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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
683
Passing
over
the
ancient
oracles
which
have
been
shown
so
frequently
as
being
worked
by
the
simple
law
of
mechanics,
I
would
merely
mention
that
Plato
and
Aristotle
both
speak
of
certain
statues
made
by
Dædalus
which
could
not
only
walk,
but
which
it
was
necessary
to
bind
in
order
to
prevent
them
from
moving.
The
latter
speaks
of
a
wonderful
Venus
of
this
kind,
and
all
we
are
told
of
the
motive
power
is
that
Dædalus
made
it
move
by
means
of
quicksilver.
Aulus
Gellius
mentions
a
wooden
pigeon
which
possessed
the
power
of
flying,
but
the
only
fault
of
this
piece
of
mechanism
was
that
when
the
pigeon
once
settled,
it
could
not
renew
its
aërial
flight.
Cassiodorus,
who
lived
in
the
sixth
century,
gives
a
concise
and
graphic
description
of
certain
machines
invented
by
Bœthius.
He
says
“the
birds
of
Diomedes
(a
mechanician
of
that
date)
trumpet
in
brass,
the
brazen
serpent
hisses,
counterfeit
swallows
chatter,
and
such
as
have
no
proper
note
send
forth
from
brass
harmonious
music.”
Accounts
of
the
heads
said
to
have
been
constructed
by
Roger
Bacon
and
Albertus
Magnus,
are
so
mixed
up
with
fables
that
we
cannot
rely
upon
their
veracity;
and
yet
our
experience
has
shown
us
that
they
could
have
been
produced.
They
are
said
not
only
to
have
moved,
but
spoken,
and
their
heads
were
used
as
oracles.
Perhaps
it
will
be
remembered
that
some
years
ago
a
similar
head,
with
the
same
power
of
imitating
the
human
voice,
was
exhibited
at
the
Egyptian
Hall,
London.
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