Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

by Professor Hoffmann

Fig. 49.

The secret lies in the use of a very small and simple piece of apparatus, being, in fact, merely a strip of tin or sheet brass, an inch and a half in length, and five-eighths of an inch in width, bent at a shade less than a right angle—say 85°; its shorter arm being one-third of its length. On the outer surface of the long arm is spread a thin layer of bees’-wax (made more adhesive by the addition of a small portion of Venice turpentine), and to the inner surface of the shorter arm is soldered a small piece of lead, about an eighth of an inch thick. When you desire to perform the trick, you have this little appliance concealed in your right hand, the longer arm between the first and second fingers, and the shorter arm pointing towards the little finger. Picking up the card with the left hand, you transfer it to the right, taking hold of it in such manner that the fingers shall be behind and the thumb in front of the card. As you place the card on the table (which, by the way, must be covered with a cloth), you press against it (see [Fig. 49]) the waxed side of the slip of tin, which will slightly adhere to it, and thus form a prop or foot, the little lump of lead acting as a counterpoise to the weight of the card. You pick it up with the same hand, and as you transfer it to the other, you will find no difficulty in removing and secreting between the fingers the little prop.

If the wax is properly amalgamated, it should leave no mark on the card.

Fig. 50.

Changing Card-boxes, and Tricks performed with them.—The changing card-box in its simplest form is a small flat box in walnut or mahogany. (See [Fig. 50].) Its outside measurement is four inches by three, and not quite an inch deep. Inside it is just large enough to admit an ordinary-sized playing card. The upper and lower portions of the box, which are connected by hinges, are exactly alike in depth, and each is polished externally, so that the box, which, when open, lies flat like a book, may be closed either way up; and either portion will, according as it is placed, become box or lid in turn. Thus, by using a card which, unknown to the audience, has two faces—e.g., is an ace of hearts on the one side, and an ace of spades on the other—and placing such card in one side of the open box, you have only to close the box with that side uppermost, or to turn over the box as you place it on the table, to transform the card just shown into a different one. There is nothing in the appearance of the box itself to indicate that it has been turned, so to speak, wrong side up, and a very little practice will enable you to turn it over, as you place it on the table, without attracting observation.

There is a further appliance in connection with the box in question, which, however, may be used with or without it, as may best suit the trick in hand. This is a loose slab, a, of the same wood of which the interior of the box is made, of the thickness of cardboard, and of such a size as to fit closely, though not tightly, in either half of the box. When so placed, it has the appearance of the inside top or bottom of the box. When the box is closed in such manner that the part in which this slab is placed is uppermost, the slab falls into the lower portion, thus forming a false bottom on whichever side happens to be undermost. If a card (say the ace of hearts) be secretly placed in either side of the box, and this slab placed on it, the box will appear empty. If now another card (say the knave of spades) be openly placed in either side, and the box closed in such manner that the portion containing the false bottom is undermost, no change will take place; but if, either in closing the box or subsequently, it is so placed that the side containing the false bottom becomes uppermost, the false bottom will at once drop into the opposite division, and on re-opening the box the ace of hearts will be revealed, and the knave of spades will in its turn be concealed. The effect to the spectators is as if the knave of spades had changed into the ace of hearts.

These card-boxes are frequently worked in pairs, as follows:—The boxes are prepared by placing a different card secretly in each, say an ace of hearts in the one, and a knave of spades in the other. The performer brings them forward to the company, each hanging wide open, and held by one corner only, with the first and second finger inside, and the thumb outside the box, taking care, however, to hold each by the side containing the false bottom, which is thus kept in position by the pressure of the fingers. So held, the boxes appear absolutely empty. Having drawn attention to the entire absence of any preparation, the performer lays them open upon the table, and, taking up a pack of cards, requests two of the company each to draw one. They, of course, imagine that they are making a free choice, but in reality he forces (either by sleight-of-hand, or by means of a forcing pack) the ace of hearts and the knave of spades. Again bringing forward the two boxes, he requests each person to place his card in one of them, taking care so to arrange that the person who has drawn the ace of hearts shall place it in the box already containing the concealed knave of spades, and vice versâ. Closing each box with the portion containing the false bottom uppermost, he now announces that at his command the cards will change places, which, on re-opening the boxes, they appear to have done. By again turning over the boxes, they may be made to return to their original quarters.

Numerous other good tricks may be performed with the aid of these boxes, which should form part of the collection of every conjuror. By placing a given card beforehand beneath the false bottom and forcing a like card, you may allow the card drawn to be torn into twenty pieces, and yet, by placing the fragments in the box, or firing them at it from a pistol, restore the card instantly, as at first. In like manner, you may cause a given card to be found in the apparently empty box, or may cause a card openly placed therein to vanish altogether. The changing-box is also sometimes employed by those who are not proficient in sleight-of-hand, as a substitute for forcing, in the following manner:—The performer requests some person to draw a card, and, without looking at it, to place it face downwards in the box for supposed safe keeping. The box is presently opened by the same or some other person, who is requested to note what the card is. He does so, believing the card to be that which was drawn, and which he had just before seen placed in the box; whereas the card he now examines is, in reality, one concealed beforehand in the box by the performer to suit his purpose, the card actually drawn being now hidden by the false bottom.