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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
631
This
capital
trick
requires
the
aid
of
a
special
table.
The
top
is
thin,
and
without
fringe
or
ornament
of
any
kind,
allowing
no
apparent
space
for
the
concealment
of
even
the
smallest
article.
The
centre
pillar,
however,
is
a
hollow
tube,
and
it
is
into
this
that
the
handkerchief
is
made
to
vanish.
The
first
step
in
the
trick
is
to
exchange
the
handkerchief
for
a
substitute.
(See
page
240.)
This
substitute
is
spread
over
the
top
of
the
table.
The
real
handkerchief
the
performer
carries
with
him
when
he
leaves
the
stage
under
the
pretence
of
fetching
the
candle,
and
utilizes
his
momentary
absence
in
placing
it
inside
the
candle,
which
is
hollow,
and
of
the
description
mentioned
at
page
251.
When
the
gentleman
advances
to
set
fire
to
the
handkerchief,
the
pulling
of
a
string
by
the
assistant
causes
a
clip
to
rise
up
in
the
centre
of
the
table,
and
nip
the
middle
of
the
handkerchief,
which
is
instantly
drawn
down
within
the
tube
through
a
small
trap
at
its
upper
extremity.
THE
SPHINX.--Few
tricks
have
of
late
years
caused
so
great
a
sensation
as
this
now
well-known
illusion,
which
was
first
introduced
to
the
London
public
by
the
late
Colonel
Stodare,
in
1865.
We
cannot
better
preface
the
explanation
of
the
trick
than
by
quoting
a
portion
of
the
Times
notice
on
the
subject,
of
October
19,
1865:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
