Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

by Professor Hoffmann

Fig. 246.

The Birth of Flowers.—There are two or three different tricks which go by this name. Of one of them we may dispose in a very few words. It is purely a mechanical trick, having neither ingenuity of construction nor dexterity of manipulation to recommend it. The apparatus consists of a cover a (see [Fig. 246]), a base c, and an intermediate portion b, connected with a by means of a bayonet-catch; c is beforehand partially filled with earth, and in b, the top of which is perforated with small holes, is inserted a natural or artificial plant, or bouquet of flowers. The cover a is placed over b, and the apparatus is ready. The performer, drawing attention to c, pretends to sow some magic seed therein. He then places a over it, and pretending to warm it with his hands, commands the seeds to germinate. Releasing the bayonet-catch, he removes the cover, and shows the flowers apparently just springing from the earth in c. In some of the smaller sizes of this apparatus the bayonet-catch is dispensed with, the mere pressure of the fingers on the sides of a being sufficient to lift off b with it.

The trick which we are about to describe under the same title is one of a composite nature, and one which, proceeding from marvel to marvel, produces in good hands a great effect. It is divided into three portions—first, the production of a single flower, then of a handsome bouquet, and lastly, of a large basket of flowers. The performer comes forward with his wand in one hand, and in the other a little box, in reality quite empty, but containing, as he asserts, magic seeds, capable of producing on the instant the choicest flowers. “I will first show you, ladies and gentlemen, their effect in the simplest form. In the hurry of coming here this evening, I omitted to provide a flower for my button-hole. You will see how easily, by the aid of the magic seed, I can supply the deficiency. What shall it be? Clematis, rose, geranium? Suppose we say a rose. I take a single seed from my box—ah, here is a rose-seed—and place it in my button-hole.” (He applies the supposed seed to the button-hole.) “I breathe on it to supply the necessary warmth. I wave my wand—Once! twice! thrice! The seed has blossomed, you see, into a handsome rose.”

The explanation of this pretty little trick is exceedingly simple. The preliminary preparation is made as follows:—Through the centre of an artificial rose, without stalk, a short piece (about ten inches) of thin black elastic is passed, and secured by a knot on the inside of the flower. The other end is passed through the button-hole (from the outside), and thence through an eyelet-hole made for the purpose in the breast of the coat, immediately under the button-hole. The extreme end is looped over a button sewn on the waistcoat about the region of the waistband. The tension of the elastic naturally draws the flower close against the button-hole, while yet allowing it, when necessary, to be drawn away from it to a distance of several inches. The performer, before coming forward to perform the trick, draws the rose away from the button-hole, and places it under the left armpit, whence, so long as the arm is kept close to the side, it cannot escape. When he waves his wand, with the words, “Once, twice, thrice!” he makes the first motion facing to the right, the second fronting the audience, and the third facing slightly to the left, at the same time striking the button-hole with the wand, and throwing up the left arm, when the flower, released, instantly springs to the button-hole, the slight turn to the left completely covering the manner of its appearance.

Fig. 247.

But the trick is not yet over. “You see, ladies and gentlemen, that I am not dependent on Covent Garden for a rose for my button-hole; but you will naturally say, ‘Ah! the magic seed may be all very well for a single flower, but what if you wanted a complete bouquet?’ I hasten to show you that this is equally within my power. Will some one oblige me with the loan of a hat by way of hothouse? Thank you. Here; you observe, is an ordinary drinking-glass” (this has, meanwhile, been placed on the table by the assistant), “in which I will drop, haphazard, a pinch of the magic seed.” This he does with the left hand, the right being occupied with the hat, and then, with the glass in the left hand and the hat in the right, comes forward to the audience, requesting a lady spectator to breathe upon the glass, which he immediately afterwards covers with the hat. He now requests the same or another spectator to count ten, to allow the mesmeric influence time to operate, and then, removing the hat, shows a handsome bouquet (natural or artificial) in the glass. Returning the hat, and handing the glass and flowers for inspection, he borrows a silk pocket-handkerchief, or, in default of procuring one from the audience, uses one of his own, brought forward by the assistant. Drawing it ropewise through his hands to show that it is empty, he spreads it before him, holding it by two of its corners. Having exhibited one side of it, he spreads the other, when the shape of something solid is seen to define itself beneath it, and the handkerchief being removed, a large round basket of flowers (see [Fig. 247]), ten or more inches in diameter by two deep, is revealed.

The reader, with his present knowledge, will probably have already conjectured the mode in which the bouquet is brought into the glass. It is beforehand placed at the left hand corner of the servante, the stem slanting upwards at an angle of about 45°. When the performer, standing at the left hand side of the table, drops the imaginary seed into the glass with his left hand, his right, holding the hat, drops for a moment to the level of the table, and clips between the second and third fingers the stem of the bouquet, when, by simply bending the fingers, the bouquet is brought into the hat after the manner of the cannon-ball. (See page [305].) When the hat is placed over the glass, the bouquet is naturally brought into the latter.

We may here mention that there are bouquets of a special and rather ingenious construction, enabling the performer, in the act of producing the bouquet from a hat in the above or any similar trick, to cause it suddenly to expand to three or four times its original size. The bouquet is in this case made of artificial flowers, stitched on a framework forming a kind of miniature parasol, with a very short handle. The bouquet, when introduced into the hat, has a slightly conical shape, but the performer in withdrawing it puts up the parasol, so to speak, thereby spreading it to twelve or fourteen inches’ diameter.