There was once, in Nuremberg a famous automaton called "The Iron Virgin". Countess Bathory acquired a replica for the torture chamber of her Csejthe castle. This metallic lady was the size and color of a real female figure. Naked, bejeweled, made up like a pretty woman with blond hair that fell to the floor, she was equipped with a mechanism which allowed her lips to open in a smile and her eyes to move.

The countess, seated on her throne, watches.

To set the "Virgin" in motion, one needs only touch certain precious stones in her necklace. She responds immediately with horrible mechanical sounds and very slowly raises her white arms to close them in a perfect embrace upon whatever may be near her - in this case a girl. The automaton holds her tight and now no one can disentangle the body in the flesh from the iron body, both equally beautiful. Suddenly the painted breasts of the iron lady open and five daggers emerge, piercing the live companion who has long hair like her clockwork lover.

With the sacrifice now consummated, the observer touches yet another stone in the necklace: the arms fall, the smile closes like the eyes, and the murderess again becomes the petrified "Virgin" in her coffin.