TIIE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
297 
necessary relation with the automaton, and, giving it 
the invisible impulse, conducted it during several games 
against some of his most intimate friends. 
“No automaton or deception ever had such a success 
as the automaton chess-player, which for more than 
half a century astonished and delighted the whole of 
Europe. The chess-player was constructed in 1769 by 
Van Kempelen. a gentleman of Presburg in Hungary. 
It was exhibited to thousands in Presburg, Vienna and 
Paris, immediately after its completion. In 1783-84 it 
was exhibited in London and other parts of England. 
After this it seems to have fallen out of repair. In 1819 
Maelzel, the mechanician, overhauled it, and exhibited 
it in Great Britain in that and the following year, 
■‘where it excited,’ says Sir David Brewster, ‘ as in¬ 
tense an interest as when it was produced in Germany.’ 
The chess-player was a life-sized figure, clothed in a 
Turkish dress, and seated behind a large chest or box— 
somewhat resembling a library desk—three and a-half 
feet long, two feet deep, and two and a-half feet high. 
The machine ran on casters. The chess-player sat on a 
chair fixed to the square chest; his right arm rested on 
the table, and in the left he held a pipe, which was re¬ 
moved during the game, as it was with that hand that 
he made the moves. A chess board eighteen inches 
square and bearing the usual number of pieces was 
placed before the figures. The exhibitor then unlocked 
four doors, two in the front and two in the back of the 
chest, and held a lighted candle at the opening by 
which to exhibit the machinery,, which consisted of 
levers, wheels, cylinders and pinions. The figure was 
also examined, and out of a drawer at the bottom and 
front of the chest a small box of counters, a set of chess¬ 
men, and a cushion for the automaton’s arm were 
taken. All the doors and drawers were then closed and 
locked—the spectators having satisfied themselves that 
there was no place for a concealed person—the exhib¬ 
itor busied himself in adjusting the mechanism from 
behind the chest, removed the pipe from the figure’s 
hand, and wound up the machinery. The automaton 
was then ready for play, which began as soon as an 
opponent was found in the audience. The automaton 
took the first move in all cases. ‘ At every move made 
by the automaton the wheels of the machine are heard 
in action ; the figure moves its head, and seems to look 
over every part of the chess-board. When it gives 
check to its opponent it shakes its head thrice, and only 
twice when it checks the queen. It likewise shakes its 
head when a false move is made, replaces its adversary’s 
piece on the square from which it was taken, and takes 
the next move itself. In general, though not always, 
the automaton wins the game. During the progress of 
the game the exhibitor stands near the machine, and 
winds it up like a clock after it has made ten or twelve 
moves. At other times he went to a corner of the room, 
as if to consult a small, square box which stood open 
for the purpose.’ Van Kempelen never pretended that 
the automaton really played the game. On the other 
hand, he distinctly said that the effects of the machine 
appeared so marvellous only from the boldness of the 
•conception, and the fortunate choice of the method 
adopted for illusion. There is now little doubt that a 
person was contained in the chest who really played the 
game of chess, and that the ostentatious exhibition of 
the machinery was simply to throw the spectator off 
his guard. 
“ The St. Paul Pioneer says: ‘It has long been the 
boast of Europeans that the highest degree of mechan¬ 
ism, such as is required for designing and manufactur¬ 
ing automata, has never been found outside of France 
or Germany. This can no longer be said; for a gentle¬ 
man of this city has produced, after three and a-half 
years of close application, some of the most wonderful 
automata the world has ever seen. They consist of six 
figures, full size of life, three of each sex, dressed in the 
height of fashion, and so closely resembling living per¬ 
sons as to deceive all but the closest observers. These 
figures appear on the stage, each with a harperion, and 
at a sign given by the leader they salute the audience 
and commence playing. They perform a large number 
of melodies, keeping perfect time and producing full 
harmony. This is, without doubt, one of the finest 
specimens of mechanical ingenuity the wor ld has ever 
seen.’ 
“ In the Jovrnal of the Franklin Institute is a descrip¬ 
tion of a remarkable machine, designed and constructed 
in 1879 by a student at the University of Pennsylvania. 
It is called ‘An Automatic Tit-tat-to Machine,’ and any 
one can play the game with it, as if it were a person. It 
is a true automaton, that is, there is no one concealed in 
or around it who governs its moves by electrical or any 
other means, as was the case with the ‘ automaton 
chess-player.’ The principle upon which it works is 
this: There is in it a mechanical table of all the possible 
games, and two hands having nine fingers each. When 
the opponent makes a move, the machine hunts with 
its left hand in the table for that move. Opposite is set 
down the proper answering move. By pushing a lever, 
the right hand discovers that move and transmits it to 
the board. 
‘ ‘ The machine was exhibited at the Franklin Insti¬ 
tute. It is now at the University of Pennsylvania, 
where it has played a large number of games without 
losing a single one. The problem of designing a ma¬ 
chine which would play one of the games of skill was 
never seriously attempted before but once, when the 
results arrived at were such as to present serious difficul¬ 
ties to the construction of the machine. We have no 
space to describe Babage’s calculating machine and 
Jeven’s logical machine; but, before leaving this enter¬ 
taining subject, it may not be inappropriate to add that 
automatic constructions are not as useless as they seem. 
As Sir David Brewster well says: ‘ The elements of the 
tumbling puppet were revived in the chronometer, and 
the shapeless wheel which directed the hand of the 
drawing automaton now serves to guide the movements 
of the tambouring engine.’ Those mechanical wonders 
which in one century enriched only the conjurer who 
used them, contributed in another to augment the 
wealth of the nation; and those automatic toys which 
once amused the vulgar are now employed in extending 
the power and promoting the civilization of our species. 
Nature will nurse what we plant, with care, And we to know it some future day; 
And so will time what we do or say, O heart of mine, shall your fruit be rare, 
Or good, or ill, it is sure to bear, Or only weeds to be cast away ? 
