Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

by Professor Hoffmann

I. A Surprise.—You produce a bottle, which you ask a person to hold, inviting him to partake of a glass of the fluid contents. You give him a glass, and when he attempts to pour it out, lo! he finds that in a few seconds the contents has frozen! To perform this you must previously make a saturated solution of sulphate of soda and hot water, and fill therewith a clean white bottle, taking care to cork the bottle while the liquid is hot. The liquid remains in a fluid state so long as the bottle is corked. You show that the bottle contains a liquid, and in handing it to the person be careful to take out the cork. In order to give the preparation time to solidify, pretend to be looking about for a tumbler, and make some remarks about a sudden chill; or you can feel the hand holding the glass, and suggest that it is very cold. In the meantime, the air acting upon the solution has caused it to become fixed and immovable, and when the person attempts to pour it out, he finds it impossible to do so.

II. Indian Sand Trick.—This trick has been made famous by the Hindoos, who for many centuries contrived to retain the secret. It consists of placing ordinary sand in a basin full of water, stirring the water and taking out the sand in handfuls, perfectly dry. It need scarcely be said that without previous preparation it is impossible to effect this. Take two pounds of fine silver sand, place it in a frying-pan, and heat well over a clear fire. When the sand is thoroughly heated place a small piece of grease—the composition of a paraffin candle preferred—among the sand, stirring it well up to get it thoroughly mixed. Then let the sand get cold. You place into a basin of cold water two or three handfuls, then stir the water well. It will be found that the sand repels the water, and can be drawn out perfectly dry. It is very important that only a small portion of grease be used, so that when you hand round the sand for examination its presence may not be observed.

III. The “Q” Trick.—This is a very simple and a very telling trick for the parlor. You take a number of coins or counters, and form them into a circle with a tail to represent a Q, as shown in the sketch annexed. You then ask a person to think of a number, and to count that number, commencing from the tail of the Q at B, and counting round the circle. When he has finished he is to count the number back again, but instead of counting the tail of the Q to go round the circle, and you promise to tell him every time at which counter or coin he left off counting. In order that you shall not see him count, you leave the room while he does so. Supposing he selects the number 6; he commences to count from B, and leaves off at C; he then counts again and leaves off at A. Now, while there are three counters in the tail of the Q, whatever number he thinks off, he will always stop at A; so all you have to do is to count the number of counters or coins there are in the tail, and the same number in the circle will always be the coin last counted. You must be careful, when repeating the trick, to add one or two, or take one away from the tail, as always fixing upon the same counter would perhaps expose the trick.

IV. The Bleeding Thumb.—This is a very effective trick, but I am afraid, unless my pupil has some little self-sacrifice, and does not mind enduring a trifling pain in order to amuse his audience, this trick will never be performed. Previous to doing it, you puncture your thumb with a needle in one or two places, near the nail. You then assert that you will cut open your thumb and instantly heal it. You take a handkerchief and tightly bind the thumb therewith, keeping the thumb perfectly straight. You ask for a knife—the sharper the better—and, having obtained one, you pretend to cut the thumb, which you bend. This causes the blood to flow from the punctures. The blood spreads along the knife, which looks as though it had cut almost through the thumb. You then wipe the blood away, straightening the thumb, and show that there is no sign of wound or blood.

V. The Marked Florin in Oranges.—Previous to performing this trick, get two florins exactly alike, and mark them both similarly. Then get two oranges and cut a slit in each. Place them on the table after you have put one of the marked florins inside one of them. Then borrow from the audience a florin, and request the owner of the florin to mark it. You then ask a person in another part of the room to hold it, but giving him your marked florin instead of the borrowed one. Then you go to the table and slip into the other orange the borrowed florin. You ask your audience in which orange they would like the marked coin to be found, remembering that as you face the audience it does not matter which they say—right or left—as your right is their left, and their left your right. Whichever orange they ask for, take the one containing your marked florin. You then ask the party holding the florin if he would be sure to know it again. Then give him the orange to hold on the point of the knife; and in taking the florin from him conceal it in your hand, and say that you will cause it to pass into the orange which he holds. On cutting the orange open he, of course, finds your marked florin, which, on examination, he asserts to be the one held by him. Then say that it would have been totally indifferent which orange was selected; and give the other orange to the person who lent the florin to hold. You then take your marked florin and say that you will cause it to pass in the orange he holds in his hand; and request him to cut it open. He does so, and then perceives his own marked coin in the centre.

VI. The Chinese Pictures.—This is a very curious and surprising trick. You prepare a number of plain white sheets of paper, intermixed with which are several sheets on which are drawn various Chinese pictures. In showing these sheets to the audience, you take care not to draw out any of the pictures, but only the blank sheets. You then take a jug, having an even top, filled with water, placing the sheets on the top. You then state that the water in the jug has the peculiar quality of drawing, but having been brought from China, can only draw Chinese sketches. You then dexterously reverse the jug, the sheets preventing the water from flowing out. After a few moments you draw out the sketches, and scattering them among the audience, you cause them to think that they have been drawn on the blank sheets. This is a very old trick of the Chinese, who first performed it. You can easily learn to tell which are blank sheets and which are the pictures by a simple mark placed on the top or in the corner of the latter.

VII. Bautier’s Great Ink-and-Water Trick.—This trick, first introduced by Bautier, at the Egyptian Hall, London, has, to the best of my belief, never before been explained. It is a remarkably clever deception, and, when dexterously performed, defies detection. It consists in showing a decanter filled with ink and another with water, and while each decanter is held by one of the audience, making the contents of each change places, the ink going into the one containing water, while the pure liquid is found in the one in which the ink was seen. Take two water bottles or decanters, and in one place a tassel of black fleecy wool, just long enough to touch the bottom of the bottle. The tassel must be tied by a knot at the top, and a small piece of string just hanging over the mouth of the bottle, attached to the knot. Then fill the glass with water. The bottle thus prepared looks at a short distance like a bottle of ink, and you have only to tell your audience that it is so to make them believe it. This, I am afraid, is inculcating in the mind of the reader the principle of falsehood—at least Mrs. Grundy might say so; but a professor of magic is doing nothing but telling “crammers” from the commencement to the conclusion of his entertainment. Perhaps this is the reason why it is called the “black art,” and was the cause of so much persecution in the “good old days,” when all was so pure and so virtuous, as the lovers of the beaux temps would have us believe. But pardon this digression. In the other bottle place a weak solution of the proto-sulphate of iron, about a half ounce to about a pint and a half of water. Have ready a bit of pyrogallic acid—about two-thirds of a tea-spoonful, wrapped in a small piece of blotting-paper that has been blacked with ink. Having completed these arrangements, and asserted that you have on the table a bottle containing water and another ink, you borrow a handkerchief, with which you cover the bottle containing the clear solution, and in doing so you slip into it the pyrogallic acid; and in handing the bottle to one of the audience to hold you give the contents a little imperceptible shaking. You then take another handkerchief and place it over the other bottle, which you hand to a person to hold. You then command the contents of each bottle to change places. Then, in removing the handkerchief from the ink bottle, you clutch the piece of string and quickly pull out the black wool and throw the handkerchief out of sight, showing the bottle to contain only water. You then ask the person holding the other bottle to remove the covering, when the fluid will be found to be “as black as night.” This trick always causes the greatest astonishment.

VIII. Carrying Fire in the Hands.—In performing this extremely simple trick, the audience must not be informed of what it is your intention to do, but it should be done when there is any delay in your other tricks, or some hitch occurs in getting anything you require, and which happens not to be at hand. For filling up a gap in a performance, it will be found extremely useful. In giving an entertainment of magic, always have on your table two burning candles; they are both useful and ornamental, and serve to dispel any idea of the spectators that you cannot perform your tricks in a full light. You go to the table, having previously concealed a piece of paper in your hand between the two middle fingers, and place your hands around the flame, saying it is perfectly possible to retain the heat in the hand, and even carry the flame from one candle to another. You then blow out one of the candles, and quickly place your hands round the other, set fire to the paper in your hand, blow out the candle, quickly light the first and then the second, smothering the flame of the paper in your hand. This trick, when well done, causes great astonishment and surprise.