Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

The Japanese egg-bag is about eight inches in depth and six in breadth, and made of alpaca, tammy, or some similar opaque material. Its only peculiarity is that one of its sides is double, the stuff being folded down inwards from the mouth of the bag to about two-thirds of its depth, and stitched at the sides, but left open at its lower edge. The effect of this arrangement is to make a sort of pocket, mouth downwards, inside the bag. If any small article, such as an egg, be placed within the bag, and the bag be turned upside down, the article will not fall out, but will fall into the pocket, which, in the reversed position of the bag, will be mouth upwards. This will enable you to conceal the presence of any article in the bag, as you may turn it upside down, and even inside out, without any fear of the article falling; and so long as you take care to keep the “pocket” side of the bag towards yourself, the spectators have not the least reason for suspecting that the bag is otherwise than empty. The uses to which this little bag may be put are various. Amongst others, it is available either to produce or cause the disappearance of an egg, and may thus, in combination with other apparatus, be made useful for many tricks. We shall content ourselves with describing one only of the modes of using it.