you propose to tell the article each person has taken. We will suppose
the articles to be a ring, dime or shilling, and a key. The performer
must in his own mind, term the ring _a_, the shilling or dime _e_, and
key _i_: (this being the alphabetical order of the vowels, can be easily
recollected) and he must also mentally distinguish the persons as first,
second and third. Then taking twenty-four counters or cards, he gives one
to the first person, two to the second and three to the third; and placing
the remainder of the counters on the table, he turns his back or leaves
the room, telling the persons each to take an article, and that whoever
takes the ring is to take also as many counters as he already has; he who
takes the shilling, twice as many; and he who takes the key, four times as
many. This being done, the performer advances, and reckons the remaining
counters, and according to their number and the underneath line, which
he must have previously acquired, he tells who has taken each of the
different articles.
1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7.
Salve certa animæ semita vita quies.
Thus, if there had been a remainder of six counters, the position of the
vowels in the corresponding word _vita_, shows that the first person took
_i_, the key; and the second person took _a_, the ring; and, consequently,
the third person must have taken the shilling. It must be observed,
that in no instance can there be a remainder of four counters; and that
the first syllable of each word represents the first person, and the
second syllable the second person. This ingenious feat is founded on the
permutation of the three articles, or their representative vowels, which
can only be placed in six different positions, and the corresponding
numerical arrangement of the counters, thus:
1. _a_ _e_ _i_ salve.
2. _e_ _a_ _i_ certa.
3. _a_ _i_ _e_ animæ.
5. _e_ _i_ _a_ semita.
6. _i_ _a_ _e_ vita.
7. _i_ _e_ _a_ quies.
The three vowels, in their different positions, are made easy of
recollection, by being united with consonants and formed in their regular
succession into the above Latin line, or into this similarly constructed
French one:
1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7.
Par fer Cesar jadis devint si grand prince.
37. PHILOSOPHY CHEATED.
This feat is really an excellent one, and has astonished crowds of
spectators in different parts of the United States. It was one of the
favorites of a late professor, by whom it was promulgated. Before you
perform it in public, you must practice it until you are quite perfect, in
private, for it would be a pity to spoil its effect by making a blunder
in it. Begin by stating that you are about performing what you have no
doubt will be regarded as a very extraordinary maneuver, and you will
leave the company to decide upon what principle of natural philosophy it
is accomplished. The mode of performance is as follows: Lay the piece of
wood across the palm of your left hand, which keep wide open, with the
thumb and all the fingers far apart, lest you be suspected of supporting
the wood with them. Next, take your left wrist in your right hand, and
grasp it tightly, for the purpose, as you state, of giving the hand more
steadiness. Now, suddenly turn the back of your left hand uppermost, and
as your wrist moves in your right hand, stretch out the forefinger of your
right hand, and as soon as the wood comes undermost, support it with such
forefinger. You may now shake the hand, and, after a moment or two, suffer
the wood to drop. It is two to one but the spectators will suppose it to
be produced by the action of the air, and try to do it themselves; but, of
course, they must, unless you have performed the feat so awkwardly as to
be discovered, fail in its performance. If you have no objection to reveal
the secret, you can do it again, and while they are gravely philosophizing
upon it, suddenly lift up your hand (_vide_ Cut), and expose the trick.
This will, doubtless, create much amusement. Observe that, in doing this
feat, you must keep your fingers so low that no one can see the palm of
your left hand; and move your finger so carefully, that its action may not
be detected; and if it be not, you may rest satisfied that its absence
from round the wrist of the left hand will not be discovered, some of
the fingers being naturally supposed to be under the coat; so that, if
the spectators only see two or even one, they will imagine the others
are beneath the cuff. When you have turned your hand over, do not keep
the stick too long upheld, lest the spectators should take hold of your
hands, and discover the trick; before their surprise is over, remove your
forefinger, and suffer the stick to fall.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
38. THE DISAPPEARING DIME.
Provide yourself with a piece of India rubber cord about twelve inches
long, and a dime with a hole on the edge; attach the dime to the cord with
a piece of white sewing silk, and after having done this, sew the cord
to your coat sleeve lining, but be very careful and ascertain that the
end upon which the dime is attached does not extend lower than within two
inches of the extreme end of the sleeve when the coat is on. It is better
to have the dime in the left arm sleeve. Having done this, bring down the
dime with the right hand, and place it between the thumb and index finger
of the left hand, and, showing it to the company, tell them that you will
give the coin to any one present who will not let it slip away. You must
then select one of the audience to whom you proffer the dime, and just as
he is about to receive it you must let it slip from between your fingers,
and the contraction of the elastic cord will make the coin disappear up
your sleeve, much to the astonishment of the person who thinks he is about
to receive it. This feat can be varied by pretending to wrap the coin in
a piece of paper, or a handkerchief. Great care should be taken not to
let any part of the cord be seen, as this would, of course, discover the
trick. This is one of the most surprising feats of legerdemain, and its
chief beauty consists in its extreme simplicity. The writer has frequently
astonished a whole room full of company by the performance of this trick.
* * * * *
TRICKS REQUIRING SPECIAL APPARATUS.
I admit no tricks that are wholly managed by the apparatus, as I think
they are unworthy of notice. Therefore, every trick mentioned in the
following pages must be carefully practiced in private before it is
produced in public. The apparatus, of course, cannot be inspected by the
audience, and for that reason it is better to mix them with those tricks
that have been already mentioned, in order that suspicious persons may be
quieted by an occasional permission to inspect the objects used in the
performances.
The young conjuror should always vary the mode of performance in the
non-essentials, and should study combinations of one trick with another,
by which means he will produce more astonishing results than if he
restricted himself to the methods mentioned in this work. He should also
invariably make a little speech, acknowledging that he is only deceiving
the eye and not the mind, and should therefore request the company not to
ask any questions, or to demand inspection of any of his apparatus.
39. THE DIE TRICK.
Get a wooden die about two inches and a half square (1), and a hollow tin
die exactly the size of the wooden one, but without one of the sides (2).
Then paint them both exactly alike, as in the engraving. It will be better
to let an _accidental_ flaw appear on the same side of each. Then get a
tin cover (4) that exactly fits the dice. Now for the trick itself.
[Illustration]
Borrow two hats, and while you turn your back upon the audience as you
go to your table, slip into one of them the false die. Place both hats
on the table, and send round the real die and cover for inspection. When
they are returned, say, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my intention to
place these hats one above another, thus." You then place the two hats as
in No. 3, the hollow die being in the bottom hat. "I shall then cover the
die thus," which you do, "and after I have knocked on the cover, I shall
take it off, and you will find that the die is not under the cover, as
it is now," taking it off, "but inside the hat, like this." You then put
the real die into the hat. "You do not believe me, ladies and gentlemen,
but I will soon convince you." You then take out the false die, and
replacing the upper hat, put the die on the upper hat (of course, with the
open side downward,) and place the cover over it. Pick up your conjuring
wand, give it a few flourishes, and bring it down on the cover. Grasp the
cover tightly near the bottom, when both cover and false die will come up
together; put the end of your wand into them, and give them a good rattle.
Then knock off the upper hat with a blow of the wand, and push the lower
one off the table, so that the die tumbles out of it. Always use plenty of
gesture about your tricks.
40. THE PENETRATIVE CENTS.
Get a brazier to cut out all the interior of five cents, only leaving
the rims. He must then bore out nearly all the interior of a sixth cent,
merely leaving a shell of copper at the top. A long rivet must then be
let into the rim, as shown in Fig. 1, No. 2, and a hole must be drilled
in each of the five rings, as in No. 3. The rivet is to be passed through
the holes in the rings, and fastened below, so that all the rings can play
easily upon it. Fig. 1, No. 1, is a section of the entire apparatus, the
dotted lines representing the rivet. They can then be placed as shown in
Fig. 2, No. 1, and no one will imagine that they are only shams, as you
can rattle them or move them about upon each other. A leathern cover, Fig.
2, No. 2, is then made, which passes easily over the heap of cents, but
being pliable, is capable of picking up the hollow cents with it, when
it is held firmly. To the under surface of the table you fasten a little
shelf, Fig. 2, No. 3, which moves on a hinge, and is let fall by placing
the foot on the pedal, Fig. 2, No. 4, which draws the catch.
[Illustration: _Fig. 1_]
[Illustration: _Fig. 2_]
To perform the trick, place six real cents on the little shelf, and have
the sham cents on the table. Take them up and rattle them, and put them
down as in Fig. 2, No. 1. Keep a sixpence in the palm of your hand, pick
up the sham cents, and as you put them down, slip the sixpence under them,
as you do the ball in trick 6. Take the cover, and put it over the sham
cents, make a short speech, and knock the cover with your wand, at the
same time pressing the pedal with your foot, which will cause all the
six real cents to tumble down with a great crash. Take up the cover and
false cents together, put the end of your wand into them and hold them up
triumphantly, showing the spectators that the six cents have been replaced
by a silver sixpence. While you are picking up the cents, slip the sham
ones out of the cover into your left hand, and take some opportunity of
letting the empty cover roll towards the audience, one of whom you ask
to pick it up and bring it to you. This maneuver generally disarms all
suspicion, for the picker-up is sure to examine it very closely.
I have only given mere outlines of this really excellent trick, which may
be varied in a hundred ways, and is capable of combination with other
tricks to a large extent. For the pedal may be substituted a lever running
immediately under the surface of the table, if the performer prefers to
have a short cloth on it. There should be always two cloths on the table;
the lower one thick and soft, to prevent jingling of objects, and the
upper one white, as it displays everything better than a colored one. The
ingenuity of the young conjuror will easily find methods of varying this
trick. _See Trick_ 67, _page_ 48.
41. THE DOLL TRICK.
Get a comical looking doll, and cut off his head diagonally, taking care
to do it very neatly. Drive a peg into the neck, and bore a hole in the
body, into which the peg fits, as in the cut. Paint his body and head
carefully, and if you put a gold chain or two round his neck, it will
conceal the line of junction. Make also a coat of silk, and sew a pocket
inside the edge of the skirt.
[Illustration]
Take up the doll, and say, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, here is a very
learned man. Observe the development of his forehead, the sagacity of his
nose, the eloquence of his lips, the dignity of his spectacles, and the
philosophy of his pigtail. He is professor of astronomy at Timbuctoo, and
here is his gown of office. See how handsome he looks in it. He is going
to Amsterdam to see the eclipse of the last new comet. He has the honor
to wish you all farewell before starting on his journey. Now, professor,
we are waiting to see you go. Oh! you want funds, do you? I beg your
pardon; here is a quarter for you." So saying, you take your right hand
from under the gown, taking with it the body, and put the body into your
pocket, while you jingle some silver. The head is now supported by your
left hand. Pretend to give him some money, and then say, "What! you won't
go unless you have more! Get along!" Hit the head a hard rap with your
right hand, which drives it into the pocket, which you hold open for it
with your left thumb and little finger. "O dear! the doctor is dead, and
cannot be found." Saying this, you grasp the gown by the place where the
head is, and shake it about to show that it is empty. If you like you can
make another oration and hold a dialogue, making the doctor resuscitate
himself, which is of course done by taking the head out of the pocket with
the left hand, and working it about by the peg.
42. THE FLYING COINS.
Take two eagles, or rather brass imitations, and grind them down until
they are reduced to half their thickness. Do the same with two quarter
dollars, and fasten them accurately together, so that you will have two
coins, each having one silver face, and one brass face. Take one of
them in each hand, showing the silver side of one and the brass side of
another, and offer to change them without moving your arms. Shut your
hands and the coins will turn over. Then, on opening them again, they will
appear to have changed from one hand into the other.
43. THE VANISHED HALF-DIME.
Put a little wax on the nail of the middle finger of the right hand, and
take a half-dime into the palm of the same hand. Close the hand, pressing
the wax on the coin. Then rapidly open it, and the silver piece will
adhere to the wax, and be quite concealed behind the finger when you hold
your hand up.
44. THE RESTORED DOCUMENT.
Make a memorandum book, and line the cover with paper which has been
previously rubbed with a mixture of lamp-black and oil. The paper must
be loosely affixed, so that it can be raised up, and a leaf from the
memorandum book placed under it. You must also make a flat box, having a
double opening.
You now take a leaf out of the memorandum book, and ask some one to write
a sentence, at the same time offering him the book to write upon. The
pencil with which you furnish him is very hard, and he is forced to press
upon the paper in order to mark. In so doing, the black is transferred
by the pressure of the pencil from the blackened paper to the white leaf
that has been placed under it, and of course makes an exact copy of the
writing. You then give the man his document, put the memorandum book in
your pocket, and go out of the room to fetch your box, which you have
_forgotten_. While you are out of the room, you take out the leaf from
under the black paper, and put it into one side of the flat box, and shut
down the cover that hides it. You bring in the box, apologising for your
absence, and give the box, open at the _other_ side, into the writer's
hands. Tell him to burn his writing in a candle, and to place the ashes
in the box. He does so, and closing the box, returns it to you. You then
flourish about a little with the box, wave it in the air, bring it down
with a bang on the table, strike it with your wand, and then, opening it
as at first, you produce the duplicate leaf, which the writer acknowledges
to be in his own hand-writing. If the lamp-black should have come off and
smeared the paper, you can account for it by observing that it is very
difficult to get rid of all traces of the burning.
45. THE MAGIC RINGS.
Get a blacksmith to make a number of rings, about six or seven inches in
diameter, as in the cut. A is made with a spring opening on one side, B
is a set of two rings forged permanently within each other, C is a set of
three rings formed in the same manner, and D D are two simple rings. The
rings should be about the thickness of a rather large black-lead pencil.
[Illustration]
Lay the rings on one another, and they will all appear to be separate and
distinct: D D should be the uppermost rings, then B, then A, and then
C. Hand round D for inspection and if any more are desired, hand round
the other D. When returned, hang them over your left arm, or grasp them
in your hand, and tell the company that you are going to weave all the
rings together. You clash them together, and after going through some
complicated movements, bring out B, which the spectators will think you
have just fastened together. Hand them round. When they are returned mix
them all up, and bring out C. Then take A in your hand, and passing one of
the outer rings of C through the opening, you have four rings together.
Then add D and you have five. Take off D and substitute B which will give
you six. So you go on weaving them into all kinds of fantastic shapes.
You must always conceal the joint in A with your thumb, and contrive as
often as you can to have one at least of the rings D at liberty This is
a capital trick, and may be diversified to any extent, especially if the
number of rings is increased.
46. THE FISH AND INK TRICK.
This is really a first-rate delusion. You bring before the spectators a
glass vase, full of ink. You dip a ladle into it, and pour out some of the
ink upon a plate, in order to convince the audience that the substance
in the vase is really ink. You then throw a handkerchief over the vase
and instantly withdraw it, when the vase is found to be filled with pure
water, in which a couple of gold fish are swimming.
This apparent impossibility is performed as follows. To the interior
of the vessel is fitted a black silk lining, which adheres closely to
the sides when pressed by the water, and which is withdrawn inside the
handkerchief during the performance of the trick. The ladle has a hollow
handle with an opening into the bowl. In the handle is a spoonful or so of
ink, which runs into the bowl when it is held downward, during the act of
dipping it into the vase.
47. THE CANNON BALLS.
The performer of this trick borrows a number of hats, and places them on
the table. He then returns each person his hat, and on turning it over, a
thirty-two pounder cannon ball rolls out.
[Illustration]
The method of performing this delusion is as follows. Get a turner to make
a number of wooden balls, each the size of a thirty-two pounder cannon
ball, and let a hole be bored in each which will admit the middle finger.
The balls are arranged hole upwards on a shelf on your table on the side
opposite to your audience, so that the balls are nearly level with the
top of the table. When you take a hat off the table, you slip your fore
or middle finger into the ball just as you would into a thimble, and by
bending the finger, bring the ball into the hat.
Any object may be brought into a hat in this manner, a great cabbage, for
instance, having a hole cut in the stalk.
48. THE DIME IN THE BALL OF COTTON.
Get a tinman to make a flat tin tube, which will just allow a dime to pass
through it. Wind a quantity of worsted round it, so as to make it into a
ball.
These preliminaries having been accomplished, perform any trick that will
get a dime out of sight, such as number 1 or 2. Then tell the spectators
that you will bring the marked dime into the middle of a ball of worsted.
Take down the ball from the place where it is lying, drop the dime into
the tube, and withdraw the tube, leaving the dime in the ball. A good
squeeze or two will hold it tight, and obliterate every mark of the tube.
Place the ball in a tumbler, take the end of the worsted, and give it to
some one to unwind. This being done, the dime will be found in the very
center of the ball, with the end of the worsted wrapped tightly round it.
49. THE EGG AND BAG TRICK.
Get a chintz or cloth bag made double,[1] and between the two bags make
six or seven pockets, each of which will hold an egg, and have an opening
into the bag. Fill the pockets with eggs, and you are ready for the
performance.
Hold the bag by the place where the eggs are, shake it, turn it inside
out, and show that there is nothing in it. Then tell the spectators, that
you are sure there is a hen in the bag. Put your head near the mouth of
the bag, and make a clucking like a hen. You then say "I knew I was right,
and she has laid an egg." So saying, you put your hand into the bag and
take out one of the eggs, taking care to pretend to grope in one of the
corners for it.
This is repeated until all the eggs but one are gone. You then, after
taking out the last egg, say that some people think the eggs are not
real, but you will convince them by ocular inspection. Saying this, you
break the egg in a saucer with your right hand, and while the people are
occupied with it, you drop the bag behind your table, or hang it on a hook
out of sight, and take up another exactly like it, into which you have put
a hen. "These are real eggs," you then say, "and if any one doubts their
reality, they cannot doubt that this is a real hen." You then turn the bag
upside down, and shake out the hen. If any one wishes to inspect that bag,
he can do so without being much wiser for it.
50. THE DANCING EGG.
Send for some eggs, and take care to place among them one which has been
emptied of its contents, and to which is fastened a long hair, at the
other end of which is tied a crooked pin. Borrow a small stick from one of
the spectators, and as you go behind your table contrive to hook the bent
pin into your coat, passing it over the stick. Then place the egg on an
inverted hat, and ask for some music, and directly it begins to sound, a
slight and imperceptible depression or elevation of the stick will cause
the egg to twist and roll about upon it as if it had life. You must be
careful to turn gently round now and then, so as apparently to vary the
distance of the egg from the body.
51. BELL AND SHOT.
Get a wooden bell made, so thick that there is a considerable space
between the outer and inner surfaces, especially on the upper part of the
bell. A hollow must be cut in this, and the handle so made, that when it
is at rest, it is forced upwards by a spring, and draws up the round piece
of wood to which the clapper chain is attached, and closes the aperture,
as shown in the engraving.
[Illustration]
You have a cardboard measure, which is of precisely the same capacity as
the cavity in the bell, and just wide enough to hold a cent. Into this
you privately put a cent, and then fill up the measure with shot, heaping
it a little, to compensate for the cent. You make up a tale about a man
going out shooting, and ringing the bell of the gunmaker's shop. (You then
ring your wooden bell.) How the man bought a measure full of shot for a
cent, (you pour the shot into the bell and back again two or three times,)
but was so long haggling over three shots, that the gunmaker took away
the shot, (here you again pour the shot into the bell, and by pressing
on the handle, allow them all to run into the hollow,) and kept the cent
for his trouble. The man went out of the shop, but soon came in again,
and rang furiously. (Here you again ring the bell which is now apparently
empty, and invert the measure on the table. The cent not being held by
the finger and thumb, will now fall on the tablecloth.) Then finish the
story with an account of the manner in which the man got back his cent.
When you have finished, invert the bell over the empty measure, and on
pressing the handle, the shots will refill it. Do not touch it until you
have done another trick or two, and then, when you put the bell aside,
ring it again, and remark that the purchaser was a silly fellow ofter all,
for here are his shots in his measure.
52. THE BURNED HANDKERCHIEF RESTORED.
Get a tinman to make a double canister, such as is shown in the cut, with
an opening at each end. This must so slide within a tin tube, that either
end can be concealed within it alternately, as seen in the engraving,
where the end A is shown, and B is concealed. In this position it looks
like an ordinary canister. The interior is divided into two parts. Into B
put a piece of cambric made to look like a handkerchief.
[Illustration]