Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

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.