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by Unknown

The trick by which the illusion was obtained consisted in this: The body belonging to the apparently decapitated head was hidden behind, under the tray, and was completely invisible owing to the shadow of the latter, and the partial darkness of the stage. The apparent body was that of another person of exactly the same height, size, and dress, whose head was in the dark and further hidden by black cloth.

(b) Recently there was exhibited at Paris, in what is called the “Théâtre des Merveilles,” another example of a decapitated person. A young girl first appears before the audience, accompanied by an executioner clad in red and armed with the traditional axe. Then the curtain drops, but rises in a few moments, and shows the stage a little darkened. Near the executioner, however, can be perfectly distinguished the girl’s head lying on a round table at the back of the stage; her body is seen lying on a bed at a few feet from her head, and at her side is the fatal block that has served for the execution. The effect is dramatic. The trick employed is the same as the preceding, in that it requires two persons of the same size wearing the same costume. One of these—the one who showed herself to the public—makes the head, her body being hidden behind the cloth in the rear of the stage. The other, who makes the body, has her head bent far back and hidden in a sort of box, a false cardboard neck contributing to increase the illusion.

(c) Upon entering the room we perceive a black wooden square table having 4 legs. Over one of its angles there is thrown a piece of red fabric whose other end may be perfectly seen hanging from the opposite side. The floor, which is strewn with straw, is continuous to the back of the stage. There is nothing under the table, then—there can be no doubt of it. Still, upon this table there lies on a tray the head of a young girl which smiles and answers questions that are asked it. The ingenuous spectators are almost persuaded that the girl has no body; others ask themselves where it is hidden; and very peculiar suppositions are indulged in on all sides. In a word, the illusion is perfect.

When, through favour or money, we enter the side scene and look at the table sideways, we are almost ashamed of having allowed ourselves to be deceived by so simple a trick; for the apparatus consists, in fact, only of a mirror fixed obliquely to two legs of the table. This mirror hides the body of the girl, who is on her knees or seated on a small stool, and reflects the straw which covers the floor so as to make it appear continuous under the table, and likewise reflects the front leg of the table so as to make it appear at an equal distance from the other side and thus produce the illusion of a fourth leg. It also reflects the end of the red fabric hanging in front of the table, and thus makes it appear to hang down also from behind. It should be remarked that during the exhibition the spectator stands only a few inches away from the table and head, being separated therefrom by a wooden railing from which hangs a curtain reaching to the ground. Such proximity of the spectator and actor would seem to favour a discovery of the trick; but, on the contrary, it is indispensable to its success. Were the spectator placed at a distance, and did the curtain not exist, he might by stooping see his legs reflected in the mirror. The curtain, then, prevents any one from looking under the railing, and the rays that might reach him from the curtain, by being reflected in the glass, are lost beneath the table, owing to the proximity of the latter.

As may be seen, the trick is easily understood, and, moreover, it is one of those that gives the best results, since it deceives the public the best. Besides, it has the merit of great age.

(d) The living half-woman is a very ingenious improvement on the decapitated individual. On entering, we perceive, when the curtain is drawn aside, an elegant little room decorated with flowers and lights and hung with curtains and tapestry. In front there are two railings, and the floor is covered with a carpet. In the centre is seen a small square table, on which rests a sort of three-legged stool supporting a cushion and the half body. The latter is the body of a young woman apparently cut in two just beneath the thighs. Naturally, this young person shows that she is alive by moving her arms and head, and speaking and singing. Now, as we can see the 4 legs of the table and can perfectly distinguish the space under the stool, and that too in full light, we naturally ask by what means the lower part of the girl’s body is hidden. On raising the stool, it will be seen that it is formed only of a hollowed-out disc whose supports are connected by two mirrors, that make with each other an angle of 45°. These mirrors rest on the top of the table, which is decorated with regular designs in mosaic, and reflect the latter in such a way that they seem to continue uninterruptedly under the stool. The table presents an analogous arrangement, two legs being connected with the foremost one by two mirrors (the table is placed cornerwise to the audience). These mirrors reflect not only the designs of the carpet, which by their continuity produce the illusion of a vacancy, but also 2 table legs located on each side behind the railings. The mirror to the left transmits to the spectators on that side the image of the leg placed on the left, and this image seems to them to be the fourth leg of the table. The mirror to the right plays the same rôle with regard to the spectators on that side. These mirrors, in addition, hide the lower portion of the girl’s body.

(e) The Dircksian phantasmagoria, which was more generally known as “Pepper’s Ghost,” is another example of the illusive effects of mirrors suitably arranged. On a moderate scale the same spectral apparitions can be produced as an entertainment for the drawing-room.

Dircks arranged an oblong chamber in two equal portions, making the separation by means of one vertical screen of thin glass having a perfectly true surface. Suppose each chamber to measure 12 ft. square and 12 ft. high. Let one of these be the stage on which the acting is to take place; its floor and three of its walls are solid, and the fourth or front of it is one entire glass screen; the ceiling must be made to open at different parts to let in light, and have suitable blinds to regulate the light and shade in which the actors perform. The chamber opposite, or facing the actors, is in reality a second stage for carrying out the spectral performances, and is differently constructed; the two sides may be large folding or sliding doors, or may be left quite open, or one side closed and the other open; but the ceiling must cover only that half of the top away from the glass screen or partition, thus leaving an open space in the ceiling of 6 ft. by 12 ft.; through this space so left in the ceiling the spectators obtain a full view of the stage, their seats being above the half ceiling described, and thrown rather backwards than forwards; the line of vision thus being at an angle of about 45° with respect to the vertical glass screen, or plane unsilvered crystal mirror. It will now be obvious that the actor on the stage beneath the seats of the spectators can only be seen by reflection, and the trained actor on the opposite stage, knowing the precise situations of the reflection as seen by the spectators, performs accordingly, so that, when really seeming to stand confronting the vision, the actor, whose reflection is thus seen as a vision, is as far from the screen on one side as his reflection is cast on the other.

Some striking effects may be produced illustrative of the illusive properties of optical apparatus constructed on the principle described. Thus, a figure placed before a white screen is so strongly reflected, that the spectator cannot divest his mind of their being the substance and not the shadow which he observes, particularly as he contrasts them with an adjacent solid figure. By placing two figures of corresponding form equidistant, one on each side of the glass mirror or screen, they appear as one, until one is moved; and if they differ in colour, as one blue and one white, the effect seems more remarkable. If a cabinet, box, or the like, is placed, one on each side of the mirror, until the image of one exactly corresponds with the material figure of the other, then the spectator may see the visionary figure open a drawer or door, and remove and replace anything therein, and afterwards the solid figure repeat the same acts. If the reflection of an actor is thrown on a transparent screen it is invisible, but by gradually decreasing the light the spectral appearance will be as gradually developed until apparently it becomes a firm solid figure in all its proper costume, and acting in perfect conformity to its designed character.