2 4
16 + 4 16 − 4
= and = 10 and 6.
2 2
Substituting the value of Q in equation (v), we get
P = (16 – 10) or (16 – 6) = 6 or 10.
∴ Hence the two forces are 10 N and 6 N. Ans.
Problem 1.4. Two forces are acting at a point O as shown in Fig. 1.8. Determine the
resultant in magnitude and direction.
12 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

Q 100 N Q

P
50 N
30°
a a q P
15°
O O

Fig. 1.8 Fig. 1.9

Sol. Given :
Force P = 50 N, Force Q = 100 N
Angle between the two forces, α = 30°
The magnitude of the resultant R is given by equation (1.1) as

R= P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α = 50 2 + 100 2 + 2 × 50 × 100 × cos 30°

= 2500 + 10000 + 8660 = 21160 = 145.46 N. Ans.

The resultant R is shown in Fig. 1.9.
The angle made by the resultant with the direction of P is given by equation (1.2) as
Q sin α
tan θ =
P + Q cos α
FG Q sin α IJ = tan FG 100 × sin 30° IJ
−1
or θ = tan–1
H P + Q cos α K H 50 + 100 cos 30° K
= tan–1 0.366 = 20.10°
∴ Angle made by resultant with x-axis = θ + 15° = 20.10 + 15 = 35.10°. Ans.
Problem 1.5. The resultant of two concurrent forces is 1500 N and the angle between the
forces is 90°. The resultant makes an angle of 36° with one of the force. Find the magnitude of
each force.
Sol. Given :
Resultant, R = 1500 N
Angle between the forces, α = 90°
Angle made by resultant with one force, θ = 36°
Let P and Q are two forces.
Q sin α
Using equation (1.2), tan θ =
P + Q cos α
Q sin 90° Q×1 Q Q
or tan 36° = = = or 0.726 =
P + Q cos 90° P + Q × 0 P P
or Q = 0.726 P ...(i)
Using equation (1.1), R = P 2 + Q 2 + 2 PQ cos α
or R2 = P2 + Q2 + 2PQ cos α
or 15002 = P2 + (0.726P)2 + 2P(0.726P) × cos 90° (Q Q = 0.726P)
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGINEERING MECHANICS 13

15002 = P2 + 0.527P2 + 0 (Q cos 90° = 0)

= 1.527 P2
1500 2 1500
∴ P= = = 1213.86 N
1.527 1.2357
Substituting the value of P in equation (i), we get
Q = 0.726 × 1213.86 = 881.26 N. Ans.
Alternate Method. Refer to Fig. 1.9 (a). Consider triangle OAC.
Using sine rule, we get
sin 90° sin 36° sin 54° B C
= =
R Q P
54°
sin 90° sin 36°
or =
R Q Q
R
Q
R sin 36° α
or Q= (where R = 1500 N) 90°
sin 90° θ = 36°
1500 × 0.5877 O P A
= = 881.67 N. Ans.
1 Fig. 1.9(a)
sin 90° sin 54°
Also, we have =
R P
R sin 54° 1500 × 0.8090
∴ P= =
sin 90° 1
= 1213.52 N. Ans.
Problem 1.6. The sum of two concurrent forces P and Q is 270 N and their resultant is
180 N. The angle between the force P and resultant R is 90°. Find the magnitude of each force
and angle between them.
Sol. Given :
Sum of two concurrent forces = 270 N or P + Q = 270 N
Resultant, R = 180 N
Angle between force P and resultant R = 90°
This means θ = 90°
Find : (i) Magnitude of P and Q
(ii) Angle between P and Q (i.e., angle α)
Q sin α
Using equation (1.2), tan θ =
P + Q cos α
Q sin α
or tan 90° =
P + Q cos α
But tan 90° = ∞ (i.e., infinity). This is only possible when P + Q cos α = 0
∴ P = – Q cos α ...(i)
The above result can also be obtained by using alternate method.
Alternate Method. Refer to Fig. 1.9 (b). Consider triangle OAC in which θ = 90°, ∠OAC
= 180 – α, ∠ACO = α – θ = α – 90°
sin 90° sin (180 − α) sin (α − 90)
Using sine rule, we get = =
Q R P
Another random document with
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makes fun. “Well, well!” says Jurgen, “but you are a little old
fashioned, with all these equivocal mummeries” (157). Being
“skeptical” (165) he denies that “death is going to end all for him”
(171). And so Cocaigne “does not satisfy him” (172), he expresses
his discontent at length (163–170) until Anaitis, in wrath, calls him
“irreverent” (167), and that leads to their parting.
Surely that is a moral ending! Jurgen leaves Anaitis, his heart and
mind not going along with the beliefs and practices of a goddess who
enjoys every “far-fetched frolic of heathenry”, and who goes forth into
the world to tempt people like St. Simeon Stylites and the hermits of
the Thebaid (176). If it is unlawful to say that in print, then we must
suppress Flaubert’s “Temptation of St. Anthony”, and we should
certainly never permit “Tannhäuser” or “Thais” to be sung at the
Metropolitan.
Then what survives all of this? What indeed but the words of one
of the goddess’ friends, the Master Philologist, who says: “The
Jewish mob spoke louder than He Whom they crucified. But the
Word endures” (182). Jurgen, in short, tires of this place, a place
where “it appears that their notion of felicity is to dwell eternally in a
glorified brothel” (187).
He is now looking for Helen of Troy. Of course it is not criminal to
think about her, since otherwise the second part of Faust should not
be allowed in print, nor should Tennyson’s “Dream of Fair Women”.
So it is lawful for Jurgen to look for her, and he does look. But on his
way comes another episode.
In the domain of Leuke (192) he meets a hamadryad named
Chloris. Leuke is the land of conventionality where nobody ever does
anything except what he has been accustomed to do, and would
never dream of doing a thing which nobody ever heard of doing
(203–204). Consequently the wisest person among them is the god
Silenus, the god of drunkenness, and he is always drunk in order to
escape the conventional (208–9). That of course is not right, but the
indictment is not drawn under the Volstead Law. Jurgen stops among
these people and marries a little hamadryad, who is all that a wife
should be (215) and who puts up a lunch for him when he goes for a
walk (215). So conventional is Leuke, be it noted, that even a stroll is
out of keeping. In this country of conventionality the people have
never taken a holiday, nobody ever having heard of such a thing
(206). It is the Utopia of the Podsnaps of Dickens’ time, of the
Rotarians of our own. But his life in this happy place, where nothing
out of the ordinary ought in nature’s course to happen, does not last
long. War is threatened by the Philistines.
Be it observed, from what has already been said, that the
Philistines and the people of Leuke were made by the same creator,
the power that made things as they are, and consequently it does
not much matter who will win, because all it will amount to is that
“dullness will conquer dullness” (209). Yet in the matter of dullness
the balance is with the Philistines. Fire is their means of sacrifice, not
because of the glow, but because it ends in ashes, and the gray of
ashes is their favorite color (230). They are Realists (231) and they
believe that there is no art except it “teach something” (241). Their
high priests claim to have read every book ever written, and
denounce those who doubt the assertion (244). Knowing everything,
believing in nothing that is not practical, they have a summary way of
dealing with those who presume to disagree. All such recalcitrants
are sent to Hell, “relegated to Limbo” (242).
Against the people of Leuke, the ordinary conventionalists, came
these Philistines, the militant Realists. Naturally the Philistines
conquered, and the people of Leuke were condemned to death.
Jurgen’s wife, the little hamadryad whose life was bound up with that
of her tutelary tree (215) perished with its felling. The Philistine
Queen took a fancy to Jurgen, but he, “coming of morbid ancestry”
(247) declined to abide in Philistia; and so they sent him to the limbo
which they call Hell (250).
A better fate befalls the allied city of Pseudopolis. There live those
of the Grecian spirit, of that spirit of Hellenism which, according to
Matthew Arnold, wars always with the genius of Philistia. There
abides Helen of Troy. Her Jurgen sees (224–9) the occasion being
much the same as that which is pictured in Keats’ “St. Agnes Eve”.
These people the Philistines could not slay, for “when the Philistines
shouted in their triumph, Achilles and all they who served him rose
from the ground like gleaming clouds and passed above the heads
of the Philistines, deriding them” (231). But Jurgen and the people of
ordinary conventionality perished, and thus our next view of Jurgen
finds him in Hell.
The Hell to which he has gone is the Hell of his forefathers, being
in truth but a monument to their egotism. They built it “out of the
pride which led them to believe that what they did was of sufficient
importance to merit punishment” (253). There Jurgen sees his father
standing calmly in the midst of an especially tall flame, and very well
satisfied with it, because of his confidence that he is important
enough to deserve a special place in Hell. Therefore he is angry
when the attendant devil does not sufficiently tend his furnace (254,
260–7).
It is not obscene, at least at common law, to speak lightly of Hell. If
it were otherwise a great many books would be condemned. Every
lawyer knows what was said about Lord Hatherley, when he, sitting
in the Privy Council, held that the calvinistic idea of Hell was not part
of the religion of the Church of England. It was said that Lord
Hatherley had dismissed Hell with costs and had deprived thousands
of their hope of everlasting damnation. Nor is it obscene to represent
that there are people whose sense of personal importance rules
even in death, people who think that their sins are greater than the
sins of anybody else, not because of their quality as sins but
because of the persons who commit them. And, pausing yet further
at this point, let us suggest that if it is lewd to make fun of Philistia,
then all of Matthew Arnold’s books should be burned by the
hangman; and certainly Whistler’s book, “The Gentle Art of Making
Enemies”, should never have been allowed in public print. Indeed it
was Arnold, the father-in-law of a late most respectable member of
this Bar, who invented the term Philistines as used in the present
connection. Mr. Cabell has simply put in another form the protest that
can be made against this point of view. At least it is open to protest.
Of course, we may not be able to agree with all of Mr. Cabell’s
classifications as to what pertains to Philistia. Many of us are citizens
of that country without knowing it. But it is not obscene or lewd for
some one else to call us Philistines because of the views we may
happen to hold dear. Legally we cannot object; practically we
conserve our energies by not doing so. Like the famous Bishop
Bonner of Queen Mary’s time, we may do well to laugh at the
caricatures which the heretics make of us.
With this in mind we might get enjoyment out of Jurgen’s
observations as to the real issue between Heaven and Hell. The war
between them is not as Milton saw it. Rather, the war is between
autocracy and democracy; and Hell is fighting to make the universe
safe for democracy (287). Everybody knew how Satan came to be
the chief magistrate of Hell, he was elected to that office, and he has
continued in office so long simply because elections are inadvisable
in war time (278–9). And while Hell used vigorous methods against
dissenters, that was only because of necessary war time legislation
(278–9). But Heaven was indisputably an autocracy, because
nobody knew how God derived his power. He had been there
through the ages, and He proposed to have no successor (286).
Such, then, was the issue. Of its outcome, the shrewd Jurgen was
inclined to favor Heaven, because of its superior military efficiency
(287). And so, although Jurgen’s friends in Hell try to dissuade him
(288), although he has married in Hell a vampire who is quite
conventional, and life there is conventional also—“Hurry”, says his
wife, “for we are spending the evening with the Asmodeuses” (277)
—Jurgen leaves Hell and visits Heaven.
At that moment the mood of the author changes. Jurgen ascends
to Heaven leaving irreverence behind, and the pictures now
uncovered are of different tone and motive. The first person whom
he sees is a little boy who was once Jurgen himself. When Jurgen
meets God he says, “Once very long ago I had faith in you”; to which
the reply is, “No, for that boy is here with me as you yourself have
seen, and today there is nothing remaining of him anywhere in the
man that is Jurgen” (297).[7] Heaven contains children, mothers and
grandmothers. Logic cannot lead one to it, because logic does not
exist there. Therefore, children, mothers and grandmothers can
ascend to Heaven where people like Jurgen cannot. Taking Heaven
as an illusion, Jurgen finds none of his own illusions there, and
hence he must “return to such illusions as are congenial, for one
must believe in something” (306). And yet he has stood motionless
for thirty-seven days in that place, “forgetful of everything save that
the God of his grandmother was love” (306–7). Nobody else, he is
told, has willingly turned away so soon, and it is supposed that this is
due to some evil wrought in the Nessus shirt he was wearing, the
like of which was never seen in Heaven (307). And finally this
wayfarer, this man of modern philosophy, says that he turned away
from Heaven because he seeks for justice and he cannot find it in
the eyes of God, “but only love and such forgiveness as troubled
him” (307). To which archangels reply that because of that very fact
he should rejoice (307).
If that is obscene, then “The Little Flowers” of St. Francis D’Assisi
should at once be suppressed by Mr. Sumner. If it is lewd to teach
that none of us would go to Heaven if we had justice done us,
Christianity once more should betake itself to the catacombs.
We are let down from these heights by way of an interview
between Jurgen and St. Peter. The Saint has something to say about
prohibition (311–313) with which, theoretically speaking, many might
disagree. But as the defendants are not indicted under the
prohibition laws, it is needless to go into this discussion. The Saint
also represents Heaven as pacifistic (312–313); but Mr. Cabell wrote
after the Armistice, and pacifism is not, legally speaking, obscene or
lewd, whatever else it undoubtedly is.
The travels of Jurgen now draw near to their end, the rest of the
book simply rounding out the ideas suggested. Returning to earth,
he meets once more the earth goddess Sereda, and the pith of their
talk is the conclusion, not that “there is no meaning in anything”,—
that, both agree, nobody really could face,—but that the lower god,
Koshchei, who made things as they are, “is in turn the butt of some
larger jest, * * * that all of us take part in a moving and a shifting
and a reasoned use of things * * * a using such as we do not
comprehend and are not fit to comprehend” (317). The quest of
Jurgen ends, fitly enough, with a return to this lower power (329),
this power that made things as they are, but is controlled, however
rebellious, by a higher force beyond him (333).
 We then have a return, in pageant form, of the women with whom,
in this year of pilgrimage just ended (319), Jurgen has foregathered.
First there is Guenevere (335) who is now ready to be his wife,
Arthur being gone into Avalon and Lancelot being turned monk
(335); Anaitis follows (340), then Helen of Troy (345). But all of them
he refuses. “For I am transmuted by time’s handling. I have become
the lackey of prudence and half measures” (348). Then appears to
him his wife (350) who disposes of Koshchei “casually, for she
believed him to be merely Satan” (353). After ordering Jurgen to be
sure to be home in time for supper and to stop on the way to get a
half pound of butter, she passes out “neither as flame nor mist, but
as the voice of judgment” (355). Jurgen follows her (356), but on the
way he sees Dorothy, Dorothy as she is and not as she had lived in
either memory or imagination (364). He arrives home recollecting
that he had forgotten to do the errand his wife told him to perform,
but reflecting that after all things were just about as well with him as
could be. He has his wife, he has his business, and the god of things
as they are has probably dealt with him very justly. “And probably his
methods are everything they should be; certainly I cannot go so far
as to say that they are wrong; but still at the same time—Then
Jurgen sighed and entered his snug home” (368).
Doubtless we have erred in many ways in our interpretation of the
book under attack: we are quite sure that we have not done it justice.
After all, it must speak for itself, for everyone has his own reading of
whatsoever comes to his notice. But of one thing we are sure, that it
fills the test of literature as distinct from pornography; that it has a
theme, sustains a thought, criticises life. It attempts, among other
things, to show the futility of escaping from conventionality by way of
seeking sin, for sin itself has its conventions. It pictures sin in this
spirit, and in doing so it perforce speaks of sin. But it must be judged
as a whole, not by a sentence here, or even by a page there (Halsey
v. N. Y. Society, 234 N. Y. 1). And, as decided in the case just cited,
a publication can be lawful even if it should happen to contain
indecent passages.
6—The passages, to which reference
has been made in the complaint
originally filed in Special Sessions,
are not indecent.
We submit that, having in mind the context, there is nothing in
“Jurgen” which is indecent. A man studiously on the alert for the
indecent can put his finger on certain words in the book; but the very
meaning of these words is decent if we will but read them in the
connection to which they are meant to refer. And other things that
are said, so far from being indecent, are things lawfully to be said,
unless the body of our literature should perish from the earth.
All of this is illustrated by the bill of particulars which Mr. Sumner,
one of the prosecutors in this case, furnished when he filed a
complaint in the Special Sessions. Mr. Sumner there enumerates the
pages containing, as he thinks, lewd and obscene matter. We shall
now deal with the particulars thus furnished.
What is there to complain of on pages 59, 88, 99, 114, 134–5,
275? Pages 88 and 99 require no discussion. On pages 134–5
Guenevere takes leave of Jurgen, that is all. On page 59 occurs
“temptress”, which is not obscene. On page 114 the ghost of Smoit
tells Jurgen that he is his grandfather, instead of the putative
ancestor whom Jurgen had always accepted. But if this is lewd, then
we must stop the sale of such books as Thackeray’s “Henry
Esmond”. On page 275 Jurgen stops his vampire wife from sucking
his blood through biting his chest. Burne-Jones’ painting “The
Vampire”, is familiar,—even to those of us who never frequent
galleries at home or abroad,—through Kipling’s famous poem.
But as perhaps it is not suitable thus to summarize the particulars
which Mr. Sumner was at such pains to gather, we will take the other
pages which he mentions and deal with them seriatim.
Pages 57–8—Jurgen’s conversation with Dorothy in the garden. A
kiss is not indecent. Temptation came, but it was dispelled.
Page 61—Reference to “the bed” is made—But for whom? The
bride. A bridal bed is not obscene or lewd. Vide wedding march in
“Lohengrin”, and the relative chapters in Scott’s “The Bride of
Lammermuir”.
Page 63—“Had wondered if he were really the first man for whom
she had put a deceit upon her husband”, etc. If this is obscene, then
nearly all current fiction is, to say nothing of the classics, ancient or
modern.
Page 64—Jurgen counts up his conquests. But so did Don Juan.
“The end of all is death”—but so said Villon—“Ou sont les nieges
d’antan?”
Page 67—Speaks simply of a kiss. Whether long or short, a kiss is
not lewd.
Page 80—Jurgen is talking about Guenevere to her father—“I can
get justice done me anywhere, in all the bed chambers of the world.”
If this is lewd, then we should abolish Ophelia’s mad song in Hamlet.
Anyhow, Jurgen goes on to say (same page) “I only meant in a
manner of speaking, sir.”
Pages 84–6—Jurgen tells Yolande she must reward him by candle
light, etc. This contains no description of any offensive act. There is
nothing explicit.
Page 89—Guenevere’s father suspects that she was not entirely
chaste while in the giant’s cavern. Has literature, ancient or modern,
never previously exposed a father’s doubt of his daughter’s chastity?
Did no one ever study the Greek tragedies?
Page 90—The King wonders whether “a thing like this is
happening” in his city in many places, and Jurgen says that it
probably is. Sinclair Lewis has similar speculations in “Babbitt”. The
references to a “breakage” refer to infractions of moral law.
 Page 92—The King says that, if Jurgen has had improper relations
with Guenevere, he should lie like a gentleman. Where is the
obscenity? Has not that phrase become time-worn, in literature and
conversation, since the late eighties?
Page 98—Jurgen looks forward “to more intimate converse” with
the lady. Entirely compatible with just what it says. The dreadful word
“liaison” also is used. But the late war has brought it into such use
—“liaison officer”; “liaison between the Y. M. C. A. and the chaplains’
corps”, etc.—that the word now has Anglice the extensive meaning
that the French always allowed it.
Pages 100, 102, 104–8—These deal with Jurgen’s affair with
Guenevere. If read as a whole, bearing in mind the outstanding
point, that Guenevere’s characteristic was “her innocence, combined
with a certain moral obtuseness” (108) there is nothing lewd or
obscene in this any more than in Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”.
Reference may be made to page 102, where Jurgen had his answer
to the question, what sort of service did women most cordially
appreciate. He believed they did not really desire to be served as
(103) a symbol of Heaven’s perfection, as (336) half goddess, half
bric-a-brac. But this opinion was not suitable for a mixed audience in
Glathion, where people believed otherwise (104–108). They are not
said to have done anything but kiss and talk. The reasons for their
talking in privacy are logical. If any improprieties took place the text
nowhere alludes to them. Compare the first part of Goethe’s “Faust,”
Scott’s “The Heart of Midlothian,” George Eliot’s “Adam Bede” and
“Middlemarch,” or Stevenson’s “Weir of Hermiston,” for precisely
similar seductions.
Page 120—Jurgen gets into the bedroom of the Bishop. “His
eminence was not alone, but as both occupants of the apartment
were asleep, Jurgen saw nothing unepiscopal”.—If we are to be
literal, then let us observe that this passage does not say (a) that the
other was a female; (b) that they were in bed together. Sterne’s
“Sentimental Journey” has passages much more explicit.
Page 144—Jurgen talks concerning Guenevere and Lancelot.
Tennyson, in verse, discoursed of the same thing.
 Pages 161–8—Deal with Jurgen’s matrimonial quarrels with
Anaitis, who, for all she is a nature myth and believes in symbolism,
is quarrelsome. She does not like Jurgen to “talk so flippantly about
her religion” (165) and regrets his dislike of his “in-laws”, such as
Apis, the well-known Egyptian god, who “will go about in public
wearing a bull’s head”. What is lewd or obscene here? Surely not the
terms “sacti-sodhana” and “muntrus”. They may look obscene
because they are in an unfamiliar language, but in that language,
Sanscrit, counsel are informed, they refer to religious rites of the
Brahmins, who are not commonly rated as lewd.
Pages 170–1—Shows that nature myths last only as long as the
philologists let them, hence they are Epicureans. But Jurgen, being a
doubter, is not sure that death ends all. Is there anything Lewd or
obscene in this quaint turning of the tables on the materialists?
Pages 174–7—Continues the matrimonial life of Jurgen and
Anaitis, ending with the conviction, forced on him, that the ruling
spirit of this land of hers is nothing else but Cybele, the Roman
goddess of earth, or Æsred, or Sereda, as she is variously called.
And so he became convinced “that all such employment was a
peculiarly unimaginative pursuit of happiness” (177). Surely a good
moral lesson, if anything.
Page 186—Simply a symbolic way of telling us that “Time begets
nothing”. He sleeps in Atlantis, while Briareus watches. Life is a
ceaseless round, history is a ceaseless round, of old things. It is a
commonplace of Greek mythology that Chronos, [Time] was
mutilated by his son Zeus.
Pages 186, 321, 154—Carry reference to the fact that there are
such things as eunuchs. If it is wrong to refer to eunuchs, then most
literature, not only of the East, but referring to it, should be
expunged. St. Philip’s first convert was an eunuch (Acts VIII, 26–40).
In “Innocents Abroad” Mark Twain gives the story of the revenge
which Heloise’s uncle caused to be taken upon Abelard.
Page 211—Refers to the priests of Cybele. If they were eunuchs,
that would not be, as said above, an obscene fact. But they were not
eunuchs, as it happened. The priests of Cybele were madmen: that
is, they had been deprived of their wits, and had thus “parted with
possessions which Jurgen valued”. Above all things the practical-
minded Jurgen valued sanity. See Tooke’s “Pantheon,” p. 172: “The
Priests of Cybele were named Galli, from a river of Phrygia. Such
was the nature of the water of this river, that whoever drank of it
immediately grew mad. The Galli, as often as they sacrificed,
furiously cut and slashed their arms with knives; and thence all
furious and mad people were called Galantes.”
Pages 196–200, 203, 206–7, 124–8, 148–150—References to
objects:—
(a) Jurgen’s staff (196–200, 203). The answer to this, like the
answer to the insinuations about the lance in chapter 22 (vide supra)
is that it was a staff, and nothing else (see p. 95).
(b) Harpocrates, “who held an astonishing object” (206–7). This is
attacked along with the reference to the People of the Fields, who
practise eudæmonism. Jurgen sees the People of the Fields, “who
dwell between the forest and the city of Pseudopolis” (204). These
people “did one and all what they had always done” (204) whereas,
“whoever heard of the People of the Wood doing anything useful?”
So Jurgen, after being informed that the People of the Field never
take a holiday (206) decides to see what the People of the Wood do
about it (206). He finds them practicing eudæmonism outdoors
instead of indoors. Eudæmonism: “The type of utilitarian ethical
theory that makes the pursuit, enjoyment and production of
happiness the supreme end in moral conduct.”—Funk & Wagnalls’
Dictionary. This was of course the creed of Cocaigne—“Eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” The point here is that satyrs do
not go indoors, for the reason that for a satyr to go indoors is
unheard of. If it is indecent to mention a satyr, then not only should
Keats and Swinburne be destroyed, but Elizabeth Barrett Browning
should be reprimanded for writing that poem “A Musical Instrument”,
which is all about “The Great God Pan”, chief of Satyrs. As to
Harpocrates, we refer to Tooke’s “Pantheon of the Heathen Gods”,—
a most respectable authority. It is there said (p. 352): “The Egyptians
worshipped Harpocrates as the god of Silence * * * They
consecrated the tree persea to him; because the fruit was like a
heart * * * He was painted with a finger upon his lips, thereby
commanding silence.” It is, therefore, probably the persea fruit which
Harpocrates is carrying, and the astonishment of Jurgen at seeing
the human heart thus publicly displayed is equally nature and good
allegory. The custom that led to stiffness was of course Harpocrates’
custom of not speaking to or answering the remarks of others.
(c) Jurgen’s sword (124–8, 148–150). Mention is made of Jurgen’s
sword. But, like the staff and the lance (vide supra) all that need be
said is that it really is a sword, Caliburn. The book tells just where
and how he got it (72, 76).
(d) The doorknocker on the entrance to Cocaigne (150). These
were simply the nude figures of Adam and Eve. Jurgen, being
conventional, and yet seeking sin, is embarrassed at the nude, and
thinks it is indecent; so he talks about it.
Pages 196–200, 203—Jurgen’s meeting, and marriage, with
Chloris, the Hamadryad. There is nothing in this does not bear
comparison with the “Endymion” of Keats, or the Chorus from
Swinburne’s “Atalanta in Calydon”. As to the marriage, see two
books in common publication:—Flaubert’s “Temptation of St.
Anthony,” Modern Library, p. 226: “These are the deities of marriage.
They await the coming of the bride. Domiduca should lead her in,—
Virgo unfasten her girdle,—Subigo place her in the bed,—and
Praema open her arms, and whisper sweet words into her ear.”
Tooke’s “Pantheon of the Heathen Gods, Adapted for the Use of
Students of Every Age and of Either Sex,” p. 281: “Jugatinus joined
the man and the woman together in the yoke of matrimony.
Domiducus guided the bride into the bridegroom’s house * * *
Priapus, or Mutinus was also reckoned one of the nuptial gods,
because in his lap the bride was commanded to sit.”
Pages 271–2, 286—The marriage with the vampire goes no
further than passages in Sterne’s Sentimental Journey and the
novels of Fielding. The conversation of the vampire leaves things
unsaid rather than said. There is no reason for taking in a wrong
sense the reference to the sceptre.
 Pages 236–9, 241–2. Jurgen’s conversation with the Queen of
Philistia is nothing but a take-off on the mediæval—occasionally
modern—belief in the magic of numbers. See Baring-Gould’s
“Curious Myths of the Middle Ages,” Appendix E, p. 651:
“Pythagoras taught that each number had its own peculiar character,
virtue and properties. The unit, or the monad, he says, is the
principle and the end of all; it is this sublime knot which binds
together the chain of causes; it is the symbol of identity, of existence,
of conservation, and of general harmony * * * The number Two,
or the dyad, the origin of contrasts, is the symbol of diversity, or
inequality, of division, and of separation. Two is accordingly an evil
principle, characterizing disorder and confusion * * * Three, or
the triad, is the number containing the most sublime mysteries, for
everything is composed of three substances * * * Nine, or the
ennead, being the multiple of Three, should be regarded as sacred.
Finally, Ten, or the decad, is the measure of all, since it contains all
the numeric relations and harmonies.” “Eight (p. 652) is the number
of the Beatitudes.”
Pages 340–3—contain nothing but a statement of the fact that
Venus, as a cult, has her followers and her temples,—nothing that
poets of times past have not told us again and again. The temples
existed, and are mentioned freely in all books of classical mythology.
We are almost at the end of Mr. Sumner’s particulars; but there
are two that deserve notice.
He finds obscenity on pages 228–9. There we find Jurgen
standing at the bed of the sleeping Helen, but leaving her untouched,
because he wants to retain his “unreasonable dreams”. If this is
obscenity, then indeed Keats wrote in lewdest mood the “Eve of St.
Agnes”.
And Mr. Sumner finds obscenity on page 142. What do we find
there? We find Jurgen kneeling before a crucifix!
And there let us leave the case.
7—In conclusion.
No book, no matter by whom it is written, should be read without
an appreciation of the motive of its writing. It is the embarrassment of
a case such as this, that the very fact of an indictment, the notoriety
attending it, makes it difficult to sit down to the reading with the
frame of mind that is present when we take a book from a library
shelf. However one may attempt to resist it, there is always present a
certain feeling, if somebody has said that the book is indecent. That
suggestion can influence minds, even the most philosophical. In Lord
Haldane’s most recent book, “The Philosophy of Humanism” (p. 75),
he quotes from the memoirs of the great German philosopher, Hegel,
as illustrating how suggestion can lead to conceptions:—
“In my youth I remember hearing a city magistrate
complain that book writers were going too far, and
trying to rout out Christianity altogether. Some one, it
appeared, had written a defense of suicide. It was
horrible, too horrible! On further inquiry it turned out
that the book in question was ‘The Sorrows of
Werther’.”
The last resort against this influence of suggestion is now made.
The book is submitted to this court for judicial scrutiny, guided by the
tests of the law.
Dated October 16, 1922.
Respectfully submitted,
Goodbody, Danforth & Glenn,
Attorneys for Defendants,
27 Cedar Street,
New York City.
Garrard Glenn
(42 Broadway),
William U. Goodbody,
William L. Glenn,
of Counsel.
DECISION OF JUDGE CHARLES C. NOTT
IN PEOPLE VS. HOLT, McBRIDE
& CO., ET AL
People
vs.
Holt, McBride & Co. et al.
The defendants herein, at the close of the People’s case, have
moved for a direction of acquittal and the dismissal of the indictment
on the ground that the book “Jurgen” on the possession of which the
indictment is based, is not an “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
indecent or disgusting book” within the meaning and intent of section
1141 of the Penal Law, for the alleged violation of which the
indictment has been found.
I have read and examined the book carefully. It is by Mr. James
Branch Cabell, an author of repute and distinction. From the literary
point of view its style may fairly be called brilliant. It is based on the
mediæval legends of Jurgen and is a highly imaginative and fantastic
tale, depicting the adventures of one who has been restored to his
first youth but who, being attended by a shadow in the guise of the
shadow of his old self, retains the experience and cynicism of age
which frustrates a perfect fulfillment of his desire for renewed youth.
The adventures consist in wanderings through mediæval and
mythological countries and a sojourn in Hell and Heaven. He
encounters beings of mediæval folk-lore and from classical
Mythology. The most that can be said against the book is that certain
passages therein may be considered suggestive in a veiled and
subtle way of immorality, but such suggestions are delicately
conveyed and the whole atmosphere of the story is of such an unreal
and supernatural nature that even these suggestions are free from
the evils accompanying suggestiveness in more realistic works. In
fact, it is doubtful if the book could be read or understood at all by
more than a very limited number of readers.
In my opinion the book is one of unusual literary merit and
contains nothing “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, indecent or
disgusting” within the meaning of the statute and the decisions of the
courts of this state in similar cases. (See Halsey v. New York Society,
234 N. Y. 1; People v. Brainard, 192 App. Div. 116; St. Hubert Guild
v. Quinn, 64 Misc. 336.)
The motion, therefore, is granted and the jury is advised to acquit
the defendants.
STATUTES RELATING TO THE PUBLICATION,
SALE, ETC., OF OBSCENE
LITERATURE
 NEW YORK STATUTES
Penal Law—Sections 1141 and 1143
Sec. 1141. Obscene prints and articles. 1. A person who sells,
lends, gives away or shows, or offers to sell, lend, give away, or
show, or has in his possession with intent to sell, lend or give away,
or to show, or advertises in any manner, or who otherwise offers for
loan, gift, sale or distribution, any obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
indecent or disgusting book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story
paper, writing, paper, picture, drawing, photograph, figure or image,
or any written or printed matter of an indecent character; or any
article or instrument of indecent or immoral use, or purporting to be
for indecent or immoral use or purpose, or who designs, copies,
draws, photographs, prints, utters, publishes, or in any manner
manufactures, or prepares any such book, picture, drawing,
magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story paper, writing, paper, figure,
image, matter, article or thing, or who writes, prints, publishes, or
utters, or causes to be written, printed, published, or uttered, any
advertisement or notice of any kind, giving information, directly or
indirectly, stating, or purporting so to do, where, how, of whom, or by
what means any, or what purports to be any, obscene, lewd,
lascivious, filthy, disgusting or indecent book, picture, writing, paper,
figure, image, matter, article or thing, named in this section can be
purchased, obtained or had or who has in his possession, any slot
machine or other mechanical contrivance with moving pictures of
nude or partly denuded female figures which pictures are lewd,
obscene, indecent or immoral, or other lewd, obscene, indecent or
immoral drawing, image, article or object, or who shows, advertises
or exhibits the same, or causes the same to be shown, advertised, or
exhibited, or who buys, owns or holds any such machine with the
intent to show, advertise or in any manner exhibit the same; or who,
2. Prints, utters, publishes, sells, lends, gives away or shows, or
has in his possession with intent to sell, lend, give away or show, or
otherwise offers for sale, loan, gift or distribution, any book,
pamphlet, magazine, newspaper or other printed paper devoted to
the publication, and principally made up of criminal news, police