Musical and harmonic sounds explained—Power of breaking glasses with the voice—Musical sounds from the vibration of a column of air—and of solid bodies—Kaleidophone—Singular acoustic figures produced on sand laid on vibrating plates of glass—and on stretched membranes—Vibration of flat rulers and cylinders of glass—Production of silence from two sounds—Production of darkness from two lights—Explanation of these singular effects—Acoustic automaton—Droz’s bleating sheep—Maillardet’s singing-bird—Vaucanson’s flute-player—His pipe and tabor-player—Baron Kempelen’s talking-engine—Kratzenstein’s speaking-machine—Mr. Willis’s researches
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Singular effects in nature depending on sound—Permanent character of speech—Influence of great elevations on the character of sounds, and on the powers of speech—Power of sound in throwing down buildings—Dog killed by sound—Sounds greatly changed under particular circumstances—Great audibility of sounds during the night explained—Sounds deadened in media of different densities—Illustrated in the case of a glass of champagne—and in that of new-fallen snow—Remarkable echoes—Reverberations of thunder—Subterranean noises—Remarkable one at the Solfaterra—Echo at the Menai suspension bridge—Temporary deafness produced in diving-bells—Inaudibility of particular sounds to particular ears—Vocal powers of the statue of Memnon—Sounds in granite rocks—Musical mountain of El-Nakous
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Mechanical inventions of the ancients few in number—Ancient and modern feats of strength—Feats of Eckeberg particularly described—General explanation of them—Real feats of strength performed by Thomas Topham—Remarkable power of lifting heavy persons when the lungs are inflated—Belzoni’s feat of sustaining pyramids of men—Deception of walking along the ceiling in an inverted position—Pneumatic apparatus in the foot of the house-fly for enabling it to walk in opposition to gravity—Description of the analogous apparatus employed by the gecko lizard for the same purpose—Apparatus used by the Echineis remora, or sucking-fish
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Mechanical automata of the ancients—Moving tripods—Automata of Dædalus—Wooden pigeon of Archytas—Automatic clock of Charlemagne—Automata made by Turrianus for Charles V.—Camus’s automatic carriage made for Louis XIV.—Degenne’s mechanical peacock—Vaucanson’s duck which ate and digested its food—Du Moulin’s automata—Baron Kempelen’s automaton chess-player—Drawing and writing automata—Maillardet’s conjurer—Benefits derived from the passion for automata—Examples of wonderful machinery for useful purposes—Duncan’s tambouring machinery—Watt’s statue-turning machinery—Babbage’s calculating machinery