AN IMPROVED APPARatus for GymnasTIC PERFORMANCES
Year: 1874

page_text: 'PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Miguel Mayol at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
October 1874.
I, MIGUEL MAYOL, of Hewson Street, Walworth, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARatus for GymnasTIC PERFORMANCES," to be as follows :—
My said Invention relates to an apparatus to be employed in a novel
.and extraordinary gymnastic performance consisting in the shooting of
the performer from a cannon resembling in external appearance an
ordinary cannon used for military purposes. The said cannon is
provided with an internal piston or propeller which is so arranged and
actuated by springs or compressed air or otherwise that the performer can
place himself in the cannon, and will be ejected or slot from the same
by the movement of the said piston.
I construct the said apparatus as follows:- -The tube or body of the
cannon is formed of wood or other suitable material, and has the
external shape or configuration of a piece of ordnance. It is provided
with trunnions whereby it may be mounted on a carriage or may be

page_text: .
suspended by ropes or otherwise, as may be best adapted to the
convenience of the performer. Within the said body or external tube
I place an inner tube, which extends from the muzzle nearly to the
breech of the said cannon. This inner tube is formed of bars of wood
or other material, and it is so much smaller than the outer tube that
there is an annular space between the two tubes, but at the muzzle the
existence of this space is concealed by a ring of wood or other material.
Within the said inner tube I place a piston preferably hollow and formed
of wood, and which is fitted to move freely from end to end of the said
inner tube. When springs are employed as the ejecting force I secure
to the rear of the piston metal hooks which project beyond the periphery
of the said piston. To these hooks and to other hooks or similar devices
at the muzzle of the cannon I connect springs of india-rubber or metal,
which lie in the aforesaid annular space between the inner and outer tubes.
The said piston is held back against the force of these springs by a device
consisting of a jointed hook and lever arranged within the breech of the
cannon. The said lever has a handle outside of the breech whereby the
said hook is operated to release the said piston. The inner end of the
said lever has a slot or aperture for the reception of the point of the hook.
When the cannon is loaded or ready to be discharged the said hook is passed
through an eye or ring on the rear of the piston, and its point is inserted
in the said slot in the lever. The performer then places himself or is
placed in the cannon with his feet resting against the said piston. While
the parts remain in the above position the greater the strain of the
springs the more secure will be the hold of the hook upon the piston,
but at the same time a very slight force applied to the handle of the
_said lever will effect the release of the piston. The said piston will then
be impelled toward the muzzle of the cannon and the performer will be
ejected from the same to a distance depending upon the force of the
springs, the position of the cannon, and the other arrangements con-
nected with the performance.