﻿234 
  

  

  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  Photograph 
  by 
  Charles 
  Martin 
  

  

  DR. 
  AND 
  MRS. 
  BELL 
  AND 
  SOME 
  OF 
  THEIR 
  GRANDCHILDREN 
  AND 
  FRIENDS 
  '. 
  

   CAPE 
  BRETON 
  ISLAND, 
  NOVA 
  SCOTIA 
  

  

  the 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  and 
  startled 
  all 
  

   Europe 
  by 
  beating 
  the 
  most 
  celebrated 
  

   chess-players 
  on 
  the 
  Continent. 
  The 
  story 
  

   has 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  us 
  that 
  a 
  dwarf 
  was 
  

   concealed 
  in 
  the 
  apparatus, 
  who 
  guided 
  

   the 
  machinery 
  and 
  dictated 
  the 
  moves. 
  

  

  Many 
  persons 
  have 
  imagined 
  that 
  the 
  

   Baron's 
  equally 
  celebrated 
  automaton 
  

   speaking-machine, 
  which 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  

   uttered 
  words 
  and 
  sentences 
  in 
  a 
  childish 
  

   voice, 
  also 
  constituted 
  an 
  imposition 
  on 
  

   the 
  public 
  ; 
  but, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  there 
  

   were 
  some 
  grounds 
  for 
  believing 
  that 
  this 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  real 
  automaton 
  after 
  

  

  all, 
  for 
  the 
  Baron 
  von 
  Kempelen 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  a 
  book 
  upon 
  "The 
  Mechanism 
  of 
  

   Human 
  Speech, 
  " 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  gave 
  a 
  full 
  

   description 
  of 
  his 
  speaking-machine, 
  with 
  

   copious 
  illustrations. 
  

  

  A 
  copy 
  of 
  this 
  book 
  fell 
  into 
  the 
  hands 
  

   of 
  vSir 
  Charles 
  Wheatstone, 
  and 
  he 
  tested 
  

   the 
  matter 
  by 
  reconstructing 
  the 
  appa- 
  

   ratus 
  from 
  the 
  description 
  and 
  diagrams. 
  

   My 
  father 
  heard 
  of 
  this 
  and 
  made 
  an 
  ap- 
  

   pointment 
  with 
  Wheatstone 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  

   machine 
  and 
  hear 
  it 
  talk 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  took 
  me 
  

   with 
  him. 
  I 
  was 
  too 
  young 
  to 
  take 
  any 
  

   part 
  in 
  the 
  conversation 
  that 
  ensued, 
  but 
  

  

  