As a kid I read in the Portland, Oregon, library about a Russian
calculator that used pneumatic valves and actuators.  It was built
early in the 20th century.  The same book included specific formulas
for tubing size and length as well as pressure losses in pneumatic
systems.  As an adult I remembered the item and went back to look for
the same material.  A full afternoon spent in the library yielded no
results.

I turned to the University of Washington library and found extensive
materials in Russian that discussed pneumatic motor control systems and
other pneumatic systems.  Being totally illiterate in Russian and
moderately so in math, I could only look and the pictures and wonder.

What I find strange is that Russians went so far into pneumatic systems
without applying them to their origins, pianos and organs.

Bill Chapman