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HANKY PANKY
A Book of Conjuring Tricks.

BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE SECRET OUT.”

EDITED BY W. H. CREMER, JUN.

Very Easy Tricks and very Difficult Tricks, Diversions with Dice, Conjuring with Cards, Jugglery with and without Assistants, Gamblers’ Deceptions Exposed, &c.

WITH 250 PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON.

JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN, 74 & 75, PICCADILLY.

PRELIMINARY.

The great and deserved success of “The Secret Out; or, One Thousand Tricks in Drawing-Room or White Magic,” edited by W. H. Cremer, Jun., of Regentstreet, has suggested an entirely new Edition of the same Author’s world-famous “Hanky Panky: Very Easy Tricks and Very Difficult Tricks, Diversions with Dice, Conjuring with Cards, Jugglery with and without Assistants, Gamblers’ Deceptions Exposed.” The Publisher has again secured the services of Mr. Cremer—the gentleman whose wonderful display of the Toys of the World attracted so much notice in the recent International Exhibition—and an eminently entertaining, but, at the same time, thoroughly practical, book is now before the reader.

The present work, therefore, may be considered in the light of a supplement or addition to the Author’s well-known “Magician’s Own Book.”

The Publisher will, he trusts, be pardoned for here directing attention to another book of this class, “The Art of Amusing,” a Collection of graceful Arts, Games, Tricks, Puzzles, and Charades, considered by The Athenæum as being “the best and most entertaining work of the kind with which we are acquainted.”

A companion volume, under the title of “The Merry Circle: A Book of New Games and Intellectual Amusements,” with nearly Two Hundred Illustrations, has just been issued by Mrs. Clara Bellew.

Piccadilly.

CONTENTS.

HANKY PANKY.

I.—SIMPLE TRICKS.

Fig. 1.—Mr. Hanky Panky.

FLY AWAY, JACK!

Take two pieces of white paper, about the size of a sixpence, and moisten them well on both sides. Put one on the first joint of each forefinger, just at the root of the nail, and place these fingers on the edge of the table, straight out, while the rest are closed up under the hands.

Then say:

“Two little dickey birds sat on the sill,

One named Jack—t’other named Jill!

Fly away, Jack!”

Close the right forefinger, and with the middle finger remove the paper and retain it there, while the forefinger is quickly replaced in the first position to show the veritable flight of Jack. Then say,

“Fly away, Jill!”

And repeat with the left forefinger. Then say:

“Come back, Jack!”

And take the piece of paper from the right middle finger upon the forefinger as at first, and replace it on the table.

“Come back, Jill.”

The same with the other hand. Then conclude:

“The two little birds are sitting there still!”

Fig. 2.—The Perplexed Spectator.

DANCE, BOATMAN, DANCE!

(From the German.)

Herr Professor Bobine von Rhumkorff amuses little children by holding up his hand, with the thumb and finger thus posed:—

The thumb is made to spring up and down to a lively air and to the words “Dance, de Boatman, dance!” Then the thumb stops while the fingers are set leaping, to the words:

“Boatman’s piccaninnies dance, ’cause fader dance all alone by heself!”

Then leave the forefinger capering and sing:

“Eldest son of de Boatman, dance!”

Then all the fingers but the first leap about to the words:

“De whole family dance, ’cause him eldest son he dance all alone!”

So on with the other fingers, the little one being the baby, and the middle one Mrs. Boatman.

Some put on a black glove and make four chalk spots on the fingertip to represent eyes, nose, and mouth.

BUY A BIRD.

Fold each finger over the next, the forefinger undermost upon the thumb, and say:

“Who will buy my birds?”

On one saying he or she will make the purchase, you quickly open your hand and cry:

“They all have flown away!”

LITTLE WATCHMAN.

(For Children):

Hold up the left hand, open.

“This is the thumb!”

Touch the three principal fingers.

“This, this, this a plum!”

Put down forefinger.

“He eats this one!”

Put down middle finger.

“He takes his brother!”

Put down third finger.

“And grabs the other!”

Hold up little finger and wag it sadly.

“And little Watchman’s left alone!”

TO ADD FIVE TO SIX AND YET MAKE BUT NINE.

Having drawn six-straight lines, by adding five more, as in figure 3, only Nine is seen.

Fig. 3.

TO CARRY HOT COALS IN THE HAND.

Cover the palm with sand, ashes, or any non-conductor, and calmly put the live coals on it. Which ancient “sell” will be found in the first German mediæval play, entitled “The Burning Iron,” by Hans Sachs, “performed for the first time in Nuremberg in the year 1531.” A peasant woman suspects her husband of some crime, and she arranges with her mother that he must pass under the ordeal of the “burning iron”—that is, a piece of iron made red-hot must be picked up with his bare hand, and carried round the room. If his hand remain unscathed, he is innocent; if he be burnt, then he is guilty. The husband promises to undergo the ordeal; but before doing so, manages to place, unseen by his wife, a flat piece of wood upon the hollow of his hand, and with this deception he passes through the ordeal successfully. Mr. Hanky Panky believes this gentleman to have been his “long-lost brother.”

II.—TRICKS WITH COINS.

Fig. 4.

THE COIN TRICK, FROM AN HIBERNIAN POINT OF VIEW.

Our brother magician, Signor Blitz, tells us the following tale, which is useful as a warning:—

While conversing in a grocery store with the proprietor, an Irishman came in to make some purchases. The trader was extremely anxious for me to astonish him by performing some feat, which I complied with. Before concluding I requested the loan of a quarter of a dollar from the Hibernian, which he at first refused, and even when the storekeeper pledged himself responsible for it, he reluctantly gave it to me. I desired him to close his hand, and hold the money secure, and I would change it into a five-dollar gold piece.

“Faith!” he muttered, as he grasped the quarter, “it is just as I would like to have ye after doing, but I don’t believe you can coin money so aisy. Let me see if you can do it!” he exclaimed.

“It is already done,” I said. “Open your hand and see.”

The man cautiously relaxed his fingers, and, at the first glimpse of the gold, jumped and hurrahed wildly, as an Irishman only can; but when his curiosity was entirely satisfied as to its reality, he carefully deposited it in his pocket, with many thanks, declaring me to be the most wonderful man in the world.

I here desired him to replace the money in my hand, and I would again convert it to the original quarter.

“Sure, afther Mike being rich, would ye make him poor again?”

“But you know it is only a trick,” I answered.

“A thrick? Divil a one! Sure, man, it is a rale piece of goold,”—thrusting his hand into his pocket to protect it from any sudden or unperceived effort on my part to extract it.

“You know it is but a joke,” I repeated. “Return me the gold, and I will astonish you by transforming it into silver once more.”

“By St. Patrick, you had better not do that.”

“Yes, you must give me back the gold.”

“I would not part with it if Priest McDermott bid me.”

Finding my efforts to procure the money a failure, I resorted to artifice by exciting his fears of my power to do good or evil. I assured him that unless he returned the piece of gold, he would be a miserable man all his life; for it was Satan’s coin, who was always in search of his own, and would take him away with the gold.

“Och, shure, yer honour, the Holy Father will save Mike, and if ye want any more silver quarters to change into goold, come to Michael MacCarty. He is the man for you.” And with these consoling words he walked rapidly away, leaving me minus my half-eagle, while the storekeeper laughed immoderately at the magician being outwitted by a son of the Emerald Isle.

All Louisville became cognizant of “the joke,” as they called it, and hugely enjoyed it at my expense; but I could not see it.

THE NEW TRICK OF MELTING MONEY.

In our former works have been given revelations by means of which the disappearance of coins can be accomplished. The present act of prestidigitation is quite new, and never before discovered by magicians to their audiences.

Performance.—A drinking-glass having been passed around amongst the audience, that the absence of mechanism may be generally manifest, Mr. Hanky Panky borrows a half-crown and a handkerchief, and pours some pure water (which may be tasted) into the glass, held by one of the company. Though this essence of the New River has no corrosive properties perceptible to the tongue, Mr. Panky confidently asseverates that it is bewitched into the power of annihilating silver.

He then places the coin in the centre of the handkerchief, and puts it over the mouth of the glass, where the volunteer holds it by its edge through the silk, so that the pendent corners hide the coin and glass.

Fig. 5.

The person is notified that Mr. Panky will count three, at the last of which numbers he is to let the piece fall into the glass, as the sound will betoken.

One, two, three, chink.

The coin is distinctly heard to fall, so that there can linger no doubt whatever of its presence in the glass.

Nevertheless, Mr. Panky, with his usual assurance, announces that—without his approaching—he has the power to attract the coin to him, and, in truth, he suddenly holds it up in plain sight. The person takes away the handkerchief, and is even more astounded than the most impressionable amongst the spectators, to see nothing but the water in the glass—of which the magician relieves him by swallowing it.

Fig. 6.

Explanation.—The bottom of the glass is of the same dimension as a half-crown. A disc of sheet-glass is cut of the same size exactly. This is substituted for the coin, and is felt within the handkerchief. When it falls, the sound is so like that of metal that all are filled with error. When the cover is removed, the water prevents the glass piece being seen at the bottom even by the operator himself.

The coin wand can be used in connection with this trick, for which see a description following.

TO REDUCE A SHILLING TO A SIXPENCE.

Take two pieces of fancy paper with one side in colours, patterns, or marbling, about seven inches square, put the coloured sides together, and cut them at the same time in the shape of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7.

The success of the trick depends on their being exactly alike in size. Place a sixpence in the centre of one of the pieces at the place marked A, then fold it carefully over at the crease on the side marked B, and also again at the side marked C. When you have done this, turn down the end marked D upon the centre A and again fold over on E. You have thus formed a small parcel the shape of Fig. 8, with a sixpence in the middle. You must then put a shilling in the centre of the other piece of paper, and fold it up exactly the same size and shape as the first piece. When you have done this, paste the two parcels together at the back of the ends marked F in Fig. 8, and the sides will be so even that both will appear as one. You can then open the side of the paper containing the smaller coin, and show it to your audience, at the same time informing them that you are going to open a mint on a small plan, and coin a shilling from a sixpence. Dexterously turn over the side containing the shilling, and upon opening the paper, to the general astonishment, instead of a sixpence they will behold a shilling.

Fig. 8.

THE UNCRUSHABLE FLOWER.

At the time of the amusing warfare between the perennial Charles Mathews (“the Younger!” what happy augury in the title!) and the Great Wizard of the North, the former, who was assisted by Mr. Cremer in many of his diversions, created much surprise by the exhibition of a flower, as fragile as a rose, which could not be lastingly injured.

He would pluck this flower from his button-hole, and, in sight of the audience, who wondered “What he Would Do with It?” would dash it to the stage, stand on it, shut it up in a book, and martyrise it in various other modes.

In spite of this, he had but to take it up and tenderly wave it in the air, and gently breathe a tender sigh on it, and kiss it for its mother, when it would resume its pristine fulness of bloom—not a pistil broken, not a petal injured.

Explanation.—The flower is artificial, and carefully made of choice Berlin wool, which material will bear much ill-usage without injury to its elastic filaments.

Fig. 9.—The Victim of this Mystification.

THE FLYING COTTON REEL.

Wind off a ball of cotton cord (piping) upon a tin tube six inches long, and of the diameter of a half-crown or florin, or rather a trifle wider.

Borrow a coin which you have had marked, and change it by means of the magic salver.

Fig. 10.

Pass the marked coin off the stage to your confederate, who puts it down the tube into the ball of cotton, and leaves it there in the centre; on withdrawing the tube the hole can be completely covered up by pressing the cord around it.

Thus prepared, the ball is brought to you in a glass cup, having a hole in the rim through which you pass one end of the cotton. Fasten this to a winding-off wheel (broad-tired), and as your assistant winds off the cord, you pretend to throw the coin into the ball. Immediately, the marked piece falls into the bottom of the vessel, in which it is taken to the owner.

Fig. 11.—The Owner of the Coin.

THE OBEDIENT SIXPENCE.

Fig. 12.

Lay a sixpence between two shillings on a table-cloth, and cover them with a tumbler, and offer to remove the middle one without touching the others or the glass. To do so scratch the cloth with the finger-nail, and the lesser coin will move out towards you, the others being held by the tumbler.

THE INVISIBLE TRANSIT.

(Le Vase aux Grains.)

Mr. Panky borrows a half-crown, which he politely requests some one in the party to mark, and having had a fruit examined, such as a shaddock, melon, marrow, &c., he puts it in a box.

Then holding a large cup or vase full of seed or corn, as he proves by taking a pinch out of it, and casting the grain amongst the audience, he sets it on a table.

At a word, the coin vanishes to enter the fruit. Next, the fruit is commanded to cross and bury itself in the vase filled with seed, without displacing its contents, which is assuredly remarkable. Indeed, on plunging the hand into the vessel, the fruit is produced, and in its centre is found the marked coin. The seed has disappeared.

Fig. 13.

Explanation.—The vase is of metal with a secret bottom or with a trap in the stand, by which the contents, in this case seed, will run down out of it and down through the hollow leg of the table on which it is placed. The box in which the fruit is put is that called the Box of Disappearances.

Fig. 14.—The Box of Disappearances.

It is a case with a double drawer, into the inner of which an object is placed and both shut up; only the outer or false drawer is pulled out, and the disappearance is performed.

As for the fruit, the coin is placed in it beforehand, or introduced by means of the coin knife.

Performance.—The marked coin is passed to your agent, who pushes it into a fruit by a cut made in it while you are letting a duplicate fruit be examined. The prepared one is buried in seed in the vase which is brought in upon the stage. The second fruit is put into the disappearing box and made away with. A touch to the spring releasing the trap of the vase makes all the seed run off, and the fruit containing the coin is triumphantly opened.

THE DIE AND DOVE TRICK.

You have the double die described in The Secret Out, composed of a hollow tin case, painted like a die, and a die in solid wood.

You hold up a borrowed hat and say that you will visibly pass that die (both being as one) into the hat. Upon the crown you leave the cover and the solid cube you put inside the hat—or you say—“Now you see this die, and now you do not see it!” and pass it down on the secret shelf behind your table. Or, again, you exchange it for a hollow die holding a live bird, and opening with a sliding side.

Fig. 15.

You place this die on a plate, and, in covering it, and turning it over, open the slide, so as to have the now open face down on the plate.

You have a small cage containing another bird, on which you set a handkerchief, in the centre of which is sewn a square plate of metal of the size of a cage, at top. Your table trap takes in the cage, and you hold the handkerchief by the square plate at the proper distance from the table, so that the way the folds fall from its edge will resemble their draping the cage.

Now, say—“I shall make that die pass into the hat and this bird take its place!”

You shake the handkerchief and show that the cage has departed—a most effective illusion.

You pick up the mock die in the case, and, of course, the liberated bird flies away.

You lift the hat and push the solid die so as to make it fall.

Then you put into the hat a set of cups, Chinese lanterns, dolls, or other objects made for that purpose, to fit inside each other, and so take up little space—and express your astonishment that the owner should fill his hat with anything but brains.

THE COIN WAND.

Let your ebony wand be hollowed out at one end and bored clear through for a movable rod to work in it. In the space at the end have a half-crown cut into three pieces, thus—

Fig. 16.

with a simple mechanism worked by a spiral spring at the end of the rod, by which these three pieces, overlapping one another when drawn into the wand, unfold upon the same plane like a perfect coin when the spring is liberated.

You can by its means appear to draw a coin by the mere tap of your wand from any place whatever—the wall, a table, a person’s ear, nose, or pocket—and as often as desirable, since you pretend to remove the half-crown each time that it is shown, and actually show a real one in your hands.

THE GARLAND OF ROSES.

You have borrowed three or four coins from the company, changed them for the ones used in your juggling, and passed them to your assistant.

Then you have as many cards drawn out of a prepared pack (see “How to force a Card,” page 43, The Secret Out.)

Your attendant brings in a wreath of flowers, which is suspended from the ceiling by two silken cords.

You lay the coin on a little glass table, and only let one piece slide off at a time.

The coin wand can be used in connection with this stand, and rings and other objects can be substituted for the coin top, set on an iron frame.

On crying out, “I now take these sovereigns and throw them into the centre of that garland!” a chink of coin is heard, and on the instant the money is seen, held by invisible means, in the wreath.

Next you stuff the cards into a pistol, and, on firing at the garland, they appear within it.

Explanation.—This magnificent trick is simply but requires electrical appliances.

The action of a battery makes the duplicate coin on the table fall into a recess in its edge, while the real ones and the chosen cards, by the same power, are thrust out from the wreath by secret wires with pincer heads.

THE BEWITCHED PICTURE FRAME.

(Le Cadre à l’Assiette.)

Did you ever see such a lovely bit of Sèvres as this plate? Observe the delicacy of the tints and the dainty outlines of the floral decoration.

If I were in the musing mood, I might form quite a lecture on the scenes which this piece of porcelain conjures up: the rise of Dubarry; her downfall—Oh! the plate has slipped through my fingers, and I take it up to find it broken.

Let me see: what is smashed china fit for? I forget—but I wonder, now, if it would not make excellent wadding for a pistol! Let us try. Here is the firearm, which I will load—on the powder I put the fragments of the plate—Time severs many a beauty from her mate—Plenty of room yet. I must add these rings, with which my obliging auditors have furnished me, and this ribbon. A very formidable charge!

Boy! a target!

Call that a target?

Why, it is a black board in a frame. Never mind; it will do, unless I make a butt of you! [Exit the Attendant.]

Click! bang!

When the smoke clears away, there is seen in the middle of the framed black space the ribbon, rings, watches, or whatever was used for cartridges, and the plate restored except for one small fragment. It seems that I left a piece out of the barrel. Oh! Is it not here under this obliging young lady’s fan? I thought so; thank you.

I will throw it into its place.

Fig. 17.

One, two, three, and an off! I mean on!

You will observe that Richard is himself again—as rich and hard as ever.

Fig. 18.

Explanation.—For the appearance of the entire objects, the enchanted target described on page 194, The Secret Out, is used, with the following additional contrivance for the china plate restoration, namely:—The duplicate plate is covered, as are the other articles, with a black blind, made to disappear into the frame by an electric shock, or the action of a piston-rod, while a scrap of black cloth to be pulled away by a wire leading secretly to your assistant, gives it the semblance of a broken one.

THE GUERIDON AND GOLDEN RAIN.

By the orders of Mr. Hanky Panky, his attendant brings out before the audience a small round table (guéridon), a more guileless means of mystification being impossible, with its thin, flat top, slender leg, and general simplicity of outline.

Half a dozen florins or half-crowns being borrowed from the audience, they are marked by one of them and placed in a pile upon the table, whence they disappear one by one.

This is, perhaps, not so very astounding, for no fellah ever yet clearly understood how money goes. But, to really make the deception a startling one, Mr. Panky puts a hat, a scarf, or a handkerchief on the table, and commands the money to return from its refuge of nothingness. The half-crowns—a great deal more eager to be restored to their owners than whole crowns now-a-days are—are heard to fall upon the table, without a trace of their passage through the hat or handkerchief.

On removing the cover, indeed, the attendant has but to go to the table to fill a salver with the money, and distribute among the rightful proprietors.

Explanation.—The table-leg is hollow and a rod works in it, on the head of which the bottom coin is placed; when the rod is lowered, which is done by simple mechanism (for which see “Grand Magic,” in The Secret Out), the coins gradually vanish. The reappearance is managed by the reverse action, and the rod may be fitted with a joint a few inches from the top, so that the pieces will fall off on one side, the more noisily the better.

When the coins are to drop audibly into a metal or glass vase set on the table, the rod may terminate in a tube to contain the money.

Fig. 19.

Fig. 20.

III.—WITH ROPE AND STRING.

THE SKIPPING-ROPE TRICK.

(Hamilton’s l’Entente Cordiale.)

Provide a skipping-rope, and, having had your wrists firmly bound together, let the person who thus tied your hands pass one end of the rope between your arms and join its ends, by which act the cord and your united arms will form two endless links or rings, to separate which, and instantaneously, will seem materially impossible.

However, it can be done.

Pull at the cord as if to make sure it is held fast, and, while so doing, catch between the wrists the part of the rope that happens to be there, and work the rope up so as to get the looped end through the handkerchief in your hands. Through this loop pass your left hand. Turn slightly to the right and jerk the rope a little, when it will fall to the floor, while your hands remain attached.

In the couple of seconds which this feat requires, move your hands up and down mysteriously, to baffle the attention of the bystanders on what you are doing.

TO RESTORE A CUT STRING.

(Decremp’s Garter Trick.)

Having a piece of string, with the ends tied, run one hand through each end, twist it once round (Fig. 21), and put both ends into the left hand. Draw the right hand quickly along the double strings to where the strings cross, and conceal the join with the right thumb and forefinger (Fig. 22).

Figs. 21 and 22.

Hold the strings in the same way with the left hand, and let some one cut the string between them. You show that the string has been divided into two pieces, and assert that you can join them by mastication. Put all four ends into your mouth, and remove with your tongue the little cut off loop.

When you take the string out of your mouth no one will notice the absence of so small a portion of its length, and will fancy that you really have joined them. Take an opportunity of getting rid of the fragment you retained in your mouth.

TO CUT THE BRAID OF A BUTTONHOLE WITHOUT LEAVING A MARK.

Fig. 23.

Tie the ends of two feet of string together. Put it through a button-hole of your coat (or the ring of a key in the door); stick one thumb in each end, and each little finger in the upper string of the other hand. Draw out the hands, and present the figure traced in the illustration.

Let go with the right thumb and left little finger, and thrust your hands quickly apart, when you will seem to have pulled the string through the braid of the button-hole, and yet there will be no trace of the passage. It is best, when you let go with the right thumb, to change the string from the right little finger to it.

THE DEMON CORD.

Fig. 24.

Saw a tube in half lengthwise, and at one end mount a grooved wheel, over which passes the bight of a cord, with its two ends passing out of the hollow cylinder at the sides of the other end. Tint one half of the cord a different colour from the other, close it in; varnish well to hide the crack, and your trick is complete.

The cord seems to have the chameleon property of changing its hue.

TO TIE A KNOT ON ONE WRIST WITHOUT THE TOUCH OF THE OTHER HAND.

Fig. 25.

Take a yard of whipcord, or stout fishing-line, one end in each hand, and with the right throw a loop over upon the left hand. Instantly draw back the right hand to tighten the loop, and let go both ends the moment the knot has been made.

Fig. 26.

TO CUT YOUR NOSE OFF WITH A STRING.

Tie the ends of twelve or fifteen inches of string together, and make a loop, as shown in the illustration.

Fig. 27.

Place the loop in the teeth at A. Put the right forefinger in loop B, holding the other bight (or bend), C, on the left forefinger, as in the second illustration.

With the right forefinger remove the loop B, by raising it over the string D, and carrying it under that string. Put the top of the forefinger (the loop B being on it) on the tip of the nose.

Fig. 28.

THE MARVELLOUS RELEASE.

(Le Captif Emancipé de M. Cleverman.)

A ponderous ladder, composed of three uprights and crossbeams, is drawn in upon the stage, and inspected, as well as a new rope, by one of the company, and pronounced solid. The Magician’s assistant is then bound to the centre post, and all the knots are sealed by one of the spectators. A light basket-work shade, covered with canvas, is put on over all, and in a few seconds the man is found tied as before, but without his coat. On being concealed and discovered again he is found completely freed, and the rope on the stand without a seal being broken.

Explanation.—The centre post is apparently quite firmly bolted into the cross pieces, but in reality the screw heads have no pin attached except one, which is withdrawn by the tied man, who has his hands bound behind him just where he wishes to use them. On being unpinned, the beam drops down into a socket in the stand, and the rope can be pulled through the open space. The sealing of the knots keeps the ropes in their place.

A chair can be constructed in the same manner, and, if the deception be practised in a dark cabinet, one of the Davenport Brothers’ feats can be imitated.

THE MAGIC UNTYING.

Give one end of a yard of strong, stiff, smooth twine to a person to hold, while you retain the other in your right hand. Put your left hand under the twine, half way between the ends, and make a single tie (or, in sailor phrase, a half hitch) over the string between your left hand and the end A in the illustration.

Fig. 29.

Fig. 30.

Fig. 31.

Draw the tie close but not tight over the left hand, B being the tie. Open out the left hand so that, when closed, the loop will be loose on the hand. Pass the end in the right hand over the left palm on the inside of the string already there, and make another single tie over the string at the same place as where you formed the first one, closing your left hand, which loosens the strings around its fingers. After the tie, pass the twine under the back of the left hand, between the strings C and D (in the second illustration) Fig. 30.

The dotted line E is the string A. Take that string up on the left hand fingers as in the third illustration.

By practice this can be done unseen by the lookers on. Draw the end tight till it reaches B. Pass the end A under C and D strings, which cross the palm, drop the whole string off the left hand and pull gently and steadily the end A with the right hand, and the string pulls out straight.

ROBERT HOUDIN’S FAMOUS RABBIT TRICK.

Preparation.—Have a small white, long-eared rabbit hidden in a secret pocket inside the right breast of your coat.

Performance.—On requiring a rabbit for a trick, you select a simple-looking member of the company. On his rising, you stand behind him so as to cover your body with his. Take his right wrist in your right hand as if to keep him steady, by which act you open your coat out naturally to the right. Now flourish your left hand with the arm extended, and bring it round to the level of the back of the party’s neck. Then, at the same time that you forcibly thrust your three last fingers well down within the simple gentleman’s coat collar, you seize the rabbit’s ear or ears between your forefinger and thumb. Now lift up the rabbit, and the simple gentleman will be too much confused by the shock to perceive how the deception was managed. The audience will be equally astonished.

THE MAGIC PICTURE FRAME AND VANISHING PLAYING CARDS.

The magician Bosco, of Milan, numbered among his acquaintances the negro prima donna whose advent as “the Black Malibran” caused quite an operatic warfare in our fathers’ time, from a certain opposition being waged against a Desdemona of Othello’s colour presuming to darken the stage.

One afternoon previous to Signor Bosco’s performance at the Rooms at the back of the Princess’s Theatre, which veteran playgoers will remember, he took tea with the lady.

It was his habit, a pleasant one, of experimenting with his really remarkable inventions upon his friends before unveiling them to the public.

On this occasion he produced at the tea-table a pretty little picture frame. It was simply a border of wood around a square of quite clear glass, with coloured paper pasted over the back to keep out the dust.

Taking up a pack of cards, he had one drawn by the lady—let us suppose the ten of diamonds. This he made to vanish in the air.

Then he again had the picture frame observed, that it might be beyond doubt that nothing but the clear glass in the front, and the coloured opaque back, were visible. And over the frame, held in the lady’s hand, he lightly threw a handkerchief.

He uttered a magic phrase or two, took the frame, still in the handkerchief, waved it in the air, and made a pass or two over it. Then removing the handkerchief he held up the frame to the lady, who, to her astonishment, perceived a card in its centre—the card she had drawn.

Again covering the frame with the handkerchief, Bosco once more bewitched it. On taking away the handkerchief this time, the picture frame was found to have resumed its original condition; in other words, the card had vanished, and there was nothing visible but the border, the clear glass, and the opaque back.

Explanation.—The frame is hollow at top and bottom, so that these two places are receptacles to contain a quantity of sand. This sand is dyed of the same colour as the paper used to cover the back of the frame. Two pieces of glass are placed in the frame, a little apart.

SIDE-VIEW OF PICTURE FRAME.
A, the plain glass. B, card corresponding to that which the spectator has been forced to draw. C, the front side of the second glass. D, the other side, over which is pasted coloured paper.

To prepare for performance, fill the receptacle at the top part of the frame with the sand dyed the same colour as the paper at the back, and let it run down till it fills the space between the two panes of glass, and consequently, conceals the card, and is itself unnoticeable, from looking exactly like the paper.

After the handkerchief has covered the frame, and you take it into your own hands, reverse it unseen, so that all the sand shall run down into the receptacle.

On showing it now, the card will appear.

By turning the frame again so that the sand shall run out, and once more hide the card, it becomes invisible, as at first. The trick can be repeated at pleasure.

THE MAGIC FLOWER, APPEARING AND BLOOMING AT COMMAND.

(The Invention of M. Robert Houdin, and as Improved by Mr. Cremer.)

Mr. Hanky Panky, attired in a faultless evening dress, has presented himself to the audience with the air of being quite perfect in his appearance, when he suddenly becomes confused. By his nervous glances, and their direction, it is perceived that he has omitted an indispensable article of costume, and that is, the flower in his button-hole.

However, quickly recovering from his surprise and trouble, he smilingly observes that this misfortune, irreparable without a certain delay to ordinary members of society, is easily rectified by a conjuror.

To make good this assertion, he takes up his wand, and waving it gracefully three times, the company is startled to see a beautiful rose appear instantaneously in his button-hole.

Explanation.—This charming little deception is as simple as effective. A child can perform it, and at the cost only of a few pence.

You must have twelve or fifteen inches of common elastic cord, fine but strong, covered with thread of the same colour as your coat. To one end firmly fasten an artificial flower, or it may be a real one if you strengthen its stalk by the insertion of florists’ wire. The place of fastening is close to, and just under, the flower.

Punch out a small hole in your coat, on the point corresponding to that button-hole in which a flower is usually worn, and just under the button-hole itself.

In this hole insert a metal “eye,” such as is put in boots for the laces to run through, and fasten it there. It is for the cord to run smoothly through. This eye is not visible, even to yourself.

On the other end of the elastic make a small loop.

When ready for the performance, take your elastic cord, to which is attached the flower, and pass the loop end through the button-hole from the outside. Then pass it through the eye in the same direction, and bring it down along inside the coat to the button on your trousers, at the left side, or you may have a button sewn on your vest about the same place. There fasten the end of the cord by the loop.

The elasticity of the cord now draws the flower up to the button-hole.

Pull the flower back, just a little behind the left armpit, and let the left arm hang loosely by the side. As long as the upper left arm is kept close to the side, the flower must remain secure, and concealed at the back of the shoulder.