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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
382
CHAPTER
XIII.
THE
CUPS
AND
BALLS.
The
subject
of
the
present
chapter
may
be
said
to
be
the
groundwork
of
all
legerdemain,
being,
we
believe,
the
very
earliest
form
in
which
sleight-of-hand
was
exhibited.
At
the
present
day
it
is
not
very
often
seen,
save
in
the
bastard
form
known
as
“thimble-rig,”
and
used
as
a
means
of
fleecing
the
unwary
upon
race-courses
and
at
country
fairs.
It
is,
however,
well
worthy
the
attention
of
the
student
of
modern
magic,
not
only
as
affording
an
excellent
course
of
training
in
digital
dexterity,
but
as
being,
in
the
hands
of
an
adept,
most
striking
in
effect.
It
is
by
no
means
uncommon
to
find
spectators
who
have
received
more
elaborate
feats
with
comparative
indifference,
become
interested,
and
even
enthusiastic,
over
a
brilliant
manipulation
of
the
cups
and
balls.
The
prestige
of
the
illusion
is
heightened
by
the
simplicity
of
the
appliances
used,
consisting
merely
of
three
tin
cups
about
three
inches
high,
each
in
the
form
of
a
truncated
cone,
with
a
rim
or
shoulder
round
the
base
(see
Fig.
118),
the
ordinary
wand,
four
little
cork
balls,
three-quarters
of
an
inch
or
a
little
less
in
diameter,
and
blackened
in
the
flame
of
a
candle,
three
larger
balls
of
about
an
inch
and
a
quarter
in
diameter,
and
four
more
of
such
a
size
as
to
just
fill
the
goblet.
These
last
are
generally
stuffed
with
hair,
and
covered
with
cloth.
The
number
of
balls
may
vary
according
to
the
particular
“passes”
which
the
performer
desires
to
exhibit,
but
the
above
will
be
found
sufficient
for
most
purposes.
The
performers
of
the
olden
time
were
accustomed
to
use
the
gibecière,
or
apron
with
pockets,
already
mentioned,
and
to
perform
at
a
table
having
no
speciality,
save
that
it
was
a
little
higher
than
those
in
ordinary
use;
but
at
the
present
day
the
gibecière
is
entirely
discarded,
the
servante
of
the
table
answering
the
same
purpose.
The
arrangement
of
the
table
and
apparatus
is
shown
in
Fig.
118.
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