Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

Professor Pepper likewise constructed an imitation of Psycho, under the nom de théâtre of Scynthia. This figure, though very ingeniously contrived, did not confessedly fulfil all the conditions of Psycho. Cremer also introduced a whist player, which was a huge, complicated mass of wheels, levers, and elaborate mechanical contrivances, and necessitated a most careful supervision for a successful exhibition. It could never be relied on for a smooth and uninterrupted performance. A French firm also constructed a whist player for Mr. Everett, and this eventually went to America. In this figure the boy was much better concealed than in the one I mentioned before. One very ingenious solution of the construction of Psycho was offered in November, 1877. I partly reproduce it--not because it is a solution, but because it will enable the practical and ingenious reader to construct a figure something similar, although not at all equal, to the Whist Player of Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke. In Figs. 321a and 321b (elevation and plan), the wheels E and M have each a train of clockwork left out for the sake of clearness, which would cause them to spin round if unchecked. M, however, has two pins, p p, which catch on a projection on the lever, N. E is a crown-wheel escapement--like that in a bottle roasting-jack--which turns A alternately to the left and right, thus causing the hand to traverse the thirteen cards. A little higher up on A will be seen a quadrant, B (see plan), near the edge of which are set thirteen little pins. The end of the lever, N, drops between any two of them, thus causing the hand to stop at any desired card. The lever being pivoted at c, it is obvious that by depressing the end, N, B will be set at liberty, and the hand will move along the cards; by slightly raising it this motion will be arrested; by raising it still more the pin, p, is released, and M commences to revolve, and by again depressing N this wheel will, in its turn, be stopped. Near the bottom of the apparatus is a bellows, O, which contains a spring tending to keep the lever, N, with which it is connected by a rod, X, in the position shown.