The difficulty of extracting the bullet or bullets I finally mastered, after various trials, by using a tolerably thick piece of cork for the purpose of closing the one end of the tube. When the performer retires up the stage, he holds the closed end in his hand and presses the ramrod against his body, thus forcing out cork, bullet, and paper with one vigorous push. The operation does not occupy a second, and, when the performer turns facing the audience again, the ramrod is in his hand as before. It will naturally occur to everybody that, if the ramrod fits tightly into the tube, the whole arrangement will be neither more nor less than a popgun, and the cork will be blown out as soon as the ramrod is inserted into the tube. To avoid such a startling result, the ramrod must, although fitting the tube at certain places, be made out of truth, so as to admit of an escape of air, or else the cork must have a hole burnt through it by means of red-hot wire. Piercing a hole through the cork will not suffice, as the nature of the material will speedily cause the opening to close up again. If this cork arrangement be used, then the performer need never leave the stage.

I have given the learner what I consider to be the best method for performing the trick. A method which differs only slightly from mine, the principle being the same, is to use a tube barely two inches in length. This tube is dropped into the pistol by the performer, who takes the pistol entirely in his hands, for the purpose of ramming down the powder charge. As it lies secreted a long way down the pistol, it, of course, can never be seen. In pushing the ramrod down, it becomes fixed in the tube, and brings it away, the ramrod being the least bit tapered, to insure its going into the tube. It should be tapered at each end, so that there may be no bother about looking to see which end is the graduating one. The rest of the trick is performed exactly as in the other method. My objections to the use of the short tube are that, in order to get it into the pistol, the performer must secure actual possession of the firearm, and he must repeat the manœuvre when he wishes to take it out again. Again, it is very difficult to conceal the point of junction of a short tube on a long ramrod. If the performer does not use the utmost caution, the tube will be noticed sticking on the rod as they are withdrawn from the pistol. The rim of the long tube is covered with the hand before the abstraction is made, and added to this is the fact that the pistol never leaves the hand of the volunteer assistant, which is a great feature in the trick. The only objection to the long tube I found to be the difficulty sometimes arising in abstracting the bullets; but my cork has now removed that difficulty. I have given both methods that the learner may choose for himself. Although I have said "bullet or bullets," because some conjurors employ one only and some three or four, I should, myself, never think of using more than one. The effect is the same, whilst the trick is made immeasurably easier to the performer. People may, perhaps, be a little more satisfied at seeing several bullets marked by different people, but it is just as easy, and quite as effective, to have one bullet thus treated. It will not matter in the least to the performer how many people mark it.

Another method for performing the trick is to substitute for the marked bullet a blacklead one. This, on account of its lightness, the performer must himself drop into the pistol and see that it is so rammed that it is broken up. I would never advise anyone to adopt this method, although Houdin caused consternation amongst the Arabs by allowing himself to be fired at from a distance of a few paces. With his usual completeness he finished the trick by firing another pistol at a whitewashed wall, on which appeared a large splash of blood. This was managed by means of a ball of black wax, the inside of which was filled with blood. The Arabs were duly impressed.

There are some pistols made with spring openings in the barrel, through which the bullet falls into the hand of the performer; but, in this case, the pistol cannot be examined, which fact is quite sufficient to taboo the method. Unless the pistol is given to be examined, and left in the hands of the spectators the whole time, there is, in my opinion, nothing in the trick.

A Bottle of Ginger Beer.—The reader will scarcely require to be told that one of the great deceits practised by conjurors is that of duplication. In order to apparently execute the impossibility of conveying a large solid body invisibly through space, the conjuror has to cause the article itself to disappear by any means at hand, and to produce another similar article, or counterfeit thereof, at the spot to which the original one is supposed to be magically transported. In the case of Houdin's die trick a counterfeit die was made use of, and in many of the coin tricks duplicate coins were employed. Whatever the article used, the method is almost invariably the same; and the public are often invited to witness the exhibition of a new wonder, which is in reality only a variety of what has been done in hundreds of ways before.

One very effective variety of this particular deceit is the transposition of a ginger-beer bottle from one paper cover to another. The trick and its explanation are as follows: The performer brings forward a ginger-beer bottle and a glass, on a tray. If he pleases, he may have two ginger-beer bottles, and ask the audience to choose between them. He should ask them to select between the one on the right and the one on the left. If "right" is said, and the one with which the trick is to be performed is on the left of the audience, then the performer must say, "On my right. Thank you"; and instantly take up that bottle without more ado, and uncork it. He then pours out the ginger beer, to show that it is genuine—so he says, but the real object is to keep the spectators from suspecting that there is anything "uncanny" about the bottle itself. The peculiarity of the bottle is that it either never had a bottom to it, or else that portion of it has been forcibly removed. Some few conjuring trick makers supply bottles without bottoms; but any lapidary will perform the desired operation should the performer himself be unsuccessful in accomplishing it with a hammer. The chief thing is to obtain two bottles that match exactly in colour. Height is not of much consequence, as that is not so readily retained by the eye as is colour; still, it is as well to have them match in that even, but colour stands first in importance. One of these bottles is placed upon the right-hand side of the shelf behind the table, and the other is fitted inside with either a piece of thick cork or gutta-percha. Whichever it is, it must fit very tightly, and be situated about an inch from the foot of the bottle. The cork must be left out until the last minute, or the fermentation of the ginger beer will cause the false bottom to come out unexpectedly with a "pop." This prepared bottle is the one that is brought on on the tray, with or without another genuine one, as the performer pleases. When two are brought on, the second one should always be left with the audience for them to open if they be so minded. It is sure to be examined with strict minuteness, and its unblemished innocence will reflect upon its late companion.

Under his vest band the performer has a small apple, a walnut, or little ball. This he gets down as he retires to the table, and slips it in the lower cavity of the bottle, holding it there suspended by means of the little finger. He then places the bottle upon the left-hand front corner of the table, and on the corresponding corner he places a duplicate of the article which he has secretly introduced under the bottle. This duplicate will have been lying on the table all the time, and can, of course, be examined. The performer now takes two cardboard or paper covers, each just large enough to cover a ginger-beer bottle easily, and shows them round. These covers can be made with very little trouble, and the plainer they are the better, in my opinion. Spectators think no more of a trick because of a cover of many colours covered with gold or silver stars. A fancy paper on the outside is all that is required, for it will not do to look "beggarly." These two covers are now taken back, and the performer goes behind his table. With the left hand he places one cover very slowly and deliberately over the bottle, and calls very particular attention to what he is doing. The cover in the right hand is meanwhile being placed over the bottle on the shelf. The conjuror's whole attention, eyes and everything, must be engrossed on what he is doing with the bottle which is visible. Any glance which he may want to take for ascertaining the exact position of the bottle on the shelf must take place as he goes behind the table; any downward look after this would be fatal. Directly it is felt that the hidden bottle is safe in the cover, the latter must be brought into view again; and care must be taken that it is held a little obliquely, the mouth being towards the performer. As an additional security, it is always as well to have the inside of the covers blackened, or lined with black paper, and the inside and base of the second bottle treated likewise. Any accidental exposure will then not be so likely to be attended by serious results.

When the first cover is fairly over the bottle, the second one, containing the other bottle, is placed over the little ball, or whatever it is. The performer next takes up his wand and says, "Now, what I am about to do is to cause the ginger-beer bottle and the little ball to change places. This, I am aware, anyone can do by simply lifting off the covers and altering the positions of the articles with the hand; but I shall do nothing so transparent. I will show you that the articles are still where I placed them, and that I have not already moved them from their positions." (The covers are alternately lifted, care being taken not to prematurely expose the wrong article.) "My method of procedure is as follows: First, I take out the little ball" (on the shelf there is a third article, similar to the other two, and this the performer palms in the left hand) "in this manner. You see, I simply run my wand up the side of the cover, and here I have the little ball in my hand." (Strike left hand with wand, and open it and put the ball on table.) "This cover is now empty. By means of my wand, I remove the ginger-beer bottle, large and cumbrous as it is, from the cover—here it is, see, on my wand!—and pass it gently, for fear of breakages, into the empty cover. This little ball I take thus, and pass into this cover, where the bottle was, not five seconds since." (Perform any pass with the ball, and put it back upon the shelf.) "On raising the covers, it will be seen that the change has actually taken place." Raise the left-hand cover first, grasping it firmly so as to ensure the bottle from slipping, and then show the second bottle on the right, bringing the left hand, at the same time, over the shelf, upon which the first bottle is permitted to drop, very gently, from the cover. Both covers should be afterwards shown round, although the trick can be repeated, i.e., done backwards, if the performer desires. If he does so, he should say, "Ah, I daresay everybody did not see how that was done, and, as I always like the method of my tricks to be understood by everybody, I will do it over again. There is no fun in a trick if one does not see how it is done." On removing the bottles at the close of the trick, care must be taken that the hidden ball, &c., is not knocked down on the floor, as is sometimes done by accident. This is a genuinely good trick, the opening of the ginger-beer bottle before the audience serving to throw that body off its guard.

The Flying Plume and Seed.—This is another trick in which duplicated representations play an important part, but the articles and methods employed are so totally distinct from those used in the preceding trick that one might follow the other in a performance, and yet both appear to be totally distinct in every way. There is a little simple apparatus in connection with the trick. First of all, a tin tube, 18in. long, and at least 1-1/2in. in diameter. It is provided with a cap at each end, fitting inside, and not over, as is usual. The tube also possesses the peculiarity of being divided longitudinally, by a tin partition, into two portions. This partition does not run down the centre of the tube, but takes a transverse direction from one side of one end to the opposite side of the other end. By this means, both ends are open to their full extent, and the tube can be shown briskly round, with the cap off, without anyone being able to detect anything wrong. Of course, only one end will be given for inspection, the audience not suspecting the existence of more than one opening.

Then there is a vase, also of tin, but painted on the outside or japanned. This vase has a foot about 3in. high, which is hollow, and is connected with the body of the vase by means of a very large hole. This hole is hidden by a large domed cap on the end of a pin, which runs through the foot, and is furnished with a button underneath. A spiral spring inside keeps the cap down on the hole, but pressure on the button under the foot causes it to rise, and any seed that may be in the body of the vase will instantly run down into the foot. Two plumes of exactly the same colour and length will also be required. These plumes can be obtained at a cheap rate at any plumassier's. One of the compartments of the tube is secretly filled with seed, and the end opening that division is closed with the cap. This cap should bear a distinct mark to distinguish it from the other. In the vase there should be an egg, orange, lemon, or apple, &c., which must not be seen by the audience, and on the table there should be another similar article. Up the performer's sleeve, or in his side pocket, one of the plumes is secreted. The other plume is handed round and then thrust down the tube, which, to all appearances, it entirely fills. Place the tube on a chair or on the floor, and then take the vase, and into it pour a quantity of seed, going forward so soon as the article at the bottom is covered. Show the vase round full of seed, and then place it on another chair, the button being pressed and all the seed allowed to run away in transit.

Now borrow either a hat or a handkerchief. If the plume is up the sleeve, then a handkerchief is required. Spread the handkerchief over the hand, as if showing there is nothing in it, and seize the end of the plume through it with the other hand. Draw the handkerchief smartly away with the plume inside it, and throw both on the floor. If the plume is in the pocket, then borrow a hat and slip the plume into it. The plume will curl round inside the hat, and remain firmly fixed, so the hat can be turned brim downwards without fear of the plume falling out.

These preliminaries concluded, proceed as follows: Touch the tube with the wand and say you have taken out the plume, which you then "pass" into the hat or handkerchief, as the case may be. Now touch the vase with the wand, and say that you have removed all the seed, which you then command to go into the tube. Vanish the egg, or whatever it may be that you use, down a trap, and "pass" it into the vase. Nothing then remains but to open the tube, and to show the vase and handkerchief or hat. Millet is by far the best seed to use. It is light, and its spherical shape causes it to run smoothly. A conjuror, who was experienced enough to know better, persistently used rice for this trick. The result was extra delay, for the rice generally managed to clog somewhere, and always made a tell-tale rattling as it trickled into the foot. It made one tremble to look and listen. The trick is very easily managed, and creates a remarkably pretty effect. The conjuring shops supply the apparatus.

How to Make and Cook a Pudding in a Hat.—Procure a large size gallipot with nice thin sides. Have a tin lining made to fit the inside of this, and divide the lining into two portions by means of a horizontal division across the middle. The inside of a gallipot being somewhat narrower at the bottom than it is at the top, the lining will be taper, and consequently one partition will be larger than the other. Into the larger partition put a plum pudding, or cake, hot, and stand it on the shelf, without the gallipot. Borrow a hat, and, whilst busy about putting some paper at the bottom of it, and explaining that it is to prevent its being spoilt, take an opportunity of slipping the tin containing the pudding into it. Now take some flour, eggs, plums, sugar, and water, and mix them all up in the gallipot, to the accompaniment of some facetious remarks about your being a first-rate cook. Next pour the paste from the gallipot into the empty division of the tin, and, putting the pot momentarily into the hat, press it down well over the tin, which it will bring away, leaving the pudding alone behind. Now hold the hat over a spirit lamp (a candle would spoil the hat), and profess to be cooking the contents, which presently take out close to the audience and distribute. Some conjurors make omelettes and pancakes, which certainly make a good show, and are suggestive of being cooked on the crown of a hat. Some address is required in executing this trick, especially in getting the tin into and out of the hat. The knack of putting things into hats from the shelf neatly is one of the most difficult things to acquire, and the performer must never be nervous at the moment, or he will be certain to allow himself to be discovered. Sometimes the egg is first broken into the hat (i.e., the tin), and the flour and water afterwards mixed up in the gallipot. The effect of the contents of an egg dropping into a hat is certainly good.

An amusing interlude, when borrowing a hat, is to apparently push the forefinger through the crown and then restore the hole supposed to be made by the act. This deception is managed by having a cast of a human forefinger made in either wax, gutta-percha, or plaster, and provided with a pointed wire at the thick end. This finger is concealed in the right hand, and the left hand put inside the hat. The right hand is then brought on the outside of the crown, and with the remark, "I fancy you have a hole in your hat, sir," an apparent effort is made, and a finger shown protruding through the crown. All that is done is to pass through the wire, which is held on the inside by the left hand. After making a few sharp movements simulating a finger in the act of being shaken, bring the right hand on to the crown again, and make as though considerable exertion were required in order to get the finger back again. The dummy is, of course, merely secured in the right hand, and the hat immediately shown ostentatiously round, so as to keep attention away from the right hand. The imitation finger must naturally be coloured to resemble the performer's flesh. The trick must not last long—a quarter of a minute is ample. If the finger remains through the hat for any length of time the audience will soon realise what the nature of the deception is. It should appear as if the finger had been just pushed through, shaken derisively, and then withdrawn.

The Flags of Old England.—Without any visible preparation, and from no conceivable source, the performer produces hundreds of flags with the hands. The flags, which can, of course, be of any colour, but, for obvious reasons, should be red, white, and blue, for preference, are thus made quickly: Procure some sheets of tissue paper, and cut them into slips of equal dimensions. A good size to commence with is 3in. by 1-1/2in., three of which will make a flag of 4in. by 3in., a very nice size. For rapid pasting, place, say, the red slips one over the other, each one permitting just a quarter of an inch of the one beneath it to be seen. With one sweep of the brush a large number can be thus pasted. Perform the same operation with the blue papers, and the white ones will not require any paste at all. Join the three together, and, when dry, paste them on either very thin sticks or wire, or else on bass. The latter is far preferable to any other substance, and can be easily procured. Now make some flags about 6in. by 4in. in the same manner, and, if you choose, a few even larger still. Roll them all up very tightly in two or three bundles, and secrete them about you. I always place a bundle of small flags up each sleeve, the larger ones being either in the vest or in the large breast pocket of the coat. Take a little flag in each hand, and advance with them. Wave them about, and, lowering one hand, allow the bundle to slide into it from the sleeve, care being taken that the back of the hand is towards the audience. Bring the hands together immediately, and continue to wave them about for a few seconds, when commence to unroll the flags, and cause a few to appear first at the top, and then to fall on to the floor. Continue this, all the time moving about, until you find the supply getting low, when, with a downward sweep of the hands, extract the bundle from the other sleeve. This movement will be perfectly concealed by the numerous flags flying about. It will also be perfectly easy to obtain possession of the other bundles from the vest or pocket, if care be taken to raise the flags that are being exhibited, so as to conceal the motion of the hand. When the larger flags are being unravelled, the waving should increase. The effect of a quantity of flags coming from apparently nowhere is always very bewildering to an audience, and this is heightened when the larger ones appear. I remember producing one quite 8ft. in length, with a complimentary motto, allusive to the season of the year, elaborated upon it. There is, however, no necessity to go to such a length as this. Buatier, instead of two flags to commence with, takes a bundle of coloured paper, which he rolls up, and then pretends to transform into flags. This is not at all a bad method, and, if the performer prefers it to my own, there is no harm in adopting it. Buatier decidedly makes a mistake, though, in producing the original paper after he has manufactured several hundreds of flags from it. This is not consistent.

The Chinese Rings.—Whether originally Chinese or not, is of little moment: the trick has received the name, and is known by it only, so I adhere to it. The trick consists in apparently accomplishing the evident impossibility of linking strong metal rings, that have no break or opening in them, one within the other. The secret of the trick lies in the fact that one of a number of rings is provided with a slit or opening, which is kept carefully concealed by the performer's fingers. As, however, one ring with an opening would not alone suffice to link several others together in a continuous chain, the rings are made in sets of three and two welded together, besides three or four single ones. The set of two I always dispense with as useless. There is not the slightest necessity for going to a conjuring repository to obtain the rings, for an ordinary smith can produce a much more serviceable article. My idea of a good ring is one made of iron wire fully 3/8in. in thickness and 9in. in diameter. Let the metal be well burnished, and see that the welding is properly done. The opening in the one ring should be 7/16in. wide so as to admit the other rings freely. Some rings have a slit merely, whilst others have the ends springing one into the other. These precautions are quite unnecessary, for the secret ring is never given round for examination. When the performer comes on, he has the open ring concealed either under his armpit, in his breast pocket, or in the vest; or he may have it hanging behind a chair, if he has one with an opaque back on the stage. The other rings he has in the hand, and gives them round for examination. Unless this examination takes place, there is nothing in the trick, for the audience would justly argue that all the rings have secret spring-bolt openings which are invisible at a short distance. To abstract the concealed ring without detection requires, at times, considerable address. A good way is to allow some of the others to fall, and whilst stooping quickly for them, get out the concealed one. Turning the back upon the audience, and deliberately taking the ring out from its place of concealment whilst walking towards the stage, is the method I usually adopt. When it is hung at the back of a chair, the bulk of the rings should be placed upon the seat, and two or three taken up in one hand; say, the right. In stooping to pick up some more rings with the left hand, the right, naturally enough, finds its way to the top of the back of the chair, and, as the ring will be suspended half an inch down, the end of one finger will be sufficient to obtain it.

I lay some stress upon this recovery of the open ring, for in its neat execution lies the whole secret of the trick. If the performer feels that he has accomplished the feat without being observed, he may boldly assert that he knows that other conjurors perform the same trick with prepared rings—he does nothing so mean and despicable. As a rule, I disagree with any hint whatever that may give a clue to the secret of a trick; but this particular one is so widely known that I doubt if an audience of ordinary size could be found with everyone ignorant of its secret. Under these circumstances, the conjuror who wishes for success must be different to everyone else. If he is not "prepared to do or die," let him leave the Chinese rings alone.

The method of "working" the trick is to first take up the open ring and one of the single ones, one in each hand. Unless the performer be left-handed, or ambidextrous, it is always advisable to hold the open ring in the right hand, the opening being between the finger and thumb. Stand at the front of the stage (if there are side boxes, then a little back), and let the open ring hang carelessly on the thumb, only broadside on to the audience. By turning up the point of the thumb ever so little, the opening is rendered quite invisible to spectators, who will think that two perfect rings are being held before them, they having no possible reason to suspect even that an open ring is anywhere about. Bang the two rings together several times, and pretend to make two or three attempts to fit one into the other, by what precise movement does not matter in the least.

Presently slip the solid ring rapidly through the opening of the other, without ceasing for an instant the movements you have hitherto made, which continue as if the two rings were still apart. Soon you will work the two close together, and, by degrees, bring round the solid ring to the bottom of the open one, and then allow it to hang from it. Be careful, however, that the opening is never so much as approached by the solid ring after the latter has been passed through it. By a reversal of the proceedings, the ring must be taken off again, the two rings being held touching one another, and worked about as if still linked, long after the actual detachment has taken place. The audience are supposed to actually see one ring pass through the other, and the performer must cause this to appear to be done at the lower half of the open ring. Performers always make a grand mistake in hurrying over this, the opening part of the trick, which is really the most important part of it. Within reasonable bounds, the linking of the two first rings cannot be much too long drawn out. If he be possessed of sufficient daring, the performer may advance to one of the audience with the two rings linked, and give him one of them (the solid one, of course) to hold. Just as the ring is put into his hand, the disconnection should take place. This is an interlude, which the performer may use or not, according to how he feels in spirits, for conjurors are like race-horses, and are at times "in" or "out of form." Two loose rings can then be put on the open one, one at a time, and then removed and held together. The open ring can be passed over the arm out of the way, the opening being, of course, concealed, and some "business" can be gone through with the other two, which, as they never were together, can be separated without much difficulty.

Some conjurors become breathless at the bare idea of allowing the open ring to leave the hand, whereas, when properly managed, there is not the least danger to be apprehended. When the ring is passed over the arm, the hand does not leave the opening until it is well embedded inside the elbow joint. It is bad policy to hold one ring continually in the hand, as the fact is extremely likely to be noticed. When a few evolutions have been performed with the single rings, including throwing one in the air and catching it on the open ring on its descent, the triplets should be taken up, and, after plenty of shaking about and turning round and over, an end one should be linked on. By linking up the other end as well, a square is formed. Give two rings of this to be held by different people, and tell them to pull. Give one or two jerks yourself, and at one of them disconnect, and then gradually appear to unlink the square, bringing, at last, the four in a single chain. Make a lot more flourishes, but merely bring the four side by side in one hand, hanging. Hold the open ring firmly, and allow the others to drop steadily. This they will do in two distinct stages or jerks, at each of which you make a movement with the disengaged hand as if controlling them. As a finish, it is usual to put all the rings in a bunch on the open one. When this is done, one of the solid rings should be made to sustain the rest for a short time in place of the open one, which may be allowed to hang down in the rear of the others, where it will not be seen. The solid ring thus temporarily used should be held alternately in several places, so that the audience, and especially such as know the secret of the trick, may see that there is actually no opening it. This is an excellent ruse to adopt. When performing with the rings, always make a deal of clatter with them; it adds to the effect. An effective finale is to grasp the open ring by the solid part immediately opposite the opening, and, turning the whole bunch rapidly over, shake the other rings loose upon the floor, dropping the open ring amongst the rest. The apparent recklessness of this goes still further to disarm suspicion as to an open ring.

It will be seen that, beyond obtaining the open ring, everything is what is understood as "hankey-pankey"—in fact, downright humbug—but it is humbug of a superior order. The performer who introduces it injudiciously and unskilfully will have reason to regret any imperfect study of this trick. There is not much true sleight of hand in it, but the perfection of "address" will be required.

The Drawer-Box.—This is not the name of a trick, but of one of the most useful pieces of apparatus which a conjuror can possess. I have purposely refrained from making any mention of it before, because I wanted to make the beginner an adept at vanishing and producing with his hands before I gave him an article that would save him the trouble at the loss of a large amount of effect. When a person is able to do considerable execution with his hands alone, there need be no anxiety about giving apparatus into them. It is only with the beginner that the danger lies, for he will say, "Oh! this box does all I want—at least, quite well enough for me—so why should I take the trouble to learn to do it without?" The expert is never too anxious to use apparatus, and invariably manages with as little of it as he can.

Now, the drawer-box is an article of such peculiar handiness on so many occasions, that the temptation held out to beginners to use it frequently is too great to be resisted. It will bear a cursory examination, and yet, although crammed with any kind of article to its fullest extent, it is made to appear quite empty, by merely being shut and re-opened, and this in the midst of the audience; or the operation may, with modifications, be reversed, and the box shown first empty, and then full.

Most of us must have seen the little cigar-case which is so handy to smokers who wish to keep a good brand of cigar to themselves. The drawer-box is made on exactly the same principle as this, only, of course, in an enlarged form, and in wood.

The appended sketches (Figs. 51 and 52) show the apparatus. I give a minute description of it here, as it is only in very large towns that the article is procurable, made in the manner it should be, so the conjuror can either get a cabinet maker to make him one, or, if he be anything of a carpenter, make one for himself.

A (Fig. 51) is a lightly-made drawer, without any back end, and fits somewhat easily into F (Fig. 52), which should be made of 3/8in. stuff, and strongly put together. B is another lightly-made drawer, smaller than A, into which it fits. A has a narrow combing all round the upper surface of the front end and sides. This serves to conceal the presence of B, which in reality looks like the inside of A. To perfect this deception, the open sides of A are, as depicted in sketch, made with mortises, and the end of B being allowed to extend a little each side, and also mortised, the two dovetail one into the other, and present a most innocent appearance. The knob D is not fixed, but has a slight perpendicular play. It is connected with a piece of flat metal, which extends from the knob to the upper portion of the wood, inside the combing, where it is furnished with a catch, which can be made by turning over the end of the metal and sharpening it a little. In B there is a slight incision made at C. When B is pushed home into A, and the knob D pressed downwards, the catch fixes itself into C, and thus keeps the two drawers firmly together. The action of shifting the knob up and down is very slight indeed, a 1/4in., or, at the outside, 1/3in. play being ample. When the two drawers are thus fixed, they may be shown round, and no one not in the secret will suspect that there is more than one drawer. The more care and attention that is paid in fitting the drawers nicely together, the better.

At the lower part of the back end of B will be noticed a protruding piece of wood, E. This fits closely against A when the two are closed together, but it plays an important part in the working of the box. In the body, F (Fig. 52), is cut a square hole, immediately under the point where the thumb is seen to be pressing. G is a flat spring let into the bottom of F, and fixed at the end farthest removed from the square hole. A square piece of wood, the same thickness as the bottom of the body F, and slightly smaller than the hole, is glued firmly on the free end of the spring, so that it is always in the hole. The exterior of the box should be painted or French polished, and the bottom covered with baize or cloth. The material should be glued on, the space covering the spring, and half an inch all round it, being left free. The apparatus is then ready for use, and is thus "worked": We will suppose that it is required to cause several apples to disappear. The drawer A, with B inside it, and the knob pressed firmly down, is shown in one hand, and the body F in the other. The apples are then put into A (really into B), which is then pushed into F. After the performer has pretended to extract the apples by magical means, he takes up the box with both hands, one hand grasping one end, with the thumb on the spring G (Fig. 52), and the other hand seizing the knob D, which it presses upwards, thus removing the catch from the slit C. With the thumb pressing as hard as possible on the spring, the drawer A is pulled out. The square piece of wood on the end of the spring G, being pressed inside the box, causes an obstruction to the inner drawer B through the medium of the protrusion E, and B is consequently held back in F. The drawer A, which is, after all, merely an outer shell, is shown instead, and the audience, not knowing of the existence of a double drawer, imagine that the one shown them is the one which they saw filled with apples. When the box is opened, it should be held sideways, with the top turned towards the audience, and when it contains such articles as apples, which easily shift in a very audible manner, it should be placed in this position on the table, before the contents are made to disappear. It would be stupid to pull out an empty drawer and then cause a rumbling to be heard. The audience would at once divine that the articles were kept back in the body of the box by some means.

When the box is made so large that the hand cannot grasp it in the manner shown at Fig. 52, the closed end should be furnished with a knob matching that on the drawer A. This can then be held by the fingers, and so enable the thumb to find a purchase.

A very good box is one made without the spring acted upon by the thumb. In its place is a loose metal peg, which drops in and out of the hole in the double drawer by the mere tilting of the box. This style of box is best made with both ends of the cover open, an increased appearance of innocence being thereby secured.

With such a handy article at command as the drawer-box, which will vanish or produce anything at will, it will be easily understood that the beginner is extremely likely to be tempted into using it with too great a frequency. Let him beware of this, and, at the outside, use it not more than twice in the same evening, and then only under completely differing conditions, and after the lapse of a good interval of time. In a number of the foregoing tricks the drawer-box could be used with success, I grant, but not with any very great effect. In the trick with the large die and the handkerchief, it would be handy for causing the die to vanish. It could be used in The Sun and Moon, A Bottle of Ginger Beer, and in a dozen others, but the temptation to do so must be resisted.

Popular usage has assigned the drawer-box the position of a regular "property" in a very effective trick performed with a large solid block of wood, familiarly known as the Cone. It can be made of any size, but it is as well to have it as large as possible, that is, not less than 6in. in height. When large, it is just as easy to manipulate, and is much more effective. The only desideratum is that it should go comfortably into the drawer-box. It should be well tapered from the base to the summit, which may be simply flat or fancifully turned. Over this block fits a thin shell, the facsimile of it—the die and dummy repeated, only in a different shape. The dummy shell is usually turned out of a piece of wood similar to that of which the block is made, and both are polished to match. It is essential that they be very smooth. All else that is required is a very tall paper cone, which passes very loosely over the shell, and a couple of apples, oranges, lemons, or any similar articles, both being placed on the shelf. The drawers, fastened, should be taken out of the body and stood upon it at one end of the table, and the cone, with the shell on it, at the other end. The performer next takes the paper cone and exhibits it. He then says, standing behind the table, "This cover, which is, as you see, made simply of paper, is for the purpose of covering this solid block of wood." The paper cover is passed over the cone and shell, which are grasped firmly with one hand and slid off the table on to the other hand. The shell is then grasped a little higher up, through the paper, and the solid block jerked out of it on the floor. The paper containing the shell cone is then laid flat on the table, with the closed end towards the audience, and the solid cone picked up and placed in the drawer, which is first shown briefly round. The drawer-box is closed and placed on a side table to the left, and the performer, passing behind the table, takes up one of the two articles which are upon the shelf. This he produces in any way he pleases, taking it from the wand being the most effective method (see "Sleights for General Use"). He should then say that he requires an orange, &c., for the trick, which he will ask his wand to give him. The orange, or whatever it may be, is then placed upon the table, and covered with the paper cover, with the dummy cone inside it. The performer then explains that what he is going to do is to cause the solid cone to come out of the box and pass into the paper cover. Whilst saying this, he goes behind the table and secures the second of the two articles that were on the shelf, in the right hand. He then comes round, and proceeds: "To do this, it will be first necessary for me to remove the orange from the paper, and I accomplish the feat in this manner." (He runs the wand lightly up the side of the paper, and then produces the orange out of it, the action being somewhat similar to that used in the previous production.) "Now that the cover is empty, I can pass the block of wood into it. I take it out of the box, thus" (taps box with wand), "and, see, it is on my wand. I carry it carefully to the cover and pass it thus into it." The wand is carried very gingerly, in a horizontal position, as if the block of wood were really balanced upon it.

The paper is then taken by its very apex, and lifted carefully off the dummy shell, and the drawer-box opened, as previously explained for showing it empty. The performer, after a short pause, to allow of the free circulation of universal wonderment, says, "Ah! but perhaps I did it a little too quickly, and you did not notice how it was done. I will do it in a different way. Here we have the piece of wood, which I cover with the paper; my box, empty, I shut and place here, and the orange I take in my hand, thus" (trap it), "and rub it slowly away. I command the block of wood to pass back again into the box, and the orange to appear under the paper cover." Lift the paper and dummy together, pinching them at the base, and lay them down as before directed, and then tilt out the drawer, allowing the wood to fall upon the floor. If the cone be not very large, then the dummy may be allowed to slide out of the paper cover on to the shelf, and the paper shown empty.

There is an objection to having the dummy shell made of wood, which is that it is necessarily very light, and so easily overturned. An accidental stumble against the table will sometimes effect this untoward result. Zinc and tin are heavier, but there is an objection laid against them as well: they "talk"—that is, they make a scraping noise against the real block of wood when withdrawn from it. I leave the conjuror to decide which is the lesser of the two evils. Cones standing two or three inches in height can be successfully passed through hats, after the method employed in Houdin's die trick.

Further uses for the drawer-box will appear in the course of the description of other tricks.

Bacchus' Dovecote.—The performer advances with a bottle and glasses on a tray, and a dove on his shoulder. From the bottle he pours some wine, and then places it upon a side table. The dove is next wrapped in some paper, from which the tail is allowed to protrude, and the performer then jumps upon it or else burns it. On the bottle being broken, the dove is found inside.

The bottle is prepared by having the bottom knocked out, which can be easily managed with a hammer, smart taps with which have to be administered, in a circle. The hand holding the bottle whilst this is being done should have a glove upon it, in case of a breakage. A dove is put into the bottle, head first, through the bottom. This is rather uncomfortable for the bird, and I cannot bring myself to think that the latter likes it; but no bad results seem to follow the treatment, which should be rendered as gentle as possible. A tin tube is passed down the neck of the bottle, secured at the mouth by means of red sealing-wax, and then filled with red wine. On the table are spread some sheets of paper, on the margin of one of which are pasted some dove's tail feathers. The exhibited dove is placed upon the centre trap, and the performer pretends to wrap it in the paper having the feathers upon it. It is, instead, passed through the trap, and the paper rolled carefully up, as though the bird were inside. The protruding feathers leave no doubt of this in the minds of the audience. The ends of the paper should be screwed up tightly, and a little hole torn in the parcel, "to give the dove air." If, when placed upon the floor or table the paper should accidentally roll slightly, the performer must attribute it to the restlessness of the bird supposed to be inside, and apostrophise it accordingly. If crushed, it should be treated lengthways, so that the feathers are not afterwards observed, or the audience might think it only reasonable that the bird found inside the bottle should be minus a tail if he has left it behind him in the paper. It may seem very simple on their parts, but audiences never seem to doubt that the dove apparently wrapped in paper and the one found in the bottle are one and the same bird. There is no distinguishing mark on it to identify it, and everything tends to make one think otherwise; but never a doubt is raised. This circumstance should be very consoling to the conjuror. I have even seen two doves put into a drawer-box and two other doves made to appear at the other end of the room, and no one seemed to doubt for a moment that they were the same ones that had been just before put into the box.

Doves are most docile creatures, and accommodate themselves to circumstances in a remarkable manner. When passed through a trap, they never wander about and exhibit themselves at the corners of the shelf, or otherwise expose the performer's secrets. At times, though, they will start their peculiar call, but this happens very rarely. Most regular performers, whether professional or not, usually keep a pair of doves at least. They are very hardy, and soon become accustomed to being pulled about.

The Wine-drinking Crystal Ball.—The tube in the neck of a bottle, mentioned in the preceding trick, is a very effective and much-practised deception. In the present instance, the performer selects an opaque bottle with a deep "kick" in the foot, and has a tin tube fitted into its neck. The mouth of the tube is provided with a rim turning outwards, to prevent a total disappearance of the article inside the bottle. This rim should be nicely rounded, so as to fit the mouth of the bottle neatly, as it will not do for the audience to entertain the slightest suspicion of its presence. The bottle is three-parts filled with water, and the tube with red wine. The performer is provided with two clear white glass balls, a little over an inch in diameter, and one red one, of the same dimensions. These are concealed conveniently about the person. The trick is commenced by the wine being poured into glasses and handed round. Retiring to the table, the tube is extracted and "vested," or put elsewhere out of sight, and one white ball got into the hand. By means of the wand, this ball is magically produced. The performer then remarks that he wants two balls, and manufactures another by striking the one he has in the hand with the wand; the explanation given being that the original one has been cut in two. The reader will understand that the second white ball has been got down from concealment, and exhibited at the proper moment. Two balls are not really required for the trick, but the diversion is made for the sake of increasing the attention of the audience, and for giving the trick a general completeness. If he so pleases, the performer can proceed to rub one of the balls until it becomes as small as a pea, or as large as an orange: all that is required is to be provided beforehand with balls of the necessary sizes. The ball which is supposed to be undergoing the compression or expansion can be easily palmed in the right hand, the fingers of which are engaged in shaping the latest arrival by rolling it in the palm of the left hand. To get it back to its original size from the tiny one, the small ball has only to be concealed between the roots of the third and fourth fingers (Fig. 25). To get it back from the large size, place the large ball upon the table over a trap, and, after admiring it as a splendid production on your part, pretend to take it in the hands, trapping it. After much hard squeezing and rubbing, accompanied by expressions of doubt as to the success of your exertions, all enacted close to the audience, the original ball will be produced, it having been, of course, palmed the whole time. Give it to a spectator to hold, and then fetch the bottle. Whilst retiring get down the coloured ball and introduce it into the "kick," where keep it by means of the little, or any other convenient, finger. With the bottle in the left hand, return to the audience, and, taking the white ball from the person holding it, palm it at once, retiring a few steps as you do so, holding the fingers as though they contained the ball. If the palm be kept upwards, there is no fear of the ball slipping out of it, which it possibly might do—it being an awkward thing to hold firmly—were the fingers turned downwards. Explain that you are about to throw the ball into the air and catch it in the bottle. As the ball is considerably larger than the mouth of the bottle, this announcement will naturally be received with incredulity. You, however, with the hands as widely separated as possible, toss an imaginary ball into the air with the right hand, and affect to catch it in the bottle with the left. A vigorous shake given to the bottle will cause the ball held in the foot by the left hand to rattle, and the illusion of the catch will be perfect. Now say that, having got the ball inside the bottle, you must break open the latter in order to get the ball out, and turn round, feigning to look for a hammer. This will give you an opportunity for concealing elsewhere the ball in the palm. So soon as this is done, say, "Well, perhaps I shall only make a litter with the broken glass; so I will get the ball out in a more artistic manner. Whilst I am talking, though, I fear the little gentleman inside is making very free with the wine." Ask the ball how he is getting on, and advise him not to drink too much, &c., and then proceed to get him out of the bottle by striking the palm of the right hand on the mouth of the latter with considerable force. At the third blow or so, release the ball in the "kick," and it will fall to the ground with the appearance of having been forced through the bottom of the bottle. Call attention to the fact that it is red, and consequently, as you feared, must have been drinking the wine. To test this, pour out the contents of the bottle, which, being pure water, will cause the audience to be of your opinion, ludicrous though it may appear. After this, hand round both bottle and ball for inspection. It is a great mistake to omit showing the bottle, as the audience is invariably impressed with the idea that it has an opening in the bottom.

Instead of the imaginary catch, the bottle can be stood upon a table, and the ball passed into it by any ordinary "pass." The disadvantage attending this is that the ball is not heard to fall into the bottle, as in the other method. It is natural that a heavy ball falling into a bottle must make some noise on striking the bottom. Audiences, perhaps, are not sharp enough to remark the absence of this natural result, but there is no denying that the trick is rendered more complete with its addition. Besides, when placing the bottle upon a table, the ball in the "kick" would naturally be loose were not some method for preventing this to be adopted, and it would become a matter of great difficulty, if not an absolute impossibility, to raise the bottle again without revealing the real state of affairs. A little black wax in the apex of the "kick" serves to sustain the ball in a very satisfactory manner; but, in adopting this auxiliary, one has to dispense with what I consider to be a most necessary feature in the trick, viz., giving the bottle round for examination afterwards. The wax will tell an undeniable tale.

It is possible to vary this trick in many ways, quite according to the fancy of the performer. It is well, however, to be certain of palming and vanishing your ball quickly and neatly before attempting the trick at all, as everything depends upon this. If the white ball is observed to be still in your palm, no amount of rattling in the "kick" of the bottle, however seductively executed, will convince an audience that it has passed into the bottle.

Bacchus' Maypole.—I do not mind admitting to the reader that, where my imagination will permit, I am inventing new names for my tricks. I do this in order to save those who may hereafter undertake performances a certain amount of trouble, and also to get a little out of the beaten track. Ever since this trick has been invented it has been known as "Ribbons and Bottle." Now, that is a very poor title to put upon a programme, which, as it cannot possibly give any very valuable information to the spectator, may as well be embellished with neat terms as slovenly ones. A bottle and some ribbons certainly are used in the trick; but, as the old title does not reveal whether the ribbons go into or come out of the bottle, or whether the bottle comes out of the ribbons, a more fanciful one, so long as it is near the mark, seems just as appropriate, and much more ornamental. At the same time, it is very unadvisable to fill a programme with outrageous and ridiculous titles. I went to an entertainment once, given by a gentleman afflicted with a liking for high-sounding titles. At first I thought I was going to see something totally new, and waited for the curtain to draw up with some impatience, for the first item on the programme was thus designated: "The Celestial Mystery; or, the Winged Fairies of the Emperor Foo-Chow." This was the butterfly trick. However, although greatly disappointed, I kept up my courage, for item No. 2 was "The Sorcerer's Secret; or the Sheik's Visit to the Great Mogul." The egg bag! I collapsed, and took no further interest in the "Arabian Necromantic Divinations," "Scandinavian Second Sight; or, the Finnish Seer," &c., for they were all tricks of the most ordinary class. Let the performer, by all means, embellish his programme with well-chosen titles; but let him, at the same time, steer clear of the other extreme. Experience teaches one that there is more in a programme well got up than at first meets the eye.

Although there is rather more of mechanism, and less of sleight of hand, in it than I usually adopt, still this is such a very pretty trick that it would be a pity not to mention it. The performer comes on with a bottle, from which he pours a quantity of wine, beer, or other liquid, and then, either still holding it in his hand, or placing it upon a table or chair, he draws from it a ribbon of any colour that may be asked for by the audience. More liquid is poured out, and more ribbons produced.

The secret lies in the manufacture of the bottle. In most cases, an imitation one of blackened tin is used, but, as the difference between a metal bottle and a glass one is easily discernible, this is a bad principle. The best method is to procure a tapering bottle, quart size, and opaque, and get the bottom neatly cut out by a lapidary. If the glass be semi-transparent it is easily rendered opaque by being painted with Brunswick black on the inside. Into the bottom fit a block of wood nearly an inch thick, the upper half of which has been turned away half an inch, so as to form a step. To this step have fitted a long tin funnel of such a length that, when the block of wood is fitted into the bottle, the small end will be within the third of an inch of the mouth. This funnel is much smaller than the interior of the bottle, so that when it is in position there is space for a considerable quantity of liquid between it and the glass sides. The small end is closed up with a piece of metal, which is provided with a number of slits, each large enough to admit of a ribbon passing through it.

On the block of wood arrange as many tiny reels as it will take. It will be necessary to do this in tiers. There is no reason why they should be like the ordinary reel, for the smaller they are the better. Each of these reels carries a differently coloured ribbon, which has been previously passed through one of the slits at the closed end of the funnel. It will be discovered that it is not possible to wind them up quite tightly, but an inch or two hanging loose will not signify if care be taken not to cross the ribbons in any way. That end of the ribbon which appears outside the slit must have a piece of wire sewn in it, to prevent its going quite through. With the block thus prepared, and the funnel fitted firmly upon it, put the whole into the bottle, and then pour the liquid carefully down the sides of the funnel, taking care not to let any get in through the slits.

Having poured out a little of the liquid, for the benefit of the company, say that you are now going to ask the bottle to give you a colour, and request the audience to say which particular one it shall be. Of course, some half-dozen, at least, will be given by as many persons, which is all in your favour, as you may then choose which you please, or, more properly speaking, not notice any extraordinary one with which you may not be provided. Some clever person is sure to rack his brains for some impossible colour, but, as you will take no notice whatever of him, it will not matter much. Each time a colour is asked for, turn to some object of that particular hue, and pretend to convey some of it on the end of the wand to the mouth of the bottle. There is nothing in this, perhaps, but it gives an air of finish to the trick. Snatch up the bottle every now and then, and pour out some liquid from it, and also call attention in an indirect manner to the fact that the ribbons are perfectly dry. Also tap the bottle once or twice with the wand, for the unexpressed purpose of showing that it is glass, and handle it generally in a careless manner, swinging it about by the neck, taking care, however, not to expose the bottom. This makes a very effective stage trick.

A second method, which the reader is not at all likely to have seen performed, seeing that I invented it myself, enables the conjuror to employ an ordinary glass bottle, having no preparation whatever about it. It should be a dark bottle, so as to be quite opaque at a distance. The bottle is shown for examination, and placed upon a low table or chair, and the performer extracts coloured ribbons, just as they are called for. As the bottle has been examined, no necessity exists for occasionally pouring out liquid from it, which is a dumb way of saying that the bottle is an ordinary one. Secreted beneath the vest band, the performer has his rolls of ribbon arranged. They may be either upon bent pins, stuck in the vest itself, or the performer may have a band, fitted with wire hooks, which may be buttoned on in a few moments. As the ends of the hooks or pins are towards the performer's body, the ribbons cannot fall off; but the ends of the fingers, curled slightly underneath, obtain them at once. The colours must be arranged in a certain order, which the performer will, of course, have to remember, and he must depend entirely upon his sense of touch. Directly the colour is named, the performer commences to seek for some article of furniture or dress containing it; and whilst the wand is extended towards the object, for the purpose of magically bearing away some of its colour, the other hand is getting down the ribbon, that side of the body upon which it is secreted being turned from the audience. Proceeding to the bottle, the wand affects to place the colour magically obtained into the bottle, and, as soon as the other hand has secured the loose end of the ribbon, it is brought to the mouth, and the ribbon allowed to unroll. A tiny piece of lead, sewn in the end, will assist this greatly; but the ribbons should always be kept flat, except when in actual use, otherwise they will assume a curl, which will betray the fact that they have been rolled up. If symptoms of curling manifest themselves, the wand should be held at the mouth of the bottle and pressed against the ribbon as it comes out, and it should be then taken in both hands and held stretched until placed upon the table.

By adopting this method, the performer is enabled to produce a very great number of colours; and it is advisable to have two or three of them twice over. However well the trick may be performed with the prepared bottle, the company instinctively feel that a certain number of ribbons are concealed somewhere or other, and that when they are once produced no more can come. By producing the same colours twice, the notion of an inexhaustible productive power is conveyed.

There is a third method, which can only be employed on a regular stage. The bottle is a specially constructed glass one, that part which is known as the "kick" extending upwards to the neck, and having a hole in the top. Thus there is still space left in the bottle for plenty of liquor, whilst there is an open passage up the middle of it. This bottle is placed over a hole in a table having a hollow leg (a small, single-legged round table is invariably used), and the ribbons are passed up on the end of a rod by an assistant below. By this method, an endless supply can be taken from the bottle, but few of my readers will, I fancy, be able to adopt this method, although it could be done over a draped table under which a small boy was secreted for the time being. When the performer advances to the bottle he gives out the name of the colour very loudly, and places his fingers over the mouth, at the same time pressing hard, to prevent the bottle being shifted by the action of the ascending rod. The assistant below has his ribbons arranged in order, and, as soon as he hears the colour given, attaches the proper one to the pin at the end of the rod. When the performer is quite ready he strikes the bottle with the wand, upon hearing which, but not before, the assistant pushes up the rod. He must be in no hurry to withdraw it, but give the performer plenty of time to clear the ribbon. A suitable bottle may be manufactured by knocking the bottom out of an opaque glass bottle, and then fitting a tin lining to it, inside, which can be fixed and rendered watertight by means of putty, afterwards blackened, if white putty be used. The bottle is occasionally taken up, and liquor poured from it, as in the first method.

The Accommodating Bottle.—This is a bottle from which the performer pours any kind of wine or spirits that may be asked for. The secret, as in the foregoing trick, lies in the bottle, and it is only introduced here on account of its remarkable effectiveness in clever hands. The interior of the body is divided into a number of compartments, usually five. Each compartment has a tiny tube running from it half way up the neck of the bottle, and has also an aperture, just capable of admitting an ordinary pin, at the side of the bottle. Four of these apertures should be arranged an inch apart in a slightly curved line, so that one finger can be placed upon each when the bottle is grasped in the hand. The fifth aperture should be situated underneath the thumb. It is possible, but very difficult (owing to the absolute necessity for having the partitions hermetically closed, except at the tubes and the apertures), to have an ordinary quart bottle, with the bottom knocked out, fitted with a tin lining, properly prepared. When this can be done, it is decidedly advantageous; but, in the ordinary way, one has to be contented with a tin article, japanned.

By means of a specially fine funnel, each compartment is filled with a different wine, and great care must be taken in remembering which contains the port, which the sherry, and so on. So long as the fingers and thumb are kept firmly pressed upon the apertures, no liquid will escape, even when the bottle is inverted, as it will be by the performer, previous to commencing, to show that it is empty. Some bottles have an extra compartment, into which water is poured, in full view of the audience, and the bottle apparently washed out, the water being poured out again. The adoption of this addition is a matter of taste. A dozen or so of liqueur glasses upon a tray, and carried by an attendant, will be required, and, after calling attention to the fact that the bottle is quite empty, and that he has no pipes running up his sleeve, the performer asks a lady what particular wine she would like. It is as well to use the words "port, sherry, or what?" by way of suggesting something which you have in your bottle to start with. You will, of course, have champagne, claret, and hock, which, with the sherry and port, will make about as good a quintet as could be selected. On any particular wine being called for, all you have to do is to raise the finger covering the hole corresponding with the compartment containing the required beverage, and it will flow out; on replacing the finger the flow will cease. By using small glasses, one appears to supply so much more than would be the case with larger ones. Never more than half fill a glass, and always pass as rapidly as possible from one person to another. Of course, you will be frequently asked for a wine with which you are not provided. This, in nine times out of ten, you can manufacture out of your stock. For marsala, for instance, give a little sherry and hock mixed. For sparkling burgundy mix champagne and port, or champagne and claret. When you make a mistake, pretend to be in a great hurry to attend to another applicant, and accidentally (!) drop the glass on the floor. Never mind if the glass does break; your trick is not spoilt.

It is wonderful how much success is attained by management in this trick. In one person's hands, it falls so flat as to be almost a failure; whilst, in another's, it will probably be the success of the evening. It is especially successful in the hands of a brisk and lively performer, before, or rather amongst, a large audience of a free and easy nature. It is not a good trick to introduce before a select and stiff company. Should any particularly fastidious person be met with, he can generally be settled by the administration of a mixture of the whole five wines. If he is still dissatisfied, ask him, if the beverage is not the one for which he asked, to say what it is. It will puzzle him to answer, and you will then be able to retaliate upon him by supposing that he does not know the taste of the wine for which he was so anxious.

Some first-rate continental conjurors, who, as a rule, take infinite trouble with their tricks, perform this trick with an ordinary bottle, which, after being examined, is filled with sweetened water (ostensibly plain water), and then any liqueur is given from it. The secret in this case lies in the glasses, which are coloured, and contain each an extract of a certain liqueur. The sweetened water answers for all. By this means, it is possible to be provided with an immense number of flavours, but the trouble in preparation is such as only a professed conjuror could undertake.

The Mesmeric Suspension Wand.—The Fakir of Oolu (he is known in private circles by a far less sounding and much more cockneyfied name than that) was the first to introduce this trick to the British public.

The performer is provided with an ordinary conjuring wand, blackened all over. He passes it through one hand, to show that it is not attached to any suspending medium, and then performs a series of feats with it, which apparently entirely upset the laws of gravitation. For instance, when placed horizontally against the under side of the outstretched hand, it does not, as one would expect, fall at once to the ground, but remains in the unnatural position. When placed perpendicularly against a finger or thumb, the result is the same; and it can be just as easily suspended from the tip of the finger by its extreme end. There are three methods in general use for producing these phenomena. One is to have the rod provided with several black pins, which stand out a little from the wand, and are then bent at right angles. The heads are taken off, and the exposed ends left rough. If two of these pins be placed about five inches apart, with the points of each turned towards the other, a hand placed flatly between them will be enabled to sustain the rod in any position by merely opening out the fingers, thereby causing a pressure on the two pins. This is the whole secret of the first method. The conjuror can arrange his pins according to fancy. I find five ample viz., two about two and a half inches apart at each end, and one small one at the actual tip. There is no necessity for more; and the space of two and a half inches admits of the introduction of two fingers, which possess quite sufficient power to sustain the rod. The advantage of using two fingers only is that, by employing the middle ones, those on the outside are left free to be moved about, as they should be, to assist in abolishing the idea of any connection existing. When the wand is drawn through one hand, the action must be quickly executed, and no notice given of the intention to perform it, otherwise the attention of the audience will be sufficiently attracted to the wand to cause it to be noticed that the hand does not actually touch it, although it appears to do so. A serious pantomime of mesmerising the wand by means of a few passes may be indulged in with advantage, according to the ability of the performer in this direction; but he must treat it seriously. If it is at all well done, one half of the audience will remain almost convinced that some influence has been exercised over the rod. The wand should then be taken in one hand, and struck smartly on the palm of the other, to show that it is solid, or it can be done previous to the mesmerism. This is very necessary, as a universal idea exists, amongst those who do not know the trick, that the wand is made of pith, and that the performer has some "sticky stuff" on his fingers. It should next be held horizontally at the end by one hand, and the other passed slowly along it once or twice, the motion becoming slower and slower until it ceases altogether. The fingers will then be between two pins, and, on the rod being released by the other hand, it will apparently cling to the under surface of the one above it. To cause it to attach itself to a finger or thumb perpendicularly, it is only necessary to hang it by one pin on the outstretched member, and the prodigy is accomplished. The pin at the tip is for the purpose of suspending the rod from the end of a finger. This is accomplished by pushing the pin under the nail. No trick could be simpler; therefore the performer must do all he can to make the audience believe in its extreme difficulty. Once or twice, at least, the mesmeric power should fail, and fresh passes resorted to in order to restore it. An effective action to introduce is that of placing both hands above the wand whilst it is in a horizontal position, and then appearing to move them backwards and forwards along it. This is accomplished by fixing the fingers of one hand only in the pins. The hands are then parted, and joined twice with considerably rapidity. The disengaged hand must not alone be moved, but the other as well, otherwise it will be seen that the wand is affixed to one hand, and the other merely moved along it. The care taken by the conjuror will make this trick the more or less successful.

The second method is to have a ring upon the finger provided with a clamp, which receives the wand in its embrace. The only thing to be said in favour of this device is that it enables the wand to be shown round. In all else it is vastly inferior to the bent pin arrangement. The number of positions in which it is possible to suspend the rod are exceedingly limited, and the probability of the ring being accidentally exposed is by no means remote.

As it is decidedly advantageous to give the rod round for examination, it is always well for the performer to devise a method for handing round one rod, free from any preparation whatever, and then exchanging it for a prepared one. This is, perhaps, best managed by concealing the prepared one up the coat sleeve. The one that is shown round is dropped into the tail pocket, which can be specially arranged for such a use without much difficulty. The change behind the table is weak, and a large majority of the audience invariably see through it, in which case all the performer's subsequent actions with the article are looked upon as farcical. When a dummy article is to be exchanged for a prepared one, the change must be perfect, or left alone altogether. If the performer have any doubt about it, let him rather dispense with the examination and consequent exchange, for then the audience can only suspect; but, if any covert action is detected, then the suspicion resolves itself into a tolerable certainty.