The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring / Being a complete hand-book of parlor magic, and containing over one thousand optical, chemical, mechanical, magnetical, and magical experiments, amusing transmutations, astonishing sleights and subtleties, celebrated card deceptions, ingenious tricks with numbers, curious and entertaining puzzles, together with all the most noted tricks of modern performers.

by George Arnold; Frank Cahill

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Take a piece of thick pliant string by each end, and with a quick jerk of the right hand cast a loop on it as in Fig. 1. The jerk must be given upwards and towards the left hand, and its impetus will cause the loop to run up the string until it falls over the left wrist, as in Fig. 2. The moment that the forward jerk is given the right hand should be drawn back, so that the loop is drawn tight directly it has settled on the wrist. Both ends should be let fall when the knot is firm. This is a very nice little sleight of hand trick to practice in the intervals between more showy ones, and, although rather difficult to learn, is soon acquired.

11. THE HANDCUFFS.

Let two persons, A and B, have their hands tied together with string, so that the strings cross, as represented in the engraving. The object is, to free themselves from each other without untying the knot. It is executed in the following manner:

Let B gather up the string that joins his hands, pass the loop under the string that binds either of A's wrists, slip it over A's hand, and both will be free. By a reversal of the same process, the string may be replaced.

12. TO PULL A STRING THROUGH YOUR BUTTON-HOLE.

Take a piece of string about two feet in length, and tie the ends together. Pass it through a button-hole of your coat; hitch one thumb at each end, hook the little fingers into the upper strings of the opposite hand. Then draw the hands well outward, and the string will look very complicated, as in the engraving.