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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
605
The
mechanical
pieces
worked
by
the
agency
of
these
pistons
vary
greatly
in
construction,
but
they
are
alike
in
one
particular,
viz.,
that
they
are
set
in
motion
by
one
or
more
vertical
rods
passing
up
the
shaft
or
column
on
which
they
stand,
and
each
terminating
in
a
flat
metal
disc,
or
pedal,
which
receives
the
upward
pressure
of
the
piston.
Fig.
280
shows
the
arrangement
of
the
foot
of
a
mechanical
piece
worked
by
one
such
rod
only.
Another
specimen
will
have
been
observed
in
the
case
of
the
pedestal
for
the
animated
money.
(See
page
186.)
Where
three
or
four
pedals
are
necessary,
they
are
generally
enclosed
in
a
square
wooden
base,
as
in
the
case
of
the
“Demon’s
Head,”
described
at
page
458.
Before
quitting
the
subject
of
the
tables
used
upon
the
stage,
we
must
not
omit
to
say
a
few
words
as
to
what
is
called
the
“bellows”
table,
though
it
is
now
comparatively
little
used.
It
was
formerly
(say
forty
or
fifty
years
ago)
the
fashion
among
conjurors
to
use
tables
with
drapery
hanging
to
within
a
few
inches
of
the
floor.
The
table
being,
say,
two
feet
seven
inches
high,
this
gave
room
for
a
box-like
arrangement,
of
two
feet
deep,
or
thereabouts,
within
the
body
of
the
table.
In
this
box,
which
was
open
at
the
back,
was
hidden
an
assistant,
who
worked
the
pistons,
managed
the
traps,
effected
necessary
substitutions,
etc.,
etc.
Conjuring
under
such
circumstances
was
very
easy
work.
In
1845,
however,
Robert-Houdin
gave
his
first
public
performance,
and
one
of
the
earliest
of
his
reforms
in
the
magic
art
was
the
suppression
of
the
too
suggestive
drapery,
and
the
substitution
of
tables
of
light
and
elegant
form,
allowing
no
possible
room
for
the
concealment
of
an
assistant.
A
reaction
set
in
in
favour
of
the
new
fashion,
which
has
ever
since
maintained
its
ground.
The
“bellows”
table
combines
the
apparent
simplicity
of
the
undraped
table
with
the
internal
capacity
of
the
old-fashioned
draped
article.
There
is
a
trick,
formerly
very
popular
as
the
wind-up
of
an
entertainment,
which
consists
of
the
magical
disappearance
of
a
youthful
assistant,
male
or
female.
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