Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

by Professor Hoffmann

Fig. 298.

The Cabinet of Proteus.—This is another adaptation of the principle on which the Sphinx illusion is founded. It is the joint invention of Messrs. Pepper and Tobin, by whom it was patented in 1865. The first steps towards a patent for the Sphinx were also taken in the same year, but the latter invention never proceeded beyond provisional protection. The Cabinet of Proteus is a wooden closet, seven to eight feet in height by four or five feet square, supported on short legs, so as to exclude the idea of any communication with the floor. (See [Fig. 298].) It has folding doors, and an upright pillar extends from top to bottom of the interior, at about the centre of the cabinet. At the top of this pillar, in front, is fixed a lamp, so that the whole of the interior is brightly illuminated.

Fig. 299.

The cabinet may be used in various ways. One of the most striking is as follows:—The folding doors are opened, disclosing the interior perfectly empty. (See [Fig. 299].) The exhibitor directs his assistant to walk into the cabinet. He does so, and the doors are closed. Meanwhile, a couple of gentlemen, selected by the audience, are invited to stand behind or beside the cabinet, and see that no one obtains ingress or egress by any secret opening. Notwithstanding these precautions, when the doors are again opened, the assistant is found to have vanished, and another person, different in dress, in stature, and in complexion, is found in his place. This person steps forth, makes his bow, and retires. Again the cabinet, now empty, is closed, and after an interval of a few moments, again opened. This time a human skeleton is found to occupy the vacant space. This ghastly object having been removed, and the door having been once more closed and opened, another person, say a lady, appears. This person having retired, the doors are again closed; and when they are again opened, the person who first entered is once more found within. A committee from the audience are now invited to examine the cabinet within and without, out all their scrutiny cannot detect any hidden space, even sufficient to conceal a mouse.

Fig. 300.

An examination of [Fig. 300], representing a ground plan of the cabinet, will make plain the seeming mystery. A moveable flap a b, working on hinges at b, extends from top to bottom of each side, resting when thrown open against the post c in the middle, and thus enclosing a triangular space at the back of the cabinet. The outer surfaces of these flaps (i.e., the surfaces exposed when they are folded back against the sides of the cabinet) are, like the rest of the interior, covered with wall paper, of a crimson or other dark colour. The opposite sides of the flaps are of looking-glass, and when the flaps are folded back against the posts, reflect the surfaces against which they previously rested, and which are covered with paper of the same pattern as the rest. The effect to the eye of the spectator is that of a perfectly empty chamber, though, as we have seen, there is in reality an enclosed triangular space behind the post. This is capable of containing two or three persons, and here it is that the persons and things intended to appear in succession are concealed. The assistant, entering in sight of the audience, changes places, as soon as the door is closed, with one of the other persons. This person having retired, and the door being again closed, those who are still within place the skeleton in position in front of the post, and again retire to their hiding-place. When all the rest have appeared, the person who first entered presses the flaps against the sides of the cabinet, against which they are retained by a spring lock on each side, and the public may then safely be admitted, as their closest inspection cannot possibly discover the secret.

The Indian Basket Trick.—This is another of the sensational feats identified with the name of Colonel Stodare, and is imitated from a similar illusion performed by the Indian conjurors. It is not a pleasant trick to witness, but, like the “Decapitated Head,” it drew immense crowds, its fictitious horror being apparently its chief attraction. Its effect, as the trick was originally presented by Stodare, is as follows:—A large oblong basket, say five feet by two, and as deep as wide, is brought in, and placed on a low stand or bench, so as to be raised clear of the stage. The performer comes forward with a drawn sword in his right hand, and leading with the other hand a young lady, dressed in a closely-fitting robe of black velvet. Reproaching her upon some pretended ground of complaint, he declares that she must be punished, and forthwith begins to blindfold her eyes. She simulates terror, begging for mercy, and finally escaping from him, runs off the stage. He follows her, and instantly reappears, dragging her by the wrist. Regardless of her sobs and cries, he compels her to enter the basket, in which she lies down, and the lid is closed. Simulating an access of fury, he thrusts the sword through the basket (from the front) in various places. Piercing screams are heard from the interior, and the sword when withdrawn is seen to be red with blood. The screams gradually subside, and all is still. A thrill of horror runs through the audience, who are half inclined to call in the police, and hand over the professor to the nearest magistrate. For a moment there is a pause, and then the performer, calmly wiping the bloody sword on a white pocket-handkerchief, says, “Ladies and gentlemen, I fear you imagine that I have hurt the lady who was the subject of this experiment. Pray disabuse yourselves of such an idea. She had disobeyed me, and I therefore determined to punish her by giving her a little fright; but nothing more. The fact is, she had left the basket some time before I thrust the sword into it. You don’t believe me, I see. Allow me to show you, in the first place, that the basket is empty.” He turns over the basket accordingly, and shows that the lady has vanished. “Should you desire further proof, the lady will answer for herself.” The lady at this moment comes forward from a different portion of the room, and having made her bow, retires.

This startling illusion is performed as follows:—To begin with, there are two ladies employed, in figure and general appearance as nearly alike as possible. Their dress is also exactly similar. The little dramatic scene with which the trick commences is designed to impress upon the audience the features of the lady who first appears. When she is blindfolded, she, as already mentioned, runs off the stage. The performer runs after her, and apparently bringing her back, really brings back in her place the second lady, who is standing in readiness, blindfolded in precisely the same way, behind the scenes. As the bandage covers the greater part of her features, there is little fear of the spectators detecting the substitution that has taken place. The substitute lady now enters the basket, where she lies, compressing herself into as small a compass as possible, along the back. Knowing the position which she occupies, it is not a very difficult matter for the operator so to direct the thrusts of the sword as to avoid any risk of injuring her. The chief thing to be attended to for this purpose is to thrust always in an upward direction. The appearance of blood on the sword may be produced either by the lady in the basket drawing along the blade, as it is withdrawn after each thrust, a sponge saturated with some crimson fluid, or by a mechanical arrangement in the hilt, causing the supposed blood, on pressure, to trickle down the blade.