STAGE TRICKS.
The present Chapter will be devoted to such tricks as by reason of the
cumbrousness or costliness of the apparatus required for them, are,
as a rule, exhibited only upon the public stage. The stage performer
may, if he pleases, avail himself of the aid of mechanical tables,
electrical appliances, etc., which enable him to execute a class
of tricks which are beyond the scope of an ordinary drawing-room
performance, though the wealthy amateur will find no difficulty in
converting his own drawing-room into a quasi-stage, and qualifying it
for the presentation of the most elaborate illusions.
The leading items of apparatus in stage magic are mechanical tables.
These are of various kinds, many being specially designed to assist
in the performance of some one particular trick. Putting aside these,
which will be separately noticed, stage tables may be broadly divided
into three classes--trap tables, piston tables, and electrical tables.
In practice, these classes are somewhat intermingled, for it is rather
the rule than the exception for a stage table to be fitted with both
traps and pistons, while either or both of these may be found in
conjunction with electrical appliances.
_Trap_ tables are such as are provided with one or more “traps,” their
object being, at the will of the operator, to cause the disappearance
of a given article into the interior of the table, or sometimes to
produce or apparently change an article. The traps most generally used
may be described as follows:--
[Illustration: FIG. 261.]
[Illustration: FIG. 262.]
1. _The Plain Trap._--This consists of a thin plate of metal, generally
zinc, screwed down flush with the top of the table. In this, which
we will call the surface plate, is cut a hole, generally circular,
and from two to four inches in diameter, closed by a flap or door,
which by the action of a spring hinge is pressed up level with the
rest of the trap, though it instantly yields to pressure from above,
again rising as soon as such pressure is removed. Figs. 261 and 262
represent the trap as seen detached from the table, Fig. 261 exhibiting
its under side. _a_ is the circular flap, _b b_ the spring hinge, _c_
a little bolt by means of which the trap may be fastened at pleasure,
and which is worked by a pin projecting upwards through a slot in the
surface plate, and through the cloth which covers the table; _d_ is a
small flat piece of metal, screwed to the under side of the flap _a_,
and acting as a “stop” to prevent the flap being forced by the action
of the spring above the level of the surface-plate. The “mountings”
of the trap are generally brass, and attached to the zinc by screws.
A brass eyelet, _e_, is sometimes soldered to the centre of the under
side of the flap. To this is attached a cord, which may hang down ready
to the performer’s hand at the back of the table, or may be carried
down a groove in one of the hinder legs, and either terminate in a
pedal (to be pressed by the foot of the performer), or be continued
behind the scenes within reach of the hand of the assistant. The mode
of working the trap is as follows:--Any small article, being placed on
it, is covered over (either with an ornamental cover or with a simple
handkerchief). The cord being gently pulled by either of the means
above mentioned, the trap opens, and the article falls into the body
of the table. As soon as the pull is relaxed, the flap again rises and
closes the opening. Where a cord is not used, the performer gets rid
of the article by direct pressure on the trap, or the article upon it,
with the one hand, while with the other he veils the opening in the
table.
[Illustration: FIG. 263. FIG. 264.]
[Illustration: FIG. 265.]
[Illustration: FIG. 266.]
2. _The “Wrist” or “Pressure” Trap._--With this form of trap the
use of a cord is unnecessary, the trap being worked from the surface
of the table, by pressure upon a particular spot. The manner of its
construction will become clear upon an inspection of Figs. 263, 264.
Fig. 263 represents the under side of the trap; _a_ is the flap,
working upon a spring hinge _b b_, as already explained in the case of
the plain trap; _c c_ is an oblong piece of metal, cut out of and lying
flush with the surface-plate, and working upon an ordinary hinge at
_d_. When _c_ is pressed down, the crosspiece _e_, which is soldered
to it, presses down the lever _f_, and this in turn acting upon the
shorter lever _g_, which is fixed at right angles to the rod upon which
the flap _a_ is hinged, causes the latter to open.
The mode of using the wrist trap is as follows:--The performer has
occasion, we will suppose, to cause the disappearance of an orange, as
for instance, in the “Bran and Orange” trick, described at page 335.
Placing the orange upon the flap _a_, he places both hands round it as
though to pick it up between them. (_See_ Fig. 265.) In this position
the under side of the hand furthest from the audience (_see_ Fig. 266,
showing the right hand removed), is just over _c_, and pressing gently
upon it, causes the flap to open, and the orange to fall through; the
position of the hands completely veiling the operation. The operator
now leaves the table, still holding his hands as though having the
orange between them, and after a due interval, brings them closer and
closer together, at last showing that it has vanished.
[Illustration: FIG. 267.]
The wrist trap is generally worked by the performer standing at the
side of the table, and the traps are therefore made right-handed and
left-handed, according to the end at which they are intended to be
placed, the rule being that _c_ must be so placed with reference to
_a_, as to be when in use under the hand furthest from the spectators.
Fig. 267 illustrates this difference of make, to suit the one or the
other end of the table.
[Illustration: FIG. 268.]
3. _The “Rabbit” or “Dove” Trap._--This, as its name indicates, is a
trap for causing the disappearance of a rabbit or pigeon. The opening
is in this case oval, measuring about eight inches by six, and closed
by a double flap, divided down the middle (_see_ Fig. 268, representing
the under side of the trap.) It has no string, the animal being simply
pushed down through the trap under cover either of a second rabbit, or
of a piece of paper in which the victim is supposed to be wrapped. As
the rabbit trap requires considerable space, and, moreover, involves
the necessity of some sort of an inclosure within the table to prevent
an unexpected reappearance of the animal, it is a convenient plan to
devote to it a small special table. This should be circular; about
thirty-two inches in height, and sixteen to eighteen in diameter. The
upper part of the table must form a circular wooden box, about eight
inches in depth, with an opening behind to get out the rabbit. The
table may, like the principal table, have a _servante_ behind it, which
will greatly increase its utility. The depth of the upper part may be
concealed by a hanging fringe; the general appearance of the table
(seen from the back) being as shown in Fig. 269. A table of this class
makes a very pretty side table, and may be balanced on the opposite
side of the stage by another of similar appearance, but designed for
some different purpose.
The interior of the table should be well padded with wadding or hay,
that the animal may not be hurt by its sudden descent.
[Illustration: FIG. 269.]
Each of the traps above-mentioned should be so made as to be capable
of being secured, when necessary, by a bolt, or there would be
considerable risk of a trap giving way unexpectedly under any
article carelessly placed on it. The mode of bolting, however, varies
considerably. Some traps are fastened by little bolts on the under
side, which, being only get-at-able from the inside of the table, must
be bolted or unbolted for good before the curtain rises, occasioning
considerable embarrassment in the case of a slip of the memory. Others
again are secured by means of long bolts, or wire rods extending across
the under surface of the top of the table, each terminating in a hook
at the back, within reach of the performer’s hand. A third, and, we
think, the best, plan is to have the bolt (as shown in Figs. 261 and
262, and therein marked _c_) worked backwards and forwards by means
of a little pin projecting upwards through the surface plate and the
cloth of the table. By the adoption of this plan the performer is
enabled to draw back the bolt with the finger-tip in the very act of
placing the article upon the trap. It will readily suggest itself
to the reader that some provision must be made within the table for
making the various articles drop noiselessly through the traps. The
best plan of effecting this is to use what is called a “railway.” This
is a wooden frame just large enough to lie within the table, with a
piece of black serge or alpaca stretched all over its under side. This
is so placed within the table, as to slope gently down to the level
of the _servante_, with a fall of three or four inches. Any article
dropped through a trap will not only fall noiselessly upon the surface
of the stretched alpaca, but will immediately roll down the incline
towards the _servante_, so that it is instantly get-at-able, should the
performer have occasion to reproduce the same article at a later stage
of the trick.
4. _“Changing” Traps._--The traps which we have hitherto discussed have
only had the faculty of causing the _disappearance_ of a given article.
Those which we are about to describe will not only do this, but will,
moreover, produce an article on the surface of the table where a
moment previously there was nothing, or will replace a given object by
another.
[Illustration: FIG. 270.]
[Illustration: FIG. 271.]
The trap for this purpose is a somewhat complicated arrangement, of the
appearance shown in Figs. 270 and 271. The surface-plate, _a a a a_, is
oblong, measuring about twelve inches by six, with a circular opening
_b b_ in the centre. Below it are fixed vertically two brass cylinders
_c_ and _d_, which are so arranged as to work backwards and forwards
on a kind of railway _e f e f_, in the direction of the length of the
surface-plate, just so far in either direction as to bring _c_ or _d_
in turn immediately under _b_. The two cylinders are soldered together,
so that the one cannot move without the other. If, therefore, the
cylinders are drawn back to the utmost by means of one of the bent iron
rods or handles _g h_, the cylinder _c_ will be below the opening _b_,
as in Fig. 272. If, on the contrary, they be pushed forward, _d_ will
in turn be below the opening, as in Fig. 273. Each cylinder contains a
brass piston, faced with zinc on its upper surface, and moved up and
down by a lever attached at right angles to one or other of the iron
handles _g h_ already mentioned, and working through a vertical slot
in the side of the cylinder. A piece of clock-spring, attached to the
iron handle at the point of junction, gives the piston a gentle upward
tendency, which is so regulated, that if either of the cylinders be
brought under the opening _b_, the piston belonging to that cylinder
is made to rise into the opening, its upper surface resting just
flush with that of _a a a a_. The piston of the forward cylinder _c_
is made to work very easily within it, so as to rise spontaneously by
the action of the spring; but that of the hinder cylinder, _d_, for a
reason which will presently appear, works a little more stiffly, so
as to require a little assistance from the lever to make it rise into
its proper position. The action of the handles _g h_ is outwards, in
the direction of the arrows in Fig. 274, the movement of either handle
in the direction so indicated drawing _down_ the piston to which it
belongs.
[Illustration: FIG. 272. FIG. 273.]
[Illustration: FIG. 274.]
The handles further serve, as already mentioned, to move the cylinders
backwards and forwards as may be required. It should, however, be noted
that no backward or forward movement can take place so long as either
of the pistons stops the opening _b_; but as soon as the piston is, by
turning the proper handle, depressed ever so little below the level of
the surface-plate, it no longer forms any obstacle to the movement. The
trap is fixed in the table in such manner that the handles _g h_ shall
be just within the opening at the back of the table (_see_ Fig. 274),
and thus be within easy reach of the performer’s hands when standing
behind it. We will suppose, for the sake of illustration, that the
performer desires to change an empty tumbler (of small size) to a full
one. The trap is beforehand prepared by bringing the foremost cylinder
_c_ under the opening _b_. The full glass is then placed on the top
of the piston, which is then lowered gently downwards by means of the
proper handle, the glass sinking into the cylinder. The cylinders are
now pushed forward, so that _d_ in turn comes under _b_, the piston
being then moved up into its proper place, and so closing the opening.
This is, of course, arranged before the curtain rises.
When the performer desires to perform the trick, he places the empty
glass upon _b_, and conceals it with a cover of any kind. Standing
carelessly behind the table, and keeping the attention of the audience
occupied by any observations he may deem most appropriate for that
purpose, he takes hold with his right hand of the handle _h_, and
turns it outward, thereby lowering the empty glass into _d_. As soon
as he feels that it will sink no further, he shifts his hand to the
handle _a_, and therewith draws the cylinders back so as to bring _c_
under _b_, and then, by turning _g_, gently raises the full glass of
water up through _b_ to the surface of the table. The reader will now
perceive the reason why, as already mentioned, the piston in _d_ is
made a little tight, so as to require the assistance of the handle to
raise it into its position. It is necessary that this piston, when
once depressed with the object to be changed, shall remain down while
the hand is shifted from handle _h_ to handle _g_. If it were not
made to work somewhat stiffly, the moment the handle _h_ was released
the piston would instantly fly up again with the object upon it, thus
neutralizing what had been already done. The cylinder _c_, which is
to produce the substitute object, is not brought under _b_ until the
hand of the performer is already on the handle belonging to it, and can
thereby check its upward ascent as may be necessary.
It is obvious that the changing trap will be equally available to
produce an object under an empty cover. The object to be produced will
be placed in _c_ as above, the piston in _d_ going down empty, and that
in _c_ rising with the object upon it.
[Illustration: FIG. 275.]
[Illustration: FIG. 276.]
The above are the traps in most frequent use, but there are others
designed for special purposes. Thus there is a trap for causing the
disappearance of six or eight half-crowns (as, for instance, in the
well-known trick of the “crystal cash-box,” which will be described
in the course of the present chapter). Of course the coins could be
made to disappear through an ordinary trap, but they would cause
a suggestive “chink” in their fall. The trap to which we are now
referring (_see_ Figs. 275 and 276) is designed to prevent this
tell-tale sound, and to cause the half-crowns to disappear in perfect
silence. The opening in the surface plate is an inch and three-quarters
in diameter, and is closed by a circular piston of brass or zinc, _a_,
working up and down in a small brass cylinder _b_, and so arranged as
to drop by its own weight to the bottom of the cylinder, save when kept
up by a little lever catch at the side of the cylinder. A short pin _d_
attached to this catch projects upwards through a slot in the surface
plate, and stands up very slightly above the cloth of the table. The
disc _a_ being raised level with the surface plate, and secured by
means of the catch, six or eight half-crowns or florins are placed on
_a_. The performer, in making the motion of picking up the coins (with
one hand), with the tip of the third finger pulls the pin _d_ towards
him. This withdraws the catch, and _a_ instantly drops down to the
bottom of the cylinder, carrying the coins with it. As soon as _a_
reaches its lowest point, it draws down the pin _e_, thereby releasing
a similar disc _f_, which, working laterally on a spring pivot at the
edge of the opening, describes a semicircle, and assumes the position
previously occupied by _a_, a portion of one side of the cylinder, at
the top, being cut away to allow of its passage. Fig. 275 shows the
trap in its first, and Fig. 276 in its second condition, the latter
being, for greater clearness, drawn in section. The apparatus is
rather complicated, and it is almost hopeless to endeavour to render
it clearly intelligible by description only. In the absence of this
special trap, the same object may be nearly as well effected with an
ordinary trap by using half-crowns (be it remembered that it is always
_substitute_ coins which are made to disappear in this manner) which
have been beeswaxed on both sides. A very slight pressure will cause a
number of coins thus prepared to adhere together, and form for the time
being a solid mass, which will fall through the trap without causing
any “clink.”
We next come to--
[Illustration: FIG. 277. FIG. 278.]
[Illustration: FIG. 279.]
_Pistons._--These are appliances for working pieces of mechanical
apparatus--as, for example, the Watch Target, the Card Star, the
Demon’s Head, etc., etc. A piston (_see_ Figs. 277, 278) consists of
a brass tube _a_, about five inches in length by five-eighths of an
inch in diameter, with a collar at one end pierced with screw-holes for
affixing it to the under surface of the table. Within this tube works
a wire rod, _b_, three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and terminating in
a small round disc of brass _c_, just large enough to work freely up
and down the tube. A spiral spring, also of brass, keeps the rod down,
unless when forced upwards by pulling a piece of whipcord, which is
attached to the disc _c_, and thence passes up the tube, and over a
small pulley _d_, which is soldered to the collar already mentioned.
When this cord is pulled, _b_ is forced to rise, which it does to the
extent of about two inches above the surface of the table (_see_ Fig.
278), again sinking under the pressure of the spring, as soon as the
pull is relaxed. Each piston is screwed to the under surface of the top
of the table, in which a small hole is bored, in order to allow of the
upward passage of the piston rod. Where complicated mechanical pieces
have to be worked, three, four, or more of these pistons are placed
side by side. The cords are carried behind the scenes, either directly
from the back of the table, or down grooves in the legs, and through
holes in the stage to the hiding-place of the assistant. Where a single
piston only is required, it may be made to work in the central pillar
of a light _guéridon_, or fancy table, such as shown in Fig. 279, the
lightness and simplicity of the table, and the thinness of its top,
apparently precluding all possibility of the presence of concealed
mechanism. The cord may be made to pass down the centre pillar, so as
to be quite invisible to the audience.
[Illustration: FIG. 280.]
The mechanical pieces worked by the agency of these pistons vary
greatly in construction, but they are alike in one particular, viz.,
that they are set in motion by one or more vertical rods passing up
the shaft or column on which they stand, and each terminating in a
flat metal disc, or pedal, which receives the upward pressure of the
piston. Fig. 280 shows the arrangement of the foot of a mechanical
piece worked by one such rod only. Another specimen will have been
observed in the case of the pedestal for the animated money. (_See_
page 186.) Where three or four pedals are necessary, they are generally
enclosed in a square wooden base, as in the case of the “Demon’s Head,”
described at page 458.
Before quitting the subject of the tables used upon the stage, we
must not omit to say a few words as to what is called the “bellows”
table, though it is now comparatively little used. It was formerly
(say forty or fifty years ago) the fashion among conjurors to use
tables with drapery hanging to within a few inches of the floor. The
table being, say, two feet seven inches high, this gave room for a
box-like arrangement, of two feet deep, or thereabouts, within the
body of the table. In this box, which was open at the back, was hidden
an assistant, who worked the pistons, managed the traps, effected
necessary substitutions, etc., etc. Conjuring under such circumstances
was very easy work. In 1845, however, Robert-Houdin gave his first
public performance, and one of the earliest of his reforms in the
magic art was the suppression of the too suggestive drapery, and the
substitution of tables of light and elegant form, allowing no possible
room for the concealment of an assistant. A reaction set in in favour
of the new fashion, which has ever since maintained its ground. The
“bellows” table combines the apparent simplicity of the undraped table
with the internal capacity of the old-fashioned draped article. There
is a trick, formerly very popular as the wind-up of an entertainment,
which consists of the magical disappearance of a youthful assistant,
male or female. The subject of the trick, generally dressed in a page’s
costume, is made to mount upon a table, and is covered by a wicker
cone, which being almost instantly removed, he or she has vanished. The
table in this case is draped to within a few inches of the ground, but
to show that no hidden receptacle is thereby concealed, the performer
before commencing the trick lifts up the table-cloth, and shows that
the top of the table is at most not more than two or three inches in
thickness. The drapery is then again allowed to fall into position, and
the trick proceeds. The table used in this trick is a bellows table;
_i.e._, it has a double top, or rather two tops, one above the other.
The upper one is a fixture, with a large wooden trap (opening upwards)
in it, to allow of the passage of the person to be conjured away. The
under top is moveable, being in its normal condition pressed against
the upper one by the action of four spiral springs (one in each leg of
the table), but sinking down to nearly the depth of the cover under the
weight of a person stepping upon it, and thus affording the requisite
hiding-place, in which the person remains until the fall of the curtain
enables him or her to come forth with safety. Cloth is nailed round
three sides of the upper and lower boards, folding between the two when
closed, after the manner of the leather of a bellows; and from this
circumstance the table derives its name.
[Illustration: FIG. 281.]
Small round tables (for the disappearance of a rabbit, or the like)
are sometimes made on the same principle. The following will be found
a simple and convenient arrangement:--Let the table be of the form
shown in Fig. 281, and two feet seven inches high. Let the uppermost
eight inches of the pillar be a plain cylinder _a a_, an inch and a
half in diameter. Below this the pillar may increase in size, and may
be of an ornamental character. Take two circular boards of deal or
mahogany, each eighteen to twenty inches in diameter, and five-eighths
of an inch thick. In the centre of one of them, _b_, cut a circular
hole an inch and three-quarters in diameter. This will form the under
side of the “bellows,” the object being to allow the board to slide
freely up and down on _a a_. The other board, which we will call _c_,
is screwed firmly on to the pillar, to form the top of the table.
Next take a strip of black alpaca, ten inches in width, and nail its
opposite edges round _b_ and _c_, leaving a small space at one side
to give access to the interior. Tie a piece of cord elastic round the
centre of the alpaca, tightly enough to exercise a considerable degree
of tension. Fix such traps as may be desired in _c_, and glue over it
a fancy-patterned cloth, with a fringe or border hanging down nine or
ten inches round the sides. The performer, before executing any trick
with this table, may pointedly draw attention to the fact that it
contains no drawer or other place of concealment. In doing this (_see_
Fig. 282) he with one hand raises the lower board level with the upper
(the action of the elastic drawing in the alpaca between the two),
while with the other hand he raises the fringe, and shows, apparently,
that the top of the table is but a single board.
[Illustration: FIG. 282.]
The top of every conjuring table should be covered with woollen cloth,
not only to prevent the clatter which would be occasioned by the
placing of objects upon the bare wood, but to conceal the presence of
the traps and pistons. The cloth used should, for this latter reason,
be of two colours, and of a tolerably intricate pattern, as the outline
of the traps will be thereby rendered much less perceptible; indeed,
if the pattern of the cloth be a favourable one for the purpose, the
traps should be, by gas-light, absolutely invisible. The cloth should
be glued over the top of the table after the manner of a card-table;
the upper surface of the traps being first roughed slightly, to make
the glue adhere to the metal. When the glue is thoroughly dry (but not
until then) the cloth may be cut along the outline of the traps with
a very sharp penknife, and small holes bored to allow of the upward
passage of the piston rods. As it is necessary in placing a mechanical
piece upon the table, to do so exactly over the pistons, it is well to
have a couple of wire points projecting upwards a quarter of an inch or
so from the surface of the table, in such positions that if the piece
of apparatus rests firmly against these (which the performer can tell
instantly by feel) it must necessarily be in proper position.
Where “wrist” traps are used, the cloth need not be cut out round the
little oblong slab marked _c_ in Figs. 263, 264, but the cloth should
be without glue over this particular spot, and for half an inch round
it on either side. The cloth will by this arrangement be found, without
cutting, to stretch sufficiently over _c_ to allow of the proper
working of the trap.
Assuming that our stage appliances are complete, we will proceed to--
THE RABBIT TRICK.--The performer comes forward to the audience, and
borrows a hat. He asks whether it is empty, and is answered that it
is; but he, notwithstanding, finds something in it, which the owner is
requested to take out. The article in question proves to be an egg. No
sooner has this been removed, than the performer discovers that there
is still something in the hat, and immediately produces therefrom a
live rabbit, quickly followed by a second. Not knowing what other use
to make of these, he proposes to pass one of them into the other. The
audience decide which is to be the victim, and the performer, placing
them side by side on the table, proceeds to roll them together, when
one is found to have vanished, nobody knows when or how; but the
theory is that it has been swallowed by the remaining rabbit, to the
(imaginary) increased fatness of which the performer draws special
attention.
Having thus passed one rabbit into the other, the next step is to get
it out again. To do this the performer calls for some bran, and his
assistant immediately brings forward, and places on a table or chair,
a huge glass goblet, twelve inches or thereabouts in height, filled to
the brim with that commodity. The performer takes the borrowed hat,
and (after showing that it is empty) places it mouth upwards upon
another table, so as to be at some considerable distance from the
goblet of bran. He then places a brass cover over the glass, first,
however, taking up and scattering a handful of the bran to prove its
genuineness. Taking the surviving rabbit, and holding it by the ears
above the covered goblet, he orders the one swallowed to pass from it
into the glass, at the same time stroking it down with the disengaged
hand, as though to facilitate the process. He remarks, “You must excuse
the comparative slowness of the operation, ladies and gentlemen, but
the fact is, the second rabbit passes downwards in an impalpable
powder, and, if I were not to take sufficient time, we might find that
a leg or an ear had been omitted in the process, and the restored
rabbit would be a cripple for life. I think we are pretty safe by this
time, however. Thank you, Bunny; I need not trouble you any more.” So
saying, he releases the visible rabbit, and on taking off the cover the
bran is found to have disappeared, and the missing rabbit to have taken
its place in the goblet; while on turning over the borrowed hat the
vanished bran pours from it.
The reader who has duly followed our descriptions of the appliances
employed in the magic art will have little difficulty in solving the
riddle of this trick. The performer first comes forward with an egg
palmed in one hand, and with a small rabbit in an inner breast-pocket
on each side of his coat (_see_ page 9). The first step is the
pretended finding of _something_ (it is not stated what) in the hat.
The owner is requested to take it out, and while all eyes are naturally
turned to see what the article may prove to be, the performer, without
apparent intention, presses the mouth of the hat with both hands
to his breast, and tilts one of the rabbits into it. This is next
produced, and in placing it on the ground at his feet, the performer
brings the second rabbit in the same manner into the hat. When he
undertakes to pass the one rabbit into the other, he places both upon
the table which contains the rabbit-trap, and, standing sideways to the
audience, pushes the hindmost, under cover of the other, through the
trap. This particular rabbit is not again produced, the rabbit in the
“bran glass,” which has already been explained (_see_ page 383), being
another as much like it as possible. It only remains to explain how the
bran comes into the borrowed hat. This is effected by having a black
alpaca bag filled with bran in one of the _profondes_ or under the
waistcoat of the performer. This bag is introduced into the hat after
the manner of the goblets (_see_ page 308), and the bran having been
allowed to run out, the bag is rolled up in the palm, and so removed,
the bran remaining, to be produced in due course.
It is obvious that the trick may be varied in many ways. The following
is an effective modification:--A rabbit having been produced by natural
or supernatural means, is placed on the principal table (close to the
hinder edge), and temporarily covered with a borrowed hat, while the
performer goes in search of a sheet of paper, which when obtained, he
spreads upon a small side table. Lifting the hat slightly, he takes
out the rabbit, and walking with it to the side table, rolls it up in
the paper, making a somewhat bulky parcel. Coming forward with this to
the audience, he turns toward the principal table, and saying, “Now,
ladies and gentlemen, if you watch me very closely, you will see the
rabbit fly out of the paper, and back to the hat.” He crushes the paper
together between his hands, and tearing it, shows it empty, while on
lifting the hat the rabbit is again found safely ensconced beneath it.
The ingenious reader will readily guess that duplicate rabbits are
employed. One of them is placed under the hat, and remains there
throughout the trick. A second, of similar appearance, is placed in
a box or basket on the _servante_, immediately behind the hat. This
box has no lid, but is pushed until wanted just within the interior
of the table, the top of which prevents the rabbit making a premature
appearance. The performer, slightly raising the hat, as though to take
the rabbit from under it, lifts up this _second_ rabbit, which the
spectators naturally believe to be the same which they have already
seen, and in apparently wrapping it in paper on the side table, presses
it, under cover of the paper, through the rabbit trap, and screws up
the ends of the paper (which should be rather stiff) in such manner
as to make it appear that the animal is still inside it. The same
trick may be performed with a pigeon with equally good effect, and
considerably less difficulty.
THE FAIRY STAR.--This is one of the most telling of stage card tricks.
The performer, coming forward with a pack of cards, allows six to be
chosen. His assistant meanwhile brings forward and places on a table a
handsome gilt “star” on a stand. The performer, collecting the chosen
cards, places them in his pistol, and fires them at the star, when, at
the moment of the explosion, they are seen to attach themselves one to
each of its points, as in Fig. 283.
[Illustration: FIG. 283. FIG. 284.]
The principal point to be explained is the construction of the star.
Behind each “ray” is a moveable arm, working on a spring hinge at about
two inches’ distance from the point, and carrying a spring clip at
its outer end wherein to insert a card. (_See_ Fig. 284, representing
a back view of the apparatus.) A card being placed in each of the
clips, the six arms, with the cards attached to them, are folded down
one by one behind the centre of the star, which is just large enough
to conceal them. Each card, as folded, holds down the one which has
preceded it. When the last card is folded down, the free end of a
moveable button or lever at the top of the pillar on which the star
rests is so turned as to press upon the arm which holds the card
last folded, and thus to keep it and the five other cards preceding
it in place. This button, however, is so arranged as to be instantly
withdrawn upon an upward movement being communicated to a wire rod
which passes up the centre of the pillar, and terminates in a flat
disc of metal at its foot. The apparatus, thus prepared, is placed
immediately over one of the pistons of the table. At the moment of
firing the pistol the cord of the piston is pulled. The piston rises,
pressing up the disc and wire rod, the button is withdrawn, and the
arms, being thereby released, revert to their natural position,
exhibiting a card upon each point of the star.
There are many little differences of detail between the “stars” of
rival manufacturers, but the foregoing may be taken to represent the
general principle of all. Some have the addition of a rose in the
centre, which opens simultaneously with the appearance of the cards,
and discloses a watch, borrowed a moment previously from one of the
spectators.
The mode of working the trick varies a good deal in the hands of
different performers. The most legitimate method is to “force” cards
corresponding to those already folded behind the star, and this method
has the advantage of allowing the star to be brought in and placed upon
the table before commencing the trick; and as it is not again touched
by the performer or his assistant, the appearance on its points of
(apparently) the identical cards just chosen seems really miraculous.
To be able, however, to force six cards in succession with ease
and certainty, demands a more than average degree of dexterity on
the part of the performer; and a “forcing pack” (_see_ page 23) is
hardly available where more than three, or at most four cards have
to be forced. Various expedients have been adopted to get over this
difficulty. Some professors simply collect, or allow their assistant
to collect, the cards which have been drawn, and forthwith secretly
exchange them for the same number of others. These latter are laid upon
the table, and subsequently placed in the pistol, while the originals
are carried off by the assistant behind the scenes, and there attached
to the star, which is then for the first time brought forward. Others,
again, use what are called “longs and shorts”--_i.e._, two packs of
cards, one of which has had a small portion shaved off its length or
breadth. The performer offers the uncut pack for the company to draw
from, letting each person retain his card, and then secretly exchanging
the pack for the shortened pack, he requests each of the drawers
(singly) to replace his card, and to shuffle freely. The substituted
pack being a shade smaller than the returned card, the latter becomes
a “long” card (_see_ page 60); and therefore, however well the cards
are shuffled, the performer is able, with absolute certainty, to cut
at that particular card. “Here is your card,” he remarks, “the knave
of diamonds.” As he names the card, the assistant, behind the scenes,
takes the cue, and attaches a corresponding card to the star. The card
named is removed from the pack and laid upon the table, in order to be
subsequently placed in the pistol, and a second drawn card is returned
and shuffled with the like result.
The star may, in the absence of a mechanical table, be placed on the
hand, the disc being pushed up by the fingers. Some stars have a
moveable stud at the side of the pillar, connected with the rod within,
to facilitate this mode of working the trick.
[Illustration: FIG. 285.]
THE CARD BOUQUET.--This is a trick very similar in effect to that last
described, though differing a little as to the manner of the appearance
of the cards. Six cards are drawn, and placed in a pistol, as in the
last case. A vase (apparently of china, but really of tin, japanned),
containing a handsome bouquet, is placed upon the table, and, at the
instant of firing, the six cards appear ranged in a semicircle above
the flowers in the bouquet. (_See_ Fig. 285.) In this instance, the
cards are attached to the branches of a sort of fan, so constructed
as to open of its own accord, unless forcibly kept closed. The cards
having been duly placed in position, this fan is shut, and pressed
downwards through a narrow opening in the lower part of the vase, the
pressure of whose sides keeps it, for the time being, closed. When
pressed upwards by the action of a piston, the fan rises above the
level of the flowers, and at the same time opens and exhibits the six
cards.
The vase is sometimes made with a second pedal, to produce a second
series of six cards. In this case twelve cards are drawn; six of these
first appear, and then, at the command of the performer, these six
suddenly change to the other six. This is effected as follows:--The
twelve cards are pasted back to back in couples. Each of the six arms
which hold the cards is so arranged as to be capable of being turned
half round (after the manner of the centre of the “watch target”), in
which position it is retained by a catch, flying back however to its
old position as soon as the catch is released. The six arms are each
turned round in this manner, bringing what are naturally the hindmost
cards in front. The movement of the first lever exhibits these cards;
that of the second lever releases the six catches, when the arms
instantly fly round and reveal the other six cards, into which those
first exhibited appear to have changed.
THE DEMON’S HEAD.--This is a large and effective piece of apparatus,
standing about twenty-eight inches from the table. It consists of a
grotesque _papier maché_ head, representing that of a demon or satyr,
and painted according to taste. It is supported by an ornamental brass
column, about an inch in diameter, springing from a velvet-covered
base, nine inches square and four and a half high. (_See_ Fig. 286.) At
the will of the operator, the head rolls its eyes and opens its mouth,
and is sometimes made available in this way to answer questions; the
rolling of the eyes being taken to signify a negative, and the opening
of the mouth an affirmative. In addition to these accomplishments, the
demon will indicate chosen cards in the following manner: Five cards
having been selected, are returned to the pack, which, after being duly
shuffled, is placed in the demon’s mouth. The performer now orders him
to produce the chosen cards, when two of them fly from his mouth, and
the other two spring up between his horns.
[Illustration: FIG. 286.]
[Illustration: FIG. 287.]
The head owes its movements to the action of three different sets of
levers, each terminating in a disc or pedal immediately over a circular
hole in the under side of the base. The apparatus is so placed upon the
table that these openings correspond in position with the same number
of pistons. Fig. 287 is a general view of the internal mechanism, the
back of the head being removed (as in fact it may be in the original)
to give access thereto. Fig. 288 exhibits (as seen from the rear) the
action of the left-hand group of levers, producing the movement of the
eyes. When an upward pressure is applied to the foot of the lever _a_,
it causes the upper arm _c d_ of the elbow piece _b c d_ to describe
an arc of about a quarter of an inch from left to right, thereby
communicating a corresponding movement to the pair of levers _e e_,
working on the pivots _f f_; and, as a necessary consequence, a reverse
movement to the opposite ends of such levers, on which are fixed the
eyes _g g_. As soon as the upward pressure is removed, the spring _h_,
a spiral coil of fine brass wire, draws back the levers _e e_, and with
them the eyes, to their original position. To produce a continuous
rolling, the pressure of the piston is applied and relaxed alternately,
the effect to the spectator being as if the figure looked first to
the left and then to the right, although as already explained, the
active movement of the levers is in the one direction only, the normal
position of the eyes being in the other direction.
[Illustration: FIG. 288.]
[Illustration: FIG. 289.]
Fig. 289 shows the action of the second or middle group of levers,
serving to produce the opening of the mouth. The chin of the figure
consists of a solid block of wood _i_, working on a pivot _j_ in each
cheek, and so counterweighted that its normal position is as in Fig.
289, thus keeping the mouth closed. When, however, the shaft _k_
is raised by pressure from below, the lever _l_ rises with it, and
proportionately depresses the opposite end of the block _i_, thereby
opening the mouth. As soon as the pressure is removed, the block falls
back into its original position, and the mouth closes.
[Illustration: FIG. 290.]
[Illustration: FIG. 291.]
The third or right-hand set of levers is a little more complex in its
operation, inasmuch as it has to perform a double office, the expulsion
of two cards from the mouth, and the elevation of two others at the top
of the head. The cards to be shot from the mouth are placed beforehand
(from the front) in the receptacle indicated in Fig. 289 by the letters
_m m_, and a “plan” of which is given in Fig. 290, and a back view in
Fig. 291. _m m_ is a flat piece of tin, its edges folded over so as to
form a receptacle or platform just capable of holding easily a couple
of cards; _n_ is a spring, which, when the cards are put in position,
is “set” by being drawn back into the notch of the catch _o_. When
an upward pressure is exerted by the shaft _p p_ on the elbow-piece
_q q q_, the latter pressing against _r_ draws back this catch, and
releases the spring, which forthwith shoots out the two cards from the
mouth. The other two cards are inserted in the clip _s_ (_see_ Fig.
291), consisting of two small pieces of sheet brass soldered to the end
of the rod _t_, which works up and down piston-wise in the tube _u u_.
Within the tube is a spiral spring which impels _s_ upwards level with
the top of the head, across which a slit or opening is made to allow
of the passage of the cards. This portion of the apparatus is set by
placing the two cards in the clip, and then drawing down the piston-rod
by the cross-piece _v_, which is riveted thereto, and hitching such
cross-piece under the catch _w_. The upward movement of the shaft _p_,
at the same time that it draws back the catch _o_, also draws back the
catch _w_, thereby releasing _v_, and allowing the clip _s_ and the two
cards therein to spring upward, and appear at the top of the head.
It is hardly necessary to remark that the cards chosen by the audience
are “forced” cards, of which duplicates have beforehand been placed in
the head.
[Illustration: FIG. 292.]
THE MAGIC PICTURE FRAME.--The performer, always borrowing, borrows
this time a lady’s handkerchief, and any small articles--say a watch
and a glove. These latter he rolls up in the handkerchief, and places
the ball or bundle thus made upon the table. He looks about in search
of his magic pistol, which is immediately afterwards brought in by
the assistant. The performer places the handkerchief, etc., in the
pistol, the assistant meanwhile bringing forward and placing on the
table a handsome picture-frame, mounted on a stand. It contains no
picture, the space which the picture should occupy being filled by a
board covered with black cloth. The performer, standing at the farthest
available distance from the frame, takes aim at it, and fires, when the
borrowed articles are seen instantly to attach themselves to the black
background, whence, being removed, they are handed to the owners for
identification.
[Illustration: FIG. 293. FIG. 294.]
The picture-frame, which is of the appearance shown in Fig. 292, and
stands altogether about two feet high, is backed by a sort of wooden
box, an inch and a half in depth, and a little smaller than the
external measurement of the frame. The inside of this box is covered
with black cloth, and in fact forms the true back of the frame; and it
is upon this that the borrowed objects are fastened by means of small
sharp hooks, the back opening on hinges to facilitate the doing so. An
ordinary spring roller-blind, also of black cloth, works up and down
just behind the opening of the frame. We have said an ordinary spring
blind, but, in truth, the usual check at the side is wanting, and the
blind therefore, if drawn down, instantly flies up again, unless held
down from below. The blind terminates at bottom in a square lath,
five-eighths of an inch in length by three-eighths in thickness, with
a wire pin, half-an-inch in length, projecting at right angles from
its hinder side. The ends of this lath, when the blind is drawn down,
sink into two upright grooves, one at each side of the frame, thereby
keeping the latter square, and the pin in a horizontal position. The
catch _a_ (an enlarged view of which is shown in Figs. 293, 294) is now
hooked over the pin, as in Fig. 293, thus holding the blind down. A
wire rod, attached to this catch, passes down the column on which the
frame stands, and terminates in the usual disc or pedal at bottom. When
an upward pressure is applied to this, the catch assumes the position
shown in Fig. 294, thereby releasing the pin, and allowing the blind to
fly up. The blind is represented in Fig. 292 in the act of flying up,
but, in truth, its rise is so rapid as to be practically invisible.
The sudden appearance of the articles in the frame is thus sufficiently
accounted for, but it remains to be explained in what manner they were
placed there, as they have (apparently) never been removed from the
sight of the audience. It will be remembered that the smaller articles
were rolled up in the handkerchief, which was then placed on the table.
In truth, what is placed upon the table is a substitute handkerchief,
similarly rolled up, while the original is dropped on the _servante_,
and carried off by the assistant when he brings in the pistol. Having
thus obtained possession of the articles, he quickly places them in the
frame, and draws down and fastens the blind. This done, he closes the
door at the back, and brings forward the frame, taking care to place
it immediately over one of the pistons of the table. As the pistol
is fired he pulls the cord, the blind flies up, and the articles are
revealed.
[Illustration: FIG. 295.]
THE FLYING WATCHES AND THE BROKEN PLATE.--This is a rather more
elaborate form of the trick last described. The performer collects
three or four watches from the company, the assistant, meanwhile,
being sent to fetch a plate. On his return, the watches are laid one
by one on the plate, and he is ordered to place them on the table. In
attempting to do so he trips and falls, the watches being scattered in
all directions, and the plate being smashed to pieces. The performer
reprimands the offender for his carelessness, and picking up the
watches, finds that they are injured in various ways. After a momentary
hesitation, he hits on a way of repairing the damage. Calling for his
pistol, he drops the battered watches and the fragments of the plate
into it, keeping all down with a wad of newspaper. The assistant now
brings in the picture-frame, as in the last trick, and the performer,
taking good aim, fires at it. At the instant of firing, the plate is
seen restored in the centre of the frame, with the borrowed watches
encircling it. The performer advances to remove and return them to the
owners, but is (or appears to be) thunderstruck at perceiving that the
restoration is incomplete, a large piece being missing from the plate.
(_See_ Fig. 295.) After a moment’s reflection, he discovers the cause
of the defect, for, looking about upon the stage, he finds and picks up
a fragment which he had overlooked when he put the rest in the pistol,
and which consequently is wanting in the restored plate. He apologizes
for the oversight, and proceeds to remedy it. Standing at the furthest
portion of the stage, he makes the motion of throwing the recovered
fragment towards the frame. It is seen to vanish from his hand, and
the plate at the same moment appears whole as at first. The plate is
removed, and with the restored watches handed to the audience for
examination, when the closest inspection fails to discover any trace of
fracture.
The first point to be explained is the mode in which the assistant
obtains possession of the borrowed watches, in order to place them in
the frame. The watches are collected by the performer in a changing
apparatus (say one of the changing caddies described at page 348, or
a drawer-box with a shallow inner drawer, as described at page 346).
In this is placed beforehand a like number of dummy watches, and it is
these latter which are placed on the plate, and meet the pre-destined
downfall. The apparatus being left apparently empty, no suspicion is
excited by the fact that the assistant, when sent to fetch the pistol
or the frame, carries it off as no longer needed.
The sudden restoration of the piece apparently wanting in the plate,
though marvellous to the uninitiated, is really effected by very simple
means. The restored plate is throughout whole and unbroken, but the
effect of a piece wanting is produced by covering one portion of its
outer rim with an angular piece of black velvet or alpaca, similar
to that which covers the back of the frame. The illusive effect is
perfect. The frame is provided with two pedals, the first releasing
the black blind in front of the plate and watches, and the second
serving to withdraw the angular piece of cloth already mentioned, and
thus (apparently) effecting the complete restoration of the plate. The
pretended disappearance of the broken piece from the hand at the moment
of throwing is effected by taking it first in the left hand, and thence
apparently transferring it to the right by the _tourniquet_, so that
when the right hand is opened in the act of throwing, it is naturally
found empty.
THE MAGIC PICTURE AND THE CHOSEN CARDS.--We notice this trick in this
place as having a very close affinity, in effect, to the two last
described. It is, however, wholly independent of stage appliances,
and is equally well adapted for the drawing-room as for the platform.
The performer, taking an ordinary pack of cards, allows three to be
chosen. These are returned to the pack, and the pack shuffled. He then
brings forward a small picture in a frame, and measuring, say, fourteen
inches by twelve. Having exhibited both front and back, he entrusts the
picture to a spectator to hold, and taking the pack of cards, throws
them smartly against the glass, when in an instant the three chosen
cards appear in front of the picture, but under the glass. The back
of the frame is next taken out, and picture, back, frame, and glass
are separately handed for inspection; but the closest scrutiny of
the audience cannot discover any mechanism or special arrangement to
account for the effect above described.
The reader will already have anticipated that the three cards are
“forced.” The picture is on the principle of the frames last above
described, with a slight variation. There are, in fact, two pictures
exactly alike. One of these is pasted upon the wooden back of the
frame, and upon this are fastened duplicates of the cards to be chosen.
The second picture is mounted on cloth, and works on a spring roller
artfully concealed in the upper part of the frame, taking, in fact,
the place of the black blind in the other frames. This is kept down
by a pin at the lower side of the frame, and is so arranged as to be
released by the smallest pressure against the glass. The pack of cards,
smartly thrown, supplies this pressure. The foremost picture flies up,
and reveals apparently the same, but really a similar picture, with the
chosen cards between it and the glass.
THE MAGIC PORTFOLIO.--The performer comes forward with a large
portfolio, such as is used to contain engravings, and barely an inch
in thickness. This he places sideways to the audience, upon a stand or
trestle, thereby raising it to a convenient height, and at the same
time negativing the possibility of its having any communication with
the floor of the stage. Standing behind it, he proceeds to take from
it a number of large engravings, then a couple of lady’s bonnets of
the latest fashion, and showing no sign of creasing or compression.
These are followed by a large bird-cage, containing a number of living
birds; and finally by three brass stew-pans, one containing haricot
beans; a second, water; and a third, fire. Other articles are sometimes
produced, but the above are those most generally used.
This really surprising trick is performed by the simplest possible
means. The bonnets and the bird-cage are made to fold nearly flat, on
the principle of the reticules and bird-cages described at pages 309
and 311. In this flattened condition they are placed in the portfolio,
which being turned sideways to the audience, and the performer standing
behind it, the side which is towards the spectators naturally forms a
cover for the operator, and gives him every facility for developing
the folded articles. The stew-pans, however, cannot be made thus
compressible, and consequently a different plan is adopted in respect
of them. These have india-rubber covers, after the manner of the bowls
of gold-fish, and, like them, are concealed about the person of the
performer, who, producing them under cover of the portfolio, appears to
take them out of it. The pan for the fire contains a little spirits of
wine, which the performer, still behind the portfolio, ignites with a
wax match before producing this particular pan.
Where it is desired to produce a child, or other specially bulky
object, the portfolio is for a moment placed on the table, behind
which such object is placed. The object having been introduced into the
portfolio, the latter is then transferred to the proper stand.
THE GLOVE COLUMN.--This is an ornamental column, sometimes of brass,
sometimes of glass, on a massive foot and standing about two and a half
feet high. It is surmounted by a metal cup, about an inch and a half in
depth and two inches in diameter.
The mode of using the column is as follows:--Three or four rings are
borrowed, also a white kid glove, and the whole are placed in the magic
pistol. The column is then brought in, and placed upon the table. The
magician takes aim at it, and fires. At the instant of his doing so,
the glove, expanded as though containing a living hand, appears at
the top of the pillar, with one of the borrowed rings on each of its
fingers.
The glove and rings, as the reader will probably conjecture, are
exchanged at an early period of the trick. There are plenty of ways of
effecting this exchange. Perhaps, as regards the rings, the expedient
of having them collected on the performer’s wand by the assistant
(_see_ page 399) is as good as any. The assistant, having thus gained
possession of the borrowed articles, arranges them as follows:--The
glove is placed upon the end of a tube, which runs through the whole
length of the column, terminating just within the cup at top, and is
kept in position by an india-rubber ring slipped over it, and holding
it tight to the tube. One of the borrowed rings is now placed over
each of the fingers, and the glove thus prepared is pressed down into
the cup, so as not to show above the rim. The column is now placed
upon the table in such manner that the lower opening of the tube shall
correspond with a small hole in the table, communicating by means of an
india-rubber tube with a hollow ball of the same material, filled with
air, and so placed as to be within reach of the hand or foot of the
assistant. At the moment of firing a smart pressure is applied to the
ball, thus causing a rush of air through the tube, and inflating the
glove, which instantly springs up into a perpendicular position, with
the rings upon it. The articles are now returned to the owners, and are
identified as those which were borrowed.
Some columns have a large hollow black or gilt ball at the top,
divided vertically into two parts, and so arranged as to fall apart at
the moment of the inflation of the glove.
THE VANISHING POCKET HANDKERCHIEF, FOUND IN A CANDLE.--This was a
favourite trick of Robert-Houdin, by whom, we believe, it was invented.
The performer borrows a lady’s handkerchief, drawing particular
attention to the fact that he takes the first handkerchief which may be
offered, and that it is wholly free from preparation. Fixing upon some
gentleman among the audience, he asks him if he thinks he could set
fire to the handkerchief. The person addressed naturally expresses his
belief that he could. The performer ventures to doubt it, and at once
fetches a lighted candle to enable him to try the experiment, meanwhile
spreading the borrowed handkerchief over the top of a small round
table, or _guéridon_, where it remains in full view of the spectators,
showing clearly that it is not tampered with in any way. Returning with
the candle, the performer hands it to the gentleman, and requests him
to go and set fire to the handkerchief. Hardly, however, has he taken
the first step to do so, when the handkerchief suddenly vanishes, its
disappearance being so rapid that the spectators cannot even decide in
which direction it travelled. The performer accuses the gentleman, who
is still holding the candlestick, of having the handkerchief about him.
This he naturally denies. The professor insists, and after keeping up
the dispute as long as the audience are amused by it, offers to prove
his assertion, and taking the candle from the candlestick, breaks it
in half, and produces from it the borrowed handkerchief, which is
immediately identified by the owner.
This capital trick requires the aid of a special table. The top is
thin, and without fringe or ornament of any kind, allowing no apparent
space for the concealment of even the smallest article. The centre
pillar, however, is a hollow tube, and it is into this that the
handkerchief is made to vanish. The first step in the trick is to
exchange the handkerchief for a substitute. (_See_ page 240.) This
substitute is spread over the top of the table. The real handkerchief
the performer carries with him when he leaves the stage under the
pretence of fetching the candle, and utilizes his momentary absence in
placing it inside the candle, which is hollow, and of the description
mentioned at page 251. When the gentleman advances to set fire to
the handkerchief, the pulling of a string by the assistant causes a
clip to rise up in the centre of the table, and nip the middle of the
handkerchief, which is instantly drawn down within the tube through a
small trap at its upper extremity.
THE SPHINX.--Few tricks have of late years caused so great a sensation
as this now well-known illusion, which was first introduced to the
London public by the late Colonel Stodare, in 1865. We cannot better
preface the explanation of the trick than by quoting a portion of the
_Times_ notice on the subject, of October 19, 1865:--
“... Most intricate is the problem proposed by Colonel Stodare, when,
in addition to his admirable feats of ventriloquism and legerdemain,
he presents to his patrons a novel illusion called the ‘Sphinx.’
Placing upon an uncovered table a chest similar in size to the cases
commonly occupied by stuffed dogs or foxes, he removes the side facing
the spectators, and reveals a head attired after the fashion of an
Egyptian Sphinx. To avoid the suspicion of ventriloquism, he retires to
a distance from the figure supposed to be too great for the practice
of that art, taking his position on the borderline of the stalls and
the area, while the chest is on the stage. Thus stationed, he calls
upon the Sphinx to open its eyes, which it does--to smile, which it
does also, though the habitual expression of its countenance is most
melancholy, and to make a speech, which it does also, this being the
miraculous part of the exhibition. Not only with perspicuity, but with
something like eloquence, does it utter some twenty lines of verse; and
while its countenance is animated and expressive, the movement of the
lips, in which there is nothing mechanical, exactly corresponds to the
sounds articulated.
“This is certainly one of the most extraordinary illusions ever
presented to the public. That the speech is spoken by a human voice
there is no doubt; but how is a head to be contrived which, being
detached from anything like a body, confined in a case, which it
completely fills, and placed on a bare-legged table, will accompany
a speech, that apparently proceeds from its lips, with a strictly
appropriate movement of the mouth, and a play of the countenance that
is the reverse of mechanical? Eels, as we all know, can wriggle about
after they have been chopped into half-a-dozen pieces; but a head
that, like that of the Physician Douban, in the Arabian tales, pursues
its eloquence after it has been severed from its body, scarcely comes
within the reach of possibilities; unless, indeed, the old-fashioned
assertion that ‘King Charles walked and talked half-an-hour after
his head was cut off,’ is to be received, not as an illustration of
defective punctuation, but as a positive historical statement.
“Davus might have solved the ‘Anthropoglossus,’ but Colonel Stodare
presents us with a Sphinx that is really worthy of an Œdipus.”
For the benefit of those who have never seen this illusion presented
upon the stage, we will describe its effect a little more minutely. The
Sphinx is always made a separate portion of the entertainment, as it is
necessary to lower the curtain for a few moments before and after its
appearance, in order to arrange and remove the necessary preparations.
The curtain rises, and reveals a round or oval table, supported upon
three slender legs, and utterly devoid of drapery. This stands in a
curtained recess of ten or twelve feet square, open on the side towards
the audience. The performer comes forward bearing a cloth-covered box,
fifteen to twenty inches square, and places it upon the table already
mentioned. He then unlocks the box, the front of which drops down, so
as to give a perfect view of the interior, in which is seen a head of
Egyptian fashion, and coloured in perfect imitation of life. (_See_
Frontispiece.) The performer now retires to a position in the very
midst of the audience, and raising his wand, says in a tone of command,
“Sphinx, awake!” The Sphinx slowly opens its eyes, looking first to the
front with a strong gaze; then, as if gradually gaining consciousness,
to the one side and the other, the head moving slightly with the eyes.
Questions are put by the performer to the head, and are answered by
it, the play of the mouth and features being in perfect harmony with
the sounds uttered. Finally, in answer to a query of the operator, the
Sphinx declaims a neatly turned oracle in verse. This concludes the
exhibition, and the performer closes the box. Should the audience call
for an _encore_, the performer addresses them to the following or some
similar effect:--“Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that the Sphinx has
afforded you satisfaction, and I should be only too pleased to be able
to indulge the desire which you kindly testify of seeing it again.
Unfortunately, this is not possible. The charm by which I am enabled,
as you have seen, to revivify for a space the ashes of an ancient
Egyptian, who lived and died some centuries ago, lasts but for fifteen
minutes. That time has now expired, and the head which has astonished
you with its mysterious eloquence has again returned to its original
dust.” As he speaks the last words, he again opens the box, and the
head is found to have disappeared, leaving in its place a handful of
ashes.
[Illustration: FIG. 296. FIG. 297.]
This singular illusion depends upon the well-known principle, common to
optics as to mechanics, that “the angle of reflection is equal to the
angle of incidence.” Thus, if a person standing at the point _a_, in
Fig. 296, look into a mirror placed in the position indicated by the
line _b c_, he will see reflected, not himself, but whatever object
may be placed at the point _d_. By an ingenious application of this
principle a looking-glass may be used to conceal a given object behind
it, while at the same time an image reflected in the glass may be made
to represent what would be presumably seen if no glass were there, and
thus prevent the presence of the mirror from being suspected. This is
the secret of the Sphinx. The table, as already mentioned, has three
legs, one in front, and one at each side. Between these legs the
spectator sees apparently the curtains at the back of the recess, but
really a reflection of the curtains at the sides. The space between
the middle leg and that on either side is occupied by pieces of
looking-glass (_see_ Fig. 297, which represents a ground plan of the
arrangement), extending from _a_ to _b_, and _a_ to _c_. The glass
extends quite down to the floor, which is covered with cloth of the
same material and colour as the surrounding curtains. The spectators,
therefore, looking towards the table, see above it the curtains at the
back, and below it the reflection of the curtains at the sides; which,
however, if the relative angles are properly arranged, appears to be
simply the continuation or lower portion of the curtains at the back.
The illusion is perfect, and the spectator, from the position assigned
to him, cannot possibly discover, by the evidence of his senses, that
he is looking at any other than an ordinary bare-legged table, with the
background visible in the usual way.
The rest is a very simple matter. The person who is to represent the
Sphinx is beforehand placed, duly attired, underneath the table. There
is a trap in the table through which he can pass his head at the proper
moment. This trap is a round piece of wood, covered to match the
surface of the table, and working on a hinge on the side nearest to the
audience. It has no spring, but is kept closed by means of a button on
the opposite side, and when released hangs down perpendicularly. It
must be large enough to allow the passage of the somewhat elaborate
headpiece of the Sphinx, and would therefore leave an open space
visible round the neck. This difficulty is met by the expedient of
having a wooden collar, whose upper surface is a facsimile in size and
pattern of the trap, fastened round the neck of the representative of
the Sphinx. When he lifts his head up through the trap, this collar
exactly fills the opening, and thus shows no break in the surface of
the table. The box is bottomless, and when brought forward by the
performer is empty. A little caution has to be observed in placing it
upon the table, for, if the performer were to approach the table _from
the side_, his legs would be reflected in the glass, and would thereby
betray the secret. He must therefore make his appearance from some
quarter _outside_ of the curtained recess, and advance to a position
well in front of, and at some little distance from the table, when, by
moving in a straight line from the audience towards the middle leg _a_,
he prevents this inconvenient reflection. The placing the box upon the
table, and the unlocking it, allow time for the representative of the
Sphinx to get his head into position within it. This done, the box is
opened, and the rest depends on the dramatic talent of the performer
and his assistant. The performance being concluded, the box is again
locked, and the head withdrawn, a handful of ashes being introduced on
the trap in its stead.
The angle at which the two mirrors should be set cannot be determined
absolutely, but will vary according to the distance and position of the
surrounding drapery.
Some performers use a shawl or a screen of cardboard in place of the
box, but we doubt whether any method is more effective than that above
described.
The ghastly illusion of the so-called “Decapitated Head,” which drew
crowds to the Polytechnic some few years since, was merely the “Sphinx”
in a less pleasant form.
[Illustration: FIG. 298.]
THE CABINET OF PROTEUS.--This is another adaptation of the principle
on which the Sphinx illusion is founded. It is the joint invention of
Messrs. Pepper and Tobin, by whom it was patented in 1865. The first
steps towards a patent for the Sphinx were also taken in the same year,
but the latter invention never proceeded beyond provisional protection.
The Cabinet of Proteus is a wooden closet, seven to eight feet in
height by four or five feet square, supported on short legs, so as to
exclude the idea of any communication with the floor. (_See_ Fig. 298.)
It has folding doors, and an upright pillar extends from top to bottom
of the interior, at about the centre of the cabinet. At the top of this
pillar, in front, is fixed a lamp, so that the whole of the interior is
brightly illuminated.
[Illustration: FIG. 299.]
The cabinet may be used in various ways. One of the most striking is
as follows:--The folding doors are opened, disclosing the interior
perfectly empty. (_See_ Fig. 299.) The exhibitor directs his assistant
to walk into the cabinet. He does so, and the doors are closed.
Meanwhile, a couple of gentlemen, selected by the audience, are
invited to stand behind or beside the cabinet, and see that no one
obtains ingress or egress by any secret opening. Notwithstanding these
precautions, when the doors are again opened, the assistant is found
to have vanished, and another person, different in dress, in stature,
and in complexion, is found in his place. This person steps forth,
makes his bow, and retires. Again the cabinet, now empty, is closed,
and after an interval of a few moments, again opened. This time a
human skeleton is found to occupy the vacant space. This ghastly
object having been removed, and the door having been once more closed
and opened, another person, say a lady, appears. This person having
retired, the doors are again closed; and when they are again opened,
the person who first entered is once more found within. A committee
from the audience are now invited to examine the cabinet within and
without, out all their scrutiny cannot detect any hidden space, even
sufficient to conceal a mouse.
[Illustration: FIG. 300.]
An examination of Fig. 300, representing a ground plan of the cabinet,
will make plain the seeming mystery. A moveable flap _a b_, working on
hinges at _b_, extends from top to bottom of each side, resting when
thrown open against the post _c_ in the middle, and thus enclosing a
triangular space at the back of the cabinet. The outer surfaces of
these flaps (_i.e._, the surfaces exposed when they are folded back
against the sides of the cabinet) are, like the rest of the interior,
covered with wall paper, of a crimson or other dark colour. The
opposite sides of the flaps are of looking-glass, and when the flaps
are folded back against the posts, reflect the surfaces against which
they previously rested, and which are covered with paper of the same
pattern as the rest. The effect to the eye of the spectator is that
of a perfectly empty chamber, though, as we have seen, there is in
reality an enclosed triangular space behind the post. This is capable
of containing two or three persons, and here it is that the persons and
things intended to appear in succession are concealed. The assistant,
entering in sight of the audience, changes places, as soon as the
door is closed, with one of the other persons. This person having
retired, and the door being again closed, those who are still within
place the skeleton in position in front of the post, and again retire
to their hiding-place. When all the rest have appeared, the person
who first entered presses the flaps against the sides of the cabinet,
against which they are retained by a spring lock on each side, and the
public may then safely be admitted, as their closest inspection cannot
possibly discover the secret.
THE INDIAN BASKET TRICK.--This is another of the sensational feats
identified with the name of Colonel Stodare, and is imitated from
a similar illusion performed by the Indian conjurors. It is not a
pleasant trick to witness, but, like the “Decapitated Head,” it drew
immense crowds, its fictitious horror being apparently its chief
attraction. Its effect, as the trick was originally presented by
Stodare, is as follows:--A large oblong basket, say five feet by two,
and as deep as wide, is brought in, and placed on a low stand or bench,
so as to be raised clear of the stage. The performer comes forward
with a drawn sword in his right hand, and leading with the other hand
a young lady, dressed in a closely-fitting robe of black velvet.
Reproaching her upon some pretended ground of complaint, he declares
that she must be punished, and forthwith begins to blindfold her eyes.
She simulates terror, begging for mercy, and finally escaping from him,
runs off the stage. He follows her, and instantly reappears, dragging
her by the wrist. Regardless of her sobs and cries, he compels her
to enter the basket, in which she lies down, and the lid is closed.
Simulating an access of fury, he thrusts the sword through the basket
(from the front) in various places. Piercing screams are heard from the
interior, and the sword when withdrawn is seen to be red with blood.
The screams gradually subside, and all is still. A thrill of horror
runs through the audience, who are half inclined to call in the police,
and hand over the professor to the nearest magistrate. For a moment
there is a pause, and then the performer, calmly wiping the bloody
sword on a white pocket-handkerchief, says, “Ladies and gentlemen,
I fear you imagine that I have hurt the lady who was the subject of
this experiment. Pray disabuse yourselves of such an idea. She had
disobeyed me, and I therefore determined to punish her by giving her a
little fright; but nothing more. The fact is, she had left the basket
some time before I thrust the sword into it. You don’t believe me,
I see. Allow me to show you, in the first place, that the basket is
empty.” He turns over the basket accordingly, and shows that the lady
has vanished. “Should you desire further proof, the lady will answer
for herself.” The lady at this moment comes forward from a different
portion of the room, and having made her bow, retires.
This startling illusion is performed as follows:--To begin with, there
are _two_ ladies employed, in figure and general appearance as nearly
alike as possible. Their dress is also exactly similar. The little
dramatic scene with which the trick commences is designed to impress
upon the audience the features of the lady who first appears. When she
is blindfolded, she, as already mentioned, runs off the stage. The
performer runs after her, and apparently bringing her back, really
brings back in her place the second lady, who is standing in readiness,
blindfolded in precisely the same way, behind the scenes. As the
bandage covers the greater part of her features, there is little fear
of the spectators detecting the substitution that has taken place. The
substitute lady now enters the basket, where she lies, compressing
herself into as small a compass as possible, along the back. Knowing
the position which she occupies, it is not a very difficult matter
for the operator so to direct the thrusts of the sword as to avoid
any risk of injuring her. The chief thing to be attended to for this
purpose is to thrust always in an _upward_ direction. The appearance
of blood on the sword may be produced either by the lady in the basket
drawing along the blade, as it is withdrawn after each thrust, a sponge
saturated with some crimson fluid, or by a mechanical arrangement in
the hilt, causing the supposed blood, on pressure, to trickle down the
blade.
[Illustration: FIG. 301.]
The only point that remains to be explained is the difficulty which
will probably already have suggested itself to the reader, viz., “How
does the performer manage to show the basket empty at the close of
the trick?” Simply by having the basket made on the principle of the
“inexhaustible box,” described at page 391. The performer takes care
to tilt the basket over to the front _before_ he raises the lid. This
leaves the lady lying on the true bottom of the basket (_see_ Fig.
302), while a moveable flap, fixed at right angles to the bottom, and
lying in its normal position flat against the front of the basket,
for the time being represents the bottom to the eyes of the audience.
While the basket is thus shown apparently empty, the lady who first
appeared in the trick comes forward, and is immediately recognized by
the audience; and as they are fully persuaded that she was the person
placed in the basket, the inference that she has escaped from it by
some quasi-supernatural means seems inevitable.
The above is the form in which the trick was first introduced to the
London public, but another _modus operandi_ has since been adopted by
some performers. The low table or bench on which the basket is placed
is in this case constructed on the principle of the Sphinx-table, with
looking-glass between the legs, and with a large trap in the top. The
basket used is not made like the inexhaustible box, but the bottom is
moveable, and hinged against the front, so as to lift up flat against
it when required. One lady only is employed. When she is about to step
into the basket, the bottom is pushed up from below, and she thus
steps through the basket and the table, and thence passes, through a
trap-door, beneath the stage. The basket is then closed, and the bottom
allowed to fall back into its place. As the basket is left in this case
empty, the performer may thrust into it in any direction at pleasure,
the screams being uttered by the lady from her safe quarters below. At
the proper moment the performer lifts the basket bodily off the table,
and shows it really empty, while the lady, as in the former case,
reappears in some other quarter.
ELECTRICAL TRICKS.--Some of the most mysterious of the stage tricks
are performed by means of electricity, or, to speak more correctly,
of electro-magnetism. In describing these, which are nearly all
attributable to the inventive genius of Robert-Houdin, it may be
desirable, in the first place, to explain in a few words what
electro-magnetism is, and how it operates. Every school-boy is
acquainted with the ordinary steel horseshoe magnet, and knows that
if the accompanying small iron bar, or “keeper,” is placed within a
short distance from its ends or “poles,” it will be sharply attracted
to them. In the case of the ordinary magnet this attractive force is
permanent, but in that of the electro-magnet it may be produced or
destroyed at pleasure. The electro-magnet consists of a short piece
of soft iron, (either straight, or bent into a horseshoe form), with
copper wire (covered with silk or cotton) wound round and round it
nearly to the ends. If a current of electricity from a galvanic battery
is made to pass through this wire, the iron core becomes powerfully
magnetic, the attractive force, however, ceasing as soon as the current
is interrupted.
[Illustration: FIG. 302.]
[Illustration: FIG. 303.]
Almost any kind of battery may be used to produce the necessary
current, but for magical purposes one of the most convenient is the
Bichromate Bottle Battery, depicted in Fig. 302. This consists of a
plate of zinc and a plate of carbon (or sometimes two plates of carbon)
immersed in an exciting fluid, consisting of two ounces and a half of
bichromate of potash dissolved in a pint of water, with the addition of
one-third of an ounce of sulphuric acid. The bottle is only filled to
the top of the spherical portion, and the zinc is so arranged that it
can be drawn up into the neck, and so out of the solution, when it is
desired to suspend the action of the battery. The wires for conducting
the current should be of copper covered with silk or cotton, and one
of them must be connected with the zinc plate, and the other with the
carbon plate of the battery, which has “binding screws” affixed for
this purpose. For the purpose of instantly completing or disconnecting
the electric circuit, the wires are affixed to the opposite sides of
what is called a connecting stud (_see_ Fig. 303), being a circular
disc of wood or porcelain, with a moveable stud or button in the
centre. On pressing this stud with the finger, the ends of the two
wires are brought in contact, and the circuit is completed; but as soon
as the pressure is removed, the stud rises by the action of a spring,
and the circuit is again broken.
Among the conjuring tricks depending upon the principle of
electro-magnetic attraction, the simplest is that of
THE LIGHT AND HEAVY CHEST.--This is a small brass-bound box, with the
ordinary handle at top. The performer shows that it is empty, and
without mechanism or preparation. Having been duly inspected, it is
placed upon a small pedestal fixed to the stage, when the performer
requests that some gentleman of considerable personal strength will
step forward. A volunteer having been found, the magician asks
him whether he thinks he can lift the little box before him. He
naturally answers that he can, and proves his assertion by lifting it
accordingly, which, as the box only weighs a few pounds, it is not
very difficult to do. “Wait a bit,” says the professor, “you were able
to lift it then, because it was my will and pleasure that you should
do so. It now weighs” (say) “six pounds. I have only to breathe on it
thus, and it will instantly weigh two tons. Try if you can lift it
_now_.” Again he tries, but the chest is as if glued to the pedestal,
and the most violent efforts cannot dislodge it. Once more the
performer breathes upon it, and it may be lifted with one finger.
The explanation may be given in half-a-dozen lines. The bottom of the
box is an iron plate. The top of the pedestal is also an iron plate,
and within it is contained a powerful electro-magnet, the poles being
in contact with the plate, and the wires to convey the current passing
beneath the stage to the hiding-place of the assistant. The latter,
on receiving his cue from the expressions of the performer, presses
the connecting stud and completes the circuit, thereby bringing the
magnetic force into operation. Upon again receiving an agreed signal
from the performer, he ceases to press the stud, the circuit is broken,
and the iron ceases to possess any magnetic force. This may be repeated
as often as desired.
The above trick is cited by Robert-Houdin in illustration of the
great difference which there may be, in point of effect, between two
modes of presenting the same illusion. The reader may possibly be
aware that Robert-Houdin was employed by the French Government, at
one period of his career, in a mission to Algeria, with the object of
destroying, if possible, the popular belief in the pretended miracles
of the Marabouts, whereby these latter had obtained an extraordinary
ascendency over the minds of the ignorant Arabs. The plan adopted was
to show, first, that a European could perform still greater marvels,
and then to explain that these seeming mysteries were mere matters
of science and dexterity, and wholly independent of supernatural
assistance. The “Light and Heavy Chest” was one of the prominent
features of the programme, but if presented under that name it would
have produced but very little effect. The fact that the chest became
immoveable at command would only have been attributed by the Arabs to
some ingenious mechanical arrangement, beyond their comprehension,
but exciting only a momentary wonder. With great tact, Robert-Houdin
contrived to turn the attention of his audience from the object to the
subject of the trick, professing, not to make the chest light or heavy,
but to make the person who volunteered weak or strong at his pleasure.
Thus presented, the trick had the appearance no longer of a mere
achievement of mechanical or scientific skill, but of a manifestation
of supernatural power. We will tell the rest of the story as nearly as
possible in Robert-Houdin’s own words, as related in the story of his
life:--
“An Arab of middle stature, but well-knit, wiry, and muscular; the very
type of an Arab Hercules, came forward, with plenty of self-confidence,
and stood by my side.
“‘Are you _very_ strong?’ I inquired, eyeing him from head to foot.
“‘Yes,’ he replied, carelessly.
“‘Are you sure that you will always remain so?’
“‘Perfectly.’
“‘You are mistaken; for in one moment I shall take away all your
strength, and leave you as weak as a little child.’
“The Arab smiled scornfully, in token of disbelief.
“‘Here,’ I said, ‘lift up this chest.’
“The Arab stooped, lifted the chest, and said disdainfully, ‘Is that
all?’
“‘Wait a bit,’ I replied. Then, with the solemnity appropriate to my
assumed character, I made a gesture of command, and gravely said--
“‘You are weaker than a woman. Try _now_ to lift that box.’
“The strong man, perfectly indifferent about my magic spell, again
catches hold of the box by the handle, and gives a vigorous pull to
lift it; this time, however, the chest resists, and in spite of the
most determined efforts, remains absolutely immoveable.
“The Arab wastes in vain over the unlucky chest an amount of force
which would have lifted an enormous weight; till at last, exhausted,
panting, and burning with shame, he ceases, looks dumfounded, and
begins to appreciate the power of the magic art. He has half a mind to
give up the attempt; but to give up would be to acknowledge himself
conquered, and to admit his weakness; and after having been famed for
his muscular strength, to sink to the level of a child. The bare idea
makes him furious. Gathering new strength from the encouragement which
his friends offer him by word and look, he casts towards them a glance
which seems to say, ‘You shall see what the son of the desert can do.’
Once more he bends over the chest, his nervous hands grip the handle,
and his legs, planted one on each side of the chest like two columns
of bronze, serve as a fulcrum for the mighty effort which he is about
to make. It seems almost impossible but that under such a strain the
box must fly to pieces. Strange! this Hercules, a moment ago so strong
and self-confident, now bends his head; his arms, riveted to the box,
are drawn by a violent muscular contraction against his chest; his legs
quiver, and he falls on his knees with a cry of agony.
“An electric shock, produced by an induction coil, had just been
communicated, at a signal from me, from behind the scenes to the handle
of the chest. Thence the contortions of the unlucky Arab. To prolong
his agony would have been inhuman. I gave a second signal, and the
electric current was cut off. My athletic friend, released from his
terrible bondage, raised his hands above his head. ‘Allah! Allah!’ he
cried, shaking with fright, then wrapping himself hastily in the folds
of his burnous, as though to hide his disgrace, he rushed through the
spectators, and made his way to the door of the hall.”
To describe completely the “induction coil,” above referred to, would
be beyond the scope of the present treatise. It may, however, be
summarily described as consisting of a coil of insulated copper wire,
wound round a small bundle of straight iron wires, say five or six
inches in length, and an inch in diameter. This is called the “primary”
coil. Round this is again wound a quantity of much finer wire, also
insulated. This constitutes the “secondary” coil. The ends of each
coil are kept free. If a current of electricity be made to circulate
through the wire of the primary coil, an independent current of great
intensity is found to be thereby produced, by a mysterious process
called induction, in the secondary coil. This current is strongest at
the moment of first completing the circuit in the primary wire, and if
a person is grasping the ends of the secondary wire, or any conducting
substance in connection with it, at the moment when the circuit
is completed, he will receive a very severe shock. A contrivance
is attached to the coil, whereby the circuit is made and broken
alternately with great rapidity, thereby producing a continuous shock,
of such power that the victim loses for the time being the faculty
of relaxing his muscles, and is compelled, after the manner of the
unfortunate Arab, to grip, tighter and tighter, the cause of his pain,
until released by the final severing of the circuit. Any reader who
desires a more complete acquaintance with the induction coil, should
purchase a little shilling manual, entitled, “Intensity Coils, How Made
and How Used,” by “Dyer” (Suter, Alexander, and Co., Cheapside), where
he will find an excellent account of this interesting subject.
[Illustration: FIG. 304.]
[Illustration: FIG. 305.]
SPIRIT-RAPPING.--This deception is frequently performed by the aid of
electro-magnetism, although the raps may be, and in most instances are,
produced by much simpler methods. We will suppose that a table is to be
the instrument of the raps. The top being removed, a hollow is made in
the “frame” which supports it, and in the cavity thus made is fixed an
electro-magnet, of the fashion shown in Figs. 304, 305. Upon one side
of the horseshoe, at the centre of the curve, is screwed a brass spring
_a_, to the opposite end of which is attached the keeper _b_. The
effect of the spring is to hold the keeper about a quarter of an inch
away from the poles of the magnet, save when a current of electricity
is made to pass through the wire, when the horseshoe becoming
magnetic, the keeper, in spite of the resistance of the spring, is
brought down sharply into contact with the poles, and so remains until
the circuit is again severed, when it flies back again to its former
position. The little metal knob or hammer _c_, which is to produce the
raps, is screwed to the under side of the keeper, and points between
the two arms or poles of the magnet. If, therefore, the magnet be
fastened to a piece of wood, or other hard surface, and an electric
current be sent through the wire, the keeper is instantly drawn down to
the poles of the magnet, and the hammer, moving with it, strikes the
wood between the poles, and produces the rap. As soon as the circuit is
broken, the keeper and hammer are raised by the spring, in readiness
for another rap; and each time that connection with the battery is
made, a rap is produced. The wires from the concealed magnet are made
to pass down the leg of the table, and beneath the floor or carpet to
the hiding-place of the assistant, who can thus summon spirits “from
the vasty deep” or elsewhere, at his pleasure.
It will be found a very convenient arrangement to have the magnet
enclosed in a little mahogany box, as shown in the diagrams, in which
condition it can readily be fixed in any required position.
THE MAGIC BELL.--Precisely the same in principle, though differing
somewhat in detail, is the magic bell. The bell, which is of glass,
and of the form shown in Fig. 306, is hung up above the stage by two
silk or woollen cords, and thus apparently placed wholly out of the
reach of human influence. Nevertheless, at the command of the magician,
it becomes endowed with seeming vitality. The hammer strikes any
number of times at command, answers questions (with three raps for
“yes,” and one for “no,” after the approved spiritualistic manner),
indicates chosen cards, and generally displays a remarkable amount of
intelligence.
[Illustration: FIG. 306.]
The reader who has followed our description of the spirit-rapping
magnet will hardly require an explanation of the magic bell. The brass
cap, from which the hammer projects, contains a small electro-magnet,
the wire which carries the hammer being fixed to the keeper, and
bringing the hammer down smartly on the glass whenever the electric
circuit is made complete.
“But,” says the sagacious reader, “how is the circuit made complete?
In the former case there were hidden wires, passing through the legs
of the table, to convey the electric current, but in this instance the
bell is suspended in mid-air by a couple of ordinary cords. How can the
electric fluid therefore be conveyed to the bell?” The answer lies in
the fact that the cords are not quite _ordinary_ cords. In appearance
they are two pieces of common cord, with a brass hook at each end,
for the purpose of first attaching them to corresponding hooks in the
ceiling, and, secondly, attaching the bell to their opposite ends.
But on a closer examination it will be found that a fine copper wire
extends from hook to hook through the centre of the cord, making it a
perfect conductor, while yet not diminishing in the least its perfect
flexibility. The hooks in the ceiling communicate with hidden wires,
and these with the electric battery behind the scenes.
THE CRYSTAL CASH-BOX.--This is a mahogany box with glass top and
bottom, the wooden portion of it being lined with velvet. (_See_ Fig.
307.) In dimensions it is about eight inches long, by six wide, and
three and a half deep, and it has a brass ring at either end.
[Illustration: FIG. 307.]
The performer commences by borrowing (say) eight half-crowns, the owner
of each being requested to mark it for the purpose of identification.
With these the performer exhibits any trick whose leading feature is
the passage of the coin from some one place to another. The trick
having been performed, and the money identified, the operator, still
retaining it, returns to the stage, and placing the coins upon the
table, addresses the audience to the following effect: “Ladies and
gentlemen, I have given you a slight specimen of the certainty and
speed with which I can make money travel. Who would go to the trouble
and expense of Post-office orders when by simply taking the money in
his hand, and saying, ‘Pass,’ he might make it fly direct into the
pocket of his correspondent? But I will give you another and a still
more surprising illustration.” (Here the assistant brings in the
crystal cash-box.) “Here is a wooden box, closed on all sides, but with
glass top and bottom, so that you may see for yourselves that there is
no mechanism or preparation about it. Now I propose to pass these eight
half-crowns, the identical half-crowns marked by yourselves, into this
closed box. Where shall I place the box, so as to be at a distance from
me, and at the same time in full view of all present? Perhaps the best
thing I can do with it will be to fasten it to these two silk cords
hanging from the ceiling. I will set the box swinging” (he does so),
“so that you can all see that it is empty. Now I will take the money,
and stand in any part of the room you like.” (He walks to the chosen
spot.) “Will some one oblige me by counting _three_ in a distinct
voice.” One of the spectators does so, and the performer at the last
word makes the motion of throwing the money towards the cash-box, in
which it is instantly seen and heard to fall, his hand at the same
moment appearing empty. The cash-box is taken down, and the money
returned to the owners, who identify it as that which they had marked.
As the reader will doubtless have anticipated, the coins are already in
the cash-box when the latter is hung to the cords. They are concealed
by a moveable flap lying close against one of the wooden sides,
in which position it is maintained by a spring, until an electric
current is despatched along the cords. This brings into action an
electro-magnet, hidden in the thickness of the box, thereby causing
the flap to be momentarily lifted, and the coins to escape into the
interior of the box.
When the performer, having exhibited the preliminary trick with the
borrowed coins, places them apparently upon the table, he in reality
exchanges them, and places the substitutes on the “money-trap”
described at page 446, leaving the genuine coins within reach of his
assistant, who forthwith carries them off behind the scenes, and places
them in readiness under the flap of the cash-box. The performer having
attached the box to the cords, and set it in motion, apparently picks
up the heap of coins, which really sink into the table.[O] When the
word “Three” is spoken, he opens the right hand, which is seen empty,
and the assistant behind the scenes, taking the same word as a signal,
presses the connecting stud, and completes the circuit. The flap is
momentarily lifted, and the borrowed coins are heard and seen to fall
within the box.
[O] If his table is not provided with the money-trap, the
performer may really pick up the coins with his left hand,
and thence, by the _tourniquet_, apparently take them in
the right, keeping the right hand closed as if containing
them. While the attention of the spectators is thus drawn
to the right hand, the left may fall carelessly to the
side, and deposit the coins in the _pochette_.
[Illustration: FIG. 308.]
There is another box (the invention of Robert-Houdin) which goes by the
same name, and with still better title, inasmuch as not only the top
and bottom, but the sides and ends, are of glass, held together by a
light metal framework. In appearance it is as shown in Fig. 308, and,
being transparent throughout, it appears physically impossible that any
object should be concealed in it; and yet, when the box is suspended,
and set swinging, the operator has only to take the (supposed) borrowed
coins in his hand, and to pronounce the mystic “Pass,” when the eight
half-crowns are seen and heard to fall into the box, and may be taken
from thence by the owners themselves, without even this near inspection
of the apparatus revealing the secret of their appearance.
As in the trick we have just described, electricity is the motive
agent; but in this instance it operates, not by its magnetic influence,
but by another of its mysterious properties. If a tolerably powerful
current be made to pass at some point in its circuit through a short
length (say half an inch) of fine platinum wire, platinum being a bad
conductor, the wire will, at the moment of completing the circuit,
be heated to a white heat, or, if the current be very powerful, will
even be fused altogether. A very few words will show how this simple
scientific fact is made available to produce the desired result.
[Illustration: FIG. 309.]
[Illustration: FIG. 310.]
The box measures about ten inches in length, by five in breadth and
five in depth, so that its back, front, top, and bottom are of exactly
the same size. On the top, which slides out, in order to give access to
the interior, is an ornamental design, measuring about four inches by
three. This renders this particular portion of the top or lid opaque,
and it is beneath this portion that the half-crowns are placed. Slips
of glass are cemented to the under side of the lid (_see_ Fig. 309),
so as to inclose a space just large enough to allow eight half-crowns
to be placed, in two layers of four each, within it. The slips of
glass serve to keep the coins in position laterally. Vertically, they
are supported as follows:--The front of the box (_i.e._, the side
which, when the box is suspended, is nearest to the spectators) is
made double. The outer portion is a fixture, but the inner is attached
by hinges _a a_ to the upper edge of the box, and may therefore be
folded at pleasure against the top, though when released it falls back
to its normal position against the front, in which position it is
secured by a spring catch until again raised. It is upon this moveable
side, thus folded up against the top, that the eight half-crowns are
supported. The opposite edge of the top of the box is arranged as
follows: _b b_ is a metal tube, with an opening of about half-an-inch
in length between _d d_; _c c_ are two metal hooks or rings by which
the apparatus is suspended, and through which the current passes. Each
of these communicates with a piece of insulated copper wire, extending
from _c_ to _d_. The space between _d d_ is filled up by a round plug
or pencil of wood (_see_ enlarged view in Fig. 310), along which lies
a small piece of very fine platinum wire _e e_, connecting the ends
of the two copper wires. The moveable glass flap is held up against
the top by means of a little piece of black cotton _f_, which, passing
through a minute hole in the outer edge of the flap, is made to pass
round the wooden plug, and thus to cross the platinum wire at right
angles, and in immediate contact with it. The practical application of
the scientific principle to which we have alluded will now be obvious.
At the moment of completing the circuit, the platinum, becoming
red-hot, instantly severs the cotton, when down falls the flap, not
altering in the least the general appearance of the box, but allowing
the half-crowns to fall loose into its interior.
In order to prepare the apparatus for use, it is necessary first to
remove the sliding lid, to place the moveable flap in position, and
to fasten it with cotton as already described. The lid should then be
turned upside down, and the half-crowns placed in position, after which
the box also is turned upside down, and the lid allowed to slide gently
into its place. The half-crowns are now secure, and the box may be
brought forward and set swinging, without any danger of their making a
premature appearance.
In some boxes the double flap is omitted, the front being single, but
moveable, and working as already explained. In this case the box, when
first brought forward, has the glass of the side towards the audience
missing, but at a little distance its absence cannot be detected.
THE MAGIC DRUM.--This is in appearance an ordinary side-drum, but being
hung up by cords from the ceiling, it will forthwith, without any
visible drumsticks, give either a single rap or a roll, or keep time to
any piece of music. It will further answer questions and tell fortunes,
indicate chosen cards, etc., after the manner of the magic bell.
These mysterious effects are produced by two hammers or drumsticks,
fixed against one end of the drum on the inside. Each of these is
attached to the keeper of an electro-magnet, but there is a difference
in the mode of their working. One works after the manner of the bell,
giving a single tap whenever contact is made, but thenceforward
remaining silent until the circuit is again broken and again completed.
In other words, each pressure of the connecting stud produces one rap,
and no more. The second hammer is differently arranged. By means of
what is called a “contact-breaker,” the movement of the keeper, when
attracted by the magnet, of itself breaks the circuit. The circuit
being broken, the iron is no longer magnetic, and the keeper flies
back to its old position, thereby once more completing the circuit.
As long as the pressure on the stud continues, therefore, the circuit
is alternately made and broken in rapid succession, involving a
corresponding movement of the keeper and hammer, and producing a “roll”
of the drum. The use of the two hammers involves the necessity of two
electrical circuits and two connecting studs, and of three cords to
suspend the drum (one being common to both circuits). With a little
practice in the management of the two studs, the single rapper may be
made to beat time to a tune, while the other stud brings in the roll at
appropriate intervals.
There are some drums (of an inferior character) made with one hammer
only; such hammer being arranged for the roll. Where it is desired to
give a single rap, this may be effected by pressing and instantly
releasing the stud with a light, quick touch; but some little dexterity
is required.
In the case of all these appliances for magically answering questions,
it is necessary that the assistant who has the control of the apparatus
should be in such a position as to distinctly hear the questions asked.
In fortune-telling matters the answer may generally be left to his
own discretion; but for indicating what card is chosen, etc., it is
necessary either that an agreed card be forced, or that a carefully
arranged code of verbal signals should be employed, whereby the form of
the question may itself indicate the proper answer.[P] Considerable fun
may be caused by the magician selecting an evidently “engaged” couple,
and after asking how many months it will be before they are married,
etc., inquiring, in a stage whisper, how many children they are
destined to be blest with. The drum raps steadily up to (say) five, and
this is accepted as the answer, when, after a moment’s pause, two more
raps are heard _in quick succession_. This alarming omen is received
with general laughter, amid which the drum gives another rap, and then
another, continuing until the performer, scandalized at its behaviour,
unhooks it from the cords, and carries it, still rapping, off the
stage. This last effect is wholly independent of electricity, being
produced by the performer tapping with his fingers that end of the drum
which for the time being is farthest from the audience.
[P] This is the principle of the well-known “second sight”
trick, a detailed explanation of which we are compelled
from considerations of space to omit, the system, as
perfected by Robert-Houdin and others, being so elaborate,
that an independent treatise would be needed to do it
justice. An admirable account of the system, as applied
to the French language, will be found in a work by F. A.
Gandon, “_La seconde vue dévoilée_,” published in Paris in
1849.
There are some few other tricks performed by the aid of electricity,
but any one who understands the principle of those above described may
make a very shrewd guess at the working of the remainder. All tricks
of this class, though ingenious and effective, are open to one or two
serious objections. In the first place, the apparatus is very costly,
and, secondly, they are unpleasantly liable, from the nicety of their
mechanism and the absolute necessity of perfect electrical connection
in all their parts, to hang fire at the critical moment, and leave the
operator in a very embarrassing position. Imagine the feelings of a
performer who, having just introduced his wonderful drum, which is to
display unheard-of oracular powers, finds that the instrument remains
as mute as the celebrated harp in Tara’s halls, and refuses to bear
out, in the smallest degree, his grandiloquent assertions. Yet this
unpleasant result may occur at any time from the simple breaking of a
wire, or some even slighter cause. This, it appears to us, is a serious
drawback to electrical tricks, though where they are exhibited at their
best no illusions are more beautiful, or have more of genuine magic
about them.
[Illustration: FIG. 311.]
We should mention, before quitting the subject of these tricks, that
in order to avoid the trouble and expense of fixing the necessary
conducting wires in a building not specially appropriated to magical
performances, an upright brass rod (which may be detached at pleasure)
is sometimes fitted on each side of the performer’s table (_see_
Fig. 311), and the apparatus in use (drum, bell, cash-box, etc.) is
suspended by appropriate cords between these rods. The conducting
wires are connected within the table with the lower ends of the brass
uprights, and thence pass down its hinder legs to the battery behind
the scenes. There are many considerations of convenience in favour of
this arrangement, but the tricks performed are less effective than
where the apparatus is hung fairly from the ceiling, and apparently
out of all possible reach of mechanical influence.
THE AËRIAL SUSPENSION.--This is a very old trick, performed originally
by the Indian jugglers, who kept the _modus operandi_ a profound
secret. The ingenuity, however, of Robert-Houdin penetrated the
mystery, and in 1849 made it a special feature of his _séances
fantastiques_. At that time the public mind was much interested in the
anæsthetic qualities of ether, which had then recently been discovered.
Robert-Houdin manipulated this fact into a valuable advertisement. He
gave out that he had discovered in the popular anæsthetic a still more
marvellous property, viz., that when inhaled under certain conditions,
it neutralized the attraction of gravitation in the person inhaling
it, who became, for the time being, light as air. In proof of this, he
brought forward his youngest son, then a child of ten or thereabouts,
and after having made him smell at a small phial, really empty, but
supposed to contain ether, caused him to recline in mid-air, with no
other support than that afforded by, to all appearance, an ordinary
walking-stick, placed in a vertical position under his right elbow.
It is characteristic of Robert-Houdin’s minute attention to the _mise
en scène_ of a trick, that while his son sniffed at the empty bottle,
his assistant, behind the scenes, poured genuine ether upon a hot
shovel, so that the fumes, reaching the nostrils of the audience, might
prove, indirectly but convincingly, that ether was really employed.
After the retirement of Robert-Houdin from the stage, the trick fell
comparatively out of notice, till it was revived in a new form by the
Fakir of Oolu (Professor Sylvester) in England, and contemporaneously
by De Vere on the Continent. A full-grown young lady was in this case
the subject of the illusion, and was made, while still suspended in
air, to assume various costumes and characters. The illusion, in this
new form, took the fancy of the public, and brought forth a host
of imitators; but few have presented it with the same completeness
as the two performers named. For a time it produced quite a marked
sensation, equal crowds thronging to see Sylvester in London, and De
Vere in Paris, St. Petersburg, Brussels, Pesth, Dresden, Strasburg,
and other continental cities. Recent mechanical improvements, to which
the last-named Professor has materially contributed, have greatly
heightened the effect of the trick--the lady being made to rise
spontaneously from the perpendicular to the horizontal position, and to
continue to float in the air after her last ostensible support has been
removed.
[Illustration: FIG. 312.]
Apart from these special mysteries, which we are not at liberty to
reveal, the trick is as follows:--The performer brings forward the girl
or boy who is to be the subject of the illusion, and who is dressed
in some fancy costume. A low bench or table, say five feet in length
by two in width, and on legs about six inches in height, is brought
forward, and shown to be wholly disconnected from the floor or stage.
On this is placed a small stool, on which the subject of the experiment
(whom, in the present instance, we will suppose to be a young lady)
mounts. She extends her arms, and under each is placed a stout rod or
pole of appropriate length. (_See_ Fig. 312.) The performer makes
pretended mesmeric passes over her, and in a minute or two her head
is seen to droop, and after a few more passes her eyes close, and she
is, to all external appearance, in a mesmeric sleep. The operator now
takes the stool from under her feet, when she hangs suspended between
the two rods. Again a few more passes, and the operator removes the
rod that supports the left arm, and gently mesmerises the arm down to
the side. Still the girl hangs motionless, with no other support than
the single upright rod on which her right arm rests. (_See_ Fig. 313.)
The operator now drapes her in various costumes, still keeping up from
time to time the supposed mesmeric passes. Bending her right arm so as
to support her head, he next lifts her gently to an angle of 45° to
the upright rod (as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 313), and finally
raises her to a horizontal position, as in Fig. 314.
[Illustration: FIG. 313.]
[Illustration: FIG. 314.]
[Illustration: FIG. 315.]
[Illustration: FIG. 316.]
An inspection of the diagrams will already have furnished the clue
to the mystery. Of the two upright rods, one (that placed under the
left arm) is wholly without preparation, and may be freely handed for
examination. The other, A, is either of iron throughout (this was the
case with the pretended walking-stick used by Robert-Houdin) or of
well-seasoned wood with an iron core, and capable of bearing a very
heavy weight. The lower end of this sinks into a socket in the low
board or table already mentioned, and thus becomes, for the time being,
a fixture. In the upper end is hollowed out a small space, about an
inch in depth, for a purpose which will presently appear. The subject
of the experiment wears, underneath her page’s costume, a sort of iron
corset, or framework, similar to that shown in Figs. 313 and 314, and
more in detail in Fig. 315. An iron girdle, _a a_, passes nearly round
the waist, the circle being completed by a leather strap. At right
angles to this, on the right side, is fixed an iron upright, _b b_,
extending from just below the armpit nearly to the knee, but with a
joint _c_ (working backwards and forwards only) at the hip, a strap
_d_, round the leg, keeping it in position, so as to allow of bending
the thigh. From the back of the iron girdle, in the centre, proceeds
a crutch _e_, also of iron, passing between the legs, and connected
by a strap to the front of the girdle. A fourth strap _f_, connected
with the girdle in front and rear, passes over the left shoulder, and
prevents any risk of the apparatus slipping downwards. To the upper
part of the upright, _b b_, immediately below the armpit, is riveted
a short flat piece of iron, _g_, working freely upon it. The end of
_g_, which forms the joint shown enlarged in Fig. 316, is welded into
a semicircular ratchet, with three teeth corresponding with a check
_h_, lying parallel with _b b_, and which, in its normal position, is
pressed up close into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring, but may be
withdrawn by a downward pressure on the hook _i_. The opposite end of
_g_ has projecting from its under side, at right angles, an iron plug
_j_, which just fits into the cavity before mentioned in the top of the
rod A. There is an opening in the under part of the sleeve, to give
passage to this plug, which, when inserted in the corresponding cavity
of A, makes _g_, relatively to it, a fixture. The remainder of the iron
framework (and with it the lady) remains moveable, to the extent that,
by means of the joint at _g_, it can be made to describe an arc of 90°
to the upright rod.
The mode of operation will now be clear. When the young lady mounts on
the stool, and extends her arms, the performer, in placing the upright
beneath them, takes care to let the lower end of A sink properly
into the socket, and to adapt the plug _j_ to the cavity at top. The
apparatus is now in the position shown in Fig. 313, and when the stool
is removed, the lady is left apparently resting only on A, but in
reality comfortably seated in her iron cage, the different parts of
which are all carefully padded, so as to occasion her no discomfort.
Her legs and arms, being quite free, may be placed in any position that
the performer chooses; and when presently he lifts her into a slanting
position, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 313, the check _h_ drops
into the second tooth of the ratchet, and thus maintains her in that
position. After a short interval she is lifted into the horizontal
position, as in Fig. 314, when the check drops into the third tooth
of the ratchet, and so maintains her, apparently sleeping upon an
aërial couch. As the support terminates above the right knee, the legs
are kept extended by muscular power. This attitude is therefore very
fatiguing, and for that reason cannot be continued more than a few
moments. To replace the lady in the upright position, the performer
places both hands under the recumbent figure, the left hand easily
finding (through the tunic) and drawing down the hook _i_, thereby
withdrawing the check, and allowing the lady to sink down gently to the
perpendicular. The stool is again placed under her feet, and the second
upright under her left arm, before the operator begins to demesmerise
her, which he does after the orthodox fashion with reverse passes,
the lady simulating as best she may the bewildered and half-scared
expression of one newly awakened from a mesmeric trance.
[Illustration]