A spiral pump is a low lift pump which is composed of a long piece of metal plating, which is wound into a coil and sealed at the top and back extremities so as to resemble a cylinder. The outer cavity serves as the inlet, while the inner (partial) tube serves as the outlet. The outlet pipe is fixed to a engine or animal which is capable of rotating the pump quickly. Due to this rotation, water is picked up by the outer cavity and pumped upwards in the hose. In a publication by Thomas Ewbank entitled, Hydraulics (16th edition, 1876, figure 165). He attributes a drawing of a section of a spiral pump to H. A. Wirtz who created the pump in order to provide water for a factory near Zurich. Little is know about Wirtz other than he was from Zurich and was a pewterer. It is likely that he knew of the design of other devices such as the Archimedes screw and the Persian wheel. It has been suggested that owing to his profession, he would have had the know how to create a tubular spiral from metal. While the picture referenced in Ewbank's publication cites a date some time during 1876, it has been said that the device was originally created by Wirtz in 1746.