Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

Now, observe, I give but one gentle touch, not here upon the table” (he raps the table with his wand), “where you might suspect some mechanism or preparation, but here in my empty hand, and instantly, you see, a ball appears at my bidding.” As he touches the table with the wand, thereby drawing the eyes of the spectators in that direction, he carelessly drops his left hand to his side, and takes from the pochette and palms one of the plain glass balls, which as soon as the wand reaches his hand he produces at the finger-tips. “The ball, as you see, ladies and gentlemen, is of solid crystal, without crack or flaw” (he takes it in the right hand, tosses it up, and catches it again). “The hardest steel would fail to chip it, and yet, by my magic power, I am able instantly to divide it into two equal portions, each round and true as the original.” At the moment of tossing the ball in the air, all eyes are naturally attracted to it, and the performer has ample opportunity to again drop the left hand to his side, and palm the second ball. Keeping this in the palm of the left hand, he transfers the first ball to the finger-tips of the same hand. Drawing the wand across it, he allows it to drop into the palm, and to strike against the ball already there.