The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1871-11-11
The EaIAing Machine.
From the Cincinnati Commercial

The celebrated talking machine of Profes
sJr Faber, OF Vienna, Austria, was recently
exhibited to All appreciative audience of some
two or three huudred people at the jefferson
Medical College. Phlade phia. Previous to
an experimental illustration Of the wonder
fdl powers Of the machiue, DIR. j. Soils Co
hen delivered an exhaustive and elaborate
] cture upon the anatomy of The vocal or
gans. the formation of sound, the structure
vi tue machine, aud concluded with histo
neal sketch of the invention.
Il was originated about thirty years ago
by the uncle of Professor Faber, and exhibit
ei at that time IN Philadelphia The present
Professor Fabgr improved it wonder fully.
although it took great while to arrive at
the present perfection. Seven years were
NECESSARY to arrive at the production Of the
sound Of the letter ''e." The exhibition on
this occasion consisted uf the production Of all
tue letters of the alphabet and elementary
SQUADS Of the language. Phrases of six and
eight words in length were spoken in ELg-
lish, French and German. The voice is a
hhrIll. mOnotOuous aud unnatural ore, but
IN the majority of Instances startlingly cor
rect. 1t was operated by German lady
who does not understand a word OF English
aud produces the sound simply through pho
netic translation.
The happy pronunciation of a word or
phrase was received by the audience with
applause. If there is any sound. in our esti-
nation. says the Philadelphia Post, that is
Shared in the slightest. it is the sound Of the
letter Il" 1t must be remembered that
the hs,is of sperch Of this machine is the
sound system of the &c man language, and
all the English words are spoken with Ger
man accent. The machine is constructed as
follows:
The machine consists of q gilded table.
highly ornamented, beneath which appears
= bellows aud a lever to put it in motion.
Upon the top a lifeless face with clammy
eyes stares upon you, and behind which is
arranged a mass of wires, strings, delicate
wooden levers. rubber tubes and pipes, which
make up the speaking apparatus. By a
OPPRESSION of the bellows the air is furced
through narrow aperture into an iron wind
pipe, and thence into an artificial CLOTHS
from which 1t passes through a vent repre-
senting the human mouth, with movable
jaws anu rubber tongue. There are fourteen
levers. each of which gives distinct utter
snce. and when moved in concert they pro-
duce the sound OF any desired syllable. A
separate lever produces a peal of laughter,
which would be natural enough except for a
slight grating noise.
In one phase tae talking machine Of Prof
Faber is a marvel of human skill and pa
tience. II is the furthest human picket of
the army of science in its attack upon nature.
When we recollsct that the German nation,
which pr,,iuced this marvel, has also manu-
factured facsimies of human skin. hair and
finger-nais that stand physiological and
chemical tests, the startling query may we'll
arise. what neSt2 If scientific progress
keeps on advancing at this rate. and the va
rious portions of the human body can lie so
cunuingly counterfeited. perhaps the novel
"Frankenstein" Of Mrs. Shelly was LOT 50
impossible, after all.