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“What kind of machine?” I ask.
“A very simple one, in principle,” Dr. Venn answers. “Simple parts: cloth, metal, rope. I improved it over time, but that first prototype was something I constructed from supplies I brought from home.
“If you would.” He detaches his arms from the cuffs and gestures for me to set up his notepad and pen in front of him on the desk. Then with a shaky hand he draws a long, narrow oval with a short line extending from the top.
“It’s a swing, of sorts,” he says. “But you stand in it. I have padding here and here at the legs,” he says, drawing two horizontal lines across the oval, “more at the waist, and then more to brace the chest and arms.” He looks up from the paper. “It’s what gave me the idea for my chair here. I discovered that the more crooked and wea
