Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

by Professor Hoffmann

The secret is as follows:—The performer, before pulling the knot tight, slips his left thumb, as shown in [Fig. 107], beneath such portion of the “tie” as is a continuation of the end held in the same hand. The necessary arrangement of the hands and handkerchief, though difficult to explain in writing, will be found quite clear upon a careful examination of the figure.

The Handkerchief that will not Burn.—This may be used either separately or in conjunction with the foregoing. The performer, taking the handkerchief, asks if it will burn. The owner naturally answers that she has no doubt it will. “Suppose we try,” says the performer; and taking the handkerchief by two of its corners, he draws it three or four times obliquely upwards across the flame of a lighted candle, without its receiving the slightest injury.

There is really no mystery whatever about this, although, to those who have never tried it, it appears very surprising, and the spectators are generally persuaded that you have somehow substituted another handkerchief, made incombustible by chemical means. The performer has only to take care not to allow the handkerchief to rest motionless while in contact with the flame. In the act of drawing the handkerchief over the candle, the contact of any given part with the flame is so momentary, that it is barely warmed in its passage. You must, however, take care not to attempt this trick with a handkerchief which has been scented, as any remains of spirit about it would cause it to ignite instantly, and place you in a rather awkward position.

Where a substitute handkerchief has to be burnt in the course of a trick, it is by no means a bad plan to exhibit with the substitute (which the audience take to be the original) this phenomenon of supposed incombustibility, and appearing to grow careless from repeated success, at last to allow the handkerchief to catch fire. If you can by such means induce the audience to believe, for the time being, that the burning was an accident, you will the more astonish them by the subsequent restoration.

The Vanishing Knots.—For this trick you must use a silk handkerchief. Twisting it rope-fashion, and grasping it by the middle with both hands, you request one of the spectators to tie the two ends together. He does so, but you tell him that he has not tied them half tight enough, and you yourself pull them still tighter. A second and a third knot are made in the same way, the handkerchief being drawn tighter by yourself after each knot is made. Finally, taking the handkerchief, and covering the knots with the loose part, you hand it to some one to hold. Breathing on it, you request him to shake out the handkerchief, when all the knots are found to have disappeared.

When the performer apparently tightens the knot, he in reality only strains one end of the handkerchief, grasping it above and below the knot. This pulls that end of the handkerchief out of its twisted condition in the knot into a straight line, round which the other end of the handkerchief remains twisted; in other words, converts the knot into a slip-knot. After each successive knot he still straightens this same end of the handkerchief. This end, being thus made straight, would naturally be left longer than the other which is twisted round and round it. This tendency the performer counteracts by drawing it partially back through the slip-knot at each pretended tightening. When he finally covers over the knots, which he does with the left hand, he holds the straightened portion of the handkerchief, immediately behind the knots, between the first finger and thumb of the right hand, and therewith, in the act of covering over the knots, draws this straightened portion completely out of the slip-knot.

Some performers (among whom we may mention Herrmann) make this feat still more effective by borrowing half-a-dozen handkerchiefs, and allowing them all to be tied end to end by the spectators. After each knot the professor pretends to examine it, asking, “What kind of a knot do you call this, sir?” and meanwhile pulls it into the required condition. The joined handkerchiefs are then placed one upon the other on a chair or in a hat, and are immediately afterwards shown to be separate.

The student must be on his guard against one particular kind of knot, which cannot be pulled into the condition above-named. We allude to the very common mode of tying, in which the two ends to be tied are placed side by side, and tied simultaneously in a single knot. The employment of this kind of knot may generally be avoided by holding the two ends to be tied at a tolerably wide angle, so that they cannot very well be drawn parallel. If, however, a spectator appears determined to tie this particular knot, it is better to allow him to do so, and then remark, “As the knots are tied by yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, you can have little doubt that they are all fair. However, for the greater satisfaction of all present, I will ask some gentleman to be good enough to untie one of them, which will give a fair criterion of the time it would take, in a natural way, to get rid of the remainder.” So saying, you hand the knot in question to be untied, and in subsequently giving the ends to be again joined, select a more accommodating person to tie them.

As the tricks which follow mainly depend upon the substitution of a second handkerchief, we shall in the first place describe two or three modes of effecting the necessary exchange, with and without the aid of apparatus.

To Exchange a borrowed Handkerchief for a Substitute.—Have the substitute handkerchief tucked under your waistcoat, at the left side, so as to be out of sight, but within easy reach of your hand. Receive the borrowed handkerchief in your right hand, and as you ‘left wheel’ to your table to place it thereon, tuck it under your waistband on the right side, and at the same moment pull out with the other hand the substitute, and throw the latter on the table. The substitute handkerchief (which the audience take to be the real one) being thus left in full view, you may, without exciting any suspicion, retire with the genuine one, and dispose of it as may be necessary for the purpose of your trick.