The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the CuriousStauffer, Frank H.
History
The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious
Stauffer, Frank H.
Literary curiosa
Toward the end of the last century a clock was constructed by a Geneva
mechanic named Droz, capable of performing a variety of surprising
movements, which were effected by the figures of a negro, a shepherd and
a dog. When the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute
and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to
the King of Spain, who was highly delighted with the ingenuity of the
artist. The king, at the request of Droz, took an apple from the
shepherd's basket, when the dog started up and barked so loud that the
king's dog, which was in the same room, began to bark also. We are,
moreover, informed that the negro, on being asked what hour it was,
answered the question in French, so that he could be understood by those
present.
_Vocal Clock._
The subjoined description of a curious clock is given in the journal of
the Rev. J. Wesley: "On Monday, April 27, 1762, being at Lurgan, in
Ireland, I embraced the opportunity, which I had long desired, of
talking to Mr. Miller, the contriver of that statue which was in Lurgan
when I was there before. It was the figure of an old man standing in a
case, with a curtain drawn before him, over against a clock which stood
on the opposite side of the room. Every time the clock struck he opened
the door with one hand, drew back the curtain with the other, turned
his head, as if looking round on the company, and then said, with a
clear, loud, articulate voice: 'Past 1,' or 2 or 3, and so on. But so
many came to see this (the like of which all allowed was not to be seen
in Europe), that Mr. Miller was in danger of being ruined, not having
time to attend to his own business. So, as none offered to purchase it,
or reward him for his pains, he took the whole machine to pieces."
_Harrison's Clock._
In 1735, John Harrison, a rural clock-maker, invented a time-piece which
scarcely ever lost five seconds in six months. To him, in 1767, was paid
$100,000, as the first prize for all but an infallible time-keeper.
_A Cat-Clock._
The following curious incident is to be found in Hue's "Chinese
Empire:"—
"One day when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese
Christian peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad who was taking a
buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed,
whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun,
but it was hidden behind thick clouds, and he could read no answer
there. 'The sky is so cloudy,' said he; 'but wait a moment;' and with
these words he ran toward the farm, and came back a few minutes
afterward with a cat in his arms. 'Look here,' said he, 'it is not noon
yet;' and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his
hands. We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently in
earnest. 'Very well,' said we; 'thank you;' and we continued on our
way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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