Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 2.djvu/216

 COLLENDBB ». GEIFFITH. ���209 ���attaehed cushions e, and the legs a, -whieh support the body of the table, are ail made in about the usual most approved man- ner; but the side rails, /, or sides of the body of the table, are made and arranged, as seen, in an oblique, in lieu of the usual vertical, or nearly vertical, position, their upper edges being located as far under the table, and away from the cushion rails, as they can be placed, and afford a proper sup- port to the edges of the slabs composing the bed. �"The figure represented by the body thus formed is that of an inverted frustrum of a pyramid, instead of being about rectangnlar in its appearance, as in most of the tables here- tofore made. The sides, /, should be bevelled or inclined in- ward, as they descend from the cushion rails or under side of the bed, at about an angle of from 30 to 40 degrees,;0r quite sufficiently to permit the player to place his leg in the proper position for reaching as far as possible with the bridge-hand, but no further than is necessary for this purpose ; because, if the angle or flare be increased, the structure is proportion- ately weakened, the capaoity of the body or plane to sustain vertical strain being lessened as such inverted frustrum-mu- ral frame is flattened out. At figure 2 I have illustrated part of a player's figure, to show the convenient and advantageous position which the player may assume in playing, andwhich position it would be utterly impossible to' assume were the sides, /, extended down in the usual manner, about vertically. �"It wiU be seen that the bevelling of the sides or broad rails of the table, as shown and described, permits the player to 80 extend his bended knee under the table, and ao place his foot and posture himself, as to maintain his equilibrium per- f ectly while reaching over the table to make his bridge ; and that the arrangement of the bevelled sides with the bed and cushion rails, as shown and described, renders the support of the bed as perfect, and the whole structure as durable, as in tables made with the old-fashioned vertical broad rails. Any one skilled in the art appreciates the importance of affording the best : possible support to the bed throughout the whole extent of the plane of the table, so that it will not ^get out of level. It will also be seen that while, in a table made �v.2,no.2— 14 ����