LETTER XI.. Mechanical Automata of the Ancients--Moving Tripods--Automata

Mechanical automata of the ancients--Moving tripods--Automata of Dædalus--Wooden pigeon of Archytas--Automatic clock of Charlemagne--Automata made by Turrianus for Charles V.--Camus’s automatic carriage made for Louis XIV.--Degenne’s mechanical peacock--Vaucanson’s duck which ate and digested its food--Du Moulin’s automata--Baron Kempelen’s automaton chess-player--Drawing and writing automata--Maillardet’s conjurer--Benefits derived from the passion for automata--Examples of wonderful machinery for useful purposes--Duncan’s tambouring machinery--Watt’s statue-turning machinery--Babbage’s calculating machinery 264