eight other boxes, which will go easily into each other, and let the
least of them be of a size to hold a guinea. Each of these boxes should
shut with a hinge, and to the least of them there must be a small lock,
that is fastened with a spring, but cannot be opened without a key; and
observe, that all these boxes must shut so freely, that they may be
all closed at once. Place these boxes in each other, with their tops
open, in the drawer of the table on which you make your experiments;
or, if you please, in your pocket, in such a manner that they cannot
be displaced. Then ask a person to lend you a new guinea, and desire
him to mark it, that it may not be changed. You take this piece in one
hand, and in the other you have another of the same appearance, and,
putting your hand in the drawer, you slip the piece that is marked into
the least box, and, shutting them all at once, you take them out. Then
showing the piece you have in your hand, and which the company suppose
to be the same that was marked, you pretend to make it pass through
the box, and dexterously convey it away. You then present the box, for
the spectators do not yet know there are more than one, to any person
in company, who, when he opens it, finds another, and another, till he
comes to the last, but that he cannot open without the key, which you
then give him; and, retiring to a distant part of the room, you tell
him to take out the guinea himself, and see if it be that he marked.
This trick may be made more surprising by putting the key into the
snuff-box of one of the company; which you may do by asking for a
pinch of snuff: the key, being very small, will lie concealed among
the snuff. When the person who opens the box asks for the key, tell
him that one of his friends has it in his snuff-box, which will cause
much amazement and merriment. This part of the trick may be done with a
confederate.
_The Chest which opens at Command._
There is a little figure of Mahomet within the chest, in the body of
which is a spring, made of brass wire, twisted in a spiral form. By
this means the little figure, though higher than the chest, can, by
the accommodation of the spring, be contained within when it is shut,
as the spring in the body closes and shortens. The chest is placed on
levers concealed in the table, which communicate their motions by the
assistance of the confederate to the bolt and lock. As soon as the
staple is disengaged, the spring in the body of the figure, finding no
resistance but the weight of the lid, forces it open.
_The Melting-Box._
The melting-box is made in the fashion of a screw, so that the lips may
hang without discovery.
[Illustration: F G]
F is the outer part of the box; G, the first inside part;
[Illustration: H I]
H, the second inside part; and I, the round case, made of leather,
with a button on the top, and wide enough to slip on and off, half in
the bottom of the box, into which put a small quantity of quicksilver,
killed or amalgamated, which may be done with the shavings of pewter.
In the second part, which is H, let there be six single pence: put
these in the first or outermost part, then put G to H, and the box is
perfect.
When you go to show this trick, desire any in the company to lend you a
sixpence, saying, “_you will return it safe_”; requesting, withal, that
none will meddle with any thing they see, unless you desire them, lest
they prejudice you and themselves. Then take the cap off your box, and
bid any one see it and feel it, that there be no mistrust; so likewise
take the box entire, holding your fore-finger on the bottom, and your
thumb on the upper part, turning it upside-down, and say,--“_You see
here is nothing_:” then putting in the sixpence, put the cap over the
box again; as the box stands covered upon the table, put your hand
under the table, using some cant words; then take off the cap with your
fore-finger and thumb, so as you pinch the innermost box with it and
set it gently on the table; then put the dead quicksilver out of the
lower part, into your hand, turning the box with the bottom upwards,
and stirring it about with your fore-finger; then say, “_Here you see
it melted, now I will put it in again, and turn it into single pence_;”
suddenly take the cap as you took it off, and return it again; bid them
blow on it; then take off the cap as you did before, only pinching the
uppermost lid in it, and setting it upon the table; hold the box at
the top and bottom, with your fore-finger and thumb; then put the six
single pence, after they are viewed, and seen to be so, in again, and
return the cap as before, saying, “_Blow on it if you would have it
in the same form you gave it me_;” then taking the cap by the bottom,
holding the box as before, put out the sixpence, and return the box
into your pocket. This is a very good sleight, if well performed.
_Trick upon the Globe-Box._
This is a trick not inferior to the best that is shown with boxes: it
is a box made of four pieces, and a ball, so big as is imagined to be
contained therein; the ball serves in the same way as the egg does in
the egg-box, only to deceive the hand and eye of the spectators: this
ball, made of wood or ivory, is thrown out of the box upon the table,
for every one to see that it is substantial; then, putting the ball
into the box, and letting the standers-by blow on the box, taking off
the upper shell with your fore-finger and thumb, there appears another,
and of another colour,--as red, blue, yellow, or any variety of colours
upon each ball that is so imagined to be, which, indeed, is no more
than the shell of wood, ingeniously turned and fitted for the box, as
you may see in the following figures:--
[Illustration: N L]
[Illustration:
P M
R O
Q S
]
L is the outer shell of the globe, taken off the figures M N, an inner
shell; O, the cover of the same; P, the other inner shell; Q, the cover
of the same; R, the third shell; S, that which covers it. These globes
may be made of more or less variety, according to the wish of the
operator.
_Trick with the Funnel._
[Illustration]
You must get a double funnel; that is, two funnels soldered one within
the other, so that you may, at the least end, pour in a quantity of
wine or water; this funnel you must have ready filled beforehand, with
whatsoever liquor you please, and call for some of the same kind; then
draw the funnel, and, setting your middle finger under the bottom of
it, bid somebody (or do it yourself) pour it full, and drink it up
before them, and turn the broad end of the funnel downwards, saying,
“_Gentlemen, all is gone_;” and in a thrice turn yourself about, and,
in turning, pronounce some term of art; withdraw your finger from the
narrow end, and let the liquor out between the funnels, and it will be
thought to be that which you drank out of the funnel, and so you may
persuade them it is the same.
_The Magical Bell and Bushel._
This bushel must be turned neatly, like the egg-boxes, so that they
cannot find out where it opens; and you must have a false lid to clap
on and off, and upon that false lid glue some bird-seed; and then you
must have a true lid made to clap neatly upon the false one; now you
must have your artificial bell to show with your bushel.
You may make your bell with wood or brass; but it must be made to
unscrew at top, that it may hold as much seed as your bushel will when
it is filled; and you must have the handle of your bell made with a
spring, so as to let the seed fall down at your word of command.
[Illustration]
The manner of using them is as follows:--Fill the top with bird-seed,
before you begin to exhibit, saying, “_Ladies and gentlemen, you see I
have nothing in my bell_,” (which they cannot do, if you hold it by the
handle,) “_nor have I any thing in my bushel; therefore I will fill the
bushel with bird-seed_.” In filling it, clap on the false lid, and no
person will be able to discover the deception.
Now ask any one of the company to hold it in their hands whilst you
command all the seed to appear under the magic bell. Then clap the true
lid on, and ring the bell; accordingly, the seed will be gone out of
the bushel into the bell, to the great wonder of the bystanders.
_Out of an Empty Bag to bring upwards of an Hundred Eggs; and,
afterwards, a living Fowl._
First, buy two or three yards of printed calico, or linen, and make a
double bag, at the mouth of which, on that side next you, make four
or five little purses, in each of which put two or three eggs, and do
so till you have filled that side next to you. Have a hole made at
one end of the bag, that no more than two or three eggs may come out
at once. Then have another bag like unto that exactly, that one must
not be known from the other; put a hen into that bag, and hang it on
a hook on the side you stand. The manner of performing it is thus:
take the egg-bag and put both your hands in it; then turn it inside
out, and say, “_Ladies and gentlemen, you see here is nothing in my
bag_;” and in turning it again you must slip some of the eggs out of
the purses, as many as you think fit: then turn your bag again, and
show the company that it is empty, and in turning it command more eggs
to come out. When all are come out but one, you are to take that egg
and show it to the company, and then drop down the egg-bag and take
up the hen-bag. Now, shake out the hen, pigeon, or other fowl. This,
altogether, is a noble trick, if well executed.
_Bonus Genius; or, Hiccius Doctius._
[Illustration]
You must have the figure of a man made of wood, about the bigness of
your little finger, the head whereof must be made to take off and put
on at pleasure, by means of a wire that is in the neck; also, you must
have a cloth cap, with a little bag within, to convey the head into;
the bag must be neatly made, that it may not easily be perceived; show
your man to the company, and say, “_Ladies and gentlemen, this I call
my Bonus Genius_;” then show the cap, saying, “_This is his coat_;”
say moreover, “_look now as steadfastly as you can, nevertheless I
will cozen you, for therefore am I come_;” then hold your cap above
your face, and take your man in your right hand, and put his head
through the hole of the cap, saying, “_Now he is ready to go on any
message I have to send him,--to Spain or Italy, or where I will, but
he must have somewhat to bear his charges_;” with that, pull out your
right hand from under your cap, and therewith the body, but, privately
putting your right hand into your pocket, as if you felt for money,
where you may have the body, and take out your hand and say, “_There
are three crowns for you, now begone_;” then turn the head, and say,
“_But he will look about him before he goes_;” then say (setting your
fore-fingers upon his crown), “_Just as I thrust my fore-finger down,
so he shall vanish_;” and therewith, by the assistance of your left
hand that is under the cap, convey his head into the little bag within
the cap; then turn your cap about, and say, “_See here, he is gone_;”
then take your cap and hold it up again, drawing the head out of the
little bag, and say, “_Hic mecut genius_;” and in the meantime thrust
the head through the hole of the cap, and, holding the head by the
wire, turn it about presently, and put the head into your pocket.
_To make a Knife leap out of a Pot._
Have a pot full of water standing on a table; then take a piece of
whalebone, about three inches long,--let it be pretty stiff, that it
may spring the better: take also a new stiff card, and fold it down
the middle, longways; cut a hole through both folds at each end, half
an inch, or more, from the ends; put one end of the whalebone in at
one end of the card, bend it like a bow, and then put the other end of
the whalebone into the other end of the card; set this in the pot, two
inches deep in the water; then place the handle of the knife upon the
uppermost part of the whalebone, with the point upwards, and use some
words of art, as _Presto, begone!_ when it springs out.
_To turn a Box of Bird-seed into a living Bird._
You must have a box made on purpose, with a false lid. It must be
turned neatly, like the egg-boxes, so that it cannot be perceived where
it opens. You must likewise have a false lid to clap on and to take
off. On that lid glue some bird-seed. Before you show the box to the
company, put a bird into it; put on the false lid, and then show the
box to the bystanders. It will seem to be full of seeds. Now put on the
true lid, saying, “_Ladies and gentlemen, I command all the seeds out
of my box, and order a living bird to appear_;” which it will do when
the cover is taken off.
EXPERIMENTS WITH FIRE.
_To produce a Carmine Red Flame._
The flame of spirit of wine may be coloured by the addition of various
bodies which the spirit holds in solution, or which are mixed with it.
The flame of alcohol, or spirit of wine, is tinged red in the following
manner: put into a small iron ladle, one part of _muriate of strontia_,
and pour over it three or four of _alcohol_; then set it on fire with
a candle, or a piece of burning paper; it will burn with a bright red
carmine flame, especially if the mixture be heated, by holding the
ladle over a candle or lamp, to cause the alcohol to boil rapidly.
The muriate of strontia left behind, after being again thoroughly
dried, may be used again for the same purpose repeatedly.
_An Orange-coloured Flame._
Put _muriate of lime_ deprived of the water of crystallization, into an
iron ladle, cover it with spirit of wine, and it will then burn in the
manner stated.
To prepare the muriate of lime, dissolve common marble in muriatic
acid, and evaporate the solution to perfect dryness.
_To make Balloons with Soap and Water that catch Fire and detonate._
Fill with hydrogen gas a bladder with a cock fixed to it; to which
adapt a copper tobacco pipe: dip the bowl, of the pipe into
soap-lather; press gently on the bladder filled with inflammable air,
and a small soap bubble will issue, which, instead of falling to the
ground, will rise most rapidly.
Instead of pure hydrogen gas only, fill the bladder with a mixture of
one third of atmospheric air and two thirds of hydrogen gas: and, when
they arise in the air, hold a candle to them, and the report will be
like that of a pistol.
_A Brilliant Blue Flame._
Mix boracic acid in spirits of wine, set the solution on fire, and the
above effect will ensue.
_An Emerald Green Flame._
Prepare nitrate of copper, thus:--let copper clippings or filings
be dissolved in a sufficient quantity of nitric acid, of a moderate
strength; when no further effervescence ensues, boil the acid gently
upon the copper, until a pellicle appears; decant the solution,
evaporate it slowly, and, when a very strong pellicle or skin appears,
suffer it to crystallize. The salt is of a fine blue colour. Then cause
the alcohol (spirit of wine) to burn upon this nitrate of copper, and
it will exhibit a beautiful emerald green colour.
_Loud Detonations, like the Discharge of Artillery._
Put into a bottle, not quite transparent, half an ounce of iron
filings, over which pour four ounces of pure water; add one ounce of
sulphuric acid, and shake the mixture.
If you apply a lighted paper tied to the end of a stick, near the top
of the bottle, an instantaneous vivid flame will suddenly dart from the
bottom, accompanied by a tolerably loud detonation.
Fifteen or twenty successive loud reports may likewise be obtained, by
touching the aperture of the bottle with a lighted wax taper, fastened
to a stick.
Though this experiment offers no very evident danger to the operator,
it would be as well to envelop the bottle in a cloth, to guard against
accidents.
_A Well of Fire._
Add gradually one ounce, by measure, of sulphuric acid, to five or
six ounces of water, contained in an earthenware basin, and add to it
also, gradually, about three quarters of an ounce of granulated zinc. A
rapid production of hydrogen gas will instantly take place. Then add,
from time to time, a few pieces of phosphorus of the size of a pea.
A multitude of gas-bubbles will be produced, which take fire on the
surface of the effervescing liquid; the whole surface of the liquid
will become luminous, and fire-balls, with jets of fire, will dart from
the bottom, through the fluid, with great rapidity, and a hissing noise.
_To make a Room seem all on Fire._
Take sal ammoniac half an ounce, camphor one ounce, aquæ vitæ two
ounces; put them into an earthen pot in the fashion of a chamber-pot,
but narrow something upon the top; then set fire to it, and the room
will seem, to them that are in it, to be all on fire.
_To walk on a hot Iron Bar, without Danger of Burning._
Take half an ounce of camphor, dissolve it in two ounces of aquæ vitæ,
add to it one ounce of quicksilver, one ounce of liquid storax, which
hinders the camphor from firing; take also two ounces of _hematitis_,
a red stone, to be had at the druggist’s; and when you buy it, let
them beat it to powder in their great mortar, for it is so very hard
that it cannot be done in a small one; put this to the above-mentioned
composition, and, when you intend to walk on the bar, you must anoint
your feet well therewith, and you may walk over without danger. By this
you may wash your hands in boiling lead.
_To Eat Fire, and blow it up in your Mouth with a Pair of Bellows._
Anoint your tongue with liquid storax, and you may put a pair of tongs
into your mouth, red hot, without hurting yourself, and lick them till
they are cold. By the help of this ointment, and by preparing your
mouth thus,
[Illustration]
you may take wood-coals out of the fire, and chew them as you would
bread; dip them into brimstone powder, and the fire will seem more
strange. The sulphur puts out the coal, and shutting your mouth close
puts out the sulphur. You may then chump the coals and swallow them,
which you may do without offence to the body. In the same way, if you
put a piece of lighted charcoal into your mouth, you may suffer a pair
of bellows to be blowing in your mouth continually, and receive no
hurt; but your mouth must be quickly cleaned, otherwise it will cause
a salivation. It is a very dangerous thing to be done; and although
those that practise it use all the means they can to prevent danger,
yet I never saw any of those fire-eaters that had a good complexion.
Some put bole ammoniac into this recipe, a thing which spoils the whole
composition, and so leave out hematitis and liquid storax; but let them
beware how they use it.
_To Light a Candle by a Glass of Water._
Take a little piece of phosphorus of the size of a pinhead, and with a
piece of tallow stick it on the edge of a drinking-glass. Then take a
lighted candle, and, having blown it out, apply it to the glass, when
it will immediately be lighted. You may likewise write with a bit of
phosphorus on paper some horrible words, which will appear awful when
the candle is withdrawn from the room.
_Fulminating Powder._
Take three parts of saltpetre, two parts of salt of tartar, and one
part of sulphur pounded and mixed together; heat sixty grains of this
composition in a spoon, and it will fly away with a fearful noise, like
thunder. A grain by weight of this powder, put into a tobacco-pipe,
will cause a loud report and much merriment, particularly if the
smoaker is not aware of the trick put upon him.
_To set fire to a Combustible Body by the Reflection of two concave
Mirrors._
The rays of a luminous body, placed in the focus of a concave mirror,
being reflected in parallel lines, if a second mirror be placed
diametrically opposite the first, it will, by collecting those rays in
its focus, set fire to a combustible body.
Place two concave mirrors at about twelve or fifteen feet distance from
each other, and let the axis of each of them lie in the same line.
In the focus of one of them place a live coal, and in the focus of
the other some gunpowder. With a pair of double bellows, which make a
continual blast, keep constantly blowing the coal, and, notwithstanding
the distance between them, the powder will presently take fire.
It is not necessary that these mirrors be of metal or glass; those made
of wood or pasteboard, gilded, will produce the explosion, which has
sometimes taken effect at the distance of fifty feet, when mirrors of
eighteen inches or two feet diameter have been used.
_To give the Faces of the Company the Appearance of Death._
Dissolve some common salt in spirits of wine, and pour the whole on
some saffron in a saucer. Take away the candle from the room, and set
fire to the spirit with a little burning tow. The countenances of every
person in the room will, by this light, put on a cadaverous, deadly
appearance, the fairest complexion appearing green, whilst the red of
the lips and cheeks will be of an olive hue.
_To dispose two little Figures, so that one shall light a Candle, and
the other put it out._
Take two little figures of wood or clay, or any other materials you
please, only taking care there is a little hole at the mouth of each.
Put in the mouth of one a few grains of bruised gunpowder, and a little
bit of phosphorus in the other, taking care that these preparations
are made beforehand; then take a lighted wax candle, and present it to
the mouth of the figure with the gunpowder, which, taking fire, will
put the candle out; then present your candle, having the snuff quite
hot, to the other figure; it will light again immediately by means of
the phosphorus. You may propose the same effect to be produced by two
figures, drawn on a wall with a pencil or a coal, by applying, with
starch or a wafer, a few grains of bruised gunpowder to the mouth of
one, and a bit of phosphorus to the mouth of the other.
_To construct a Lantern which will enable a Person to read by Night, at
a great Distance._
Make a lantern of a cylindric form, or shaped like a small cask placed
lengthways, so that its axis may be horizontal, and fix in one end of
it a parabolic or spheric mirror, so that its focus may fall about
the middle of the axis of the cylinder. If a small lamp or taper be
placed in this focus, the light, passing through the other end, will be
reflected to a great distance, and will be so bright, that very small
letters on a remote object may be read, by looking at them with a good
telescope. Those who see this light, if they be in the direction of the
axis of the lantern, will think they see a large fire.
TRICKS WITH STRINGS, KNOTS, &c.
_To cut a Lace asunder in the Middle, and to make it whole again._
Provide a piece of the lace which you mean to cut, or at least a
pattern like the same, one inch and a half long, and keep it double
privately in your left hand, between some of your fingers, near to the
tips thereof; take the other lace which you mean to cut, still hanging
about your neck, and draw down your said left hand to the bout thereof,
and, putting your own piece a little before the other, the end, or
rather middle, whereof you must hide betwixt your fore-finger and
thumb, make the eye or bout which shall be seen of your own pattern;
let a bystander cut the same asunder, and it will be surely thought
that the other lace is cut; which, with words and fretting, you shall
seem to renew, and make whole again. This, if it be well handled, will
seem very wonderful.
_To burn a Thread and make it Whole again with the Ashes._