PREPARATION.
You must have a wine-glass, a saucer, and a teaspoon, and the chemical bottles No. 1 (silicate of potash) and No. 2 (aluminate of potash,) which can be obtained from any druggist.
At the close of some trick in which any young friend has assisted, you can say: “Well, my young friend, you have assisted me so courteously and well that I must, in order to express my thanks, ask you to take a glass of wine. Do you like wine? Ah, I see by your smile you do.”
Pour out of bottle No. 1 half a glass, and, going towards him, stop short and say: “Ah, but I am afraid your mamma would be displeased with me if I gave you wine so strong without any water, and I should be sorry to tempt you to drink what she would disapprove. Stay, I will mix a little water with it.”
Mix some of No. 2 bottle, so as to fill the wine-glass, and say: “Oh, never mind losing the pure wine; I dare say you will like it very well as it is,” and make a few chatty remarks, to give the liquids time to mingle their effects in the glass; and after a minute or two say: “Ah! I’ll tell you what I am sure your mamma would like still better—if I could give you some calves’-foot jelly. Now, I really believe, if I were to stir it with this teaspoon, and try my magic wand over it, I can turn it to jelly. Let us try.” Occupy a little time while it is becoming like jelly, and go on with a little more talk till you see that it has become solid. Then say: “Well, after all, I will not deprive you of your wine; so here it is. Please drink it.” Putting it to his lips, he will find it has become so solid that he cannot drink it, but it can be turned out quite solid into the saucer, and a general laugh will greet him on the disappointment of his wine.
Having submitted a few remarks upon the class of tricks that are to be performed by help of the sciences, magnetism, chemistry, etc., and having stated my reasons for my not more fully discussing them, I will now proceed to give an explanation of one or two more that are better suited for the practice of amateurs.
TRICK 19.—To draw three spools off two tapes without those spools having to come off the ends of the tapes, and while the four ends of the tapes are held by four persons.
PREPARATION.
You must have two narrow tapes of about four feet long, bent as in Fig. 11. Red tape I prefer.
You must next insert about half an inch of A through the loop of B, and bring it back down on the other part of A.