8。WhenthequestionisdemandedexplicitlyofMaelzel“IstheAutomatonapuremachineornot?”hisreplyisinvariablythesame“Iwillsaynothingaboutit。”NowthenotorietyoftheAutomaton,andthegreatcuriosityithaseverywhereexcited,areowingmoreespeciallytotheprevalentopinionthatitisapuremachine,thantoanyothercircumstance。Ofcourse,then,itistheinterestoftheproprietortorepresentitasapuremachine。Andwhatmoreobvious,andmoreeffectualmethodcouldtherebeofimpressingthespectatorswiththisdesiredidea,thanapositiveandexplicitdeclarationtothateffect?Ontheotherhand,whatmoreobviousandeffectualmethodcouldtherebeofexcitingadisbeliefintheAutomaton’sbeingapuremachine,thanbywithholdingsuchexplicitdeclaration?For,peoplewillnaturallyreasonthus,ItisMaelzel’sinteresttorepresentthisthingapuremachineherefusestodoso,directly,inwords,althoughhedoesnotscruple,andisevidentlyanxioustodoso,indirectlybyactionswereitactuallywhathewishestorepresentitbyactions,hewouldgladlyavailhimselfofthemoredirecttestimonyofwordstheinferenceis,thataconsciousnessofitsnotbeingapuremachine,isthereasonofhissilencehisactionscannotimplicatehiminafalsehoodhiswordsmay。
  9。When,inexhibitingtheinteriorofthebox,MaelzelhasthrownopenthedoorNo。I,andalsothedoorimmediatelybehindit,heholdsalightedcandleatthebackdoorasmentionedaboveandmovestheentiremachinetoandfrowithaviewofconvincingthecompanythatthecupboardNo。1isentirelyfilledwithmachinery。
  Whenthemachineisthusmovedabout,itwillbeapparenttoanycarefulobserver,thatwhereasthatportionofthemachinerynearthefrontdoorNo。1,isperfectlysteadyandunwavering,theportionfartherwithinfluctuates,inaveryslightdegree,withthemovementsofthemachine。Thiscircumstancefirstarousedinusthesuspicionthatthemoreremoteportionofthemachinerywassoarrangedastobeeasilyslipped,_enmasse,_fromitspositionwhenoccasionshouldrequireit。Thisoccasionwehavealreadystatedtooccurwhenthemanconcealedwithinbringshisbodyintoanerectpositionupontheclosingofthebackdoor。
  10。SirDavidBrewsterstatesthefigureoftheTurktobeofthesizeoflifebutinfactitisfarabovetheordinarysize。Nothingismoreeasythantoerrinournotionsofmagnitude。ThebodyoftheAutomatonisgenerallyinsulated,and,havingnomeansofimmediatelycomparingitwithanyhumanform,wesufferourselvestoconsideritasofordinarydimensions。Thismistakemay,however,becorrectedbyobservingtheChess-Playerwhen,asissometimesthecase,theexhibiterapproachesit。Mr。Maelzel,tobesure,isnotverytall,butupondrawingnearthemachine,hisheadwillbefoundatleasteighteeninchesbelowtheheadoftheTurk,althoughthelatter,itwillberemembered,isinasittingposition。
  11。TheboxbehindwhichtheAutomatonisplaced,ispreciselythreefeetsixincheslong,twofeetfourinchesdeep,andtwofeetsixincheshigh。Thesedimensionsarefullysufficientfortheaccommodationofamanverymuchabovethecommonsizeandthemaincompartmentaloneiscapableofholdinganyordinarymaninthepositionwehavementionedasassumedbythepersonconcealed。Asthesearefacts,whichanyonewhodoubtsthemmayprovebyactualcalculation,wedeemitunnecessarytodwelluponthem。Wewillonlysuggestthat,althoughthetopoftheboxisapparentlyaboardofaboutthreeinchesinthickness,thespectatormaysatisfyhimselfbystoopingandlookingupatitwhenthemaincompartmentisopen,thatitisinrealityverythin。Theheightofthedraweralsowillbemisconceivedbythosewhoexamineitinacursorymanner。Thereisaspaceofaboutthreeinchesbetweenthetopofthedrawerasseenfromtheexterior,andthebottomofthecupboardaspacewhichmustbeincludedintheheightofthedrawer。Thesecontrivancestomaketheroomwithintheboxappearlessthanitactuallyis,arereferribletoadesignonthepartoftheinventor,toimpressthecompanyagainwithafalseidea,viz。thatnohumanbeingcanbeaccommodatedwithinthebox。
  12。Theinteriorofthemaincompartmentislinedthroughoutwith_cloth。_Thisclothwesupposetohaveatwofoldobject。Aportionof_it_mayform,whentightlystretched,theonlypartitionswhichthereisanvnecessityforremovingduringthechangesoftheman’sposition,viz:thepartitionbetweentherearofthemaincompartmentandtherearofthecupboardNo。1,andthepartitionbetweenthemaincompartment,andthespacebehindthedrawerwhenopen。Ifweimaginethistobethecase,thedifficultyofshiftingthepartitionsvanishesatonce,ifindeedanysuchdifficultycouldbesupposedunderanycircumstancestoexist。Thesecondobjectoftheclothistodeadenandrenderindistinctallsoundsoccasionedbythemovementsofthepersonwithin。
  13。TheantagonistaswehavebeforeobservedisnotsufferedtoplayattheboardoftheAutomaton,butisseatedatsomedistancefromthemachine。Thereasonwhich,mostprobably,wouldbeassignedforthiscircumstance,ifthequestionweredemanded,is,thatweretheantagonistotherwisesituated,hispersonwouldintervenebetweenthemachineandthespectators,andprecludethelatterfromadistinctview。Butthisdifficultymightbeeasilyobviated,eitherbyelevatingtheseatsofthecompany,orbyturningtheendoftheboxtowardsthemduringthegame。Thetruecauseoftherestrictionis,perhaps,verydifferent。Weretheantagonistseatedincontactwiththebox,thesecretwouldbeliabletodiscovery,byhisdetecting,withtheaidofaquickcar,thebreathingsofthemanconcealed。
  14。AlthoughM。Maelzel,indisclosingtheinteriorofthemachine,sometimesslightlydeviatesfromthe_routine_whichwehavepointedout,yet_reelerin_anyinstancedoeshe_so_deviatefromitastointerferewithoursolution。Forexample,hehasbeenknowntoopen,firstofall,thedrawerbutheneveropensthemaincompartmentwithoutfirstclosingthebackdoorofcupboardNo。1heneveropensthemaincompartmentwithoutfirstpullingoutthedrawerhenevershutsthedrawerwithoutfirstshuttingthemaincompartmentheneveropensthebackdoorofcupboardNo。1whilethemaincompartmentisopenandthegameofchessisnevercommenceduntilthewholemachineisclosed。Nowifitwereobservedthat_never,inanysingleinstance,_didM。Maelzeldifferfromtheroutinewehavepointedoutasnecessarytooursolution,itwouldbeoneofthestrongestpossibleargumentsincorroborationofitbuttheargumentbecomesinfinitelystrengthenedifwedulyconsiderthecircumstancethathe_doesoccasionally_deviatefromtheroutinebutneverdoes_so_deviateastofalsifythesolution。
  15。TherearesixcandlesontheboardoftheAutomatonduringexhibition。Thequestionnaturallyarises“Whyaresomanyemployed,whenasinglecandle,or,atfarthest,two,wouldhavebeenamplysufficienttoaffordthespectatorsaclearviewoftheboard,inaroomotherwisesowelllitupastheexhibitionroomalwaysiswhen,moreover,ifwesupposethemachinea_puremachine,_therecanbenonecessityforsomuchlight,orindeedanylightatall,toenable_it_toperformitsoperationsandwhen,especially,onlyasinglecandleisplaceduponthetableoftheantagonist?”Thefirstandmostobviousinferenceis,thatsostrongalightisrequisitetoenablethemanwithintoseethroughthetransparentmaterialprobablyfinegauzeofwhichthebreastoftheTurkiscomposed。
  Butwhenweconsiderthearrangementofthecandles,anotherreasonimmediatelypresentsitself。Therearesixlightsaswehavesaidbeforeinall。Threeoftheseareoneachsideofthefigure。Thosemostremotefromthespectatorsarethelongestthoseinthemiddleareabouttwoinchesshorterandthosenearestthecompanyabouttwoinchesshorterstillandthecandlesononesidedifferinheightfromthecandlesrespectivelyoppositeontheother,byaratiodifferentfromtwoinchesthatistosay,thelongestcandleononesideisaboutthreeinchesshorterthanthelongestcandleontheother,andsoon。Thusitwillbeseenthatnotwoofthecandlesareofthesameheight,andthusalsothedifficultyofascertainingthe_material_ofthebreastofthefigureagainstwhichthelightisespeciallydirectedisgreatlyaugmentedbythedazzlingeffectofthecomplicatedcrossingsoftherayscrossingswhicharebroughtaboutbyplacingthecentresofradiationallupondifferentlevels。
  16。WhiletheChess-PlayerwasinpossessionofBaronKempelen,itwasmorethanonceobserved,first,thatanItalianinthesuiteoftheBaronwasnevervisibleduringtheplayingofagameatchessbytheTurk,and,secondly,thattheItalianbeingtakenseriouslyill,theexhibitionwassuspendeduntilhisrecovery。ThisItalianprofesseda_total_ignoranceofthegameofchess,althoughallothersofthesuiteplayedwell。SimilarobservationshavebeenmadesincetheAutomatonhasbeenpurchasedbyMaelzel。Thereisaman,_Schlumber0er,_whoattendshimwhereverhegoes,butwhohasnoostensibleoccupationotherthanthatofassistinginthepackingandunpackingoftheautomata。Thismanisaboutthemediumsize,andhasaremarkablestoopintheshoulders。Whetherheprofessestoplaychessornot,wearenotinformed。Itisquitecertain,however,thatheisnevertobeseenduringtheexhibitionoftheChess-Player,althoughfrequentlyvisiblejustbeforeandjustaftertheexhibition。Moreover,someyearsagoMaelzelvisitedRichmondwithhisautomata,andexhibitedthem,webelieve,inthehousenowoccupiedbyM。BossieuxasaDancingAcademy。_Schlumberg_erwassuddenlytakenill,andduringhisillnesstherewasnoexhibitionoftheChess-Player。Thesefactsarewellknowntomanyofourcitizens。
  ThereasonassignedforthesuspensionoftheChess-Player’sperformances,was_not_theillnessof_Schlumberger。_Theinferencesfromallthisweleave,withoutfarthercomment,tothereader。
  17。TheTurkplayswithhis_left_arm。Acircumstancesoremarkablecannotbewhatever。beyondaaccidental。Brewstertakesnonoticeofitwhateverbeyondamerestatement,webelieve,thatsuchisthefact。TheearlywritersoftreatisesontheAutomaton,seemnottohaveobservedthematteratall,andhavenoreferencetoit。TheauthorofthepamphletalludedtobyBrewster,mentionsit,butacknowledgeshisinabilitytoaccountforit。Yetitisobviouslyfromsuchprominentdiscrepanciesorincongruitiesasthisthatdeductionsaretobemadeifmadeatallwhichshallleadustothetruth。
  ThecircumstanceoftheAutomaton’splayingwithhislefthandcannothaveconnexionwiththeoperationsofthemachine,consideredmerelyassuch。Anymechanicalarrangementwhichwouldcausethefiguretomove,inanygivenmanner,theleftarmcould,ifreversed,causeittomove,inthesamemanner,theright。Buttheseprinciplescannotbeextendedtothehumanorganization,whereinthereisamarkedandradicaldifferenceintheconstruction,and,atallevents,inthepowers,oftherightandleftarms。Reflectinguponthislatterfact,wenaturallyrefertheincongruitynoticeableintheChess-Playertothispeculiarityinthehumanorganization。Ifso,wemustimaginesome_reversion_fortheChess-Playerplayspreciselyasaman_wouldnot。_Theseideas,onceentertained,aresufficientofthemselves,tosuggestthenotionofamanintheinterior。Afewmoreimperceptiblestepsleadus,finally,totheresult。TheAutomatonplayswithhisleftarm,becauseundernoothercircumstancescouldthemanwithinplaywithhisrighta_desideratum_ofcourse。Letus,forexample,imaginetheAutomatontoplaywithhisrightarm。Toreachthemachinerywhichmovesthearm,andwhichwehavebeforeexplainedtoliejustbeneaththeshoulder,itwouldbenecessaryforthemanwithineithertousehisrightarminanexceedinglypainfulandawkwardposition,viz。
  broughtupclosetohisbodyandtightlycompressedbetweenhisbodyandthesideoftheAutomaton,orelsetousehisleftarmbroughtacrosshisbreast。Inneithercasecouldheactwiththerequisiteeaseorprecision。Onthecontrary,theAutomatonplaying,asitactuallydoes,withtheleftarm,alldifficultiesvanish。Therightarmofthemanwithinisbroughtacrosshisbreast,andhisrightfingersact,withoutanyconstraint,upontilemachineryintheshoulderofthefigure。
  WedonotbelievethatanyreasonableobjectionscanbeurgedagainstthissolutionoftheAutomatonChess-Player。