Note 90 — Chapter I · (continued 7)

Père Labat relates a story of a ridiculous effort in mechanical ingenuity, in which M. de Gennes succeeded whilst he was Governor at Saint Christopher. 'He made an Automaton in the likeness of a soldier, which marched and performed sundry actions. It was jocosely said that M. de Gennes might have defended his government with troops of his own making. His automaton soldier eat victuals placed before it, which he digested, by means of a dissolvent,'—P. Labat, Vol. V. p. 349.