AUTEU1L AUTOMATON. 



355 



and his memory remarkably tenacious. After he 

 had received his doctorate, he visited North America. 

 During his travels in this part of the world, he was 

 attacked by the yellow fever in a solitary place, at a 

 distance from human assistance, and saved his life by 

 bold and copious bleeding. After his return, he was 

 appointed professor of medicine, particularly of ana- 

 tomy and clinical medicine, at Tubingen. Here he 

 laboured zealously. His lectures were eloquent, and 

 his attention to the sick unremitted. He published, 

 likewise, several periodicals, partly alone, partly in 

 connexion with Reil. The king of Wurtemburg 

 appointed him chancellor of the university of Tu- 

 bingen. 



AUTEUIL ; a small town of France, at the entrance 

 of the wood of Boulogne, somewhat less than a mile 

 from Paris. Men of literary reputation have often 

 resided there. The country-seat of the poet Boileau 

 is still shown there, where the beaux esprits of 

 France often banqueted. On a certain time, heated 

 with wine at a supper, the literati complained of the 

 degeneracy of the age, and lamented their misfor- 

 tune in having been born at such a period. All 

 agreed to plunge into the neighbouring Seine, and 

 the flower of the French writers were already on 

 their way to the river, when the thought struck Mo- 

 liere, that such an act, by such men, ought not to be 

 performed in the darkness of night. The companions 

 stopped, found he was in the right, and agreed to 

 drown themselves at day-break, after drinking the 

 remainder of their wine. The ingenious Andrieux 

 brought this anecdote upon the stage in the piece 

 Moliere avec ses Amis, ou le Souper a Auteuil. Madame 

 Helvetius, finally occupied the house. Her even- 

 ing parties here were celebrated. All who were 

 distinguished in the walks of literature or of active 

 life, were always welcome, whether French or 

 foreigners. All were without restraint. Her society 

 was therefore called la societe libre des ego'istes. 

 The monuments of several illustrious men are to 

 be seen in the church-yard at Auteuil ; among 

 others, that of Nicolai, president of the chambre des 

 eomptes, and the chancellor d'Aguesseau, remarkable 

 as a great civilian and advocate of the rights of 

 men. 



AUTHENTICS ; a name applied, in the civil law, to 

 an extract from the Novels (see Corpus Juris), by 

 which a law of the code is either changed or entirely 

 abolished. They were extracted by the first doctors 

 of the law, in the middle ages, from a manuscript 

 copy of the Novels (liber authenticus), put among the 

 altered passages of the code, and have thus remained 

 in the editions of the Corpus Juris, Some laws, 

 moreover, of the emperors Frederic I. and II. of 

 Germany have been introduced in this way. 



AUTO DA FK. See Inquisition. 



AUTOCHTHONES (from the Greek) signifies men pro- 

 duced from the ground which they inhabit. Several 

 ancient nations assumed this name, to indicate the 

 antiquity of their origin ; e. g. the Athenians. 



AUTOCRATOB (from Greek vr<>(. himself, and x(ans, 

 power); a name given to the Athenian general, 

 when, in particular cases, unlimited authority over 

 the troops was intrusted to him, and he was not 

 bound to give account of his proceedings. Thus 

 Aristides was an autocrator in the battle of Plataea. 

 nicr/Ji<f aurtxf *Tjif were Athenian ambassadors with 

 full powers, corresponding to our plenipotentiaries. 

 In modern times, the word autocrat is used, in poli- 

 tics, for a ruler with absolute power. Thus the em- 

 peror of Russia is styled autocrat of all the Russias. 

 Some writers on morals apply this term to man, to 

 represent his power over his own conduct. 



AUTODIDACTI (Greek avrei, himself, and S/Ja<r**, I 

 teach) ; those who have obtained knowledge and 



skill in any art or science, without the personal in. 

 struction of others. 



AUTOGRAPHS (Gr.); manuscripts written by the 

 author himself, in distinction from copies. They are 

 more highly esteemed than the latter, not only as 

 interesting relics, but also as more correct and free 

 from faults than those copied by another hand. Some 

 collections of autographs of famous men are very in- 

 teresting. 



AUTOMATON (from Gr. avn^K-ras, spontaneous) ; a 

 self-moving machine, without life. Machines of this 

 kind are kept in motion by means of springs or 

 weights. When they represent human figures, they 

 are called androides . but clocks, watches, &c. are 

 also automata. We find very early mention of them. 

 Homer describes Vulcan fabricating tripods, which 

 moved on living wheels, instinct with spirit. The 

 celebrated statue of Memnon, which emitted musical 

 sounds at sunrise, the walking statues of Daedalus, 

 the flying dove of Archytas (q. v.), are instances of 

 ancient skill in this respect In modern times, friar 

 Bacon (q. v.) constructed a brazen head which spoke. 

 Regiomontanus (q. v.) made a flying eagle, and an 

 iron fly, which, after making the tour ol the room, 

 returned to its master. Albertus Magnus (q. v.), in 

 the 13th century, spent thirty years in constructing a 

 human figure, which advanced to the door when any 

 one knocked, opened it, and saluted the visitor. In 

 the water-clock presented to Charlemagne by Haroun 

 al Raschid, twelve doors in the dial opened respec- 

 tively at the hour which they represented : they con- 

 tinued open till noon, when twelve knights issued 

 out on horseback, paraded round the dial, and then, 

 returning, shut themselves in again. Camus con- 

 structed an ingenious toy for Louis XIV., consisting 

 of a carriage drawn by two horses, containing a little 

 figure of a lady, with a coachman and attendants. 

 The coachman smacked his whip ; the horses moved 

 their legs naturally ; and, when the carriage arrived 

 opposite to the king's seat, it stopped; the page 

 stepped down, and opened the door ; the lady alight- 

 ed, and presented a petition to Louis. The flute- 

 player, the tambour-player, and the wonderful duck 

 of Vaucanson (q. v.), are celebrated for the astonish- 

 ing ingenuity displayed in their construction. The 

 two brothers Droz (q. v.) have executed some admi- 

 rable works of the kind. One of them is a child, 

 sitting at a desk, who dips his pen into the ink. 

 shakes it, and writes, in French, whatever is dictated 

 to him. This must be done, of course, by human 

 intervention. A vase, presented to Bonaparte, when 

 first consul, on being touched, exhibited a palm-tree, 

 under which a shepherdess was spinning. The chess- 

 player of von Kempelen (q. v.) has been supposed to 

 be moved by a man concealed in the chest. The 

 speaking machine of the same artist, the flute-player 

 of Siegmeier, the trumpeters of Maelzel and Kauf- 

 nuinn, deserve mention among the later automata. 

 One of the most ingenious automatical mechanists 

 of the present day is the Swiss Maillardet. Ha 

 constructed a female figure, which performs eighteen 

 tunes on the piano forte; the bosom heaves, the 

 eyes move, ai.d the natural motions of the fingers 

 are performed. The action of this machine con- 

 tinues an hour. Besides this figure, there is a 

 magician, who answers any question taken from 

 twenty medallions. The medallion selected is placed 

 in a drawer, the magical books are gravely 

 consulted, and the magician then strikes with his 

 wand against a door, which opens, and displays an 

 appropriate answer. His other automata are, a boy, 

 which draws and writes ; a little figure, a few inches 

 in height, which dances to music produced in a glass 

 case, in which it is enclosed ; a humming bird, which 

 issues from a box, sings, aud returns to the box 

 2 Y z 2 



