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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
643
The
only
point
that
remains
to
be
explained
is
the
difficulty
which
will
probably
already
have
suggested
itself
to
the
reader,
viz.,
“How
does
the
performer
manage
to
show
the
basket
empty
at
the
close
of
the
trick?”
Simply
by
having
the
basket
made
on
the
principle
of
the
“inexhaustible
box,”
described
at
page
391.
The
performer
takes
care
to
tilt
the
basket
over
to
the
front
before
he
raises
the
lid.
This
leaves
the
lady
lying
on
the
true
bottom
of
the
basket
(see
Fig.
302),
while
a
moveable
flap,
fixed
at
right
angles
to
the
bottom,
and
lying
in
its
normal
position
flat
against
the
front
of
the
basket,
for
the
time
being
represents
the
bottom
to
the
eyes
of
the
audience.
While
the
basket
is
thus
shown
apparently
empty,
the
lady
who
first
appeared
in
the
trick
comes
forward,
and
is
immediately
recognized
by
the
audience;
and
as
they
are
fully
persuaded
that
she
was
the
person
placed
in
the
basket,
the
inference
that
she
has
escaped
from
it
by
some
quasi-supernatural
means
seems
inevitable.
The
above
is
the
form
in
which
the
trick
was
first
introduced
to
the
London
public,
but
another
modus
operandi
has
since
been
adopted
by
some
performers.
The
low
table
or
bench
on
which
the
basket
is
placed
is
in
this
case
constructed
on
the
principle
of
the
Sphinx-table,
with
looking-glass
between
the
legs,
and
with
a
large
trap
in
the
top.
The
basket
used
is
not
made
like
the
inexhaustible
box,
but
the
bottom
is
moveable,
and
hinged
against
the
front,
so
as
to
lift
up
flat
against
it
when
required.
One
lady
only
is
employed.
When
she
is
about
to
step
into
the
basket,
the
bottom
is
pushed
up
from
below,
and
she
thus
steps
through
the
basket
and
the
table,
and
thence
passes,
through
a
trap-door,
beneath
the
stage.
The
basket
is
then
closed,
and
the
bottom
allowed
to
fall
back
into
its
place.
As
the
basket
is
left
in
this
case
empty,
the
performer
may
thrust
into
it
in
any
direction
at
pleasure,
the
screams
being
uttered
by
the
lady
from
her
safe
quarters
below.
At
the
proper
moment
the
performer
lifts
the
basket
bodily
off
the
table,
and
shows
it
really
empty,
while
the
lady,
as
in
the
former
case,
reappears
in
some
other
quarter.
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