Hero of Alexandria Trumpet Playing Automaton

The illustration depicts an automaton that produces sound from a trumpet by using compressed air. The figure stands on an air-tight pedestal with a hollow hemisphere and a tube extending upwards through the figure to the trumpet. A liquid is poured into a hole in the pedestal and stoppered. A person blows into the bell of the trumpet which will force the water out through the holes in the pedestal. When the person stops blowing, the water re-enters the hemisphere and forces the air through the tubing and passes out of the mouthpiece producing the sound of a trumpet

Picture No

11067736

Media ID

48566930

Size

2100px x 3171px (594KB)

Credit

Source

Illustration from The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria from the Original Greek, translated and edited by Bennett Woodcroft in 1851