Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

Some performers make the change more than once, and it is obvious that the contents of the coffers may be made to apparently change places any number of times. If this is done, however, the secret of the false tops is apt to be suspected; whereas, in the method above described, the audience have, as they believe, proved the coffers full to the bottom, both before and after the trick; and this greatly increases the difficulty of accounting for the transposition. The object of having the false tops bottomed with open wirework, instead of with tin, is to be prepared for the expression of a suspicion on the part of the audience as to the existence of a false top. In such case the performer, borrowing a penknife, passes it well down through the upper layer of beans, etc., and through the wirework, thus proving (apparently) that the coffer is open to the bottom. In the trick as above described, however, the expression of such a suspicion is a very remote contingency. The trick is sometimes performed with sweetmeats in one or both of the coffers, and in this form has an added charm for a juvenile audience, who complete the trick by swallowing that portion of the apparatus. THE BRAN AND ORANGE TRICK.--This trick is performed with a single coffer, in appearance very similar to those used in the last trick, but slightly different in construction. The false top is, in this case, bottomed with plain tin. The bottom of the coffer is moveable, being soldered to a circular rim or shoulder of tin about a quarter of an inch in depth, over which the coffer fits pretty tightly, though the projecting edge of the bottom enables the performer to remove it without difficulty. The performer must also be provided with an ordinary oblong wooden box. Its precise dimensions are unimportant, save that it should be a good deal larger than the coffer, but about an inch or so less in height. This box is filled with bran, as also is the false top of the coffer. A couple of oranges, as much alike as possible, must also be provided. One only of these is produced to the audience, the other being beforehand placed on the servante of the table.