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 the tones which it forced out of the instrument, performing the legato and staccato passages with the utmost perfection. The fingering was also perfectly accurate." Another mechanical flute-player is mentioned in Thomas Amory's Life of John Buncle, 1756; Buncle (probably Amory himself) is described as playing the German flute, which he always carried about with him in a long inside pocket of his coat. He met with this automaton at the house of a Mrs. Fitzgibbons at Clankford, near Knaresborough, in Yorkshire. Here is Amory's description:

"In the apartment were two figures dressed like a shepherd and shepherdess. They sat on a rich couch, in a gay alcove, and both played the German flute. They moved their heads, their arms, their eyes, their fingers, and seemed to look with a consciousness at each other, while they breathed, at my entering the room, that fine piece of music, the 'Masquerade Minuet;' and afterwards several excellent pieces. I thought at first they were living creatures; but on examination finding they were only wood, my admiration increased and became exceedingly great, when I saw by shutting their mouths and stopping their fingers, that the music did not proceed from any organ within the figures. It was an extraordinary piece of clock-work, invented and made by one John Nixon, a poor man."

Several blind flautists have gained a considerable reputation. One named Joseph Winter lived about 1770. The most celebrated was Friedrich Ludwig