Such is a very brief view of the general mechanism by which the requisite motions of the flute-player were produced. The airs which it played were probably equal to those executed by a living performer, and its construction, as well as its performances, continued for many years to delight and astonish the philosophers and musicians of Europe. Encouraged by the success of this machine, M. Vaucanson exhibited in 1741 other automata, which were equally, if not more, admired. One of these was the automaton duck, which performed all the motions of that animal, and not only ate its food, but digested it;[21] and the other was his pipe and tabor-player, a piece of mechanism which required all the resources of his fertile genius. Having begun this machine before he was aware of its peculiar difficulties, he was often about to abandon it in despair, but his patience and his ingenuity combined, enabled him not only to surmount every difficulty, but to construct an automaton which performed complete airs, and greatly excelled the most esteemed performers on the pipe and tabor. [21] See Letter XI. The figure stands on a pedestal, and is dressed like a dancing shepherd. He holds in one hand a flageolet, and in the other the stick with which he beats the tambourine as an accompaniment to the airs of the flageolet, about twenty of which it is capable of performing. The flageolet has only three holes, and the variety of its tones depends principally on a proper variation of the force of the wind, and on the different degrees with which the orifices are covered. These variations in the force of the wind required to be given with a rapidity which the ear can scarcely follow, and the articulation of the tongue was required for the quickest notes, otherwise the effect was far from agreeable. As the human tongue is not capable of giving the requisite articulations to a rapid succession of notes, and generally slurs over one-half of them, the automaton was thus able to excel the best performers, as it played complete airs with articulations of the tongue at every note. In constructing this machine, M. Vaucanson observed that the flageolet must be a most fatiguing instrument for the human lungs, as the muscles of the chest must make an effort equal to fifty-six pounds in order to produce the highest notes. A single ounce was sufficient for the lowest notes: so that we may, from this circumstance, form an idea of the variety of intermediate effects required to be produced.