Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

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with b b, and which, in its normal position, is pressed up close into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring, but may be withdrawn by a downward pressure on the hook i. The opposite end of g has projecting from its under side, at right angles, an iron plug j, which just fits into the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.