ANDROIDES, in mechanics, an auto maton, in the figure of a man, which, by virtue of certain springs, &c. duly con trived, walks and performs other external functions of a man. Albertus Magnus is recorded as having made a famous an droides, which is said not only to have moved, but to have spoken. Thomas Aquinas is said to have been so frightened when he saw this head, that he broke it to pieces ; upon which Albert exclaimed, " Perlit opus triginta annorum." Artificial puppets, which, by internal springs, run upon a table, and, as they advance, move their heads, eyes, or hands, were common among the Greeks, and from thence they zere brought to the Romans. Figures, RIF puppets, which appear to mere of themselves, were formerly employed to work miracles ; but this use is now super seded, and they serve only to display in genuity, and to answer the purposes of amusement One of the most celebrated figures of this kind was constructed and exhibited at Paris, in 1738: and a particu lar account of it was published in the Me moirs of the Academy for that year. This figure represents a finte-player, which v, as capable of performing various pieces of music, by wind issuing from its mouth into a German flute, the holes of which it opened and shut with its fingers : it was about 5i feet high, placed upon a square pedestal 4i feet high, and 3-4 broad. The air entered the body by three separate pipes, into which it was conveyed by nine pairs of' bellows, that expanded and con tracted, in regular succession, by means of an axis of steel turned by clock-work. These bellows performed their functions without any noise, which might have dis covered the manner by which the air was conveyed to the machine.
The three tubes which received the air from the bellows passed into three small reservoirs in the trunk of the figure. Here they united, and ascending towards the throat, formed the cavity of the mouth, which terminated in two small lips, adapt ed in some measure to perform their pro per functions. Within this cavity was a small moveable tongue, which, by its mo tion at proper intervals, admitted the air, or intercepted it in its passage to the flute. The fingers, lips, and tongue, derived their proper movements from a steel cy linder, turned by clock-work. This was divided into fifteen equal parts, which, by means of pegs pressing upon the ends of fifteen different levers, caused the other extremities to ascend. Seven of these
levers directed the fingers, having wires and chains fixed to their ascending extre mities, which, being attached to the fin gers, made them to ascend, in proportion as the other extremity was pressed down by the motion of the cylinder, and vice versa; then the ascent or descent of one end of a lever produced a similar ascent or descent in the corresponding fingers, by which one of the holes of the flute was occasionally opened or stopped, as it might have been by a living performer. Three of the levers served to regulate the ingress of the air, being so contrived as to open and shut, by- means of valves, the three reservoirs above mentioned, so that rnore or less strength might be given, and a higher or lower note produced, as oc casion required. The lips were, by a si milar mechanism, directed by four levers, one of which opened them to give the air freerpassage, the other contracted them, the third drew them backward, and the fourth pushed them forward. The lips were projected upon that part of the flute which receives the air, and, by the differ ent motions already mentioned, modified the tune in a proper manlier. The re maining lever was employed in the direc tion of the tongue, which it easily moves, so as to shut or open the mouth of the flute. The just succession of the seN eral motions, performed by the various parts of this machine, was regulated by the fol lowing simple contrivance. The extremi ty of the axis of' the cylinder terminated on the right side by an endless screw, consisting of twelve threads, each placed at the distance of alineand au halffrom the other. Above this screw was fixed a piece of copper, and in it a steel pivot, which, falling in between the threads ofthe screw, obliged the cylinder to follow the threads, and, instead of turning directly round, it was continually pushed to one side. Hence, if a lever was moved, by a peg placed on the cylinder, in any one revolu tion, it could not he moved by the same peg in the succeeding revolution, because the peg would be moved a line and a half beyond it by the lateral motion of the cylinder.