The Glass Goblet and Cover.—This apparatus consists of an ordinary glass goblet, of rather large size, with a japanned tin cover, in shape not unlike the lid of a coffee-pot, but of sufficient height to contain, in an upright position, a couple of florins or half-crowns. These are placed side by side in a flat tube, just large enough to admit them, fixed in a slightly sloping position in the upper part of the cover, and divided in two by a tin partition. Across the lower end of this tube is a tin slide, which, in its normal condition, is kept closed by the action of a spring, but is drawn back whenever a knob on the top of the cover is pressed down. If a slight pressure be applied, one coin only is released; but if the knob be still further pressed down, the second also falls. The mechanism of the cover is concealed by a flat plate or lining, also of tin, soldered just within it, with an oblong opening just large enough to admit of the passage of the coins. The inside of the cover is japanned black, the outside according to the taste of the maker.
You take care not to bring on the goblet and cover until you have, by substitution, gained possession of the two marked coins which you have borrowed for the purpose of the trick. Retiring to fetch the glass and cover, you prepare the latter by inserting the marked coins. This you do by holding the cover upside down, pressing the knob (thus drawing back the spring slide), and dropping the coins into their receptacle. On removing the pressure on the knob, the slide returns to its normal position. You then bring forward the goblet and cover, and place them on the table. Holding the goblet upside down, to show that it is empty, you place the cover over it, ostensibly to prevent anything being secretly passed into it, and, for still greater security, throw a handkerchief, borrowed for that purpose, over the whole. You now announce that, notwithstanding the difficulties which you have voluntarily placed in the way, you will pass the two marked coins through the handkerchief, and through the metal cover into the glass. Taking in your right hand one of the substitutes, which have all along remained in sight, and which the audience take to be the genuine coins, you pretend by Pass 1 to transfer it to your left, and pressing gently on the knob with the last-mentioned hand, cause one of the marked coins to drop from the cover, at the same moment opening the hand to show that the coin has left it. The audience hear, though they do not see, the fall of the coin. With the second coin it is well to introduce an element of variety, and you may therefore offer to dispense with the handkerchief, that all may see as well as hear the coin arrive. As a further variation, you may use your wand as the conducting medium. Taking the substitute coin in the left hand, you apparently, by Pass 4, transfer it to your right. Then taking the wand in the left hand, you hold it perpendicularly, with its lower end resting upon the knob of the cover. Holding it with the thumb and second finger of the right hand, one on each side of it, you draw them smartly downwards, at the same time pressing with the wand on the knob, when the second coin will be seen and heard to fall into the glass. Taking off the cover, and leaving it on the table, you bring forward the glass, and allow the owners to take out and identify the coins.
It is a great addition to have a second cover, similar in appearance to the first, but hollow throughout, and without any mechanism. You are thus enabled to hand both goblet and cover for examination before performing the trick. As you return to your table, your back being towards the spectators, you have ample opportunity for substituting the mechanical cover, the plain one being dropped either into one of your profondes, or on to the servante of your table.
The Glass without Cover, for Money.—This is of tumbler shape, without foot, and of green or other dark-coloured glass, so that it is semi-opaque. In this instance no cover is used, and the borrowed coins are not seen, but merely heard, to drop into the glass, where they are found in due course.
The secret of the glass lies in a false bottom of tin, working on a hinge, and held down by a catch worked by a pin through the bottom of the glass, and flying up with a spring when released. The performer, having gained possession of three or four borrowed coins by either of the means before mentioned, retires to fetch the glass, and takes the opportunity to place the coins beneath the false bottom. He then comes forward, glass in hand. He does not offer the glass for examination, but turns it upside down, and rattles his wand inside it, showing, ostensibly, that it is empty. Having done this, he places it on his table, as near the back of the stage as possible, at the same time moving the catch, and so releasing the false bottom, which naturally flies up, and uncovers the concealed coins. Standing at a considerable distance from the glass, he takes one by one the substitutes, which to the eyes of the audience represent the genuine coins, and gets rid of them by one or other of the various passes, saying as each one apparently vanishes from his hand, “One, two, three—Pass!” At the same moment the sound of a falling coin is heard, proceeding apparently from the glass, but really from behind the scenes, or any other available spot out of sight, where an assistant, placed as near to the glass as circumstances will admit, drops another coin into another glass. If the position of the assistant, with reference to the audience, is pretty nearly in a straight line with the glass which they see, the illusion will be perfect. When all the coins are supposed to have passed in this manner, the performer, advancing to the glass, pours out, either upon a tray or upon his open palm, the borrowed coins, and leaving the glass upon the table, comes forward, and requests the owners to identify them.
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We have thus far described eight different contrivances for vanishing money, and (including the “plug-box,” which may be used in both ways) five for reproducing it. It is obvious that either of the first may be used in combination with either of the second, producing some fifty different effects. By the use of sleight-of-hand in place of apparatus at either stage of the trick, still more numerous variations may be produced, and these may be still further multiplied by the use of other appliances to be hereafter described, which, though of less general utility, may be occasionally introduced with excellent effect. The apparatus which we shall next describe is one which is very frequently used in combination with that last mentioned. It is known as
The Miraculous Casket.—This is a neat leather- or velvet-covered box, about three inches by two, and two and a half high. When opened, it is seen to be filled with a velvet cushion or stuffing, after the manner of a ring-case, with four slits, each just large enough to admit a half-crown or florin. (See [Fig. 92].) By an ingenious mechanical arrangement in the interior, which it would take too much space to describe at length, each time the box is closed one of the coins is made to drop down into the lower part, and on the box being reopened is found to have vanished.
Fig. 92.