274 LETTERS ON NATURAL MAGIC. 



In another pamphlet, which had been pre- 

 viously published at Paris in 1785, the author 

 not only supposed that the machine was put in 

 motion by a dwarf, a famous chess-player ; but 

 he goes so far as to explain the manner in which 

 he could be accommodated within the machine. 

 The invisibility of the dwarf when the doors 

 were opened was explained by his legs and 

 thighs being concealed in two hollow cylinders, 

 while the rest of his body was out of the box, 

 and hid by the petticoats of the automaton. 

 When the doors were shut, the clacks produced 

 by the swivel of a ratchet-wheel permitted the 

 dwarf to change his place, and return to the box 

 unheard; and while the machine is wheeled 

 about the room, the dwarf had an opportunity of 

 shutting the trap through which he passed into 

 the machine. The interior of the figure was next 

 shown, and the spectators were satisfied that" the 

 box contained no living agent. 



Although these views were very plausible, yet 

 they were never generally adopted ; and when 

 the automaton was exhibited in Great Britain in 

 1819 and 1820, by M. Maelzel, it excited as 

 intense an interest as when it was first produced 

 in Germany. There can be little doubt, however, 

 that the secret has been discovered; and an 

 anonymous writer has shown in a pamphlet, 

 entitled " A.n attempt to analyse the Automaton 

 Chess-player of M. Kempelen," that it is capable 

 of accommodating an ordinary sized man ; and 

 he has explained in the clearest manner how the 

 inclosed player takes all the different positions, 

 and performs all the motions which are necessary 

 to produce the effects actually observed. The 



