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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
390
Introductory
Address.--“Ladies
and
Gentlemen,--In
an
age
so
enlightened
as
our
own,
it
is
really
surprising
to
see
how
many
popular
fallacies
spring
up
from
day
to
day,
and
are
accepted
by
the
public
mind
as
unchangeable
laws
of
nature.
“Among
these
fallacies
there
is
one
which
I
propose
at
once
to
point
out
to
you,
and
which
I
flatter
myself
I
shall
very
easily
dispose
of.
Many
people
have
asserted,
and,
among
others,
the
celebrated
Erasmus
of
Rotterdam,
that
a
material
object
can
only
be
in
one
place
at
one
time.
Now
I
maintain,
on
the
contrary,
that
any
object
may
be
in
several
places
at
the
same
moment,
and
that
it
is
equally
possible
that
it
may
be
nowhere
at
all.
“I
must
beg
you
to
observe,
in
the
first
place,
that
I
have
nothing
in
my
hands--except
my
fingers;
and
that
between
my
fingers
there
is
nothing
save
a
few
atoms
of
the
mysterious
fluid
which
we
call
the
atmosphere,
and
through
which
our
jolly
old
Earth
spins
so
merrily
along.
But
we
must
leave
the
common-place
regions
of
astronomy,
and
return
to
the
mysteries
of
hermetic
science.
“I
have
before
me,
as
you
will
have
noticed,
three
little
cups
or
goblets.
The
metal
of
which
these
are
composed
is
an
amalgam
of
costly
minerals,
unknown
even
to
the
most
profound
philosophers.
This
mysterious
composition,
which
resembles
silver
in
its
solidity,
its
colour,
and
the
clearness
of
its
ring,
has
over
silver
this
great
advantage,
that
it
will
at
pleasure
become
impalpable
as
air,
so
that
solid
bodies
pass
through
these
goblets
as
easily
as
they
would
through
empty
space.
I
will
give
you
a
curious
illustration
of
this
by
making
one
goblet
pass
through
another.”
(This
the
performer
does
in
the
manner
already
described,
and
after
a
moment’s
pause,
continues,
taking
up
his
wand
in
his
left
hand,
and
secretly
palming
a
ball
in
his
right.)
“This
little
wand,
you
are
possibly
aware,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
goes
by
the
name
of
Jacob’s
Rod.
Why
it
is
so
called
I
really
don’t
know;
I
only
know
that
this
simple-looking
wand
has
the
faculty
of
producing
various
articles
at
pleasure.
For
instance,
I
require
for
the
purpose
of
my
experiment
a
little
ball.
My
wand
at
once
supplies
me.”
(He
produces
a
ball
from
the
wand,
and
lays
it
on
the
table.)
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