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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
689
The
door
and
drawer
having
been
closed,
the
exhibitor
wound
up
the
works
with
a
key
inserted
in
a
small
opening
in
the
side
of
the
chest,
placed
a
cushion
beneath
the
arm
of
the
figure,
and
then
challenged
any
one
of
the
company
present
to
play
a
game
with
it.
It
was
observed
that
in
playing
the
automaton
always
selected
the
white
pieces,
and
had
the
first
move.
Owing
to
a
curious
mistake
of
the
inventor,
the
figure
moved
the
men
with
his
left
hand.
The
error,
when
found
out,
could
not
afterward
be
rectified.
Its
hands
and
fingers
opened,
and
then
grasped
a
piece,
which
it
conveyed
to
the
proper
square.
In
taking
a
piece,
the
same
motion
was
made
by
the
arm
and
hand
as
before;
it,
however,
conveyed
the
piece
off
the
board,
and
then
placed
its
own
piece
upon
the
vacant
square.
While
and
after
his
opponent
made
a
move,
the
figure
paused
for
a
few
moments
as
though
contemplating
its
own.
It
intimated
with
a
nod
of
the
head
when
it
gave
check
to
the
king.
During
the
time
the
arm
was
in
motion,
a
low
sound
of
clockwork
running
down
was
distinctly
heard.
The
works
were
wound
up
at
intervals
by
the
exhibitor,
who
otherwise
did
nothing
but
walk
up
and
down
the
room.
As
we
find
that
the
automaton
both
lost
and
won--in
Kempelen’s
time
it
very
seldom
lost--and
that
each
game
was
different
to
the
others,
it
necessarily
follows
that
these
phenomena
are
inconsistent
with
the
sole
effects
of
mechanism.
Various
conjectures
have
been
offered
as
to
the
mode
of
communication
between
the
figure
and
the
intelligence
which
directed
it.
A
plausible
and
probable
explanation
was
given
in
1821
in
a
pamphlet
called,
“An
Attempt
to
Analyze
the
Automaton
Chess
Player.”
In
this
brochure
it
is
shown
that
in
spite
of
the
apparent
display
of
the
interior
of
the
chest
and
the
figure,
there
yet
was
ample
space
left
unopened
for
the
concealment
of
a
person
of
ordinary
size
behind
a
false
back
to
the
narrowest
division
only.
This
is
shown
in
the
accompanying
illustrations.
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