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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
283
THE
BALL
OF
BERLIN
WOOL.--An
easy
and
effective
mode
of
terminating
a
money
trick
is
to
pass
the
marked
coin
into
the
centre
of
a
large
ball
of
Berlin
wool
or
worsted,
the
whole
of
which
has
to
be
unwound
before
the
coin
can
be
reached.
The
modus
operandi,
though
perplexing
to
the
uninitiated,
is
absurdly
simple
when
the
secret
is
revealed.
The
only
apparatus
necessary
over
and
above
the
wool
(of
which
you
must
have
enough
for
a
good-sized
ball),
is
a
flat
tin
tube,
three
to
four
inches
in
length,
and
just
large
enough
to
allow
a
florin
or
shilling
(whichever
you
intend
to
use
for
the
trick)
to
slip
through
it
easily.
You
prepare
for
the
trick
by
winding
the
wool
on
one
end
of
the
tube,
in
such
manner
that
when
the
whole
is
wound
in
a
ball,
an
inch
or
so
of
the
tube
may
project
from
it.
This
you
place
in
your
pocket,
or
anywhere
out
of
sight
of
the
audience.
You
commence
the
trick
by
requesting
some
one
to
mark
a
coin,
which
you
forthwith
exchange,
by
one
or
other
of
the
means
already
described,
for
a
substitute
of
your
own,
and
leave
the
latter
in
the
possession
or
in
view
of
the
spectators,
while
you
retire
to
fetch
your
ball
of
wool,
or
simply
take
it
from
your
pocket.
Before
producing
it,
you
drop
the
genuine
coin
down
the
tube
into
the
centre
of
the
ball,
and
withdraw
the
tube,
giving
the
ball
a
squeeze
to
remove
all
trace
of
an
opening.
You
then
bring
it
forward,
and
place
it
in
a
glass
goblet
or
tumbler,
which
you
hand
to
a
spectator
to
hold.
Taking
the
substitute
coin,
you
announce
that
you
will
make
it
pass
invisibly
into
the
very
centre
of
the
ball
of
wool,
which
you
accordingly
pretend
to
do,
getting
rid
of
it
by
means
of
one
or
other
of
the
Passes
described
in
Chapter
VI.
You
then
request
a
second
spectator
to
take
the
loose
end
of
the
wool,
and
to
unwind
the
ball,
which,
when
he
has
done,
the
coin
falls
out
into
the
goblet.
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