To this inquiry no satisfactory answer has yet been made. It is allowable, therefore, to hazard some observations in reply to it. The causes sought for appear to be two, which are distinct from each other--a moving force from which the left arm and hand of the Automaton derive the action peculiar to those parts of the body; and a directing force, by which the same arm and hand, when raised and prepared to act, are guided on this side or that, according to circumstances, many of which cannot possibly be anticipated, and each of which requires the exertion of the reasoning faculty, sometimes in a high degree. To explain the nature of the moving force, which is employed, is the province of the professed mechanician, who can account for it upon fixed mechanical principles. The operation of that force at a certain time after each move of an antagonist, seems to depend upon the momentary interference of the exhibiter, who though usually employed in walking up and down, approaches the chest when the Automaton is about to make a move (p. 20), and appears to touch some spring, near to the arm of the figure, on the right side, which spring may set in motion the works by which the arm and hand of the Automaton are raised from the cushion, are made to bend at their several joints, so as to grasp the piece to which they may be guided by the directing force, and to retain it for a given moment of time, after which, on disposing of the piece, the arm and hand become relaxed, and are brought back to their usual position. In case a piece is to be taken, or a false move is made by an antagonist, or the Automaton castles (p. 21), by a peculiar manner of touching the spring, these mechanical motions of the arm and hand might be repeated de suite; with a variation only in the return of the arm, which would not take place until the end of the repetition. But the mystery in the action of the Automaton--a mystery not less hard to be solved by professed mechanicians, than by persons unacquainted with the science of mechanics, arises from the nature and operation of the directing force by which the arm and hand of the Automaton, when raised and prepared to act by the moving force, are guided with a precision and judgment that baffles the skill even of experienced chess players. Various conjectures have been made upon this subject. It was supposed, for a time, that the directing force was some concealed loadstone, until the inventor of the Automaton showed the groundless nature of such a supposition, by permitting any person to place the most powerful loadstone in contact with the figure, or upon any part of the chest to which it is attached.