Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE COVER, TO PICK UP ANY ARTICLE.--This (called in French “ramasse-tout”) is a brass cover of six to ten inches in height, and of the shape shown in Fig. 187. Within it works backwards and forwards on a spring hinge, a kind of scoop, pressing, when at rest, against the side of the cover, as in Fig. 188, but moving into the position shown in Fig. 189 whenever pressure is applied to the button a, again returning to its original position when such pressure is removed. The manner of using it is as follows:--The performer, we will suppose, desires to cause the disappearance of an orange, in order that it (or a counterpart) may be subsequently produced in some other quarter. Placing the orange upon the table, he places the cover over it, pressing, as he does so, the button a, so as to draw back the scoop. As his hand quits the cover, the pressure being removed, the return of the spring causes the scoop to clip the orange tightly against the side of the cover; and if the cover be now lifted without pressing the button, it will carry the orange with it. If it is desired again to produce the orange, the button is pressed in the act of lifting the cover, which then leaves the orange on the table. It is hardly necessary to observe that the cover is always lifted perpendicularly, so that the spectator cannot see the interior. It is well to be provided with a second cover similar in external appearance, but without any mechanism. This may be handed round for inspection, and afterwards secretly exchanged for the mechanical cover.