New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-03-14
A Conscious Automaton.

l6 An, 1877; II An, 246; 81 An, ZOE, 406
and numerous other authorities.
A Conscious Automaton.
Paris is undoubtedly the peculiar hom,
of boldness, not to say rashness. in though
and invention. NJ. Cazeaux, man singu
larly we'll versed in physics and q very
skiliful mechanic, especially in the finer anl
more delicate sorts of work, not long agt
invited Duroe Lallemann. the mathemsti
| clan, and myself to his house, assuring u
that he would there show US something O
great interest-a curious piece of mechan
ism which he had recently constructed, and
which was really marvel.
| The appointed evening found us in NJ.
Cazeaux's study. After c0nversing while
on general topics. and examining some
| most curions mechanical and electrical ap
| planes of one sort and another, our host
| left us for short time, and then re-entered
the room leading by the hand what ap.
peared to be man in the prime of life and
| in good health, but which, as yon will see
| further on, was but an automatOn. In
| view of Professor Huxley's reluctance to
carry his theory that ''animals" are icon
scious automatic" so far as to make it cover
the case of human beings, I hesitate to
speak of this contrivance as conscious
antOmaton," and yet that it seemed to be
SO is beyond question. 1t did not, indeed,
walk readily or gracefully, but it must be
remembered that in man one of the most
wonderful of nervous actions is what is
known as coordination, upon which the
action Of twofold members, such as the
legs, depends.
shall relate its workings best by ex-
planning the cause of it. 1t ia composed of
wires Of various metals of different powers
OF conducting electricity, each being insu-
lated from the rest, some by means OF deli
cate silk and others by the use of various
varnishes. The whole is so finely and in
tricately woven that the surface, when
closely examined. looks almost like the
human cuticle. Examine the ball Of your
thumb, and you will perceive the coiling
and interlacing thus imitated.) In the head
and spinal column are electric batteries,
with ganglionic multipliers placed az are
the ganglla in the human system, and all
the wires centre in these, being twisted in
and upon each other in close imitation Of
the nerves. the larger ones consisting Of
many small ones, as in the human body
The organs which are not necessary to the
production of such movements as are COM
monty observed in man-indeed the whole
sympathetic system is omitted-it being NJ.
Cazeaux's object merely to construct an
sutomaton which should seem to be q man.
The action of this automaton is excited in
perfectly understandable way. 1t ia
known how the most delicate evolution of
heat affects a thermomultiplier; an instru-
ment of this sort is at the oriice of the
mouth, in the lips, teeth, and part of the
tongue. A certain degree of heat-the low
est degree is 1000 Observation-Disclosures the
thermomultiplier, by which it is transmitted
to the brain and spinal column; producing
regular series Of results. To make the ex.
pertinent more striking, piece Of hot albu.
men-the white of an egg-was laid at q
stated distance from the lips on plate. The
heat thus produced was transmitted along q
wire to the concealed batteries, and deli
catoly displaced small armature, thus set.
ting the batteries at work. The eyes slowly
opened, and the extremities of the wires
forming the eyeballs were affected by the
light, and communicated the molecular mo-
ton thus set up to the conductors behind
them, whence it was transmitted to the
proper nervous centres. The batteries thus
set in action worked the wires or nerves OF
the arm in such way that, under the given
circumstances, they were forced to bring
the hand to the albumen, which was thus
placed within the mouth, for all the world
as a man would do it.
The irritation thus act up land we know
that one four hundred billonth of a grain
of aconite will occasion such chemical &C
ton that its presence may be detected, We
need not wonder at this) produced by its
direct action on the minute extremities of
the wires molecular change which was
conveyed to the batteries, or ganglia, and
back again by what seemed reflex action,
but was, of course, only such in a physio-
logical, not in physical sense. Mastication
and deglutitiOn followed, with a smacking
Of the lips, and what really looked like an
expression Of satisfaction on the cOunse-
nance, and especially in the eyes. M.
Cazeaux AYERS that, with an automatOn
properly constructed, and merely by the
presence of the food in the stomach, he
could initiate the entire process of diges-
ton, and even make the automatOn appear
to be in pain from an overloaded stomach,
or seem to dream restlessly by the same
means.
To set the automaton in motion BY it's
mechanical sense of hearing is not more
difficult. The beating of the waves of air
upon the tympanum in certain measured
way will cause it to give forth various
sounds from it's mouth. A certain number
of vibrations in second will put panied
look on the face. and bring from the lips
certain words which will change to others
when the rapidity of vibration is increased
or diminished, as it always is when we
speak to another person, and get various
responses. Under certain conditions mere
irritation of what may be called the ''cuti-
Gle" will result in apparently voluntary
motions. Babbage's calculating machine is
at bottom no less wonderful than this,
which is a mere physiological extension Of
the mechanism. How much farther it is
possible to extend it can not tell, but it
seems likely enough that if Professor Hulk.
ley's views of animals as CONSCIOUS auto
mata" be correct, we may yet produce a
piece Of mechanism which will seem to
reason for better cause than did Maelzel's
celebrated "chess player.'-Paris Cores
pendent Ncr York Graphic.