The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1872-03-07
The Talking Machine.
Some account Of the --latest Effort at Ar:ic-
ulation-O Similar Intentions etc.
E, From the Boston Post.

From the Boston Post.
The talking machine which is daily exhib-
tied to respectable assemble ;es of pers ons at
Horticultural Hall can hardly be said to- re-
alize the expectations of spectators. To the
scientific and curious it is admitted to be a
very Ingenious mechanical recreation; but
the fnal impression is one of regret that SO
much power of invention should have been
wasted ,s2on trihe, or upon an object which
can nesefbe of the slightest practical benc-
6t or A. Happears that many years have
been al in the study and experiments by
which sais automatic machine hes been
brought, as is imagined, to something like
perfection in its power of initiating the hu-
man sptsch. But after all, it is far from
being alspeaking. and still farther from what
is undeatood as a talking machine. 1t is
constructed scientifically, as well as ingcnu-
iously, and with close reference to the or
gans connected with speech in the human
system; but there 5 no approximation to ci-
ther thesnatural tones or the modulations of
the human voice. The sound is produced
by the method, common in musical instru.
ments, of projecting air into pipes by bel
lows, the power of articulate uttcrance being
very imperfectly attained by the construct
ion of these pipes in accordance with the
anatomy! Of the throat and mouth and all the
organs ofarticulation. 1t is simply music
al machine, capable of producing, without
variation of tone. limited number of vowel
and consanant sounds resembling articu!a-
ton, butiwith uttcrance so indistinct as that
none ofits words could be understood by the .
listncr without being previously announced
by the operator. Nothing is attempted to
be said bs'the automaton OF which the hear
crs are not thus forewarncd.
The manipulation of the machine for the
purpose Of projecting the air into the pipes
for the required articulation is similar to
that of al organ. But. ingenious as this
androidesis, it is nothing new in principle,
and it does not excel if it equals, many 9TH
or similarlmechanical contrivanccs. Apply
ing machinery to initiate life is of very an
cicnt date. TO say nothing of the pigeon of
Archytas, Cor the cock of Charlmagne. the
speaking head of Roger Bacon, the fly of
Regiomonianus, and other automata, the
performances of which may have been exag-
geratcd, 'tte famous hutc-playcr of Eaucan-
son is ofaShentic record. That really play
cd the fnssl projecting the air with its lips
sgaiast ssSssa4absncllrrc, producing the diff
fcrent octarcs by expanding and contracting
the opening, forcing more or less air accord
ing to thc,manncr Of living performers, and
regulating the tones by its fingers. 1t ar
ticulated the notes with its lips. The autom
atom trumpetcr Of Ma.lzel, exhibited in this
country not many years ago, was not less
wonderful. That was made actually to play
upon the trumpet, and to perform difficult
music, being controlled by clock-wcrk ma
chinery within the figure, which was of life
size Its sound was pure, and more agree
able than that which the ablcst musician
could produce from the instrument. because
the breath gives the inside Of the trumpet
moisture which is prcjudicial to the purity
of the tone. Eaucanson, also, a hundred
years ago, produced hageolet player Of SIM
ilarly wonderful artificial powers; and, what
was the most ingenious of his comparatively
useless inventions, an automaton duck, which
dabbed in the water, swan, drank and quack-
ed lik a real duck, successfully initiating the
peculiar motions of the natural fowl. 1t
raised its head and moved its neck, took food
from the hand and swallowed it, the natural
motions Of the muscles of the neck being pre-
ccptiblc. But to what end, or to whose ben
eft or to whose good will it tend? is the
natural query in view of such laborious and
elaborate ingenuity. What place will Vau-
canson, or Maelzcl, or Fabcr hold in the cs-
timation Of postcrity, as compared with Ark
wright, or Whitney, or Fulton?
CosT OF LEGISLATIVE SEssIoNs.-Mr.
Potter, of Massachusetts. has gathered some
interesting facts relative to the average and
cost of legislative sessions in twenty-tour of
the leading states of the Union. The New
Hampshire House Of Representatives has the
largest number of MEMBERSHIPS, while the
Delaware House has but q. New Hampshire
has the smallest number of ofSenators-l2, cx-
cept Delaware, which has nine persons in
the Upper House. California pays her leg
islators so per day, while those of Rhode
Island receive but 81 per day. The Ken
tucky Legislature meets but once in two years,
and the average length of its sessions arc six
days, while the Massachusetts Legislature
holds annual sessions Of about one hundred
and seventy days. The Massachusetts Legis-
lature is also ahead in the matter ofexrenses
Law in the Bay State is enacted at the high
cost of s25G,0OO per annum, while in Della,
ware the Legislature costs but $1,000 bic,
nnially; in Rhode Island $4,000 annually; il
New Jersey, 1000 per anuum, and i'll New
York, $4,000 per annum.
AN ILLINOIS tlERCULES.-John Gilvin,
of Decatur, was yesterday helping to get a
safe out of the ruins on South Water Street,
near Union Depot. The men had got the
safe nearly upon the sidewalk, when it slip
ped back upon them. This man came along
and asked what was the matter with the
safe, and one Of them said it had slipped of
the rollers and gone back on them lie said
"Gct out Of my way" and seizing on it like
Sampson, lifted it up, walked to the wagon
with it, ten or twelve feet, and threw it on
the wagon. lie caught it on the bottom