Manzetti's Flute-Playing Automaton from Contemporary Sources
Innocenzo Manzetti Di Aosta
Appunti e Spigolature
di Tancredi Tibaldi
Torino, Roux Frassati e Co, 1897
Source
pp. 17 -- 25
Innocenzo Manzetti From Aosta
Notes and Gleanings
Italian Translation by Michael Krzyzaniak
Jan 22, 2016
pp. 17 -- 25
Manzetti abbracciò molti rami delle scienze fisiche: l'acustica, la meccanica, l'idraulica, la elettricità, l'astronomico ed in ognuno di essi fece prodigi.
Manzetti embraced many branches of physical science: acoustics, mechanics, hydraulics, electricity, astronomy, and in each of these he created masterpieces.
La prima sua opera, quella che cominciò a procurargli fama e riputazione presto i suoi concittadini fu: Il suonatore de flauto. Di esso così scrisse nell'anno 1850 un amico del Manzetti:
His first work, that which began to secure his fame and reputation amongst his fellow citizens was: The Flute Player. In the year 1850, a friend of Manzetti wrote the following about it:
LA GÈNIE INVENTIF
et la puissance de l'imitation.
THE INVENTIVE ENGINEER
and the power of immitation
"Par un belle après-dinée de l'automne 1849 je me promenais à la rue supérieure des Prêtres (Ora S. Joconde) et j'étais arrivé en face de l'établissement des bains (proprietà del savoiardo Jorcin, già droghiere), quand j'entendis des sons de flûte; il y avait de la ressemblance avec la voix humaine, mais ce n'était pas tout-à-fait la même voix. J'élève mes regards et j'aperçois un jeune monsieur à la fenêtre. Voulez-vous monter, me dit-il d'une voix bienveillante, vous verrez mon automate qui essaie des airs. Quoi! une machine sous la forme d'un homme qui joue de la flûte! Je m'acheminai jusqu'à l'atelier pour contempler cette production. L'automate est d'une grandeur naturelle, is tient dans sa main la flûte appuyée contre les lèvres et est assis sur un chaise, qui renferme les ressorts et les machines qui font mouvoir les doigts et les lèvres.
"On a nice autumn evening in 1849 I was walking along upper Priest street (now Jaconde st.) and I arrived in front of the bath house (property of Jorcin the Savoyard, now a grocery) when I heard the flute sound; It resembled the human voice, but it was not entirely the same as the voice. I lift my eyes and I see a young gentleman at the window. Will you come up, he asked me in a benevolent voice, will you see my automaton playing airs? What! a machine in the form of a man who plays the flute! I made my way up to the workshop to contemplate this production. The automaton is life size, is holding in his hand a flute pressed against its lips and it sits on a chair, which contains springs and machines that move the fingers and lips.
"Le mécanisme consiste en un cylindre tournant, sur lequel sont fixés solidement des arrêtes en fer, communiquant le mouvement à 16 leviers qui à leur tour par le moyen des chaìnes qui parcourent la longueur des bras et aboutissent à ces leviers, trasmettent le mouvement du cylindre aux doigts appuyés par de souples ressorts sur les trous et les clefs de la flûte qui avance ou recule selon les notes.
"The mechanism consists of a rotating cylinder, on which are secured iron ridges, communicating the movement of 16 levers which in turn by means of chains that run the length of the arms and lead to these levers, trasmit the movement of the cylinder to the fingers supported by flexible springs in the holes and the keys of the flute which moves forward or backward according to the notes.
"Ce mécanisme est trop ingénieux pour être expliqué par tout autre que par son auteur, aussi ne prendrai-je pas cette tâche. Le cylindre contient 12 airs aussi difficiles que ceux qu'un bon flûteur peut produire avec son instrument.
"This mechanism is too ingenious to be explained by anyone other than by its author, so I do not undertake this task. The cylinder contains 12 tunes as difficult as those that a good flute player can produce with their instrument.
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"J'ai aussi contemplé dans cet atelier un piano-forte d'une grande dimension dû au même auteur qui arrange et répare les orgues portatives à cylindre dites de barbarie des serinettes des armoniums, des philarmonica, qui fait des cylindres, place de nouveaux airs, arrange et construit des instruments à chorde et à vent et joue de presque tous les instruments.
"I also contemplated in this workshop a fortepiano of a large size, belonging to the same author, who arranges and repairs portative barrel organs called barbaries, serinettes, harmoniums, philarmonicas, who makes cylinders, introducing new tunes, arranging and constructing string and wind instruments, and he plays almost all instruments.
"Son industrie ne se borne pas lá, il connait la sculpture en miniature sur ivoire, os, etc. Il fait d'agréables et très ressemblants portraits en ivoire, en bosse, en relief, des tabatières en ivoire sur lesquelles sont sculptés des vases, des fleurs, des animaux et tout cela avec un art admirable et une précision étonnante.
"His industry is not limited to this, he knows miniature-carving in ivory, bone, etc. He makes pleasant and very lifelike portraits in ivory, bas-relief, embossed ivory snuff boxes on which are carved vases, flowers, animals, and all this with admirable precision and amazing art.
"Comme il est géomètre, et amateur de la géodésie, il a construit lui-même les instruments les plus coûteux et les plus difficiles de sa profession, j'ai admiré surtout une équerre graduée à lunettes et boussole avec sa stade; une planchette à cylindre, une alidade de nouvelle forme à lunette en laiton et verre acromatique, un niveau de table à bulle d'air, un niveau de terrain à bulle d'aire avec sa lunette d'approche et son pied en laiton; une boussole pour les applications géodésiques.
"As surveyor and amateur geodesy, he built himself the most expensive and the most difficult instruments of his profession, I admired above all a square graduated in glass and compass with its stadium; a cylindrical plane, a new type of crescent-shaped alidade made of brass and achromatic glass; a table-level with an air bubble, ground-level with an air bubble and with its telescope and brass feet; a compass for geodetic applications.
"Il aimante les aiguilles des boussoles, il arrange les thermomètres, les baromètres, les hygromètres, etc.
"He magnetizes compass needles, he arranges thermometers, barometers, hygrometers, etc.
"C'est à lui que s'adressent les messieurs pour embellir leurs cannes et les adapter à l'usage de pipe orientale; pour les garnir de pommeaux, de pointes élégantes et durables; à lui recourent les demoiselles pour arranger leurs nécessaires et ce qu'ils contiennent.
"Gentlemen turn to him to embelish their canes and modify their Eastern pipes according to custom; for pommel covers, elegant and durable tips; the girls turn to him to modify their nécessaire-boxes and their contents.
"C'est à lui qui a construit la forge où il trempe, détrempe et façonne les articles en fer ou en laiton, car il set maçon par circonstance, lui qui a fait le soufflet de la forge, la roue et la monture de sa mécanique à aiguiser. Il entreprend et réussit à volonté -- et malgré cet ensemble de connaissances, il est humble et modeste dans son atelier, il reçoit avec bonté et vous renvoit en ami.
"Such is he who built the forge where he tempers, colors and forges articles of iron or brass, as he is a maker by circumstance, he who made the bellows of the forge, the wheel and the frame of the mechanical sharpener. He undertakes and succeeds with pleasure - and despite this body of knowledge, he is humble and modest in his workshop, he receives you with kindness and returns you in friendship.
"Comme géomètre, carriere qu'il n'exerece que depuis quelques mois, il n'a pas encore beaucoup produit, mais son dessin est net et beau à en juger par un mappe de la ferme d'un chanoine de la cathédrale d'Aoste, et il ne peut manquer de réussir et de satisfaire l'attente du public.
"As a surveyor, a career he exercises only in recent months, he has not yet produced much, but his design is clean and beautiful, judging by a map of a farm of a cannon at the Cathedral of Aosta, and he cannot fail to be successful and satisfy public expectations.
"Quelqu'un sera intéressé de connaître cet artiste qui prélude si bien dans ses entreprises, c'est Mr le géomètre Innocent Manzetti, qui serait appelé à de plus grandes choses si la fortune l'avait caressé. Mais le talent supplée à la fortune et se place au dessus.
"Anyone who may be interested to know this artist who has been introduced so well in his undertakings, is the surveyor Mr. Innocent Manzetti, who would be called to greater things if fortune had willed it. But talent compensates for fortune and is placed above.
--"Capitaine Laurent Pléod".
--"Capitaine Laurent Pléod".
(LE GARDE NATIONAL. Alminachi du Duché d'Aoste pour l'an 1850. -- D. Lyboz, édit).
(LE GARDE NATIONAL. Almanac of Duché d'Aoste from the year 1850. -- D. Lyboz, editor).
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Dallo scritto del Pléod intravediamo il Manzetti esplicare il suo ferace, versatile ingegno in molteplici guise.
In Pléod's writing we get a glimpse of Manzetti exercising his fertile, versitile ingenuity in many ways.
Col solo impulso di una innata predisposizione, non sussidiata che da rudimentali studi di disegno, egli modella statue, abozza animali, eseguisce oggetti d'arte di gusto squisito. Meccanico, ottico, intarsiatore, egli abbraccia alla volta vari rami di scienza ed in ognuno si rivela maestro.
With only his innately predisposed whimsy, and aided by nothing except rudimentary studies in drawing, he modelled statues, sketched animals, made art objects of exquisite taste. Mechanics, optics, marquetry, he embraced at times different branches of science and in each of these he revealed himself a master.
Ma non era che a tempo perso ed in guisa di diversione ch'egli se applicava a cotesti studî: la sua mente era ognora rivolta al joueur de flûte, la sua opera prediletta a cui portava un'affezione tutta paterna. Quell'automa aleggiava nei suoi sogni, accarezzava il suo spirito, vagheggiava nei suoi estri. Per sentirlo palpitare sotto le suoi ditta, vibrare docile ad un suo comando, per renderlo un essere intelligibile, egli, non solo come il Prometeo d'Eschilo avrebbe rapito allo empireo una novella favilla, ma si sarebbe tolto la sua stessa vita per infonderla nella sua creazione.
But it wasn't time wasted in the name of fun that he applied himself to these studies: his mind was perpetually focused on the joueur de flûte, his most-loved creation for which he harbored a wholly paternal affection. That automaton alighted in his dreams, caressed his spirit, appeared before him in his fantasies. To feel it palpitate under his fingers, vibrate meekly at his command, to make it an intelligent being, he would not only have stolen a new spark from the heavens, like Prometheus of Eschilo did, but he would have taken his own life to instill it into his creation.
Nell'anno 1849 l'automa, frutto di lunghi ed assidui studi, di laboriose e pazienti vegli, di amore infinito era già ultimato, ed l'autore non aveva che 24 anni!
In 1849 the automaton, fruit of long and assiduous studies, laborious and patient vigils, of infinite love, had just been completed, and the author was only 24 years old!
Ma, lo dice il Pléod, le funzioni dell'automata erano limitate a ripetere, a spifferare sul flauto le poche arie de un repertorio. Lo si caricava come un orologio. Egli eseguiva meccanicamente le melodie musicale nel cilindro nascosto nell'addome. Era come un organetto rivestito di umana parvenza.
But, as Pléod says, the automaton's functionality was limited to repeating, to blowing into the flute the few arias in its repertoire. It could be wound up like a clock. It mechanically followed the musical melodies on the cilinder hidden in its abdomen. It was like a barrel organ cloaked under a human facade.
In progresso di tempo, escogitando nuovi mezzi, applicando altri ordigni, adattando più complicati congegni e perfezionando gli antichi, l'autore conseguì il desiato intento: quello di far eseguire al suo flautista qualsiasi pezzo di musica, ponendolo in comunicazione con un armonium.
Over the course of time, imagining new methods, applying other devices, adapting more complicated mechanisms and perfecting ancient ones, the author obtained the desired goal: to make his flautist execute any arbitrary piece of music, by attaching it to a harmonium.
Un organista suonava quest'istrumento. La sola mano sinistra provocava suoni toccando la tastiera. La destra faceva bensì muovere i tasti, ma per essi, che rimanevan muti, rispondeva il flauto dell'automata, il quale riproduceva quanto garbava all'artista di eseguire simulatamente sulla tastiera.
An organist would play this instrument. Only the left hand would produce sound when playing the keyboard. The right depressed the keys, but to these, which remained silent, the automaton's flute responded, which simultaneously reproduced whatever pleased the artist to play on the keyboard.
Se per le strette, le fughe, i trilli, l'esecuzione era un tantino stentata ed imperfetta; gli adagi, gli andante, le cabalette, le melodie sortivano un ottimo effetto.
When playing strettas, fugues, trills, the execution was somewhat strained and imperfect; adagios, andantes, cabalettas, these melodies produced an optimum effect.
L'automa aveva la statura, la forma, le fattezze di un uomo, ma di un uomo esangue scuoiato e scarnato di cui l'ossatura, le vene, i nervi, la trachea sono di ferro, d'acciaio, di camoscino. Un maschera umana gli copriva il volto, dui occhi di porcellana guardavano atoni; se ne stava seduto sur una scranna.
The automaton had the size, the shape, the features of a man, but of a bloodless, skinless, meatless man whose bones, veines, nerves, and trachea are made of iron, of steel, of chamois leather. A human mask covered its face, two porcelain eyes stared out expressionlessly; it was seated on a chair.
Un giorno udii un suo concerto e l'impressione che ne risentii fu profonda, indimenticabile.
One day I heard one of its concerts, and the impression it left on me was profound, unforgettable.
Dietro invito del Manzetti, mio nonno, organista della Cattedrale di Aosta, si era posto a suonare sull'armonium. Mosse le leve che danno fiato ai mantici, la macchina, il mostro si alzò, salutò con un inchino, ed avvicinò il flauto alla boca. Quando le dita volarono sulla tastiera, il flauto emise quei suoni dolci e melodiosi che son propri di quell'antichissimo istrumento del dio Pane.
Following Manzetti's invitation, my grandfather, organist at the Aosta Cathedral, was seated to play the harmonium. He moved the levers that gave breath to the bellows, the machine, the monster stood up, saluted with a nod, and brought the flute to its mouth. When his fingers fell upon the keyboard, the flute emitted that sweet and melodious sound that belongs to that very ancient instrument of the god Pan.
Nel vedere muoversi gli infiniti congegni di quello scheletro, alzarsi le valvole, scattare le molle, gonfiarsi le vene, dilatarsi i polmoni, girare il capo, roteare gli occhi, vitrei come se essi avessero preteso leggere una pagina musicale a noi invisibile, ripercuotersi le dita sul tubetto di legno, animarsi in una parola quell'essere inanimato, fui invaso di un intraducibile senso di terrore, di quel terrore che incute l'arcano, l'ignoto, l'increato, il sublime.
Upon seeing the infinite mechanisms of that skeleton move, the valves lifting, the springs releasing, the veins inflating, the lungs expanding, the head turning, the eyes roving, glassy as if they were reading a page of music that was invisible to us, the hands beating against the wooden pipe, animating in a word that inanimate being, I was invaded with an inexpressible sense of terror, that terror that is stricken by mystery, the unknown, the eternal, the sublime.
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Non sopravisse l'automa al suo creatore.
The automaton did not survive its creator's death.
Orbata dell'alito di genio che gl'infondeva l'esistenza, la creatura ricadde nella materia.
Deprived of the breath of talent that instilled it with its existence, the creature turned back into material.
Per quanto Luigi Manzetti, fratello ed erede del patrimonio scientifico d'Innocenzo, si prevasse di richiamarla alla vita, non vi riuscì.
Because of this, Luigi Manzetti, brother and heir to Innocenzo's scientific legacy, tried to bring it back to life, but he did not succeed.
Il joueur de flûte non fece più udire i suoi armoniosi concenti. Anche altri lontani congiunti tentarono di ormare Innocenzo nelle da lui raggiunte alte sfere dell'armonia... ma le esigue ali non consentirono loro il superno volo.
The joueur de flûte's harmonious concerts were no longer heard. Even other distant relatives tried to follow Innocenzo into the high spheres of harmony to where he had returned... but their inadequate wings would not allow them to fly that high.
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L'antichità celebrò la lumaca strisciante di Demetrio falereo -- l'automa di Tolomeo filadelfo; nello scorcio del secolo passato, in Darmstadt, certo Völler inventò uno strumento a tasti e corde cui impose il nome Apollonion. A questo strumento, era unito un registro a macchina, di canne, ed un pupazzo della grandezza de un ragazzo di otto anno, il quale sembrava che suonasse vari concerti di flauto.
Antiquity celebrated Demetrius of Phalerum's crawling snail -- the automaton of Ptolemy Philadelphus; in the turn of the past century, in Darmstadt, one [Johann Heinrich] Völler invented an instrument with keys and strings on which he imposed the name Apollonion. To this instrument was attached a mechanical reed organ, and a puppet with all the splendour of an eight year old boy, which appeared to play a variety of flute concerti.
Il ragazzo di Völler sembrava che suonasse il flauto, ma l'uomo di Manzetti suonava in realtà.
Völler's boy seemed like it could play the flute, but Manzetti's man did in fact play.
Eppure il nome dei due grandi meccanici dell'antichità, quello de Völler e del strumento corrono in tutte le enciclopedie. Se ne può trovare una sola che registri quello di Manzetti?
And so the names of the two greatest mechanicians of antiquity, that of Völler and of his instrument, are printed in all the encyclopedias. Can even one be found that lists Manzetti?
Curiosities of Science
Le Petit Journal
Translation adapted from this
by Michael Krzyzaniak
January 23, 2016
Monsieur le rédacteur, Je viens de recevoir d'Italie la relation d'une découverte très curieuse qui ne manquera pas d'intéresser vos lecteurs; je pense que vous voudrez bien l'insérer dans vos colonnes.
Mr. editor, I just received from Italy the tale of a very curious discovery which will not fail to interest your readers; I think that you will want to insert it into your columns.
Agréez, monsieur, l'assurance, de mes sentiments distingués.
Accept, sir, the assurance of my highest regards.
ÈMILE QUÉTÀND.
Avocat à la cour impériale de Paris.
Avocat à la cour impériale de Paris.
ÈMILE QUÉTÀND.
Lawyer at the imperial court of Paris.
Lawyer at the imperial court of Paris.
De la transmission du son et de la parole par le télégraphe (Extrait du journal "il Corriere di Sardegna").
On the transmission of sound and words through telegraph (Excerpt from the newspaper "il Corriere di Sardegna").
Une nouvelle découverte qui aura d'immenses résultats par lés applications qu'on pourra en faire aux beaux-arts et à l'industrie, vient encore accroitre les merveilles de ce siècle: c'est la transmission des sons et des paroles par le télégraphe. L'auteur de cette découverte est M. Manzetti d'Aoste, inventeur d'un fameux automate qu'on ne peut décrire d'une manière exact, mais dont il est possible de donner un court aperçu afin de faciliter au lecteur l'intelligence de ce procédé.
A new discovery which has enormous consequences because of potential applications in the fine arts and industry, has further increased the wonders of this century: the transmission of sounds and words by telegraph. The author of this discovery is Mr. Manzetti of Aoste, inventor of a famous automaton that can not be described in an exact manner, however it is possible to give a short overview in order to facilitate the reader's knowledge of his method.
Cet automate a la taille ordinaire d'un homme; si on l'habillait pour dissimuler le mécanisme intérieur, il ressemblerait à une personne vivante. Il est assis tenant dans ses mains une flûte dans l'attitude d'un artiste prêt en jouer au moindre signe. On voit se dessiner dans son organisme beaucoup de petits tubes de gomme élastique, pleins d'air comprimé qui, semblables aux veines dans le corps de l'homme, apportent la vie et le mouvement aux organes dont Il est composé. Un seul de ces petits tubes, qui a un peu plus d'un centimètre de diamètre, met l'automate en communication avec un harmonium composé exprès pour lui, par le même inventeur. Lorsque le thaumaturge s'approche de l'harmonium et se dispose à en presser les touches, une personne de service gonfle les veines de l'automate au moyen d'un soufflet avec lequel il est mis en communication par un autre tube, l'automate se lève sur ses pieds, salue les assistants en inclinant la tète, en faisant mouvoir ses yeux et ses paupières, puis il porte la flûte à ses lèvres en ouvrant la bouche et en remuant la langue.
This automaton is the size of a regular man; if it were dressed to hide the internal mechanism, it would resemble a living person. It sits holding a flute in its hands with the air of an artist ready to play at the slightest signal. One sees traced through its body many small tubes of elastic rubber, full of compressed air which, similar to veins in the human body, bring life and movement to the mechanisms of which it is composed. One of these tubes, which is a little more than one centimetre in diameter, puts the automaton in communication with a harmonium made expressly for it by the same inventor. When the magician approaches the harmonium and prepares to press the keys, an assistant inflates the automaton's veins by means of a bellows with which it is put in communication via another tube, the automaton rises to his feet, salutes the assistants by tilting its head, moving its eyes and its eyelids, then it brings the flute to its lips, while opening its mouth and wagging its tongue.
Dès que Manzetti promène ses doigts sur les touches, en jouant tel morceau de musique qu'il plait aux assistants d'indiquer, l'automate répète le chant sur sa flûte, suit l'artiste, Manzetti ou tout autre, et accompagne la musique avec une précision magique. L'étonnement s'accroit encore, lorsqu'en voyant la variété de la musique, la multiplicité, des combinaisons des doigts, de la langue, la force ou la douceur de la respiration de l'automate flûtiste, on se demande comment tant de sons si différents sont transmis avec autant de rapidité et de précision par l'harmonium à l'automate au moyen d'un seul petit tube d'un diamètre si étroit et qui ne contient que de l'air comprimé.
A soon as Manzetti places his fingers on the keys, playing whatever piece of music his assistants are pleased to request, the automaton repeats the melody on the flute, following the artist, be it Manzetti or anyone else, and accompanies the music with magic precision. The surprise grows even greater, upon seeing the variety of the music, the multiplicity of combinations of the fingers, of the tongue, of the strength or weakness of the flautist automaton's 'breathing, one wonders how so many different sounds are transmitted with equal speed and accuracy from the harmonium to the automaton through a single small tube of very narrow diameter that only contains compressed air.
Si les assistants prennent ce tube et le pressent légèrement, ils en sentent les pulsations et croient mettre leurs doigts sur le pouls d'une personne vivante.
If the assistants take the tube and press it lightly, they feel the pulsations and believe their fingers are on a living person's pulse.
M. Matteucci, ancien ministre de l'instruction publique, savant distingué et expert dans les sciences physiques, a été émerveillé de ce merveilleux mécanisme. Il est facile de donner plus ou moins de longueur au tube qui relie l'harmonium à l'automate; ainsi Manzetti, de son laboratoire, met l'harmonium en communication avec l'orgue de la cathédrale par un tube qui peut passer par la fenêtre et sortir par les toits et les rues. Grâce à une modification du mécanisme, nécessitée par la différence entre l'orgue et la flûte, il joue de l'orgue à la cathédrale, sans quitter son laboratoire, ou il se fait remplacer par un autre pianiste.
Mr. Matteucci, former Minister of Public Education, distinguished scholar and expert in the physical sciences, marvelled at this marvelous mechanism. It is easy to give more or less length to the tube that connects the harmonium to the automaton; so Manzetti, from his laboratory, put the harmonium in communication with the organ in the cathedral by means of a tube which passes through the window and is conducted through the roofs and streets. Owing to a modification of the mechanism, necessitated by the difference between the organ and flute, either he can play the organ at the cathedral, without leaving his laboratory, or he could be replaced by a different pianist.
L'automate n'est pas la seule découverte de Manzetti, car il n'est lui-même que l'expression d'une théorie plus vaste et plus compliquée qui s'adapte à de nombreuses industries, par exemple, aux machines hydrauliques, aux métiers à la Jacquart, etc. -Nous mentionnerons aussi une petite machine d'un prix très modique (2 ou 3 francs) en tournant une roue, on reproduit un bas-relief avec autant de précision que la photographie reproduit une aquarelle.
The automaton is not Manzetti's only discovery, because it is itself naught but an expression of a theory more vast and more complicated which he adapts to many industries, for example, hydraulic machines, Jacquard looms, etc. -We also mention a small machine with a very modest price (2 or 3 francs) which upon turning a wheel, reproduces a bas-relief with the same precision with which a photograph reproduces a watercolor.
Au commencement de cet article, nous avons, parlé longuement de la découverte de l'automate flûtiste pour qu'on ne crie pas à l'impossibilité, a l'illusion, a l'utopie, quand on lira le récit de la nouvelle merveille; or, cette merveille, la voici.
At the beginning of this article, we spoke at length about the discovery of the flautist automaton which cannot be denounced as an impossibility, as an illusion, as a chimera, upon reading the narrative of this marvelous short story; now, this marvel, here it is.
Manzetti, transmet directement la parole par le fil télégraphique ordinaire avec un appareil plus simple que celui qui sert au jour d'hui pour les dépêches; désormais deux négociants pourront, en quelques instants, traiter leurs affaires de Londres a Calcutta, s'informer réciproquement de leurs spéculations, les proposer et les combiner. Plusieurs expériences ont déjà été faites, elles ont suffisamment réussi pour confirmer la possibilité pratique de cette découverte. On transmet parfaitement la musique; quant aux paroles, on entend encore distinctement les voyelles sonores, celles qui se prononcent muettes n'arrivent à l'oreille que confusément. Cet effet provient du peu de sensibilité de la matière que l'inventeur a employée pour la construction d'un appareil à peine ébauché, et qu'il s'occupe à perfectionner. Mais cependant, la possibilité de transmettre par l'électricité les vibrations des voyelles sonores est, dès à présent, démontrée. - Une telle découverte a-t-elle besoin de commentaire?
Manzetti transmits speech directly by an ordinary telegraph wire with a device simpler than that used today for news; now two traders may, almost instantaneously, conduct their affairs between London and Calcutta, inform each other of their speculations, propose them and organize them. Several experiments have already been made; they were successful enough to confirm the feasibility of this discovery. It transmitted music perfectly; regarding words, the vocalized [vowel] sounds are always understood distinctly, those which are pronounced silently arrive at the ear with confusion. This effect comes from the limited sensitivity of the material that the inventor used for the construction of this newly prototyped device. But at the same time, the possibility of transmitting the vibrations of vocalized sound sound by electricity has been, from this very moment, demonstrated. -Such a discovery, does it need any further commentary?