The wings of the butterfly are but the thickness of heavy pasteboard at the edge and ¾ inch towards where the wings join the body. The two one-inch rods which open the wings run through the floor to basement and are covered with same goods as background and are barely visible. On the ends of these two rods (see cut) are two levers at right angles with rod and are placed in opposition to each other. On the end of each lever is attached a cord running to a common point about 3 feet back of levers. They then go through two pulleys and combine in a single cord which is attached to a cam placed 7 inches from center of pulley. The levers being shorter than the width of a single wing, this gives the outer edge of wing a stroke of about three feet.
THE MECHANICAL EGG.
I show an illustration of a mechanical Easter window, in which the Folding Star, previously described, was used as a centerpiece. In this case, however, the points are fitted with shade rollers, making the pull from behind and out of sight. The roller springs pull it out, and the wires in.
The above sketch explains the working. There was a sleeping wax infant in an egg, surrounded by light blue China silk; the other decorations were purple and white, with flowers of same shades. The points were made from wire and then covered with cloth.
The star closed every twenty-five seconds—the egg wire, being attached to the center of the two levers, had a longer pull and would begin to close before the star, and would also take a few seconds longer to open.
DESIGN SHOWING THE MECHANICAL EGG.—Lorch.
The description of the egg diagram is as follows: