Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

Some performers have in addition a bundle of plumes fastened together by a thread, and laid along the inside of the trousers and waistcoat, in such manner that the stems are just within the breast of the latter. After having exhausted his sleeves, the operator, holding the handkerchief (by two of its corners) across his chest, to show that it is quite empty, catches hold, with the second and third fingers, of the stem of the bundle within the waistcoat, and moving the handkerchief with a quick sidelong motion from left to right, or vice versâ, draws out the feathers behind it, and immediately breaking the thread, shakes them out in a shower on the stage. There is another form of the same trick, in which the handkerchief plays only a secondary part, but, from its near relation to that last described, we insert it in this place. It is generally called