Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

A further improvement may be made in the trick by using a sword with a rapier blade in place of the brass rod. The trick is not only more effective in appearance, as the sword appears to cut through the ball, but the tapering shape of the blade makes the trick much easier to perform, as you have only to draw the ball down towards the hilt, when the swell of the blade will force the two halves of the ball apart, leaving them naturally in your hand. It is best in this case simultaneously to let the solid ball drop from your palm to the floor. This draws all eyes downwards, and gives you ample opportunity to drop the halves of the trick ball into your secret pocket. In this form of the trick you, of course, hold the sword yourself in the ordinary manner, and you may, if you prefer it, dispense with the handkerchief, using your hand only to mask the operation, at once stepping forward, as the ball drops to the ground, and saying, “Will the owners be kind enough to identify their rings?” TO PASS A BORROWED RING INTO AN EGG.--This is an effective conclusion to a ring trick. The necessary apparatus consists of two wooden egg-cups, inside one of which, at the bottom, is cut a mortice or slot just large enough to receive one-half the circumference of a lady’s ring, and to hold it in an upright position. The second egg-cup has no speciality, being, in fact, merely a dummy, designed to be handed to the audience for inspection. An ordinary button-hook, or a piece of wire bent into the shape of a button-hook, completes the preparations.