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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
455
THE
PILLARS
OF
SOLOMON,
AND
THE
MAGIC
BRADAWL.--There
is
a
very
old-fashioned
apparatus,
sometimes
called
the
Pillars
of
Solomon,
for
apparently
uniting
a
piece
of
cut
string.
It
consists
of
two
slips
of
wood,
each
about
four
inches
in
length
by
five-eighths
of
an
inch
square,
laid
side
by
side.
At
about
an
inch
from
one
end
of
each,
a
transverse
hole
is
bored,
and
through
this,
passing
through
both
slips,
a
string
is
passed,
and
may
be
drawn
backwards
and
forwards
from
side
to
side.
(See
Fig.
159.)
The
apparatus
having
been
shown
in
this
condition,
the
performer
passes
a
knife
between
the
two
slips,
thus
apparently
dividing
the
string;
but
the
string
is
notwithstanding
still
drawn
backward
and
forwards
through
the
holes,
as
sound
as
ever.
The
secret
lies
in
the
fact
that
the
string
does
not,
in
reality,
go
straight
through
the
two
slips
of
wood
from
side
to
side.
A
glance
at
Fig.
160
will
enlighten
the
reader
as
to
its
real
course.
Instead
of
passing
straight
through
from
a
to
d,
as
it
appears
to
do
when
the
two
pillars
are
laid
side
by
side
(which
is
the
condition
in
which
they
are
first
exhibited
to
the
spectators),
it
passes
down
the
length
of
the
first
pillar
from
a
to
b,
out
at
b,
and
into
the
second
pillar
at
c,
whence
it
passes
upwards,
and
emerges
at
d.
The
passing
of
the
knife
between
the
two
points
a
and
d
does
not
therefore
affect
the
string
in
the
least.
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