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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
208
THE
“TORN
CARD.”--This
is
a
very
effective
trick.
The
performer
requests
some
one
of
the
company
to
draw
a
card,
and,
having
done
so,
to
tear
it
up
into
any
number
of
fragments.
He
does
so,
and
hands
them
to
the
operator,
who
returns
one
corner
to
him,
with
a
request
that
he
will
take
particular
care
of
it.
The
performer
announces
that
out
of
the
torn
fragments
he
will
restore
the
card
anew,
for
which
purpose
he
first
burns
the
fragments
on
a
plate
or
otherwise,
carefully
preserving
the
ashes.
He
then
brings
forward
one
of
the
changing
card-boxes
already
described,
and,
after,
showing
that
it
is
empty,
closes
it,
and
places
it
on
the
table
in
view
of
all
present.
He
next
takes
the
ashes
of
the
torn
card,
and,
loading
a
pistol
with
them,
fires
at
the
box.
(If
he
has
not
a
pistol
at
hand,
placing
the
ashes
on
the
box,
rubbing
them
on
the
lid,
or
any
other
act
which
gets
rid
of
them
will
answer
the
same
purpose.)
When
the
box
is
opened,
the
card
is
found
whole
as
at
first,
with
the
exception
of
one
corner,
being
(ostensibly)
that
which
was
retained
by
the
drawer.
Taking
this
piece
in
his
right
hand,
and
holding
the
card
by
one
corner
between
the
thumb
and
first
finger
of
his
left
hand
(see
Fig.
53),
the
performer
makes
a
motion
as
if
throwing
the
small
piece
towards
it.
The
small
piece
instantly
vanishes
from
his
hand,
and
at
the
same
moment
the
card
is
seen
to
be
completely
restored,
the
torn
corner
being
in
its
proper
place.
Some
performers,
instead
of
giving
the
drawer
the
torn
corner
to
take
charge
of
in
the
first
instance,
burn
ostensibly
the
whole
of
the
pieces,
and
pretend
surprise
on
finding
that
there
is
a
corner
missing
when
the
card
is
restored.
Directly
afterwards,
however,
they
pick
up
the
missing
fragment
from
the
floor,
where
they
have
just
previously
dropped
it,
and
the
trick
proceeds
as
already
described.
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