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Article CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE DUMB PHILOSOPHER. ← Page 3 of 3
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Curious Account Of The Dumb Philosopher.
nature , and art , the Royal Society , and their worthy President , to spend some of the hours they frequently employ upon matters of niere speculation , which are of little or no benefit to mankind , in the search after this secret of so universal advantage . Those who seek to enrich and aggrandize themselves in the fruitless attempt after the philosopher ' s stone , thought I , would , perhaps , find their account in this ; and it mi ght as well deserve a premium being set upon it as the longitude .
Having finished my breakfast , curiosity led me to examine the other little machine , which my friend had lent me . I found , upon opening the case , a curious quadrangular pyramid of ebony , resting upon four little golden balls , on the four corners of a well-propor " tionad pedestal , which again rested on four balls of the . same metal , and of a something larger size . Both pedestal and pyramid were curiously inlaid with what I took to be Chinese characters , in gold ,
and on the top of all was an urn of the same . The pyramid was perforated in the form of two arches , one above the other . In the lower arch was an image of Saturn , of a yellowish metal , and in the upper arch hung a small bell . As all this gave me no idea of the virtues or use , of this little instrument , I had immediate recourse to the manuscript which my friend gave me with it ; and I there found it was an invention of an ancient Chinese philosopher , called Bramin-Quam-bo-ni , and that he had given it the name of Pe-kad-en-nosch ,
or the Touch-stone of Sincerity . It likewise acquainted me , that the figure of Saturn had been formed by a secret sympathetic art , under a certain influence ofthe planets , and ofthe same metal as the moving statue of Daedalus : and that the bell was of the same composition as the image ofthe Dodonajan Jup iter , with-: he Greeks , which gave a certain sound , when the beams of the sun darted upon it . Upon
further examination , I found the virtue and use ofthe pretty pyramid greatly to exceed the beauty of its structure . My manuscript informed me , that if it was placed upon a table , in the midst of a company that was-in discourse , either the figure that was in the lower arch , or the bell over its head , would be in continual motion , according as the person speaking was sincere , false , or prevaricating in what he said . If heart and tongue agreed , the little figure would move its head and nod , more or less in proportion to his inteoritv ;
but if deceit , flattery , or formal compliment , without any meaning , had any share in his discourse , the bell would begin to ring with more or less force , as his words , approached nearer , or were at a greater distance from his mind . As I was alone , and could consequently makeno experiments with this machine , but on myself , I mun defer a further account of it to another opportunityand can
, only say now , 1 had ihe satisfaction to find , that happening occasionally to throw out an ejaculation to the Supreme Being , my friend Saturn said amen to it with a nod ; I thereupon put it into the case again , and laid it carefull y in my trunk . [ TO IE COSIISL'tD . l
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Curious Account Of The Dumb Philosopher.
nature , and art , the Royal Society , and their worthy President , to spend some of the hours they frequently employ upon matters of niere speculation , which are of little or no benefit to mankind , in the search after this secret of so universal advantage . Those who seek to enrich and aggrandize themselves in the fruitless attempt after the philosopher ' s stone , thought I , would , perhaps , find their account in this ; and it mi ght as well deserve a premium being set upon it as the longitude .
Having finished my breakfast , curiosity led me to examine the other little machine , which my friend had lent me . I found , upon opening the case , a curious quadrangular pyramid of ebony , resting upon four little golden balls , on the four corners of a well-propor " tionad pedestal , which again rested on four balls of the . same metal , and of a something larger size . Both pedestal and pyramid were curiously inlaid with what I took to be Chinese characters , in gold ,
and on the top of all was an urn of the same . The pyramid was perforated in the form of two arches , one above the other . In the lower arch was an image of Saturn , of a yellowish metal , and in the upper arch hung a small bell . As all this gave me no idea of the virtues or use , of this little instrument , I had immediate recourse to the manuscript which my friend gave me with it ; and I there found it was an invention of an ancient Chinese philosopher , called Bramin-Quam-bo-ni , and that he had given it the name of Pe-kad-en-nosch ,
or the Touch-stone of Sincerity . It likewise acquainted me , that the figure of Saturn had been formed by a secret sympathetic art , under a certain influence ofthe planets , and ofthe same metal as the moving statue of Daedalus : and that the bell was of the same composition as the image ofthe Dodonajan Jup iter , with-: he Greeks , which gave a certain sound , when the beams of the sun darted upon it . Upon
further examination , I found the virtue and use ofthe pretty pyramid greatly to exceed the beauty of its structure . My manuscript informed me , that if it was placed upon a table , in the midst of a company that was-in discourse , either the figure that was in the lower arch , or the bell over its head , would be in continual motion , according as the person speaking was sincere , false , or prevaricating in what he said . If heart and tongue agreed , the little figure would move its head and nod , more or less in proportion to his inteoritv ;
but if deceit , flattery , or formal compliment , without any meaning , had any share in his discourse , the bell would begin to ring with more or less force , as his words , approached nearer , or were at a greater distance from his mind . As I was alone , and could consequently makeno experiments with this machine , but on myself , I mun defer a further account of it to another opportunityand can
, only say now , 1 had ihe satisfaction to find , that happening occasionally to throw out an ejaculation to the Supreme Being , my friend Saturn said amen to it with a nod ; I thereupon put it into the case again , and laid it carefull y in my trunk . [ TO IE COSIISL'tD . l