Calaveras chronicle., 1851-12-13

81 CURIOUS MEcHANIsM.- Nothing in
T Itlenna delighted me more than the
Illatchless mechanism of the famous ri.
ezra Jacquet Droz, in his adr0ides 0i
fself-noving figures. He must have
heen one Of the highest order Of me-
! chanical genuiSes. He exhibited three
lot hfs an nrimaton children before Louis
XIV of France, in l772, who at once
raised him to distinction, as far as his
royal word could dignity a man of such
rare powers, One of the figures writes
a beautiful hand--any sentence proposed
by simply gauging plate to a parti-
clIiar order ofietteEs. The SECOND will
! issSeay the figures. Of animels - pes.
and actually shades of ~ .I;Tc Ire; ara
the third plays with its fingers on key
ed instrument, something similar to a
piano. They have all the appearance
of life, even the expression OF thought
fuInesS. was permitted TO inspect
the mechanism at leisure, while in mo-
ton and at rest and of allthe compli-
Gated, ineXplicable combinations Of
wheels, pinionS, chains, endless screws,
cams anO levers OH which my eyes ever
rested, these are the most perplexing
and astonishing.
After the inventor had astonished all
France and England, he made trip to
Spain, with the expectation of reaping
IA rich harvest in that then wealthy king
dom but he had hardly commenced
the exhibition before the inquisiton ar
rested him and threw him into prison
for being in league with the devil
Had it not been for the interest felt in
his case by the Archbishop of Toledo,
who comprehended the nature Of the
mechanism, and favored his escape, it
is thought he would have been burned
alive This sad misfortune ruined h~
prospects, and stripped him ofthe availS
of his ingenuity. He fed, leaving the
automata III the strong box Of the holy
office, where the remained till Napoleon
entered, when by the agency of some
friends who knew the history of the
transaction, they were recovered and
sent to Pars-not, however, till the un-
fortunate roz and his equally talented
son had been many years in their graves.
In the rough landings to which they
had been been subjected, the apparatus
got out of order, aud no one could be
found competent to repair them, till, by
the nerest chai1ce, the present proprie-
tor, young German, on learning their
| history, made Il visit of inspection.
They were considered worthless, and
no one, however eminent as a machin-
Isl, dared 10 undertake the restoration.
| BY perseveriug study Mr.. HenriMar-
lin, lie gentleman referred to, discover
ed the principle of the movement, and
they are now again in notion. He
would like much to go TO the United
-Stdres wish them, but breads the idea
of crossing a turbulent ocean. Mael-
zel's celebrated rope dancers, and even
his chess players, are not to be named
in the same day Of the month with them
Here is Il true mechanical movement,
open for the most critical examination
of the spectator, while his was decep-
/ tinn. Connected with these figures,
there Is a hand cart, drawn by an old
Man smoking. He tugs away ii while,
stops and hreatheS hard, looks around
and then pulls again ut The load with
AL the naturalnes> of every day life.
1t is the work of matchmaker, who
employed his leisure moments in the
construction, and realized five hu ldred
florlns for his ingenuity. have been
more particular IN speaking Of this eX-
/ lhIbItlon, because it Is Of SO rare Il char
hcter, and evinces the resources Of a
mind, in the Alpine regions of Switzer-
land, III The person Of Droz, which has
"ot yet had a parallel in the history Of
lnvenlions.-[ Boston Med. Journal.