CLOCKS PROVIDED WITH AUTOMATONS. The de sire to construct clocks which shall perform auto matically many other things besides simply re cording the time of day is as old as clockmak Mg, and was developed to a wonderful degree in the ancient clepsydrae of Oriental nations. In deed, the automatons of the ancient Chinese and Arabian clocks were the models upon which all those of mediaeval Europe, including the famous Strassburg clock, were based. Among the earliest of these automatons or 'jacks of the clock' built in the tower-clocks of Europe were those of the clocks at Dijon, Cambrai, and Linden, in each of which two figures appear and strike the hour ly bell. In 1495 the clock at Lfibeek was built in which the figures of the Twelve Apostles were introduced.
Probably the most widely known of these tower-clocks is the one in Strassburg Cathedral. This famous clock has been reconstructed twice. The first Strassburg clock was built in 1352, under the direction of -John. Bishop of Lichten berg. it contained a calendar, an astrolabe. and a set of chimes composed of several cymbals. There were automatic figures of the Virgin, of the three \Vise Men who bow before her, and a cock. which moves its beak, crows, and flaps its wings. The second Strassburg clock was built in 1570. Its mechanical works were constructed by lsaak and .Tosias Habrecht, of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Early in the nineteenth century it was found that the clock required reconstruc tion, and the task was consigned to Charles Schwilg,u6, who consumed four years in its com pletion. Only a few of the original movements were restored by SchwilguC., most of the present mechanism being of his own design.
The following description of the present Slrass burg clock indicates its most important fea tures: It is 30 feet high and 15 feet at the base. On one side of the main portion is a. flight of winding stairs. surmounted by five columns. On the other side is a Gothic pil lar, the panels of which are filled with fig ure paintings. At the base of the main portion of the clock is a celestial globe, in dicating sidereal time, and showing the rising, passing over the meridian of Strassburg, and setting of all stars that appear above the horizon, visible to the naked eye. Behind the globe is a
calendar. showing the day of the month and the fixed and movable feasts. A statue of Apollo points out the day of the month. The calendar is in the form of an annular hand, so arranged as to show many other astronomical events be sides the day of the month. Above the cal endear are drawn in chariots, one apiwar ing each day. On Sunday Apollo appears, (11:11VII by horses of the sun. On Monday Diana, em blem of the moon, drawn by stags. appears. She is succeeded in turn by Mars, Mereury, Jupiter, Venus, Cupid. and Saturn. Above those figures is the dial which tells the time of day. On each side of this dial sits a figure, one of which strikes the quarter-hours. and the other holds an hour glass, and turns it every sixty mintes. The next story is devoted to a planetarium, and the next is a globe for showing the phases of the moon. Above this are movable figures, which in succes sion strike the quarter-hoar. The first figure is an infant, which strikes the bell with a rattle; the second is a youth; the third an old man; the fourth is a figure of death, which strikes the bell with a bone. In the highest compartment is a figure of Christ. Each day at noon a proces sion of the Apostles passes before Dim; while a cock, perched above, appears and flaps its wings and crows three times.
The clock at Beauvais, France. is almost as wonderful a piece of mechanism as the Strass burg clock. It is composed of 14 different movements, includes 90,000 different pieces, and weighs :35,000 pounds. There are about. 50 dials for indicating different astronomical events. The dock is 36 feet high, 16 feet broad, and nearly 9 feet deep.
The clock in Lyons Cathedral is much like the Strassburg clock. The old clock of Prague was built by one Harausch; and so jealous were the citizens of Prague lest he should build a similar clock in some other city—so the story goes— that they put out his eyes. This clock also con tains various mechanical figures. The hour is rung by a skeleton, with the bell-rope in his hands.