This pudding must be made of tin, consisting of twelve or thirteen little hoops, round, and in little ringlets, so that they may seem to fall one through another. It must have little holes made at the biggest end, that it may not hurt your mouth: hold this pudding, for so it is called, privately in your left hand, with the hole end uppermost, and with your right hand take a ball out of your pocket, and say, “If there is any old woman that is out of conceit with herself, because her neighbours deem her not so young as she would be thought, let her come to me, for this ball is a present remedy;” then seem to put the ball into your left hand, but let it slip into your lap, and clap the pudding into your mouth, which will be thought to be the ball that you showed them; then decline your head, and open your mouth, and the pudding will slip down at its full length, which, with your right hand, you may strike into your mouth again; doing this three or four times: then you may discharge it into your hand, and clap it into your pocket without any suspicion, by making three or four wry faces after it, as though it had stuck in your throat; and if you practise smiting easily on your throat, with your fist on each side, the pudding will seem to chink as if it was laying there; then say, “Thus they eat puddings in High Germany; they fling them down their throats before their teeth can take possession of them.”
An Artificial Spider.
Take a bit of burnt cork, as big as a pea, and give it the shape of a spider; make its legs with threads of hemp; put a grain of lead into the cork to give it some weight; then hang this artificial spider by a bit of gray sewing silk (that is not twisted), between two bodies, the one electrified, and the other not; or between two bodies endowed with different electricities: it will go and come between these two bodies, and the movement of the legs will be seen as plainly as if it were a living spider.
To pass a Ring through your Cheek.
You must have two rings made of silver or brass, or what you please, of one size, colour, and likeness, saving that one must have a notch through it, and the other must be whole, without a notch; show the whole ring, but conceal that which hath the notch, and say, “Now I’ll put this ring through my cheek,” and privately slip the notch over one side of your mouth; then take a small stick, which you must have in readiness, and slip the whole ring upon it, holding your hand over it about the middle of the stick; then bid somebody hold fast the stick at both ends, and say, “See this ring in my cheek,—it turns round;” then, while you perceive them fasten their eyes upon that ring, on a sudden, whip it out, and smite upon the stick therewith; instantly concealing and whirling the other ring you hold your hand over, round about the stick. It will be thought that you have brought that ring upon the stick which was upon your cheek.
To cut a Hole in a Cloak, Scarf, or Handkerchief, and by Words to make it whole again.
To do this, you must have a piece of the same ready in your hand, the sample of that you intend to cut; then, amongst other tricks, clap your hand upon the place you intend to cut. Now drawing the false piece through, cause it to be cut off, and, griping your hand, show the hole from whence the piece came away which is in your hand. This is done by pretending to feel in your pocket for a needle and thread to sew it up again. But, drawing your hand out of your pocket, say “I have no needle, but I have a charm that will do as well;” so, muttering some words, bid them blow upon it, and, pulling your hand from the place, show it entire.
The Dancing Egg.
Three eggs are brought out; two of them are put on a table, and the third in a hat; a little cane is borrowed from one of the company, and it is shown about, to convince the spectators there is no preparation. It is then placed across the hat; the hat falls to the ground, and the egg sticks to it as if glued; the orchestra then plays a piece of music, and the egg, as if it was sensible of the harmony, twists about the cane from one end to the other, and continues its motions till the music stops.
Explanation.—The egg is fastened to a thread by a pin, which is put in lengthways; and the hole, which has been made to introduce this pin, is stopped with white wax. The other end of the thread is fastened to the breast of the person who performs this trick, with a pin bent like a hook; the cane, passing under the thread, near to the egg, serves for it to rest on. When the music begins, the performer pushes the cane from left to right, or from right to left; it then appears as if the egg ran along the cane, which it does not, being fastened to its thread; its centre of gravity remains always at the same distance from the hook that holds it; it is the cane which, sliding along, presents its different points to the surface of the egg.