Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1877 — FAMOUS AUTOMATA. [ARTICLE]

FAMOUS AUTOMATA.

Though the ancients were deficient in mechanical skill, some of the accounts handed down to us seem to show that automata existed from the remotest ages. Homer says that the tripods made by Vulcan for the banqueting hall of the gods were self-moving, advancing of their own accord to the table, and then returning to their stations. Aristotle mentions automatic tripods, and Apollonius, of Tyana, saw such in India. The half-fabulous Daedalus is said to have constructed machines that imitated the motions of the human body. Callistratus, the tutor of Demosthenes, says ihese automata were moved bv mechanism. Aristotle speaks of a wooaen Venus which moved about in consequence of being loaded with quicksilver. Automata of this description are said to be still found in China. Archytas of T&rentum (B. C. 400) is said by Aulus Gellius, on the authority of Favorinus, to have constructed a wooden pigeon which was capable of flying. After alighting it could not resume its flight. A curious water-clock, presented to the Emperor Charlemagne by the Caliph Haroun• al-KascLM, deserves mention, as ope of the earliest—if not the earliest—pieces of modern mechanism. There were twelve small windows in the dial-plate, to correspond with the division of the uay into hours. The hours were struck by the successive opening of the windows, and the falling therefrom of metallic balls upon a brazen bell. At twelve o’clock twelve little knights mounted on horseback came out at the same instant, and after parading around the dial, shut all the windows, and returned to their places. John Muller, or Regiomontanus, Is credited with having constructed an automatic eagle, which, on the visit of the Emperor Maximilian to Nuremberg in 1470, flew out to meet His Majesty, and, after having done so at some distance from the city, returned and perched upon the gate. When the Emperor approached, the eagle stretched out its wings, and saluted him by bending its tody. This story Beckman is inclined to doubt, and yet it seems to be well vouched for. Muller was also reported to have made an iron fly, which, at an entertainment given by him to some friends, flew from its master’s hand, and, after performing a considerable round, returned again to him. A toy manufactured by M. Cannes for Louis XIV., when a child, was greatly and deservedly admired. It consisted of a small coach, which was drawn by two horses. A lady is seated in the vehicle, and a coachman, footman and page occupy their accustomed places. The machine was placed at. the end of a long table, the coachman cracked his whip, and the horses instantly started off, their legs moving in a natural manner, and dragged the coach after them. When it reached the opposite edge of the table, the vehicle turned sharply, and moved along that edge. As soon as it arrived at the place opposite the King’s seat, the coach stopped; the page descended and opened the door; the lady alighted, and, with a courtesy, presented to the King a petition which she held in her hand. After waiting some time, she again courtesied, and re-entered the carriage. After ttye page had closed the door, and resumed his place behind, the coachman whipped his horses and drove on. The footman, who had previously alighted, ran after the carriage, and jumped up behind, in his former place. In 1736 the famous Vaucanson completed his flute-player. It produced a great sensation wherever it was exhibited. The French savants received this automaton with great suspicion, evidently fearing that a living performer was concealed within the figure. Vaucanson soon disabused them of this notion, as he exhibited and explained the wholo of the mechanism to a committee of the Paris Academy of Sciences. This leaded body, under whose auspices the inventor published an account of his construction in 1788, became enthusiastic over the ingenuity displayed in this mechanism, and even went so far as to sav that ** the machinery employed for producing the sounds of the flute performed in the most exact manner the very operations of the most expert flute-player, and that the mechanism had imitated the effects produced and the means employed by Nature with an accuracy exceeding all expectation/’ The hotly of the fluteS layer was about five and one-half feet igh, and was placed on a pedestal four and one-half feet high by three and onehalf feet wide. Nine pair of bellows, which were made to blow in succession by the rotation of a steel axis, by means of clock-work, supplied the necessary wind. Three tubes ascended through the body of the fig ue, and terminated in three small reservoirs in the trunk. Three pairs of bellojp discharged their wind into each of“ these tubes, The reservoirs became united so that the whole volume of wind rushed up the throat and into the mouth, which was terminated by two small lips. In the cavity of the mouth there was a small, movable longue, for preventing and permitting the wind to pass through the lips, which had the power of opening more or leas, and of advancing or receding from the hole of the

flute. “ The motions of the fingers, lipe and tongue of the figure were produced oy means of a revolving cylinder, thirty Inches long and twenty-one inches in diameter. By means of pegs and staples fixed in fifteen different divisions in its circumference, fifteen different levers, similar to those in a barrel-organ, were raised and depressed. Seven of these reg. ulated the motions of the seven fingers for stopping the holes of the flute, which they ,«Hd by means of steel chains rising through the body, and directed by pulleys to the shoulder, elbow and fingers. Other three of the levers communicating with the valves of the three reservoirs regulated the ingress of the air, so as to produde a stronger or a weaker tone. Another lever opened the lips, so as to give a free passage to the air, and another contracted them for the opposite purpose. A third lever drew them backward from the orifice oi the flute, and a fourth pushed them forward. The remaining lever enabled the tongue to stop up the orifice of the flute.” Vaucanson, in his flute-player, constructed a machine that could play certain airs as well as a living perlormer. In the “ plpe-and-tabor-play-er,” constructed a few years later, the automaton not only performed complete airs, but In rendering them greatly excelled the most esteemed living performers on those instruments. The great mechanician began its construction with but a dim perception of the difficulties which he would have to surmount in achieving success, and was often about to abandon his self-appointed task in despair. But perseverance in this case, as in so many others, had its due reward. The figure of the “ pipe-and-tator-player” stands on a pedestal, and is dressed like a dancing shepherd. ”He holds in one hand a flageolet, capable of performing about twenty airs, and in the other a stick with which to beat the tambourine as an accompaniment. The flageolet has only three holes, and the variety of its tones depends principally on a proper variation of the force of the wind and on the different degrees in which the orifices are covered. These variations in the force of the wind had to be given with a rapidity which the ear can scarcely follow, and the articulation of the tongue was required for the quickest notes, otherwise tne effect was far from agreeable. As the human tongue is not capable of giving the requisite articulations to a rapid succession of notes, and generally slurs over one-half of them, the automaton was thus able to excel the best performers, as it played complete airs with the articulations of the tongue at every note" (Brewster). No description of the machinery by which the movements of the “ pipe-and-tator-play-er” were produced was published at the time, but there is little question that it was similar to that of the nute-player. Famous as were these automata, and ingenious as was their construction, they were compelled to yield in both respects to the automaton “ duck,’’ of the same mechanician. According to Lobat, Gen. Degennes, in the early part of the eighteenth century, “constructed a peacock which could walk about as if alive, pick up grains of corn from the ground, digest them as if they had been submitted to the action of the stomach, and afterward discharge them in an altered form.” Possibly this automaton may have suggested to Vaucanson the construction which was perhaps the most wonderful piece of mechanism ever made. Brewster thus describes the duck: “It executed accurately all its movements and gestures; it ate and drank with avidity, performed all the quick motions of the head and throat which are peculiar to the living animal, and, like it, it muddled the water which it drank with its bill. It produced, also, the sound of quacking in the most natural manner. In the anatomical structure of the duck the artist exhibited the highest skill. Every bone in the real duck had its representative in the automaton, and its wings were anatomically correct. Every cavity, apophysis and curvature was imitated, and each bone executed its proper movements. When corn was thrown down before it, the duck stretched out its neck to pick it up, swallowed it, digested it, and discharged it in a digested condition. The process of digestion was effected by chemical solution, and the food so digested wap conveyed away in tubes to the place of its discharge." This famous J‘duck” was the wonder and admiration of Europe for years. Bohn, the well-known London publisher, had in his possession about thirty years ago a mechanical bird cage, which was said to have been made by Vaucanson. This cage contained two bull finches which wheeled about on a perch, fluttered their wings, moved their beaks, and emitted musical sounds ip imitation of the natural note of that species. A fountain, constructed of spiral glass, played in the center of the cage. A clock beneath set the whole in motion every hour for three or four minutes. Vaucanson, while constructing these automata, formed the design of constructing an automaton to-show the whole mechanism of the circulation of the blood. The mechanician was satisfied of the feasibility of the scheme, and Louis XV. took a deep interest in its execution. As the whole vascular system required to be made of elastic gum, it was supposed that it could only be done in the country in which the caoutchouc-tree was indigenous. Is was agreed, therefore, that a skilled anatomist should proceed to Guiana to superintend the task; hut after the King had not only approved of the plan, but given orders for the voyage, difficulties were thrown in his way, and Vaucanson, becoming disgusted, threw up the whole scheme. The famous Swiss mechanician Le Droz constructed two automata which were greatly admired—a sheep, which imitated perfectly the bleating of that animal; and a dog watching a basket of fruit, which, when any of the fruit was taken away, never ceased barking till it was repluceu. Maillardet constructed a number of automata of the most perfect kind. One ot these was a steel spider, which exhibited all the movements of that animal. It ran on a table, always toward the center, to prevent it from running ofl. The movement lasted for three minutes. He also constructed a caterpillar, a lizard, a mouse and a serpent. The latter opened its mouth, hissed and darted out its tongue. The singing bird of the same artist was still more wonderful. “An oval box, about three inches long, was set upon the table, and in an instant the lid flew up, and a bird, of the size of the humrfiing-bird and of the most beautiful started from its nest. After fluttering its wings, it opened its bill and performed four different kinds of the most beautiful warbling. It then darted down into its nest and the lid closed upon it.” The* moving-power was springs, which only continued in action four minutes. ‘ ~ Le Droz, a son of the constructor of the automaton sheep, constructed a drawing automaton. The figure was life-size, ana held in its hand a metallic style, with which, on the release of a detent, it drew upon a card of Dutch vellum previously laid under its hand. On this first card were drawn “ elegant portraits of the King and Queen facing each other." Five other cards were drawn upon in succession, different subjects appearing upon each, OolUnson, who saw the automaton in operation, remarks that it was curious to observe with what precision the figure lifted up Its pencil in its transition from one point of the drawing to another without making the slightest mistake. It rested when it had completed the drawings on each card. Maillardet also constructed an automaton draughtsman. It is a boy kneeling on one knee, and holding a pencil in his hand. The drawing-paper ta adjusted on a brass tablet, and an attendant dips the pencil in ink. “ Upon touching! spring the figure proceeds to

write, and, when the line b finished, its hand returns to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, when necessary. In this manner it executes four beautiful pieces of writing in French and English, and three landscapes, the whole operation occupying about one hour." The same ingenious mechanician constructed a magician which has some resemblance to Maskelyne’s Psycho. The magician is seated with a wand in one hand and a book in theother. “ A number of questions, ready prepared, are inscribed on oval medallions, ana the spectators having chosen anyone of these to which he desires an answer, it is placed in a drawer that shuts with a spring, until the answer is returned. The magician then rises from his seat, bows his head, describes circles with his wand, and, consulting the book as if in deep the tight, lifts it toward his face. He then ltlses the wand, and having struck with it the wall above his head, two folding-doors fly open and display an appropriate answer to the question. The doors again close, the magician resumes his original position, and the door opens to return the medallion." The machinery by which this automaton was moved was said by the inventor to bo very simple, and could run about an hour without winding up. In that time it could answer about fifty questions. If the drawer was shut without a medallion, the magician rose, consulted his book, shook his head and sat down. The folding-doors remained shut and the drawer was returned empty. If two medallions were put into the drawer, the answer was to the question on the lower one. There were twenty medallions in all, of thin plates of brass exactly similar, and on some of them questions were inscribed on both sides.

About forty or fifty years ago, an exhibition known as the "Invisible Girl” was very popular in England and Scotland. A frame, consisting of four upright posts connected at top and bottom with crossrails, was placed in a room. Four bent wires, proceeding from the top of each of the uprights, were united in a kind of crown over tbe center of the frame. From these wires a copper ball, into which four trumpets opened, was suspended by means of slender ribbons. Questions were proposed by speaking into any one of the trumpets, while the answer was returned with sufficient intensity to be heard by the ear applied to any one of them. The voice seemed to be that of a very small girl. The invisible lady conversed in different languages, sang beautifully, and made the most lively ana appropriate remarks upon persons in the room. The inquisitive examined the ribbons, the wires, in fact, everything about the frame, and found nothing capable of solving the mystery. Questions put in a whisper were answered and the invisible figure frequently alluded to little circumstances that only a person in the audience could have known. The deception was practiced in this way: A grown woman was seated behind a strong partition, in which there was a small hole, through which she could see into the room containing the apparatus. The framework was hollow, and contained a tube which connected the “invisible lady" with the copper ball. This was both a hearing and a speaking tube. The invisble lady does not deserve to rank with true automata; but that it was a very clever trick ihust he acknowledged. No automaton or deception ever had such a success as the automaton chessplayer, which for more than half a century astonished and delighted the whole of Europe. The chess-player was constructed in 1769 by Van Kempelen, a gentleman of Presburg in Hungary. It was exhibited to thousands in Presburg, Vienna and Paris, immediately after its completion. In 1783-’B4 it was exhibited in London and other parts of England. After this it rfeems to have fallen out of repair. In 1819 Maelzel, the mechanician, overhauled it, and exhibited it in Great Britain in that and the following year, where “it excited," says Sir David Brewster, “as intense an interest as when it was first produced in Germany." The chess player was a life-sized figure, clothed in a Turkish dress, and seated behind a large chest or box—somewhat resembling a library-desk—three and a half teet l«ng, two feet deep, and two and a half feet high. The machine ran on castors. The cness-player sat on a chair fixed to the square chest; his right arm rested on the table, and in the left he held a pipe, which was removed during the game, as it was with that hand that he made the moves. A chess-board, eighteen inches square and bearing the usual number of pieces, was placed before the figure. The exhibitor then unlocked four doors, two in the front and two in the back of the chest, and held a lighted candle at the opening by which to exhibit the machin ery, which consisted of levers, wheels, cylinders and pinions. The figure was also examined, and out of a drawer at the bottom and front of the chest a small box of counters, a set of chess-men, and a cushicffi for the automaton’s arm, were taken. All the doors and drawers were then closed and locked—the spectators having satisfied themselves that there was no place for a concealed person—-the ex hibitor busied bimself in adjusting the mechanism from behind the chest, removed the pipe from the figure’s hand, and wound up the machinery. The automaton was then ready for play, which began as soon as an opponent was found in the audience. The automaton took the first move in all cases. “At every move made by the automaton the wheels of .the machine are heard in action; the figure moves its head, and seems to look over every part of the chess-board. When it gives check to its opponent it shakes its head thrice, and only twice when it checks the queen. It likewise shakes its head when a false move is made, replaces its adversary’s piece on the square from which it was taken, and takes the next move itself. In general, though not always, the automaton wins tne game. During the progress of the game the exhibitor stands near tho machine, and winds it up like a clock after it has made ten or twelve moves. At other times he went to a corner of the room, as if to consult a small, square box which stood open for this purpose.” - " . • Psycho, the whist-player, has not improved much upon the automaton chessplayer invented more than a hundred years ago. Van Kempelen never pretended that the automaton really played the game. Cn the other hand, he distinctly said that the effects of the machine “ appeared so marvelous only from the boldness of the conception, and tbe fortunate choice of the methods adopted for illusion.” There is now little doubt that a person was contained in the chest who really played the game of chess, and that the ostentatious exhibition of the machinery was simply to throw the spectator ofl his guard. We have no space to describe Babbage’s calculating machine and Jeven’s logical machine: but before leaving this entertaining subject, it may not he inappropriate to add that automatic constructions are not as useless as they seem. As Bir David Brewster well says: “Theelements of the tumbling poppets were revived in the chronometer, ana the shapeless wheel which directed the hand of the drawing automaton now serves to guide the movements of the tambouring engine. Those mechanical wonders which one century enriched only the conjurer who used them, contributed in another to augment the wealth of the nation; and these automatic toys which once amused the vulgar, are now employed in extending the power and promoting the civilization of our species.’* — J. D. Bell , i’m Appleton's Journal for September. Thxp.e are two counties in the Btate ot Pennsylvania which have not a rod of railroad within their limits—Forest and Greene.