Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE MAGIC WHISTLE.--The student will not have proceeded far in his magical experience before he meets with an often-recurring nuisance, in the person of some individual, old or young, who knows, or pretends to know, the secret of all his tricks, and whose greatest delight it is, by some mal-à-propos question or suggestion, to cause the performer embarrassment. The magic whistle is specially designed to punish, and, if possible, to silence, an individual of this kind. It is of turned boxwood, and of the shape shown in Fig. 166, and yields a shrill and piercing note. The performer, bringing it forward and blowing through it, announces that this little whistle, so simple in appearance, has the singular faculty of obeying his will, and of sounding or not sounding at his command alone. The loquacious gentleman is pretty sure to question the fact, or is on some pretence selected to make trial of its truth. The performer places him directly facing the audience, and after himself once more sounding the whistle, hands it to him in order to try his skill. He blows vigorously, but in vain; not a sound can he produce, but his mouth and lips gradually become obscured with a white or black dust. He finally retires to his seat amid the laughter of the audience, and generally much less disposed to make himself prominent during the remainder of the evening. The secret lies in the fact that there are two whistles--one is a perfectly ordinary instrument, but the other, though similar in appearance, does not sound, but is perforated round the inner side of the head (see the Figure) with a number of small holes. The head unscrews, and is beforehand filled with finely powdered chalk or charcoal, which, when the whistle is blown, is forced through the holes, and settles round the mouth of the victim.