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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
698
The
Cook
of
the
Palais
Royal
was
a
very
amusing
piece
of
mechanical
application.
It
consisted
of
a
faithful
representation
of
a
detached
villa.
Houdin
handed
round
a
list
of
wines
and
liquors,
requesting
his
audience
to
select
which
they
liked
best
on
the
bill
of
fare.
When
one
was
mentioned,
a
figure
of
a
young
maid
emerged
from
the
doorway,
descended
the
steps,
and
brought
forward
on
a
tray
a
glass
of
the
desired
wine.
When
the
person
at
whose
order
the
wine
was
brought
removed
the
glass
from
the
tray,
the
figure
turned
and
glided
back
into
the
house,
again
emerging
with
another
glass
of
wine,
and
so
on
until
the
list
was
exhausted
or
the
bibulous
propensities
of
the
audience
were
fully
satisfied.
The
same
basis
of
machinery
used
in
the
Magic
Harlequin
was
also
employed
in
the
Cook
of
the
Palais
Royal,
each
piston
working
a
tap
containing
one
kind
of
wine.
The
operator
at
the
back
of
the
stage
could
hear
the
wine
asked
for,
and
thus
knew
which
string
to
pull,
and
which
tap
to
open,
when
the
figure,
which
was
made
to
pass
under
every
tap,
re-entered
the
house.
Houdin’s
Orange
Tree
was
a
capital
trick,
and,
although
exceedingly
simple
in
its
mechanism,
produced
the
most
startling
effects.
Houdin
borrowed
a
handkerchief,
which
he
burnt,
or
rather
which
he
led
the
audience
to
think
he
burnt,
at
the
sacrifice
of
a
duplicate,
in
front
of
a
plant
placed
in
a
box
upon
a
table,
which,
at
word
of
command,
gradually
began
to
bloom.
White
blossoms
were
seen
to
emerge
from
four
or
five
different
shoots.
These
disappeared,
giving
place
to
oranges,
which
Houdin
removed
from
the
tree
and
distributed
among
his
audience,
with
the
exception
of
one,
which
he
left
on.
This
one
opened,
and
out
from
it
sprang
two
butterflies,
and
in
the
middle
of
the
orange
was
found
the
burnt
handkerchief.
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