We might enlarge our list of "Sensational feats," but to no real benefit
to the student, for they are all cut from the same cloth, and are but
"improvements" upon the simple parlor feats. If the student wishes to do
so, he may invent a dozen similar feats, just as sensational and just as
effective. The purpose of the sensational feat is primarily to gain free
advertisements for the public performers. As scientific demonstrations
they have but very slight value.
"FAKE DEMONSTRATIONS" EXPOSED.
In concluding this part of the book, we wish to warn our students
against some of the so-called "Mind Readers" who are travelling around
the country giving exhibitions of so-called Mind Reading which while
interesting enough in themselves are nothing but cleverly devised
devices intended to counterfeit the genuine phenomena. The majority of
these performers have a series of cleverly arranged "signal-codes" by
which the confederate conveys to the "Mind Reader" the name and
description of the article handed to the former by some one of the
audience. One of the principal performers in this line in this country
had a signal-code of over five-thousand objects, which he and his
confederate had carefully memorized. This code was worked by the plan of
asking the blindfolded "Mind Reader" to name the object. You can see
the possibilities of this when you remember the many different ways in
which the same question may be asked, and when you remember that each
word, and combination of words, conveys a distinct and separate meaning
to the blindfolded one.
Others employ sleight-of-hand, and legerdemain, in order to produce the
illusion. Prepared pads of paper upon which questions are written, and
similar means, are commonly used in such exhibitions. We do not purpose
going into this matter in detail, for such is not the purpose of this
work. But we think it well to call the attention of our students to the
same, in order that they may get a clue to some of the various
counterfeit exhibitions of Mind Reading which are being advertised by
some of the public performers. There are other public performers,
however, who give fine exhibitions of the genuine phenomena. The student
of this work should have acquired a sufficient knowledge of its
underlying principles to enable him to distinguish between the genuine
and the spurious when he sees an exhibition. If any wish to know more of
the counterfeit, there are many good works published on "Legerdemain"
which will satisfy his curiosity.