第150章
加入书架 A- A+

  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。

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