It appears that few examples of the 'Zither Automatique' were produced, of which only a handful are known today. The movement plays six airs on a standard Paillard eight-air cylinder; the space for the two additional tracks in the centre of the cylinder is used to incorporate a projecting ring cut with milled slots (similar to the song cams of a singing bird mechanism) that control the rise and fall of the zither attachment in each arrangement. During manufacture two teeth were removed from the centre of the comb in order to accomodate the cam, and the tuning scale modified accordingly. A large shield-shaped plate conceals the working of the cam, from which the zither can be engaged or disengaged in the usual way.