Wre have seen the figure of a swan as large as life, which gracefully curved its neck, or turned it round as if to dress the plumage of its wings or body. Having done this, it bent down its head, and taking a metal fish in its bill, swallowed it. A peacock also has been constructed, which, by machinery, could erect or depress its crest, and unfold its tail ; it could likewise lift a piece of money in its bill, while per forming all the motions peculiar to an animated ori ginal. Perhaps these figures should excite less cu riosity, from their larger size the greater complication of parts, and the more ample operation of the mechanical powers, at least if we compare them with others. Some automata of animals have been made so inconceivably small, and at the same time exhibiting such a diversity of action, as to claim the ntrAost admiration, not only of those unacquainted with the principles of art, but of the most intelligent mechanics. M. Maillardet, an artist on whom we before bestowed our commendations when speaking of the Androides, constructed an oval box about three inches in length : the lid flew up, and a bird of beautiful plumage, not larger than a small humming bird, started up from its nest. Its wings fluttered, and its bill opening with the tremulous vibration pe culiar to singing birds, it began to warble. After continuing a succession of notes which would fill a large apartment, it darted down into its nest, and the lid closed of itself. The machinery was here con tained in very narrow compass, and could produce four different kinds of warbling: it was put in motion by springs, which preserved their action during four minutes. It has often created great surprise how such a variety of notes could be produced within a space where there was evidently no room for a cor responding number of pipes. The artist, however, has accomplished his purpose by a very simple ex pedient. There is only one tube, the vacuity of which is shortened or lengthened by a piston work ing inside, and thus producing sounds graver or more acute, according as the machinery operates upon it.
Still more minute is a spider, wholly fashioned of steel, of which we have seen several species. The mechanism effecting the motions of these figures, is included in the body, and by means of various springs, pinions, and levers, the legs arc successively raised, and the automaton advances. One constructed by M. Maillardet, ran on the surface of a table during three minutes; and its course was so devised, as to tend rather towards the centre of the table than the edge.
The same mechanic has made an automatical cater pillar, or lizard, and a mouse, all strictly imitating the motions of nature. He has also constructed a serpent, which crawls about in every direction, opens its mouth, hisses, and darts out its tongue. The source of motion, like that of the others, here consists in springs, and it continues in action seven minutes.
Other automata, as a ship on wheels concealed from vkw, men rowing a barge, the going of mills, and many other operations which require the Human hand to regulate them, have often been contrived. But there is one kind of imitation of nature, which, perhaps, infinitely surpasses' either the representa tions of animals or the Androides, we mean the imitation of speech. This may assuredly be consi dered as the utmost stretch of invention ; for of all the faculties conferred on living beings, that which most eminently distinguishes man is speech.
A brazen head, we are told, was once construct ed, which is said to have uttered words ; but this pro bably consisted in deception only : nor is it wonder ful that it should not have been easily detected, when we reflect on the propensity of the public lately to view one of little ingenuity with admiration. M.
Kempelen, however, a Hungarian gentleman, who had previously distinguished himself by mechanical productions, has undoubtedly effected the imitation of speech where no deception is practised. We shall briefly advert to the principles he followed, as we be lieve no account of them whatever has hitherto been detailed in Britain.
M. Kempelen having directed his attention to wards the practicability of forming a speaking machine, limited his expectations to the production of vowels only. At first he entertained no hopes of obtaining con sonants, far less did he deem it possible to unite them with vowels, and thus express words or syllables. In the course of his investigations, he tried all musical instru ments, even horns and trumpets, with the view of finding which of them emitted sounds approaching nearest to the human voice : but although he was aware that the a-eeds of hautboys, clarionets, and bassoons, came near er the voice of mankind, because there is a faint resem blance between their operations and the functions of the human glottis, and also knew that a reed stop, called voce humana, had been adapted to organs, his re searches were ineffectual. The sound of those reeds was found, on comparison, to be a very imperfect imi tation of what they were intended to represent. At length having accidentally heard the reed of a bagpipe, he conceived that it exceeded all others in this re spect, and thence made it the subject of his future experiments.
NT. Kempelen then proceeded to a minute and as siduous study of the mode in which the human speech is produced, which has led to an interesting dissertation Oa the Mechanism of Speech. There the anatomical position of all the different organs is shewn and described, and also the different relations of each sound to another. After considering these things, lie supposed that the fundamental part of voice consists in A. But this was far from aiding his pur pose ; and he could -obtain no other vowel, whether grave or acute, from a reed connected with a tube. However, after long study, he contrived a hollow oval box, divided into halves, which were attached by a hinge, thus resembling jaws. These were adapt ed so as to receive the sound issuing from the tube ; and by means of opening and closing them, he heard the sounds A, 0, OU, and an imperfect E ; but no indications of I, or the German ii. His attention was next directed to consonants ; and after the labour of two years, lie obtained from different jaws P, M, L. With these vowels and consonants, he could compose syllables, and even words, as mama, papa, auto, lama, mat), because each touch of his instrument produced a different sound. Still he had to conquer a great difficulty in the first letter not having ceased when the second commenced ; and on attempting to pro cure the sounds in immediate succession, the letters were confounded together. Papa, instead of being one word, evidently consisted of so many different letters ; and also the too sudden discharge of air in to the tube produced a faint K. Thus auto nearly resembled ka-ku-hl-ka. Another imperfection like wise arose in an aspiration following the consonant, and papa then resembled ph-a-ph-a. As M. Kem pelen proceeded in ascertaining the possibility of producing the sound of letters, he surmounted these difficulties, though it cost him a great deal of trou ble. But the proper combination of them he saw must result from imitating nature in having only one glottis, and one mouth, from which all the sounds should issue, and where their union should be form ed. His invention therefore terminated in construct ing a machine which, in some measure, imitated the human speech.