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Richard Pockrich, or Poekrich (c.1695 – 1759),〔ODNB〕 was an Irish musician, and was the inventor of the glass harp (also known as the "Angelic organ") in 1741. ==Life== He was born at his family's estate Derrylusk at Aghnamallagh, County Monaghan, Ireland. His father, also named Richard (c.1666–1719), was the member of Parliament for Monaghan and had commanded troops in the Williamite battles. The paternal descent was of an English family from Surrey.〔 Some notices indicate that Poekrich was the name of the family, and this was the spelling he gave on his works. He is reported to have been aged 25 when his father died (1720?), so a probable year of birth has been fixed to 1695.〔 Poekrich received a substantial inheritance, valued at a figure between £1,000 (Newburgh) and £4,000 (Pilkington).〔 Variations of his name include Puckeridge or Pokeridge, or styled as 'Captain Poekrich' in contemporary notices. His unsuccessful ventures included a brewery in Dublin, near Islandbridge, the tale of its decline is intertwined with that of his greatest success, his musical glasses. When bailiffs came to arrest Poekrich for his debts, he entranced them with an impromptu performance on his 'angelick organ'; his subsequent pardon is given as the earliest example of a belief in the psychological effect of the instrument, later adopted by Mesmer. Another proposal was raising geese on barren terrain of his purchases in County Wicklow. Other schemes included an observatory to pursue his interest in astrology. His imagination extended to an orchestra of various sized drums, arranged to be played by one person. His political involvement included lobbying the Parliament of Ireland for planting vineyards by draining the Irish bogs. He also proposed the development of metal hulled ships, some 100 years before their eventual introduction, carrying lifeboats made of tin. Despite his grand platform for election, he failed to win when he ran for Parliament (twice, 1745 Monaghan and 1749 Dublin).〔 An enthusiast of blood transfusion, he believed that disease could be cured and life extended by the use of healthy donors. A description of the procedure proposes the use of servants or other physically active specimens. Anticipating the problems of immortality that might result, Pockrich proposed that an act decreeing that "anyone attaining the age of 999 years shall be deemed ... dead in law".〔Newburgh, cited at (British Medical journal, 1967 )〕 Numerous other proposals were issued from the visionary, amongst these was a plan to link the River Liffey and River Shannon by a series of canals.〔 Descriptions of his schemes might be seen as exaggeration or distortion by their dubious authorities, but records of advertisements placed by Poekrich support the number of unrealised proposals. He also failed in his application to become Master of the Choristers of Armagh Cathedral.〔Zeitler cites Flood〕 Unmarried until he was 50, Margaret White became his wife in 1745. She sailed from England with the actor Theophilus Cibber, apparently eloping and fleeing debt, and died in a shipwreck on the Scottish coast in 1758. He toured England with his musical glasses since about 1756; while staying in London in 1759, he died in a fire.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Pockrich (inventor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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