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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
37
In
this,
as
in
all
other
branches
of
prestidigitation,
the
student
will
find
it
of
the
greatest
possible
advantage
to
practise
before
a
looking-glass.
By
this
means,
better
than
any
other,
he
will
be
enabled
to
judge
how
far
his
movements
succeed
in
deceiving
the
eyes
of
a
spectator.
One
caution
may
here
be
given
with
advantage:
the
student
of
legerdemain
must
learn
to
perform
all
necessary
movements
without
looking
at
his
hands,
unless
for
some
special
reason
he
desires
the
spectators
to
look
at
them
also.
In
every
case,
wherever
the
performer
desires
his
audience
to
look,
his
own
eyes
must
take
that
particular
direction;
and
wherever
he
desires
his
audience
not
to
look,
he
himself
must
carefully
abstain
from
looking.
Let
us
suppose,
for
instance,
that
a
person
has
drawn
a
card,
and
has
replaced
it
in
the
middle
of
the
pack.
The
performer
desires
to
bring
it
to
the
top,
for
which
purpose
it
is
necessary
to
introduce
the
little
finger
above
the
card
in
question,
and
to
make
the
pass,
as
above
described.
When
the
card
is
replaced
in
the
pack,
the
eyes
of
the
drawer
are
naturally
directed
towards
it;
and
if
the
performer
were
himself
to
look
downward
at
the
cards,
it
would
multiply
tenfold
the
chances
of
detection.
He
should
pause
for
a
moment,
and,
looking
full
at
the
person
who
drew
the
card,
ask,
“You
are
certain
that
you
will
know
that
card
again?”
or
make
any
similar
observation.
As
he
speaks,
a
natural
impulse
will
draw
the
eyes
of
the
audience
to
his
own
face,
and
he
may
then
make
the
pass
without
the
slight
necessary
movement
attracting
the
least
attention.
It
is
hard
to
believe,
until
tested
by
actual
experience,
what
apparently
obvious
movements
may
be
executed
under
the
very
noses
of
an
audience,
if
only
their
attention
is
diverted
at
the
right
moment
by
a
dexterous
use
of
the
eye
and
voice
of
the
operator.
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