THE AUTOMATON PERFORMER ON THE HORIZONTAL BAR.
Make a puppet with its arms inflexible at the elbow; put on a ball-and-socket joint at the shoulder; the arms are bent as shown in the illustration.
At the points G H and L M on the bar are tubes, covering it; with the joins hidden by mock garlands of flowers; the tube can, however, enter the two supports. To this tube the figure is fastened by the forearms.
Fig. 157.
An assistant of Mr. Panky is concealed on the side C, where he turns the crank R, to make the figure execute a quarter turn to the left. The automaton now moves, from having his arms parallel with the horizon; rises gradually until his arms are placed vertically and parallel to the rest of his body.
If another quarter turn be made in the same direction, the upper arms then lean towards the spectator, and necessarily drag the body after them. The limbs offer no resistance, as they are jointed at the hip and knee.
The confederate, being on the watch, can take advantage of the moment when one leg passes before the other to let the mannikin drop astride the bar. Then he makes him swing, and finally execute a somersault; all to the movements of a piece of music.
As a finish, a jerk is given to a wire, and the figure is detached and falls to the floor. It will be believed thereby that mechanism made it grasp the bar, perform, and detach itself.
As the tube wraps the bar in all places except where the figure is attached, and hides all the turnings of the bar, no complicity is ever suspected.
