262 LETTERS ON NATURAL MAGIC. 



Among the wonders of modern skill, we must enumerate 

 those beautiful automata by which the motions and actions 

 of man and other animals have been successfully imitated. I 

 shall therefore describe at present some of the most remark- 

 able acoustic automata, in which the production of musical 

 and vocal sounds has been the principal object of the artist. 



Many very ingenious pieces of acoustic mechanism 

 have been from time to time exhibited in Europe. The 

 celebrated Swiss mechanist, M. le Droz, constructed for 

 the King of Spain the figure of a sheep, which imitated 

 in the most perfect manner the bleating of that animal, 

 and likewise the figure of a dog watching a basket of fruit, 

 which, when any of the fruit was taken away, never 

 ceased barking till it was replaced. 



The singing-bird of M. Maillardet, which he exhibited 

 in Edinburgh many years ago, is still more wonderful.* 

 An oval box, about three inches long, was set upon the 

 table, and in an instant the lid flew up, and a bird of the 

 size of the humming-bird, and of the most beautiful 

 plumage, started from its nest. After fluttering its wings, 

 it opened its bill and performed four different kinds of 

 the most beautiful warbling. It then darted down into 

 its nest, and the lid closed upon it. The moving power 

 in this piece of mechanism is said to have been springs 

 which continued their action only four minutes. As 

 there was no room, within so small a figure, for accom- 

 modating pipes to produce the great variety of notes which 

 were warbled, the artist used only one tube, and produced 

 all the variety of sounds by shortening and lengthening 

 it with a moveable piston. 



Ingenious as these pieces of mechanism arc, they sink 

 into insignificance when compared with the machinery of 

 IVi. Vaucanson, which had previously astonished all 



* A similar piece of mechanism had been previously made by 

 JT. le Droz. 



