Page:Illustrations of Madness.djvu/73

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52
illustrations of madness.

force of all their operations, I think they are much nearer.”

They have likewise related that many other gangs are stationed in different parts of the metropolis who work such instrument for the most detrimental purposes. Near every public office an air-loom is concealed, and if the police were sufficiently vigilant, they might detect a set of wretches at work near the Houses of Parliament, Admiralty, Treasury, &c. and there is a gang established near St. Luke’s Hospital. The force of assailment is in proportion to the proximity of the machine ; and it appears that the interposition of walls causes but a trifling difference : perhaps at the distance of 1000 feet a person might be considered out of the range of its influence. Independently of the operation of this complex and powerful machine termed an Air-loom, which requires the person assailed to