{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 48, "folder": "", "text": "38\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nappear to have cut through the bridge of the nose. A cutler\nC. uld supply such knives, or they may be purchased at the de-\npots for conjuring apparatus.\nHaving placed out these articles on your table with serious-\nness and imposing formality, show to the audience the knife that\nis whole, and call upon them to observe that it is sufficiently\nstrong and sharp. The other knife must be placed somewhere\nnear you, but where it is sheltered from the observation of the\nspectators.\nAsk some young friend to step forward, assuring him that you\nwill not hurt him. Mako him sit down on a chair facing the au-\ndience. After having measured the real knife across his nose,\nsay \"But I may as well protect your clothes from being soiled,\nso I will put an apron round your neck.\" Goto the table to take\nup the apron, and, in doing so, placc down the real knife where\nit cannot be seen, and with your lef' and tako up the conjuror's\nknife, holding it by the blade, lest any one should cbserve the\nnotch in it. Conceal at the same time also, in your left hand,\nthe piece of sponge.\nAdvancing to the chair, tuck, with your right hand, the apron\nround the youth's neck. Then pr SS the conjuror's knife firmly\nover the nose and leave il there, 2S if you had cut into the bridgo\nof the nose. At the same time gently \u00bfqueeze the sponge, and\na little of the liquid will make an alarming appearance on the\nface and on the apron; go on for a short time, covering the face\nand apron with (apparent) blood. When the audience have seen\nit long enough, seize up the apron, wipe the face of the youth\nquite clean, throw away the conjuror's knife, and exhibit your\nyoung friend to the audience all right, and dismiss him with\nsome facetious remark on his courage in undergoing the alarm-\ning operation."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 42, "folder": "", "text": "3?\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\npoint of the stem within easy reach of your hand-about four\ninches below your chin. Then put your coat on.\nCommence the trick by borrowing a large silk handkerchief or\ncloth of the same size. Show it to be empty by holding out the\ntwo top corners in front of your breast, and shake the handker-\nchief while it falls loosely down over your vest. Then moving\nthe handkerchief toward your left, catch hold (with your right\nthumb and finger) of the end of the stem \"of the plume, No. 1,\nand draw it from under the left side of your vest. It will re-\nmain concealed behind the handkerchief while you move your\nFIG. 8.\nPosition 1.,\nPosition 2.\ntwo hands to the right, which will draw out the plume from un-\nder your vest, then over the centre of your chest. Then toss\nthe handkerchief about, enveloping the first batch of feathers:\nsay, \"Handkerchief, you must supply me with some feathers.\nIn a minute or so, take off the handkerchief, and display the\nplume to the spectators.\nShow the spectators again that the handkerchief is quite\nempty. Move your arms toward your right till your left hand\ncomes just over the edge of the right side of your vest. With\nyour left thumb and fore-finger catch hold of the stem of the\nfeathers there concealed, and by moving your arms back to-\nwards the left, you can draw out without its being observed the\nplume that had been concealed under the right side of your\nvest. Toss about and display as before this second batch of\nfeathers, and then place them aside.\nThen show to the company again that your handkerchief has\nnothing in it, and lay the handkerchief over both your hands,"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 20, "folder": "", "text": "4\nLATEST MAGIC\none upon the other, a couple of half-crowns, or\ncoins of similar size.\u00b9\nWhen required for use, the coin mat is prepared,\nshortly beforehand, by rubbing the whole of the\nspace within the ornamental border on one of its\nfaces with diachylon, in the solid form. The\nFIG. 3\ndiachylon is used cold, the necessary rriction melt-\ning it sufficiently, without any additional heating.\nThis treatment renders the surface of the mat, for\nthe time being, adhesive, without in any way alter-\ning its appearance. To make sure of its being just\nright, press a half-crown or penny down firmly\n1 Where coins of English denominations are referred to in the text,\nthe American wizard will naturally replace them by corresponding coins\nof the U. S. currency."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 56, "folder": "", "text": "40\nLATEST MAGIC\napart, as shown in Fig. 11, under which circum-\nstances they are invisible to the spectators at a few\nfeet distance, and very nearly so to the performer,\nsave that their white edges, turned towards him-\nself, furnish him with an exact guide to their posi-\ntion. On the top of the pack are laid, first the two\nknaves. On these the queen overlay, and upper-\nmost the unprepared queen.\nFig. 11\nIn presenting the trick the borrowed shilling\nis laid on the mat midway between the two\noverlays already on the table, and is covered with\nthe top card of the pack, the third overlay being\nlifted off with it, and resting beneath it with its\ncentre as nearly as possible over the coin.\nThe two following cards are now laid one on each\nside of the first, as in Fig. 12, each on the corre-\nsponding overlay, the white edges of these, visible"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 50, "folder": "", "text": "40\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\none hundred lamps at once. This has proved successful\nvery on\nsome occasions; but on others, notwithstanding the most care-\nful preparation and the greatest precaution, it has been found\nthat the apparatus would not act, and the impatient spectators\nhave visited the disappointing failure with their indignant mur-\nmurs. Other conjurors have become so attached to electric ex-\nperiments, that they have proposed to regulate all the clocks of\na large district by electricity, or have amused themselves by\nturning electric or galvanic currents to the door-handles of their\nhouses, so that unsuspecting strangers, on touching them, were\nstartled with electric shocks. There is also a trick for rendering\none portion of a portrait electric by a metal plate concealed un-\nderit, and the spectators being invited to touch some part of the\npieture, have, on touching the spots that were charged with\nelectricity, received a shock or powerful blow, as if the portrait\nresented their touching it.\nHaving briefly given the character of this class of tricks, and\nstated that they not only require expensive apparatus, but are\nattended with danger to the inexperienced, there still remains\nanother serious objection, viz., that, like the experiments per-\nformed by automaton figures or complicated machinery, they are\nliable to fail, through any trifling disarrangement, just at the mo-\nment when the performer is hoping that his audience will be de-\nlighted with his surprising exhibition.\nFor these reasons I shall not stay to describe the more elabo-\nrate of these tricks, as, however interesting they may be to the\nscientific, they would not, in a youthful amateur's hands, be sure\nto produco the amusement which it is my primary object to sup-\nply.\nThe simpler experiments of magnetism and chemistry may\nwell be regarded as recreations of science, interesting curiosi-\nties, suitable enough to be exhibited by a professor of chemistry\nfor amusement and instruction but even these can hardly be\nconsidered as belonging to \"conjuring proper.\" Young people\ndo not care, at festive parties, to watch red liquids turning into\ngreen, blue, and yellow or the mixture of different chemical\ningredients producing strange conversions into varied substances;"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 58, "folder": "", "text": "42\nLATEST MAGIC\nplaces under one of the thimbles, all three of which\nhe then shifts about on the tray; inviting the spec-\ntators to bet with him as to which thimble the pea\nis under. He has two or three confederates, who\nbet, and naturally win, but if an outsider is rash\nenough to back his own supposed smartness he\nloses; for as a matter of fact the pea is not placed\nunder either of the thimbles at all until after the\nbet is made, when it is skilfully introduced under\nwhichever thimble best suits the performer.\n\"The trick is in truth a mere affair of dexterity;\nthe performer having acquired by long practise\nthe power of placing the pea under any thimble\nhe pleases. What I propose to show you is a sim-\nilar effect, but more surprising, because, as you will\nsee, there is no room for dexterity, or indeed any\nform of trickery; so that I have to depend entirely\nupon my magic power. I shall use a shilling, as\nbeing more easily seen than a pea, and three cards\nfrom this pack to represent the thimbles.\n\"Will some gentleman oblige me with the loan\nof a shilling; marked in such a way that he may\nbe sure of knowing it again.\"\nReceiving the coin in his right hand, the per-\nformer makes believe to transfer it to his left;\nwherein he already has a shilling of his own.\nSurreptitiously depositing the coin lent to him\nbehind the pack of cards on the table, he exhibits\nthe substitute on the palm of the left hand and rubs\nit with the fingers of the right."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 52, "folder": "", "text": "42\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\none of their ears ; it will be heard \"tic, tic; then holding it in\nhis left hand and telling it to stop, they will also find that it does\nstop. You can pretend to doubt whether they are all deaf of\none ear, but lastly may declare that this is caused by the obedi-\nent disposition of the watch, which so orderly obeys your com-\nmand. Remind your audience that savages upon first seeing a\nwatch believe it to be a living animal with power to think and\nact of itself 'At any rate,\" you may conclude, \"the present\nwatch seems to hear, to understand, and to obey my orders.\"\n: It will be an amusing addition to the above trick to say that\nyou will now order the watch to fly away and conceal itself.\nYou must for this purpose have provided yourself with an\nelectro-plated locket resembling a lady's watch, and have two\nloaves ready in some convenient corner.\nWhen the watch has finished its \"manual and platoon\" exer-\ncise on the platform, you may say, \"I will now place this watch\nvisibly to all upon the table.\" Turn round to go to your table,\nand in walking to it, substitute the locket for the watch, and\nplace the locket on some spot visible to all. It will not be dis-\ntinguishable from the watch by the spectators at six or eight\nyards' distance from them. Conceal the watch itself in the palm\nof your hand. You can now exclaim, \"I require two loaves,\"\nand walking towards them, slip the watch into the one you have\nprepared with a slit in its side. Advancing to the audience, ask\nin which loaf they will prefer that you shall bid the watch fly.\nIf they name the one in which you have concealed it, proceed to\nbreak open the loaf and find the watch. But suppose they name\nthe wrong one: you then, remembering that the left hand of the\nspectators is your right hand, proceed with the true loaf, which-\never they have named, or manage to cross the position of the\nloaves as yon place them on the table.\nThen taking up the locket with your right hand, make Pass 1,\nas if transferring it to your left hand, but really retaining it in\nyour right hond (as described in my first paper.) Blow upon\nyour closed left hand, and say, \"Watch, fly into that loaf.' Clap\nyour hands. It is gone.\nAdvancing to the loaf, get rid of the locket from your right\nhand: take up the loaf, break it open on the other side from that\nin which the locket was introduced, bring out the watch, and ap-\npeal to the lady to declare whether it is the same which she lent\nto you.\nTRICK 17.\nAn experiment with a very mild dash of electricity in it, which\nwill at any rate be a popular trick with most people that trv it.\nIt will do for a small entertainment, or at any joyous party of"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 60, "folder": "", "text": "44\nLATEST MAGIC\npositions have been shown, the audience being\nallowed to say under which card the coin shall\nappear, and the last shift having been to one of\nthe side positions, the performer says: \"I should\nlike you to be satisfied that it is really the marked\ncoin and no other, that wanders about in this way.\nI will ask the gentleman who lent it to me to verify\nhis mark.\"\nHe picks up from one of the side positions the\ncoin last uncovered and brings it forward, but in\ntransit \"switches\" it for the borrowed coin, which\nhe has a moment previously picked up from its\nresting place behind the pack. It is, of course,\nthis last which he offers for identification, again\nexchanging it for The substitute before replacing\nthis in its former position. The final reproduc-\ntion must be from under the centre card, the per-\nformer again ringing the changes before returning\nthe coin to the owner. At the close of the trick all\nthree cards are placed on the pack, the centre over-\nlay going with them. The other two overlays are\nleft on the mat, each still covering its own coin,\nand the whole being carried off together. If the\nmat is of the folding kind it can be closed before\nremoval, effectually concealing the accessories\nused in the trick.\nSome amount of skill will be found necessary\nto pick up the card with or without the correspond-\ning overlay, as may be desired. The difficulty\nhowever speedily disappears with practice.- On"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 54, "folder": "", "text": "44\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nthanks, ask you to take a glass of wine. Do you like wine?\nAh, I see by your smile you do.\"\nPour out of bottle No. 1 half a glass, and, going towards him,\nstop short and say : \"Ah, but I am afraid your mamma would\nbo di:pleased with me if I gave you wine so strong without any\nwater, and I should be sorry to tempt you to drink what she\nwould disapprove. Stay, I will mix a little water with it.\"\nMix some of No. 2 bottle, so as to fill the wine-glass, and say :\n\" Oh, never mind losing the pure wine; I dare say you will like\nit very well as it is, and make a few chatty remarks, to give the\nliquids time to mingle their effects in the glass; and after a\nminute or two say \"Ah! I'll tell you what I am sure your\nmamma would like still better-if I could give you some calves'-\nfoot jelly. Now, I really believe, if I were to stir it with this\nteaspoon, and try my magic wand over it, I can turn it to jelly.\nLet us try.' Occupy a little time while it is becoming like jelly,\nand go on with a little more talk till you see that it has become\nsolid. Then say : \"Well, after all, I will not deprive you of\nyour wine so hereitis Please drink it.\" Putting it to his\nlips, he will find it has become so solid that he cannot drink it,\nbut it can be turned out quite solid into the saucer, and a gen-\neral laugh will greet him on the disrppointment of his wine.\nHaving submitted a few remarks upon the class of tricks that\nare to be performed by help of the sciences, magnetism, chem-\nistry, etc., and having stated my reasons for my not more fully\ndiscussing them, I will now proceed to give an explanation of\none or two more that are better suited for the practice of ama-\nteurs.\nTRICK 19.-To draw three spools off two tapes without\nthose spools having to come off the ends of the tapes,\nand while the four ends of the tapes are held by four\npersons.\nPREPARATION.\nYou must have two narrow tapes of about four feet long, bent\nas in Fig. 11. Red tape I prefer.\nYou must next insert about half an inch of A through the loop\nof B, and bring it back down on the other part of A.\nA spool such as cotton is wound on, or an ornamented ball\nwith a hole drilled through it, just large enough to hold the tapes\nlightly, will be required (Fig. 13.)"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 56, "folder": "", "text": "46\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nYou may move about the spools 2 and 3, to show how the tape\nruns through them, but you must not nove spool 1.\nYou may then say that the puzzle is to get the spools of the\ntapes while the four ends are held firmly in the hands of four\npersons. Appoint four persons to hold them, and you may then\nsay: \"To make doubly sure, I will tie one of the ends at A to\none of the ends at B with (the first half of) a knot.\" It does\nnot signify which ends you take to do this, FO that you take ono\nA and one B. I will now pull these two ends so tight that it\ndraw the three spools together, and also tighten all along one\nsido of them.'\nThen, while four persons hold firmly the extreme ends cf the\nFig. 16.\n2\n3\nB\n1\nA\n13\ntapes, you must take shorter hold of the two A's with your left\nhand, (where it is marked by a dottedline, Fig. 16,) and also take\nhold of the other tapes where a dotted line is marked on them\ntowards B. Then drawing your arms wider apart, so as to pull\nthe tapes steadily, the spools or balls will fall to the ground with-\nout passing over the ends of the tapes.\nTRICK 20.-To restore a tape whole after it has been\ncut in the middle.\nPREPARATION.\nHave five or six yards of tape about three-quarters of an inch\nbroad.\nTake half the length in each hand. You will be able to show\nthe audience that you are about to cut it in the middle, by hold-\ning it in two loops of equal length. Call their attention point-\nedly to the equal division of the full length.\nThe tape will thus appear to the performer in the position\nrepresented in Fig. 17.\nObserve the tape A crosses at Z the tape B on the side next to\nthe performer, whereas the tape D is to cross the tape y on the\nside farthest from him."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 64, "folder": "", "text": "48\nLATEST MAGIC\nthere are lot of clever people about, if you know\nwhere to look for them.\n\"Now I want to show you that the cards know\nall about it themselves; in fact, they are just as\nclever at doing sums as we are. I will take these\ntwo cards and drop them into one of these pretty\nflower-pots. Let me show you first that it is quite\nempty.\"\nHe lays the cards on the little mat while show-\ning inside of flower-pot (the one with secret\npocket), then picks up mat, and transfers it from\nhand to hand, showing, without remark, that the\nhands are otherwise empty, and lets the two cards\nslide off it into the flower-pot, the concealed cards\nnaturally going with them.\n\"Now, ladies and gentlemen, what shall the cards\ndo for you, the addition, or the subtraction sum ?\nIt is all the same to me. The addition ? Very\ngood. They can't talk, SO they will call another\ncard from the pack to give you the answer. Yes,\nhere we have it. Five-and two-are-seven.'\nAs he names each card, he produces it from the\nflower-pot, the third being the double-faced card,\nshown as the seven.\n\"Now I can hear what some of you are thinking.\nOh, yes! I often hear what people think. You\nare thinking that if you had said subtraction\ninstead of addition, I should have been in what is\npopularly called a hole. But you are mistaken.\nNow we will ask the cards to do the subtraction"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 58, "folder": "", "text": "48\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\ntape-C D-to be seen, but concealing from the spectators\nthat you have hold of two pieces, one a very long one, and the\nother only about five inches long. You can then say: \"Now I\nhave to join these two ends, and to restore the tape\nFig. 19.\nwhole as at first.\" You then turn the little piece C\n1-\nc\nD round the piece y, which is in your left hand, and\nyou tie a knot with the ends of that little piece.\ny\nYou must not tie this knot very tight, and after you\nhave tied it, you drop the other end of the tape alto-\ngether out of your right hand.\nThe appearance which the tapes will then have is\nrepresented in Fig. 19. That is, you will seem to\nhold the equally divided pieces of the long tape\njoined in a knot at y, whereas in fact it is only tho\nsmall end piece C D, tied round the middle of the\nlong tape, which you hold between the thumb and\nforefinger of the left hand. Exhibit the knot to the\ncompany, and say : \"I admit that this knot hardly\nlooks liko a perfect restoration ; I must employ my\nbest art to get rid of its unsightly appearance.\"\nAsk some one to hold, at about three yards' dis-\ntanco, the end marked with small d, retaining hold of\nthe centre-at y-in your left hand, which quite COV-\nd\nA\ners the knot. Tell yourfriend to wind the tape round\nhis hand, and, while pretending to show him how to\ndo this, by winding the part which you hold round\nyour left hand, slide away towards your right the loose knot un-\nder your right hand. Then, holding out the end of the tape A\ntowards another friend, to hold at about three yards' distance to\nthe right, slip from off the long tape the little movable knot un-\nder your right hand, just before he takes hold of this end of the\ntape. Conceal in your right hand the little end-piece of tape,\nuntil you can get rid of it into your pocket, or into any\nunob-\nserved spot. Blow upon your left hand, which is supposed still\nto cover the knot, saying \"Knot, begone ! Tako\nup your left hand, and show the tape to be free from any knot,\nor join from one end of it to the other.\n-"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 109, "folder": "", "text": "5"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 66, "folder": "", "text": "50\nLATEST MAGIC\nPresentation. Advance, palming off the knave\nof clubs, and offer pack to be shuffled. When it is\nreturned, force the knave on one of the company.\nBorrow a hat, and after showing that it is empty,\nplace it, crown downwards, on the table. Receive\nback the drawn card upon the mat, remarking that\nyou will place it in the hat, which you do accord-\ningly, the other three knaves going in with it.\nThen, assuming a worried expression, deliver pat-\nter to something like the following effect.\n\"I am afraid, ladies and gentlemen, that I shall\nnot be able to show you the experiment I had\nintended. I have a telepathic nerve in my left\nthumb, a sort of private fire alarm, only more so,\nwhich always gives me warning when things are\ngoing wrong, and I feel it now. If you have read\n'Macheth,' you will remember that one of the\nwitches says:\n'By the pricking of my thumbs,\nSomething wicked this way comes.'\n\"I have often wondered whether that old lady\ncould have been a sort of great-great-great grand-\nmother of mine. Magic certainly runs in the\nfamily, and we may have inherited it from her.\nAnyhow, I have just the same sort of sensation\nmyself. Unfortunately, in my case the warning is\nincomplete. I dare say you will remember that\nstory (I rather think it's in Macaulay's 'Lays of\nAncient Rome'), about Little Queen Cole. Her"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 60, "folder": "", "text": "50\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nThe reader will have seen that, in some of the tricks explained\nin previous papers, there is simply some one definite object to\nbe carried out. For instance, in the two tricks which concluded\nthe last paper, the performer simply undertakes to throw the\nspools off the tape, or to restore a tape which has been cut. Ho\nsets about this, accomplishes it, and the trick is over. This is\nall very well as far as it goes. If the trick is really a good one,\nit is like a host furnishing his guests with a solid joint to satisfy\ntheir appetite; ; and it may do so. But still it comes short of a\nlively entertainment. It is confessedly dull for an audience to /\ncome to pauses O1 gaps between isolated tricks. Their attention\nis unoccupied while the performer, having finished off one trick,\nis making mute preparations to introduce some other trick\nwholly unconnected with what has gone before. Such a method\nwill not keep awake the lively interest that the skilful combina-\ntion of the conjuror's art will sustain. I maintain that varied\nby-play and supplementary sets-off will greatly heighten the in-\nterest of the performance.\nIt will also serve to disarm the suspicious and incredulous,\npreparing them to believe what they might otherwise stand on\ntheir guard against. Bare tricks brought forward as isolated ex-\nperiments give time for the mind to take its estimate of their\npossibility ; and, of course, in attempting to exhibit wonders,\nthe improbability of them is apt to stare people strongly in the\nface. They are perfectly convinced that a dime cannot fly into\nan orange at the other end of the room, that ink cannot become\nwater, nor a hat be safely used as a frying-pan ; but if you inter-\npose appearances and movements that are consistent with such\nprocesses going on, they are gradually prepared to recognize as\na legitimate result what you have previously indicated as the\ncontemplated end of those processes.\nThe amplification or fuller development which I speak of can\nbe effected at any of the following stages:\n1. In the introductory matter leading on to the main trick or\ntransformation\n2. In the subsequent stages of its development; or,\n3. In the winding-up smartly or variedly the conclusion of a\ntrick."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 68, "folder": "", "text": "52\nLATEST MAGIC\nmunicates with them by means of a sort of wire-\nless telegraphy, and when he calls they go to him\nat once.\" (You here make the \"click.\"7 \"Did\nyou hear that sound? That's his call now,\ndespatched by wireless from the hat to the very\nmiddle of the pack. I have no doubt that we shall\nfind that the other three knaves have already left it,\nand joined him in the hat.\" (Make believe to look\nover the pack, and hand it to a spectator.) \"Yes!\njust as I thought: they are all gone.\" (To a spec-\ntator.) \"See for yourself, sir. Not a single\nknave left. And here they all are, in the hat.\"\n(Whence they are produced accordingly.)\nAs the \"click\" in some cases adds much to the\neffect of a trick, and as it may to some readers be\nan unfamiliar sleight, I may pause to explain that\nit is executed as follows: Take the pack in either\nhand, held upright between forefinger and thumb,\na little more than half-way down, with the middle\nfinger curled up behind it as in Fig. 13. With the\ntip of the third finger bend back the extreme bot-\ntom corners of the last half dozen or SO of the\ncards, allowing them to escape again smartly.\nThe sound made by the corners in springing back\nagain constitutes the \"click.\" It needs a little\npractice, but if the cards are held properly, and\nthe sleight worked smartly, the sound will be\naudible at a considerable distance, whilst the move-\nment of the finger producing it is quite invisible\nto the spectators."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 62, "folder": "", "text": "52\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nFor instance, in the trick which I often use as my first trick I\nmake a candle an amusing helper, by snatching it from the can-\ndle-stick, and asking some one to hold it wrapt up in paper.\nAnd this unexpected service of the candle is wrought into tho\nbody of the trick which I have in hand.\nI change also a crystal ball into an orange by skilful manipu-\nlation.\nBy such brief diversion of the attention of the spectators,\ntheir eyes are withdrawn from watching too narrowly some ma-\nn\u0153uvre that is requisite to carry out the more important trick\nwhich you have in hand.\nOr you may actually make an act, which is a mere accessory,\ncover some important portion of the trick; as in tho tape trick\n(No. 20.) While PRETENDING TO SHOW YOUR ASSISTANT HOW TO\nnold the tape in HIS hand, you slip the knot away unperceived\nunder YOUR OWN hand.\n3. IN CONCLUDING A TRICK.\nIt greatly adds to tho \u00e9ficiency of a trick to let it finish off\nwith a sparkle, or some playful addition which gilds its exit.\nFor instance, in the trick of doubling the pocket-money, (7th\nTrick,) the little by-play of finding, or rather pretending to\nfind, some coins secreted in tho sleeve cf the young friend who\ni:as helped you, is sure to bring out a good-humored laugh at\ntie termination of the trick. Again, in Trick 16, the additional\nfact of finding the watch in the loaf makes a lively termination\nof ine performance of the obedient watch. In the 1Sth Trick,\nthe glass of wine becoming solid might be used as a good finish\nto any trick where some friend has assisted in its exhibition.\nYou may often raise a good-humored laugh by appearing to\nswallow any object which you have used in a trick-as an or-\nange, ball, egg, or dime-and afterwards bringing it out from\nyour sleeve ; or, by tho use of Pass 1, to drive a coin up one\nsleeve, round the back of your neck, and down the other sleeve,\ninto your right hand.\nI not only consider such amplifications of a trick lively and\ninteresting, bnt I maintain this to be the best way of employing"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 70, "folder": "", "text": "54\nLATEST MAGIC\nwith the left hand. When the knaves have been\nlaid upon it, you transfer it to the opposite hand,\nand palm on to them the three concealed cards,\nbut immediately slide them off again, with the\nuppermost of the four knaves beneath them. You\nhold them up in a careless way, so that the\naudience, catching sight of this card, may be con-\nfirmed in the belief that the cards exhibited in the\nright hand are really the four knaves.\n\"Here we have the four knaves, at present all\ntogether. I will now distribute them in different\nparts of the pack, as far apart as possible. One\nhere, nearly at the bottom, one a little higher up,\nanother about the middle, and this last\" (you show\nit carelessly), \"close to the top.\" (This, being a\ngenuine knave, must be placed among the other\nknaves.) \"They could hardly be placed farther\napart than that: but to make things a little more\ndifficult for them, I will ask some lady to cut the\ncards.\"\nThis done, and the cards handed back to you,\nyou repeat the click. \"There it is again: the wire-\nless signal. You can all bear witness that I have\nnothing to do with the matter. Now, Sir, will you\nkindly examine the pack, and unless I am much\nmistaken, you will find that the other three knaves\nhave answered Black Jack's call, and that the four\ncheerful blackguards have got together again, in\nwhich case, with your permission, I will leave them\nseverely alone, and try some other experiment.\""}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 64, "folder": "", "text": "54\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nmade at home, according to the following directions, to be pref-\nerable.\nIt must be about the size of a small pillow, two feet three\ninches across, and one foot nine inches deep. It has one of its\nsides of double cloth, (x,) the other single, (z,) in the same way\nas leather writing-cases have a pocket on one side, and a single\ncover on the other. The double side is stitched together all\nround, with the exception of an opening at A, which must be\nabout five inches long, or large enough to admit easily a hand to\nput in or take out the eggs. This double side of the bag must\nalways be kept towards the performer, whereas the single side\nmust be always kept towards the spectators; and the only open-\ning between these two sides is between C and D. On the inte-\nrior of the side of the double cloth bag, a strip or kind of frill\nof the same cloth must be sewn, with an elastic binding round\nthe pockets or cups for eggs. The elastic binding will keep them\nin these pockets, unless they are pressed by the thumb or fin-\nger, so as to release them and let them fall into the centre of the\ndouble bag. The strip has the appearanco of a string of in-\nverted egg-cups, thus :\nFig. 21.\nThe position of it in the bag is indicated in Fig. 21 by the\ndots running across the bag ; but the strip itself is never seen\nby the spectators, for it is placed on the inner side of the double,\nbag, which is always towards the performer.\nHaving carefully prepared the abovo apparatus, commence the\nexhibition of the trick by holding up the bag by the corners\na\nand D, as represented in Fig. 21. Shake tho bag well while so\n-\nholding it, showing it to be (apparently) empty.\nAfter having thus exhibited the bag, thrust both your hands\ndown inside it to the corners A and B. Holding those corners,\npull the bag inside out, and again show it to be empty, in this\nreversed position, represented in Fig. 21.\nAs the spectators have now seen it thoroughly, inside and out-1\nside, you may put the question to them, \"whether they admit\nit to be empty, as they ought to know.'\nWhile holding tho bag by tho samo corners A and B, you\nmust now gather tho bag a little closer together, and holding it\nwell up-see Fig. 1-press with your thumb ono of the eggs out\nof its elastic cup. This can be easily donc without any one ob-\nserving the movement. This egg, with a little gentle shaking,"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 72, "folder": "", "text": "56\nLATEST MAGIC\n\"I want three ladies each to choose a card from\nthis pack.\" (He forces the ten of spades, allow-\ning the other two cards to be chosen freely, and\ntakes all three back, face down, on the mat, keep-\ning in mind which of them is the forced card. \"I\nwill take one of these cards.\" (He picks up the\nforced card, and holds it aloft.) \"Please all\nnotice what it is: I don't want to see it myself. I\ndrop it into this pretty flower-pot\" (actually drop-\nping it into the secret pocket). \"And now as to\nthese other two.\" (He picks them up and shows\nthem, then replacing them on the mat.) \"These\nI will place in the other flower-pot. First, how-\never, I will show you that at present it is empty.\"\nHe does so, and then lets the two cards slide off\nthe mat into the pot, the concealed card going with\nthem.\n\"Now I take this magnet. It is a very power-\nful magnet, and I make it still more vigorous by\nrubbing it on my left coat sleeve. Do you know\nwhy on the left ? You all give it up ? Because in\nthis case the left happens to be right. Simple,\nwhen you know it, isn't it? Again, you will\nobserve that one-half of this magnet is painted\nred. Can you guess why that is? It's so that\nwhen it is wanted it is sure to be 'reddy.' I hear\na lady smile! Thank you so much! This is the\neleven hundred and third time I have let off that\nlittle impromptu joke, and no one has ever laughed\nat it till now."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 66, "folder": "", "text": "56\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nTake out that egg ; shake the bag well, as if it were quits\nempty : and then, thrusting both your hands into tho interior\ncorners at A and B, turn the bag inside out; bring it to position\n2, ready to re-commence bringing out the other eggs one by one,\nas long as the spectators are interested. While you hold tho bag\nin position 2, you can safely let any young person feel to the\nbottom of the bag, as he will not be likely to suspect the eggs\nare towards the top of the bag on tho side near to yourself.\nThe same bag may be used also much to the amusement of\nchildren, by your loading it with walnuts, chesnuts, small ap-\nples, or pears, or any bon-bon of about the size of an eggi and\nthen allowing the children, one by one, to feel in your lucky bag\nfor what you take care they shall find in their successive\nsearches.\nA SERIES OF TRICKS, 22, 23, 24.-The chief agent\nbeing a plain gold ring.\nPREPARATION.\nYou must be provided with a small thin wire pointed at both\nends, which, being bent round, will resemble an ordinary plain\ngold ring.\nYou must also have on your table an orange or a lemon, a box\nor bowl, a tumbler, and a dessert-knife.\nAnd you must have four or five needlefuls of thick cotton,\nwhich have becn previously steeped for about an hour in a wine-\nglass of water, with a teaspoonful of salt in it; and have been\nafterwards completely dried, so as to burn easily.\nTRICK 22.\nHaving the fictitious ring in the palm of your hand, com-\nmence by requesting any lady present to oblige you by lending\nyou a plain gold ring, and borrow also from some gentleman a\ncolored silk handkerchief. Appear to place the borrowed ring in\nthat handkerchief, but in reality place in it the rounded ficti-\ntious ring. Doubling tho centre of the handkerchief round it,\nrequest some gentleman to hold it, so as to be sure he has got\nthe ring in the handkerchief-while you fetch a slight cord to\nfasten it. While going to your table to fetch this cord, you slip\nthe real ring into a slit in the orange which you had prepared,\nand which closes readily over it. You then tie the cord round\nthe handkerchief, about two inches from the ring, and. calling"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 74, "folder": "", "text": "58\nLATEST MAGIC\nwhich we will call A and B respectively. From\npack A take a court card (say the queen of dia-\nmonds), and press it face down against the waxed\nside of the mat: then turn this over, and place the\nrest of the pack upon its unprepared side. On the\ntop of pack B lay the corresponding card, in readi-\nness for forcing. This pack also to be placed on\ntable.\nPresentation. Advance with pack A on the mat.\nInvite a gentleman to take it in his own hands\nand after shuffling, to pick out a card, and without\nlooking at it, lay it face down on the mat. Re-\nmark: \"I have asked you not to look at the card,\nbecause I find people fancy I find out by what is\ncalled thought-reading, and if you don't know the\ncard yourself, I can't find it out that way, can I?\nYou are sure you don't know what card you have\ntaken? I can honestly say that I don't. Now\nplease notice that I don't look at it, or even touch\nit-I will place it here, where you can all keep an\neye on it. You had better keep the other eye on\nme.\"\nYou accordingly place the mat on the table, in\ntransit keeping the card just laid upon it in place\nby the pressure of the thumb, and just as you\nreach the table, under cover of your own body, turn\nover the mat, SO as to bring the adhering card\nuppermost.\nYou then say, picking up the reel, \"I must now\nintroduce to your notice my telepathic tape. Like"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 68, "folder": "", "text": "58\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\ncotton threads, having twisted two or three of them together,\nand united them in a loop, which you draw through the ring, and\nthen slip the ring through the end of the loop. The ring will\nthen hang suspended about a foot below the stick. The stick\nitself may be steadily fixed, resting on the back of two chairs at\nan elevation, so as to be easily seen by the company.\nWhen the ring has been thus suspended, set fire to the cotton\nabout two inches above the ring; the flame will run upwards to-\nwards the stick; blow it out when about two inches from the\nstick, and the ring will remain pendulous in the air for some lit-\ntle time after the cotton has been burnt.\nThe suspension is said to be caused by a filament, or fine thread\nof glass-which has been formed by the ashes of the cotton uni-\nting with the heated salt, with which the cotton had been pre-\npared.\nNow this trick would be too simple an experiment to be exhib-\nited by itself; but coming as a finish to two other tricks, which\nhave been performed with the same ring, the spectators\nWill give it honor due.\nI trust that I have satisfactorily established the assertion that\na combination of congenial tricks will often tell more effectively\nthan the same tricks would if exhibited without such combi-\nnation,\n-"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 22, "folder": "", "text": "6\nLATEST MAGIC\nthe first instance as one only, the one within the\nother. The professedly single pot, after being\nproved empty by exhibiting the interior and pass-\n0\n0\nFIG. 5\nFIG. 6\ning the hand through it, is made into two, by sim-\nply drawing out the inner one. The duplication\nis not presented as a trick, the modus operandi"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 16, "folder": "", "text": "6\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nshall not, therefore, in these elementary papers advert to those\nexperiments which require ample resources, or a prepared stage,\nfor exhibiting them-or which can only be displayed to advan-\ntage by consummate skill and the most adroit manipulation-\nbut confine my remarks at present to thos\u00e8 branches of the art\nto the performance of which a young amateur may aspire with\nprospect of success.\nA few hours' practice will enable the learner to execute the\nsimple tricks that I shall first treat of; and they will only re-\nquire for their display such articles as are readily available in\nevery household. Most of them will be supplied by any com-\npany of a few friends, and if not in the parlor, can be brought\nfrom no greater distance than the kitchen or housekeeper's\nroom ; such as handkerchiefs, coins, oranges, or eggs, a\nglass bowl, etc., etc. There may only remain a few inexpensivo\narticles to bo supplied from repositories for the sale of conjur-\ning apparatus, or they may be had direct from the publishers of\nthis work.\nIt may be well explicitly to avow that the time is quite gone\nby when people will really believe that conjuring is to be donc\nby supernatural agencies. No faith is now reposed in the\n\"black art of sorcery,\" or even in the art to which the less re-\npulsive name was given of \"white magic.' Many years havo\nelapsed sinco conjurors have seriously assumed to themselves\nany credit as possessing supernatural powers, or as enabled by\nspiritual agency to reveal that which is unknown to science and\nphilosophy, or mysteriously to work astonishing marvels.\nA well-marked contrast exists between the old school O. con-\njurors and those of modern times. The former, who used bold-\nly to profess that they employed mysterious rites and preter-\nnatural agency, designedly put the spectator upon false inter-\npretations, while they studiously avoided giving any elucidation\nof tho phenomena, nor would ever admit that tho wonders dis-\nplayed were to bo accounted for by the principles of science and\nnatural philosophy.\nModern conjurors advance no such pretensions. They use as\nscientifically as possible the natural properties of matter to aid"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 76, "folder": "", "text": "60\nLATEST MAGIC\nequally well performed by the aid of the card-box,\nor any other appliance for \"changing\" a card.\nA CARD COMEDY\nThis may be otherwise described for programme\npurposes as. \"A Royal Row,\" or \"A Row in a\nRoyal Family.\"\nPreparation. Card mat loaded with two kings\nof hearts: one of them taken from the pack\nto be used: the other a spare card. The king of\nclubs and queen of hearts to be laid on top of pack.\nThe two flower-pots, on table.\nPresentation. Advancing to the company, palm\noff the two top cards, and hand the pack to be\nshuffled. This done, force the palmed cards on\ntwo different persons. Then say, \"I want you to\ntake notice that I do not handle or tamper in any\nway with either of the cards you have chosen.\nPlease lay them yourselves face down on this mat.\nThank you. Now still without touching them I\nwill put them temporarily in this elegant flower-\npot, which you observe is quite empty. You see\nthat it has neither top nor bottom, and nothing\nbetween. You couldn't have anything much\nemptier than that, could you?\"\nHaving duly exhibited the flower-pot (this by\nthe way must be the one without pocket) you let\nthe two drawn cards slide off the mat into it, the\ntwo concealed kings going with them. Then,"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 70, "folder": "", "text": "60\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nother hand, venture upon extreme and disconcerting compli-\nments to any person present. Rather, as a courteous master of\nthe ceremonies, conduct the experiments with a simple effort to\nplease and to amuse all. With the exhibition of an amateur,\nthe performance of some lively airs upon the piano by any friend\n-\nwill form an agreeable accompaniment, especially if the spirited\nand humorous melodies are introduced, which the public tasto\nrecognizes as the tunes of the day. You will do well to have\nyour table neatly and carefully arranged. Let it not lie too near\nto the spectators, nor within reach of too minute inspection.\nIt should be of sufficient height to show the main objects placed\non it; but the surface of it may be just high enongh to be shel-\ntered from the spectators clearly viewing every article upon it.\nThe ornaments should be few, yet, at the same time, be service-\nable to shade a few articles which it may be policy to conceal.\n1. The centre table may be a moderate-sized kitchen table,\nwith a drawer to stand open ; so that the performer can take any\narticle out of the drawer with one hand, while engaging the eyes\nof the spectators with his other hand. A colored cloth should\nbe over the tables, on the side towards the spectators.\n2. Two small tables, at the s\u00eddes of the centre table, may also\nbe useful, as in Fig. 22.\nrG. 22.,\n3. With tables arranged somewhat in this manner, the ama-\nteur will be able to take up articles, from either the surface or\nback of the tables, without attracting notice to his doing so.\nHe must practise taking up things with one hand, while his other\nhand and his eyes are ostensibly occupied with some other ob-\nject; for if the spectators see him looking behind his table, their\neyes will immediately follow in the same direction,\n4"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 78, "folder": "", "text": "62\nLATEST MAGIC\nconfinement. We will drop him into the other\nflower-pot, which, as you see, is also empty.\"\n(The card is in this case not dropped through the\npot, but into the pocket.)\n\"Now we shall be able to get on. No ! my left\nthumb tells me that there is still something not\nquite right..' (Glance into second flower-pot.)\n\"Upon my word, this is too bad. The king of\nhearts has already. got away and followed the\nqueen again.\" (Lift flower-pot, and show that the\nking has disappeared.) \"I thought I had him\nsafe, but his prison, as you see, is empty, and here\nhe is again in the first flower-pot.\" (Show the\nthree cards accordingly.) \"He is too many for\nme; I can't show you what I had intended. I must\ngive it up and try something else.\"\nVariation. Load mat with a single king of\nhearts and the queen of clubs, the latter taken from\nthe pack. Proceed as before up to the putting of\nthe king in prison, and then exhibit the queen of\nclubs, as having come in pursuit of her spouse, the\npatter being modified accordingly. The impris-\noned king of hearts will still be found to have\nescaped, but in this case to have returned to the\npack.\nFor lack of the two flower-pots, the drawn cards\nmay be dropped with the concealed pair into a bor-\nrowed hat, and the jealous king made to escape\nfrom a card-box, or some similar appliance.\nApropos of the card-box, by the way, I have"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 72, "folder": "", "text": "62\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nfrom China to Peru, from the Equator to the Poles, you per-\nceive he still sounds like a hardy Pole himself. (Rap, rap,\nrap.)\n\"I perceive, however, by the glaring of his eye, that, after\nmy too rough handling, he is desirous of starting on his travels.\nI suppose we must provide him with the needful for his ex-\npenses.\nLarge sums are given now-a-days to special corre-\nspondents in foreign countries; who will kindly give him suffi-\ncient? He will want a golden or silver key to open some curi-\nosities he may wish to inspect in foreign cities. (Pause.) Oh.\nwell, as there is a delay about it, I must myself supply him. I\nthink I have a few disposable coins in my pocket : he shall havo\nthem.\"\nSuiting the action to the word, while your left hand holds the\nupper part of the cloak near the neck, EO as to cover what you\nare doing, you withdraw the wooden body with your right hand,\nwhile you move your right hand down to your+pocket for the\ncoins. You then leave the body of the doll in your pocket, and\ntaking out the coins, present them to the head and cloak of the\nfigure, which is held in your left hand, saying: \"There, my\ngood friend, you can now, if you wish, proceed on your tour to\nAlgiers, or Dahomey, or Timbuctoo, or wherever the universal\nYankee travelers fancy at the present to resort.\n\" Ah, I see he is pleased and in good spirits again. He\nwishes apparently to bid you good-bye. You will excuse his\nlooking also round about him, to judge whether the weather is\nfair to set ont; after which I will lay my hand on his head to ex-\npress my good wishes for his journey. I dare say he will not\nstay much longer after that than a schoolboy does after his mas-\nter has bid him good-bye.\"\nPlace with formal ceremony your hand on his head, press it\ndown through the opening below it, receive it in your left hand\nunderneath the cloak, and bestow it safely in the pocket.\nAffect astonishment at finding the gown alone left in your\nhands, and fold it up with a lamentation at his departure. You\nmay say : \"It is clear that he has chosen to go to a hot climate,\nas ho has left his cloak behind him.'\nDiscourse for a few minutes about sending a telegram to over-\ntake him at London or San Francisco-talk about the sea-pas-\nsage, railways, tunnels, and what not.\n\"Ah, but I need none of these if I wish him back. I can\nsummon him again by a few mystic wavings of my wand and by\nsecret art. Hey, my friend, I need thy presence ; quick, re-\nturn, I pray you. I wish to see you again in your familiar\ngarb-\nBy the pricking of my thumbs,\nSomething ghostly hither comes.'"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 80, "folder": "", "text": "64\nLATEST MAGIC\nof the same shape, but a trifle larger. The loose\nslab is retained, but it is only loose when the per-\nformer desires it to be SO. The box may be\nhandled beforehand with the utmost freedom, and\nafter a card has been placed in it it may be closed\nand re-opened any number of times, nothing hap-\npening till, \"Presto,\" a mere touch in the right\nplace, and the flap is free. When the box is now\nclosed, this falls into the opposite portion, con-\ncealing the card, or producing another; and again\nlocking itself, automatically, in its new position.\nThe box in this condition will again stand the\nclosest scrutiny.\nWhether this box is yet placed upon the market\nI cannot say (having myself been favoured with a\nsight of an \"advance\" model), but it will certainly\ncommend itself to all who appreciate a good thing\nin the way of ingenuity of contrivance and\nmechanical finish.\nA ROYAL TUG OF WAR\nPreparation. Card mat to be loaded with king\nof hearts and king of diamonds, not taken from\nthe pack in use. Flower-pots on table.\nPerformer advances with ordinary pack, deliv-\nering patter to something like the following effect.\n\"It is not generally known, ladies and gentlemen,\nwhat a lot of human nature there is about a pack\nof cards. They have their likes and dislikes, and"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 74, "folder": "", "text": "64\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nplate the coins collected in the hat, which will coincide with the\nnumber he has appeared to collect so magically from various\nsources. When adroitly done, this trick is very pleasing and ef-\nfective.\nTRICK 27.-To Furnish Ladies With a Magic Supply of\nTea or Coffee, at their selection, From One and the\nSame Jug.\nPREPARATION.\nHavc a metal jug to hold not less than three pints. It must\nbe constructed with two compartments in the lower part of it,\nholding about a pint and a quarter each, and these must each\nhave a pipe connected with the spout of the jug and another\npipe connecting with its handle, and in the handle a small hole\nabout the size of a letter-o-ir this print. These lower com-\npartments must be filled with good tea and coffee before the jug\nis produced.\nThe upper chamber or compartment, like the upper portion of\na patent coffee-pot, must have no communication with the lower\ndivisions, and must be well closed also at the top with a tin cov-\ner, closely fitting. Have half a dozen small tea-cups and half a\ndozen small coffee-cups ready on a tray.\nBegin the trick by placing openly in the upper compartment\ncoffee-berries and tea, mixing them together. Take up, as a\nsudden thought, an old blacking bottle, and pretend to pour\nfrom it into the jug, to furnish highly-colored liquid to improvo\nthe coffee; and a little gunpowder, about a teaspoonful, may bo\nfired off over the mixture to make the tea strong. Wavo your\nwand over the jug.\nThen you may address the ladies : inform them that the ingre-\ndients are well mixed, and invite them to name which they will\nprefer, \"tea or coffee,\" as you can produce either at their com-\nmand from the same jng.\nGet some friend to hand the cups, while you follow him, and,\nby unstopping the holes in the handle for admitting air upon the\ncoffec or tea, the one of them that each lady names will flow out\nfrom the spout of this magic jug.\nTRICK 28.-A Pleasing Exhibition for both the Per-\nformer and the Audience) to view when they feel a\nlittle. Exhausted.\nPREPARATION.\nHave two pint bottles and one quart bottle; the pint bottles"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 82, "folder": "", "text": "66\nLATEST MAGIC\nmuch chance now for the poor king of hearts, left\nsingle-handed. He won't hold out long. Yes!\nNow he is gone too.\"\nPerformer lifts flower-pot, with fingers inside\npressing against pocket, and shows it apparently\nempty. \"And here, in the other flower-pot\" (lifts\nit and shows the four cards lying together on\ntable) \"are all four Kings. One more score to\nblack. You didn't see the cards go ? Of course\nyou didn't; because they fly horizontally, like the\naeroplanes, and they go SO fast that they get there\nalmost before they have started.\"\nSYMPATHETIC CARDS\nPreparation. Card mat loaded with two cards\nof different denomination, say the queen of clubs\nand the knave of diamonds, taken from the pack.\nFlower-pots on table.\nPresentation. Force the corresponding cards\nof same colour (in this case the queen of spades\nand the knave of hearts), lay the pack aside, and\ntake the drawn cards back face down on the mat,\nleaving them thus on table till needed. The patter\nmay run as follows:\n\"As I think I have mentioned before, the cards\nof a pack, from long association, become a sort of\nfamily. They have their likes and dislikes, just\nas human beings have. In particular, there is a\ncurious bond of sympathy between each pair of"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 76, "folder": "", "text": "66\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\ndone so, remove the stopper at bottom of the large bottle as you\nplace it on its stand, and immediately place the large cover over\nit. The mixed liquid will gradually run out into the concealed\ncavity in the stand.\nYou must now talk a little magic nonsense, to draw off the at-\ntention, while you place the special covers over each of the\nsmall bottles, so that the descending pipes in the covers fit in\nthe necks of the bottles. Remove the tinfoil with which you\nhad covered the holes at A and B.\nWith a few magic waves of your wand, and words of art, say :\n\"I shall now cause the mixed liquids in the centre bottle to ap-\npear severally in their own original bottles.\" Let the covers re,\nmain a few seconds. Clap your hands. saying: \"Change, be-\ngone !\" Lift the centre cover : the large bottle will be seen to\nbe empty. Lift successively the covers from the small bottles :\nthey will be seen to have each their proper wine-one port, the\nother sherry.\nTRICK 29.-To Furnish a Treat to the Gentlemen.\nFor this th 3 magic bottle must be procured. One with three\nor four compartments is amply sufficient. In these placo gin,\nsherry, and port wine, respectively. The bottle will have three\nor four holes, on which you place your fingers as if stopping the\nholes of a flute. You may have a bucket of water and a com-\nmon bottle, resembling the magic one in size and appearance,\nnear your table. Havo ready also a tray of wine-glasses of thick\nglass, and holding only a very small quantity.\nExhibit the common lottle to the audience, and then place it\non your table, and direct attention to somo of the other articles\non your table. \"Now I must begin my experiment. I will\nwash and drain my bottle, that you may scc the experiment from\nthe beginning to the end.\" Place it in the bucket, and while\nshaking it about, and letting the water run out, exchange it for\nthe magic bottle lying by the bucket. Wipe that carefully with\na napkin, as if drying it, and calling two or three of the audi-\nence forward at a time, inquire which they prefer. Have the\nstops according to alphabetical order to prevent your mistaking\n-gin, port, sherry. Continue supplying the small glasses ase\ncalled for, till your bottle gets nearly empty, and then pour them\nout indiscriminately. Thero will havo been sufficient to satisfy\nthe most enger.\nBut if you wish to continue the trick, you may have a second\nmagic botile prepared in the same way, and you will casily, whilo\npropounding some magic charm and gesticulating, make some\npretence that will enable you to exchange the empty for the seo-\nond bottle, and so proceed."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 83, "folder": "", "text": "67\nthe same colour, say the king of hearts and the king\nof diamonds, or the ten of clubs and ten of spades.\nIf they are parted, and they possibly can, they will\nget together again.\n\"I will try to give you an example with the cards\nthat have been drawn. We will put them for the\nmoment in this pretty flower-pot, which, as you see,\nis quite empty.\" (Show by lifting it up, that it is\nso, and then drop the two cards from the mat into\nit, the concealed pair going with them.) \"They\nwill only require to be assisted by a gentle electric\ncurrent, which I shall create by waving my wand,\nSO.\n\"Before we go any further, will the ladies who\ndrew the cards say what they were,-1 don't mind\nasking you now, because they have passed ont of\nmy control. The queen of spades and the knave\nof hearts, you say ? A fortunate choice, for the\nqueen of spades and the knave of hearts happen to\nbe particular friends, so I think we may now be\nsure of success. Now to establish the wireless\nwave, and I doubt not the queen of clubs and the\nknave of diamonds will speedily find them.\n(Make any appropriate gesture with wand.)\n\"Did you notice a little flash, like the striking\nof a very inferior lucifer match in a gale of wind ?\nThat's when they went. Quick work, isn't it ?\nThe cards were timed by two gentlemen one even-\ning, each with his own watch. By the one gentle-\nman's watch they started at one minute past nine,"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 84, "folder": "", "text": "68\nLATEST MAGIC\nand by the other gentleman's watch, they arrived\nat one minute to nine, SO it is clear that they must\nhave made the journey in two minutes less than no\ntime. But let us make sure that they have\narrived.\" Lift the flower-pot, and show the four\ncards lying on the table together. \"And now, to\nconvince you that there is no deception, will some\nlady or gentleman kindly look through the pack,\nand make sure that the queen of clubs and knave\nof diamonds have really left'it.\" Which is found\nto be the case.\nThe trick may of course be worked with any two\npairs of cards, the mat being loaded and the cor-\nresponding cards forced accordingly.\nTELL-TALE FINGERS\nThe discovery, in some more or less mysterious\nway, of an unknown card is one of the stock feats\nof the conjurer, and indeed in one shape or another\nis one of the most hackneyed of card tricks. But\nthe wise magician never discards a good trick sim-\nply because it is an old one. He repolishes it, adds\na bit here, takes away a bit there, presents it in a\nnew shape and with new patter, and behold! the\n\"chestnut\" of yesterday becomes a latest novelty\nof today.\nTo obtain the maximum effect from a trick of the\nabove kind, it is necessary in the first place to con-\nvince the spectator that the drawn card cannot pos-"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 78, "folder": "", "text": "68\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nan old woman. On the other hand, from a want of the know-\nledge of how to proceed, it is very seldom that even a blundering\nattempt at ventriloquism is heard, except from a public plat-\nform.\nThere have been many statements put forward defining ven-\ntriloquism, but we are decidedly of opinion that the theory of two\nof the most celebrated of foreign ventriloquists, Baron de Men-\ngen and M. St. Gille, who were sufficiently unselfish to avow the\nsecret of their art, is not only the most correct, but it is at once\nthe most reasonable and the most natural.\nFrom Baron de Mengen's account of himself, and the observa-\ntions made by M. de la Chapelle, in his frequent examinations of\nSt. Gille, whom weshall afterwards refer to, it seems that the\nfactitious ventriloquist voice does not (as the etymology of the\nword imports) proceed from the belly, but is formed in the in-\nner parts of the mouth and throat.\nThe art does not depend on a particular structure or organiza-\ntion of these parts, but may be acquired by almost any one ar-\ndently desirous of attaining it, and determined to persevere in\nrepeated trials.\nThe judgments we form concerning the situation and distance\nof\nbodies, by means of the senses mutually assisting and correct-\ning each other, seem to be entirely founded on experience ; and\nwe pass from the sign to the thing signified by it immediately, or\nat least without any intermediate steps perceptible to our-\nselves.\nllence it follows that if a man, though in the same room with\nanother, can by any peculiar modifications of the organs of\nspeech, produce a sound which, in faintness, tone, body, and\nevery othrer sensible quality, perfectly resembles a sound delivered\nfrom the roof of an opposite house, the ear will naturally, with-\nout examination, refer it to that situation and distance ; the\nsound which he hears being only a sign, which from infancy he\nhas become accustomed, by experience, to associate with the idea\nof a person speaking from a house-top. A deception of this kind\nis practised with success on the organ and other musical in-\nstruments.\nRolandus, in his Aglossostomographia,\" mentions, that if the\nmediastinum, which is naturally a single membrane, be divided\ninto tivo parts, the speech will seem to come out of the breast, so\nthat the bystanders will fancy the person possessed.\nMr. Gough, in the Manchester Memoirs,\" vol. V. part ii. p.\n633 London, 1802, investigates the method whereby men judge by\nthe car of the position of sonorous bodies relative to their own\npersons.\nThis author observes, in general that a sudden change in direc-\ntion of sound, our knowledge of which, he conceives, does not"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 12, "folder": "", "text": "7 V / = ,\nP88\nBEST BOOK ON THE \"BLACK ART.\"\nPARLOR PASTIMES.\nA NEW BOOK ON\nMAGIC, CONJURING, LEGERDEMAIN,\nAND PRESTIDIGITATION.\nBY THE CELEBRATED\nPROFESSOR RAYMOND\nThis work is certainly the most exhaustive one on Magic that has ever\nbeen issued. It exposes all the secrets of tho Wizard's Art. No trick or\nillusion of importance is left unnoticed, and tho explanations are made in\nso simplo a manner that any one of ordinary comprehension can readily\nunderstand and perform them. The book thoroughly elucidates all tho\nmysteries connected with\nWhite Magic,\nGalvanism,\nNatural Magic,\nMagnetism,\nJugglery,\nLegerdemain,\nSleight-of-Hand,\nNecromancy,\nElectricity,\nFireworks,\nChemistry,\nMechanics,\nCards,\nThe Black Art,\n1\nCoins,\nPrestidigitation.\nIt also contains a grand assortment of\nRIDDLES, CONUNDRUMS, CHARADES, ENIGMAS, RE-\nBUSES, TRANSPOSITIONS, ANAGRAMS, PUZZLES,\nPARADOXES, ACROSTICS, AND PROBLEMS.\nA stndy of this extremely interesting work would make any one thor-\noughly expert in the art of Amusing, whether in private or public. Tho\nwork may be consulted with profit either by the Amateur or Professional\nMagician.\nPrice Twenty-Five Cents.\nSent to any address on receipt of price. Address\nHURST & CO., 75 NASSAU STREET, New YORK."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 86, "folder": "", "text": "70\nLATEST MAGIC\nlightly, without leaving upon it our sign manual\nin the shape of a more or less perfect impression\nof our fingers, imperceptible to ourselves, but quite\nvisible to the expert in such matters.\n\"Practice in distinguishing such points forms\na highly interesting study. Of course it must be\npursued with a proper amount of tact, or it may\nget you into trouble, as in the case of a gentleman\nI once heard of who took up the study with more\nzeal than discretion. He said to his wife, not lead-\ning up to the subject gently, as he should have done,\nbut in a peremptory sort of way, 'Maria, I want\nyour finger-prints.' Unfortunately, Maria was\nrather a quick-tempered lady, and she had just\nbeen having a few words, of a hostile nature, with\nthe cook. She slapped his face, and said, 'Well,\nnow you've got 'em.' He had They were very\ndistinct, but not quite in the shape he wanted. I\nam going to ask permission to read some of your\nfinger-prints, but, I trust without fear of such\npainful results.\n\"In the first place, I should like this pack of\ncards to be thoroughly well shuffled.\"\nWhile this is done, performer palms the three\nknown cards, and when the pack is returned, pro-\nceeds to force them on different members of the\ncompany. Each of the drawers is requested to\nallow his or her card to lie for a few moments face\ndown on the palm of the outspread hand. The\ncards drawn are then returned to the pack, which"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 80, "folder": "", "text": "70\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nprised that the French Academy adopted this view of the subject,\nand laid down that the art consists in an accurate imitation of any\ngiven sound (IS it reachis the car. In conformity with a thcory so\nincontrovertible, physiologists have suggested a varicty of\nmovements of the vocal organs to explain still further the ori-\nginating cause; and some have gone so far as to contend for a\npeculiarity of structure in these organs as an essential require-\nment but they have wisely omitted to specify what. Noth-\ning, however, can be more accurate than the description of\n\"therssence\" of ventriloquy in the \"English Cyclopadia --name-\nly, that it \"consists in creating illusions as to the distance and direc-\ntion whence a sound has travelled.\" How those sounds are pro-\nduced, we shall show in another chapter,\nVENTRILOQUISM AMONGST THE ANCIENTS.\nCharles Lamb gave utterance to the thouglit that it was\n\" pleasant to contemplate the head of the Ganges,\" but tho\nstudent of ventriloquism finds it difficult to obtain a view of\nthe source of his art. In the dim and misty ages of antiquity,\nhe may trace under various guises the practice of it. Many of\nthe old superstitions were fostered by its neans ; from the cra-\ndle of mankind to the birthplace of idolatry, we incidentally\nlearn of the belief in a familiar spirit-a second voice, which\nafterwards took the form of divination.\nThe various kinds of divination amongst the nations of an-\ntiquity which were stated by the priesthood to be by a spirit, a\nfamiliar spirit, cr a spirit of divination, are now supposed to have\nbeen effected by means cf ventriloquism. Divination by a fam-\niliar spirit can be tracked through a long period of time. By\nreference to Leviticus XX. 27 it will be seen that the Mosaic law\nforbade the Hebrews to consult those having familiar spirits, and\nto put to death the possessor. The Mosaic law was given about\nfifteen hundred years before Clirist. Divining by a familiar\nspirit was, however, so familiar to the Jews, that the prophet\nIsaiah draws a powcrful illustration from the kind of voice heard\nin such divination, see Isaiah xxix. 4.\nThere can be little doubt but the Jews became acquainted with\nthis voice during their compulsory captivity in Egypt. In many\nof the mysteries which accompanied the worship of Osiris, the\nuncarthly voice speaking from hidden depths of unknown heiglits\nwas common. Some philosophers have imagined that a series of\ntubes and acoustical appliances were used to accomplish these\nmysterious sounds. The statute of Memnon will instantly sug-\ngest itself as a familiar instance. The gigantic stone-head was"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 88, "folder": "", "text": "72\nLATEST MAGIC\nror before each new attempt, so as to get a clear\nimpression.\nThe trick as above described can be worked with\nany pack of cards, but where those used are the\nperformer's own property, he can make it even\nmore effective by marking the three cards to be\nfreed in such a way as to be distinguishable (by\nhimself only) by their backs. The drawers in this\ncase are requested to press their hand against the\nback of the card, and the cards are spread face\ndown upon the table, the performer apparently not\nknowing the nature of the card indicated to him\nuntil he has turned it up.\nDIVINATION DOUBLY DIFFICULT\nThis trick, though it merely rests upon a com-\nbination of methods already familiar to the expert,\nmay as a whole fairly claim to be a complete nov-\nelty. The mise en sc\u00e8ne is SO simple, and the\nroom for deception apparently SO small, that to the\nuninitiated it seems like a genuine miracle.\nUnlike most card tricks, it is even better adapted\nto the stage than to the drawing-room.\nThe effect of the trick, baldly stated, is that the\nperformer divines the nature of nine cards,\nselected apparently quite haphazard, and then\npicks out the corresponding cards from another\npack, freely shuffled and covered by a handker-\nchief."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 82, "folder": "", "text": "72\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nusury, and extortion, and was haunted by remorse of conscience.\nAfter some conversation on demons and spectres, the pains of pur\ngatory, &c., during an interval of silence, a voice is heard, like\nthat of the banker's deceased father, complaining of his dreadful\nsituation in purgatory, and calling upon him to rescue him from\nthence, by putting into the hands of Louis Brabant, then with\nhim, a large sum for the redemption of Christians in slavery with\nthe Turks ; threatening him at the same time with eternal damna-\ntion if he did not thus expiate his own sins. Upon a second in-\nterview, in which his ears were saluted with the complaints and\ngroans of his father, and of all his deceased relations, imploring\nhim, for the love of God, and in the name of every saint in the\ncalendar, to have mercy on his own soul and others, Cornu\nobeyed the heavenly voice, and gave Louis 10,000 crowns, with\nwhich hc returned to Paris, and married his mistress.\nThe works of M. L'Abbe La Chapelle, issued 1772, and be-\nfore alluded to, contain descriptions of the ventriloquial achieve-\nments of Baron Mengen at Vienna ; and those of M. St. Gille,\nnear Paris, are equally interesting and astonishing. The former\ningeniously constructed a doll with moveable lips, which he\ncould readily control by a movement of the fingers under the\ndress ; and with this automaton he was accustomed to hold hu-\nmorous and satirical dialogues. He ascribed proficiency in his\nart to the frequent gratification of a propensity for counterfeiting\nthe cries of the lower animals, and the voices of persons with\nwhom he was brought in contact. So expert, indeed, had prac-\ntice rendered him in this way, that the sounds uttered by him did\nnot seem to issue from his own mouth. La Chapelle, having\nheard many surprising circumstances related concerning one M.\nSt. Gille, a grocer at St. Germainen-Laye, near Paris, whose powers\nas a ventriloquist had given occasion to many singular and divert-\ning scenes, formed the resolution of seeing him. Being seated\nwith him on the opposite side of a fire, in a parlor on the ground\nfloor, and very attentively observing him, the Abbe, after half an\nhour's conversation with M. St. Gille, heard himself called, on a\nsudden, by his name and title, in a voice that seemed to come from\nthe roof of a house at a distance ; and whilst he was pointing to\nthe house from which the voice had appeared to him to proceed,\nhe was yet more surprised at hearing the words, \"it was not\nfrom that quarter, \" apparently in the same kind of voice as be-\nfore, but which now seemed to issue from under the earth at one\nof\nthe corners of the room. In short, this factitious voice played,\nas it were, everywhere about him, and seemed to proceed from\nany quarter or distance from which the operator chose to trans-\nmit it to him. To the Abbe, though conscious that the voice pro-\nceeded from the mouth of M. St. Gille, he appeared absolutely\nmute while bre was exercising his talent ; nor could any change"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 84, "folder": "", "text": "74\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nlic and private, made his company in high request among the up-\nper circles. The Lord Mayor of the City, in particular, received\nthe ventriloquist with great distinction, and invited him several\ntimes to dine at the Mansion House. But it unluckily happened\nthat on every occasion when M. Alexandre dined there, le could\nnot stay to spend the evening, having contracted engagements\nelsewhiere. The Lord Mayor expressed much regret at this, and\nthe ventriloquist himself was annoyed on the same account, being\nwilling to do his best to entertain the guests whom the Lord May-\nor had asked each time to meet him.\nAt last, on meeting M. Alexandre one day, the Lord Mayor en-\ngaged him to dine at the Mansion House on a remote day. 'I fix\nit purposely, \" said his lordship, \"at so distant a period, because\nI wish to make sure this time of your remaining with us through\nthe evening. Through fear of seeming purposely to slight his\nlordship, M. Alexandre did not dare to tell the Mayor that on\nthat very morning he had accepted an invitation from a noble-\nble man of high rank to spend at his house the evening of the\nidentical day so unfortunately pitched on by the civic dignitary.\nAll the ventriloquist said in reply was, \"I promise, my lord to\nremain at the Mansion House, till you, yourself think it time for\nme to take my leave.\" Ah, well,\" said the Lord Mayor, and\nhe went off perfectly satisfied.\nAt the appointed day Alexandre sat himself down at the mag-\nistrate's board. Never had the ventriloquist comported himself\nwith so much spirit and gaiety. He insisted on devoting bumpers\nto each and every lady present.\nThe toasts went round, the old port flowed like water, and the\nartiste in particular seemed in danger of loosing his reason under\nits potent influence. When others stopped, he stopped not, but\ncontinued filling and emptying incessantly. By and-by, his eyes\nbegan to stare, his visage became purple, his tongue grew con-\nfused, his whole body seemed to steam of wine, and finally he\nsank from his chair in a state of maudlin, helpless insensibil-\nity.\nRegretting the condition of his guest, the Lord Mayor got him\nquietly lifted, and conveyed to his own carriage, giving orders for\nhim to be taken home to his lodgings. As soon as M. Alexandre\nwas deposited there, he became a very different being. It was\nnow ten o'clock, and but half an hour was left to him to prepare\nfor his appointed visit to the Duke of- suree. The ventrilo-\nquist disrobed himself, taking first from his breast a quantity of\nsponge which he had placed beneath his waiste oat, and into the\npores of which he had, with a quick and dexter ous hand, poured\nthe greater portion of the wine which he had apparently swal-\nlowed.\nHaving washed from his person all token of his simy ated in-"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 92, "folder": "", "text": "76\nLATEST MAGIC\nthe twelve cards he has taken from under the hand-\nkerchief, and shows them fanwise. Addressing\nthe first drawer, he says, \"Your three cards are\namong these, I think, sir?\" and the same question\nis then addressed to the other two choosers, the\nanswer being of course in the affirmative.\n\"'Now, gentlemen, in order to prove that there\nis no deception, I will take away three cards at a\ntime, one from each set of three. Pray observe\nthat from beginning to end, I have not looked at\nthe face of any card.\"7 He accordingly removes\none of the forced, and two of the indifferent cards,\nmaking however some pretence of selection and\nthrows them aside. \"There are now only two\ncards belonging to each gentleman left. That is\nso, is it not?\"\nThe question is addressed to each of the three\ndrawers in turn, and answered accordingly, after\nwhich the same process is again twice repeated.\n\"And now, gentlemen, we have three cards left,\nbelonging to neither of you, which is just as it\nshould be. It is a peculiarity of this experiment\nthat if it comes out right it always brings good\nluck to those taking part in it, SO you may all fairly\nexpect to live happily ever afterwards, and I trust\nyou will.\"\nIf the performance is given before the family\ncircle, or very intimate friends (who sometimes\nconsider themseles privileged to be disagreeable),\nit is just possible that some ill-mannered person,"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 86, "folder": "", "text": "76\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nvoice urged them to make haste, but the feelings of the people\nmay be imagined when the cart was empty and nobody was found,\nwhile Alexandre and his friend walked off laughing at the unex-\npected results of their trick.\nIt would be obviously invidious to compare the merits of liv-\ning professors. Mr. Maccabe, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Thurton and\nMr. Macmillan have long been favorites with the public.\n--\nTHE THEORY OF VENTRILOQUISM.\nMany physiologists aver that ventriloquism is obtained by\nspeaking during the inspiration of air. It is quite possible to ar-\nticulate under these circumstances, and the plan may with advan-\ntage be occasionally adopted; but our own practical experience\nand close observation of many public performers, and of not\na few private friends who have attained distinctness and no\nsmallamount of facility in the art, convince us that-the general\ncurrent of utterance is, as in ordinary speech, during oxpiration\nof the breath. Some imagine that the means of procuring the\nrequired imitation are comprised in a thorough management of\nthe echoes of sound. Unfortunately, however, for this theory,\nan ccho only repeats what has been already brought into cxist-\nence. Several eminent ventriloquists, including the late Mr.\nMatthews, have displayed the vocal illusion while walking in\nthe streets. Baron Mengen describes as follows his mode of\nspeaking, when he desired the illusion to take the direction\nof a voice emanating from the doll : \"I press my tongue against\nthe tecth, and then circumscribe a cavity between left check and\nteeth, in which the voice is produced by the air held 723 receive in the\npharynx. The sounds thus reccive a hollow and muffled tonc,\nwhich causes them to appear to come from a distance.\" The\nBaron furthermore mentions that it is essential to have the breath\nwell under control, and not to respire more than can be avoided.\nM. St. Gille was scen to look somewhat exhausted when the vo-\ncal illusion grew less perfect. Wc ourselves, and all ventrilo-\nquists with whom we have conferred, have acknowledged that\nthey have experienced fatigue in the chest, and have attributed\nit to the slow expiration of the breath. M. St. Gille, with the\nmajority of ventriloquists, was often compelled to cough during\nthe progress of his exercitation.\nTo attain an exact and positive knowledge of the modifications\nof voice specified as ventriloquism, it is important to be familiar\nwith the distinctions of the sounds uttered by the mouth ; and to\nascertain how the organs act in producing those vocal modifica-\ntions, it is necessary to know how the breath is vocalized in all"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 94, "folder": "", "text": "78\nLATEST MAGIC\nMr. Farrelly's idea is decidedly ingenious, but\nthe uses of the biseaut\u00e9 pack are rather limited,\nand the fact that the pack must be reversed before\nthe card is replaced in it is a drawback. It struck\nme, on reflection, that the idea might be developed,\nin a slightly different direction, to greater advan-\ntage.\nMy own plan is as follows: Two packs, exactly\nalike are used. As to one of these, I treat all four\ncorners after the manner indicated by Mr. Far-\nrelly, when any card of the second pack, inserted\ninto the one so treated, naturally becomes in effect,\na long card. There is in this case no need to\nreverse the pack, and as the minute projection is\nduplicated at each end of the diagonal, a less degree\nof rounding off is necessary.\nAs a practical illustration of the possible uses\nof such a pack, I offer the trick which I am about to\ndescribe. The expert will recognise that, save for\nthe use of the new pack, it is merely a combination\nof well-known methods, but as regards the mode\nof presentation it is original, and I think will be\nfound worthy of a place in the r\u00e9pertoire of the\ncard-conjurer.\nFor the purpose of description we will call the\npack with rounded corners the \"short,\" and the\nother the \"long\" pack. Three known cards are\nborrowed from the long pack, which may then be\nput aside, as it plays no further part in the trick.\nThese three cards are palmed, and after the short"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 88, "folder": "", "text": "78\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nor contracting the pharynx; by dilating or contracting the\nmouth ; by contracting the communication between the pharynx\nand mouth, so as to constitute them distinct chambers, or by dila-\nting the opening so as to throw them into one, which is chiefly\nattained by movements of the soft palate and by altering- the\nform of the mouth'scavity, which is effected by varying the position\nof the tongue. Each of these modifications of the vocal tube con-\nveys a peculiarity of quality to the voice,-all however, being\nlocal or laryngeal sounds. Moreover, sounds can be produced in\nthe vocal tube, apart from the larynx. These, strictly speaking,\nare not vocal sounds, though some of them may be of a definite and\nuniform pitch, while others are mere noises-as rustling, whisper-\ning, gurgling, whistling, snoring, and the like. Now, as every-\nthing audible comes under the classes of noise, sound, or musical\nsound, and as each variety originates in the vocal apparatus of man,\nit is obvious that an ordinary vocal apparatus is all that is required foi\nthe achicvement of the fents of ventriloquism.\nA person having an ear acutely perceptive to the nice distinc-\ntions of sounds, may, by a little practice, imitate many sounds\nwith accuracy. Those persons, however, who are highly endow-\ned with the mental requisites, which consist of an intense desire\nto mimic, coupled with the ability to originate mimetic ideas, are\nable to imitate sounds at first hearing.\nWe next proceed to treat of those illusions, where the voice so\nperfectly counterfeits the reality intended, that it appears not to\nissue from the mimic, but from an appropriate source, in what-\never direction, and at whatever distance the source may be. Wo\ndo not hear the distance which a sound has travelled from its\nsource, but we judge the distance from our former experience, by\ncomparing the loudness which we hear with the known distance\nand known loudness of similar sounds heard on former occasions.\nCommon experience will prove that we oftener err in estimating\nthe distance of uncommon tuan of familiar sounds. In apology\nfor such an error, the ordinary language is, \"It seemed too loud\nto come so far,\" or \" It seemed too near to be so faint a sound,\nas the case may be, -both of which are apologies for an erroneous\njudgment, and not for faulty hearing. Near sounds are louder\nthan distant ones. Now, by preserving the same pitch, quality, and\nduration, but with an accurately graduated reduction of loudness, a series\nforming a perspective of sounds may be created, which, falling in\nsuccession on the car, will suggest to the mind a constantly in-\ncreasing distance of the sound's source. The estimate, then,\nwhich is formed of the distance which a sound has travelled be-\nfore reaching the car is a judgment of the mind formed by com-\nparing a present perception (by hearing) with the remembrance of\na former loudness in connection with its known distance. With\nregard to direction, it is observed; \"The direction whencea sound"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 24, "folder": "", "text": "8\nLATEST MAGIC\nfingers in the act of picking up the pot, the interior\nof the latter may be freely shown after their disap-\npearance.\nThe pocket, previously loaded accordingly\n(though the flower-pot is shown, to all appearance,\nempty), may also be used for the production of a\ncard or cards.\nPATTER APPROPRIATE TO THE FAIRY\nFLOWER-POTS\nThe flower-pots may be introduced as follows:\n\"Permit me to call your attention to one of my\nlatest improvements. Conjurers have a foolish\nfancy, as I dare say you have noticed, for borrow-\ning other people's hats. If a conjurer wants to\ncollect money from the air, he collects it in a hat.\nIf he wants to make an omelette, he cooks it in a\nhat. If he wants to hatch a few chickens, he does\nit in a hat. And, for fear of accidents, he never\nuses his own hat, but always borrows somebody\nelse's. It's very wrong of us. As Sir William\nGilbert says, about some other forms of crime,\n'It's human nature, P'raps. If so,\nO! isn't human nature low.'\nBut we all do it. The worst of it is, we get so in\nthe way of borrowing hats that we do it without\nthinking. You will hardly believe that one even-\ning I came away from the theatre with two hats."}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 18, "folder": "", "text": "8\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nlence to be obtained by proportionate intelligence and dexterity.\nThere are attainments in the art, at which, by natural qualifica-\ntion and peculiar adaptation, special study, practice, and expe-\nrience enable somo few only to arrive. These qualifications\ncannot be easily communicated to every one who might wish to\npossess them; and therefore the highest adepts will ever havo\nan incommunicable distinction. But this is no moro than is\nthe case in the medical, the legal, and any learned profession,\nin all which the most eminent proficients reserve to themselves,\nor unavoidably retain, an unquestioned superiority. At tho\nsame time there is much in our art that may be communicated,\nand the present papers will show to our friends that we are will-\ning to impart to others such portions of our art as they are ca-\npable of acquiring; and we trust that what wo shall communi-\ncate to them will furnish them much rational recreation among\nthemselves, and enable them to supply innocent and interesting\namusement to their friends and companions."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 96, "folder": "", "text": "80\nLATEST MAGIC\nof the drawn cards in succession, and placing the\ncards left at bottom on one or other of the three\nheaps; then solemnly rub your wand, without\nremark, with a silk handkerchief, and lay it across\nthe tops of the three packets.)\n\"Now, if the electric influence is strong enough,\nthe three chosen cards will gradually sink down\nto the bottom of these three heaps. A nice easy\nway of finding them out, is it not ? It will take a\nminute or two for the charm to operate, so in the\nmeantime I will try to find out the names of the\ncards for myself by thought-reading. You drew\na card, I think, Sir? Will you kindly think of\nthat card, as hard as you can, and meanwhile look\nstraight at me? Thank you. Judging by physiog-\nnomy, I should say that you were rather a ladies'\nman. Don't blush, Sir. It's nothing to be\nashamed of, is it, ladies ? But he did blush, didn't\nhe? Now, being a ladies' man, you will naturally\nhave chosen one of the ladies of the pack, that is to\nsay one of the queens, and your blush suggests that\nit was a red queen. Now there are only two red\nqueens to choose from. The queen of hearts rep-\nresents Love, and the queen of diamonds Money.\nIf I read your thoughts aright I feel safe in declar-\ning that you chose the queen of hearts. That is\nright, I think? Quite simple, when you know how\nit's done.\n\"And now, Madam, for your card. I can see at\na glance that you have a liking for aristocratic"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 90, "folder": "", "text": "80\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nwith the previous chapter, as to the effect to be produced, not on\nhimself, but on the spectators and audience. And we may assure him,\nthat if he has a fair range of voice, a dilligent observance of the\nrules which we are about to lay down, coupled with attention to\nthe nature of sound as it falls upon the ear, will lead him to such\ntriumphs as, in all probability, he never imagined he could have\nattained-ar assurance which we are emboldened to offer from\nour own pursuit and practical realization of the art.\nThe student must bear in mind that the means are simply natural\nones, used in accordance with natural laws. We have given him\nthe acoustical theory of the effect on the auric nerve, and the\nmeans are the organs of respiration and sound, with the adjoining\nmuscles. They are the diaphragm, the lungs, the trachea, the\nlarynx, the pharynx, and the mouth. The diaphragm is a very\nlarge convex muscle, situated below the lungs, and having full\npower over respiration. The lungs are the organs of respiration,\nand are seated at each side of the chest ; they consist of air-tubes\nminutely ramified in a loose tissue, and terminating in very small\nsacs, termed air-cells. The trachea is a tube, the continuation of\nthe larynx, commonly called the windpipe : through this the air\npasses to and from the lungs. Iti formed of cartilaginous rings,\nby means of which it may be clongated or shortened. The larynx\nis that portion of the air-tube immediately above the trachea : its\nposition is indicated by a large projection in the throat. In the\ninterior of this part of the throat are situated the vocal chords.\nThey are four bands of clastic substance somewhat similar to\nIndia-rubber. The cavity, or opening between these vocal\nchords is called the glottis : it possesses the power of expanding\nor contracting under the influence of the muscles of the larynx\nThe pharynx is a cavity above the larynx, communicating with\nthe nasal passages : it is partially visible when the mouth is\nopened and the tongue lowered. Near this part of the root of the\ntongue is situated the epiglottis, which acts as a lid or cover in\nclosing over the air-tube during the act of swallowing. The mouth\nforms a cavity to reflect and strengthen the resonance of the vi-\nbrations produced in the air-tube ; it also possesses numberless\nminute powers of contraction and modification.\nWe now proceed to give the instructions to which we have re-\nferred-instructions guaranteed by a proficiency which we are\never ready to submit to the ordeal of a critical examination, ci-\nther in private or in public.\nIf the student will pay strict attention to the parts printed in\nitalics, and will practice the voices here specified, he will find that\nthey are the key to all imitative sounds and vorces ; and, according to\nthe range of his voice and the capabilities of his mimetic power,\nhe will be enabled to imitate the voices of little children, of old\npeople, and, in fact, almost every sound which he hears."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 8, "folder": "", "text": "8061\n'00 3H.L\nMEN\nINICHOH\n18\nNIGNOH -\nJO\nDNINSVINNO TH.L"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 98, "folder": "", "text": "82\nLATEST MAGIC\nit to a still more striking conclusion. In this case\nhe may continue as follows:\n\"Now, I should like to show you a curious effect\nof sympathy. I take away these three cards and\nhand the rest of the pack to the gentleman who\ndrew the queen of hearts. Kindly hold it up above\nyour head where all can see it. The three drawn\ncards\" (show them one by one) \"I place in this\nbox. Again I electrify my wand a little, and lay\nit across the box. Now I want each gentleman or\nlady to think of his or her card. Think of it\nkindly, and feel as if you would like to see it again.\nThink hard, please, because it is you, not I, that\nperform this experiment, and if you don't think\nhard it will be a failure. I am pleased to see by\nthe expression of your countenances that you are\nall thinking hard. Thank you very much. You\nmay leave off now. The deed is done. The three\ncards have left the box, and gone back to the pack.\nPlease look it through, sir, and tell the company\nwhether it is not so.\"\nThe reader, being familiar with the wiles of con-\njurers, will doubtless have guessed that the three\ncards supposed to have returned to the pack have\nin fact never left it, being those naturally belong-\ning to it, corresponding with the three long cards.\nBut to the outsider their supposed return will be,\nin the words of the lamented Lord Dundreary,\n\"one of those things that no fellow can under-\nstand.\""}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 92, "folder": "", "text": "82\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nwas thrown out, and the train moved on. And Mr. Frederic\nMaccabe stood confessed, but not penitent.\nVoice No 1. .-To acquire this voice, which we so name for dis-\ntinction's sake, speak any word or sentence in your own natural\ntones ; then open the mouth and fix the jaws fast, as though you\nwere trying to hinder any one from opening them farther or shut-\nting them ; draw the tongue back. in a ball ; speak the same\nwords, and the sound, instcad of being formed in the mouth will\nbe formed in the pharynx. Great attention must be paid to\nholding the jaws rigid. The sound will then be found to imi-\ntate a voice heard from the other side of a door when it is\nclosed, or under a floor, or through a wall. To ventriloquize\nwith this voice, let the operator stand with his back to the au-\ndience against a door. Give a gentle tap at the door, and call\naloud in a natural voice, inquiring \"Who is there ?\" This will\nhave the effect of drawing the attention of the audience to a\nperson supposed to be outside. Then fix the jaw as de-\nscribed, and utter in voice No. 1, any words you please, such as\n\"I want to come in.' Ask quostions in the natural voice and\nanswer in the other. When you have done this, open the door\na little, and hold a conversation with the imaginary person. As\nthe door is now open, it is obvious that the voice must be altered,\nfor a voice will not sound to the car when a door is open the\nsame as when closed. Therefore the voice must be made to ap-\npear face to face, or close to the ventriloquist. To do this the\nvoice must not be altered from the original tiote or pitch, but be\nmade in another part of the mouth. This is done by closing the\nlips tight and drawing onecorner of the mouth downwards, O)\ntowards the ear. Then let the lips open at that corner only, the\nother part to remain closed. Next breathe, as it were, the worde\nout of the orifice formed. Do not speak distinctly, but expcl tho\nbreath in short puffs at each word, and as loud as possible.\nBy\nso doing you will cousc the illusion in the mind of the listeners,\nthat they hear the same voice which they heard when the door\nwas closed, but which is now heard more distinctly and nearer\non account of the door being open. This voice must always be\nused when the ventriloquist wishes it to appear that the sound\ncomes from some one close at hand, but through an obstacle.\nThe description of voice and dialogue may be varied as in the fol-\nlowing examples- -\nEx. 1. THE SUFFOCATED VICTIM.-This was a favoite illus-\ntration of Mr. Love, the polyphonist. A large box or close cup-\nboard is used indiscriminately, as it may be handy. The student\nwill rap or kick the box apparently by accident. The voice will\nthen utter a hoarse and subdued groan, apparently from the box\nor closet."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 100, "folder": "", "text": "84\nLATEST MAGIC\nclosely within that its presence or absence is not\nperceptible to sight. If a coin be laid in the box\nupon the disc and the box is then closed and turned\nover, the disc settles down over the coin in the\nopposite half, either leaving the box apparently\nb\na\nC\nFIG. 14\nempty or exhibiting in place of the original coin a\nsubstitute with which the opposite side of the box\nhas been previously loaded.\nThus far, as the reader will doubtless have per-\nceived, the effect produced (save that a coin instead\nof a card is dealt with) is precisely the same as in"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 94, "folder": "", "text": "84\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nANOTHER VOICE : Watercresses !\nSTUDENT : Really, this is too bad. Go away.\nVOICE : You owe mc ten cents for last week's milk; I was to\nwait.\nSTUDENT : This is intolerable. I'll send for the police.\nVOICE [ironically] ; Send for Sally and p'lice, l'll foller.\nSTUDENT ; Impudent rascal :\nVOICE ; Keep your compliments at home, Master Idlebones.\nSTUDENT [opening the door]: I'll report you to your master.\nVOICE [louder, as the door is opened] ; Will you, young Whipper-\nsnapper, pay us the dime, and let us go?\nSTUDENT offers to pay, while the voice gets weaker in the dis-\ntance with Milk below !\" until it becomes inaudible.\nA conversation may be held in a similar strain with thecellarman :\nand, as a rule, the lowernotes of the voice will be best for voices\nin the basement, and formed as low in the chest as possible.\nSTUDENT : Thomas, are you coming?\nVOICE BELOW [grufty] ; I should think I was.\nSTUDENT ; We are waiting for the beer.\nVOICE [partly aside]: The longer you wait, the greater our honor.\nMary, have another drop.\nSTUDENT ; Why, the scamp is drinking the beer ! Thomas\n!\nWho's there with you?\nVOICE : Myself. [Aside] Make haste with the pot, Mary ; he's\nin such a hurry.\nSTUDENT ; You drinking rascal, how dare you !\nVOICE : Coming, sir. The barrel's nearly empty.\nSTUDENT : I should think so, tippling: as you are at it.\nVOICE ; Now don't be saucy.\nSTUDENT : The fellow is getting intoxicated. Thomas !\nVorca ; Wait till I come. I have waited for you many times.\nSTUDENT : I suppose it is of no use hurrying you?\nVOICE ; No, it isn't, my young tippler. I'm COMING ! coming ! !\ncoming ! ! !\nFrom this illustration the student may proceed to try the second\nvoice.\nNo. II.\nVoice No. 2. - -This is the more easy to be acquired. It is the\nvoice by which all ventriloquists make a supposed person speak\nfrom a long distance, or from, or through the cciling. In the\nfirst place, with your back to the audience, direct their attention to\nthe ceiling by pointing to it or by intently nt it. Call loudly,\nand ack some question, as though you believed some person to\nbe concealed there. Make your own voice very distinct, and as\nnear the lips as possible, inasmuch as that will help the illusion,"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 102, "folder": "", "text": "86\nLATEST MAGIC\nwhile dealt with as may be necessary for the pur-\npose of the trick. After the borrowed coin has\nbeen extracted, the further fall of the disc closes\nthe slot, and bars any possibility of the substitute\ncoin escaping in the same way.\nThe following will be found an easy way of\nworking the exchange.\n\"For the purpose of my next experiment,' says\nthe performer, \"I shall have to ask the loan of a\nhalfcrown; marked in such a way that you can\nbe sure of knowing it again. I should like one, if\npossible, that has seen some service, for a coin in\nthe course of circulation imbibes a certain amount\nof magnetic fluid from each person who handles it ;\nand this renders a well-worn coin more susceptible\nto magical influences than a new one.\"\nThe reason alleged for asking the loan of an old\ncoin is of course \"spoof,\" but there is a reason;\nand it is twofold. In the first place it ensures your\ngetting a coin tolerably like your own; which you\nhave chosen in accordance with that description,\nand which you have marked after some common-\nplace fashion, say with a cross scratched upon one\nof its faces. Secondly, a well-worn coin, having\nlost the sharp edge which is caused by the milling\nin a new one, passes the more easily through the\nslot, which for obvious reasons is kept as narrow as\npossible.\nPerformer, advancing toward the person offer-\ning the coin, continues:"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 96, "folder": "", "text": "86\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nVOICE : Hallo ! who's that?\nSTUDENT ; It's I ! Are you nearly finished?\nVOICE : Only three more slates to put on, master.\nSTUDENT ; I want you here, Jem.\nVOICE ; I am coming directly.\nSTUDENT : Which way, Jem?\nVOICE : Over the roof and down the trap. (Voice is supposed\nto be moving as the student turns and points with his finger.)\nSTUDENT Which way?\nVOICE (nearcr) Through the trap and down the stairs.\nSTUDENT : How long shall you be?\nVOICE : Only a few minutes. I am coming as fast as I can.\nThe voice now approaches the door, and is taken up by the\nsame tone, but produced as in the first voice. As another illus-\ntration, we will introduce the reader to\nTHE INVISIBLE SWEEP.-This is a striking example of the\nsecond voice. Let the student pretend to look up the chimney,\nand rehearse the following or some similar colloquy :-\nSTUDENT : Are you up there?\nVOICE : Yes. Chimley want sweep?\nSTUDENT : Really, it is extraordinary.\nWhat are you\ndoing?\nVOICE : Looking for birds'-nests.\nSTUDENT : Birds'-nests ! There are none there.\nVOICE : Dick says there be.\nSTUDENT : Come down !\nVOICE : I shan't.\nSTUDENT : (stirring the fire) ; I'll make you show yourself.\nVOICE : I say, don't ; it's so hot.\nSTUDENT ; Come down, then.\nVOICE ; Don't be so stupid. Let I alone.\nSTUDENT ; Will you come down?\nVOICE : Yes, I will.\nSTUDENT : What's your name?\nVOICE (much nearer) : Sam Lillyvite. I sdy, what do you want\nmc for among company?\nSTUDENT : To show yourself.\nVOICE (nearer) : What for?\nSTUDENT : To let these ladies and gentlemen see that there are\nmany strange things between heaven and carth, but not Sam\nLillyvite, the sweep.\nAnother good illustration is to hold a conservation with a\nfriend wholives on the first floor, and with whom you can con-\nverse on any subject-as the retired and mystcrious student-but the\nmoment the student can master the elementary sounds, he will\nnot need our assistance in providing him with dialogues, which,\nhowever simple they may be to rend, have an extraordinary effect\nwhen properly spoken.\""}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 98, "folder": "", "text": "88\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nplane is made as though you were dwelling on the last part of the\nword hush-dwell upon the sh a little, as tsh, and then clip it\nshort by, causing the tongue to close with the palate, then over\nagain. Letters will not convey the peculiar sound of sawing-it\nmust be studied from nature.\nA MOUNTAIN ECHO.\nSome persons imagine ventriloquism to be an echo ; but, as wo\nhave said, an echo only repeats what has been said before-it\ncould not answer a question.\nAn echo is reflected sound, and the reflecting body must be at\nsuch a distance that the interval between the perception of the\noriginal and reflected sounds may be sufficient to prevent them\nfrom being blended together. No reflecting surface will produce\na distant echo, unless its distance from the spot where the sound\nproceeds is at least 562 feet, because the shortest interval sufficient\nto render sounds distinctly appre\u00e7iable by the ear is about onc-\ntenth of a second ; therefore, if sounds follow at a shorter inter-\nval, they will form a resonance instead of an echo ; and the time\na sound would take to go and return from a reflecting surface, 561\nfeet distance, would be onc-tenth of a second.\nIt would, therefore, be impossible for a ventriloquist to produce\nan echo in a room of ordinary size, as the walls, being so near,\nwould cause the sounds to be blended, and would only produce\none impression on the car ; and yet the skilled ventriloquist can\nwith case imitate, in a room, a mountain ccho. We will give the\ninstructions, as it is very amusing.\nTurn your back to the listeners ; whistle loud several short,\nquick notes, just as if you were whistling for a dog then, as\nquick as possible, after the last note, and as softly and subdued as\npossible to be heard, whistle about a third the number of notes,\nbut it must be in the same note 01\u00b0 pitch ; this will cause the last\nwhistle to appear just like an echo at a great distance. This im-\nitation, if well donc, never fails to take the listeners by surprise,\nand causes astonishment. The same thing can be donc by shout-\ning. Call aloud any sentence, such as- 'Holloa, you there !\"'\nLet your voice bc formed close to the lips ; then quickly, and\nmind in the same pitch 01\u00b0 note, speak the same words very subdued\nand formed at the back of the mouth. This is not difficult, and\nis very effective.\nPOINTS TO BE REMEMBERED.\nIn giving the succeeding instructions, it must bo bornc in mind"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 106, "folder": "", "text": "90\nLATEST MAGIC\nper cent is not bad, is it ? Observe, I use no vio-\nlence. It's all done by kindness. I just warm the\ncoin a little over this candle-flame. That softens\nthe metal and I am able to squeeze another penny\nout of this one, so!\"\nShow as two accordingly, by sliding off the\nhindermost coin in its shell, exhibiting it on both\nsides, and laying it on the table.\n\"You have all heard of turning an honest penny.\nWell, this is one way of doing it. It is said, too,\nthat one good turn deserves another, so we'll try\nagain. I warm the first penny a little more, and\nagain I pull another out of it.'' (Draw second\ndouble coin from behind the original penny.)\n\"Now we have three, two in my hands\" (showing\none in each hand) \"and one on the table.\n\"I think I heard somebody say that I couldn't\nmake any more I don't like to do it, because the\nprocess takes a good deal out of the original penny,\nand I might spoil it. On the other hand, I don't\nlike to decline a challenge, so here goes! I warm\nthese two again, and then, with a little extra pres-\nsure, because it naturally becomes more difficult\neach time, I get yet another penny, as you see.\nSo now, in all, we have four.\"\n(Show\nthose\nin\nhand as three, by drawing solid coin out of shell,\nthen, picking up double coin from mat, show as four\naccordingly.) \"Did I hear a lady say 'Just one\nmore'? Well, then, one more.\" (Develop the\ndouble coin just picked up, and show as five.)"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 108, "folder": "", "text": "92\nLATEST MAGIC\nit.\" (Make the movement of picking up one of\nthe double coins, and of rubbing it into the coin in\nleft hand, but in reality \"vanish\" it, in the sup-\nposed act of picking up, into the pocket of mat.)\n\"And now I pass this other one into it in the\nsame way, and we have only the original penny left.\nIt is like the ten little niggers, isn't it, only that\nthey never came back. Here is your penny, Sir.\nPlease observe that it still has your own mark\nupon it, which is proof positive that there has\nbeen 'no deception.'\"\nN. B. If the performer is a novice, he may\nsimplify the trick by loading the coin mat with\none double and one ordinary coin only, or two\nordinary coins, limiting the successive productions\naccordingly.\nTHE MISSING LINK\nAt an early period of my magical career, I\ndevised a trick to which I gave the name of Con-\ncatenution Extraordinarg, and which will be found\ndescribed in Later Magic, page 94. In effect it\nconsisted of the magical welding of a number of\nloose iron links into a continuous chain. It was\nperformed by the aid of a Black Art table, a bot-\ntomless tumbler, and a silk thread. \"Though I\nsay it that shouldn't,\" it was an ingenious trick,\nand I was very proud of it. Unfortunately, some\ngood natured friend (I rather think it was"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 102, "folder": "", "text": "92\nTHE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.\nimitate the barking of a dog and the neighing of a horse. With\ntwo or three weeks' practice, you will be able to imitate some of\nthe song birds ; but to produce exact counterfeits of the best sing-\ning birds will probably require months of study ; the result, how-\never, will reward you for all your pains, for certainly to be able\nto carry a mocking bird, canary, thrush, cat-bird and sucking-pig\nin your vest pocket, is no small accomplishment.\nWhen not using the instrument, it should be kept in a glass of\nwater to prevent its drying."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 357, "folder": "", "text": "93\nDecremps's Signature\n75\nDroz, Pierre Jacquet-, Por-\nDe Liska\n25\ntrait and Autograph\n92\nDe Philipsthal 110,171,173,174 Droz Writing Automatons,\nDe Philipsthal Poster\n104\nSpecimens of Penmanship\nDe Philipsthal, Programme\nrespectively in 1796 and\nof Benefit of\nIIO\n1906\n84\nDe Philipsthal Programme\nDunkell\n197\nof 1806\n173\nDutchwoman's\nDecoration\nDer Moderne Zauberer\n239\nused to Advertise\n214\nDesaguliers, Dr\n181\nDiagram Exposes the Magic\nEagle, Barney\n149\nClock Trick\n160\nEagle's, Barney, Tricks Ex-\nDiagram of Orange - tree\nposed on an Anderson Pos-\nTrick\n52\nter\n154,155\nDiavolo, Antonio\n166\nEagle's Book, Frontispiece 153\nDictionary of Arts, Manufac-\nEagle's Poster featuring the\ntures and Mines\n9I\nObedient Clock Trick\n156\nDictionary of National Biog-\nEckeberg, John Carlton\n181\nraphy\n54\nEckartshausen, Hofrath\nDisappearing Handkerchief,\nvon\n143, 160, 163, 169\n245-254\nEgyptian Wine\n252\nD\u00f6bler, 25, 45, 182, 185, 187,\nEscalopier, M. del\n280\n188,192\nEthereal Suspension\n222,312\nD\u00f6bler, Ludwig, Rare Por-\nEvanion, Henry Evans, 20,\ntrait of\n187,190\n2I, 23, 25, 26, 49, 124,259\nD\u00f6bler Programmes. 188, 189,191\nEvanion, Henry Evans, Por-\nDom Pedro\n243\ntrait of\n22\nDon Carlos, Billing used by\n221\nEvanion, Letter from Gyn-\nDon Carlos, Double-sighted\ngell\n124\nDog, Billing\n22I\nEvans, Henry Ridgely, The\nDouble-sighted Dog, Don\nOld and the New Magic\n16\nCarlos\n219\nExploration de la R\u00e9tinue\n49\nDowns, T. Nelson\n265\nExposes the Magic Clock\nDroz, Henri-Louis Jacquet-,\nTrick, Diagram\n160\nPortrait of\n94\nExposing Barney Eagle's\nDroz, Jacquet-. Clipping\nIOI\nTricks on an Anderson\nDroz, Jacquet-, View of Mech-\nPoster\n154,155\nanism of Writing Automa-\nton\n98\nFaber, I\n56\n1324]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 110, "folder": "", "text": "94\nLATEST MAGIC\nThirdly, two shorter lengths of similar chain,\nconsisting of thirteen links each, and a loose brass\nlink, corresponding to the one in the centre of the\nlonger chain. The complete chain is to be placed\nat the outset in the hinder compartment of the\nmirror glass, which should be of such a size that\nthe chain nearly fills it.\nLastly will be needed a bottle containing Eau de\nCologne, of which a few drops have been poured\non the chain in the glass.\nThe patter may run to something like the fol-\nlowing effect.\n\"You are doubtless aware, ladies and gentle-\nmen, that electricity is now largely employed in the\nwelding of metals. Of course to produce such a\nresult on a large scale, such as welding guns, enor-\nmous strength of current is required; amounting\nin fact to millions of amp\u00e8res, or volts, or ohms, or\nwatts. I blush to confess I don't know which is\nwhich, but it's of no consequence. If I had ever\nSO many amp\u00e8res, or the rest of it, I shouldn't know\nwhat to do with them. I am only able to manu-\nfacture my electricity on a very small scale, but\nwith the aid of a little magic, I get very good\nresults.\n\"You are also no doubt aware that when certain\nmetals, particularly copper and zinc, are brought\ninto close connection, an electrical current is set\nup between them. The same thing applies, in a"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 112, "folder": "", "text": "96\nLATEST MAGIC\nthe same effect, but I use Eau de Cologne because\nit smells nicer. And now I must ask the loan of\nsome lady's handkerchief, to cover the glass, and\nconcentrate the electric current.\"\nHolding the handkerchief in right hand, pick\nup the glass with left hand, and raise it a few\ninches from the table. In lowering it, cover it with\nthe handkerchief, and at the same time give it the\nnecessary half-turn. Take out your watch, and\nmake believe to time the operation, remarking, \"I\nfind it needs a full half-minute, to allow the charm\nto work. Time! Let us see how we have suc-\nceeded.\"\nTake off the handkerchief, and draw the chain\nslowly out of the glass. \"Yes. All is well. I\nshould say welded, and I trust you will say, 'Well\ndone.' The chain is complete, and now consists of\ntwenty-seven links, the lucky number. Perhaps\nsome gentleman will verify the fact.\n\"I must tell you frankly that I don't guarantee\nthe correctness of my explanation. I can't say\nexactly how much the electricity has to do with it.\nI only know that if you go to work the right way,\nwhich means, do as I do, you gret the result, and\nthere you are. This experiment always provokes\na lot of discussion. The other evening one gentle-\nman said it was done this way. A lady said it was\nthat way, and a sharp boy (the younger they are\nthe more they know) was quite sure it was done\nanother way altogether. But they were all wrong."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 114, "folder": "", "text": "98\nLATEST MAGIC\nthe Satanic supper. The following is an applica-\ntion of the Signor Molini's idea on a scale better\nadapted to the drawing room.\nRequisites.\n(1) Three zinc or zinc-lined tubes, as a, b, c, in\nFig. 15, ranging in height from about three inches\nA\nB\nC\nFIG. 15\nupwards, and graduated in size so as to fit easily\none within the other.\n(2) Three balls, one red and two white, of such\ndiameter as to pass easily through the narrowest\ntube. Two smaller balls, one red and one white,\nabout half an inch in diameter.\n(3) A box of matches."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 353, "folder": "", "text": ":"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 16, "folder": "", "text": "<\nPAGE\nMISCELLANEOUS TRICKS\n88\nMoney-Making Made Easy\n88\nThe Missing Link\n92\nCulture Extraordinary\n97\nThe Bounding Beans\n104\nLost and Found\n110\nThe Riddle of the Pyramids\n115\nThe Miracle of Mumbo Jumbo\n123\nThe Story of the Alkahest\n130\nThe Oracle of Memphis\n137\nThe Mystery of Mahomet\n146\nThe Bewildering Blocks\n156\nAn \"Od\" Force.\n162\nThe Mystery of the Three Seals\n170\nThe Wizard's Pocketbook\n.\n180\nCONCERNING PATTER\n192\nTHE USE OF THE WAND\n203\nA FEW WRINKLES\n215\n.\n222"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 3, "folder": "", "text": "A\nA\n.\nCOCASA'"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 75, "folder": "", "text": "A CARD COMEDY\n59\nmyself, it isn't anything particular to look at, but\nit has an extraordinary talent for finding out\nthings; even secrets that people don't know them-\nselves. Now you will admit that the name of that\ncard on the table is at present an A1, copperbot-\ntomed secret. Even the gentleman who chose the\ncard doesn't know what it is; you don't know:\nin fact nobody knows. Nothing could well be more\nsecret than that. But this tape will find it out.\nWill you, Sir,\" (addressing the gentleman who\nchose the card) \"be kind enough to pass this loop\nover your left little finger. Thank you, and now\nI want some lady to assist me. Perhaps you will\noblige, Madam?\" A sufficient length of the tape\nis unrolled, and the reel placed in the lady's hands.\n\"And now I will ask you to do me the further\nfavor of taking a card from this other pack.\"\n(The second queen is forced on the lady.)\n\"Now, Madam, what was the card the gentleman\nchose? You don't know Oh, yes, you do. The\ntape has told you. Unless it has betrayed me for\nthe first time in my experience, it will have com-\npelled you by an effect of sympathy to draw the\nvery same kind of card as the one freely chosen, as\nyou will remember from the other pack. What\ncard did you draw? The queen of diamonds?\n(Goes to table, and turns up card on tray.) \"The\ntape was right, you see. The card the gentleman\ndrew is also a queen of diamonds.\"\nIn default of the card mat, the trick can be"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 77, "folder": "", "text": "A CARD COMEDY\n61\nassuming a perplexed air, you say, \"I don't know\nwhy it is, but I have that peculiar sensation in\nmy left thumb that always means that something\nhas gone wrong. What it is in this case I can't\nimagine, but I must find out before we go further.\nAs the two chosen cards have passed out of my\nhands, I may now ask the ladies who drew them\nto name them.\n\"The queen of hearts and the king of clubs, you\nsay? Ah! that accounts for it. When those two\ncards come together there is sure to be trouble.\nThe queen of hearts is a bit of a flirt, and the king\nof hearts is very jealous, particularly of the king\nof clubs, who is rather a gay dog, though he is old\nenough to know better. I fancy I hear some sort\nof commotion going on in the flower-pot.\" (You\nlook into it.) \"Yes, it is just as I feared. The\nking of hearts has found out that his queen has gone\noff with the king of clubs, and has followed the\nqueen post-haste. Here he is, you see.\" (You\nplunge hand into flower-pot, and take out and\nexhibit the two drawn cards, and with them one of\nthe two kings of hearts.) \"It's too bad, for as a\nmatter of fact the queen of hearts doesn't really\ncare two-pence about the king of clubs. In fact\nshe has even been known to call him a giddy old\nkipper.\n\"But I can't have my arrangements upset by\nthese little family jars. To teach the king of\nhearts better manners I shall put him in solitary"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 79, "folder": "", "text": "A CARD COMEDY\n63\nalways had a sort of affection for this in its oldest\nand simplest form, viz., the reversible flat box with\nloose flap falling from the one into the other half\nat pleasure. I should not recommend the use of\nit at a school treat, as there would be much risk\nof some demon small boy proclaiming to all whom\nit might concern that he \"knows how that's done,\"\nbut before an average mixed audience its use is\nsafe enough. Should one of the spectators happen\nto be acquainted with the box he will probably\nsmile in a superior way, pluming himself on having\na little inside information, though he may be no\nnearer the complete solution of the trick than the\nrest of the company.\nThe expert will easily guard himself against\neven this small risk. For example, he may use a\nduplicate box, innocent of guile, ostensibly merely\nto contain the cards he is about to use, and after\nturning the pack out of it upon the table, switch\nthis (obviously empty) box for the faked box to be\nused later, or after using the latter he may extract\nthe fake and the superseded card during the jour-\nney back to his table, where the box will of course\nbe inspection-proof.\nBetter still, he may make matters absolutely safe\nby using an improved box, which has been chris-\ntened the \"Fast and Loose'' card-box. This is a\nrecent invention of an Italian wizard named\nVeroni, of Glasgow (an old soldier of Garibaldi).\nIt is an idealised version of the old flat box, being"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 233, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n217\nmany purposes for which Seccotine is too aggres-\nsively viscous, while ordinary paste is not adhesive\nenough. In such cases I can strongly recommend\nPastoid, a composition midway between glue and\npaste. For all purposes for which paste (in small\nquantity) is ordinarily used, Pastoid may be sub-\nstituted with advantage. I myself came across it\naccidentally two or three years ago, \"since when,\"\nlike the gentleman in the soap advertisement, \"I\nhave used no other.\" The maker is Henry Rob-\nerts, Middlesborough, but it should be obtainable\nof any up-to-date stationer or fancy dealer. It is\nsupplied in glass jars, at sixpence and a shilling.\n3. Where an actual glue, of fine quality, is\nneeded, procure sheet gelatine, to be had of any\ngrocer. Cut into small pieces and melt in an\nordinary gluepot using water enough to make the\nresulting solution about as thick as ordinary gum\nwater. It should be used as near boiling point as\npossible, and the joined surfaces left to dry under\nthe heaviest pressure available. A joint made with\nthis glue is practically invisible.\u00b9\n4. For dividing up thin stuff (wood or card-\nboard), into rectangular slabs, the handiest tool\nis the \"cutting gauge.\" This is practically iden-\ntical with the better known \"marking gauge,\" save\n1 For the information contained in this paragraph, as also that re-\nlating to the use of Veneers I am indebted to Mr. Holt Sehooling, who\nis an expert in such matters. My own essays in the direction of fancy\ncabinet-making have for the most part been limited to rough models to\nbe reproduced in finished shape by more practised hands."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 235, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n219\nmill-board, without folding or bending, preference\nshould be given to \"Bristol\" board, sold by artists'\ncolour-men. This is somewhat more expensive but\nis stiffer and harder and has a better surface than\nthe commoner articles.\n9. For joining wood to wood without glue where\nthere is no great thickness to be penetrated,\n\"needle-points,\" procurable of any ironmonger,\nwill be found useful. These are stout eyeless\nneedles, of very brittle steel, about two inches in\nlength. To use them, bore with a fine bradawl a\nhole partially through the wood, then drive in the\nneedle-point by gentle tapping with a hammer, and\nwhen it has penetrated the desired depth snap off\nall that remains above the surface.\n10. Also useful for many purposes are what are\ncalled by drapers \"blanket\" pins. These are of\nbrass, and a card of such pins in three sizes, rang\ning from two to three inches in length and varying\nproportionately in thickness, may be bought for a\npenny. Pins a trifle shorter and thinner than the\nabove are known as \"laundry\" pins. Apart from\ntheir normal uses, pins of these kinds are very\nuseful for bending into hooks, or to cut up into\nshort lengths of stiff straight wire for pivots or\notherwise.\n11. For all effects dependent upon a thread pull\nuse, in place of ordinary thread, plaited silk fish-\ning line. This is procurable of any sports' out-\nfitter or fishing tackle dealer, in twenty and forty"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 237, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES\n221\nand shorten it to an exact square, closing the lower\nend as before. Envelopes of the above kind are\nprocurable in many varieties of paper, and in\nwidths ranging by various fractions of an inch\nfrom four inches upwards.\n13. To make a line, thick or thin, run freely over\na pulley-wheel or through an eyelet, use as a lubri-\ncant powdered talcum, otherwise known as French\nchalk. This is equally useful for minimising fric-\ntion between wooden surfaces, or between wood\nand metal, say between a pulley-wheel and the\npivot on which it turns. Where the slight extra\ncost is not an obstacle the use of ivory as the mate-\nrial of a pulley-wheel secures the perfection of easy\nrunning.\nIt is, I trust, hardly necessary to say that wher-\never I have mentioned an article to be had by pur-\nchase, my recommendation is based solely upon\npractical experience of its merits. I have no inter-\nest, direct or indirect, in any of the articles men-\ntioned, and my knowledge of their manufacturers\nis derived solely from their respective labels."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 231, "folder": "", "text": "A FEW WRINKLES 1\nEVERY conjurer who has in him, as all conjurers\nshould have, the creative instinct of the artist, and\naims therefore at putting something of himself\ninto his work, must of necessity be to some small\nextent an amateur mechanic. The hints which fol-\nlow are addressed to the reader in that capacity.\nI have no pretension to teach him how to do things\nin the way of construction, but merely to make the\ndoing of them easier. Though relating to matters\nin themselves small, the \"tips\" which follow may\nsafely be said to come within the scope of Captain\nCuttle's celebrated counsel, \"when found make\na note of.\" It often happens that the amateur\nmechanic has to take considerable trouble and\npains in procuring some special requirement,\nwhile there is already on sale, at small cost, just\nthe thing he wants, if he only knew what to ask for,\nand where to get it. The paragraphs which follow\nwill, in some at any rate of such cases, supply the\nneedful information.\n1 This book having been written primarily with a view to British\nreaders, some of my recommendations will naturally be of no value to\nmy American friends, but I have not thought it necessary to delete\nthem. L. H.\n215"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 39, "folder": "", "text": "A MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION\n23\ntion it deserves, and have probably far from\nexhausted its possibilities, but I offer by way of\nillustration the trick next following, which it seems\nto me would be rather effective, particularly as an\nintroduction to some other card trick. We will\ncall it\nA MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION\nPrepare two cards, say an eight of hearts and a\nseven of spades, by blackening all their edges save\none of the narrow ends,\u00b9 and backing each with\nvelvet matching the mat. Lay the two cards SO\ntreated face down with the white edge towards\nyourself on the mat at some little distance apart,\nor preferably on separate mats. Force corre-\nsponding cards on two members of the company\nand deliver an oration to something like the fol-\nlowing effect:\n\"We hear people talk sometimes about the\nquickness of the hand deceiving the eye. I sup-\npose such a thing must be possible, or nobody\nwould have thought of it, but it seems to me that if\nit did anything of the kind, either the hand must be\nextra quick, or the eye extra slow. I know I should\nbe afraid to attempt anything of that sort myself,\nbut if you are a magician of the right sort you have\nno need to do so, for you can deceive the eye with-\n1 Better still, thicken the under edge by the interposition between\ncard and velvet of a slip of white card, as described in The Detective\nDie, post."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 93, "folder": "", "text": "A NEW LONG CARD PACK\n77\nin the hope of embarrassing the conjurer, may ask\nat the close to be allowed to examine the envelope\ncontaining the drawn cards. Such an examina-\ntion, if permitted, would of course largely give\naway the trick. If the performer has any reason\nto fear such a contingency, he may guard against\nit by \"switching\" the envelope, during his return\nto the table with it, for a duplicate containing an\nordinary mixed pack. In some part of this the\nthree cards corresponding to those drawn should\nbe placed together, as the obnoxious person, if him-\nself one of the drawers, will naturally expect SO to\nfind them.\nAt a public performance such a precaution\nwould be supererogatory.\nA NEW LONG CARD PACK AND A TRICK\nDEPENDENT ON ITS USE\nSome few months ago I was shown by a clever\namateur, Mr. Victor Farrelly, a pack of cards pre-\npared, after a method of his own, to replace in a\nmore subtle form, the familiar biseaut\u00e9 pack. Mr.\nFarrelly's plan is to round off, in a very minute\ndegree, three of the corners of an ordinary pack.\nIf a given card be turned round in a pack SO\ntreated, it is obvious that its unfiled corner will\nproject, to a microscopic extent, beyond those\nabove and below it, rendering the card instantly\ndiscoverable by touch."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 95, "folder": "", "text": "A NEW LONG CARD PACK\n79\npack has been shuffled by one of the company, are\nadded to it, and forced upon three different spec-\ntators. We will suppose that the three selected\ncards are the queen of hearts, forced on a gentle-\nman; the king of clubs and the ten of diamonds;\nthe two last mentioned forced on ladies.\nThis done, each of the drawers is invited to\nreplace his or her card in the pack, which is passed\nfrom the one to the other for that purpose, and\nbefore it is returned to you is once more shuffled.\nYou then deliver a \"yarn\" to something like the\nfollowing effect:\n\"Please bear in mind, ladies and gentlemen,\nexactly what has been done. To begin with, you\nhave seen that the pack was thoroughly well\nshuffled. Three cards were then freely chosen\nfrom it. They have been put back, not by me, but\nby the persons who drew them, and the pack has\nsince been shuffled again. It is therefore\nobviously impossible that I should know either\nwhat cards have been chosen, or whereabouts they\nmay now be in the pack. But I enjoy impossibili-\nties. The more impossible a thing is, the more I\nwant to do it. I will find out these cards or die!\nDon't be alarmed, I don't mean to die just yet; SO\nI must do the other thing. It's easy enough, if\nyou know how to do it.\n\"In the first place I cut the pack into three por-\ntions.\" (You cut three times, nipping the \"long:\"\ncorners between second finger and thumb, at each"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 97, "folder": "", "text": "A NEW LONG CARD PACK\n81\nsociety, and you will therefore naturally have\nchosen a king. But which king? Think hard of\nyour card, please. A picture of a dark-complex-\nioned gentleman comes up before my mind's eye,\nand I feel that I can say with confidence that\nthe card you chose was the king of clubs. Am I\nright?\n\"And you, Madam. I have an idea that you\nhave a taste for pretty things, particularly jew-\nellery. Such being the case, you would naturally\nchoose diamonds. Think of your card, please.\nThank you. I see I was right in my guess. The\ncard you chose was the ten of diamonds.\n\"And now to verify my discoveries. If my\nwand has done its work, those same three cards will\nnow have percolated through the rest, and settled\ndown at the bottom of these three heaps. Let us\nsee whether they have done so.\" (The three heaps\nare-turned over.) \"Yes, here we have them: the\nking of clubs, the queen of hearts, and the ten of\ndiamonds. It is a curious thing for the cards to\ndo, and I daresay you would like to know how it is\ndone. As a matter of fact, it is done by synthetic\nreadjustment of dissociated atoms. You don't\nknow what that means, perhaps? Well, to say the\ntruth, I don't quite know myself, but that is the\nscientific explanation, so no doubt it is correct.\"\nThe trick may very well end at this point, but\nif the reader possesses a card-box, or other appar-\natus adapted for \"vanishing\" cards, he may bring"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 81, "folder": "", "text": "A ROYAL TUG OF WAR\n65\ntheir little tempers, just as we have. Some of\nthem are bosom friends; others again hate each\nother like rival suitors to the same best girl. The\nfour kings are generally pretty friendly, but there\nis a good deal of emulation between them, par-\nticularly between the two red kings on the one\nhand, and the two black ones on the other. Each\npair claims to be the stronger, and they are always\npleased to have a chance of putting the matter to\nthe test.\n\"I will give you an illustration of this, by allow-\ning them to hold a little tug of war. They have\nalready had six trials, and each side has won three\nof them. This evening we will let them play a\nfinal game, which is to settle the matter. Will you,\nsir, kindly pick out the four kings for me, and lay\nthem on this little tray. Thank you! (This\ndone, performer lays mat with cards on table.)\n\"I will drop the two red kings into this flower-\npot.\" He takes them from the mat and after\nshowing them drops them into the flower-pot (in\nreality into the pocket), \"and the black ones into\nthis other.\" (The black kings are allowed to slide\ndirectly off the mat, into the flower-pot, the con-\ncealed pair going with them. \"Are your Majes-\nties ready? Silence gives consent! Then Go!\"\nHe waits a moment or two, and then looks over\ninto the flower-pot with the pocket. \"Nothing has\nhappened yet. Yes, there goes the king of dia-\nmonds, pulled over to the other side. There's not"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 64, "folder": "", "text": "A very rare mezzotint of Christopher Pinchbeck, Jr., combining the work\nof Cunningham, the greatest designer, and William Humphrey, the greatest\nportrait etcher of his day. From the Harry Houdini Collection.\n[57]\n:"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 27, "folder": "", "text": "ADHESIVE CARDS\n11\npressed against the surface SO treated, the two\nadhere, and for the time become, in effect, one card\nonly, viz., the one whose face is exposed, the other\nhaving temporarily disappeared from the pack.\nThis renders possible many striking effects. To\ntake an elementary example, let us suppose that\nthe old-fashioned flat card-box, or some other\nappliance for magically producing a card, is\nloaded with, say, a seven of diamonds. The cor-\nresponding card is forced on one of the company,\nand taken back into the middle of the pack, on\nthe top of the prepared card. The performer does\nnot disturb or tamper with the pack in the smallest\ndegree. He merely squares up the cards, and,\npressing them well together, hands them to be\nshuffled, meanwhile calling attention to the card-\nbox, which is shown apparently empty. He then\nasks the name of the drawn card, announcing that\nit will at his command leave the pack and find its\nway into the box.\nHe now counts off the cards, showing the face\nof each as he does so, and leaving it exposed upon\nthe table. The seven of diamonds has disap-\npeared, being in fact hidden behind the prepared\ncard, which we will suppose to be in this instance\nthe queen of clubs.\nLeaving the cards outspread upon the table, the\nperformer opens the card-box, and shows that the\nmissing card has somehow found its way into it.\nIn the hands of a novice, the trick might end at"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 181, "folder": "", "text": "AN \"od\" FORCE\n165\nThe opposite end of the thread, which will be\nsomewhere about thirty inches in length (this again\nbeing a point to be determined by experiment),\nis passed through the curled end of a good-sized\nsafety pin. This, for use in the trick, is attached\nto the inside of the performer's vest, just within\nthe lowest part of the opening. To the free-end\nof the thread, after passing through the loop of\nthe pin, is attached a disc of copper or zinc, three-\nquarters of an inch in diameter, against which, on\none side, is pressed and flattened out a pellet of\nconjurer's wax, in good adhesive condition. If the\nlength of the thread has been duly regulated, the\nlittle disc will rest normally just within the vest,\nbut can be drawn out the extent of a couple of feet\nor so, returning swiftly to its hiding place the\nmoment it is released.\n(3) A glass ball-professedly crystal.\n(4) An ordinary match-box, empty.\nInstructions for the working of the trick will\nbe most conveniently given step by step with the\npatter, which may run as follows:\n\"In the early days of Queen Victoria's reign,\nwhen the oldest of us here present were good little\nboys or girls, and the rest were not born or thought\nof, there lived a celebrated scientific gentleman,\ncalled the Baron von Reichenbach. I am sorry to\nsay he was a German, but he couldn't help it. As\nhis father and mother were Germans, he had to be\none too. It shows how careful children ought to be"}
{"path": "practicalmagicia00harr.pdf", "page": 114, "folder": "", "text": "AR\n2\n-"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 63, "folder": "", "text": "ARITHMETIC BY MAGIC\n47\nthem to rise up and paw the air. It all depends on\nthe strength of the will. I myself happen to have\na very strong will, in fact, I don't know anyone\nwho has a stronger will, except my wife. I exert\nmy will, and say, \"first card, rise! and up it comes,\nas you see.\"\nStepping well back from the spectators, SO that\nthey cannot distinguish from what part of the pack\nthe card comes, he works up the hindmost card\nby the familiar \"hand\" method. (\"Modern\nMagic,\" p. 129.)\n\"Here we have one of the two cards. Let us see\nwhat it is. The five of diamonds! Good! And\nnow for the other. Second card; rise! Up comes\nanother card, you see, the deuce of diamonds.\nThose are the cards which were drawn, are they\nnot ?\n\"Now the question arises, \"what shall we do with\n21 It is a pity the ladies didn't choose bigger\ncards. You can't'go nap' 1 on a deuce and a five,\ncan you ? I think I can't do better than use them\nto show you a little experiment in conjurer's arith-\nmetic. Will some young mathematician among\nthe audience kindly tell us what two and five, added\ntogether, make?\" (He waits for reply, but if\nnone, pretends to hear one.) \"Seven! Right\nfirst time. And if you take two from five how\nmany remain? Three Good again. Really\n1 To endeavor to take all five tricks in the game of Napoleon."}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 364, "folder": "", "text": "Anderson Poster Featuring Card Trick Used in 836-37\n142\nAnderson Poster Used in 1838\n147\nAnderson Poster Used in London, 1848\n313\nAnderson's Billing of 1838 Featuring \"Napoleon's Trick\n150\nAnderson's Book Cover Design\n148\nAnderson's Inexhaustible Bottle Trick\n186\nAnderson's, J. H., Birthplace\n145\nAnderson's Opening Programme, 1848\n309\nAnderson's Poster, Exposing Barney' Eagle's Tricks\n154,155\nAstley, Philip, Esq\n19\nBamberg, David Leendert\n140\n\" Barney,\" alias The Impostor Wizard, Window Poster Issued by\nAnderson\nI 55\nBarnum, P. T\n88\nBasch, Ernst\n139\nBertram, Charles (James Bassett)\n20\nBlitz, Signor Antonio\n18\nBologna Bill Used in 1812\n170\nBologna Poster Used in 1820\n118\nBosco, Bartolomeo, in His Prime\n301\nBosco, Eugene\n315\nBosco, Grave of\n306\nBosco, Madame, the only Photograph of\n3\u00b05\nBottle Trick, Inexhaustible\n186\nBrahmin, The Suspension\n229\nBreslaw's Frontispiece on Book on Magic, \"The Last Legacy,\"\nI44\n(i]"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 35, "folder": "", "text": "BLACK ART MATS\n19\na quarter of an inch or so by means of a stiffening\nalong its inner edge. By having the millboard\nfoundation cut in half before it is covered, the mat\nmay be made to fold like a chessboard for greater\nportability.\nFIG. 9\nIf some small article, say a coin or ring, is laid\non mat just behind the mouth of the pocket, it may\nbe made to disappear therein, being in fact swept\ninto the pocket in the act of apparently picking it\nup. In the case of a coin, the pocket may by a\nslight alteration of procedure be used to effect a\n\"change\"; a substitute, palmed beforehand, being\nexhibited in place of the one professedly picked up\nfrom the mat.\nIt is desirable when placing the mat upon the\ntable for use to see that the mouth of the pocket\nis duly open and has not been, by any accident,\npressed flat, and SO closed."}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 37, "folder": "", "text": "BLACK ART MATS\n21\nthe case of the trick entitled Lost and Found, post.\nAnother little device which will be found useful\nin connection with the black art mat is a cardboard\ndisc covered as above, to one side of which a coin,\nsay a half-crown or half-dollar, is cemented as in\nFig. 10\nFig. 10. Such a patch, laid on the mat, coin side\ndown, will attract no notice, but the mere act of\nturning it over will at any given moment produce\nthe coin. The \"change\" of a coin may be expected\nvery neatly by the aid of this device. Suppose,\nfor example, that the performer desires to retain,\nunknown to the spectators, possession of a marked\ncoin just handed to him. He lays it, to all appear-\nance, in full view upon the table, but as a matter\nof fact merely turns over a patch, loaded as above,\nalready on the table, the borrowed coin remaining\nin his hand.\nThe velvet patch may also be utilised in another"}
{"path": "latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf", "page": 62, "folder": "", "text": "CARD TRICKS\nARITHMETIC BY MAGIC\nPreparation. The two \"flower-pots\" (see page\n5), separated, are placed upon the table. Also the\ncard mat (see page 1), loaded with the ten of any\ngiven suit, say diamonds, taken from the pack per-\nformer is about to use, and a double-faced card,\nrepresenting on the one side the seven, and on the\nother the three of the same suit. The deuce and\nfive of same suit to be laid on the top of the pack.\nPerformer, advancing pack in hand, palms off\nthe two top cards, and offers the rest to be shuffled.\nThis done, he forces these two cards on different\npersons. On receiving back one of them, he brings\nit to the top; executes a false shuffle leaving it in\nthe same position ; brings it again to the middle by\nthe pass, and has the second card replaced upon it;\nthen, once again making the pass, brings both\ntogether to the top.\n(The use of the Charlier pass is here recom-\nmended.)\nThe patter may be to something like the follow-\ning effect: \"Two cards have been chosen, ladies\nand gentlemen. I can't say what they are, but I\ncan very easily find out. I shall simply order\n46"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 68, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER II\nTHE ORANGE-TREE TRICK\nR\nOBERT-HOUDIN, on page I79 of the American\nedition of his \"Memoirs,\" thus describes the\norange-tree trick, which he claims as his inven-\ntion: \"The next was a mysterious orange-tree,\non which flowers and fruit burst into life at the request of\nthe ladies. As the finale, a handkerchief I borrowed\nwas conveyed into an orange purposely left on the tree.\nThis opened and displayed the handkerchief, which two\nbutterflies took by the corners and unfolded before the\nspectators.\"\nOn page 245 of the same volume he presents the\nprogramme given at the first public performance in the\nTh\u00e9\u00e2tre Robert-Houdin, stating:\n\"The performance will be composed of entirely novel\nExperiments invented by M. Robert-Houdin. Among\nthem being The Orange-Tree, etc.\"\nNow to retrace our steps in the history of magic as set\nforth in handbills and advertisements of earlier and con-\ntemporaneous newspaper clippings describing their in-\nventions.\nUnder the title of \"The Apple-Tree\" this mechanical\ntrick appeared on a Fawkes programme dated 1730. This\nwas 115 years before Robert-Houdin claimed it as his\ninvention. In 1732, just before Pinchbeck's death, it\n[ 51 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 58, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER II\nTHE ORANGE-TREE TRICK\nR\nOBERT-HOUDIN, on page I79 of the American\nedition of his \"Memoirs,\" thus describes the\norange-tree trick, which he claims as his inven-\ntion: \"The next was a mysterious orange-tree,\non which flowers and fruit burst into life at the request of\nthe ladies. As the finale, a handkerchief I borrowed\nwas conveyed into an orange purposely left on the tree.\nThis opened and displayed the handkerchief, which two\nbutterflies took by the corners and unfolded before the\nspectators.\"\nOn page 245 of the same volume he presents the\nprogramme given at the first public performance in the\nTh\u00e9\u00e2tre Robert-Houdin, stating:\n\"The performance will be composed of entirely novel\nExperiments invented by M. Robert-Houdin. Among\nthem being The Orange-Tree, etc.\"\nNow to retrace our steps in the history of magic as set\nforth in handbills and advertisements of earlier and con-\ntemporaneous newspaper clippings describing their in-\nventions.\nUnder the title of \"The Apple-Tree\" this mechanical\ntrick appeared on a Fawkes programme dated I730. This\nwas II5 years before Robert-Houdin claimed it as his\ninvention. In I732, just before Pinchbeck's death, it\n[ 51 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 100, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER III\nTHE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE\nI\nN his \"Memoirs\" Robert-Houdin eulogizes the vari-\nous automata which he claims to have invented. The\npicturesque fashion in which he describes the tre-\nmendous effort put forth ere success crowned his la- ,\nbors would render his arguments most convincing-if\nstern historical facts did not contradict his every statement.\nOne of the most extraordinary mechanical figures\nwhich he exploits as his invention was the writing and\ndrawing figure, which he exhibited at the Quinquennial\nExhibition in 1844, but never used in his public perform-\nances, though he asserts that he planned to exhibit it\nbetween performances at his own theatre. This au-\ntomaton, he says, laid the foundation of his financial\nsuccess and opened the way to realizing his dream of\nappearing as a magician.\nOn page 196 of his \"Memoirs,\" American edition, he\nstarts his romantic description of its conception and\nmanufacture. According to this he had just planned what\npromised to be the most brilliant of his mechanical in-\nventions when financial difficulties intervened. He was\nobliged to raise two thousand francs to meet a pressing\ndebt. He applied to the ever-convenient Monsieur G--\nwho had bought automata from him before. He described\nthe writing and drawing figure minutely to his patron,\n[83]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 133, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER IV\nTHE PASTRY COOK OF THE PALAIS ROYAL\nONCERNING this trick, which Robert-Houdin\nclaims as his invention, he writes on page 79 of\nhis \"Memoirs,\" American edition \"The first\nwas a small pastry cook, issuing from his shop\ndoor at the word of command, and bringing, according\nto the spectator's request, patties and refreshments of\nevery description. At the side of the shop, assistant\npastry cooks might be seen rolling paste and putting it\nin the oven.\"\nBy means of handbills, programmes, and newspaper\nnotices of magical and mechanical performances, this\ntrick in various guises can be traced back as far as I796.\nNine reputable magicians offered it as part of their reper-\ntoire, and at times two men presented it simultaneously,\nshowing that more than one such automaton existed.\nThe dates of the most notable programmes or handbills\nselected from my collection are as follows:\nI, Haddock, 1797. 2, Garnerin, 1815. 3, Gyngell,\n1816 and 1823. 4, Bologna, 1820. 5, Henry, 1822. 6,\nSchmidt, 1827. 7, Rovere, 1828. 8, Charles, 1829. 9,\nPhillippe, 1841.\nIn 1827 Schmidt and Gyngell joined forces, yet both\nbefore and after this date each performer had the wonder-\nful little piece of mechanism on his programme. In 1841,\n[ 116"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 274, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER IX\nTHE DISAPPEARING HANDKERCHIEF\nS\nUPREME egotism and utter disregard for the truth\nmay be traced in all of Robert-Houdin's writings,\nbut they reached a veritable climax when he indited\nchapter XVI. of his \"Memoirs.\" During the\ncourse of this chapter he described the so-called invention\nand first production of the disappearing-handkerchief trick.\nAccording to the American edition of his \"Memoirs,\"\npage 3\u00b03, he received a command to appear before Louis\nPhilippe and his family at St. Cloud in November, 1846.\nDuring the six days intervening between the official in-\nvitation and his appearance before the royal family, he\narranged a trick from which, he states, he had every reason\nto expect excellent results. On page 305 he goes even\nfurther in his claims and announces:\n\"All my tricks were favorably received, and the one\nI had invented for the occasion gained me unbounded\napplause.\"\nHe then gives the following description of the trick and\nits performance:\n\"I borrowed from my noble spectators several handker-\nchiefs, which I made into a parcel, and laid on the table.\nThen, at my request, different persons wrote on the cards\nthe names of places whither they desired their handker-\nchiefs to be invisibly transported.\n\"When this had been done, I begged the King to take\n[ 245 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 158, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER V\nTHE OBEDIENT CARDS - THE CABALISTIC CLOCK - THE\nTRAPEZE AUTOMATON\nThe Obedient Cards.\nT\nO\ntrace here the history of three very com-\nmon tricks claimed by Robert-Houdin as his\nown inventions would be sheer waste of time,\nif the exposure did not prove beyond doubt\nthat in announcing the various tricks of his r\u00e9pertoire as\nthe output of his own brain he was not only flagrant and\nunscrupulous, but he did not even give his readers credit\nfor enough intelligence to recognize tricks performed re-\npeatedly by his predecessors whom they had seen. Not\nsatisfied with purloining tricks so important that one or\ntwo would have been sufficient to establish the reputation\nof any conjurer or inventor, he must needs lay claim to\nhaving invented tricks long the property of mountebanks\nas well as reputable magicians.\nThe tricks referred to are the obedient card, the\ncabalistic clock, and the automaton known as Diavolo\nAntonio or Le Voltigeur au Trap\u00e8ze.\nThe obedient-card trick, mentioned on page 245 of\nthe American edition of his \"Memoirs,\" as \"a novel ex-\nperiment invented by M. Robert-Houdin,\" can be found\non the programme of every magician who ever laid claim\nto dexterity of hand. Whether they accomplished the effect\n[ I4I ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 203, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER VI\nTHE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE\nW\nHILE Robert-Houdin claims to have invented\n\"The Inexhaustible Bottle\" for a special\nprogramme designed to create a sensation\nat the opening of his season of 1848, in\nthe illustrated appendix of the original French edi-\ntion of his \"Memoirs\" he states that it had its premier\npresentation December ist, 1847. These discrepancies\noccur with such frequency that it is difficult to refute\nhis claims in chronological order. Perhaps he adopted\nthis method intentionally, to confuse future historians of\nmagic, particularly concerning his own achievements.\nIn order to emphasize the brilliancy of this trick,\nRobert-Houdin turned boastful in describing it. On page\n348 of the American edition of his \"Memoirs,\" he states\nthat the trick had created such a sensation and was so\nmuch exploited in the London newspapers that the fame\nof his inexhaustible bottle spread to the provinces, and\non his appearance in Manchester with the bottle in his\nhand the workmen who made up the audience nearly\nmobbed him. In fact, the description of this scene is the\nmost dramatic pen-picture in his \"Memoirs.\"\nThe truth, sad to state, is that the bottle trick did not\ncreate the sensation he claims for it in London, nor did\nthe press eulogize it. It was classed with other ordinary\n[176.]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 227, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER VII\nSECOND SIGHT\nE\nVIDENTLY second sight was the foundation-\nstone of Robert-Houdin's success. Reading be-\ntween the lines of his autobiography, one finds\nthat this was the trick which carried him into the\nsalons of fashion and royalty. Before he introduced\nsecond sight into his r\u00e9pertoire, his tricks were so com-\nmonplace that they did not arouse the interest of the court\ncircle, whose approval furnished the seal of success.\nThis trick of second sight he claims body and soul,\nas the favorite child of his brain. He even goes as far\nas to relate a story to prove that the trick came to him\nin the form of an inspiration. I quote directly from the\nAmerican edition of his \"Memoirs,\" page 255:\n\"My two children were playing one day in the drawing-\nroom at a game they had invented for their own amuse-\nment; the younger had bandaged his elder brother's eyes\nand made him guess the objects that he touched, and\nwhen the latter happened to guess right they changed\nplaces. This simple game suggested to me the most\ncomplicated idea that ever crossed my mind. Pursued\nby the notion, I ran and shut myself in my workshop,\nand was fortunately in that happy state when the mind\nfollows easily the combinations traced by fancy. I rested\nmy head in my hands, and in my excitement laid down\nthe first principles of second sight.\"\n[200]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 249, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER VIII\nTHE SUSPENSION TRICK\nI'\nN chapters XVI. and XVII. of the American edition\nof his \"Memoirs,\" Robert-Houdin states that\nhe closed his theatre during the months of July,\nAugust, and September, 1847, and devoted his time\nto producing new tricks for the coming season. He chron-\nicles as the result of these labors the following additions\nto his r\u00e9pertoire: \"The Crystal Box,\" \"The Fantastic\nPortfolio,\" \"The Trapeze Tumbler, \"The Garde Fran-\n\u00e7aise,\" \"The Origin of Flowers,\" \"The Crystal Balls,\"\n\"The Inexhaustible Bottle,\" \"The Ethereal Suspension,\"\netc.\nHad these inventions really been original with the man\nwho claimed them as the result of his own brain-work and\nhandicraft, three years would not have sufficed to bring\nthem to the perfection in which they were presented at\nthat time. It is not always the actual work that makes\na trick a success, nor the material from which it is con-\nstructed, but it takes time to plan a new trick; and then\nafter you have worked out the idea, it takes more time to\nmake it practical. The same piece of apparatus may\nhave to be made dozens of times, in as many shapes,\nbefore it is presentable. Therefore, when Robert-Houdin\nclaims to have invented and built with his own hands the\ntricks mentioned in the list given above, it is time to prove\nthe improbability and falsity of his statements.\n[222]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 293, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER X\nROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC AS BETRAYED\nBY HIS OWN PEN\nTATEMENTS in Robert-Houdin's various works\nS\non the conjurer's art corroborate my claim that he\nwas not a master-magician, but a clever purloiner\nX\nand adapter of the tricks invented and used by\nhis predecessors and contemporaries. Whenever, in these\nbooks, he attempts to explain or expose a trick which was\nnot part of his r\u00e9pertoire, he betrays an ignorance which\nwould be impossible in a conjurer versed in the finer and\nnore subtle branches of his art. Neither do these expla-\nnations show that he was clever enough as a mechanic to\nhave invented the apparatus which he claimed as his\nhandiwork. He states that practice and still more prac-\ntice are essential, yet no intelligent performer, amateur\nor professional, can study my collection of Robert-Houdin\nprogrammes, handbills, and press notices without realiz-\ning that his r\u00e9pertoire contained little or no trace of what\nshould be the foundation of successful conjuring, sleight-\nof-hand. Changing his fingers over the various air-holes\nof the inexhaustible bottle was as near as he ever came\nto sleight-of-hand, even when he was in the height of his\nsuccess.\nAccording to the press notices he had a pleasing stage\npresence, and also dressed and set forth his tricks richly,\nbut it must be borne in mind that then, as often to-day,\n[ 264 ]"}
{"path": "unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf", "page": 324, "folder": "", "text": "CHAPTER XI\nTHE NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S \"MEMOIRS\"\nT\nHE charm of true memoirs lies far beyond the\nprinted pages, in the depth and breadth of\nthe writer's soul. The greatest of all autobi-\nographies are those which detail not only the\nlives of the men who penned them, but which abound in\ndiverting anecdotes and character studies of the men and\nwomen among whom the writer moved. They are not\nautobiographies alone, but vivid, broad-minded pen-\nPictures of the period in which the writer was a vigorous,\nrespect-compelling figure. Memoirs written with a view\nto settling old scores seldom live to accomplish their ends.\nI he narrowness and pettiness of the writer, which intelli-\ngent reading of history is bound to disclose, destroy all\nOther charms which the book may possess.\nAt personal exploitation Robert-Houdin is a brilliant\nSuccess. As a writer of memoirs he is a wretched failure.\nWhenever he writes of himself, his pen seems fairly to\nscintillate. Whenever he refers to other magicians of\nhis times, his pen lags and drops on the pages blots\nwhich can emanate only from a narrow, petty, jeal-\nous nature.\nEven when he writes of his own family, this peculiar\ntrait of petty egotism may be read between the lines. He\nmentions the name of his son \u00c9mile, apparently because\n[ 295 ]\ni"}