Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

The cabinet may be used in various ways. One of the most striking is as follows:--The folding doors are opened, disclosing the interior perfectly empty. (See Fig. 299.) The exhibitor directs his assistant to walk into the cabinet. He does so, and the doors are closed. Meanwhile, a couple of gentlemen, selected by the audience, are invited to stand behind or beside the cabinet, and see that no one obtains ingress or egress by any secret opening. Notwithstanding these precautions, when the doors are again opened, the assistant is found to have vanished, and another person, different in dress, in stature, and in complexion, is found in his place. This person steps forth, makes his bow, and retires. Again the cabinet, now empty, is closed, and after an interval of a few moments, again opened. This time a human skeleton is found to occupy the vacant space. This ghastly object having been removed, and the door having been once more closed and opened, another person, say a lady, appears. This person having retired, the doors are again closed; and when they are again opened, the person who first entered is once more found within. A committee from the audience are now invited to examine the cabinet within and without, out all their scrutiny cannot detect any hidden space, even sufficient to conceal a mouse.