Apart from these special mysteries, which we are not at liberty to reveal, the trick is as follows:—The performer brings forward the girl or boy who is to be the subject of the illusion, and who is dressed in some fancy costume. A low bench or table, say five feet in length by two in width, and on legs about six inches in height, is brought forward, and shown to be wholly disconnected from the floor or stage. On this is placed a small stool, on which the subject of the experiment (whom, in the present instance, we will suppose to be a young lady) mounts. She extends her arms, and under each is placed a stout rod or pole of appropriate length. (See [Fig. 312].) The performer makes pretended mesmeric passes over her, and in a minute or two her head is seen to droop, and after a few more passes her eyes close, and she is, to all external appearance, in a mesmeric sleep. The operator now takes the stool from under her feet, when she hangs suspended between the two rods. Again a few more passes, and the operator removes the rod that supports the left arm, and gently mesmerises the arm down to the side. Still the girl hangs motionless, with no other support than the single upright rod on which her right arm rests. (See [Fig. 313].) The operator now drapes her in various costumes, still keeping up from time to time the supposed mesmeric passes. Bending her right arm so as to support her head, he next lifts her gently to an angle of 45° to the upright rod (as shown by the dotted line in [Fig. 313]), and finally raises her to a horizontal position, as in [Fig. 314].
Fig. 313.
Fig. 314.
Fig. 315.
Fig. 316.
An inspection of the diagrams will already have furnished the clue to the mystery. Of the two upright rods, one (that placed under the left arm) is wholly without preparation, and may be freely handed for examination. The other, A, is either of iron throughout (this was the case with the pretended walking-stick used by Robert-Houdin) or of well-seasoned wood with an iron core, and capable of bearing a very heavy weight. The lower end of this sinks into a socket in the low board or table already mentioned, and thus becomes, for the time being, a fixture. In the upper end is hollowed out a small space, about an inch in depth, for a purpose which will presently appear. The subject of the experiment wears, underneath her page’s costume, a sort of iron corset, or framework, similar to that shown in [Figs. 313] and [314], and more in detail in [Fig. 315]. An iron girdle, a a, passes nearly round the waist, the circle being completed by a leather strap. At right angles to this, on the right side, is fixed an iron upright, b b, extending from just below the armpit nearly to the knee, but with a joint c (working backwards and forwards only) at the hip, a strap d, round the leg, keeping it in position, so as to allow of bending the thigh. From the back of the iron girdle, in the centre, proceeds a crutch e, also of iron, passing between the legs, and connected by a strap to the front of the girdle. A fourth strap f, connected with the girdle in front and rear, passes over the left shoulder, and prevents any risk of the apparatus slipping downwards. To the upper part of the upright, b b, immediately below the armpit, is riveted a short flat piece of iron, g, working freely upon it. The end of g, which forms the joint shown enlarged in [Fig. 316], is welded into a semicircular ratchet, with three teeth corresponding with a check h, lying parallel with b b, and which, in its normal position, is pressed up close into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring, but may be withdrawn by a downward pressure on the hook i. The opposite end of g has projecting from its under side, at right angles, an iron plug j, which just fits into the cavity before mentioned in the top of the rod A. There is an opening in the under part of the sleeve, to give passage to this plug, which, when inserted in the corresponding cavity of A, makes g, relatively to it, a fixture. The remainder of the iron framework (and with it the lady) remains moveable, to the extent that, by means of the joint at g, it can be made to describe an arc of 90° to the upright rod.