Says the _Encyclopedia Britannica_: “In 1875 Maskelyne and Cooke produced at the Egyptian Hall, in London, an automaton whist player, ‘Psycho,’ which from the manner in which it is placed upon the stage, appears to be perfectly isolated from any {117} mechanical communication from without . . . The arm has all the complicated movements necessary for chess or draught playing; and ‘Psycho’ calculates any sum up to a total of 99,000,000. . . . ‘Psycho’, an Oriental figure, sitting cross-legged on a box, is supported by a single large cylinder of clear glass, which as originally exhibited, stood upon the carpet of the stage, but was afterwards set loose upon a small stool, having solid wood feet; moreover, this automaton may be placed in almost any number of different ways. . . . It may be mentioned that in the same year in which ‘Psycho’ appeared, the joint inventors patented a method of controlling the speed of clockwork mechanism by compressed air or gas stored in the pedestal of an automaton, this compressed air acting upon a piston in a cylinder and also upon a rotating fan when a valve is opened by ‘an electrical or other connection worked by the foot of the performer or an assistant.’ But it is not known whether the principle obscurely described in the specification was applicable in any way to the invisible agency employed in ‘Psycho,’ or whether it had reference to some other invention which has never been realized.” A very clever exposé of “Psycho” was published in an English newspaper, November, 1877. That it is the correct one, I am by no means certain. But an ingenious mechanic by carrying out its provisions would be enabled to construct an excellent imitation of the Maskelyne so-called automaton. [Illustration: FIGS. 1A, 1B.] [Illustration: FIG. 2.] [Illustration: FIG. 3.] [Illustration: FIG. 4.]