PLAN EXPLANATORY OF THE CABINET.
The illusion is perfect. When the experiment is ended and the mirrors are again swung against the sides, at G G, the spectators see nothing but the backs of them, which are covered with wood; the cabinet is really empty, and no one can discover what modification has taken place in its interior during the disappearance of the woman.
In the second arrangement, which is shown in vertical section in our last [engraving], the young man gets up on the shelf, c n, at the upper part of the cabinet, by the aid of the bracket, T, and then pulls down over him the mirror, b c, which was fastened to the top of the cabinet. This mirror, being inclined at an angle of 45°, reflects the top, and the spectators imagine that they see the back of the cabinet over the shelf, as they did before.
SECTION EXPLANATORY
OF THE CABINET.
The box which Harlequin enters is based upon precisely the same principle. Its interior is hung with paper banded alternately blue and white. When Harlequin enters it, he places himself in one of the angles and pulls toward him two mirrors which hide him completely, and which reflect the opposite side of the box, so that the spectator is led to believe that he sees the back of it. In this case, one of the angles at the back of the box is not apparent, but the colored stripes prevent the spectator from noticing the fact.