Let us now put out the light and set the Ruhmkorff coil in action. What a surprise! A plate, a glass, a water bottle, and a candle shine in space with the light of glow-worms.
A sinister guest in the form of a skeleton sits opposite the place occupied by the near-sighted gentleman, who has disappeared, and whose eyeglasses alone have held their own before this ghastly apparition. Finally, to complete the illusion, hands are seen moving over the heads of the spectators, and those multiply, and then disappear, only to appear anew.
It must be remarked that, in order to render the experiment more conclusive, it is allowable for the most incredulous members of the party to tie the gentleman tightly to his chair, and, if they desire, to hold his hands and feet during the entire time of the experiment. It is scarcely necessary to explain how the latter is performed. The X rays pass through the black cloth on the door that conceals the Crookes tube and also through the body of the gentleman, and render luminous the glass objects covered with zinc sulphide. As for the mysterious hands, those are simply gloves covered with the same substance and fixed to the extremity of long sticks that are moved in all directions by confederates.
Such scenes may naturally be varied to infinity; and the spirit of invention is so fertile, there is no doubt that before long ladies will be giving a place in the programme of their soirées to this up-to-date spiritualism.
“THE MASK OF BALSAMO.”
THEATRICAL SCIENCE.
Fig. 1.—The Enchanted Death’s Head. Fig. 2.—The Mask of Balsamo