KEMPELEN'S TALKING MACHINE. 209 



sounds of two adjacent letters, however, ran into 

 each other, and an aspiration followed some of 

 the consonants ; so that, instead of papa, the 

 word sounded phaa-ph-a ; these difficulties he 

 contrived with much labour to surmount, and he 

 found it necessary to imitate the human organs 

 of speech by having only one mouth and one 

 glottis. The mouth consisted of a funnel, or 

 bell-shaped piece of elastic gum, which approxi- 

 mated, by its physical properties, to the softness 

 and flexibility of the human organs.* To the 

 mouth-piece was added a nose made of two tin 

 tubes, .which communicated with the mouth. 

 When both these tubes were open, and the 

 mouth-piece closed, a perfect M was produced ; 

 and when one was closed and the other open, an 

 N was sounded. M. Kempelen could have suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining the four letters D, G, K, T, 

 but, by using a P instead of them, and modify- 

 ing the sound in a particular manner, he contrived 

 to deceive the ear by a tolerable resemblance of 

 these letters. 



There seems to be no doubt that he at last 

 was able to produce entire words and sentences, 

 such as opera, astronomy, Constantinopolis, Vou*< 

 etes mon ami, Je vous aime de tout mon coeur, 

 Venez avec moi a Paris, Leopoldus secundus, Ro- 

 manorum imperator semper Augustus, &c., but he 

 never fitted up a speaking figure ; and probably, 

 from being dissatisfied with the general result 



* Had M. Kempelin known the modern discovery of 

 giving glue any degree of softness, by mixing it with 

 molasses or sugar, which is always absorbing moisture from 

 the atmosphere, he might have obtained a still more perfect 

 imitation of the human organs. 

 P 



