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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
686
In
1738,
there
were
exhibited
in
Paris,
by
M.
Vaucanson,
three
automata,
which
have
been
reproduced
in
modern
times:
one
represented
a
flute
player
in
a
sitting
posture,
which
performed
twelve
distinct
tunes;
the
second
was
a
standing
figure,
which
discoursed
harmony
on
a
shepherd’s
flute,
held
in
his
left
hand,
while
with
his
right
he
beat
on
a
tabor;
the
third
was
a
life-size
duck,
which
flapped
its
wings,
quacked,
drank
water,
ate
corn,
and
even
performed
other
functions
of
nature
that
made
it
more
closely
resemble
its
natural
prototype.
Some
idea
may
be
formed
of
the
modus
operandi
of
the
cornet
player
of
Messrs.
Maskelyne
and
Cooke,
by
the
information
afforded
by
Vaucanson
himself,
which
was
published
in
1738,
and
which
purports
to
give
a
full
explanation
of
the
method
of
working
the
automaton
flute
player.
The
figure
was
five
feet
and
a
half
high;
it
was
seated
upon
a
rock,
which
was
supported
by
a
pedestal
four
feet
high,
by
three
and
a
half
broad.
Within
the
pedestal
were
eight
pair
of
bellows,
which
were
set
in
motion
by
clockwork.
The
wind
was
forced
into
these
tubes,
which
ascended
through
its
trunk,
and
terminated
in
a
single
reservoir
connected
with
the
cavity
of
the
mouth.
Another
piece
of
clockwork
within
the
pedestal
was
applied
to
execute
the
necessary
motions
of
the
fingers,
lips,
and
tongue.
A
revolving
cylinder,
with
various
pegs
inserted
in
it,
raised
or
depressed
several
levers,
on
the
principle
of
a
barrel
organ
and
in
this
manner,
it
was
said,
music
was
produced
very
little
inferior,
if
not
equal,
to
the
performance
of
a
skilful
flute
player
of
flesh
and
blood.
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