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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
471
THE
MAGIC
WHISTLE.--The
student
will
not
have
proceeded
far
in
his
magical
experience
before
he
meets
with
an
often-recurring
nuisance,
in
the
person
of
some
individual,
old
or
young,
who
knows,
or
pretends
to
know,
the
secret
of
all
his
tricks,
and
whose
greatest
delight
it
is,
by
some
mal-à-propos
question
or
suggestion,
to
cause
the
performer
embarrassment.
The
magic
whistle
is
specially
designed
to
punish,
and,
if
possible,
to
silence,
an
individual
of
this
kind.
It
is
of
turned
boxwood,
and
of
the
shape
shown
in
Fig.
166,
and
yields
a
shrill
and
piercing
note.
The
performer,
bringing
it
forward
and
blowing
through
it,
announces
that
this
little
whistle,
so
simple
in
appearance,
has
the
singular
faculty
of
obeying
his
will,
and
of
sounding
or
not
sounding
at
his
command
alone.
The
loquacious
gentleman
is
pretty
sure
to
question
the
fact,
or
is
on
some
pretence
selected
to
make
trial
of
its
truth.
The
performer
places
him
directly
facing
the
audience,
and
after
himself
once
more
sounding
the
whistle,
hands
it
to
him
in
order
to
try
his
skill.
He
blows
vigorously,
but
in
vain;
not
a
sound
can
he
produce,
but
his
mouth
and
lips
gradually
become
obscured
with
a
white
or
black
dust.
He
finally
retires
to
his
seat
amid
the
laughter
of
the
audience,
and
generally
much
less
disposed
to
make
himself
prominent
during
the
remainder
of
the
evening.
The
secret
lies
in
the
fact
that
there
are
two
whistles--one
is
a
perfectly
ordinary
instrument,
but
the
other,
though
similar
in
appearance,
does
not
sound,
but
is
perforated
round
the
inner
side
of
the
head
(see
the
Figure)
with
a
number
of
small
holes.
The
head
unscrews,
and
is
beforehand
filled
with
finely
powdered
chalk
or
charcoal,
which,
when
the
whistle
is
blown,
is
forced
through
the
holes,
and
settles
round
the
mouth
of
the
victim.
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