Chapter XII: Part 12

Again ask from some one of the audience the loan of a half-crown piece, and at the same time take the opportunity--without, however, calling verbal attention to it--to ostentatiously show the left hand, so that it may be seen that nothing is held therein. The borrowed coin should be taken between the finger and thumb of the right hand, and while it is being handed up, the performer should secretly take a similar coin from some concealed part of his clothes, and palm it in the right hand. The palming will be assisted rather than otherwise by taking the borrowed coin between the thumb and fingers of that hand. That coin is then to be visibly passed, and distinctly held for a second or two with the tops of the fingers of the left hand; subsequently, the right hand is to be brought towards the left, in order that the borrowed coin may be again visibly taken into the right hand; and while this is being done the palmed coin being just over the palm of the left hand, should be secretly let fall therein, just at the moment when the fingers and thumb of the right hand are taking away the visible coin. As a consequence, although the borrowed coin will now have been removed from the left hand, another coin, unknown to the spectators, remains there. (A little careful practice before a looking-glass will be needed before the dropping of the secreted coin from the palm of the right hand to the palm of the left hand can be neatly and artistically managed.) The pretended passage of the coin from one hand to the other becomes now a very simple matter. Expatiate upon the great speed at which magic causes the objects with which it deals to travel, that the closest possible attention will be needed to detect the coin as it passes; and as the command "_Pass_" is pronounced, open the left hand, and expose to the audience the coin hitherto secretly held there; palm the other coin in the right hand, bringing that hand down carelessly to the side, or dexterously place the coin in some place of concealment. The latter can easily and safely be performed, as for some seconds it will be found that the whole attention of the company will be fixed upon the coin in the left hand, and a smart natural movement of the right hand will not then be noticed.

The trick may be continued, and its effect considerably heightened, by now offering not only to pass another half-crown in the same way, and adding that, although the pass is too rapid to be made visible, except to the very quick-sighted, yet, there being two coins involved, it will be quite possible by the chink to make the pass audible. It will be evident that the above instructions, with the slight adaptation needed of jerking the two coins together at the time when the pretended pass is made, will be all that are sufficient. Another variety of the same trick, executed in a similar manner, may be performed, to induce the company to believe that the coins are passed from one hand held on the top of a table, to the other hand held underneath the table; in short, there are few tricks so easily and simply capable of variations as those of the Flying Coins.

THE BOX, THE HALFPENCE, AND THE DIE.

This is a very simple, ingenious little trick, but one that requires special apparatus, which may, however, be purchased at a trifling cost at most of the toy-shops, or at any of those establishments from which conjuring materials are professedly supplied. The materials required are a block made to represent a pile of ordinary halfpennies (_see_ Fig. 1), out of which a large round piece has been cut (_see_ Fig. 2, which is Fig. 1 made transparent), and a round pasteboard box that will cover both blocks (Fig. 3). A loose heap of halfpennies should also be provided to hand round the room, with a die and a box, in order that the illusion of the actual halfpennies being used in the performance of the trick may be kept up. The trick can be best performed by an operator sitting at one end of a long dining-room table, and, provided only he is careful to keep his audience at a properly respectful distance, they may be clustered round the opposite end of the table. When the exhibited materials have been handed back, the block (Fig. 1) should be adroitly substituted for the real halfpennies. A simple way of doing this will be to seem to manipulate the coins into an exactly even heap; during the manipulation a dexterous movement of one or other of the hands will enable the necessary change to be made, when the coins may for convenience, and for the better subsequent developments of the trick, be placed on a handkerchief or table napkin, spread over the knees for the purpose. The block (Fig. 1) is to be covered with the box; the command "Pass" is to be given; the real halfpennies are to be produced from underneath the table, and thrown thereupon. At the same time let the box be lifted by slightly pinching it near the bottom with the finger and thumb of the right hand, by which motion the block of imitation halfpennies will also be lifted. When the box is well beyond the edge of the table, and over the lap, relinquish the pressure, letting the block fall into the lap; throw the box on the table, and the impression will be created that the halfpennies, upon being covered with the box, disappeared through, and had to be brought up from beneath the table. It will be understood that in this simple deceit, as well as in the more professional sleight-of-hand tricks, considerable dexterity must be shown to make several of the movements, that are necessarily described as separate movements, simultaneously. The die is brought into use in the second part of the trick in the following manner:--Proceed as above, so far as substituting the real for the imaginary halfpennies is concerned, and at the same time pass round the die, in order that it may be duly inspected and examined, meanwhile place the block in the box secretly, pinching it tightly so as to hold the block therein. When the die is returned, cover it visibly with the box, which will secretly contain the block. (Fig. 2). Pretend to pass the coins up through the table. Remove the box without removing the block, and it will appear that the magic box has changed the die into the halfpennies, and that the die has disappeared. It is scarcely necessary to observe that a reversal of this part of the trick will, of course, bring back the die, and make the halfpennies disappear.

TO PICK A MARKED SHILLING OUT OF A HAT COVERED WITH A HANDKERCHIEF.

Place three shillings taken from some cool place (not the pocket), or let some one of the audience place three such shillings in a hat, and cover them with a handkerchief. After this has been done, continue the "patter" for a minute or two, to allow of the warmth communicated to the coins by the hand passing away. Then hand the hat and coins to any one of the audience, and request him to remove any one, but only one, of the coins. By asking him whether he will be able to recognise that particular coin again, induce him to retain it for as long a time as possible in his hand, and, in order that there may really be no mistake, instruct him how to distinctly mark it by scratching it with a knife, or in some other equally effectual manner. It is important that the person taking and marking the coin should not wear gloves. When all this has been done, let the coin be again placed in the hat, and covered with the handkerchief. The warmth of the hand of the person who marked the coin will have made it perceptibly warmer than the other two, and if the performer is tolerably quick in thrusting his hand into the hat, there will be no difficulty in detecting this warmth, and selecting the marked coin. It is not necessary, however, that it be at once brought out; the performer should make-believe to search for it for some time before finally withdrawing and exhibiting it.

BURNING THE HANDKERCHIEF.

This is a good sleight-of-hand trick for amateurs. It requires no special apparatus, and, as here described, gives a good illustration of the many uses to which the magic wand may be put. Place a lighted candle on some small table near to, but well removed from contact with, the spectators; show both hands perfectly empty; borrow a pocket-handkerchief from some lady present. (N.B.--The handkerchief should, for the convenience of the performer, be of a small size, and therefore a lady's handkerchief is preferable.) Take the handkerchief by the centre, pull it carefully between the left finger and thumb, and advance to the candle. Before burning it, however, stop and say, as if in answer to some remark overheard, "Oh, no; the handkerchief has not been changed. See!" and, at the same time, allow another inspection of it. Suggest now to its owner that, if burned, she will desire her handkerchief to be restored again to its proper condition, and such being the case, announce the necessity of the magic wand for that purpose. Return to the table on which the wand will have been placed, which should be some table other than that on which the candle is standing, and at the same time place, unperceived, between the left thumb and forefinger, a small piece of material similar to that out of which a handkerchief is made. The centre of this piece of cambric should be pointed outwards so that it may be readily pulled out at the desired moment, the remainder being neatly rolled up and palmed under the thumb. Place the wand in one of the coat pockets, and again take the handkerchief, putting it this time into the left hand, and pull up the small piece of material, completely hiding the centre of the real handkerchief between the second and third finger and the palm of the hand. The portion of the smaller material sticking out from the thumb and forefinger may now be safely burnt, and the audience may be challenged to see there is no doubt but that it is the actual handkerchief. (Of course in this, as in all tricks, no person from the audience must be allowed to approach the performer, except upon invitation; and, indeed, it is almost always better that articles to be inspected should be taken by the performer to the audience; if the audience approaches near to the tricks when being performed the illusion is generally weakened, if not altogether spoiled.) The handkerchief being apparently burned at its centre, may, what remains of it, be now rolled up into a ball, and while this is being done, the actually burnt piece of material should be separated from the real handkerchief; then take the magic wand from the pocket, and in doing so, drop the small semi-burnt piece of cambric, unperceived, into that pocket, touch the handkerchief with the wand, and return it to its owner to be examined, when it will be found to be perfectly whole.

THE AUGMENTED COINS.

On a small tray or salver place a number of counters, gilt in imitation of sovereigns (these counters may be purchased at a very small cost), and ask of the audience if some one of their number will kindly give permission to have the coins passed into his hands or pockets. Several of those present will doubtless volunteer the necessary permission, but the performer may then protest that one will be sufficient to show his power, and however much of a wizard he may be, he yet cannot endow all present with unlimited wealth. The conjurer may further remark that he will be open and above board, that he will pass coins from himself to some one of the audience unseen, and without the knowledge of that one himself. The performer will do well to select for the trick some person whose countenance indicates an easy disposition, and such an one should be invited to take from the tray a handful of the coins. This having been done, the remainder of the counters should be emptied from the tray on to the table. The person who has taken the handful of coins should next be asked to count them, and the performer at the same time must approach him, with the empty salver, carefully held between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, in order that the coins, as they are counted, may be placed therein. It may here be observed that in the right hand and underneath the salver the performer should have concealed a small number of similar coins or counters; for convenience of illustration we will say seven. These counters may very easily be concealed from sight, inasmuch as the three last fingers which are to hold them will be naturally covered by the tray. As the assisting spectator--who, by the way, should be no confederate--counts the coins one by one, repeat after him the numbers as they are named, to prevent any mistake or misunderstanding, until he has finished, having reached, we will suppose, _twenty-two_. He should now be requested to be good enough to take in one of his hands these twenty-two pieces, and the performer, suiting the action to the word, will here pour the twenty-two coins or counters into his own right hand, where they may be made to imperceptibly mingle with the seven already concealed there, as before mentioned, and at once the whole twenty-nine should be handed to and placed boldly into the offered hand of the spectator. As a matter of experience, it will be found that seven coins so added to twenty-two will not be detected; but as a further precaution, and to prevent the possibility of the counters being again numbered, ask the assisting spectator to keep the hand holding the coins as tightly closed as possible, and in the other hand to hold the salver, in order still further to give his assistance and to prove that the salver has nothing to do with the deception.

The operator should now return to his platform, or behind his conjuring table, and request that the coins may be held out in the clenched palm on a level with the heads, or rather a little above the heads, of the audience generally, in order that no one may be struck by the coins that are to be made to pass from the performer to take their place with those held out. The performer himself takes up from the table a number of counters, say eight, deliberately counting them one by one as they are taken, and allowing the entire audience to see that here again there is no deception. (N.B.--Unimportant movements like this should always be deliberately done.) The spectator whose assistance hitherto may be described as so valuable should now be asked if he has any objection to urge why these further eight coins or counters should not be passed from the performer on the stage or platform to him at his seat among the audience in the body of the room. It may confidently be reckoned upon that no objection will be urged. Here, again, as a preliminary to the final movement by a repetition both from the performer and the spectator, announce the number of counters (twenty-two) that are believed to be in the hand of the latter, and point out that with the eight about to be passed to him there should then be thirty. At this juncture the eight coins must be dropped into the hollow of the left hand of the performer; he should bend forward towards that part of the audience where the assistant for the time being is situated, and ask him to make a similar movement towards the platform, the performer indicating by means of his _right_ hand the exact direction in which the assistant should move. This motion of the right hand will momentarily divert the attention of the audience generally from the left hand, which is to be taken advantage of by secreting the coins in some part of the attire of the performer. Everything is now ready to make the necessary "pass," and it may now be done at the first convenient point of the performer's address. Give the order "pass," and ask whether the shock of the advent of the additional counters was not felt. At any rate, ask the audience to verify, by counting, that the additional coins have duly reached the assistant's hand; and while all eyes are so occupied get possession secretly of another counter, and hold it, unperceived, in the right hand. It will be readily understood that the assistant will have but twenty-nine counters in his hand, inasmuch as the actual number added was only seven. Possibly, however, he will be so overwhelmed at the operation that has been apparently performed that one counter more or less will not be noticed; or, indeed, he may mis-count one, and, if so, the trick may be allowed to end; but if not, some allusion to the thirtieth coin having been dropped in its transit may be made, and the one palmed in the conjurer's right hand may be apparently brought out of a handkerchief, fan, lap, or pocket of some one of the other intervening spectators. At any rate, a careful reading of previously and subsequently described sleight-of-hand tricks will suggest to an ingenious lad many methods by which, with the aid of the additional coin, the latter part of the trick may be extended and varied.

TO GUESS THE TWO ENDS OF A LINE OF DOMINOES.

For this trick a whole set of dominoes is required, and from the set the performer should secretly secure one which is not a double. Let the remaining dominoes be well shuffled, and placed according to the ordinary rules of domino games, and the performer may safely and surely undertake to tell, without seeing them, the two numbers forming the extremes of the line which may have been placed during his absence from the room. The numbers on the extreme ends of the domino line will correspond with the numbers on the domino secreted by the performer. If the trick has for any good reason to be repeated, see that the secreted domino is exchanged for another.

Numerous other simple domino tricks will on this model occur to frequent players with dominoes, and, indeed, many of the card tricks may be so adapted as to be shown with dominoes instead of cards. So much space has been devoted to card tricks that the reader cannot do better, if he desires to show some domino tricks, than refer back to the card tricks, and make the necessary adaptations for himself.

THE LOST RING RECOVERED.

This is a trick suitable to the abilities of any amateur, and requires but little in the way of apparatus, a couple of common toy jewellery rings, a piece of elastic thread, and a lemon being the appliances needed. Take a piece of elastic thread, from three to four inches long; let one end be fastened to one of the rings and the other to the inside of the performer's coat-sleeve, care being taken to have the elastic of such a length that it permits the ring to be placed on the finger, and that when the ring is removed it will fly up the sleeve, so as to be concealed from the audience. Before commencing to show the trick, a lemon should be procured, and in the middle of it a slit be cut crosswise, and into the slit the second ring should be pushed until it lies in the very centre of the lemon. The slit should be carefully cut so as to remove no portion of the rind; it will then be found that when the ring has been pushed into the lemon the slit will close up and be imperceptible, unless its existence is known. The lemon should then be cut into slices, nearly but not quite severed, and held so that if anything were between the slices it would fall out. Of course, care must be taken that the lemon is so cut as to allow the ring to be in the middle of one of the slices. A piece of tape and a bodkin have next to be borrowed. The end of the tape should be slipped through the eye of the bodkin, and pushed lengthways through the lemon in such a way that it is passed through the ring. The ends of the tape may now be given to two different spectators, and they should be instructed to keep the tape at full stretch. The first ring worn on the performer's finger, and to which the elastic is attached, must at this juncture be slipped from off the finger, and held between the thumb and finger, care being taken that it is so held that the audience cannot see the elastic thread. The hand should be pointed towards the lemon, the fingers being then suddenly spread out, and the ring let go, and it will fly away and become hidden up the performer's coat-sleeve. Surprise at this sudden disappearance of the ring may be expressed, but it should be surmised that as it was the performer's intention to pass it into the lemon, perhaps the lost jewel may of its own accord have taken its flight thither. Let the performer then go to the lemon, and separating the divisions into which it has been sliced, push them one by one apart. Each outer slice should be alternately taken and pulled off from the tape, keeping the central slice until the last. When this is reached, again take the knife and cut the slice gradually down, carefully destroying the slit through which the ring was passed, and continue cutting until the metal of the ring is visible. The performer should let some one of the audience disengage the embedded ring, which will, of course, be found strung upon the tape.

TO GET A RING OUT OF A HANDKERCHIEF.

Obtain a piece of gold or brass wire, and bend it into the form of a wedding-ring, seeing first that both ends are sharpened. Borrow from one member of the audience a handkerchief and from another a wedding-ring, unless the performer has previously provided himself with a suitable ring for the trick. At any rate, palm the false ring, and allow the real ring to be inspected by handing it round to the company, and announce that it is to be made to pass through the handkerchief. The performer then takes the borrowed handkerchief, and places his hand underneath it, at the same time substituting the false ring, which had been previously concealed by being palmed, for the actual ring, which will in the meantime have been received back again. The false ring now has to be pressed against the centre of the handkerchief, and an independent person should be desired to hold the ring covered by the handkerchief by closing his finger and thumb through the hoop of the ring. Two other spectators may also here be asked, the one to hold the handkerchief by two of its corners, and the other by the other corners, keeping it as far as possible at full stretch, so that it may be clearly seen that the ring in the handkerchief has not been merely placed in one of its folds. When the audience have had time to satisfy themselves on this point, those holding the corners of the handkerchief may be relieved from their duties, the person holding the ring, however, still retaining his hold. Request now some other person to grasp the handkerchief as tightly as he pleases some two or three inches or more below the ring, the person holding the ring being then asked to let go. Let a hat or some other object be now held by some person other than the performer over that part of the handkerchief that is being grasped and that contains the false ring; the performer then passes his hand under the hat, opens the false ring by bending one of its sharpened points a little asunder, brings that point gently _through_ the fabric of the handkerchief, draws out the remainder, and carefully rubs the hole made thereby in the handkerchief, in order that the hole may be concealed. The actual ring should not be placed outside and over the handkerchief, and upon the hat being removed it will appear to the audience that the ring has been taken from the inside and placed over a portion of the handkerchief. The false ring will, of course before this point of the trick, have been palmed or otherwise got rid of.

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In this short account of card, coin, and other conjuring tricks we have purposely avoided describing such tricks as require either a long training or expensive apparatus; but in order to show more clearly what a very simple affair conjuring is, we will here give an account of two professional conjuring tricks that have attained a world-wide celebrity. The first given is a description of the celebrated Gold-fish Trick, as performed by Herr Frikell, which trick, by the way, dates long before Frikell's time, although the charm with which he conjured, by combining the genius of the actor with that of the conjurer, has given him such a pre-eminence in what he undertook as to make old tricks appear to be invested with a new charm. The second description is Robert Houdin's own account of the Cups and Balls Trick, modifications of which have often been published under the title of "The Travelled Balls."

THE GOLD-FISH TRICK; OR, HOW TO BRING BOWLS OF WATER IN WHICH GOLD-FISHES ARE SWIMMING OUT OF AN EMPTY CLOTH.

The performer advances on the stage, and stands quite apart from any surrounding objects; there is nothing in his dress in any way unusual, and in his hand he holds an ordinary cloth about four feet square, which the audience is permitted to examine. Upon the cloth being returned to him by the audience, he throws it over his left arm and hand, and after a few seconds produces from under it a glass bowl full of water, in which gold-fishes are seen swimming; the cloth is again thrown into the air, shaken, and examined, and the trick is repeated until four large bowls have been produced from apparently nowhere. The following describes how the trick is accomplished:--Fig. 2 represents an india-rubber cover, the diameter (_a b_) being about the same diameter as the top of the bowl; the whole cover turns over the edge flat about two or three inches, so that the opening (_c d_) is considerably smaller than the diameter (_a b_). After the bowl (Fig. 1) has been about three-parts filled with water, and two or three fishes placed in it, the cover (Fig. 2) is stretched over the bowl (Fig. 3); the part of the cover _a b_ (Fig. 2) is, of course, drawn over the rim of the bowl (_a´ b´_, Fig. 3); and the part _c d_ (Fig. 2) is in contact with the outside top part of the bowl (_c´ d´_, Fig. 3). The bowl, as now covered, can be turned upside down and carried sideways, without any fear whatever of the water being spilt. The next point is how to conceal it about one's person. Fig. 4 represents a small black bag capable of holding two bowls side by side (_i.e._, the glass bottom of one in contact with the india-rubber cover of the other), which is tied round the waist, the tail of a dress-coat being amply sufficient to hide it. The sleight-of-hand required in performing the trick is to manage the cloth so that it hides the movement of the right hand and arm in bringing the bowl out of the pocket into position. When the bowl is brought under the cloth, rest the bowl on the right hand, and bring away the left from under the cloth. In taking off the cloth, incline the bowl very slightly towards one end, peel off the india-rubber cover by means of the left-hand finger and thumb inside the cloth. The cover remains in the cloth, and must be conveyed away into any pocket during the public examination of the bowl. The direction of the conjurer's eyes must be with the bowl, as should the eyes rest on the cloth after the bowl has been taken out, people will at once suspect that there is something there, and possibly put awkward questions, or ask to examine the cloth too soon. To bring out the four bowls the conjurer must, after exposing the first two, have the pocket (Fig. 4) replenished by leaving the stage or retiring to one of the wings, and allowing two more to be placed therein, unperceived by the audience, by an assistant.

HOUDIN'S CUPS AND BALLS CONJURING TRICKS.

The trick of the cups and balls, though one of the oldest known to conjurers, still remains one of the most interesting, by reason of the very slight preparation needed for its exhibition and the simplicity of its mode of performance.

The apparatus required are (1) three cups, (2) a magic wand, (3) six small balls, (4) six large balls, and (5) either a bag or shelf placed secretly on the performer's side of the conjuring table. The cups should be of polished tin; in form they are truncated cones; the top is concave, so as to afford a resting place for at least three of the small balls. The magic wand has been previously referred to, and one is just as good as another. The small balls, or _muscades_, as Houdin calls them, are made of cork, and should be a trifle more than half an inch in diameter. The large balls are made of horsehair, and covered with leather or woollen cloth. This covering is made of various colours, according to the particular "passes" which the performer intends to exhibit. Some balls are also made parti-coloured, two of the segments being of one colour and two of another. The bag, or _gibecière_, is made of some tolerably thick material, and is tied round the waist by strings. It has a wide-mouthed opening, allowing the hand to take freely therefrom the various articles needed for the performance of the trick, but it may be dispensed with in the event of a secret shelf being fitted in the performer's side of the table. Conjuring tables of special make have, as a rule, all the essential requirements; but it is not difficult for an ingenious lad to arrange the necessary table for himself out of a common discarded washstand. The sleight-of-hand required for the manipulation of the cups and balls is: (1) To conjure away a small ball, (2) to produce the ball when required at the tips of the fingers, (3) to secretly introduce a small ball under a cup or between two cups, (4) to cause a small ball placed between two cups to disappear, (5) to introduce a large ball under a cup, (6) to execute sundry "feints," hereafter described.

(1) _To conjure away a small ball._--To do this proceed as follows:--Hold the ball to be conjured away between the thumb and first finger, as though to show it, close the hand quickly, leaving the thumb still outstretched. The ball is so made to roll to the second joint of the forefinger. Nothing will then be easier than to continue to roll the ball with the thumb as far as the junction of the two fingers before mentioned, which are to be slightly opened to facilitate the introduction of the ball. These two movements are in reality but one, and must be executed with extreme rapidity.

(2) _To produce a small ball._--The reverse movement to that last described must be employed: that is to say, roll back the ball with the thumb to the tips of the fingers. Rapidity in effecting the double movement is here also most essential.

(3) _To secretly introduce a small ball under a cup._--The ball being hidden in the hand between the middle and fourth fingers, take hold of the cup between the two projecting mouldings, and lift it ostensibly to show that there is nothing beneath it; in replacing it on the table let go the ball, which by reason of its position naturally falls underneath the cup, by which it is instantly covered. If the performer finds any difficulty in releasing the ball, he may facilitate the doing so by a quick contraction of the fourth finger.

(4) _To pass a small ball between two cups._--In the act of releasing, as just described, give the ball an upward jerk towards the upper part of the inside of the cup held in the hand, and quickly slip this cup over that on which it is desired that the ball should be found.

(5) _To cause the disappearance of a small ball placed between two cups._--When a ball has been placed as above described, it may in the following manner be made to disappear:--Take the two cups in the left hand, putting the fingers of that hand inside the lower cup, and giving a slight upward jerk, as though to send the ball towards the top of the upper cup, quickly withdraw the lower cup, at the same time lowering the upper cup, and so covering and concealing the ball.

(6) _To cause the appearance of a large ball on a table._--This effect, which generally produces special astonishment, is produced by the simplest possible means. Lift one of the cups with the right hand, and point to the spot from which it was removed. While the eyes of the audience are directed to that spot bring the cup adroitly to the edge of the table, introduce into it, with the left hand, one of the large balls, and immediately bring the cup and the ball to the middle of the table, keeping the ball in position with the little finger of the right hand. In some cases, in putting the ball into the cup, it may be squeezed in order to make it stick in the bottom; the elasticity of the ball will readily admit of this. When it is desired again to produce the ball it will only be necessary to bring down the cup with a smartish rap on the table.

The "passes" of the cups and balls may be varied indefinitely. Every conjurer arranges a series to suit his own taste, and the examples we have here selected will be sufficient for the guidance of amateurs. It must, however, be admitted that there is but little substantial difference between the passes. The effect is always one or more balls made to appear in one place when the spectators believe them to be in another. It follows that these passes, however varied in point of form, should be exhibited with moderation, so as not to weary the audience, or to put sharp-sighted and curious spectators in the way of discovering how the tricks are performed.

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CLAIRVOYANCE OR SECOND SIGHT.

Second Sight is properly classified with Parlour Magic, inasmuch as there is more in it than is intended to meet the eyes or ears of the audience, and "Clairvoyance" now almost invariably forms some part of the entertainment given by the majority of professed conjurers. It is much beyond our province to go into the description of the elaborate training that Robert Houdin and his sons went through before they were able to give their renowned representations; but with them _sharp-sightedness_, combined with a wonderful power of taking into the mind, at a glance, numerous objects, was of more importance than _Second Sight_, whatever scientists may decide that faculty to be.

_Clairvoyance, or Second Sight_, when applied to conjurers' tricks and private entertainments, is the art of telling the name and description of articles by a person whose eyes are blindfolded. Much as _Clairvoyance_ has, from time to time, astonished people before whom it has been represented, but who have not been initiated into its mysteries, and much as it undoubtedly will still continue to mystify, yet, when its first principles are mastered, it will be seen by all that, although it may form the basis of capital entertainments, yet it, like the conjuring tricks we have already described, is not, after all, so wonderful as was imagined. The whole system of presumed _Second Sight_ rests with two persons (or more, if necessary); the one advances to the audience to receive such articles as it may be desired to ask questions about of the other, who is blindfolded, and who is supposed to possess the power or faculty of _Second Sight_. These questions and answers are arranged into a system which constitutes the art of _Clairvoyance_. Sometimes, too, confederates with articles already seen by the blindfolded performer take part in the deception as part of the audience; but, in an ordinary way, this is not at all necessary. In our system, which will require some pains and care to carry out, there should be a series of questions, each one of which will denote the answer to be given. The questions should be very simple, so as not themselves to appear strange or leading, and the questions, with the corresponding answers, must be carefully committed to memory by _both_ performers. In order that the manner of the deception may be thoroughly understood, we give just a few illustrations of the system of questions and answers, which will be useful as models to those desiring to draw up a set for themselves. We will suppose that some articles of jewellery have been handed in for the clairvoyant to name. The other performer will proceed, according to the articles handed in, with the following questions, first saying himself, "Now, I have had passed to me some articles of jewellery, which the clairvoyant will describe, and I will proceed to question him about them."

If the article first held up is a bracelet, the question may be--"_Let_
the company know what I hold in my hand."

If a watch--"_What_ is this that you are to describe?"

If a brooch--"_Now_ what do I hold up?"

If an ear-ring--"To what _use_ is this put?"

If a gentleman's watch-chain--"Say, in _brief_, what I have in my hand."

If a ladies' watch-chain--"Describe, at _length_, what I have in my
hand."

If a gentleman's ring--"Say, what is in my _hand now_?"

If a lady's ring--"Say _now_, what is in my _hand_?"

If a breast-pin--"Say what I hold up now."

If a stud--"What is this for?"

The words italicised should be pronounced with emphasis, as they will give the clue needed; certain articles cannot be so well indicated in the questions, and greater care must therefore be taken in committing the corresponding questions and answers to memory.

Suppose, further, that a brooch has been held up, and that it has to be more fully described, proceed by telling the audience that the blindfolded clairvoyant will say of what metal the brooch is made.

If of gold--Question to put--"If of gold or silver?"

If of silver--"If of silver or gold?"

If neither gold nor silver, but a common imitation--"Of what metal is
this brooch made?"

If set with stones--"Is it set with a stone or stones?"

If unset--"How is it set?"

If with a topaz--"_Tell_ the name of the stone."

If with an emerald--"_Endeavour_ to name the setting."

If with pearls--"_Please_ say how set."

If with opals--"Kindly name the setting to the company."

If with diamonds--"_Describe_ the stone with which it is set?"

If with turquoise--"I must _trouble you_ to name the setting."

If with garnets--"_Guess_ the setting."

If with jet--"_Just_ say the nature of the setting."

If with cornelian--"_Come_, now! what is the setting?"

If with amethyst--"_Announce_ the name of the stone."

And so on, arranging questions for colours, for materials, for miscellaneous articles, such as personal wearing apparel, chimney ornaments, nicknacks, &c. &c.

* * * * *

VENTRILOQUISM AND POLYPHONY.

These are two distinct branches of the same art or science of sounds, which may be cultivated by all, but with a success that will vary according to the special gifts or endowments of the student. Those possessed of ventriloquial powers have the opportunity of considerably annoying their fellow mortals if so inclined, but on the other hand they have also the means of affording them very considerable amusement and entertainment.

_Ventriloquism_ is a vocal mimicry of sounds, by which an illusion is produced on the hearer that the sound comes, not from the mimic, but from some external source. The various descriptions of vocal mimicry are usually treated under two heads, namely:--1st, The simple imitation of the voices of persons, animals, musical instruments, and other sounds and noises of every description, in which no illusion is intended, and which is generally known by the name of _Polyphony_; 2nd, the imitation of those voices, sounds, and noises not as originating in the mimic, but in some other and appropriate source at a given or varying distance, in any or even in several directions successively, and which goes by the more general designation of _Ventriloquism_.

The above may be taken as a scientific and fairly accurate definition of the terms in question; and if in the treatment of this subject the distinctions above laid down are not strictly adhered to, they will be departed from only so far as it will be necessary to make the subject interesting to the reader and easily understood by the student. For the encouragement of all, we would say that more or less success as a ventriloquist may be attained by any one. Indeed, Professor Lee states that he attained the art without a single lesson and as the result merely of observation and practice. He says further that the chief requisites for its acquirement are--"A throat and lungs of average strength, ability to retain sounds in the memory, and the faculty of mimicry as to tone, look, and even gait, for these in no small degree contribute to the effect which the artist desires to produce." It is not at all an unusual thing to meet persons able to describe and imitate minutely a conversation carried on between half a dozen persons. To a certain extent this is ventriloquism, and the gift is capable of very considerable development. In short, the young practitioner must have the power of enunciating well, and that as far as possible without any perceptible motion of the lips; of disguising his voice, so as to imitate other voices and sounds, and of adapting the degree to the apparent source of the sound.

The relative properties of sound and capacity of hearing are so little understood, that it is generally supposed a ventriloquist throws his voice somewhere or other, as it is loosely expressed; a ventriloquist is often asked, for example, to throw his voice up a chimney or outside the house. This, of course, is a feat impossible to perform; all the ventriloquist can do is to speak and utter sounds with precisely similar organs to those possessed by every one. A ventriloquist does, however, imitate sounds that strike the ear, as if caused by some object at a distance. For example, a ventriloquist in imitating the music which cats so much delight to indulge in on the roofs during a summer's night, does not trouble himself to make the fearful row the cats make, but only the sound of the row as it comes to the ear subdued by distance and by passing through the intermediate ceilings and walls. It is most important that this distinction between noises as they are and noises as they are heard, should be constantly borne in mind during the practice of ventriloquism, and it should be remembered, as an axiom by all learners of the art, that "near sounds are louder than distant ones, and _vice versâ_." The fact that _loudness_ as a property of sound is so little understood is one of the main causes of the success of so many ventriloquists. The performer by his speech or his acting leads the audience to expect to hear sounds as from a given quarter, and the sounds being heard as from an unknown quarter are believed to be from the quarter indicated. A strange sound being heard by a roomful of people will elicit cries all round of, "What was that?" hardly two of the company attributing the sound to the same cause, and possibly all to the wrong one. One of the commonest and easiest of ventriloquial deceptions is that of making a man's voice issue as it were from the chimney. As, however, no one present will be likely ever to have heard an actual voice proceeding from a chimney, it will, nine cases out of ten, be the speech or action of the practitioner accompanied by a strange or unknown sound that will give the real force to the deception. As a consequence, therefore, it follows that a ventriloquist, to amuse his audience, must have powers over and beyond those needed for mimicking sounds; he must be somewhat of an actor; and as in conjuring, so in this, he must indulge in abundance of what we then termed "patter." The ventriloquist's deceptions must be well practised and frequently rehearsed, but he must also well prepare and study the discourse of which his ventriloquial powers will be but the illustration.

Baron Mengen, a celebrated ventriloquist, says of himself, that to make sounds appear muffled or to come from a distance he presses his tongue against the teeth, and thus "circumscribes a cavity between the left cheek and the teeth, in which cavity the voice is produced by the air held in reserve." He furthermore adds, that it is necessary to well manage the breath, and to respire as seldom as possible.

The ventriloquist must understand the difference between vocal and other sounds, as embodying the distinction between _ventriloquism_ in its highest development and mere _polyphony_. Mere sounds, that are not vocal sounds, can be produced in the vocal tube apart from the larynx. Some of them are of a definite and uniform pitch, while others are mere noises, such as rustling, whispering, gurgling, snoring, and many others. On the contrary, phonation, or the production of voice, is a result of actions taking place under mechanical laws of acoustics, combined with the physiological laws of muscular movement. The pitch of the voice essentially depends on the tension of the vocal ligaments, the loudness of their vibration, and the quality depends on the form and size of the vocal tube and the organisation of the larynx. The form and size of the vocal tube may be altered by dilating or contracting the pharynx, by dilating or contracting the mouth, by contracting the communication between the pharynx and the mouth, by altering the form of the mouth's cavity, and in other minor ways; and it will be found that each of these modifications of the vocal tube confers a peculiarity of quality to the voice.

The mimicry of mere sounds will be found by the young practitioner to be a comparatively easy matter, and he may soon be able to entertain his friends with fairly accurate imitations of the buzzing and humming of flies, bees, wasps, and other insects; of knife-grinding, of sawing and planing of wood, of falling objects, of cats mewing, of dogs barking, &c. &c. Instructions as to how to imitate these various sounds would be of little use; each one must find out for himself. In fact, an ear acutely perceptive to the nice distinctions of sound is about the only real qualification needed for the attainment of success in the practice of _polyphony_, as distinct from _ventriloquism_.

In treating the higher part of the subject, which deals with these illusions in which the voice counterfeits sounds, and also represents them in such a manner that they appear to issue from their appropriate source, some further remarks are needed on the questions of _direction_ and _distance_ of sounds. A little way back we repudiated the idea that ventriloquists threw their voices anywhere; and we return now to the subject to explain away the delusion, or rather the ignorance out of which the idea has grown. Man does not hear the distance which a sound has travelled; he only judges the distance from experience, by comparing the loudness with which he hears with the known distance and corresponding loudness of similar sounds. Experience proves, as previously stated, that error is generally the result of attempting off-hand to decide either the distance or the direction of an unknown sound. Bearing in mind, then, that near sounds are louder than distant ones, sounds having the same pitch, quality, and duration, may be produced with a graduated reduction or increase of loudness, which, falling in succession on the ear, will suggest to the mind a varying distance of the sound's source. The young practitioner should put this theory into practice, and, at the same time, imitate the sounds of voices and objects heard at different known distances. By these means he will the more readily be able to reproduce such sounds when they are required to form some part of his entertainment. For his encouragement he should also remember that slight defects in the imitation of distant voices and sounds may be expected to pass without question. Further, if the _distance_ from which a sound has travelled is rarely accurately judged, the would-be ventriloquist will be still further encouraged by learning that the judgment as to the _direction_ whence a sound comes is still more fallible. It is notorious, for example, that a person in a house cannot, by the noise made by an approaching carriage, judge with any degree of certainty whether it is coming from the right or the left. The direction whence a sound comes seems to be judged of by the right or left ear receiving the stronger impression; but this, of course, can only be when the sounds come from the level, or thereabouts, of the ear; if above, this mode of judgment, however accurate it may be made by practice, fails; hence it is that professed ventriloquists make so many of their unseen characters speak either from above or below the audience. The practice of holding an apparent conversation with some imaginary person, or persons, on the roof or below the floor, almost invariably forms parts of a ventriloquial entertainment, the performer indicating, either directly or indirectly, the direction from which he wishes his audience to believe the sound is coming. Directly, by asking questions such as "Are you up there?" "Are you down below?" or indirectly, by holding the hand to the ear and straining, as if listening for sounds from above or below, as the case may be. By these and similar means, before a sound is produced, the audience will be prepared to expect it to come from the suggested direction, and the ventriloquist has merely, by his adjustment of the vocal loudness, to indicate the necessary distance, when the error in, or want of judgment of the audience, will complete the illusion which he has thus already commenced. It has been observed by careful students of the art that the effect which is produced on sound by its travelling a distance from any direction is--

1. That its loudness is reduced in proportion to the distance.

2. That its pitch remains unaltered.

3. That its quality or tone is somewhat softened.

4. That its duration remains unaltered.

5. That human speech is somewhat obscured, chiefly in the consonant
sounds.

It is very necessary that the student should study and bear in mind the full meaning and bearing of these five observations, and that his action should be guided thereby, remembering that the ventriloquist imitates the sound, _not as it is heard at its source_, but as it is heard after travelling from its source to the ear, that is, _as it strikes the ear_. A skilful ventriloquist will effect his imitations without any scarcely perceptible movement of his lips, jaws, or features; but when such movements are absolutely necessary, he will contrive not to let the audience see them, by turning away for the moment, his face from the audience, sometimes even not showing so much as the profile. With a little practice it will soon become easy to speak without moving the jaw, and it is the movements of the jaw which disturb the features. The labial sounds, such as _b_, _p_, _m_, when the jaw is thus fixed, can be made with the slightest possible motion of the lips. During ventriloquy, the lips and jaws being always more or less open, this slight labial movement generally remains unnoticed, unless special attention be directed to it. Practice, too, should be made to produce all the modifications of the voice without distorting the features or moving the lips more than is absolutely necessary.