Ralph,
As I said before; I once did understand how it works - but I have forgotten. It is an electrical motor with a three-phase input and slip rings. It also has a commutator with two sets of brushes that move in opposite directions from the neutral (synchronous position). The two set of brushes are connected (IIRR) to the slip rings. With brushes in neutral, the voltage is zero and the slip rings are more or less shorted. So the motor runs like a normal AC induction motor.
When you move the brushes from the neutral position, a voltage is induced and fed to the slip rings. And this is where I start to forget how and why it works. Anyhow, by adjusting the voltage you adjust the speed. If the voltage bucks (opposite phase), the motor speed decreases and if it boosts (same phase), it increases speed.
It is possible that stator winding and slip rings have opposite roles - I think that they might have. There is something about the commutator voltage having the same frequency as the feed back voltage - and then I guess that you have to connect the slip rings to the grid.
Do a google on "Schrage Motor". I hope that you will find a better explanation there.