Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE DIE DISSOLVING IN A POCKET HANDKERCHIEF.--The trick last described has two drawbacks--first, that it is very generally known, and, second, that the principle is rather too obvious, the secret being very easily guessed, even by persons not endowed with special sagacity. There is, however, an improved form of the same trick, in which an additional element is introduced, whereby these disadvantages are, to a great extent, removed. The apparatus used is the same as in the last case, with the addition of a coloured handkerchief, prepared as follows: Five square pieces of stout pasteboard, each a shade larger than one side of the solid die, are joined together with hinges of tape or cloth, in the form shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 251. The centre piece, a, is attached to the middle of the handkerchief, the others being allowed to hang loose upon their respective hinges. A second handkerchief of similar pattern is then laid upon the first, and the edges of the two are stitched together all round. The performer having exhibited the solid die and cover, as already explained, and having removed the latter (with the hollow die within it), places it upon the table. Spreading the prepared handkerchief beside it, he places the solid die upon the centre of the handkerchief, and gathering up the four corners of the latter, lifts it, bag-fashion, with his left hand, the four loose flaps of pasteboard naturally folding themselves up around the die. He now takes it with his right hand, clipping the solid die within the pasteboard, and turns the whole over as in Fig. 252, thus bringing the die uppermost, with the folds of the handkerchief hanging down around it. He next takes in the left hand a borrowed hat, holding it up for a moment, to show that it is empty. Then, turning it mouth upwards, he remarks, “I will place the die here in the hat.” Suiting the action to the word, he lowers his hand into the hat, but, as if suddenly bethinking himself, he says, “No! I won’t use the hat at all. Perhaps some one will kindly hold the die.” In withdrawing his hand, however, he relaxes the pressure of his fingers, thereby leaving the solid die in the hat, though as the folded pasteboard retains its cubical shape, the handkerchief still appears to contain the die.