TRICKS WITH COIN WITHOUT APPARATUS.
There is an immense variety of tricks with coin--some with apparatus,
some without; some demanding a thorough mastery of sleight-of-hand;
some so simple as to be within the compass of the merest tyro. The only
classification which we shall attempt will be to divide them into such
as do and such as do not require special apparatus.
A FLORIN BEING SPUN UPON THE TABLE, TO TELL BLINDFOLD WHETHER IT FALLS
HEAD OR TAIL UPWARDS.--You borrow a florin, and spin it, or invite some
other person to spin it, on the table (which must be without a cloth).
You allow it to spin itself out, and immediately announce, without
seeing it, whether it has fallen head or tail upwards. This may be
repeated any number of times with the same result, though you may be
blindfolded, and placed at the further end of the apartment.
The secret lies in the use of a florin of your own, on one face of
which (say on the “tail” side) you have cut at the extreme edge a
little notch, thereby causing a minute point or tooth of metal to
project from that side of the coin. If a coin so prepared be spun on
the table, and should chance to go down with the notched side upwards,
it will run down like an ordinary coin, with a long continuous “whirr,”
the sound growing fainter and fainter till it finally ceases; but if
it should run down with the notched side downwards, the friction of
the point against the table will reduce this final whirr to half its
ordinary length, and the coin will finally go down with a sort of
“flop.” The difference of sound is not sufficiently marked to attract
the notice of the spectators, but is perfectly distinguishable by an
attentive ear. If, therefore, you have notched the coin on the “tail”
side, and it runs down slowly, you will cry “tail;” if quickly, “head.”
If you professedly use a borrowed florin, you must adroitly change it
for your own, under pretence of showing how to spin it, or the like.
You should not allow your audience to imagine that you are guided by
the sound of the coin, as, if once they have the clue, they will easily
learn to distinguish the two sounds. They are not, however, likely to
discover the secret of the notch, and if any one professes to have
found out the trick, you may, by again substituting an unprepared
florin, safely challenge him to perform it.
ODD OR EVEN, OR THE MYSTERIOUS ADDITION.--This is a trick of almost
childish simplicity, depending upon an elementary arithmetical
principle. We have, however, known it to occasion great perplexity,
even to more than ordinarily acute persons.
You take a handful of coins or counters, and invite another person to
do the same, and to ascertain privately whether the number he has taken
is odd or even. You request the company to observe that you have not
asked him a single question, but that you are able, notwithstanding, to
divine and counteract his most secret intentions, and that you will in
proof of this, yourself take a number of coins, and add them to those
he has taken, when, if his number was odd, the total shall be even; if
his number was even, the total shall be odd. Requesting him to drop the
coins he holds into a hat, held on high by one of the company, you drop
in a certain number on your own account. He is now asked whether his
number was odd or even; and, the coins being counted, the total number
proves to be, as you stated, exactly the reverse. The experiment is
tried again and again, with different numbers, but the result is the
same.
The secret lies in the simple arithmetical fact, that if you add an
odd number to an even number the result will be odd; if you add an odd
number to an odd number the result will be even. You have only to take
care, therefore, that the number you yourself add, whether large or
small, shall always be odd.
TO CHANGE A FLORIN INTO A PENNY, BACK AGAIN, AND THEN TO PASS THE
SAME INVISIBLY INTO THE POCKET OF THE OWNER.--This is a trick of
genuine sleight-of-hand, and will test your expertness in two or three
different passes. Having beforehand palmed a penny in your right hand,
you borrow from one of the company a florin (or half-crown), requesting
the owner to mark it in such manner that he may be able to identify it.
Make him stand up facing you, your own right side and his left being
towards the audience. Taking the marked florin between the fingers and
thumb of the right hand (the back of which, from your position, will be
toward the spectators), you ask him whether he is nervous, whether he
can hold fast, and so on. On receiving satisfactory replies, you state
that you are about to put him to the test, and request him to hold out
his right hand, telling him that you are about to count three, and that
at the word “three” you will drop the florin into his hand, which he
is to close tightly upon it. You accordingly count, “One! two! three!”
each time making a motion as of dropping the florin into his hand, and
at the word “three” actually do drop it, when he closes his hand upon
it, as directed; but you are not satisfied. “That won’t do, my dear
sir,” you exclaim; “you are not half quick enough--you allow all the
electric fluid to escape. We’ll try once more, and pray be a little
quicker in your movements. Oblige me with the coin again. Now, then,
are you ready?--One! _two_!! THREE!!!” giving the words with great
energy. As you say “three” you stamp your foot, and apparently again
drop the florin, but really drop the penny instead, by Change 3. He is
sure this time to close his hand very quickly, and, having no reason to
the contrary, naturally believes that it is the florin which he holds,
your previous feint, when you did actually drop the florin, being
specially designed to lead him to that conclusion. You next request
him to hold the closed hand high, that all may see it. This draws the
general attention to him, and away from yourself, and enables you to
place in your palm the florin, which was left, after the change, in the
bend of your right thumb. You continue, “You did better that time, sir.
Now, what will you bet me that I cannot take that two-shilling-piece
out of your hand without your knowing it?” Whether he admits or defies
your power, the course of the trick is the same. “Well,” you say at
last, “you seem so determined that I am almost afraid to take the whole
of the two-shilling piece away from you, I think I must be content with
one-and-elevenpence. Allow me to touch your hand with my wand.” You do
so, and on opening his hand he discovers that the two-shilling piece
has changed into a penny.
You thank him for his assistance, hand him the penny, and dismiss him
to his seat. Naturally enough, he objects to accept the penny in place
of his florin. You pretend at first not to understand him, but, as
if suddenly enlightened, you exclaim, “Oh, the florin, you want the
florin? My dear sir,” indicating the penny, “that _is_ the florin.
At present it is under an electric influence, but you have only to
wait till that goes off (it won’t take more than three weeks or so),
when it will resume its former appearance. You don’t believe me, I
see; but I can easily convince you by discharging the electric fluid,
when the change will take place at once. Observe!” You take the penny
between the thumb and second finger of the left hand (after the manner
indicated in Fig. 66), and make Change 4, making a gentle rubbing
movement with the fingers and thumb of the right hand before you open
that hand and disclose the restored florin, at the same time carelessly
dropping your left hand to your side, and letting fall the penny into
your _pochette_ on that side. Bring up the left hand again, showing,
but without apparent design, that it is empty; and still holding the
coin in the right hand, make Pass 1, as if you transferred it to the
left hand. Make a motion with the left hand, as if handing the coin,
and say to the owner, “Will you be good enough to examine the florin,
and see that it is the same you marked.” He naturally holds out his
hand for the coin, which he believes to be in your left hand, and which
you pretend to give him; but it has vanished. “Well,” you say, “is it
the same florin?” Looking, probably, rather foolish, he replies that
he has not got it. “Not got it!” you say; “why I have just given it to
you. I passed it into your pocket. Look for yourself.” He forthwith
begins to search his pockets. “You are trying the wrong one,” you say;
“this is the pocket.” As if desiring merely to assist his search, you
plunge into any pocket which he has not yet tried your right hand (in
the palm of which the coin was left after the pass), and letting the
coin drop to the finger ends, take it out as if it were already in the
pocket, as nine-tenths of the audience will believe it to have been.
TO MAKE A MARKED FLORIN AND PENNY, WRAPPED IN SEPARATE HANDKERCHIEFS,
CHANGE PLACES AT COMMAND.--Borrow a florin (or half-crown) and a penny,
requesting the owners to mark them, that they may be sure of knowing
them again. Also borrow two pocket handkerchiefs.
It may be well to mention, once for all, that it is generally desirable
to borrow from the audience, when you can, any indifferent article used
in a trick (_e.g._, a hat, a watch, or a handkerchief), as you thereby
seem to give a guarantee for the absence of preparation. Articles so
borrowed are taken upon trust, so to speak, and by making a secret
exchange you may still use a prepared substitute, which will escape the
close scrutiny to which any article confessedly provided by yourself
would be subjected.
While the articles above mentioned are being collected from the
audience, you secretly palm in your left hand a penny of your own.
Receiving the borrowed coins in your right hand, apparently transfer
them to the left, but really only transfer the florin, the marked
penny remaining in your right hand. This may be effected by making
Pass 2 with the marked penny, at the same time allowing the marked
florin to drop from the palm as directed in Change 3. Take the earliest
opportunity of transferring the marked penny to the palm of the right
hand, and showing the marked florin and the substitute penny (which
the spectators take to be the genuine one) on the open left hand,
place them on your table, begging the audience to observe that they
do not for one moment leave their sight. Then picking up with the
right hand the florin, on which you may casually show the mark, and
throwing one of the borrowed handkerchiefs over the hand, take hold
(through the handkerchief) of apparently the florin which you have
just shown, but really of the marked penny, and transfer the marked
florin to the palm. The shape of the coin, which the audience take to
be the florin, will be distinctly seen through the handkerchief, whose
folds will fall down around it. Give the handkerchief containing the
coin to some person, requesting him to hold it tightly just below the
coin, and well above his head, that all may see it.[J] Now take up
the substitute penny, and apparently wrap it, in like manner, in the
second handkerchief, really substituting as before the coin concealed
in your palm. The substitute penny, which remains in your right hand,
you must drop into your _pochette_ or _profonde_ at the first available
opportunity. Give the second handkerchief to another person to hold.
The first handkerchief now, to all appearance, contains the florin, and
the second the penny. Invite the two persons to stand face to face,
the hands holding the handkerchiefs just touching, and after gravely
cautioning them to hold very tight, etc., etc., give their hands a
gentle rap with your wand, saying, “Change!” Upon examination, the
coins are found to have obeyed your commands.
[J] This takes it out of the range of his eyes, and prevents
his indulging any desire for a premature examination of the
contents.
Managed with neatness and address, this is an admirable drawing-room
trick; the previous marking of the coins apparently precluding any
possibility of using substitutes, and allowing the spectator no
alternative but to admit that by some mysterious means the identical
coins have changed places.
A similar trick may be performed without the use of the handkerchief.
As before, you borrow a marked florin and penny, exchanging the latter
for one of your own, and palm the genuine one. Taking up the marked
florin from the table, you hand it to some one to hold, substituting
for it as you do so the genuine penny by Change 3, as indicated in the
trick last described. The florin is thus left in your right hand. Palm
it, and take up the substitute penny between the second finger and
thumb of the left hand, and pretend by Pass 4 to transfer it to the
right, which you immediately close. Drop the penny into your _pochette_
on the left side, and announce that by your magic power you will compel
the penny which you hold to change places with the florin held by the
spectator. When the hands are opened, the supposed change is found to
be accomplished.
TO MAKE TWO MARKED COINS, WRAPPED IN SEPARATE HANDKERCHIEFS, COME
TOGETHER IN ONE OF THEM.--The coins and handkerchiefs borrowed for
the purpose of the last trick will again serve in this one. Palm in
your right hand a penny of your own, and throw over the same hand
one of the borrowed handkerchiefs. This will effectually conceal the
substitute penny, which you may now take between the finger and thumb.
Holding the handkerchief spread out upon the open hand, you take up
with the left hand the marked penny and place it on the handkerchief,
as if to wrap it therein, but at the same time with the third finger
push a fold of the handkerchief under the substitute penny in your
right hand. You now invert the handkerchief over your left hand for a
minute, allowing the marked penny to drop back into that hand, and at
the same time twist the fold already mentioned around the substitute.
The audience see the shape of a coin wrapped up in the handkerchief,
and naturally believe that it is that of the marked penny which you
have apparently placed inside it. In reality, it is that of your own
penny, wrapped merely in an outside fold. You now hand the handkerchief
to some one to hold, requesting him to grasp the coin, and hold tightly.
[Illustration: FIG. 76.]
The marked penny, it will be remembered, remains in your left hand,
and the marked florin on the table. As you go to take up the latter,
you transfer the penny to your right hand, and palm it; then pick up
the florin, holding it at the tips of the fingers. Spread the second
handkerchief on the open palm of the left hand. Bring the florin down
smartly upon it, and by the same movement let the penny fall from the
palm on to the handkerchief. The two coins will now be lying (covered
by the right hand) on the handkerchief, a couple of inches apart.
Close the left hand on both coins, and turn the hand over, so that the
edges of the handkerchief hang down. With the right hand grasp the
handkerchief five or six inches below the coins. Take one of these
through the handkerchief between the finger and thumb of the left
hand, letting the other fall loose inside the handkerchief, which
you then invite some one to hold in like manner, but in a horizontal
position. (_See_ Fig. 76.) This position is adopted in order that the
two coins may not, by any accidental chink, prematurely disclose the
fact that both are already in the handkerchief.
[Illustration: FIG. 77.]
You now announce that you are about to make both coins pass into one
handkerchief. Advancing to the person who holds the first handkerchief,
you request him, still maintaining his hold, to remove his hand four
or five inches below the coin, to give you room to operate. First
showing that your hand is empty, you gently rub the substitute penny
through the handkerchief between your finger and thumb, when, being
only wrapped within a fold, it quickly falls into your hand. No one
ever thinks of inquiring at this point whether it is the marked one
or not. Taking it in the left hand, in position for Pass 4, you say
to the person holding the second handkerchief “Having extracted this
penny from the one handkerchief, I will now pass it into the other.
I won’t even touch the handkerchief, but will simply take the coin
in my hand, and say, ‘Pass!’ Will you be good enough, at the word
‘pass,’ to let go of the coin you are holding, but still keep hold of
the handkerchief with the other hand.” Appearing, by Pass 4, to take
the penny in the right hand, you open that hand with a quick motion
towards the handkerchief, saying, “Pass!” The person holding the
handkerchief looses his hold, as directed, when the two coins are heard
to chink together, as though the second coin had just arrived in the
handkerchief, and on examination they are, of course, found to be those
marked.
We may here describe another and still neater mode (the invention, we
believe, of M. Robert-Houdin) of apparently wrapping a coin securely in
a handkerchief, though really only covered by an outer fold.
[Illustration: FIG. 78.]
Holding the coin upright between the fingers and thumb of the left
hand, throw the handkerchief fairly over it. Having shown that it is
fairly covered, remark, “But perhaps you may fancy I have changed the
coin. Allow me to show you that I have not.” With the right hand, palm
upwards, take the coin through the handkerchief, (as shown in Fig.
77), between the first and second fingers of that hand. For a moment
let go with the left hand (but without removing it from under the
handkerchief). Turn over the right hand towards yourself, and again
seize the coin with the left hand; but this time nip the opposite
edge of the coin to that which it first held, and through the double
thickness of the handkerchief. Remove the right hand from the coin, and
with it raise the outer edge of the handkerchief and show the coin, as
in Fig. 78. Then let the edges of the handkerchief fall. Apparently
the coin is underneath, and in the centre of the handkerchief; but in
reality it is outside, lying in a slight fold on the side away from the
spectators.
The above description sounds intricate, but, if carefully followed with
the coin and handkerchief will be found perfectly simple in practice.
It is worth while taking some pains to acquire this sleight, as it is
of great value in coin tricks.
TO PULL FOUR FLORINS OR HALF-CROWNS THROUGH A HANDKERCHIEF.--You begin
by borrowing four marked half-crowns, florins, or penny-pieces, and
a silk or cambric handkerchief. You then request the assistance of a
very strong man. This gives an opportunity for a little fun in the
selection. Having at last found a volunteer to your liking, you seat
him on a chair facing the company. Spreading the handkerchief on your
left palm, and placing the four coins upon it, you close your hand upon
them through the handkerchief, and hand them to him, requesting him to
hold them firmly. Then, as if suddenly recollecting yourself, you say,
“Pardon me, I have omitted one little detail which is rather important.
Oblige me with the handkerchief again for one moment, if you please. I
ought to have shown the company that there are no holes in it.” (The
last sentence should not be pronounced until you have gained possession
of the handkerchief, as the company might possibly declare themselves
satisfied of the fact without examination, which would not answer your
purpose.). The handkerchief being returned to you, you spread it out
to show that it is free from holes, coming among the audience to do
so, and appearing to lay great stress upon the fact. Again spreading
it over your left hand, you count the coins one by one upon it; then
giving a glance round at the company, you say, as you quickly return
to your platform, “You have all seen that the four coins are fairly
wrapped in the handkerchief,” or make any other remark in order to
draw the general attention, as a sharp, quick remark almost always
will, to your face and away from your hands. At the same moment you
move the left thumb over the face of the coins, thereby covering them
with a fold of the handkerchief, and seize them, through the fold thus
made, between the thumb and fingers of the right hand, as indicated in
Fig. 79, immediately withdrawing the left hand. The coins will now be
held in the right hand, the handkerchief hanging down loosely around
them. To any one who has not watched your movements with more than
ordinary vigilance, it will appear that the coins are within and under
the handkerchief, though they are, in reality, wrapped in an external
fold. Giving them a twist round in the handkerchief, you hand it to
the person assisting you, asking him to say whether the money is still
there, to which he naturally replies in the affirmative. You then tell
him to grasp the handkerchief with both hands three or four inches
below the coins, and to hold as tightly as he possibly can. Placing
your wand under your right arm, and taking hold of the coins (through
the handkerchief) with both hands, the right hand undermost, you begin
to pull against him, making a show of pulling with great force, and
remarking that you are very glad it is not _your_ handkerchief, that
you should not have thought he was so strong, etc. Meanwhile, and
while the company are enjoying the discomfiture of the owner of the
handkerchief, you untwist the latter, and secretly get the money out
of the fold into your right hand, and palm it therein. Give one last
pull with your left hand, and let go smartly, observing that you fear
you must give it up, and own yourself conquered. Take your wand in
your right hand; this will make it seem natural for you to keep that
hand closed, and will materially aid in concealing the fact that the
money is therein. Your antagonist, or the spectators for him, will by
this time have discovered that the money has vanished; but you pretend
to be unconscious of the fact, and request him to give it back, that
you may return it to the owners. He naturally declares that he has not
got it. With all the seriousness that you can command, you insist that
he has it, and that he must restore it. On his continued denial you
suggest that he should search his pockets, which you tap, one after
another, with your wand, each giving a metallic sound as if containing
money; but the coins are still not to be found. At last, after all his
pockets have been tried in vain, you, as if upon a sudden thought, tap
the leg of his trousers, the metallic chink still following every tap
of the wand till you have nearly reached his feet, when you exclaim,
“Yes, there it is. Will you have the kindness to put your foot on
that chair?” He does so, and quickly transferring your wand to the
left hand, with the fingers of the right you turn up the edge of the
trouser, giving at the same time a slight shake, when the four coins
are seen to fall out, to the great surprise of the victim.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.]
This effect is produced as follows: The coins being in your right hand,
you introduce them with the second, third, and fourth fingers under the
edge of the trouser; then, with the first finger and thumb which are
left outside, you nip them through the cloth, and hold them an instant
till you have withdrawn the remaining fingers, when with a slight shake
you let them fall.
The metallic chink on tapping the pockets may be produced in two
ways. One method is to use a hollow metal wand, japanned to match the
one you ordinarily use, and containing throughout its length a loose
piece of thick wire, which, striking against the sides of the tube,
exactly imitates the chink of money. The other mode is to use merely
the ordinary wand, allowing the end which you hold to chink against
the money held in the same hand. With a little practice the effect is
equally deceptive as with the special wand.
TO PASS A MARKED FLORIN (OR HALF-CROWN) INTO THE CENTRE OF TWO ORANGES
IN SUCCESSION.--For this excellent trick a little previous preparation
is necessary. A slit, an inch and a half deep, and just large enough to
admit a florin, is made in each of two oranges, and in one of them a
florin (which for distinction we will call No. 1) is placed. These must
be put in readiness behind the scenes, or so placed as to be out of
sight of the audience.
The performer palms in either hand a second florin (No. 2), and
advancing to his audience, borrows from one of them a florin, first
marked by the owner. (This last we will call No. 3). He invites special
attention to the fact that throughout the experiment he is about to
perform, the coin is never removed from their sight, and he accordingly
places it (really substituting, by one or other of the changes, florin
No. 2) in full view on his table. He then goes out to fetch an orange,
and takes the opportunity of slipping the marked florin (No. 3) into
the vacant one. He brings forward _this_ orange publicly, and places it
on his table at his _right_ hand. (The other orange he has meanwhile
placed in his secret pocket on the right side, ready for palming at a
moment’s notice.) He then says, “I think, by the way, it would be as
well to have _two_ oranges. Can any gentleman oblige me with one?” No
one responding, he looks about him, and presently stepping up to one of
his audience, pretends to take from his hair, hat, or handkerchief this
second orange (which contains, it will be remembered, florin No. 1),
and places it on the _left_ hand side of the table. He now (standing
behind his table) asks into which orange, the right or the left, he
shall pass the florin. As the right of the audience is his left, he is
at liberty to interpret the answer in whichever way he thinks proper,
and he does so in such manner as to designate the orange containing
the non-marked florin, No. 1. Thus, if the audience say “the left,” he
answers, “On my left? Very good!” If they choose “the right,” he says,
“On your right? Very good!” Not one person in a thousand will detect
the equivoque.
Taking up florin No. 2 from the table, and holding it in his left
hand, he pretends by the _tourniquet_ to take it in his right, and
thence to pass it into the orange, meanwhile dropping it from his left
hand on to the _servante_, or into the _profonde_. Showing his hands
empty, he cuts open the orange, and exhibits the florin (No. 1) therein
contained. Before giving the audience time to examine it for the mark,
he hears, or pretends to hear, a murmur among them to the effect that
that was not the orange chosen. “Pardon me,” he says, “some of you seem
to think that I had a special reason for preferring this particular
orange. I gave you absolute liberty to choose which you liked, and
I understood you to say that you chose this one. However, in order
to satisfy everyone, I will repeat the trick with the other orange.”
Taking up the second orange, he thrusts the knife through it, in the
slit already made, and gives the knife thus loaded to some one to hold.
Then, standing at some distance from it, he takes up florin No. 1, and,
getting rid of it by one or other of the “passes” previously described,
he makes a motion as of throwing it towards the orange. He now requests
the person holding the orange himself to cut it open; when the genuine
florin, No. 3, is found therein, and duly identified.
The finding of the second orange in the possession of the company may,
if preferred, be omitted, and both oranges be brought forward openly in
the first instance.
Occasionally a refractory spectator may insist upon the wrong orange
(_i.e._, that containing the genuine coin) being cut open first. As you
have offered the audience the choice, you cannot well resist this; but
it makes very little difference. In accordance with the general desire,
you cut open the orange, and show the coin (No. 3), drawing particular
attention to the mark. Its identity being fully established, you offer,
for the general satisfaction, to pass the same coin into the second
orange. Being satisfied that it was the genuine coin in the first case,
the audience will the more readily believe that it is so in the second;
but in this case you should cut open the second orange yourself, as it
will be necessary to again substitute the genuine florin before you
hand the coin to be examined.
THE FLYING MONEY.--TO MAKE A COIN PASS INVISIBLY FROM THE ONE HAND TO
THE OTHER, AND FINALLY THROUGH THE TABLE.--Have ready beforehand a
florin or half-crown, with a little wax on one side of it, and take an
opportunity of secretly sticking it, by means of the wax, against the
under side of the table (any ordinary table) with which you intend to
perform the trick. Have also a similar coin of your own palmed in your
right hand. Borrow a marked florin from one of the company, and lay
it carelessly upon the table, but in so doing exchange it for the one
previously palmed. You now have the substitute on the table, and the
marked coin palmed in its place. Turn up your sleeves, to show that
they have nothing to do with the trick, and make a few introductory
remarks about the extraordinary power of the mesmeric influence as
applied to metallic substances; then, taking up the coin from the table
between the fingers and thumb of the left hand, which you hold with
the palm towards the company, so as to show incidentally that it is
otherwise empty, continue to the following effect:--“Here, ladies and
gentlemen, is an ordinary coin, a mere inert piece of silver. If you
take it in your hand, there it will remain till you lay it down. But
let a person possessing the mesmeric gift only breathe upon it” (you
suit the action to the word), “and it is at once endowed with hearing,
sense, and motion, and will fly from hand to hand at the mere word of
command, and that so rapidly, that its flight is absolutely invisible.
See, I take it _so_” (taking it in the right hand). “One, two, three!
Pass! and it flies back into my left hand again. In order to show that
there has been no substitution, perhaps the owner will kindly verify
the mark.” The coin is examined, and found to be the same.
This illusion is produced as follows:--When you breathe upon the
substitute coin, you naturally turn the left hand palm upwards. In the
act of taking that coin in the right hand, which you do with the hands
in the position depicted in Fig. 69, you drop the genuine coin, which
was previously palmed in the right hand, into the left, the position of
the hand concealing it from the audience. After a momentary pause, you
close the left hand, and hold it extended about level with your eyes.
At each of the words, “One, two, three,” you make a slight motion of
the right hand towards it, and at the word “Pass,” palm the coin by
means of Pass 1, at the same time making a half turn of your body to
the left, opening the left hand, and pointing with the index finger of
the right hand to the coin lying therein. While it is being examined
for the mark, you drop the substitute, which remains palmed in your
right hand, into the _pochette_ on that side, and bring up your hand
empty.
Having proceeded thus far, borrow a second florin, but without in
this case suggesting that it should be marked, breathe upon it, and
lay it with that first used upon the table. Now with your right hand
take up one of the coins, and by Pass 1 pretend to transfer it to the
left, really retaining it in the palm of the right hand. Then take up
the second coin between the fingers and thumb of the right hand, and
announce that you are about to make the coins, which you now hold in
each hand, come together. Holding your arms well apart, you make a
motion with the left hand as if throwing something towards the right,
at the same moment saying as before, “One, two, three! Pass!” and
making the two coins in the right hand come together with an audible
chink. You then open the hand, and show that the left is empty, and
that both of the coins are together in the right hand.
You continue, “You all think you know how that was done, I dare say.
You imagine, no doubt, that the money was merely thrown from one hand
to the other with extreme rapidity. ‘The quickness of the hand deceives
the eye,’ as Shakspeare (or somebody else) says. I will therefore show
you the same experiment in another form in which you will find that no
such solution is admissible. I will pass the money right through this
table, which is, as you see, pretty solid. The quickness of the hand
would not be of much use in this case. I take one of the coins in the
left hand, as before.”
Here, however, you introduce a feint. Taking up the coin in the right
hand, you transfer it to the left, but purposely do it with a pretended
awkwardness, and hold the right hand afterwards rather stiffly, so as
to lead the spectators to believe that you have really retained the
coin in the right hand. To do this cleverly will require considerable
practice, but it will by no means be labour lost, as feints of this
kind are of frequent use.
The spectators, delighted to have, as they imagine, caught you
tripping, are sure to exclaim that the coin is still in your right
hand. “Surely, ladies and gentlemen,” you say, with an injured air,
“you don’t think that I would avail myself of such a transparent
artifice. See for yourselves!” opening your hands. “I won’t ask you
to apologize, but pray give me a little more credit for the future.
Come; we will have no mistake about it this time.” Take the florin
between the finger and thumb of the left hand, and, by means of the
_tourniquet_ or _pincette_, appear to transfer it to the right. Pick
up the second coin with the left hand, and place that hand under the
table, holding the closed right hand above it. Say “Pass!”, open the
right hand, show it empty, and at the same moment chink the two florins
together in the left hand, and bring them up for inspection.
Looking around you, you continue, “I am afraid you are only half
convinced; some of you look incredulous still. Come, we will try the
experiment once more, and we will see whether you can find me out this
time. As before, I take one coin in each hand.” This time you actually
do so. You again pass your left hand under the table, detaching in its
passage the third florin, which you had previously stuck to the under
side of the table, but taking care that the two do not prematurely
jingle together. Then, holding the other florin with the fingers of
the right hand, which should be held palm downwards about a foot above
the table, make Pass 1 with that hand, thus bringing the coin into its
palm, and at the same time chink the other two coins in the left hand,
and bring them up for examination. One of them, in this instance, is
a substitute, and therefore, in the unlikely event of the audience
insisting that the trick should be performed with marked coins, this
last act must be omitted.
With a regular conjuring-table, the trick might be made even more
surprising, from the facilities which the _servante_ would afford for
getting rid of and regaining the coin. But even if you habitually
use such a table, it is better not to avail yourself of it for this
purpose. The trick is, in any shape, too minute for stage performance,
and in a drawing-room it is apt to draw special attention to the table,
which in the case of a trick-table is a little embarrassing.
TO RUB ONE SIXPENCE INTO THREE.--This is a simple little parlour trick,
but will sometimes occasion great wonderment. Procure three sixpences
of the same issue and privately stick two of them (as directed for
the florin in the last trick) with wax to the under side of a table,
at about half an inch from the edge, and eight or ten inches apart.
Announce to the company that you are about to teach them how to make
money. Turn up your sleeves, and take the third sixpence in your right
hand, drawing particular attention to its date and general appearance,
and indirectly to the fact that you have no other coin concealed in
your hands. Turning back the table-cover, rub the sixpence with the
ball of the thumb backwards and forwards on the edge of the table. In
this position your fingers will naturally be below the edge. After
rubbing for a few seconds, say, “It is nearly done, for the sixpence is
getting hot;” and, after rubbing a moment or two longer with increased
rapidity, draw the hand away sharply, carrying away with it one of the
concealed sixpences, which you exhibit as produced by the friction.
Pocketing the waxed sixpence, and again showing that you have but one
coin in your hands, repeat the operation with the remaining sixpence.
THE MULTIPLICATION OF MONEY.--This is an old and favourite trick.
It may be performed with shillings, pence, or florins, as may best
suit your convenience. Whichever you use (we will suppose florins),
you prepare for the trick by secretly palming in the right hand such
number (say three) as you intend to magically add. Advancing to the
audience, you beg the loan of ten or a dozen florins (the precise
number is immaterial), at the same time requesting some one of the
company to collect them, and bring them to you. He collects, we will
suppose, twelve. You request him to count them openly upon the table,
that all may be able to verify their number. This being done, you
invite a second person also to step forward and assist. Picking up
from the table the same number of coins as you have concealed in your
palm, you give them to one of the two persons (whom we will call _A_)
to hold. Then, taking up the remaining coins, you request the second
person (whom we will call _B_) to take charge of them. When he holds
out his hand to receive them, you let fall with them the palmed coins,
so that he really receives twelve, though he believes that he has only
nine. You make him close his hand, and hold it high above his head.
You then ask _A_ for the coins you entrusted to him. On his returning
them to you, you take them between the second finger and thumb of the
left hand, and pretend by the _tourniquet_ to transfer them to the
right, really getting rid of them at the earliest opportunity on the
_servante_, or into one of your _pochettes_. The audience believe that
the three coins are in your closed right hand. You announce that you
are about to pass them invisibly into the hand of _B_, and after the
necessary amount of magical gesture, you open your hand, and show that
they have vanished; and _B_, on examining his stock, finds that the
supposed nine have increased to twelve.
It is a very good plan, in performing this trick, for the performer
himself to collect the coins from the company in a plate, the coins to
be added being held in the same hand which carries the plate, when,
the thumb being naturally above and the fingers below, the coins
are effectually concealed. After the coins have been counted, the
performer, taking the plate in the other hand, pours them from it into
the hand which already holds the concealed coins, thus bringing them
together easily and naturally.
[Illustration: FIG. 80.]
A further improvement may be made in the trick by using, in place of
an ordinary plate, a special plate or salver, generally made of tin
japanned, but sometimes of crockery or china. The speciality of this
plate (which is known as the “money plate,” or “multiplying salver”)
consists in a flat space running along its bottom, between its upper
and under surface, just wide enough and deep enough to hold concealed a
row of coins (florins or shillings, as the case may be), and closed at
the one end, but open at the other, the opening being concealed by the
edge of the plate. (_See_ Fig. 80.) You prepare the plate beforehand by
placing in the concealed space three, four, or six coins, and place it
on your table. When you first take it up, you take hold of it _near the
opening_, when you may, of course, handle it as freely as you please,
as, the mouth of the passage being upwards, the coins cannot possibly
fall out. Letting the plate hang downwards in a perpendicular position,
and passing it carelessly from hand to hand, the audience cannot help
observing that you have nothing concealed in your hands. Then collect
(or count out, if already collected) the money in the plate, and, after
taking away and handing to _A_ a number equal to the coins concealed,
pour the remainder direct from the plate into the hands of _B_, first,
however, so reversing the position of the plate (which you may do by
merely transferring it from the one hand to the other) as to turn the
opening of the passage away from you. When you now slope the plate to
pour the remaining coins into his hands, the money in the concealed
passage will naturally pour out with them (_see_ Fig. 80), thus making
the required addition with hardly a possibility of detection.
It is a good plan to perform the trick first without, and then to
repeat it with, the aid of the money plate, making a great point in
the second instance of the fact that you do not even touch the money,
and accounting for the use of the plate as designed to preclude all
possibility of the use of sleight-of-hand, or any other mechanical mode
of deception. The spectators, having already seen you perform the trick
without the aid of the plate, are precluded from supposing that this
latter has any special connection with the secret; and seeing clearly
that you have in this instance no coins concealed in your hands,
naturally conclude that the same was the case on the former occasion.
Thus the repetition of the trick, instead of assisting them to a
solution, rather increases the mystery.
The trick may be varied at pleasure so far as regards the manner of the
disappearance of the coins which are supposed to be passed invisibly
into the hands of the person holding the larger number. One mode is to
ask one of the company to wrap them up in a piece of stiff paper, for
which you forthwith secretly substitute a piece of similar paper, in
which a like number of coins have been wrapped, but have been removed,
the paper, however, retaining the form of the coins. Taking this in the
left hand, you pretend to take from it, invisibly, with the finger and
thumb of the right hand, each coin in succession, and to pass it in the
same manner into the hand of the person holding the remaining coins,
finally tearing the paper in half to show that they have really passed
away from it. Or you may, if you prefer it, place the coins in question
on the “vanishing plate,” to be hereafter described, whence they
mysteriously disappear as you take them off one by one. This is a very
effective mode. Or you may place them in the “plug-box,” the “Davenport
cabinet,” or any other of the various appliances after-mentioned for
vanishing money.
TO MAKE A MARKED SIXPENCE VANISH FROM A HANDKERCHIEF, AND BE FOUND IN
THE CENTRE OF AN APPLE OR ORANGE PREVIOUSLY EXAMINED.--Have ready,
concealed in either hand, a sixpence of your own, with a little wax
smeared on one side of it. Roll another minute portion of wax into a
round ball half the size of a peppercorn, and press it lightly upon
the lowest button of your waistcoat, so that you may be able to find
it instantly when wanted. You must also have at hand an ordinary
full-sized table-knife and a plate of oranges.
[Illustration: FIG. 81.]
You begin by borrowing a sixpence (requesting the owner to mark it) and
a handkerchief. You spread the handkerchief flat on the table, with
its sides square with those of the table. Then standing behind your
table, you place ostensibly the borrowed sixpence, but really your own
(with the waxed side up), in the centre of the handkerchief, then fold
over the corners, one by one, beginning with one of those nearest to
yourself, in such manner that each shall overlap the sixpence by about
an inch, gently pressing each corner as you fold it down. Ask some one
to come forward, and ascertain by feeling the handkerchief, that the
sixpence is really there. Then offer the knife for inspection, and
after all are satisfied that it is without preparation, hand the plate
of oranges to be examined in like manner, requesting the audience to
choose one for the purpose of the trick. While they do so, your fingers
go in search of the little ball of wax, and press it against one side
of the marked sixpence, which still remains in your hand. Press the
sixpence against one side of the blade of the knife, at about the
middle of its length, and lay the knife on the table, the sixpence
adhering to its under side. Then taking hold of the handkerchief, as
represented in Fig. 81, and blowing on its centre, draw the hands
quickly apart. The two corners of the side next to you will thus be
brought one into each hand, and adhering to one of them (the one which
you first folded down), will be the substitute sixpence, which will
thus appear to have vanished. Hand the handkerchief for examination,
that it may be seen that the coin has really disappeared, and
meanwhile get rid of the substitute into your pocket or elsewhere. Turn
up your sleeves, and show that your hands are empty. Then take up the
knife (taking care to keep the side on which the sixpence is away from
the spectators), and cut open the orange. Cut about half way down with
the _point_, and then finish the cut by drawing the whole length of the
blade through the opening thus made. This will detach the sixpence,
which will fall between the two halves of the orange, as though it had
all along been contained therein. Wipe it with the handkerchief to
remove the juice of the orange from it, and at the same time rub off
any wax which may still adhere to it, and hand it for identification.
The coin may, if preferred, be found in an egg instead of the orange,
the audience being invited to choose which shall be used. This trick
is sometimes performed by the aid of a knife made for this special
purpose, with a small spring lever, after the manner of a flute key,
soldered against one side of the blade. The coin is held in position
by the short arm of the lever, which answers the same purpose as the
wax in the form of the trick above described. The disadvantage of using
this, which is known as the “fruit knife,” is, that you cannot hand the
knife for examination, and this, to our mind, spoils the trick.
THE TRAVELLING COUNTERS.--This is a very similar trick to that already
described under the title of the “Multiplication of Money.” It is
performed with twelve metal counters. The performer begins by counting
the twelve counters on the table; then, taking up four of them, he
hands them to a spectator to hold, and taking the remainder in his own
hand, commands them to change places. On examination, his commands are
found to be obeyed. The spectator has eight, while the performer has
only four. The spectator is now requested to take charge of the eight,
when the operator commands the four which he himself holds to rejoin
them. This, also, is found to be accomplished. The operator now hands
the twelve to a second spectator, requesting him to hold them tightly.
After a moment’s interval, he is requested again to count them, but
finds that he has grasped them too tightly, for they are now welded
together into a solid mass. The performer again takes them, and by
merely breathing on them, restores them to their original state.
The student, with the experience which he has by this time gained,
will naturally conjecture that the trick is in reality performed
with sixteen loose counters, and twelve soldered together; that
the performer commenced the trick with four counters palmed in his
right hand, which he secretly added to the four which he handed to
the spectator; that, taking up the remaining eight, and apparently
transferring them from his right hand to his left, he really
transferred four only, leaving the remainder in the right hand; and
that when he again handed the eight counters to the spectator, he added
these last to them. That in apparently transferring the remaining four
from hand to hand he palmed them, forthwith dropping them into one of
his _pochettes_, and taking from the same place, or from under his
waistband, the solid twelve, which he finally handed to the second
spectator in place of the twelve loose counters; again substituting
the loose ones, as before, when by breathing on them he professed to
restore them to their primitive state.
As the student has so successfully guessed all this, it would be an
impertinence on our part to further explain the trick.
THE WANDERING SIXPENCE.--Have ready two sixpences, each slightly
waxed on one side. Borrow a sixpence, and secretly exchange it for
one of the waxed ones, laying the latter, waxed side uppermost, on
the table. Let any one draw two cards from any ordinary pack. Take
them in the left hand, and, transferring them to the right, press the
second waxed sixpence against the centre of the undermost, to which
it will adhere. Lay this card (which we will call _a_) on the table,
about eighteen inches from the sixpence which is already there, and
cover that sixpence with the other card, _b_. Lift both cards a little
way from the table, to show that the sixpence is under card _a_, and
that there is apparently nothing under card _b_. As you replace them,
press lightly on the centre of card _a_. You may now make the sixpence
appear under whichever card you like, remembering that, if you wish the
sixpence _not_ to adhere, you must bend the card slightly upwards in
taking it from the table; if otherwise, take it up without bending.