Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

[N] A muff, being open at each end, is an excellent thing whence to produce any small article--e.g., a borrowed watch, a ball, etc. For this purpose the performer should take hold of one end of the muff with the hand in which is palmed the article in question, which is immediately allowed to slide gently through the muff, and is stopped by the other hand. If this is neatly done, the keenest eye cannot detect the deception. Some performers use several small bullets. In our own opinion, a single ball of tolerable size is not only more manageable, but more effective. The mode of producing the bullet also varies. Some, instead of producing it in the mouth, hold up a china plate by way of target, the bullet being held under the two first fingers against the front of the plate. When the pistol is fired, the plate is turned horizontally, and the bullet released from the fingers. This plan is sometimes to be preferred, inasmuch as it creates an excuse for leaving the stage for a moment to fetch the plate, an opportunity which is valuable in the event, which sometimes happens, of the ball, from an excess of wadding or any other cause, not dropping readily from the tube into the hand. To meet this possible difficulty, some tubes have (to use an Irishism) a small hole through the closed end, so that the performer, on leaving the stage, can, by pushing a piece of wire through the hole, instantly force out the bullet.