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Automaton
- plural, automatons or automata. Machines which
imitate the actions, etc., of living creatures. The most famous are the
following:—(1) The pigeon that could fly, made, B.C. 400, by
Archy tas, of Tarentum; (2) the wooden eagle of Regiomontanus,
the German, which flew from the city of Koenigsberg to meet the
emperor, saluted him, and returned, 1436–1476; (3) the duck
of Vaucanson of Grenoble, which could eat and drink, and even in a way
digest food; its wings, viscera, bones, etc., minutely resembled those
of a living animal. Vaucanson also made an image of Pan, which, at the
beck of Syrinx, rose from his seat, played on his pipe, bowed when
applauded, and sat down again. He also made an asp which, on being
touched by an actress, in the character of Cleopatra, flew at her
breast with a malignant hiss. Louis XV set him to make a human figure,
but he died before he had completed it. (Greek, autos-mao ,
I self-move.) (See Android.)
Pierre Droz and his son Louis were noted for their automatons; so was
Frederick of Knause (Vienna). The chess-player of Wolfgang, baron of
Kempelen, in 1784, created quite a furor in Paris. Napoleon on one
occasion played chess with this automaton. (See Brazen Heads.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Automaton from Infoplease:
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