GV 1547 
 .H58 
 Copy 1 
 
 ERRMANNS 
 
 WIZARDS' 
 
 MANUAL 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 SECRETS OF MAGIC, BLACK ART, MIND READING, 
 VENTRILOQUISM AND KINDRED ARTS. 
 
 AS ACTUALITY PERFORMED BY THE GREATEST 
 WIZARDS OF THE WORLD 
 
1/ / 
 
 tuiA^JU-xS 
 
 HERRMANN'S 
 WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 A Practical Treatise on Coin Tricks, 
 Card Tricks, Sleight-of-Hand, Illusions, 
 Black Art, Mind Reading, Spirit 
 Mediumship, Ventriloquism, etc., etc. 
 
 SECRETS AND METHODS OF 
 PERFORMING MANY MAR- 
 VELOUS MYSTERIES, SUCH 
 AS HAVE ASTONISHED THE 
 PUBLIC OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 PRICE - - 30$ 
 c -^ n 
 
 =OCr 
 
 [NEW AND REVISED EDITION] 
 
 SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
if? 
 
 Copyright, 1916, 
 By 
 
 SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 
 
 "*>6 
 
 'CI.A446730 
 
 DEC -7I9IB 
 
<x 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 First Words on Magic . . • • 5 
 
 Coin Tricks 1* 
 
 Card Tricks 43 
 
 Miscellaneous Tricks 68 
 
 Black Art . . ■ • • .117 
 
 How To be a Spirit Medium . . .129 
 
 Mind Reading 135 
 
 Ventriloquism 139 
 
HERRMANN'S 
 WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 FIRST WORDS ON MAGIC 
 
 Magic naturally separates into two divisions: One, as 
 performed by pure sleight-of-hand with ordinary objects; 
 and the other, which depends upon apparatus or mechanical 
 appliances; and these are called respectively Drawing- 
 room, and Grand or Stage Magic. The former is made 
 up of feats depending upon manual dexterity, chemical 
 combinations, and arithmetical problems. Grand magic, 
 likewise, consists of manual manipulation, and, in addition, 
 mechanical appliances, and optical illusions. Cards, of 
 course, play an important part in both branches. 
 
 We recommend the following rules to the student: 
 
 First. — Never tell your audience beforehand what you 
 are going to do. R you do so, you at once give their 
 vigilance the direction which it is most necessary to avoid, 
 and increase tenfold the chances of detection. 
 
 Second. — The same trick must not be performed twice 
 during the same evening, or before the same audience. 
 The reason for this is apparent from the first rule, above. 
 There are generally two ways of bringing about the same 
 or a similar result, and in the event of your feeling con- 
 strained to respond to an encore, you must perform it in 
 a different manner. 
 
 Third. — Vary your tricks, for this reason: If you are 
 continually doing those depending upon the dexterity of 
 the fingers, your audience will become accustomed to their 
 movements; therefore, perform in succession tricks of 
 
 5 
 
6 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 sleigh t-of -hand, tricks with apparatus, and tricks in " white 
 magic, ,, so as to confuse the too inquisitive spectator, and 
 yet retain his attention. 
 
 Fourth. — Endeavor to divert the attention of the audi- 
 ence as much as possible from your movements, and lead 
 them to believe that you perform the trick by a different 
 method to that actually employed. 
 
 Fifth. — Accustom yourself to use the eyes and the hands 
 independently of each other; remember that the audience 
 are observing your actions, and their attention is frequently 
 taken from your hands, with which you wish to make a 
 certain manipulation, to follow the directions of a glance 
 thrown over your shoulder or elsewhere. 
 
 Sixth. — Never act the buffoon, nor pass ungentlemanly 
 personalities; by such you only make yourself ridiculous, 
 and gain the ill-will of some present. It will frequently 
 happen that a magician's audience will contain some clever 
 busybody who knows how such-and-such a trick is done, 
 and informs his neighbors of the fact. Should such a 
 person come under your notice during an entertainment, 
 you can easily find an opportunity of bringing him to ac- 
 count, and making him the laughing-stock of the hall, 
 without being actually rude. 
 
 Seventh. — On no account ascribe a very dexterous trick 
 to supernatural power, as that which is clever and mar- 
 velous in its execution will be quite as amusing and enter- 
 taining to an intelligent people as the result of the laws 
 of Nature, as the miraculous would be to the ignorant. 
 
 Eighth. — When performing before a company, have as 
 many lights as you please in front of you, but be careful 
 to have none behind, for this reason: In the event of 
 your showing such a thing as a handkerchief, or other 
 semi-transparent article, to be empty, when there is a 
 bag of eggs inside, the light from behind would at once 
 show up the extra thickness in the material, and give a 
 clew to the trick. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 7 
 
 Ninth. — 'Last, but not least, cultivate the art of " talk- 
 ing." A clever magician is not of much account unless 
 he is well up in his " part." He may perform the manipu- 
 lation in a masterly manner (this is technically called the 
 " business ") ; but an actor must know his " part " as 
 well as the " business " ; the same applies to the magician. 
 To do well, a magician must prepare what he is going 
 to do, and also quite as carefully what he is going to 
 say; learn the spoken part thoroughly, and rehearse as 
 patiently as an actor about to take a part in an opera. 
 Speech, like the eyes, can be made to take the attention 
 away from the hands, which is very desirable at times, 
 and at the same time serves to enhance the brilliancy of 
 a trick which might fall flat upon an audience if merely 
 performed in the manner of a machine. Therefore, we 
 must impress most forcibly that speech is an absolute ne- 
 cessity to a conjuror; " dumb-show " will not take. 
 
 The following minor rules are important to every 
 magician : 
 
 Keep your hands warm, for it is almost impossible to 
 do sleight-of-hand tricks if the hands are cold. An acute 
 sense of touch is necessary, and this is lost if the hands 
 are benumbed. 
 
 Should some accident happen whilst performing a 
 trick, and the desired result is impossible, on no account 
 admit a failure, but either finish the trick in a less brilliant 
 manner, or turn the mishap to account as though inten- 
 tional, and make it develop into another trick: a poor 
 one is better than to acknowledge a failure. To do this 
 well, it is advisable to keep cool and collected; do not 
 allow yourself to be hurried, and so be ready for any 
 contretemps. Dexterity and quickness are essential, but 
 there is such a thing as being too quick and spoiling all. 
 You must bear in mind that after some changes have 
 taken place, it is as well to lead the audience to believe 
 that you are still manipulating. 
 
8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 You must accustom yourself to pick up objects from the 
 table or servante without looking at them. Ascertain 
 beforehand the position of anything that may be required, 
 and take it up with one hand, whilst the other claims the 
 attention of the company. Do not go behind the table 
 more than absolutely necessary ; remain by the side in 
 preference if you are required to be in proximity to it. 
 Cultivate a cheerful manner of address. Avoid making 
 poor jokes and rapid movements in locomotion. A ready 
 wit has many advantages when properly utilized, but 
 this should not be exercised in personalities to an audi- 
 ence, or in such a manner as to make anyone feel uncom- 
 fortable. 
 
 Impudence and buffoonery are intolerable when prac- 
 ticed by a magician on the stage. Always maintain the 
 character of a gentleman, and on no account get irritated 
 or show annoyance at an ill-bred remark from one of the 
 audience; treat it either as a joke or take no notice of it 
 — your own tact will dictate the best manner of treat- 
 ment, according to the circumstances of the case. 
 
 THE MAGIC WAND. 
 
 This is a light rod, twelve or fifteen inches in length, 
 and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. It may 
 be of any material, and decorated in any manner which 
 the fancy of the owner may dictate. To the uninitiated 
 its use may appear a mere affectation, but such is by no 
 means the case. Apart from the prestige derived from 
 the traditional properties of the wand, and its use by the 
 wizards of all ages, it affords a plausible pretext for many 
 necessary movements, which would otherwise appear awk- 
 ward and unnatural, and would thereby arouse the 
 vigilance of the audience at possibly the most critical 
 period of the trick. Thus, if the performer desires to 
 hold anything concealed in his hand, by holding the wand 
 in the same hand he is able to keep it closed without ex- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 9 
 
 citing suspicion. If it is necessary, as frequently hap- 
 pens, to turn his back upon the audience for an instant, 
 the momentary turn to the table, in order to take up or 
 lay down the wand, affords the required opportunity. 
 We most strongly advise the would-be magician to culti- 
 vate from the outset the habitual use of the wand. The 
 dainty touch of the wand, for the supposed purpose of 
 operating a magical transformation, assists materially in 
 leading the audience to believe that such transformation 
 did actually take place at that particular moment, instead 
 of having been (as is really the case) secretly effected at 
 an earlier period. 
 
 THE MAGICIAN'S TABLE. 
 
 The first necessity of the amateur is a proper table. 
 The table necessary for an average drawing-room exhi- 
 bition differs from an ordinary table in two points only: 
 its height, which is about six inches greater than usual; 
 and the addition of a hidden shelf or ledge at the back. 
 It should have turned legs of some hard wood, stained 
 and polished, and these, if it is desired to make the table 
 portable, should be screwed into the four corners, so as 
 to be readily taken off and put on again. In length it 
 may be three to four feet, and in breadth eighteen inches 
 to two feet. At the back should be fixed, about six inches 
 below the level of the top of the table, a projecting shelf, 
 six to eight inches in width, and extending nearly from 
 end to end. This shelf, which is technically known as 
 the servante, should be covered with thick woolen cloth, 
 in order to deaden the sound of any object falling on 
 it. 
 
 The manner of fixing the servante is optional. In some 
 tables it is made to slide in and out like a drawer; in 
 others to fold on hinges against the back of the table, or 
 itself to form the back. This latter is the most con- 
 venient mode, as the opening made by the flap when let 
 
io HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 down gives access to the interior of the table, which 
 forms a convenient receptacle for necessary articles. Over 
 the table should be thrown an ordinary cloth table-cover, 
 of such a size as to hang down about ten or fifteen inches 
 at the front and sides, but not more than an inch or so 
 on the side away from the audience. To prevent its slip- 
 ping, the cloth may be fastened on this side with a couple 
 of drawing-pins. The precise height of the table should 
 be determined by the stature of the performer. The 
 servant e should be just so high from the ground as to be 
 level with the knuckles of the performer as his arm hangs 
 by his side; and the top of the table, as already stated, 
 about six inches higher than this. It will be found that 
 this height will enable the performer secretly to take up 
 or lay down any article thereon without stooping or 
 bending the arm, either of which movements would sug- 
 gest to the spectators that his hand was occupied in some 
 manner behind the table. One of the first tasks of the 
 novice should be to acquire the power of picking up or 
 laying down any article on the servante without making 
 any corresponding movement of the body, and especially 
 without looking down at his hands, for if the audience 
 once suspect that he has a secret receptacle behind the 
 table, half the magic of his tricks is destroyed. 
 
 An oblong box, twelve or fourteen inches in length by 
 three in depth, well padded with wadding, and placed on 
 the servante, will be found very useful in getting rid of 
 small articles, such as coin, oranges, etc., as such articles 
 may be dropped into the box without causing any sound, 
 and therefore without attracting attention. 
 
 In default of a table regularly made for the purpose, 
 the amateur may adapt an ordinary table for use as a 
 make-shift. A common kitchen-table having a drawer 
 on one side, and raised on four bricks or blocks of wood 
 to the requisite height, will answer the purpose very 
 fairly. The table must be covered with a cloth; the 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL n 
 
 drawer, pulled out about six inches on the side remote 
 from the audience, forming the servante. 
 
 THE MAGICIAN'S DRESS. 
 
 The preferred costume of the magician of the present 
 day is ordinary evening dress. The effect of the feats 
 performed is greatly heightened by the close fit and com- 
 parative scantiness of such a costume, which appears to 
 allow no space for secret pockets or other place of con- 
 cealment. In reality, however, the magician is provided 
 with two special pockets, known as profondes, placed in 
 the tails of his dress coat. Each is from four to six inches 
 in depth and seven in width, and the opening, which is 
 across the inside of the coat-tail, slanting slightly down- 
 ward from; the center to the side, is, like the servante, 
 so placed as to be just level with the knuckles of the 
 performer, as his hand hangs by his side. He can thus, 
 by the mere action of dropping either hand to his side, 
 let fall any article instantly into the profonde on that 
 side, or take anything from thence in like manner. The 
 action is so natural that it may be used under the very 
 eyes of the audience, at very small risk of being observed ; 
 and if the performer at the same moment slightly turns 
 his other side to the spectators he may be perfectly secure 
 from detection. Some performers have also a couple of 
 pochettes (small pockets) made in the trousers, one be- 
 hind each thigh. These are generally used for purposes 
 of production only, the profondes being still employed 
 for getting rid of any article. Many professors, in ad- 
 dition to the pockets above mentioned, have also a spa- 
 cious pocket, opening perpendicularly, inside the breast 
 of the coat, under each arm for the purpose of what is 
 called " loading," i. e., bringing a rabbit or other article 
 into a hat, etc. Other pockets may be added, as the 
 fancy or invention of the performer may dictate. 
 
 An elastic band, about an inch in width, should be 
 
12 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 stitched around the lower edge of the waistcoat on the 
 inside. When the waistcoat is in wear the band makes 
 it press tightly round the waist, and any object of moder- 
 ate size — a card or pack of cards, a handkerchief, etc., — 
 may be slipped under it without the least risk of falling. 
 Used in conjunction with the pockets before described, 
 this elastic waistband affords a means of instantaneously 
 effecting " changes " of articles too large to be palmed 
 with safety, one hand dropping the genuine article into 
 the profonde on that side, while the other draws the pre- 
 pared substitute from under the waistband, a very slight 
 turn of the body toward the table or otherwise sufficing 
 to cover the movement. 
 
 THE VANISHING GLOVES. 
 
 This favorite trick of Herrmann the Great is a capital 
 one with which to commence an entertainment; when 
 coming, as it should do, unannounced, and before the 
 performance proper has commenced, it has an air of im- 
 provisation which greatly enhances its effect, and at once 
 awakens the attention of the audience. 
 
 The performer comes forward in full evening dress. 
 While saying a few words by way of introduction to 
 his entertainment, he begins to take off his gloves, com- 
 mencing with that on his right hand. As soon as it is 
 fairly off, he takes it in his right hand, waves the hand 
 with a careless gesture, and the glove is gone. He be- 
 gins to take off the other, walking as he does so behind 
 his table, whereon his wand is laid. The left-hand glove 
 being removed, is rolled up into a ball,, and transferred 
 from the right hand to the left, which is immediately 
 closed. The right hand picks up the wand, and with it 
 touches the left, which being slowly opened, the second 
 glove is found to have also disappeared. 
 
 The disappearance of the first glove is effected by 
 means of a piece of cord elastic, attached to the back of 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 13 
 
 the waistcoat, and thence passing down the sleeve. This 
 should be of such a length as to allow the glove to be 
 drawn down and put on the hand, and yet to pull it 
 smartly up the sleeve and out of sight when released. 
 It is desirable to have a hem round the wrist of the 
 glove, and to pass the elastic through this like the cord 
 of a bag, as it thereby draws the wrist portion of the 
 glove together, and causes it to offer less hindrance to its 
 passage up the sleeve. Upon taking off the glove, the 
 performer retains it in his hand, and lets it go when he 
 pleases. He must, however, take care to straighten his 
 arm before letting it slip, as otherwise the elastic will 
 remain comparatively slack, and the glove will, instead 
 of disappearing with a flash, dangle ignominiously from 
 the coat-cuff. 
 
 The left-hand glove is got rid of by palming. The 
 performer, standing behind his table as already men- 
 tioned, rolling the glove between his hands, and quickly 
 twisting the fingers inside, so as to bring . it into more 
 manageable form, pretends to place it in his left hand, 
 but really palms it in his right. He now lowers the 
 right hand to pick up his wand, and as the hand reaches 
 the table, drops the glove on the servante. He now 
 touches the left hand w T ith the wand, in due course open- 
 ing the hand and showing that the glove has departed. 
 
 Some performers cause both gloves to vanish by means 
 of elastic, one up the right sleeve, the other up the left, 
 but in doing so they offend against one of the cardinal 
 precepts of the art, viz. : never to perform the same trick 
 twice in succession by the same means. The spectators 
 having seen the manner of the first disappearance, are 
 all on the alert, and are not unlikely on the second occa- 
 sion to guess the means employed. If, on the other hand, 
 the performer adopts the plan indicated above, the two 
 modes of producing the effect being different, each ren- 
 ders it more difficult to discover the secret of the other. 
 
COIN TRICKS 
 
 Before attempting tricks with coin, it will be necessary 
 to practice certain sleights and passes which more espe- 
 cially belong to this particular branch of the magic art, 
 though the sleight-of-hand used in coin tricks is more 
 or less applicable to most other small objects. 
 
 Palming. — The first sleight which the novice must 
 seek to acquire is that of " palming "— i. e. y secretly 
 holding an object in the open hand by the contraction 
 of the palm. To acquire this accomplishment, take a 
 half-dollar (this being the most convenient in point of 
 size), and lay it on the palm of the open hand. (See 
 Fig. i.) Now close the hand very slightly, and if you 
 have placed the coin on the right spot (which a few trials 
 will quickly indicate), the contraction of the palm around 
 the edges will hold it securely (see Fig. 2), and you may 
 move the hand and arm in any direction without fear of 
 dropping it. You should next accustom yourself to use 
 the hand and fingers easily and naturally, while still 
 holding the coin as described. Practice will enable you 
 to do this. You must bear in mind while practicing al- 
 ways to keep the inside of the palm either downwards or 
 towards your own body, as any reverse movement would 
 expose the concealed coin. When you are able to hold 
 the coin comfortably in the right hand, practice in like 
 manner with the left, after which you may substitute for 
 the coin a watch, an egg, or a small lemon — all these 
 being articles of frequent use in conjuring. 
 
 14 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 15 
 
 The Pass. — The " pass " has for its object the appar- 
 ent transfer of an article from one hand to the other. In 
 making passes the same movement should not be frequently 
 repeated, as this may excite suspicion and possibly lead to 
 detection. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remark that the diagrams 
 represent the hands of the performer as seen by himself. 
 
 Take the coin in the right hand, between the second 
 and third fingers and the thumb (see Fig. 3), letting it, 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 however, really be supported by the fingers, and only 
 steadied by the thumb. Now move the thumb out of 
 the way, and close the second and third fingers, with the 
 coin balanced on them, into the palm. (See Fig. 4.) 
 If the coin is placed right in the first instance, you will 
 find that this motion will put it precisely in the position 
 above described as the proper one for palming; and on 
 again extending the fingers, the coin is left palmed, as 
 in Fig. 2. When you can do this easily with the hand 
 at rest, you must practice doing the same thing with the 
 right hand in motion toward the left, which should 
 meet it open, and should close the moment that the fin- 
 gers of the right hand touch its palm, as though upon 
 the coin which you have by this movement feigned to 
 transfer to it. The left hand must thenceforward re- 
 
1 6 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 main closed, as if holding the coin, and the right hand 
 hang loosely open, as if empty. 
 
 In the case of an article of larger size than a coin — 
 as, for instance, a watch or an egg — you need not take 
 the article with the fingers, but may let it simply lie on 
 the palm of the right hand, slightly closing that hand as 
 you move it towards the left. The greater extent of 
 surface in this case will give you plenty of hold, without 
 the necessity of pressing the article into the palm. Re- 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 member that, in any case, the two hands must work in 
 harmony, as in the genuine act of passing an article from 
 the one hand to the other. The left hand must there- 
 fore rise to meet the right, but should not begin its journey 
 until the right hand begins its own. Nothing looks more 
 awkward or unnatural than to see the left hand ex- 
 tended with open palm, before the right hand has begun 
 to move towards it. 
 
 After the pass is made, a judicious use of the wand 
 will materially assist in concealing the fact that the object 
 still remains in the right hand. For this purpose the 
 performer should, before commencing the pass, carelessly 
 place the wand under either arm, as though merely to 
 leave his hands free. Immediately that the pass is made 
 the right hand should, with a sort of back-handed move- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 17 
 
 ment, which under the circumstances is perfectly natural, 
 grasp the wand, draw it from under the arm, and thence- 
 forth retain it till an opportunity occurs of disposing of 
 the coin as may be necessary. The position of the fingers 
 in the act of holding the wand is such as to effectually 
 mask the concealed coin, while yet the hand appears per- 
 fectly easy and natural. 
 
 To Secretly Change a Coin. — You desire, we will 
 suppose, to exchange — or, in conjurers' parlance, to 
 " ring " — a coin, marked by a spectator. You have a 
 coin, which we will call the " substitute," ready palmed 
 in your left hand, of course taking care to keep the palm 
 turned away from the audience. Taking the marked 
 coin in the right hand, you palm it in that hand by the 
 Pass, but instead of closing the left hand, as the fingers 
 of the right touch it, keep that hand loosely open, and 
 show lying on its palm the substitute, which the spec- 
 tators take to be the original just placed there by your 
 right hand. 
 
 A word of caution may here be desirable. These 
 passes must by no means be regarded as being themselves 
 tricks, but only as processes to be used in the perform- 
 ance of tricks. If the operator, after pretending to pass 
 the coin, say, from the right hand to the left, and show- 
 ing that it had vanished from the left hand, were to 
 allow his audience to discover that it had all along re- 
 mained in his right hand, they might admire the dexterity 
 with which he had in this instance deceived their eyes, 
 but they would henceforth guess half the secret of any 
 trick in which palming was employed. If it is necessary 
 immediately to reproduce the coin, the performer should 
 do so by appearing to find it in the hair or whiskers of 
 a spectator, or in any other place that may suit his pur- 
 pose, remembering always to indicate beforehand that it 
 has passed to such a place, thereby diverting the general 
 attention from himself. As the coin is already in his 
 
18 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 hand, he has only to drop It to his finger-tips as the hand 
 reaches the place he has named, in order, to all appearance, 
 to take it from thence. 
 
 Having given this little piece of advice as to the hand 
 in which the coin actually is, we must add a few words 
 more as to the hand in which it is not. Whenever you 
 have (apparently) placed any article either in the closed 
 hand, or in some piece of apparatus from which it is 
 afterwards to disappear, you should not, as a rule, show 
 that the article has departed from the spot where you 
 have apparently placed it, without interposing some 
 magical process, however slight, which may colorably ac- 
 count for its disappearance. A mere nothing will suffice 
 • — a touch of the wand, the pronouncing of a magic 
 formula, the pressure of a finger; but in some form or 
 other the ceremony should never be omitted. Thus, to 
 take a very simple example, we will suppose that by 
 means of the Pass you have apparently placed in the 
 left hand a coin, which really remains in the palm of 
 the right. If you at once open the left hand, and show 
 that the coin is not there, the spectators will naturally 
 jump to the correct explanation, viz., that you did not, 
 in reality, put the coin there at all. If, however, you 
 delay opening the left hand for a minute or two, so as 
 to let the audience get accustomed to the idea that the 
 coin is therein, and then, before opening it, touch the 
 hand mysteriously with your wand, or even simply, as 
 you slowly open the left hand, rub the ball of the wrist 
 with the fingers of the hand which holds the coin, you 
 not only give that hand an occupation apparently incon- 
 sistent with the fact of anything remaining concealed in it, 
 but you suggest to the audience that the gesture in ques- 
 tion is the cause of the disappearance of the coin, It is 
 surprising what an effect even such a trifle as this has in 
 misleading the judgment of a spectator. He knows per- 
 fectly well, in the abstract, that touching the closed hand 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 19 
 
 with the wand, or rubbing it with a finger of the opposite 
 hand, is not an adequate cause for the disappearance of 
 the coin ; but the fact being indisputable that the coin 
 has disappeared, the mind unconsciously accepts the ex- 
 planation which is thus indirectly offered. The advice 
 here given becomes less important where, before the hand 
 is opened, you are able to get rid of the object from that 
 in which it originally appeared. Here the spectator is 
 precluded from imagining that you retained it in the hand 
 in which he first saw it, as that hand also is shown to be 
 empty, and the absolute disappearance of the coin being 
 a self-evident fact, you may leave the spectator to account 
 for it in his own manner. 
 
 The passes and exchanges are of continual use in con- 
 juring; indeed, we may say that three parts of its mar- 
 vels depend on them. Such an exchange having been 
 made, the substitute is left in sight of the audience, while 
 the performer, having thus secretly gained possession of 
 the original, disposes of it as may be necessary for the 
 purpose of the trick. 
 
 The Half-dollar Wand. — This is a wand, appar- 
 ently of ebony, but really of brass, japanned black. It is 
 about twelve inches in length, and five-eighths of an inch 
 in diameter. On one side of it, and so placed as to be 
 just under the ball of the thumb when the wand is held 
 in the hand, is a little stud, which moves backwards and 
 forwards for a short distance (about an inch and a quar- 
 ter) like the sliding ring of a pencil case. When this 
 stud is pressed forward, a half-dollar appears on the 
 opposite end of the wand (see Fig. 6), retiring within it 
 when the stud is again drawn back. The half-dollar is 
 a genuine one, but it is cut into three portions, as indi- 
 cated in Fig. 7, which represents a transverse section 
 of it at right angles to the actual cuts. Each of the three 
 segments is attached to a piece of watch-spring, and from 
 the direction of the cuts it is obvious that, when these 
 
20 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 pieces of watch-spring are pressed together (as they natu- 
 rally are when drawn back into the" wand), c will be 
 drawn behind, and a in front of b. (See Fig. 5.) 
 
 The wand can be used as follows: The performer 
 palms in his left hand as many half-dollars as he intends 
 to produce. Then, taking the wand in the right hand, 
 and lightly touching with it the spot whence he desires 
 to (apparently) produce a half-dollar, he pushes forward 
 
 Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 
 
 the stud, and the split coin appears on the opposite end 
 of the wand. He now draws the upper part of the wand 
 through the left hand, at the same moment pressing back 
 the stud, and causing the split coin to retire within the 
 wand, immediately handing for examination with the left 
 hand one of the half-dollars already placed there, and 
 which by this gesture he appears to have just taken from 
 the top of the wand. This is again repeated, and another 
 half-dollar exhibited, till the stock in the left hand is 
 exhausted. 
 
 It is desirable, on each occasion of pressing forward 
 or withdrawing the stud, to place the opposite end of 
 the wand in such a situation as to be a little shielded 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 21 
 
 from the eyes of the spectators, so that they may not see 
 the actual appearance or disappearance of the coin. A 
 very slight " cover " will be sufficient. The end of the 
 wand may be placed within a person's open mouth (and 
 withdrawn with the half-dollar thereon), within a pocket, 
 or the like. Where no such cover is available a quick 
 semi-circular sweep should be made with the wand as 
 the coin is protruded or withdrawn. 
 
 The wand may be effectively introduced in the trick 
 of the Shower of Money, which next follows. After 
 having caught in the ordinary manner such number of 
 coins as he thinks fit, the performer perceives, or pre- 
 tends to perceive, that the audience suspects that the coins 
 are in some manner concealed in his right hand. To 
 show that this is not the case he offers to catch a few 
 coins on the top of his wand instead of in his hand, and 
 finishes the trick by producing two or three on the wand 
 accordingly. Wherever you can, as in this instance, 
 produce the same result by two wholly different methods, 
 the effect on the spectators is most bewildering. Their 
 conjectures as to the explanation of the first method being 
 inadmissible as to the second, and vice versa. The more 
 they puzzle over the matter the further they are likely 
 to be from a correct solution. 
 
 The Shower of Money. — The performer borrows a 
 hat, which he holds in his left hand. Turning up his 
 sleeves, he announces that he requires a certain number, 
 say ten, of half-dollars. The- spectators put their hands 
 in their pockets with the idea of contributing to the sup- 
 posed loan; but the professor, anticipating their inten- 
 tion, says, " No, thank you ; I won't trouble you this 
 time. There seems to be a good deal of money about 
 to-night; I think I will help myself. See, here is a half- 
 dollar hanging to the gaselier. Here is another climbing 
 up the wall. Here is another just settling on this lady's 
 hair. Excuse me, sir, but you have a half-dollar in your 
 
22 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 whiskers. Permit me, madam; you have just placed your 
 foot on another," and so on. At each supposed new dis- 
 covery the performer takes with his right hand, from 
 some place where there clearly was nothing an instant 
 before, a half-dollar, which he drops into the hat held in 
 his left hand, finally turning over the hat, and pouring 
 the coins from it, to show that there has been " no de- 
 ception. " 
 
 The explanation is very simple, the trick being merely 
 a practical application of the art of " palming," though 
 its effect depends on the manner and address of the oper- 
 ator even more than on his skill in sleight-of-hand. The 
 performer provides himself beforehand with ten half-dol- 
 lars. Of these he palms two in his right hand and the 
 remainder in his left. When he takes the hat he holds 
 it in the left hand, with the fingers inside and the thumb 
 outside, in which position it is comparatively easy to drop 
 the coins one by one from the hand into the hat. When 
 he pretends to see the first half-dollar floating in the air 
 he lets one of the coins in his right hand drop to his finger 
 tips, and, making a clutch at the air, produces it as if just 
 caught. The first coin he really does drop into the hat, 
 taking care that all shall see clearly that he does so. He 
 then goes through a similar process with the second, but 
 when the time comes to drop it into the hat he merely 
 pretends to do so, palming the coin quickly in the right 
 hand, and at the same moment letting fall into the hat 
 » one of the coins concealed in his left hand. The spec- 
 tators, hearing the sound, naturally believe it to be occa- 
 sioned by the fall of the coin they have just seen. The 
 process is repeated until the coins in the left hand are 
 exhausted. Once more the performer appears to clutch a 
 coin from space, and, showing for the last time that which 
 has all along been in his right hand, tosses it into the air 
 and catches it visibly in the hat. Pouring out the coins 
 on a tray, or into the lap of one of the company, he re- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 23 
 
 quests that they may be counted, when they are found 
 to correspond with the number which he has apparently 
 collected from the surrounding atmosphere. 
 
 Sometimes a performer, by way of bringing the trick 
 to a smart conclusion, after he has dropped in all the 
 coins, will remark, " The hat begins to get heavy," or 
 he will make some similar observation, at the same time 
 dipping the right hand into the hat, as if to gauge the 
 quantity obtained; and he will then give the money a 
 shake, bringing up the hand with four or five of the coins 
 slipped breadthwise against the lowest joints of the sec- 
 ond and third fingers. Then he will pretend to catch in 
 quick succession that number of coins, each time sliding 
 one of the coins with the thumb to the finger tips, and 
 tossing it into the hat. 
 
 The Tray of Proteus. — The tray will not only 
 change, but add, subtract, or vanish coins, under the very 
 eyes of the spectators. In form it is an oblong octagon, 
 measuring eight inches by six, and standing about three- 
 quarters of an inch high. (See Fig. 8.) It is divided 
 across the center, and one half of the center portion is 
 movable. The opposite or fixed side of the tray is di- 
 vided horizontally (see Fig. 9, representing a longitudinal 
 section) into two levels or platforms, a and b, the lower, 
 bj having a raised edge. Where the tray is to be used 
 for the purpose of " changing," the coins to be substituted 
 are placed in a row on the upper platform, a. The genu- 
 ine coins are placed by the performer, holding the tray 
 as indicated in Fig. 8, on the movable flap, c. Slightly 
 lowering the opposite end of the tray, he presses the but- 
 ton dj thus sloping the flap c, and the coins naturally 
 slide into b. Still keeping the flap open, he now tilts up 
 the opposite end of the tray. The genuine coins cannot 
 return, by reason of the raised edge of b; but the sub- 
 stitute coins in their turn slide out upon c, which is then 
 allowed to return to its original position. The necessary 
 
24 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 movement is in skillful hands so rapid in execution that, 
 where coins of the same kind are substituted — e. g., 
 half-dollars for half-dollars — the most acute spectator 
 cannot detect that any change has taken place. A most 
 startling effect is produced by substituting coins of a 
 different kind, as pennies for half-dollars, the coins ap- 
 pearing to be transformed by a mere shake into a different 
 metal. The change involving a double process — viz., 
 
 ^ 
 
 c c <Z 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 the disappearance of certain coins and the appearance of 
 others — ■ it is obvious that the tray will be equally avail- 
 able for either process singly. Thus coins placed upon 
 the tray may be made to instantly vanish, or, by reversing 
 the process, coins may be made to appear where there was 
 nothing a moment previously. In like manner, a given 
 number of coins may be increased to a larger, or decreased 
 (in this case really changed) to a smaller number. 
 
 This tray has one end of a and b closed by a little 
 slide, hidden beneath the edge of the tray, to allow of the 
 money therein being extracted when necessary. 
 
 To Make a Person Find Himself Richer than He 
 Thought He was. — This would be an agreeable and 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 25 
 
 welcome surprise to most of us; unfortunately, it is but 
 transitory in this instance. You commence by asking the 
 assistance of a gentleman to act as broker, as you wish 
 to borrow twelve quarters and he is to collect them. 
 Having done so, you tell him to count them, one at a 
 time, on the table, to make sure he has the right number, 
 and while he is doing so you ask another person also to 
 assist you, and palm four quarters of your own. You 
 now ask the person with the money to give you four 
 quarters, which you request your second assistant to hold ; 
 and then, counting the other eight, you take them in your 
 hand, offer them to the first person to hold, and placing 
 them in his hand, you drop the palmed four with them, 
 and tell him to close his hand tightly upon them, and 
 extend his arm. Now take the four coins from the other 
 party, and, holding them between the second finger and 
 thumb of the right hand, appear to transfer them to the 
 left, but make the pass, retaining them in the right hand, 
 and close the left in the usual way, giving the impression 
 to the audience that you really have transferred them to 
 that hand. You must now drop the four coins so re- 
 ceived into your pocket or elsewhere. Ask the person 
 holding the coins whether he has let any drop, and how 
 many he had. He replies that he has eight. You then 
 tell him that you are going to make the four you hold 
 pass from your hand into his, and he will then have an 
 even dozen. Make the assumed magical passes with the 
 wand, and give the command for the coins to pass from 
 your left hand into his, and then, upon opening your 
 hand, it is found to be empty, and upon his counting the 
 coins out upon the table he finds he has twelve instead of 
 eight. 
 
 To Fill with Coins a Tumbler which is upon the 
 Stage, the Coins being Collected in the Audience. — 
 You have two tumblers, one of which is upon the servant e 
 and filled with gold or silver coins, or a mixture of both; 
 
26 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 imitation coins will do for this, and these can be pro- 
 cured at any of the conjuring depots. The other tumbler 
 is upon the table, as is also a large handkerchief. You 
 pass the empty tumbler and handkerchief round for exami- 
 nation, and upon their being returned you retire to your 
 table ; then, appearing to throw the handkerchief over 
 the empty tumbler from the front, you rapidly exchange 
 it for the full one upon the servante, and taking it by 
 the top through the handkerchief, place it upon a table 
 or chair at the back of the stage. The most difficult part 
 is the collection of coins, for which you must be an adept 
 at sleight-of-hand. You must palm five or six coins, and 
 then going down to the audience you must affect to find 
 the coins first in one place, then in another, sometimes 
 a single one and sometimes several, which you " pass " 
 into the tumbler upon the stage, your assistant behind the 
 scenes dropping into the glass one or more as you instruct 
 him by saying the number you have found: he would, of 
 course, vary the time of the several journeys, to give a 
 more genuine impression. Each time you found a coin 
 or coins you would have to show them, and in order to 
 avoid being too closely watched, you would have to go 
 in various parts of the audience, and keep moving from 
 place to place. You should have coins palmed in either 
 hand, so as to catch the coins in either direction without 
 intimation. If you only had them in one, of course the 
 audience would confine their attention to that one; but 
 as you use both the attention is more than divided, as the 
 spectators do not know which you are going to use as 
 you dart out first the right and then the left. When you 
 have collected a certain number, you return to the stage 
 and upon removing the handkerchief the glass is found 
 to be more or less full of coins, which you empty out 
 upon a table, but do not pass them for examination. In 
 the event of this trick being performed in a small hall or 
 drawing-room, the assistant would also have to cover his 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 27 
 
 glass with a handkerchief, to deaden the sound of the 
 dropping coins. 
 
 New Coin Catching. — The trick consists in catching 
 a few stray half-dollars from the air upon the brim of 
 some borrowed hat. 
 
 To work this experiment a faked coin must be used. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 A half-dollar will have to be hinged to a small black 
 steel clip (see Fig. 10), which is of a size to fit moder- 
 ately tight over the brim of a hat. Now the secret should 
 be apparent. A hat is borrowed, and the clip slipped 
 over the brim in the act of returning to the stage. 
 
 Because of the hinge the coin will lay down behind 
 the brim, and the clip will not be noticed on account of 
 its being the same color as the hat, which must be held 
 
28 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 in the right hand, while the left secretly palms two or 
 three coins from some convenient pocket. 
 
 Now, if the hat is jerked sharply upward, the half- 
 dollar will suddenly appear upon the edge of the brim, 
 from where it is apparently removed by the left hand. 
 Instead of taking the faked coin 
 away, one of the palmed half-dol- 
 lars is produced and the hinged 
 piece of money pushed back behind 
 the brim. 
 
 This operation can be executed 
 any number of times until the sup- 
 ply of palmed money is exhausted ; 
 the prepared coin can then be re- 
 moved in such a manner that the 
 finger and thumb hide the clip 
 while it is being placed on to the 
 table with the other half-dollars so 
 mysteriously produced The il- 
 lustration (Fig. n) will explain 
 anything that is not quite clear. 
 
 To Produce Coins from a 
 Lighted Candle.— The "candle" 
 in this case is a metal tube, ja- 
 panned in imitation of wax, with a space an inch or so 
 deep at top for the insertion of a small piece of real can- 
 dle. In the lower part of the tube is an opening. ( See Fig. 
 12), admitting of a number of quarters being packed, one 
 upon another, within the body of the candle, where they 
 are kept in position, just level with the upper part of the 
 opening, by the downward pressure of a spiral spring. 
 The edges of the horizontal part of the opening are turned 
 in on either side just sufficiently to prevent the coins being 
 forced beyond that point, though they can be drawn out 
 horizontally with the tip of the finger with the greatest 
 ease. The construction of the center portion of the candle 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 29 
 
 is, in fact, exactly like that of the brass purses sold for 
 containing a number of coins. 
 
 The candle is brought forward, lighted, and placed 
 on the table. (It is hardly necessary to remark that the 
 opening is kept studiously to the back, and not shown in 
 profile, as in our illustration.) The performer, requir- 
 ing a quarter for the purpose of some trick, first en- 
 deavors, after the usual manner of conjurers, to borrow 
 it, but, bethinking himself, says, " But I need not trouble 
 you — I'll get it from the candle." 
 
 So saying, he places his hand behind the candle, and 
 gently strokes it from bottom to top (fingers on one side 
 and thumb on the other), terminating at the flame, at 
 which he makes a sort of pinch. He does this once or 
 twice without result, but at, say, the third " stroke," in- 
 serts, the tip of the third finger into the opening, and 
 draws out one coin, which he carries quickly upward, 
 and produces it as if from the flame. The pile is pressed 
 down by the spring, and the next coin brought to the 
 opening, to be produced in due course. 
 
 Twelve or more coins may be thus produced in suc- 
 cession. 
 
 The Animated Coin, which Answers Questions. — 
 The performer borrows a coin, and after making a few 
 mesmeric passes over it, drops it into a glass upon the 
 table where it immediately begins to jump about as if 
 alive. The performer then announces that the coin thus 
 mesmerized has the power of fortune-telling, naming 
 chosen cards, predicting the number that will be thrown 
 by a pair of dice, etc. The coin answers " Yes " by 
 jumping three times, " No " by jumping once. 
 
 One plan is for the performer to have a coin of his 
 own, to which is attached a long black silk thread, the 
 other end of which is in the hand of an assistant behind 
 the scenes, or elsewhere out of sight of the audience. 
 This coin is placed on the table in readiness, but con- 
 
3 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 cealed from the spectators by some larger object in front 
 of it. When the performer advances to the table with 
 the borrowed coin, he secretly picks up the prepared one, 
 and drops the latter into the glass as being that which he 
 borrowed. A short, quick jerk of the thread by the as- 
 sistant w T ill make the coin spring up and fall back again, 
 producing the required chink. It is only necessary to be 
 careful not to jerk the thread so violently as to make the 
 coin fly out of the glass. It is desirable, where practicable, 
 to make the thread pass either through a hole in the top 
 of the table, or a ring fixed to its surface and placed im- 
 mediately behind the glass. This will keep that portion 
 of the thread nearest to the glass perpendicular behind it, 
 in which position it will be completely hidden by the 
 glass, and so be invisible. 
 
 Some performers prefer to use the actual coin borrowed. 
 The arrangements in this case are the same as above de- 
 scribed, save that the silk thread, instead of having a 
 substitute coin attached to it, has merely a pellet of wax 
 at its end. The performer having handed round the 
 glass for inspection, and standing in front of the table 
 w T ith his left side turned towards the audience, picks up 
 a pellet of wax with his right hand at the same moment 
 that, holding the borrowed coin in his left hand, he begs 
 the spectators to take especial notice that he really uses 
 the borrowed coin, and no other. Having said this, he 
 transfers the coin, by a perfectly natural movement, to 
 his right hand, and pressing against the waxen pellet, 
 drops it into the glass. 
 
 The ordinary fortune telling questions, as to " Which 
 young lady will be married first? " " Which spends the 
 most time at her looking-glass?" "Which has most 
 sweethearts?" and so on, are either answered in accord- 
 ance with previous arrangement, or according to the 
 fancy of the moment. Of course, where a question of 
 this kind is asked, the performer takes care to follow up 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 31 
 
 the question by designating a number of persons in suc- 
 cession, so that a mere " Yes " or " No " may be a suffi- 
 cient answer. 
 
 To Make a Coin Pass up Your Sleeve. — This is 
 a sleight-of-hand trick, and a little practice will enable 
 you to do it well. Take a coin between the forefinger 
 and thumb; then, by a rapid twist of the fingers, twirl 
 it by a similar movement as though about to spin a teeto- 
 tum ; at the same time close your hand, and the coin will 
 vanish up your coat sleeve, and you can show your hand 
 to be empty. 
 
 To Make a Coin Pass up the Right-arm Coat- 
 sleeve, Round the Back, Down the Left Arm, and 
 Into the Hand. — This is a capital illusion, but is really 
 the outcome of the above. You have a half-dollar palmed 
 in the left hand, and then borrow two others, one of 
 which take in each hand, between the forefinger and 
 thumb. With the right hand you send the coin up the 
 sleeve, and instantly close both hands, so that the coins 
 in the left hand (the one palmed and the other held in 
 the fingers) are brought together in the left hand. Shake 
 your shoulders, as though helping the one from the right 
 hand to pass round. This, apparently, having been ef- 
 fected, open the left hand, and show the two coins, one 
 of which is supposed to have passed round the body. 
 
 A Lost Coin to Drop from the Ceiling into a 
 Tumbler. — To commence with, turn up the cuffs of your 
 coat as though you meant business, and then place a 
 half-dollar upon your elbow — the arm being bent for 
 the purpose, by raising the hand towards the shoulder. 
 Suddenly straighten the arm, and catch the coin in your 
 hand. You say, " That is catch one, and easily done 
 with practice," but you will show them another; and this 
 time place the coin between the elbow and the wrist, and 
 by suddenly bringing the arm down the coin will fall, 
 unseen by anyone, into the turned-up cuff. You pretend 
 
32 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 that you have not got it, remarking that it went too high 
 for you to catch; however, you will cause it to fall from 
 the ceiling into a tumbler, for which purpose you take 
 a tumbler, and place it upon the table. Presuming the 
 coin to be in the right cuff, you take the wand in the 
 left hand, and raising it towards the ceiling, directing 
 the eyes towards a point above, "you make certain signs, 
 and then, raising the right hand, without drawing atten- 
 tion to it, above the glass, the coin will fall into the 
 tumbler with an unmistakable chink. You instantly 
 lower the arm, and inquire if no one saw the descent of 
 the coin. 
 
 The Floating Coin. — As an after-dinner trick this 
 little experiment will be hard to beat. The conjurer 
 borrows a coin and places it easily and steadily on the 
 surface of a finger bowl full of water, and on removing 
 his hand the coin floats on the top of the liquid. Any- 
 one else attempting the same trick will only be rewarded 
 by seeing the coin immediately sink to the bottom of the 
 bowl. In reality this experiment is not performed with 
 the actual borrowed coin, but with one which has been 
 substituted for it. This duplicate coin can be made in 
 two different ways: the first by casting a fac-simile in 
 solid aluminum, the second by procuring two half shells 
 of a coin and soldering them together. Both these fakes 
 will float, although the first one is to be recommended 
 because it gives a true ring when sounded on the table, 
 having an almost undetectable difference from the ring 
 of a genuine piece of money, and, moreover, it is not 
 generally known that aluminum will float. The working 
 should now be plain. A coin is asked for, of the same 
 value as the one that you have palmed. Taking one of 
 the offered pieces, it must be exchanged for the fake, 
 which is floated, and then changed back again before al- 
 lowing someone else to try the same trick. 
 
 To Rub One Coin into Three. — This is a simple 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 33 
 
 little parlor trick, but will sometimes occasion great won- 
 derment. Procure three quarters of the same issue, and 
 privately stick two of them with wax to the under side 
 of a table, at about half an inch from the edge, and eight 
 or ten inches apart. Announce to the company that you 
 are about to teach them how to make money. Turn up 
 your sleeves, and take the third quarter in your right 
 hand, drawing particular attention to its date and gen- 
 eral appearance, and indirectly to the fact that you have 
 no other coin concealed in your hands. Turning back 
 the table-cover, rub the coin w T ith the ball of the thumb 
 backwards and forwards on the edge of the table. In 
 this position your fingers will naturally be below the 
 edge. After rubbing for a few seconds, say, " It is nearly 
 done, for the coin is getting hot"; and, after rubbing 
 a moment or two longer with increased rapidity, draw 
 the hand away sharply, carrying away with it one of the 
 concealed quarters, which you exhibit as produced by the 
 friction. Pocketing the waxed coin, and again showing 
 that you have but one coin in your hands, repeat the 
 operation with the remaining quarter. 
 
 The Davenport Cabinet. — This little cabinet is use- 
 ful for vanishing coins, watches and the like. It is four 
 inches high and two and a half square, and consists of 
 two parts, an outer case, or body, covered at the top, but 
 otherwise open throughout, and a drawer, occupying the 
 upper portion of its interior space. (See Fig. 13.) 
 When the drawer is removed, the case, which has no 
 bottom, may be examined throughout, and will be found 
 to be perfectly plain and unsophisticated ; save that a keen 
 examiner might observe a little brass pin, a quarter of 
 an inch long, projecting from the back of the cabinet on 
 the inside, just on a level with the bottom of the drawer 
 when replaced in its proper position. The drawer may 
 also be examined, and will be found to be perfectly plain, 
 with the bottom (which is so thin as to preclude any 
 
34 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 suspicion of a concealed space), covered within and with- 
 out with black cloth. On turning the drawer round, 
 and examining the back, a minute hole may be discovered, 
 corresponding in situation with the brass pin already 
 mentioned. If a pin be thrust into this hole, the pur- 
 pose of the two is immediately manifest; for the pressure 
 of the pin releases a tiny catch, and allows the bottom 
 of the drawer, which is in reality only supported by this 
 catch at the back and a cloth hinge in the front, to drop 
 into the position indicated in Fig. 14. This is precisely 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 what takes place when the drawer, being restored to its 
 proper position in the cabinet, is duly closed. The pres- 
 sure of the brass pin at the back releases the catch, and 
 the bottom of the drawer falls as just described, and 
 allows any article which may have been placed therein 
 to drop into the hand of the person holding the cabinet. 
 (See Fig. 15.) The act of pulling out the drawer again 
 presses the bottom up to its proper place, where it is se- 
 cured by the catch until once more released by the pres- 
 sure of the pin. The strong point of this ingenious little 
 apparatus is that it is absolutely self-acting, and its secret 
 can only be detected by examining the cabinet from below 
 at the moment when the drawer is pushed home; and 
 this it is easy to prevent by the simple expedient of hand- 
 ing each portion separately for inspection. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 35 
 
 The manner in which it is used is as follows: After 
 having passed the case and the drawer for inspection, 
 take the case upon your left hand, and ask someone to 
 place a marked coin in the drawer, and that in its turn 
 into the case; when it has been thrust back you press the 
 pin, the bottom falls out and the coin comes into your 
 hand waiting for the purpose. You now place the cabinet 
 upon the table, and having come into possession of the 
 marked coin, you can place it in an orange or elsewhere, 
 and make the coin pass from the cabinet to the orange, 
 which, when cut open, shows the coin in the center, while 
 upon anyone of the audience opening the drawer, there 
 is nothing to show that it has been opened, nevertheless, 
 the coin has gone. This is an ingenious contrivance, as 
 both parts can be examined. 
 
 The Nest of Boxes. — This consists of a number, gen- 
 erally six, but sometimes more, of circular wooden boxes, 
 one within the other, the largest or outer box having 
 much the appearance, but being nearly double the size, 
 of an ordinary tooth-powder box, and the smallest being 
 just large enough to contain a quarter. The series is 
 so accurately made, that by arranging the boxes in due 
 order one within the other, and the lids in like manner, 
 you may, by simply putting on all the lids together, close 
 all the boxes at once, though they can only be opened 
 one by one. 
 
 These are placed — the boxes together and the lids to- 
 gether — anywhere so as to be just out of sight of the 
 audience. If on your table, they may be hidden by any 
 more bulky article. Having obtained possession of a coin 
 which is ostensibly deposited in some other piece of appa- 
 ratus, e. g., the Davenport Cabinet, you seize your oppor- 
 tunity to drop it into the innermost box, and to put on 
 the united lids. You then bring forward the nest of 
 boxes (which the spectators naturally take to be one box 
 only), and announce that the quarter will at your com- 
 
36 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 mand pass from the place in which it has been deposited 
 into the box which you hold in your hand, and which 
 you forthwith deliver to one of the audience for safe 
 keeping. Touching both articles with the mystic wand, 
 you invite inspection of the first to show that the money 
 has departed, and then of the box, wherein it is to be 
 found. The holder opens the box, and finds another, 
 and then another, and in the innermost of all, the marked 
 coin. Seeing how long it has taken to open the several 
 boxes, the spectators naturally infer that it must take as 
 long to close them, and (apart from the other mysteries of 
 the trick), are utterly at a loss to imagine how, w T ith 
 the mere moment of time at your command, you could 
 have managed to insert the coin, and close so many boxes. 
 
 If you desire to use the nest for a coin larger than a 
 quarter, you can make it available for that purpose by 
 removing beforehand the smallest box. Nests of square 
 boxes, with hinged lids and self-closing locks, are made, 
 both in wood and in tin, on the same principle. These 
 are designed for larger articles, and vary in size and 
 price. 
 
 The Ball of Berlin Wool. — An easy and effective 
 mode of terminating a money trick is to pass the marked 
 coin into the center of a large ball of Berlin wool or 
 worsted, the whole of which has to be unwound before 
 the coin can be reached. The modus operandi, though 
 perplexing to the uninitiated, is absurdly simple when 
 the secret is revealed. The only apparatus necessary over 
 and above the wool (of which you must have enough for 
 a good-sized ball), is a flat tin tube, three to four inches 
 in length, and just large enough to allow the coin you 
 intend to use for the trick to slip through it easily. You. 
 prepare for the trick by winding the wool on one end of 
 the tube, in such manner that when the whole is wound 
 in a ball, an inch or so of the tube may project from it. 
 This you place in your pocket, or anywhere out of sight 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 37 
 
 of the audience. You commence the trick by requesting 
 someone to mark a coin, which you forthwith exchange 
 for a substitute of your own, and leave the latter in pos- 
 session or in view of the spectators, while you retire to 
 fetch your ball of wool, or simply take it from your 
 pocket. Before producing it, you drop the genuine coin 
 down the tube into the center of the ball, and withdraw 
 the tube, giving the ball a squeeze to remove all trace 
 of an opening. You then bring it forward, and place it 
 in a glass goblet or tumbler, which you hand to a spec- 
 tator to hold. Taking the substitute coin, you announce 
 that you will make it pass invisibly into the very center 
 of the ball of wool, which you accordingly pretend to 
 do, getting rid of it by means of the Pass. You then 
 request a second spectator to take the loose end of the 
 wool, and to un- 
 wind the ball, up- 
 on which, when he 
 has done, the coin 
 falls out into the 
 goblet. 
 
 The only draw- 
 back to the trick 
 is the tediousness 
 of the process of 
 unwinding. To ob- 
 viate this, some -pw. l6> 
 performers use a 
 
 wheel made for the purpose, which materially shortens 
 the operation. 
 
 The Rattle Box. To Make a Coin Vanish from 
 the Box, though Still Heard to Rattle within It. — 
 This is a useful and ingenious little piece of apparatus. 
 It is an oblong mahogany box, with a sliding lid. Its 
 dimensions are about three inches by two, and one inch in 
 depth externally; internally, it is only half that depth, 
 
38 HERRMANN'S, WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 and the end piece of the lid is of such a depth as to be 
 flush with the bottom. Thus, if a coin be placed in the 
 box, and the box held in. such a position as to slant down- 
 wards to the opening, the coin will of its own weight fall 
 into the hand that holds the box (see Fig. 16), thus 
 giving the performer possession of it without the knowl- 
 edge of the audience. 
 
 Between the true and the false bottom of the box is 
 placed a slip of zinc, which, when the box is shaken 
 laterally, moves from side to side, exactly simulating the 
 sound of a coin shaken in the box. In its normal con- 
 dition, however, this slip of zinc is held fast (and there- 
 fore kept silent) by the action of a spring also placed 
 between the two bottoms, but is released for the time 
 being by a pressure on a particular part of the outer bot- 
 tom (the part in contact with the fingers in Fig. 16). 
 A casual inspection of the box suggests nothing, save, per- 
 haps, that its internal space is somewhat shallow in pro- 
 portion to its external measurement. 
 
 The mode of using it is as follows: The performer 
 invites any person to mark a coin, and to place it in the 
 box, which he holds for that purpose as represented in 
 the figure; and the coin is thus no sooner placed in the 
 box than it falls into his hand. Transferring the box 
 to the other hand, and pressing the spring, he shakes it to 
 show by the sound that the coin is still there ; then, leav- 
 ing the box on the table, he prepares for the next phase 
 of the trick by secretly placing the coin, which the audi- 
 ence believes to be still in the box, in any other apparatus 
 in which he desires it to be found, or makes such other 
 disposition of it as may be necessary. Having done this, 
 and having indicated the direction in which he is about 
 to command the coin to pass, he once more shakes the 
 box to show that it is still in statu quo. Then, with the 
 mystic word " Pass! " he opens the box, which is found 
 empty, and shows that his commands have been obeyed. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 39 
 
 The Demon Handkerchief (Le Mouchoir du 
 Diable). — -This causes the disappearance of any article 
 placed under it, and is available to vanish not only coin, 
 but a card, an egg, a watch, or any other article of moder- 
 ate size. It consists of two handkerchiefs, of the same 
 pattern, stitched together all round the edges, and with 
 a slit of about four inches in length cut in the middle of 
 one of them. The whole space between the two hand- 
 kerchiefs thus forms a kind of pocket, of which the slit 
 above mentioned is the only opening. In shaking or 
 otherwise manipulating the handkerchief, the performer 
 takes care always to keep the side with the slit away 
 from the spectators, to whom the handkerchief appears 
 to be merely the ordinary article of everyday use. When 
 he desires by its means to cause the disappearance of any- 
 thing, he carelessly throws the handkerchief over the 
 article, at the same time secretly passing the latter through 
 the slit in the under side, and hands it thus covered to 
 someone to hold. Then, taking the handkerchief by one 
 corner, he requests him to let go, when the object is re- 
 tained in the space between the two handkerchiefs, ap- 
 pearing to have vanished into empty air. 
 
 Odd or Even, or the Mysterious Addition. — This 
 is a trick of almost childish simplicity, depending upon 
 an elementary arithmetical principle. We have, however, 
 known it to occasion great perplexity, even to more than 
 ordinarily acute persons. 
 
 You take a handful of coins or counters, and invite 
 another person to do the same, and to ascertain privately 
 whether the number he has taken is odd or even. You 
 request the company to observe that you have not asked 
 him a single question, but that you are able, notwith- 
 standing, to divine and counteract his most secret inten- 
 tions, and that you will in proof of this, yourself take a 
 number of coins, and add them to those he has taken, 
 when, if his number was odd, the total shall be even; if 
 
40 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 his number was even, the total shall be odd. Requesting 
 him to drop the coins he holds into a hat, held on high 
 by one of the company, you drop in a certain number on 
 your own account. He is now asked whether his num- 
 ber was odd or even; and, the coins being counted, the 
 total number proves to be, as you stated, exactly the re- 
 verse. The experiment is tried again and again, with 
 different numbers, but the result is the same. 
 
 The secret lies in the simple arithmetical fact, that if 
 you add an odd number to an even number the result 
 will be odd; if you add an odd number to an odd num- 
 ber the result will be even. You have only to take care, 
 therefore, that the number you yourself add, whether 
 large or small, shall always be odd. 
 
 A Coin Being Spun upon the Table, to Tell 
 Blindfold Whether It Falls Head or Tail Up- 
 wards. — You borrow a half-dollar, and spin it, or invite 
 some other person to spin it, on the table (which must 
 be without a cloth). You allow it to spin itself out, 
 and immediately announce, without seeing it, whether it 
 has fallen head or tail upwards. This may be repeated 
 any number of times with the same result, though you 
 may be blindfolded, and placed at the further end of the 
 apartment. 
 
 The secret lies in the use of a coin of your own, on 
 one face of which (say on the " tail " side) you have cut 
 at the extreme edge a little ' notch, thereby causing a 
 minute point or tooth of metal to project from that side 
 of the coin. If a coin so prepared be spun on the table, 
 and should chance to go down with the notched side up* 
 wards, it will run down like an ordinary coin, with a 
 long continuous " whirr," the sound growing fainter and 
 fainter till it finally ceases; but if it should run down 
 with the notched side downwards, the friction of the 
 point against the table will reduce this final whirr to 
 half its ordinary length, and the coin will finally go down 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 41 
 
 with a sort of " flop." The difference of sound is not 
 sufficiently marked to attract the notice of the spectators, 
 but is perfectly distinguishable by an attentive ear. If, 
 therefore, you have notched the coin on the " tail " side, 
 and it runs down slowly, you will cry " tail " ; if quickly, 
 " head." 
 
 If you professedly use a borrowed coin, you must 
 adroitly change it for your own, under pretense of show- 
 ing how to spin it, or the like. 
 
 You should not allow your audience to imagine that 
 you are guided by the sound of the coin, as, if once they 
 have the clew, they w r ill easily learn to distinguish the 
 two sounds. They are not, however, likely to discover the 
 secret of the notch, and if anyone professes to have found 
 out the trick, you may, by again substituting an unpre- 
 pared coin, safely challenge him to perform it. 
 
 The Magic Quarter. — Procure a small round box, 
 about one inch deep, to which fit accurately a quarter or 
 cent: line the box with any dark paper (crimson, for in- 
 stance), and paste some of it on one side of the coin, so 
 that when it lies in the lower part of the box it shall ap- 
 pear like the real box. This quarter or cent is concealed 
 in the hand, and before performing the trick, it will 
 heighten the effect if a number of single quarters or 
 cents are hidden about the room, in places known to 
 yourself. Having borrowed a coin, you dexterously place 
 this on one side, and substitute the prepared one; and 
 putting it gravely into the box, ask all to be sure they 
 have seen it enter: when the lid is on, shake up and 
 down — the noise betrays the metal ; now command it to 
 disappear, and shake laterally from side to side; as the 
 quarter is made to fit accurately, no noise is apparent — 
 the coin seems to be gone; in proof of which you open 
 the box, and display the interior; the paper on the coin 
 conceals it, whilst you direct the audience to look into a 
 book, or a pair of slippers, for the missing quarter; the 
 
42 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 prepared coin can be slipped out, and the box handed 
 round for examination, in which, of course, nothing will 
 be found. This trick may be repeated two or three times 
 with the greatest success, and is so simple that nobody 
 guesses the manner of performance. 
 
 The Disappearing Dime. — Provide yourself with a 
 piece of India rubber cord about twelve inches long, and 
 a dime with a hole on the edge; attach the dime to the 
 cord with a piece of white sewing silk, and after having 
 done this, sew the cord to your coat sleeve lining, but be 
 very careful and ascertain that the end upon which the 
 dime is attached does not extend lower than within two 
 inches of the extreme end of the sleeve when the coat is 
 on. It is better to have the dime in the left arm sleeve. 
 Having done this, bring down the dime with the right 
 hand, and place it between the thumb and index finger 
 of the left hand, and, showing it to the company, tell 
 them that you will give the coin to anyone present who 
 will not let it slip away. You must then select one of 
 the audience to whom you proffer the dime, and just as 
 he is about to receive it you must let it slip from between 
 your fingers, and the contraction of the elastic cord will 
 make the coin disappear up your sleeve, much to the as- 
 tonishment of the person who thinks he is about to receive 
 it. This feat can be varied by pretending to wrap the 
 coin in a piece of paper, or a handkerchief. Great care 
 should be taken not to let any part of the cord be seen, 
 as this would, of course, discover the trick. 
 
CARD TRICKS 
 
 Among the various branches of the conjurer's art none 
 will better repay the labor of the student, whether artist 
 or amateur, than the magic of cards. It has the especial 
 advantage of being, in a great measure, independent of 
 time and place. The materials for half its mysteries are 
 procurable at five minutes notice in every home circle. 
 
 The adept in sleight-of-hand should accustom himself 
 to the use of every description of cards, but whenever pos- 
 sible in actual performance ordinary cards of the " steam- 
 boat " pattern should be used. In any case, it is well 
 to use only the piquet pack of thirty-two cards (the twos, 
 threes, fours, fives, and sixes being removed), the com- 
 plete pack being inconveniently bulky for sleight-of-hand 
 purposes. 
 
 To Make the Pass (Sauter la Coupe). — The effect 
 of this sleight, which is the very backbone of card con- 
 juring, is to reverse the respective positions of the top and 
 bottom halves of the pack, i. e., to make those cards which 
 at first formed the lower half of the pack come upper- 
 most, when those cards which at first formed the upper 
 half will, of course, be undermost. 
 
 Hold the pack in the left hand lengthwise, with the 
 face downward, as if about to deal at any game. In this 
 position the thumb will naturally be on the left side of 
 the pack and the four fingers on the other. Insert the 
 top joint of the little finger immediately above those cards 
 which are to be brought to the top of the pack (and which 
 are now undermost), and let the remaining three fingers 
 close naturally on the remaining cards, which are now 
 
 43 
 
44 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 uppermost. (See Fig. 17.) In this position you will 
 find that the uppermost part of the pack is held between 
 
 the little finger, 
 which is under- 
 neath, and the re- 
 maining ringers, 
 which are upon 
 it. Now advance 
 the right hand 
 and cover the 
 pack with it. 
 Grasp the lower 
 portion of the 
 pack lengthwise 
 between the 
 second finger at the upper and the thumb at the lower 
 end, the left thumb lying, slightly bent, across the pack. 
 Press the inner edge of the lower packet into the fork 
 
 Fig. 17. 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 of the left thumb, so that the two packets will be as 
 shown in Fig. 18. Next draw away the upper packet 
 by slightly extending the fingers of the left hand, at 
 the same time lifting up the outer edge of the lower 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 45 
 
 packet, till the edges of the two packets just clear each 
 other (see Fig. 19), when by the mere act of closing 
 the left hand they will be brought together as at first, 
 save that they will have changed places. Do this at 
 first very slowly, aiming only at neatness and noiseless- 
 ness of execution. At the outset the task will be found 
 somewhat difficult, but gradually the hands will be found 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 to acquire a sort of sympathetic action, the different move- 
 ments which we have described will melt, as it were, into 
 one, and the two packets will seem to actually pass through 
 each other. A slight momentary depression and elevation 
 of the hands (apparently a mere careless gesture) in the 
 act of making the pass will completely cover the transpo- 
 sition of the cards, which in the hands of an adept is 
 invisible, even to the most watchful spectator. 
 
 The above is the most perfect method of making the 
 Pass, and if the student be proficient in this he need trouble 
 himself very little about other methods. 
 
46 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 To Force a Card. — By this phrase is signified the 
 compelling a person to draw such a card as you desire, 
 though he is apparently allowed absolute freedom of 
 choice. Your first step is to get a sight of the bottom 
 card, or, if you want to force a predetermined card, to 
 get that card to the bottom. Having done this, take the 
 pack in the left hand and insert the little finger half way 
 down in readiness to make the pass. Make the pass, but 
 before uniting the two halves of the pack in their new 
 position again slip the little finger of the left hand be- 
 tween them. (The two halves will now be united at 
 the end which is toward the spectators, but divided by 
 the little finger at the end nearest to yourself, and the 
 original bottom card, which is the one you desire to force, 
 is now the bottom of the top heap, resting on the little 
 finger.) Using both hands, with the thumbs above and 
 the fingers below the pack, spread out the cards fan-wise 
 from left to right, at the same time offering them to the 
 person who is to draw, and requesting him to select a 
 card. Keep the little finger of the left hand still on the 
 face of the card to be chosen, or you may now use, if more 
 convenient, the same finger of the right hand, both being 
 underneath the cards. As the person advances his hand 
 to draw, move the cards onward with the thumb, so that 
 the particular card shall reach his fingers just at the mo- 
 ment when he closes them in order to draw, and if you 
 have followed these directions properly it is ten to one 
 that he will draw the card you wish. It may possibly 
 be imagined that forcing is a very difficult matter, and 
 requires an extraordinary degree of dexterity, but this is 
 by no means the case. The principal thing which a be- 
 ginner must guard against is a tendency to offer the par- 
 ticular card a little too soon. When the cards are first 
 presented to the drawer the pack should be barely spread 
 at all, and the card in question should be ten or fifteen 
 cards off. The momentary hesitation of the drawer in 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 47 
 
 making his choice will give time, by moving the cards 
 quicker or slower, as may be necessary, to bring that card 
 opposite his ringers at the right moment. Should the 
 performer, however, miscalculate his time, and the card 
 pass the drawer's fingers before the choice is made, he 
 need not be embarrassed. Still keeping the little finger 
 on the card, he should sharply close the cards, and, mak- 
 ing some remark as to the drawer being a difficult to 
 please " or the like, again spread them as before, and 
 offer them for the choice. 
 
 A moderate degree of practice will make the student 
 so proficient that even a person acquainted with the secret 
 of forcing will have to be very wide-awake in order not 
 to take the desired card. There are some illusions which 
 depend upon the drawer taking a card similar in suit and 
 number to one already prepared elsewhere for the purpose 
 of the trick. In this case it is, of course, absolutely neces- 
 sary that the card drawn should be the right one, and as 
 even the most accomplished performer cannot always be 
 certain of forcing a single card, another expedient must 
 be used in order to insure success. This is made abso- 
 lutely certain by the use of what is called a " forcing 
 pack " — i. e., a pack in which all the cards are alike. 
 Thus if the knave of hearts is the card to be drawn, the 
 whole pack will consist of knaves of hearts, and the drawer 
 may therefore do his utmost to exercise a free choice, but 
 the card which he draws will certainly be the knave of 
 hearts, and no other. 
 
 To " Slip " a Card.— Hold the pack in the left hand, 
 having first slightly moistened the fingers, which should 
 rest upon the back of the cards. Open the pack book- 
 wise, at an angle of about 45 degrees, holding the upper 
 packet lengthwise between the thumb and second finger 
 of the right hand. Draw this upper packet smartly up- 
 ward to a distance of two or three inches from the lower 
 packet. (See Fig. 20.) The top card of the upper 
 
48 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 packet, being held back by the pressure of the fingers 
 upon it, will not move upward with the rest of the packet, 
 but immediately the remaining cards are clear will fold 
 itself down on the top of the lower packet. If the top 
 card of the lower packet be examined before and after 
 the slip, the card will appear to have changed, the fact 
 being that the original top card becomes the second after 
 the slip, the slipped card covering it. 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 To "Change" a Card (Filer la Carte).— -Some of 
 the most brilliant effects in card conjuring are produced 
 by the aid of this sleight, by means of which a card, fairly 
 exhibited, is forthwith apparently transformed to a differ- 
 ent one. 
 
 Hold the pack in the left hand, as though about to 
 deal the cards. Hold the card to be changed in the right 
 hand, between the first and second fingers. (See Fig. 
 21.) The card into which it is to be changed should 
 have been previously placed (secretly, of course) on the 
 top of the pack. Push this card a little forward with the 
 left thumb, so as to make it project about three-quarters 
 of an inch beyond the remaining cards. Bring the hands 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 49 
 
 close together for an instant, and in that instant place 
 the card held in the right hand under the pack (the sec- 
 ond, third, and fourth fingers of the left hand opening 
 to receive it, and the remaining finger making way for 
 it as soon as it reaches the pack). Simultaneously with 
 this movement, the thumb and first finger of the right 
 hand must close upon the card projecting from the top 
 of the pack, and as the hands separate carry with them 
 that card in place of the one which the right hand origi- 
 nally held. A half turn of the body to the left or right, 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 a quick downward sweep of the right hand, or any other 
 rapid gesture, will assist in covering the momentary bring- 
 ing together of the hands. 
 
 To Spring the Cards from One Hand to the 
 Other. — This is a mere flourish, and belongs rather to 
 the art of the juggler than to that of the magician, but 
 it is so frequently exhibited by conjurers that a work on 
 magic would hardly be complete without some notice of 
 it. The cards are held in the right hand, between the 
 tips of the second and third fingers at the top, and the 
 thumb at the bottom. If the thumb and fingers are now 
 brought slowly nearer together, so as to bend the cards 
 slightly, they will one by one, in quick succession (begin- 
 ning with the bottom card) spring away from the pack; 
 
50 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 and if the pressure be continued, the whole of the cards 
 will spring away one after the other in this manner. If 
 the left hand be held at ten or twelve inches from the 
 right, with the fingers slightly bent, the released cards 
 will be shot into the left hand, which, as the last cards 
 reach it, should be rapidly brought palm to palm with 
 the right, and square up the pack to repeat the process. 
 By giving the body a quick half turn to the right as the 
 cards are sprung from one hand to the other you may 
 make the hands (and with them the moving cards) de- 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 scribe an arc of about two feet, and so deceive the eye 
 of the spectator into the belief that the hands are that 
 distance apart, though in reality, as they both move to- 
 gether in the same direction, they retain throughout their 
 original relative distance of ten or twelve inches. 
 
 To Throw a Card. — This sleight also belongs rather 
 to the ornamental than to the practical part of conjuring, 
 but it is by no means to be despised. It is a decided 
 addition to a card trick for the performer to be able to 
 say, " You observe, ladies and gentlemen, that the cards 
 I use are all of a perfectly ordinary character," and by 
 vvay of offering them for examination, to send half a 
 dozen in succession flying into the remote corners of the 
 hall or theater. 
 
 The card should be held lightly between the first and 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 51 
 
 second fingers, in the position shown in Fig. 22. The 
 hand should be curved inward toward the wrist, and then 
 straightened with a sudden jerk, the arm being at the 
 same time shot sharply forward. The effect of this move- 
 ment is that the card as it leaves the hand revolves in the 
 plane of its surface in the direction indicated by the dotted 
 line, and during the rest of its course maintains such revo- 
 lution. This spinning motion gives the flight of the card 
 strength and directness which it would seem impossible to 
 impart to so small and light an object. 
 
 A skilled performer will propel cards in this way to a 
 distance of sixty or eighty feet, each card traveling with 
 the precision and well-nigh the speed of an arrow shot 
 from a bow. The movement, though perfectly simple in 
 theory, is by no means easy to acquire in practice. Indeed, 
 we know no sleight which, as a rule, gives more trouble at 
 the outset, but after a certain amount of labor with little 
 or no result, the student suddenly acquires the desired 
 knack, and thenceforth finds no difficulty whatever in the 
 matter. 
 
 New Thought Card Sleight.— This is an entirely 
 new method of discovering the name of a card that a 
 spectator has secretly thought of. 
 
 The performer takes a pack of cards that has just been 
 shuffled by a spectator, and, holding the cards (of the 
 order of which he has absolutely no knowledge) in the right 
 hand, with the backs of the cards toward himself, passes 
 them one at a time into the left hand, at the same time 
 requesting a spectator to think of any card that he de- 
 sires. After the person has signified that he has made a 
 selection, the performer closes up the pack and gives it 
 a thorough shuffle. He now finishes the trick in any 
 manner that he chooses, producing, for instance, the 
 thought card at any number called for, or causing any 
 card that someone else selects at random from the pack 
 to change into a thought card. 
 
52 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 The secret of this entirely new dodge depends prac- 
 tically upon a novel application of the mind reading act, 
 a la Bishop and Cumberland. As the performer deliber- 
 ately passes the cards from the right hand to the left, he 
 counts them, at the same time carefully watching the eyes 
 of the spectator, to whom he is rather close. It is a 
 curious fact that as soon as the latter has made a silent 
 choice his eyes will give a recognition of that fact by the 
 glance losing its intensity. The conjurer can thus almost 
 invariably tell which card has been selected, and, having 
 kept tally on the number of cards passed, knows its exact 
 position in the pack. It is a comparatively easy matter 
 for him to make the pass at this place, thereby bringing 
 the desired card to the top of the pack, which is next 
 subjected to a vigorous but false shuffle. The finish of 
 the trick, which is optional with the performer, ought to 
 be made as brilliant a one as possible. 
 
 To Distinguish the Suit of Any Given Card by 
 Weight. — This feat depends upon a little preliminary 
 preparation of the cards. Selecting a pack with glazed 
 backs, you " mark " them by the simple expedient of 
 drawing a wet finger with some little pressure across one 
 end of each, as follows: For the hearts, right along the 
 edge; for the spades, from the left-hand corner half way" 
 across, and for the clubs, from the middle to the right- 
 hand corner. The diamonds have no mark. The strip 
 of moistened surface should not be more than an eighth 
 of an inch in width. The cards being allowed to dry, 
 it will be found that, when looked at obliquely, the glazed 
 surface shows a dull streak wherever the finger has passed, 
 although not sufficiently marked to attract the attention 
 of the casual observer. 
 
 The performer hands the cards to be shuffled, and re- 
 quests that they be given back to him one by one, when 
 he will tell, by its weight, of what suit each card is. He 
 receives the card face downward on the extended right 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 53 
 
 hand, and, moving it gently up and down, as though to 
 estimate its weight, is able without difficulty to observe 
 how it is marked, and to describe it accordingly. If it 
 bears no mark he declares with confidence that it is a 
 diamond. 
 
 Should anyone seem to have a suspicion that the cards 
 are marked, a diamond may be put into his hand for 
 examination. These, having no mark, tell no tales. 
 
 To Make All the Cards, Except a Chosen One, 
 Fall to the Floor. — Having brought the chosen card to 
 the bottom of the pack, and face upwards, request one of 
 the audience to hold the cards for you for a moment. 
 You tell him to put the fingers underneath about one inch, 
 and the thumb on top, to prevent them falling, and ask 
 him to hold them tolerably firmly; at the same time give 
 them a smart rap with your finger on top, and all the 
 cards will fall to the floor, save the one chosen, which is 
 facing him, and retained in the hand. 
 
 The same result may be obtained by holding the cards 
 with the fingers on the top and thumb under, the chosen 
 card being on the top of the pack. This time you must 
 strike the cards upwards. The cards will be scattered, 
 but the chosen one will remain in the hand. 
 
 To Catch Two Cards Thought of in the Air with 
 the Hand. — This is a rather clever illusion, and very 
 easy. After having placed the two chosen cards, one at 
 the top and the other at the bottom of the pack, you hold 
 the pack in your right hand, between the fingers and 
 thumb, which have been previously moistened. You press 
 the cards, make a movement upwards with the arm, and 
 loosen the pressure with the fingers; this will at once 
 release all the cards between the two chosen, and they 
 are sent into the air; close the fingers and thumb, which 
 now hold the two cards thought of, and make a dash with 
 the hand as if to catch something amongst the released 
 cards. In the confusion of cards, no one will notice that 
 
54 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 those chosen have never left the hand. The movement 
 must, of course, be rapid. 
 
 To Tell the Cards Thought of by Four Persons.— 
 The pack having been shuffled, offer it to a person to 
 select four cards from it; this being done, offer it to a 
 second, third, and fourth person to select four each. Now 
 request each person to select in his mind one card from 
 the four he holds, and taking the several fours in your 
 hands, face downwards, one heap upon the other, deal four 
 out upon the table, face upwards, and upon these the next 
 four. Continue in like manner until the sixteen cards 
 are on the table again in four heaps. You ask the first 
 person in which heap his card is, which having been 
 pointed out, his card is the first or uppermost of the heap ; 
 the second person's is the second card of the heap he points 
 to, the third person's is the third of the group, and the 
 fourth person's is found at the bottom of the heap. You 
 could, of course, mention them as the several persons 
 specify the heaps, but it is much better in all tricks to 
 avoid giving any clew as to how you derive your infor- 
 mation; therefore if you can do it, notice the cards, and 
 pick up the heaps again, and dealing them out in rotation 
 name the cards as they are exposed. It is quite possible 
 that two, or even the four, by accident fall in the same 
 heap ; this makes no difference — the first person's must 
 be the first card, and the second person's the next, and so 
 on. This trick can be done also with three, five, six, or 
 seven persons ; the secret is merely to let each person have 
 the same number of cards as there are people to choose — 
 i. e.j if there are three persons, each must- have three cards, 
 if five, then five cards — and proceed as indicated. 
 
 Sixteen Cards being Placed upon a Table, to Guess 
 the One Thought of. — Place the cards in two rows of 
 eight each, as A and B, and request a person to think of 
 one. For illustration, we will suppose he chooses number 
 7 in row A. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 55 
 
 B CD E F H 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 IO 
 
 3 
 
 ii 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 7* 
 
 15 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 F 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 7* 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 -7* 
 
 8 
 
 &C. 
 
 &c. 
 
 9 
 
 IO 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 3 7* 
 &c. &c. 
 
 You can, therefore, in your mind, discard all the row 
 B, but for effect keep them in use. It is as well in laying 
 the cards to let 2 slightly overlap 1, and 3 2, &c, so as 
 to gather them easily, by running one over the other, which 
 retains the order. In this way pick up row A, and then 
 row B, A being uppermost, face downwards. Now make 
 two more rows, C, D, the first card under C, and the sec- 
 ond under D, and so on; No. 7 will consequently come 
 fourth in row C. Ask again in which row the card is. 
 In C ; well, you know it must be one of the first four, for 
 all the rest have been discarded. Pick up the cards as 
 before, C uppermost, and make two more rows, E, F; 
 this time No. 7 must come under F, and is of course either 
 the first or second card. Pick up the cards, F row upper- 
 most, and deal again H, J, and the card must be the first 
 in the row selected. In our case No. 7 is first in row J. 
 Do not point out the card upon the table, but pick up the 
 pack and then point it out, or utilize it for some other trick. 
 Remember to always deal the cards face upwards on the 
 table, and after dealing C, D, you know the card is one 
 of four, and it is better, therefore, not to always work 
 towards the top of the rows to discover the card, but to 
 keep the chosen cards in various positions. Until ac- 
 quainted with the trick, follow the above directions, and 
 your own ingenuity will teach you the variation. 
 
 To Tell which Pair of Cards was Selected.— Deal 
 
56 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 out twenty cards in pairs, face upwards, upon the table, 
 and request as many of the audience as please to select one 
 or more of the pairs and remember their cards. Take 
 up the cards in any order, being careful not to separate 
 the pairs in doing so, and replace them, face upwards, upon 
 the table in four rows of five cards each, and by placing 
 them in proper order you can tell to a certainty which were 
 the pairs selected by the various persons. 
 
 To enable you to do this, you have merely to make a 
 mental table of four words — mutus, nomen, dedit, cocis 
 — which you will observe contain twenty letters — one 
 for eacji card — but only ten distinct letters, t e. y two M's, 
 two U's, &c, or one for each pair of cards. This is the 
 key. The following represents the mental Table : — 
 
 MUTUS 
 NOMEN 
 DEDIT 
 COCIS 
 
 The first card you place on the M in mutus, and the 
 second of the same pair on the M in nomen; the third 
 card on U, and the fourth card on the second U in first 
 line ; the next, or fifth, card on T in mutus, and its com- 
 panion on T in dedit; the seventh card finds its place on 
 S of the first word, and its mate on the S in cocis. Having 
 completed the first line, proceed with nomen in like man- 
 ner, and likewise with dedit and cocis, until the imaginary 
 Table is covered. Consequently, if the person says his 
 cards are in the first and third rows, you know at once 
 they must cover the T's, if in the first and last lines, then 
 the S's are covered, and so on. A little practice is neces- 
 sary to strengthen the memory, so as to place the pairs 
 in their right places without hesitation. 
 
 Twenty-five Cards being Placed upon the Table, 
 to Mention which has been Thought of. — A per- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 57 
 
 former with an ordinary memory by this method may 
 discover the cards thought of by several different per- 
 sons, but for our purpose we will imagine only one per- 
 son to have selected. Give the pack to be shuffled and 
 cut so that no suspicion of arrangement may exist, and 
 then deal out the cards in rows of five each, until twenty- 
 five are upon the table, as follows : — 
 
 A B C D E 
 
 F G H I J 
 
 K L M N O 
 
 P Q R S T 
 
 U V W X Y 
 
 Now request one of the company to select a card, naming 
 the row it is in, and to remember it. For illustration, 
 we will imagine it is in the fourth row, and occupies the 
 position of S. Glance upon the left-hand card of that 
 row, which would be P (suppose, ace of hearts). Pick 
 up the cards, commencing with Y, which place upon T, 
 these two upon O, then upon J, E, X, S, &c, until all 
 the cards are packed, A being bottom, face upwards. 
 Turn the cards, and now deal them out again in the 
 same way as before — which will be as under — 
 
 A F K P U 
 
 B G L Q V 
 
 C H M R W 
 
 D I N S X 
 
 E J O T Y 
 
 — and ask which row it is in now. " Fourth." Re- 
 membering your left-hand card in previous arrangement 
 
 — i. e., ace of hearts, or P — look upon the top row for 
 that card, and follow that line down to the fourth row, 
 
58 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 which is S and the card selected. This can be performed 
 with any square number, u e., 16, 25, 36, or 49 cards. 
 
 The Four Kings Being Separated, to Bring Them 
 Together by a Single Cut. — You select the four kings 
 from a pack, and also two knaves. The kings you. ar- 
 range in your hand in the shape of a fan, and place behind 
 the second one, say the king of spades, the two knaves, 
 therefore they are hidden from view. You show the cards 
 by holding them towards the audience, so that they may 
 be satisfied that the cards really are kings, and place them 
 on top of the pack. You may remark, " Ladies and gen- 
 tlemen, I propose to separate these kings; the first [which 
 you hold towards them] I will place at the bottom of 
 the pack, the second [which is a knave] I w r ill place a 
 little higher up, the third [also knave] higher up still, 
 and the fourth [which you again exhibit, for it is really 
 a king] I will leave on top." The kings are now three 
 on top, and one at the bottom of the pack; consequently, 
 a single cut will bring them together. One of the com- 
 pany can cut the cards, and the kings will be found to 
 be in company. 
 
 A Card having been Drawn from and Returned 
 to the Pack, to Find it under a Handkerchief.— 
 Allow 7 the pack to be shuffled, and, upon its being re- 
 turned, invite a person to draw a card, which upon being 
 returned to the pack, make the pass and bring it to the 
 top, where you can leave it for the present, and borrow 
 a handkerchief, which you place over the cards, and in- 
 quire the name of the chosen card, which being given, 
 put your hand under the handkerchief and take off the 
 top card, which must be the one named. 
 
 A more effective way of performing the same trick is, 
 after the card has been chosen and returned, and you 
 have brought it to the top by the pass, to palm it, and 
 return the pack to be shuffled. The cards are then to 
 be scattered under the handkerchief, so as to avoid any 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 59 
 
 suspicion of arrangement. Upon the card being named, 
 you place the hand with the palmed card in it amongst 
 them, and draw the chosen card from the medley. 
 
 To Tell Whether any Card in the Pack is Red or 
 Black without Looking at it. — Before commencing 
 this trick you secretly divide all the red from the black 
 cards, and, holding them in one pack, you slightly bend 
 them across the middle lengthways; then take all the 
 black cards, and bend them also across the middle broad- 
 ways, so that the red and black cards are both bent, but 
 in different directions. Mix them thoroughly, and you 
 can go through the pack and tell whether each card is 
 red or black, by remembering which way they are bent. 
 Or you can ask anyone to give you a card from the pack, 
 and you can say with confidence, without looking at it, 
 whether it is red or black. We have seen this same 
 trick done in a drawing-room, by means of a reflector or 
 mirror; this, however, is not a good system, for in cases 
 of this kind, where cards are named without being di- 
 rectly looked at, the audience at once look round for a 
 mirror, and should one happen to be in front of the 
 performer, the trick is no more interesting, as they put 
 it down that you obtain your information through the 
 mirror. Consequently, by having the cards bent, you 
 can name them, if required, before holding them up for 
 inspection and confirmation. 
 
 To Name all the Cards in Succession. — Take up 
 the pack of cards from the table, shuffle them, and ascer- 
 tain what the bottom card is; place the pack behind your 
 back, and reverse that card to the top, back to back with 
 the remainder; show that card to the company, name it, 
 and at the same time glance at the card now at the bottom 
 of the pack, and which is facing you, together with the rest 
 of the pack, except the one named, and which is facing 
 the audience. Pass the pack again behind your back (or 
 any other object so as to hide your maneuver), and move 
 
60 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 the card just looked at to the front, which, in its turn, 
 is exposed to the audience, and name it, glancing, as be- 
 fore, at the card facing yourself, which is next to be 
 named. A judicious shuffle will relieve the monotony of 
 this operation. By this means you can name all the cards 
 in succession. 
 
 To Make Two Cards Change Places whilst Held 
 in Separate Hands. — Take two aces, the one of hearts, 
 the other of clubs. From other cards cut out one of the 
 figures of hearts and another the club, which must be 
 done as neatly as possible, and merely the paper surface 
 of the card used, which can be done by splitting the cut 
 figures ; then rub on the backs of the heart and club some 
 white pomatum, and place the club over the ace of hearts, 
 and the heart over the ace of clubs, taking care that the 
 under mark is completely covered. These preparations 
 must be made before you begin. Now, with the two 
 prepared aces in the pack, divide it so that one prepared 
 ace may be at the bottom of each half. Show the cards 
 to the audience, and explain that you have the ace of 
 hearts in the right hand and the ace of clubs in the left. 
 When everyone is satisfied on this point, you can either 
 keep the cards in your hands or lay the packs on the table, 
 with the faces downwards, at a distance of two teet from 
 each other, in order that it is quite clear the hands or 
 packs do not approach each othei. In the latter case, 
 upon placing the cards upon the table, you would quietly 
 put the third finger of each hand under the respective 
 packs, and slip off the affixed mark, leaving the original 
 mark. This done, you may remark, " Ladies and gentle- 
 men, you are aware that the ace of hearts is in the right- 
 hand pack, and the ace of clubs in the other; it is my 
 intention to make them change places. Change! " Turn 
 up the right-hand pack — there is now the ace of clubs at 
 the bottom, and the ace of hearts is, of course, with the 
 other. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 61 
 
 To Make Two Cards Change Places at the Word 
 
 of Command. — Under various titles, this trick is con- 
 stantly performed in public, and, strange as it may appear 
 at first sight to even attempt to make two cards change 
 places by word of command, yet it is easily done. You 
 must in the first place have a pack in which there are dupli- 
 cates of one card — say, two queens of hearts — and you 
 must arrange these cards — a queen at the bottom, any 
 other card next, which we will suppose is the four of 
 clubs, and above that the second queen of hearts; or if 
 you prefer to do so, the first queen may be placed at the 
 top. You come forward shuffling the cards vigorously, 
 taking care not to disturb the order of the three cards; 
 and now you must leave the bottom queen of hearts on 
 the top of the pack if you have had the three at the bot- 
 tom for the convenience of shuffling; consequently, the 
 cards are now placed: four of clubs at the bottom, one 
 queen of hearts next above it, and the other on top of 
 the pack. You now hold the pack towards the company, 
 requesting them to notice particularly the bottom card, 
 at which you also look, and mention that it is the four 
 of clubs, which you wish someone to retain upon the 
 table, here, with his hands. You forthwith lower the 
 cards, and sliding back the four of clubs with the left- 
 hand third finger, you draw out the card above it, which 
 appears to the audience to be the bottom card, or the four 
 of clubs, but is really the queen of hearts, and you place 
 that card upon the table, of course face downwards, re- 
 questing some person to put his hand upon it. 
 
 You now make the pass, and bring the second queen 
 of hearts to the bottom — i. e. f below the four of clubs — 
 and again shuffling the cards, not disturbing the two, you 
 once more show the bottom card to the company, and 
 request them to notice it; you do likewise, observing that 
 u it is the queen of hearts." You then go through the 
 same performance as before; but this time you slip aside 
 
62 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 the queen, and draw out the next card, which is the four 
 of clubs, but which the company believe to be the queen 
 of hearts, and place that also on the table, face down- 
 wards, and request someone else to keep it under his 
 hand. Having called attention to the fact that the first 
 card put on the table was the four of clubs, and the second 
 one the queen of hearts, you now command the cards to 
 change places, and when the gentlemen turn up their re- 
 spective cards it will be found that the one who was sup- 
 posed to hold the four of clubs has the' queen of hearts, 
 and vice versa. 
 
 The Triple Deal. — Take any twenty-one cards, and 
 ask some person to choose one from them. Lay them 
 out in three heaps, and ask the person who took the card 
 in which heap it is. You may turn your back while he 
 searches. Gather them up and put that heap between the 
 other two. Do this twice more, and the chosen card will 
 always be the eleventh from the top. 
 
 The Card Found at the Second Guess. — Offer the 
 cards to anyone, and let him draw one. You then hold 
 the cards behind your back, and tell him to place his 
 card on the top. Pretend to make a great shuffling, but 
 only turn that card with its back to the others, still 
 keeping it at the top. Then hold up the cards with their 
 faces towards the spectator, and ask him if the bottom 
 card is his. While doing so, you inspect his card at your 
 leisure. He of course denies it, and you begin shuffling 
 again furiously. " Let me do that," he will probably 
 say; so, as you are perfectly acquainted with his card, 
 you let him shuffle as much as he likes, and then, when 
 you get the cards back again, shuffle until his card is at 
 the bottom. Then pass them behind your back, make a 
 ruffling noise with them, and show him his own card at 
 the bottom. 
 
 The Card Found Under the Hat. — Have a needle 
 stuck just inside your sleeve. Hand the cards as in the 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 63 
 
 preceding trick, and tell the taker to put the card on the 
 top. Take out the needle, and prick a hole nearly through 
 the top left-hand corner. Replace the needle, shuffle the 
 cards, or let anyone shuffle them. Place the pack on the 
 table, cover them with a hat, and the marked card will 
 be known by a little raised knob on the right-hand top 
 corner. Draw out card by card, saying whether it is 
 that card or not, until you come to the marked one, which 
 you throw on the table carelessly, and when you are about 
 taking out another card, stop suddenly, and pretend to 
 find, by some magic process, that it is the chosen card. 
 
 The Revolution. — Another neat way of finishing a 
 trick is as follows: Get the card to the top of the pack; 
 and taking care that all the cards are even, drop the pack 
 on the floor, taking care just as you let go, to slip the 
 top card a little off the rest of the pack. In falling, the 
 resistance of the air will turn the card over, and it will 
 rest with its face upwards on the top of the pack. 
 
 The Nailed Card. — Take a flat-headed nail, and file 
 it down until its point is as sharp as a needle, and the 
 head quite flat. The nail should be about half an inch 
 long, or even shorter if anything. Pass the nail through 
 the center of any card, say the ace of spades, and conceal 
 it in your left hand. 
 
 Take another pack of cards, get the ace of spades to 
 the bottom, and exchange the pierced card for the other. 
 Put the pierced card at the bottom of the pack, and throw 
 the cards violently against a door, when the nail will be 
 driven in by the pressure of the other cards against its 
 head, and the chosen card will be seen nailed to the door. 
 The nail should be put through the face of the card, so 
 that when the others fall on the floor, it remains facing 
 the spectators. 
 
 To Make a Card Jump Out of the Pack and Run 
 on the Table. — Take a pack of cards, and let anyone 
 draw any card he pleases; put it into the pack, so that 
 
64 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 you may know where to find it at pleasure. Put a small 
 piece of wax under your thumb-nail, to which fasten a 
 hair, and the other end of the hair to the card; spread 
 the cards open on the table, and desire the one chosen 
 to jump out, which you may readily cause it to do by 
 means of the hair. 
 
 The Trick of Thirty-one. — This is played with the 
 first six cards of each suit — the aces in one row, the 
 deuces in another, the threes in another; then the fours, 
 fives and sixes — all laid in rows. The object now will 
 be to turn down cards alternately, and endeavor to make 
 thirty-one points by so turning, or as near to it as pos- 
 sible, without overrunning it; and the man who turns 
 down a card, the spots of which make him thirty-one, or 
 so near it that the other cannot turn down one without 
 overrunning it, wins. This trick is very deceiving, as 
 all other tricks are, and requires much practice to be well 
 understood. 
 
 The chief point of this celebrated trick is to count so 
 as to end with the following numbers, viz., 3, 10, 17 
 or 24. For example we will suppose it your privilege 
 to commence the count: you would commence with 3, 
 and your adversary would add 6, which would make 
 9; it would then be your policy to add 1, and make 10; 
 then, no matter what number he adds, he cannot prevent 
 you counting 17, which number gives you the command of 
 the trick. We will suppose he add 6, and make 16; then, 
 you add 1, and make 17, then he to add 6, and make 23, 
 you add 1, and make 24, then he cannot possibly add any 
 number to count 31, as the highest number he can add 
 is 6, which would only count 30, so that you can easily 
 add the remaining 1, or ace, and make 31. There are, 
 however, many variations to the trick. 
 
 The Changing Ladle. — This is a piece of apparatus 
 designed for secretly obtaining possession of a chosen 
 card or piece of writing. The bowl, so to speak, of the 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 65 
 
 ladle is in the form of a segment of a cylinder (see Fig. 
 23), the size of its opening being about four inches by- 
 two and a half, and its depth three inches. It is made 
 of tin, with a thin, cylindrical handle. The edges of the 
 bowl are turned inwards all round to the extent of about 
 a sixteenth of ah inch, thereby serving to disguise a 
 movable slab of tin, a, which moves backwards and for- 
 wards like the leaf of a book within the ladle, working 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 upon a hinge at its lower edge. This is made to work 
 backwards and forwards by a w T ire rod passing through 
 the whole length of the handle and terminating in a 
 little knob or cap at its outer end. The normal position 
 of a is to lie against the inner or handle side of the bowl 
 (see Fig. 24), being retained in that position by the oper- 
 ation of a spiral spring in the handle, w T hich draws the 
 wire back. If, however, pressure be applied to the knob 
 or cap at the end of the handle, the wire is forced down- 
 wards, thereby bringing the movable leaf a against the 
 outer side of the bowl, as shown in Fig. 25. 
 
 There are various modes in which the changing ladle 
 may be made useful. For example, it may be used to 
 burn and restore a card. For this purpose, the ladle is 
 
66 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 prepared by placing in it beforehand any indifferent card 
 of similar pattern to the pack in use, and is in this con- 
 dition placed on the performer's table, in such manner 
 that the spectators may not observe that there is already 
 a card in it. The performer then comes forward and 
 hands to one of the company a pack of cards, with a re- 
 quest that he will select any one he pleases. While he is 
 making his selection, the performer or his assistant places 
 on the table and sets fire to some spirits of wine on a 
 bowl or plate. A card having been chosen, the performer 
 requests the drawer to return it to him, and, in order to 
 preclude the apparent possibility of any exchange or 
 sleight-of-hand, volunteers to receive it at arm's length 
 in the ladle, which he brings forward for that purpose, 
 holding it by the extreme end of the handle, and pressing 
 with his palm the knob at the top, thereby bringing the 
 movable leaf into the position shown in Fig. 25, with the 
 card already in it pressed flat against the outer side of 
 the bowl, and thus completely hidden. The chosen card 
 being placed in the ladle, the performer, in returning to 
 his table, relaxes the pressure of his palm, thereby bring- 
 ing the movable leaf back into the position of Fig. 24, 
 releasing the dummy card, and concealing that chosen 
 against the inner side of the bowl. He then drops ap- 
 parently the chosen, but really the substitute, card into 
 the flames, taking care as he does so not to turn the face 
 of the card toward the audience. The ladle, with the 
 genuine card in it, is carried off by the assistant as having 
 served its purpose, and the chosen card is subsequently 
 restored after any fashion which the fancy of the operator 
 may dictate. 
 
 The ladle may also be used to apparently burn and 
 restore a paper on which one of the company has written 
 any words or figures. In this case a blank half-sheet of 
 note-paper, folded in four, is beforehand placed in the 
 ladle, and a piece of paper folded in the same way is 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 67 
 
 handed to one of the audience, with a request that he will 
 write what he pleases upon it, again fold it, and place it 
 in the ladle. It is then either apparently burned (as in 
 the case of the card) or placed in some other apparatus, 
 the operator making a great point of the fact that he does 
 not touch the paper. As the genuine paper remains in 
 the ladle, it is, of course, very easy for the performer to 
 ascertain what is written upon it, and having displayed 
 his knowledge, to ultimately reproduce the paper under 
 any circumstances which he thinks fit. Sometimes the 
 trick is varied by requesting a spectator to write a ques- 
 tion upon the paper, which is subsequently reproduced 
 with an appropriate answer written beneath the question. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS 
 
 To Tell the Numbers on a Pair of Dice. — This 
 is done by a simple arithmetical process. 
 
 Ask someone to throw the dice without your seeing 
 them,* 'then tell him to choose one of the numbers and 
 multiply by two, add five and multiply this number by 
 five and add the number on the remaining dice. 
 
 On his telling you the result you subtract mentally 
 twenty-five from the number he has obtained and the 
 remainder will be two figures representing the two num- 
 bers on the dice. 
 
 Suppose the numbers thrown to be six, three. Six 
 multiplied by two would be twelve — with five added 
 make seventeen, multiplied by five is eighty-five, with 
 three added make eighty-eight; from this take twenty-five 
 and it gives as a result sixty- three — six, three, being 
 the numbers thrown. This can be worked with the same 
 result if the person throwing the dice multiplies the three 
 instead of the six, the result in that case being thirty-six 
 instead of sixty-three. 
 
 To Change the Numbers on Dice. — Take an ordi- 
 nary pair of dice and hold them in such a manner between 
 the thumb and finger that the numbers visible to the audi- 
 ence are three, one, the three being the upper number. 
 Ask one of the audience to tell the numbers, stating plainly 
 which is the top one. This being done you state that by 
 rubbing your fingers over them you cause them to change 
 places by simply passing your finger over them. 
 
 In bringing your hands together you turn the dice 
 quarter way round. This will bring the next side of 
 
 68 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 69 
 
 the dice toward the audience and the numbers will read 
 one, three, instead of three, one, as before. This can 
 be varied by again rubbing them with your finger. You 
 can show the third side which will read six, four; and 
 repeating the motion you show the fourth side which 
 will be four, six. These numbers may be varied, but 
 care must always be taken to have similar numbers on 
 two adjoining sides. 
 
 Houdin's Nut Trick. — The professor hands the 
 audience a dessert plate and a cambric handkerchief for 
 examination; these being returned, he places the plate 
 upon a table near to him ; the handkerchief is then spread 
 out quite flat over the plate. At command, sugared al- 
 monds, nuts, and comfits pour into the dessert plate the 
 instant the kerchief is lifted up. The way in which it 
 is done is this: Make a calico bag large enough to hold 
 the nuts and sweetmeats you intend to distribute, to 
 the pattern of the letter A; a small selvage is turned 
 up at the bottom of the bag; procure two pieces of watch 
 spring, and bend them quite flat, each spring to be 
 exactly half the diameter of the bag. These are put into 
 the selvage, and sewn up firm. When the bag is opened, 
 it will close itself in consequence of the springs. A long 
 pin is passed through the top of the bag and bent round 
 hook-shape. If the bag be now filled with nuts, etc., it 
 may be suspended by the hook, without any danger of the 
 nuts or anything else falling out; because, although the 
 mouth of the bag is downwards, the springs keep it shut. 
 When this trick is to be shown, the prepared bag is hung 
 on the side of the table that is away from the audience. 
 The plate is also placed on that side; and when the hand- 
 kerchief is laid over the plate a portion is left to fall over 
 the side of the table. Now the kerchief is picked up with 
 the right hand in the center (just as a lady does when she 
 wishes to exhibit the lace edge), and with it the bag of 
 nuts; the folds of the cambric hide the bag. The left 
 
70 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 hand is now used to draw over the handkerchief and to 
 press the bag; this causes the springs to open, and out fall 
 the " good things " upon the plate. 
 
 The Magic Bran Glass. — A glass of bran instantly 
 changed into a glassful of sweets, or various other arti- 
 cles. The performer brings forward a glass of bran, 
 and to prove it to be such scatters some on to the floor. 
 A cover, that has been examined, is then placed over the 
 goblet; and on its being removed the bran is nowhere 
 to be seen, the glass being full of sweets, nuts, etc., which 
 are readily demolished by the youngsters, utterly regard- 
 less of the air of mystery which hangs about their magic 
 appearance. 
 
 A hollow tin shape is made to fit inside the glass, which 
 is generally a goblet, large or small, according to whether 
 for drawing-room or stage use. The tin shape is open 
 at the bottom only, and outside bran is glued on, so that 
 when placed in the goblet it appears like a glass full of 
 bran. The hollow of the tin shape is first filled with 
 sweets, some borrowed article, etc., and then placed in the 
 glass. A cover (generally made of brass) with the sides 
 tapering outwards is made to go over the goblet, and 
 when pressed down hard the rim of the bran shape be- 
 comes jammed, so that on the cover being raised the 
 shape rises also, unseen, and the sweets or other articles 
 are left in the glass. Some loose bran is always heaped 
 on to the top of the tin shape when commencing, and 
 blown on to the floor to disarm suspicion. 
 
 The Oriental Ball Trick. — Procure three balls of 
 wood, the size of billiard balls, each having a small hole 
 drilled completely through it, the hole the size of an 
 ordinary black-lead pencil. 
 
 Procure, also, two pieces of white tape, each ten feet 
 long. Double each tape exactly in half, so that they be- 
 come only five feet long. Insert the folded end into one 
 of the balls; pull it through about an inch; then open 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 73 
 
 chief. — Procure four or five large plumes. Take off 
 your coat, and lay the plumes along your arms, the stem 
 being toward your hand. Now put on your coat again, 
 and the feathers will lie quite smoothly and unsuspected. 
 Wave a handkerchief about to show that it is empty. 
 Throw it over your left hand, and with the right draw 
 put one of the plumes from up the coat-sleeve, at the 
 same time giving it a flourish in the air, which will 
 loosen all the fibers of the feather, and make it appear 
 much too large to have been concealed about the person. 
 Wave the handkerchief again, and repeat the operation 
 until all the plumes are gone. You can carry enough 
 plumes under the sleeve to cover a table, and if you 
 prepare a board full of holes, or an ornamental vase, you 
 can place the plumes upright as you take them out. 
 
 Additional plumes, fastened together by a thread, can 
 be carried inside the trousers and waistcoat, with the 
 stems just within the breast of the latter. 
 
 The Bran Plate. — This apparatus is designed for 
 the production of a dove or other fairly large object. 
 
 The apparatus consists of two earthenware plates, of 
 about soup-plate size. The one, when brought forward, 
 is filled with heaped-up bran; the other, inverted, is 
 placed on it by way of cover. When it is again re- 
 moved a moment later, the bran has vanished, and in its 
 place appears the dove or other object which it is desired 
 to produce. 
 
 The secret lies in the fact that the supposed heap of 
 bran is in fact a tin cover, with bran glued thereon, and 
 with a shallow depression in the center to hold loose 
 bran, of w T hich the performer takes a handful, and lets 
 it fall through his fingers to prove its genuineness. This 
 cover is so modeled that its convex side shall exactly 
 adapt itself to the interior of either of the earthenware 
 plates, while its concave side is japanned so as to match 
 in pattern with them. 
 
74 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 The working of the trick will now be clear. The ob- 
 ject to be produced is placed in one of the earthenware 
 plates, the cover placed over it, and the hollow in the 
 center filled with loose bran. When it is desired to pro- 
 duce the concealed article, the second earthenware plate 
 is turned down over the tin cover. The plates are waved 
 about for a moment or two, and in replacing them on 
 the table, turned over, so that the one containing the 
 cover is now undermost. The one now uppermost is 
 lifted off, and left carelessly in the way of examination. 
 The bran has vanished, and there, in the second plate, is 
 the article to be revealed. 
 
 The Vanishing Tumbler of Water. — Provide your- 
 self with a prepared handkerchief. You have two fancy 
 cotton handkerchiefs of the same pattern, which are 
 
 stitched together round the 
 edges, thus appearing to be 
 one handkerchief, and are 
 also stitched from two of 
 the corners to a point about 
 two inches beyond the cen- 
 ter, thus forming a tri- 
 angular bag (Fig. 26, a, b, 
 c). These two corners 
 should have marks peculiar 
 to themselves, so that you 
 may readily find them 
 without looking. Inside 
 the triangular bag you 
 place a brass ring, the 
 diameter of which is just a shade larger than that of an 
 ordinary tumbler. This ring is not fastened in any way, 
 but by holding the corners a and b, it falls to the center of 
 the handkerchief (c) ; but if the handkerchief is held in 
 any other way the ring changes its position. 
 
 You require a pretty wide glass, which must have per- 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 75 
 
 fectly straight sides, and must be fitted with an outside 
 shell, also of glass, sufficiently large to allow your hand 
 to pass through it, it being merely a glass tube without 
 either top or bottom, but in other respects resembling the 
 companion glass to such a degree that when it is over the 
 glass, no difference can be detected. Placing this shell 
 over the glass you advance with them in your hand, ob- 
 serving that you have a common glass, which you will 
 partly fill with water, and suit the action to the word, 
 filling it about two-thirds or a little more. Then placing 
 it upon the table near the back, you take the handker- 
 chief, and having sent the ring to one of the corners, 
 draw the handkerchief through the hand, to casually show 
 that it contains nothing; but do not say a word on the 
 subject until you have the corners a, b, in your hands, 
 when you shake it out and show both sides — this will 
 cause the ring to go to the center of the handkerchief, 
 when you throw it over the glass upon the table, bringing 
 the ring above the glass. Now, standing behind the 
 table, with one hand grasp the shell through the hand- 
 kerchief, and, putting the other hand underneath, raise 
 the shell from the glass, whilst the other hand lowers the 
 glass, with the water, to the servant e. You now ad- 
 vance to the audience, still holding the shell through the 
 handkerchief, and can show beyond doubt that the glass 
 is there by " flipping " it with the fingers, or even allow- 
 ing the audience to feel for themselves. You inform 
 them that you are about to make the glass disappear, and 
 retire a little further back upon the stage. 
 
 Supposing you are holding the shell in the right hand, 
 you place the left under the handkerchief as though to 
 hold it, which you do for a moment in order to allow 
 the right hand to change its position, and take hold of 
 the wire ring and the shell from the top, and as you 
 do so you squeeze with the left hand a wet sponge which 
 you took from the servante; as the water falls it will 
 
76 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 give the impression that it has come from the glass under 
 the handkerchief. Having altered the position of the 
 right hand, so as to hold the ring, you thrust the left 
 hand through the shell and let it pass up your arm be- 
 tween the shirt and the coat sleeve. Now withdrawing 
 
 the left hand from under, 
 the appearance is still that 
 the glass is there, on account 
 of the form of the ring (Fig. 
 27). You take hold of one 
 of the corners of the hand- 
 kerchief, and announce that 
 .you are now going to make 
 the glass of water disappear. 
 Then, counting, " One, two, 
 three — pass ! " you make a 
 vigorous shake w T ith the 
 handkerchief, releasing your 
 hold with the right hand, 
 and the glass has disap- 
 peared. You show both 
 sides of the handkerchief as before, but there is no trace 
 of it to be found. You will probably have to retire a 
 moment to get the shell from your left arm, but there 
 is no fear of its falling provided you keep the wrist 
 bent. 
 
 To Knock a Tumbler Through a Table.— Take an 
 ordinary tumbler and a newspaper. Sit on a chair 
 behind the table, keeping the audience in front of it. 
 Place the tumbler on the table and cover it with the 
 newspaper, pressing the paper closely round, so that it 
 gradual^ becomes fashioned to the form of the glass. 
 Then draw the paper to the edge of the table, and drop 
 the tumbler into your lap — quickly returning the paper 
 to the center of the table; the stiffness of the paper will 
 still preserve the form of the tumbler; hold the form 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 77 
 
 with one hand, and strike a heavy blow upon it with the 
 other; at the same moment drop the tumbler from the 
 lap to the floor; and you will appear to have positively 
 knocked the tumbler through the solid table. Care 
 should be taken after the tumbler is in the lap, to place 
 the legs in such a fashion that the glass may slide grad- 
 ually toward the ankles, so that the fall may not be 
 sufficiently great to break the glass. Care should be also 
 taken to smooth out the paper after the blow has been 
 struck, to prevent suspicion of the fact that the form 
 of the glass was simply preserved by the stiffness of the 
 paper. Never repeat this illusion. 
 
 To Place Water in a Drinking-glass Upside 
 Down. — Procure a plate, a tumbler, and a small piece 
 of tissue or silver paper. Set the plate on a table, and 
 pour water in it up to the first rim. Now, very slightly 
 crumple up the paper, and place it in the glass; then 
 set it on fire. When it is burnt out, or rather just as 
 the last flame disappears, turn the glass quickly upside 
 down into the water. Astonishing! the water rushes 
 with great violence into the glass! Now you are satis- 
 fied that water can be placed in a drinking-glass upside 
 down. Hold the glass firm, and the plate also. You 
 can now reverse the position of the plate and glass. In- 
 stead of burning paper, a little brandy or spirits of wine 
 can be ignited in the glass; the result of its combustion 
 being invisible, the experiment is cleaner. 
 
 The Protean Liquid. — A red liquor, which w^hen 
 poured into different glasses will become yellow, blue, 
 black, and violet, may be thus made : Infuse a few shav- 
 ings of logwood in common water, and when the liquor 
 is red, pour it into a bottle; then take three drinking- 
 glasses, rinse one of them with strong vinegar, throw 
 into the second a small quantity of pounded alum, which 
 will not be observed if the glass has been newly washed, 
 and leave the third without any preparation. If the red 
 
78 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 liquor in the bottle be poured into the first glass, it will 
 assume a straw-color; if into the second, it will pass 
 gradually from bluish-gray to black, provided it be stirred 
 with a bit of iron, which has been privately immersed in 
 good vinegar ; in the third glass the red liquor will as- 
 sume a violet tint. 
 
 To Bring Colored Ribbons from Your Mouth. — 
 Heap a quantity of finely carded wool upon a plate, 
 which place before you. At the bottom of this lint, and 
 concealed from the company, you should have several 
 narrow strips of colored ribbons wound tightly into one 
 roll, so as to occupy but little space. Now begin to 
 appear to eat the lint by putting a handful in your 
 mouth. The first handful can easify be removed and 
 returned to the plate, unobserved, while the second is 
 being " crammed in." In doing this care should be 
 taken not to use all the lint, but to leave sufficient to 
 conceal the roll. At the last handful, take up the roll 
 and push it into your mouth, without any lint; then ap- 
 pear to have had enough, and look in a very distressed 
 state as if you were full to suffocation; then put your 
 hands up to your mouth, get hold of the end of the rib- 
 bon, and draw hand over hand, yards of ribbon, as if 
 from your stomach. The slower this is done, the better 
 the effect. When one ribbon is off the roll, your tongue 
 will assist you in pushing another end ready for the hand, 
 You will find you need not wet or damage the ribbons ir, 
 the least. 
 
 An Egg Put into a Phial. — To accomplish this seem- 
 ingly incredible act, requires the following preparation: 
 You must take an egg and soak it in strong vinegar ; and 
 in process of time its shell will become quite soft, so 
 that it may be extended lengthways without breaking; 
 then insert it into the neck of a small bottle, and by 
 pouring cold water upon it, it will reassume its former 
 figure and hardness. This is really a complete curiosity, 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 79 
 
 and baffles those who are not in the secret to find out 
 how it is accomplished. If the vinegar used to saturate 
 the egg is not sufficiently strong to produce the required 
 softness of shell, add one teaspoonful of strong acetic 
 acid to every two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. This will 
 render the egg perfectly flexible, and of easy insertion 
 into the bottle, which must then be filled with cold 
 water. 
 
 To Keep the Hand Dry in Water. — With some 
 lycopodium, powder the surface of a large or small vessel 
 of water; you may then challenge anyone to drop a piece 
 of money into the water, and that you will get it with 
 the hand without wetting your skin. The lycopodium 
 adheres to the hand, and prevents its contact with the 
 water. A little shake of the hand, after the feat is over, 
 will dislodge the powder. 
 
 Sympathetic Inks.— By means of these, we may 
 carry on a correspondence which is beyond the discovery 
 of all not in the secret. With one class of these inks, the 
 writing becomes visible only when moistened with a par- 
 ticular solution. Thus, if we write to you with a solu- 
 tion of sulphate of iron, the letters are invisible. On 
 the receipt of our letter, you rub over the sheet a sponge 
 wet with a solution of nut-galls, and the letters burst 
 forth into sensible being at once, and are permanent. 
 
 2. If we write with a solution of sugar of lead, and 
 you moisten with a sponge or pencil dipped in water im- 
 pregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, the letters will 
 appear with metallic brilliancy. 
 
 3. If we write with a weak solution of sulphate of 
 copper, and you apply ammonia, the letters assume a beau- 
 tiful blue. When the ammonia evaporates, as it does 
 on exposure to the sun or fire, the writing disappears, 
 but may be revived again as before. 
 
 4. If you write with oil of vitriol very much diluted, 
 so as to prevent its destroying the paper, the manuscript 
 
80 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 will be invisible except when held to the fire, when the 
 letters will appear black. 
 
 5. Write with cobalt dissolved in diluted muriatic 
 acid; the letters will be invisible when cold, but when 
 warmed they will appear a bluish green. 
 
 We are almost sure that our secrets thus written will 
 not be brought to the knowledge of a stranger, because he 
 does not know the solution which was used in writing and 
 therefore knows not what to apply to bring out the 
 letters. 
 
 To Make a Ring Pass through a Table. — For 
 this trick you borrow a ring from the audience, and have 
 a handkerchief with a substitute ring attached to the 
 middle of it by a thread about five inches long. Hand- 
 kerchiefs with things concealed in them in this manner 
 should be folded in such a fashion that, when they are 
 upon the table, the performer can take hold of them by 
 a corner, and at once shake them out, the suspended arti- 
 cle being on his side. You also require a tumbler and a 
 bowl. You ask a person to hold the tumbler; then, 
 taking up and shaking the handkerchief, take the bor- 
 rowed ring in the right hand, and putting the hand be- 
 neath the handkerchief, palm the ring, and take hold of 
 the substitute, and passing it up to the handkerchief, 
 you take hold of it through the handkerchief w T ith the 
 left hand. Now put the hand above the glass, allowing 
 the sides of the handkerchief to hang over the glass, 
 which the person holds in his left hand, and request him 
 to take hold of the ring and handkerchief with the right. 
 After he has asserted that he holds the ring, you request 
 him to let it fall into the glass ; and this it is heard to do. 
 You now ask him to put the glass, ring, and handker- 
 chief, upon the table as they now are. Now, taking the 
 bowl in the right hand (which hand "contains the ring), 
 you show that the bowl is quite empty, and placing it 
 beneath the table, and under the glass, you slip the bor- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 81 
 
 rowed ring into it. You now announce that your inten- 
 tion is to pass the ring from the glass into the bowl, 
 through the table, but first of all you will satisfy them 
 that the ring is still in the glass, which you take up and 
 shake; the suspended ring will then make itself heard. 
 Now take the handkerchief by the middle, between the 
 thumb and finger, command the ring to leave the glass at 
 the word " Three," and count "one, two, three!" and 
 at the same time raise the handkerchief straight above the 
 glass, thus withdrawing the substitute ring, and the 
 tumbler is found to be empty; and upon the person tak- 
 ing the bowl from beneath the table, the ring is found 
 to be there, thus having obeyed your command. 
 
 To Pass a Ring through a Pocket-handkerchief. — 
 This is performed by the aid of a piece of wire, sharpened 
 to a point at each end, and bent into the form of a ring. 
 The performer, having this palmed in his right hand, 
 borrows a wedding-ring and a handkerchief (silk for 
 preference). Holding the borrowed ring between the 
 fingers of his right hand, he throws the handkerchief 
 over it, and immediately seizes with the left hand, through 
 the handkerchief, apparently the borrowed ring, but really 
 the sham ring, which he adroitly substitutes. He now 
 requests one of the spectators to take hold of the ring 
 in like manner, taking care to make him hold it in such 
 a way that he may not be able to feel the opening be- 
 tween the points, which would betray the secret. The 
 ring being thus held, and the handkerchief hanging down 
 around it, a second spectator is requested, for greater 
 security, to tie a piece of tape or string tightly round 
 the handkerchief an inch or two below the ring. The 
 performer then takes the handkerchief into his own hand, 
 and, throwing the loose part of the handkerchief over his 
 right hand, so as to conceal his mode of operation, slightly 
 straightens the sham ring, and works one of the points 
 through the handkerchief, so getting it out, and rubbing 
 
82 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 the handkerchief with his finger and thumb in order to 
 obliterate the hole made by the wire in its passage. He 
 now palms the sham ring, and produces the real one, 
 which has all along remained in his right hand, request- 
 ing the person who tied the knot to ascertain for himself 
 that it has not been tampered with. 
 
 To Pass a Borrowed Ring into an Egg. — This is 
 an effective conclusion to a ring trick. The necessary 
 apparatus consists of two wooden egg-cups, inside one 
 of which, at the bottom, is cut a mortice or slot just 
 large enough to receive one-half the circumference of a 
 lady's ring, and to hold it in an upright position. The 
 second egg-cup has no specialty, being, in fact, merely a 
 dummy, designed to be handed to the audience for inspec- 
 tion. An ordinary button-hook, or a piece of wire bent 
 into the shape of a button-hook, completes the preparations. 
 
 We will assume that the performer has secretly ob- 
 tained possession of a borrowed ring, which the audience 
 believe to remain in some place or apparatus in which 
 they have seen it deposited. The operator, retiring for 
 an instant, returns with a plate of eggs in one hand, and 
 the dummy egg-cup in the other. The special egg-cup, 
 with the ring already in the mortice, is meanwhile placed 
 either under his waistband, or in one or other of his 
 pochettes, so as to be instantly get-at-able when required. 
 Placing the eggs on the table, he hands round the egg- 
 cup for inspection, that all may observe that it is wholly 
 without preparation, and in turning to place the egg-cup 
 on the table, he substitutes for it the one which contains 
 the ring, but which the audience naturally believe to be 
 that which they have just examined. 
 
 Bringing forward the plate of eggs, the performer re- 
 quests the company to choose whichever they please. 
 While they are making their selection, he carefully turns 
 back his sleeves, showing indirectly that his hands are 
 empty. Taking the chosen egg with the tips of his fin- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 83 
 
 gers, and showing it on all sides, to prove that there is 
 no preparation about it, he says, " Now, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen, you have seen me place the ring which this lady 
 has kindly lent me in ' so-and-so ' (according to the 
 place where it is supposed to be). "You have selected, 
 of your own free choice, this particular egg among half-a- 
 dozen others. I am about to command the ring to leave 
 the place where it now is, and to pass into the very center 
 of this egg. If you think the egg is prepared in any 
 way, it is open to you even now to choose another. You 
 are all satisfied that the egg has not been tampered with ? 
 Well, then, just observe still that I have nothing in my 
 hands. I have merely to say, ' One, two, three! Pass! ' 
 The ring is now in the egg." At the word, " Pass," 
 the performer taps one end of theegg with his wand, just 
 hard enough to crack it slightly. " Dear me," he says; 
 " I did not intend to hit quite so hard; but it is of no 
 consequence.' ' Stepping to the table, he places the egg, 
 with the cracked end downwards y in the prepared egg-cup, 
 using just sufficient pressure to force the egg well down 
 upon the ring, the projecting portion of which is thereby 
 forced into the egg. The egg being already cracked, a 
 very slight pressure is sufficient. Bringing forward the 
 egg in the cup, the hook already mentioned, and a table- 
 napkin, he taps the top of the egg smartly with his wand, 
 so as to crack it, and, offering the hook to the owner of 
 the ring, requests her to see whether her property is not 
 in the egg. The ring is immediately fished out, and 
 being wiped upon the napkin, is recognized as that which 
 was borrowed. The apparatus in which it was originally 
 placed is, on being examined, found empty. 
 
 To Produce a Cannon Ball from a Hat. — You 
 borrow a hat, and on taking it into your hands you ask 
 a number of questions about it, or say it would be a pity 
 for you to spoil so nice a hat, or make some such remark. 
 This, however, is only a ruse for the purpose of divert- 
 
84 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 ing attention. Then, passing round to the back of your 
 table — (where, by the way, you have arranged on pegs 
 a large wooden " cannon ball," or a cabbage, or a bundle 
 of dolls, trinkets, etc., loosely tied together, so that they 
 may be easily disengaged) — you wipe, in passing, one 
 or other of these articles off the pegs — where they must 
 be very slightly suspended — into the hat so rapidly as 
 not to be observed. 
 
 Returning to the gentleman from whom you received 
 the hat, you say to him: " You are aware, sir, that your 
 hat was not empty when you gave it to me," at the same 
 time emptying the contents in front of the audience. 
 Supposing you have, in the first instance, introduced the 
 dolls and trinkets, you may repeat the trick by wiping 
 the " cannon ball," or one of the other articles into the 
 hat, and again advancing towards the gentleman from 
 whom you received it, say: "Here is your hat; thank 
 you, sir." Then, just as you are about to give it to 
 him, say: " Bless me! what have we here? "and turn- 
 ing the hat upside down, the large cannon ball will fall 
 out. 
 
 To Hatch Chickens in a Hat. — Obtain, in the first 
 place, a blown egg and three or four small chickens, also 
 some broken egg-shells in irregular halves. The chickens 
 should be put together in a small bag made of black 
 alpaca, and the egg-shells also: it is surprising into what 
 a small space the chickens can be packed without being 
 hurt. You put the bag with the chickens into the tail 
 pocket, and then borrow a hat, which you place upon 
 the table, mouth upwards. You have now to produce a 
 similar number of eggs to the number of chickens you 
 have in the bag, and this you can do in two ways. The 
 first is to palm one, and then appear to produce one from 
 one of the audience, another from the seat of a chair, a 
 third from your wand, and a fourth from the foot of 
 your pants, apparently transferring them to the hat as 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 85 
 
 you find them. The other way is to use the egg hand- 
 kerchief, with one blown egg suspended by a thread from 
 the top, and to appear to drop the eggs into the hat from 
 it in the manner suggested. 
 
 In either of these cases you have the opportunity of 
 putting the chickens into the hat. Having progressed 
 so far that the chickens are in the hat, and eggs supposed 
 to be there, you announce that you are going to hatch 
 chickens from the eggs, and the hat shall be the incu- 
 bator. You want heat, and call for a candle ; then cover 
 the mouth of the hat with a borrowed handkerchief, and 
 hold the hat above the candle flame at such a distance 
 that it will not be damaged. Having held it for a few 
 moments in this position, you think the chickens must be 
 hatched, remove the handkerchief, and returning to the 
 table put the hat down. You now put in your hand and 
 draw out by the legs first one chick, then another, also 
 a third and a fourth, and pass to the assistant to take 
 care of. You show that the chickens are alive, and then 
 taking up the hat, you are about to return it to the owner, 
 when you suddenly check yourself, observing, " I beg 
 your pardon; but having taken out the chickens, I quite 
 forgot about the eggs from which they were hatched — 
 allow me to remove them." You accordingly throw them 
 to the back of the stage, or put them upon a plate. The 
 addition of the empty egg-shells gives quite a natural 
 finish to a good trick, and has considerable effect with 
 the audience. 
 
 To Restore a Crushed Hat. — This is a capital ter- 
 mination to a hat trick. You must, however, have a 
 confederate in the audience who has another hat under 
 his seat as well as his own, and when you ask for the 
 loan of a hat for one of the tricks, this confederate gives 
 you the old one. Having performed the trick for which 
 it was ostensibly borrowed, you give it to your assistant 
 to return to the lender, and as he is moving along the 
 
86 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 stage he trips over something and falls, crushing the hat 
 under him. You have a few words with your assistant, 
 and then express your regret to the lender, but still hope 
 he will be able to wear it, but he refuses to take it; you 
 therefore say you will wrap it up for him in as small a 
 parcel as possible, and proceed to tear it up into pieces. 
 Now take your pistol, put the pieces into the funnel, and 
 then fire it at the lender, which being done you tell him 
 to look under his chair, where he will find his hat restored. 
 He puts his hand under the chair and affects surprise to 
 find his hat so well restored. 
 
 To Tie a Person in a Sack, from which He Gets 
 Out without Cutting it or Breaking the Seal which 
 Secures the String. — This trick is a very good one for 
 the stage. A sound sack is handed round for examina- 
 tion, and upon its being returned your assistant gets into 
 it; the mouth is gathered together, securely tied with 
 strong cord, and sealed. It is then carried behind a screen, 
 with the person in it. In a few moments afterwards the 
 assistant comes from behind the screen, carrying the bag 
 with him, when it is found that the seal has not been 
 broken, nor have the knots been tampered with. The 
 question is, " How did he get out? " The secret is that 
 there are two sacks. One is brought forward and exam- 
 ined by the audience, who pronounce it to be quite sound ; 
 the second is secreted up the back of the assistant's coat. 
 The first sack being returned, he is requested to get into 
 it, the mouth being held open for that purpose by some 
 of the audience, who have been requested to come upon 
 the stage to see that everything is done properly. As 
 the assistant gets into the sack he takes the one from be- 
 neath his coat, and gathering up the mouth as if to tie it, 
 passes it up through the mouth of the sack he is in, as 
 you are drawing it together to be tied; you take hold 
 of this, and gather the mouth of the outer sack about it, 
 leaving the mouth of the inner sack protruding as if it 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 87 
 
 were that of the outer sack, holding the hands about the 
 folds of the outer sack so as to hide it from view, only 
 a few of the folds being placed with those of the inner 
 sack, so that the hands may be eventually removed. 
 
 Having gathered the two mouths in such a manner as 
 to suit your purpose, you hand a strong piece of cord to 
 one of those about you, and request him to tie the sack 
 securely while you hold it; then get another person to 
 make a turn, and then another, so as to convince every- 
 one that there is no confederacy about the tying; then 
 finally have the mouth sealed with wax, and an impres- 
 sion make with a signet ring. Another assistant or your- 
 self now takes hold of the head part of the sack and you 
 request one or two of the party to assist you to carry the 
 sack and contents behind the screen where it is deposited. 
 The assistant inside, as soon as all is clear, gently pulls 
 the sides of the outer sack from the cord, then thrusts 
 forth the second sack and makes his own exit. The first 
 sack he thnnvs behind the scenes, and then comes forward 
 carrying the second one, the mouth of w^hich is still se- 
 curely tied and sealed. 
 
 To Produce Bowls of Water and Goldfish from 
 beneath a Cloth, and to Make them Disappear 
 Again. — The performer comes forward with a large 
 cloth, w r hich he shows to be quite free from any prepara- 
 tion, and then waving it from 
 side to side a few times, he rests 
 it upon his arm and draws from 
 beneath it a large bowl of water 
 with goldfish in it. This is put -pi*. 28> 
 
 upon the table. He goes through 
 
 the performance a second and a third time, each time bring- 
 ing to light another bowl, similar to the first. Having 
 produced three, he announces that it is quite as easy to 
 make them disappear; to prove it he covers one with a 
 cloth, carries it forward to the audience, asks them to 
 
88 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 catch, and throws it at them, and they are surprised to 
 find that the bowl has disappeared . 
 
 The bowls, water, and fish, are all genuine; there is, 
 however, an article which the audience do not see, and 
 this is a thin indiarubber cover, which stretches tightly 
 across the bowl and remains there until removed, keeping 
 the water inside and allowing the bowls to be placed in 
 any position. The bowls (Fig. 28) should be about 
 eight inches in diameter and about one and one-half 
 inches deep. They are nearly filled with water, the 
 goldfish put in, and then the indiarubber cover stretched 
 over. Supposing you intend to produce three, you would 
 put one bowl so prepared into the breast-pocket of your 
 coat on the right, the second on the left, and the third 
 inside the vest, or in the coat-tail pocket. If the latter 
 pockets are not large enough, you can have a bag made 
 to answer the purpose, which is suspended beneath the 
 tails. 
 
 Thus prepared you take up a large cloth, and ad- 
 vance to the audience, showing both sides empty; then 
 slowly waving it by two corners, you throw it over the 
 right shoulder and arm, and extend the right arm in 
 front of you, bending the elbow. Now while the right 
 arm is thus extended, with the left you draw from the 
 right breast-pocket the first bowl, and support it hori- 
 zontally upon the palm of the hand. The right arm 
 now gradually drops down in front allowing the cloth 
 to rest upon the bowl, so that the audience can see there 
 is something beneath it. The right hand, being free, is 
 now brought above the bowl and the cloth, and takes 
 firm hold, through the cloth, of the indiarubber cover 
 at the edge of the glass, and draws it off as it removes 
 the cloth, revealing the first bowl of goldfish upon the 
 left hand. This is put upon the table or upon a chair. 
 Repeating the movement with the cloth, you this time 
 throw it over the left shoulder and arm, and show the 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 89 
 
 bowl of fish upon the right hand. The third is pro- 
 duced in like manner, according to the position in which 
 you have secreted it. 
 
 To make them one or all disappear — one, however, 
 is quite sufficient — you require a handkerchief, prepared 
 in the same manner as that used in the " Vanishing 
 Tumbler of Water " trick — that is, with a circular wire, 
 of the same diameter as the top of one of the bowls, be- 
 tween two handkerchiefs. Taking the double handker- 
 chief, and showing it to be empty, you draw it over one 
 of the bowls upon the table, so that the ring may be 
 over the bowl. Take hold of the ring through the hand- 
 kerchief, and as you raise that from the table, with the 
 other hand you lower the bowl upon the servante. Ad- 
 vancing to the audience with the supposed bowl beneath 
 the handkerchief, you make a feint of throwing it at 
 them ; release the ring, take hold of a corner of the hand- 
 kerchief, and behold! the bowl has vanished and the 
 handkerchief is shown empty. 
 
 The Tube and Ball. — This is a very ingenious trick, 
 and well worth the attention of the most fastidious per- 
 former. It can be used in several ways. 
 
 The apparatus consists of a one and one-half inch brass 
 tube about seven inches long, with a cap of the same 
 metal fitting closely over one end ; also two billiard balls 
 about the size of the diameter of the tube. The spec- 
 tators, however, are not supposed to know of the existence 
 of more than one ball. The tube and cap, together with 
 the ball, are given for examination, attention being drawn 
 to the fact that the ball will readily pass through the 
 tube. After examination the tube is stood on one end 
 on the table and covered with the cap. The operator then 
 takes the ball and causes it to vanish by means of sleight- 
 of-hand, when, on the tube being raised, it has to all 
 appearances been passed underneath. 
 
 The secret lies in the fact that there is a very small 
 
9 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 
 
 dent in the side of the tube at the center; also that one 
 of the balls — that given for examination — is slightly 
 smaller than the other. The small ball runs freely- 
 through the tube, but the large one will not pass the 
 center on account of the indentation. 
 
 On receiving back the tube the performer secretly 
 drops the large ball into it, which, owing to the force 
 of the fall, is pinched in the center and will not fall out. 
 In this condition the tube can be turned about in all di- 
 rections and will still appear empty. When placing it 
 on the table the performer is careful to bring it down 
 rather smartly on the end at which the ball was intro- 
 duced, when, owing to the concussion, the ball is released 
 and falls on the table. 
 
 The Smashed Watch Restored. — Suggesting to the 
 owner of a borrowed watch that it wants regulating, you 
 offer to undertake that duty for him, and, placing his 
 watch in a mortar, bring down the pestle with a heavy 
 thump upon it. A smash, as of broken glass, is heard, 
 and, after sufficient pounding, you empty the fragments 
 of the watch into your hand, to the horror of the owner. 
 You offer to return the fragments, but he naturally ob- 
 jects to receive them, and insists that you restore the 
 watch in the same condition as when it was handed to 
 you. After a little discussion, you agree to do so, premis- 
 ing that you can only effect the object through the 
 agency of fire. Fetching a loaf of bread, you place it 
 on the table in view of the company. Then wrapping 
 the fragments of the watch in paper, you place them in 
 a pistol, and, aiming at the loaf, request the owner of 
 the watch to give the signal to fire. The word is given, 
 " One, two, three — Bang!" Stepping up to the loaf, 
 you bring it forward for the spectators, and tearing it 
 asunder, exhibit in its very center the borrowed watch, 
 completely restored, and bright as when it first left the 
 maker's hands. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 91 
 
 The seeming mystery is easily explained. The mortar 
 has a movable bottom, which allows the watch at the 
 performer's pleasure to fall through into his hand. There 
 is a hollow space in the thick end of the pestle, closed 
 by a round piece of wood lightly screwed in, which, fit- 
 ting tightly in the bottom part of the mortar, easily un- 
 screws itself, as the performer apparently grinds away at 
 the ill-fated chronometer. In the cavity are placed be- 
 forehand the fragments of a watch, which, thus released, 
 fall into the mortar, and are poured out by the performer 
 into his hand, in order to show that there has been " no 
 deception." When the performer goes to fetch the loaf, 
 he has already obtained possession of the watch, which, 
 after giving it a rub upon his coat-sleeve or a bit of 
 leather to increase its brightness, he pushes into a slit 
 already made in the side of the loaf. When the loaf is 
 torn asunder (which the performer takes care to do from 
 the side opposite to that in which the opening has been 
 made), the watch is naturally found imbedded therein. 
 
 If a regular conjuring-table is used, the loaf may be 
 placed in readiness on the servante. The performer in 
 this case, having got possession of the watch, and holding 
 it secretly palmed, borrows a hat. Walking carelessly 
 behind his table, he asks, as if in doubt, " Who lent me 
 this hat?" holding it up with one hand, that the spec- 
 tators may see that it is empty. While all eyes are thus 
 drawn to the hat, he with the other hand forces the watch 
 into the loaf, and then, in bringing the hat down on the 
 table, introduces the loaf into it, after the manner of the 
 well-known " cannon-ball " trick, described elsewhere. 
 The hat is then placed on the table as if empty, and the 
 pistol fired at the hat. This little addition heightens 
 the effect of the trick. 
 
 The Butterfly Trick. — The performer brings for- 
 ward an ordinary fan, and a couple of bits of tissue- 
 paper, each torn into a fanciful likeness of a butterfly. 
 
92 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 Taking these upon his hand, he gently fans them, the 
 motion of the air speedily causing them to rise above his 
 head. Still gently fanning them, he causes them to 
 hover, now high, now low, now fluttering along the w T all, 
 now descending into a gentleman's hat, whence they 
 presently emerge to again flutter hither and thither at 
 his pleasure. 
 
 The point that most strikes an attentive observer is 
 the fact that, whether they fly high or low, the butter- 
 flies always keep together. Sometimes they may be a 
 couple of feet apart, sometimes only a few inches, but 
 they never exceed the above limit; and the spectator 
 naturally concludes that an extraordinary degree of dex- 
 terity must be necessary to enable the performer to keep 
 them from diverging more widely. Here, however, in 
 truth lies the secret of the trick, which is, that the so- 
 called butterflies are connected by a piece of very fine 
 silk a couple of feet in length, which, when the butterflies 
 are in motion, is absolutely invisible to the spectators. 
 The remainder of the trick is a matter of practice, though 
 it is less difficult than would be imagined by anyone who 
 has never attempted it. 
 
 Some performers have the silk thread attached to one 
 of the buttons of the coat. This arrangement will be 
 found greatly to facilitate the working of the trick. 
 
 The paper for the butterflies is better torn than cut, 
 and should be as nearly as possible of the shape of a 
 St. George's cross, and about two inches square. 
 
 The Mystic Afghan Bands. — This trick is supposed 
 to have been invented by the old East India fakirs, who 
 presented it in such a seemingly innocent manner that 
 its secret was not discovered until lately. It is certainly 
 one of the cleverest tricks, with such simple accessories. 
 
 Three paper bands are shown to the audience, each, 
 apparently, without the slightest preparation; the per- 
 former takes the first band, and with a pair of scissors 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 93 
 
 makes an incision in the center of the paper and cuts 
 right round the band, when it naturally falls into two 
 separate rings. Taking the second band, the performer 
 repeats the dividing operation, with the surprising result 
 that instead of obtaining two separate hoops, this band 
 is turned into two hoops interlinked together in a man- 
 ner that prevents them from being separated without 
 breaking one of the bands. 
 
 The third and last hoop is now taken and divided 
 round the center in a similar manner to the previous ones, 
 only this time instead of changing into two separate or 
 interlinked hoops, it falls into one long band just double 
 the size of what it was before being cut. By cutting it 
 again in the same way it will change to a hoop four times 
 the size it was when first exhibited. 
 
 The secret of this seeming marvel is, in reality, ex- 
 tremely simple, and costs nothing, while its effect is good 
 enough to warrant its production upon the stage. It 
 is worked as follows : To form the bands get three pieces 
 of paper about twenty-four inches long by an inch wide. 
 The first hoop is made by simply joining the tw^o ends of 
 the paper together, with the natural result that has been 
 described. The second one, however, is constructed in 
 a slightly different manner; before fastening the ends 
 together, the paper must be given a couple of twists and 
 then joined. For the third, only one twist is necessary, 
 and when the last hoop has been fastened together you 
 are ready to present the trick. 
 
 Further instructions are superfluous, as when the 
 bands have been made the working is simplicity itself, and 
 it is impossible to go wrong. 
 
 For obvious reasons the bands cannot be passed round 
 before the experiment, unless you are going to stick the 
 ends together in front of the audience, but after the trick 
 the hoops can be handed round without any fear of the 
 secret being discovered. 
 
94 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 The Inexhaustible Bottle. — The inexhaustible bot- 
 tle, though in appearance an ordinary glass bottle, is in 
 reality of tin, japanned black. Internally it is divided 
 into three, four, or five separate compartments, ranged 
 round a central space, and each tapering to a narrow- 
 mouthed tube, which terminates about an inch within 
 the neck of the bottle. A small pinhole 
 is drilled through the outer surface of the 
 bottle into each compartment, the holes 
 being so placed that when the bottle is 
 grasped by the hand in the ordinary way 
 each hole may be covered by one or other 
 of the fingers or thumb. The central 
 space is left empty, but the surrounding 
 compartments are filled, by means of a 
 funnel with a very tapering nozzle, with 
 the wines or liquids expected to be most 
 in demand, or to which it is intended to 
 **\J|BP limit the spectators' choice. A tray full 
 of glasses, made specially of very thick 
 glass, so as to contain in reality much less 
 than they appear to do, completes the 
 apparatus. 
 
 The performer comes forward with 
 the magic bottle, followed by an attendant bearing the tray 
 of glasses. He commences by openly pouring water into 
 the bottle, and out again, so as indirectly to raise the in- 
 ference that the bottle must be perfectly empty. The 
 water, in truth, really passes into the center space only, and 
 thence runs out again as soon as the bottle is tilted. The 
 fingers, meanwhile, are tightly pressed on the different holes, 
 and thus excluding the air,, effectually prevent any prema- 
 ture flow of wine from the various compartments. The 
 performer, still holding the bottle mouth downwards, says, 
 " You observe, ladies and gentlemen, that the bottle is 
 now perfectly empty, and yet, by my magic art, I shall 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 95 
 
 compel it to refill itself for your benefit." He then, ad- 
 dressing various individuals, asks each whether he prefers 
 port, sherry, gin, etc., and when the answer is given, 
 has only to raise the finger stopping the air-hole of that 
 particular compartment to cause the liquid named to flow 
 from the bottle r stopping as soon as the finger is again 
 pressed on the hole. It is a good plan, in order to pre- 
 vent confusion, to place the liquors in the bottle in alpha- 
 betical order, commencing from the hole stopped by the 
 thumb. Some performers increase the variety of the 
 liquors produced by placing beforehand in certain of 
 the glasses a few drops of various flavoring essences. By 
 this means a compartment filled with plain spirits of 
 wine may be made to do duty for brandy, whiskey, etc., 
 at pleasure, according to the glass into which the liquid is 
 poured. 
 
 The trick is sometimes elaborated by the performer, 
 by way of conclusion, apparently breaking the bottle, and 
 producing therefrom a borrowed handkerchief or other 
 article which has been made to disappear in some previous 
 trick. This is effected by means of an additional spe- 
 cialty in the construction of the bottle. The compart- 
 ments containing the liquids in this case terminate a couple 
 of inches above the bottom of the bottle, and the part 
 below this, which has a wavy edge, like fractured glass, 
 is made to slip on and off. (See Fig. 29.) The per- 
 former, having produced the wines, pretends to crack the 
 bottle all round by rapping it with his wand, and, hav- 
 ing apparently cracked it, pulls the bottom off, and ex- 
 hibits the handkerchief, which was beforehand placed in 
 readiness therein. The two parts of the bottle joining 
 with great nicety, there is little fear that the pretended 
 crack will prematurely attract attention. 
 
 The Chinese Rings. — These are rings of brass or 
 steel, in diameter from five to nine inches, and in thick- 
 ness varying from a quarter to three-eighths of an inch. 
 
96 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 The effect of the trick to the spectator Is as follows: 
 The rings are given for examination, and found to be 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 solid and separate; but at the will of the operator they 
 are linked together in chains of two, three, or more, 
 
 Fig. 31. 
 
 becoming connected and disconnected in a moment, and 
 being continually offered for examination. Finally, after 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 97 
 
 the rings have become involved in an apparently inex- 
 tricable mass, a slight shake suffices to disentangle them, 
 and to cause them to fall singly upon the stage. 
 
 The set of eight rings sold at the conjuring depots 
 consists of one " key " ring, two single rings, a set of 
 two linked together, and a set of three linked together. 
 The " key " ring, in which lies the secret of the trick, 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 is simply a ring with a cut or opening in it. The 
 manipulation of the rings admits of almost infinite vari- 
 ation, and the practice of performers differs greatly as 
 to the mode of working them. We give one method in 
 detail. 
 
 The performer comes forward holding the eight rings 
 in his left hand, arranged as follows: First (i. e., inner- 
 most), comes the set of three; then the " key " ring (the 
 opening uppermost in the hand), then the set of two; 
 and, lastly, the two single rings. Taking one of the 
 single rings, he hands it to a spectator for examination; 
 passing it, when returned, to another person, and care- 
 
98 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 lessly handing the second single ring to be examined in 
 like manner. This should be done without any appear- 
 ance of haste, and with an air of being perfectly indiffer- 
 ent as to how many of the rings are examined. The 
 two " singles " having been duly inspected, the performer 
 requests one of the spectators to take them both in his 
 right hand, at the same time taking in his own right 
 
 Fig. 33- 
 
 hand the next two rings, which, it will be remembered, 
 are the set of two, though the audience naturally believes 
 them to be, like the first, separate. " Now, sir," the 
 professor continues, " will you be good enough to link 
 one of the rings which you hold into the other? " The 
 person addressed looks more or less foolish, and finally 
 " gives it up." " You can't," says the performer in pre- 
 tended surprise. " My dear sir, nothing is easier. You 
 have only to do as I do. See! " Laying down the rest 
 of the rings, he holds the two as in Fig. 30, and makes 
 a gentle rubbing motion with the thumb upon the rings, 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 99 
 
 and then lets fall one of them, which naturally drops to 
 the position shown in Fig. 31. He now hands these 
 two rings for examination. The spectators seek for some 
 joint or opening but none is found; and meanwhile the 
 performer transfers the next ring (the "key") to his 
 right hand, keeping the opening under the thumb. He 
 now takes back with the left hand the two single rings, 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 immediately transferring one of them to the right hand, 
 and with the ball of the thumb presses it through the 
 opening in the key ring, into which it falls, with exactly 
 the same' effect as the apparent joining of the two linked 
 rings a moment before. Again he separates and again 
 joins the two rings. The second single ring is now made 
 to pass through in like manner, making the combination 
 shown in Fig. 32. The performer remarks, " We now 
 have three joined together. Here are three more, as 
 you see (shaking those in the left hand), all solid and 
 
ioo HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 separate, and yet at my will they will join the others." 
 Making a rubbing motion with the thumb as before, he 
 drops two of the three, one by one, from the hand, when 
 
 Fig- 35- 
 
 they will appear as a chain of three. These he hands 
 for examination, taking back the set of two, and linking 
 them one after the other into the key ring, to which now 
 four rings are attached. Again taking back the set of 
 three, he links these also one by one into the key ring, 
 which thus has seven rings inserted in it. (See Fig. 33.) 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 101 
 
 Using both hands, but always keeping the opening of 
 the key ring under one or the other thumb, he now takes 
 off these seven rings, commencing with the two single 
 ones, and again offering them for examination; then tak- 
 ing off the set of two. Last of all, he unlinks the set 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 
 of three, and then, holding them at length in his left 
 hand, joins the upper one to the key ring, thus making 
 a chain of four, of which the key ring is the uppermost. 
 He next takes the lowermost ring of the four, and links 
 that into the key ring, bringing the four rings into a 
 diamond shape, as shown in Fig. 34. Again unlinking 
 the lower ring, he takes up the set of tw T o, and connects 
 them with the key ring, holding them up above it, thus 
 
io2 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 making a chain of six, the key ring being third from 
 the top. (See Fig. 35.) Taking the upper ring be- 
 tween his teeth, he links the two single rings into the 
 key ring on either side, making the figure of a cross, as 
 shown in Fig. 36. As the hands are now occupied in 
 holding the single rings forming the arms of the cross, he 
 can no longer keep the opening of the key ring concealed 
 by the thumb, but it is extremely unlikely that among 
 so many rings, so slight a mark in one of them will attract 
 notice. Regaining possession of the key ring, he links all 
 one by one into it, so as again to bring them into the con- 
 dition illustrated in Fig. 33. Then, holding the key ring 
 with both hands; and with the opening downwards, about 
 a couple of feet from the floor he shakes the rings vio- 
 lently, at the same time gently straining open the key 
 ring, when the seven rings will all in succession drop 
 through the slit and scatter themselves about the floor, the 
 general impression being that they all fall separate, though 
 the grouped sets, of course, remain still united. 
 
 The Thinkophone. — The performer invites three gen- 
 tlemen, whom we will distinguish as A, B, and C, to assist 
 him on the platform. When they are duly seated, a piece 
 of blank paper is handed to A, and an open envelope. to 
 B. A is invited to think of some person, living or dead 
 at his discretion. When he declares that he has done so, 
 the performer places the ladle end of the changing ladle, 
 (described elsewhere,) which he calls his "thinkophone, 5 ' 
 on A's head, and applying his own ear to the opposite end, 
 declares that he is able by that means to divine (in fact 
 he already knows) what name the gentleman has thought 
 of. In order', however, to prove that there is no collusion 
 (or for any other colorable reason), he asks A to write in 
 pencil the name he has thought of, and to fold the paper 
 in four. The performer receives it in the ladle, and 
 therewith hands it (without changing) to C, who is in- 
 vited to look at the name, refold and replace it. It is 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 103 
 
 then handed, still in the ladle, to B, with a request that he 
 will place it in the envelope which he holds. At this 
 point, however, it is " changed " for another folded paper, 
 of similar appearance, with which the ladle was " loaded " 
 beforehand. While the substitute (which B is not in- 
 vited to look at) is being placed in the envelope, the per- 
 former gets the genuine paper from the ladle into his hand. 
 He puts the ladle aside, and begins reflectively to walk up 
 and down the stage, now and then putting a question to 
 A, such as, " Is the person whose name you have written 
 living, or dead?" — ■" A gentleman or a lady?"— "A 
 relative, or a stranger in blood?" and so on. Mean- 
 while, he opens and reads the paper in his palm, and after 
 a little more by-play, declares that the name is So-and-so. 
 He asks C whether that was the name he saw on the 
 paper, and on receiving a reply in the affirmative, tells B 
 to take the paper out of the envelope, and hand it back to 
 A. B breaks open the envelope accordingly, but the per- 
 former stops him the moment he has done so, and asks him 
 to hold up the folded paper in view of the audience, while 
 he explains " how it's done." This is stated to be by 
 " second sight," the performer explaining the meaning of 
 the term as follows: " When this gentleman (A) writes 
 the name, he sees it. That's first sight ! Then I tell you 
 what it is. And now / seize it, and that's second sight! " 
 
 At the words " I seize it," he suits the action to the 
 word, and forthwith hands the paper to A, but in so 
 doing changes it for the original paper, which remained 
 in his possession. 
 
 Reading Blindfolded. — The supposed clairvoyant, 
 usually a lady, is seated with a small table before her. The 
 performer distributes a number of blank cards among the 
 spectators, who are invited to write thereon words or 
 sentences in pencil. The cards, when written on, are 
 collected in an envelope, and handed to the performer, who 
 meanwhile has blindfolded the clairvoyant, but in such a 
 
104 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 manner that though she cannot see through the bandages, 
 she can get a sly downward peep at the table in front 
 of her. Taking one of the cards from the envelope, he 
 holds it in front of her forehead, close against the bandage. 
 After a moment's hesitation she reads the name inscribed 
 thereon, say, " Oliver Cromwell." Another card is taken 
 in a like manner, the one first used being thrown carelessly 
 on the table ; and so on through the whole series of cards. 
 
 The secret lies in the fact that that name " Oliver 
 Cromwell," stated to be on the first card, was not there 
 at all ; but is, in fact, a bogus name agreed on beforehand. 
 The real inscription on the card was, we will say, " Julius 
 Caesar; " but the assertion of the clairvoyant is not tested, 
 and nobody can be sure that his neighbor may not have 
 written " Oliver Cromwell," so the answer passes muster. 
 When the card has been professedly " read," the per- 
 former throws it with apparent carelessness on the table, 
 but within the radius of the downward glance of the clair- 
 voyant. She notes the name on it, and gives that name 
 as being the one on the second card, and so on throughout. 
 To complete the trick, and avoid accident, the performer 
 should be provided with a card of his own, bearing the 
 name " Oliver Cromwell." This card is taken, as if from 
 the envelope, and held by way of finish; the clairvoyant 
 reading, as if inscribed on it, the name appearing on the 
 card last laid on the table. The tale is then complete. 
 
 The Spirit Handkerchief. — The performer borrows 
 a white silk handkerchief from some obliging male spec- 
 tator, and after making a large knot in one of its corners 
 drops the handkerchief on the floor. After requesting the 
 pianist to furnish him with some music of the gentle, trick- 
 ling kind, he commands the handkerchief to assume an 
 erect position, which it immediately does. Passing his 
 hands continually above and around all sides of the hand- 
 kerchief, the performer causes it to go through a series of 
 very mystifying movements, the handkerchief rising, lying 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 105 
 
 down, dancing and gliding back and forth at his word 
 of command. For a finish the borrowed handkerchief 
 jumps into the hand of the performer, who immediately 
 returns it to its owner, who, after carefully examining it, 
 fails to find anything indicative of preparation about it. 
 
 The conjurer's friend, the black silk thread, is at the 
 bottom of this very charming and pleasing feat. The 
 thread is stretched horizontally across the stage, its ends 
 being held by assistants standing in the wings. Before 
 the trick and during the borrowing of the handkerchief 
 the thread is allowed to lie loosely on the floor, from 
 where it is raised to a level with the performer's hand, 
 immediately after he has returned to the stage and stepped 
 over it. Secretly seizing the thread, he manages to make 
 a knot in the handkerchief around it, and then drops it to 
 the floor, as described. 
 
 The rest of the explanation is simple enough: the con- 
 cealed assistants work the thread and thus cause the hand- 
 kerchief to rise, lie down, dance and glide back and forth 
 according to the will of the performer, w T ho, standing 
 sidewise to the audience, allows the thread to pass be- 
 tween his legs, thus being at liberty to walk backward and 
 forward without interfering with the working of the 
 thread. 
 
 The detaching of the thread previous to the return of 
 the handkerchief still remains to be explained. This is 
 accomplished by the performer seizing the knot of the 
 handkerchief after the latter, by the clever manipulation on 
 the part of the concealed assistants, has jumped into his 
 hand; one assistant releases his end of the thread, while 
 the other rapidly gathers his in, pulling the thread out 
 through the knot, and leaving the handkerchief ready to 
 be returned and duly inspected. 
 
 The Bewitched Skull. — A couple of open-backed 
 chairs are placed sideways to the audience, back to back, 
 about two feet apart. Upon these, resting on the backs, 
 
106 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS , MANUAL 
 
 is a sheet of plate-glass, two feet six inches in length, and 
 almost fifteen inches in breadth. The chairs and glass are 
 usually placed in position before the curtain rises, but in 
 order to show that there is no deception the performer 
 takes up the piece of glass and brings it forward for ex- 
 amination, as also a papier mache skull, life-size, and 
 closely resembling the real article. It has the lower jaw 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 complete, and a broad curved band of hoop-iron, painted 
 to match the rest, extends from below the jaw to the 
 lower part of the occiput. This band forms a rest for 
 the skull, so that when placed on a smooth surface, it 
 stands fairly upright, though so nearly in equilibrio as to 
 rock freely from back to front (see Fig. 37). 
 
 Having replaced the sheet of glass in position across the 
 backs of the chairs, the performer places the skull upon it, 
 facing the audience (see Fig. 38). Withdrawing to a 
 little distance, he proceeds to put questions to it, which the 
 skull answers by nods, one for " No," and three for 
 " Yes." Numbers are indicated by nodding the requisite 
 number of times. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 107 
 
 The answers are as a rule of a simple character, such 
 as revealing the numbers of a pair of dice (" loaded, " and 
 changed as may be necessary) thrown into a hat, naming 
 the suit and value of a drawn card, etc. " Fortune tell- 
 ing questions " may also be asked, and will be, if not 
 always correctly, at any rate intelligently answered. 
 
 Fig. 38. 
 
 When the little comedy is over, the performer again brings 
 forward the skull and sheet of glass and offers them for 
 examination. If any skeptical gentleman ventures to sus- 
 pect that the two chairs have any connection with the 
 platform, or play any occult part, electrical, mechanical 
 or otherwise, he is invited to come forward and inspect 
 them, but the closest scrutiny will not reveal anything 
 of a suspicious character. 
 
 The secret, like that of many of the best of magical 
 illusions, lies in a simple black silk thread, which, against 
 a moderately dark background, is quite invisible. The 
 
io8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 silk is threaded at the outset through the open backs of 
 the two chairs, each end passing behind the scenes, where 
 they are united in the hand of the assistant. When the 
 performer replaces the sheet of plate-glass upon the chairs 
 after examination, he lifts the thread so that it may lie 
 along the surface of the glass, passing from end to end, or 
 nearly, close to its under edge. The middle of the thread 
 as it thus lies on the glass bears a little pellet of wax, and 
 this, in placing the skull on the glass, the performer presses 
 against its hinder part. The thread has hitherto been left 
 free by the assistant, but if now slightly tightened by a pull 
 on the double line, the skull is tilted slightly backward. 
 On the pull being again relaxed, it drops back into 'its 
 normal position, giving the effect of a nod. This is the 
 whole of the mystery. By pulling each end of the thread 
 alternately, to a scarcely perceptible extent, the skull may 
 be made to turn to right or left. When the trick is over, 
 and the performer again tiffers the skull for examination, 
 the assistant releases one end of the thread, and draws it 
 away by the other. As the thread constitutes the whole 
 working machinery, the skull, glass and chairs may be 
 examined with the utmost freedom, without any risk. 
 
 The Disappearing Lady. — A handsome lady, in full 
 evening dress, stands upon a glass shelf which is raised 
 some 30 inches above the stage, being placed in front of a 
 large mirror also raised above the stage floor. A screen is 
 then so placed about her as to plainly show both sides of 
 the mirror. The magician then states at the word of com- 
 mand he will cause the lady to vanish. The screen is 
 removed, and the lady has disappeared. The manner of 
 doing the trick is simple. The mirror is made in two 
 parts, the shelf or platform whereon the lady stands hiding 
 the upper part of the lower section of mirror. The upper 
 section of mirror is placed to the rear of the lower mirror, 
 its lower end slipping down back of it. When it is pushed 
 up the upper part is hidden in the wide panel of frame. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 109 
 
 Fig. 39- 
 
 In the lower part of the large glass a large opening is 
 made, through which the lady is drawn by a confederate. 
 After she has escaped, the mirror is shoved into its proper 
 position. A portion of the mirror is 
 seen by the audience during the entire 
 exhibition, thus adding greatly to the 
 mystery of the illusion. 
 
 The Mystery of the Floating 
 Head. — One of the most startling of 
 conjurors' tricks, and one which has 
 piqued public curiosity to the utmost, 
 is that sensationally announced as the 
 " Human Head Floating in the Air." 
 Multitudes have witnessed and won- 
 dered at this performance; which seems 
 to have defied any explanation by the uninitiated. 
 
 That the head is a gutta-percha or plaster affair, is a pet 
 theory with those who have not seen it, but after witness- 
 ing, this idea is reluctantly discarded. In reality it is a 
 human head, and the seeming absence of any body at- 
 tached thereto will be accounted for as soon as we disclose 
 the mystery and secret of the per- 
 formance. 
 
 The sides and back of the stage 
 are hung with curtains. Near the 
 back of the stage two mirrors are 
 placed at right angles, the point, 
 equi-distant from each side of the 
 stage, facing the audience. The mir- 
 rors being at angles with the sides, of 
 course reflect the curtains at the sides, 
 and these curtains being the same in 
 style and material, their reflection has 
 the same appearance as the curtain at the back of the stage. 
 The audience seeing this reflection naturally imagine they 
 are having an unobstructed view of the back of the stage. 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
no HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 Behind this wall of glass the conjuror's confederate 
 takes his position, of course, only that part of his person 
 which is above the glass being visible. So the " floating 
 head " is really a man peeping over a glass fence. The 
 cushion which is commonly used to apparently support the 
 head, is suspended outside of the glass, by fine wire. 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 
 The exhibitor is always careful to keep out of the 
 angles of the glass, otherwise he would be reflected, and 
 the existence of the glasses disclosed to the audience. 
 When standing at the stage " wings,' 5 or when directly in 
 front of the central " point " of the mirrors, he is secure 
 from reflection. 
 
 Our illustrations make this explanation clear. Fig. 39 
 shows the head as it appears to the audience; Fig. 40 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 nr 
 
 shows the position, behind the glass, of the individual per- 
 sonating the " head." In the latter picture the spectator 
 is supposed to be looking through the mirrors. 
 
 The Cabinet of Proteus. — This is a wooden closet, 
 seven to eight feet in height by four or five feet square, 
 supported on short legs, so as to exclude the idea of any 
 communication with the floor. It has folding doors, and 
 an upright pillar extends from 
 top to bottom of the interior, 
 at about the center of the cabi- 
 net. At the top of this pillar, 
 in front, is fixed a lamp, so that 
 the whole of the interior is 
 brightly illuminated. 
 
 The cabinet may be used 
 in various ways. One of the 
 most striking is as . follows: Fig. 42. 
 
 The folding doors are opened, 
 
 disclosing the interior perfectly empty. (See Fig. 41.) 
 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. Notwith- 
 standing these precautions, when the doors are again 
 opened, the assistant is found to have vanished, and an- 
 other person, different in dress, in stature, and in com- 
 plexion, 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 having been removed, and the 
 door having been once more closed and opened, another 
 person, say, a lady, appears. This person haying retired, 
 
 the doors are again closed; and when they are again 
 
 opened, the person who first entered is once more found 
 
112 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 within. A committee from the audience are now invited 
 to examine the cabinet within and without, but all their 
 scrutiny cannot detect any hidden space, even sufficient to 
 conceal a mouse. 
 
 An examination of Fig. 42, representing a ground plan 
 of the cabinet, will make plain the seeming mystery. A 
 movable flap, a b, working on hinges at b, extends from 
 top to bottom of each side, resting when thrown open 
 against the post c in the middle, and thus enclosing a tri- 
 angular space at the back of the cabinet. The outer sur- 
 faces of these, flaps (1. e., the surfaces exposed when they 
 are folded back against the sides of the cabinet) are, like 
 the rest of the interior, covered with wall paper, of a 
 crimson or other dark color. The opposite sides of the 
 flaps are mirrors, and when the flaps are folded back 
 against the posts, reflect the surfaces against which they 
 previously rested, and which are covered with paper of 
 the same pattern as the rest. The effect to the eye of the 
 spectator is that of a perfectly empty chamber, though, as 
 we have seen, there is in reality an enclosed triangular 
 space behind the post. This is capable of containing two 
 or three persons, and here it is that the persons and things 
 intended to appear in succession are concealed. The as- 
 sistant, entering in sight of the audience, changes places, 
 as soon as the door is closed, with one of the other per- 
 sons. This person having retired, and the door again 
 being closed, those who are still within place the skeleton 
 in position in front of the post, and again retire to their 
 hiding-place. When all the rest have appeared, the per- 
 son who first entered presses the flaps against the sides of 
 the cabinet, against which they are retained by a spring 
 lock on each side, and the public may then safely be ad- 
 mitted, as their closest inspection cannot possibly discover 
 the secret. 
 
 The Mystic Flight. — The performer, attired in an 
 evening dress suit, introduces to the audience his liveried 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 113 
 
 assistant, whom he dresses in a long flowing robe which 
 entirely conceals him from view. A glass-topped table 
 standing in the center of the stage is mounted by the 
 performer and screens are pulled all around him. To 
 show that he is still there both hands are thrust out over 
 the top of the screen and they are held in this position 
 throughout the entire experiment. The robed assistant 
 now fires a revolver at the screens, the hands are imme- 
 diately withdrawn, the curtains pulled away, and there, 
 standing on the table, is the very assistant who had just 
 fired the revolver. But what has become of the per- 
 former? This perfectly natural question is answered 
 by the man in the cloak who is still standing with the 
 smoking pistol in his hand ; throwing off the long cloak in 
 which the assistant had been dressed, there stands re- 
 vealed to the astonished audience the performer himself, 
 attired in the same clothes as when he was perched upon 
 the table. 
 
 So much for the effect, which is indeed truly marvel- 
 ous. We will now explain the modus operandi whereby 
 the illusion can be performed. 
 
 Glancing at Fig. 43, the reader will get an idea as 
 to how the evanishment of the performer is effected; but 
 let us commence at the beginning and explain the details 
 thoroughly. 
 
 The table is devoid of preparation and is placed in the 
 center of the stage, nearer the back than the footlights, 
 for reasons that are obvious. To prove that the floor con- 
 tains no traps, electric lights or candles can be placed 
 underneath the table if desired, but as the curtains only 
 descend to within two feet from the ground this precau- 
 tion is not a necessity, as the audience can see below and 
 right through to the back of the stage. Although the 
 floor contains no trap, the stage back is utilized in its 
 stead, the cavity being artfully masked by an oil-painting 
 which is hanging on the wall, presumably for ornamen- 
 
ii 4 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 tation. Behind the screen this cannot be seen, so an 
 assistant stationed behind the scenes lowers the canvas, 
 and pushes through the empty frame a wooden plank 
 which rests its other end upon the table where the per- 
 former is standing. Because of this, the back screen is 
 
 Fig. 43- 
 
 only half the depth of the front and two side ones. Along 
 this plank, then, the professor crawls, and in the act of 
 disappearing he is seen in Fig. 43. After having made 
 his way through the aperture, he quickly dons a costume 
 exactly similar to the one in which he had previously 
 dressed his assistant; this should be made out of coarse 
 sacking material, as it is possible to see quite plainly 
 through the mesh ; an ordinary sack with two sleeves will 
 answer the purpose admirably if no more elaborate cos- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 115 
 
 tume is obtainable. When dressed in this manner, the 
 performer stations himself in the wings, with a revolver 
 in his hand. 
 
 All this while the idea that he is not behind the screen 
 has never crossed the mind of an average audience be- 
 cause they see his hands protruding over the top; in 
 reality they only see two dummy hands, which were pre- 
 viously concealed in a pocket on the inside of the front 
 screen, or they can be hidden upon the person. They 
 are fashioned out of white dress gloves, duplicates of 
 those which the performer is wearing, so that if they 
 are hooked on to the top of the screen, nobody can tell 
 the difference. 
 
 In order to allow the performer plenty of time to get 
 out of the screen and into the wings, the assistant makes 
 a little speech similar to the following: 
 
 " Now, Prof. Jones, where are you? " 
 
 Prof. J. " Here." 
 
 Asst. " Show the audience your hands." 
 
 Prof. J. sticks his gloved hands out and moves them 
 about, immediately withdrawing them. 
 
 Asst. " No, keep them outside so that the audience 
 can see you are still there." 
 
 Prof. J. now substitutes the dummy hands and fixes 
 them into the desired position; leaving them there he 
 now gets away as quickly as possible, the assistant mean- 
 while occupying the audience's attention by saying: 
 " Ladies- and gentlemen, you have all seen Professor Jones 
 go behind the screen, and you can see above and below, 
 and also all around the curtains ; you can also see the pro- 
 fessor's hands, which please watch and see that he does 
 not remove them. I shall fire at the screen and imme- 
 diately it will be withdrawn." 
 
 Now the assistant goes to the wings to fetch a pistol; 
 no sooner has the latter passed behind the wings than 
 the performer, similarly attired, steps out backwards, 
 
n6 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 aping the crouching attitude, and altogether conducting 
 himself in exactly the same manner as his assistant had 
 previously been doing. 
 
 The assistant, directly he passes behind the wings, 
 throws off his long coat and runs to the back of the stage, 
 proceeding along the plank on to the table. Immediately 
 the plank is drawn behind the scenes and the canvas pic- 
 ture replaced, thereby leaving nothing suspicious, and no 
 unnecessary apparatus on the stage. 
 
 When enough time has been allowed for the necessary 
 workings to have been accomplished, the man in the cloak, 
 whom the spectators still believe to be the assistant, fires 
 the revolver; immediately the hands are pulled inside the 
 screen (and either concealed upon the person or deposited 
 in the screen pocket), then the assistant himself pulls the 
 curtains aside and stands exposed. 
 
 The spectators are, of course, fairly bewildered, but 
 the climax is reached w T hen the performer throws the cloak 
 from off himself, and bows in acknowledgment to the ap- 
 plause which at all times is forthcoming to the man who 
 smartly works a good illusion. 
 
BLACK ART 
 
 The curtain rises, and we behold upon the stage a 
 darkened cave. 
 
 Suddenly, from out the gloomy blackness, the wizard 
 appears with a mysterious suddenness that fairly startles. 
 He steps out from the cave to prove that he is in the 
 flesh, and then he retreats within its portals. Raising 
 his empty hand aloft, he calls aloud to the spirits to sup- 
 ply him with a magic wand ; and immediately his upraised 
 hand is seen clutching the mysterious emblem of his 
 authority. 
 
 Nothing else is visible upon the stage, but with a wave 
 of the wand a tub appears; this tub is rolled down to 
 the audience, who acknowledge it to be real, solid and 
 empty, and it is then rolled back. 
 
 Slowly a full-sized skeleton rises out of this tub and 
 floats about in the air, and then, at the command of the 
 wizard, one of its arms or legs separates from the body 
 and travels in a different direction; the head leaves the 
 trunk and travels upward, and then descends again and 
 joins the body. After a variety of like movements these 
 bones suddenly and entirely vanish, and are seen no more. 
 
 The magician waves his wand again, and orders two 
 small tables to appear; his command is immediately 
 obeyed, and they are seen standing one upon either side 
 of him. Now, at his request, the spirits provide him 
 with two vases, one of which appears on each table. 
 These vases are handed round for examination and then 
 replaced; and then the wizard requests the loan of three 
 or four watches and chains. Taking them in a bunch, 
 
 117 
 
n8 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 he drops them into one of the vases, and at the same 
 instant turns it upside down, showing that they have 
 vanished. Quickly walking over to the other table, they 
 are all extracted from the vase that has been standing 
 there untouched. 
 
 At a word from the performer, the two vases or urns 
 upon the table travel across the stage in opposite direc- 
 tions and exchange positions with each other. Then one 
 vase rises upwards and remains suspended in the air, 
 while the performer passes a solid and examined hoop 
 around it to prove that it is not suspended by any tangible 
 support. 
 
 Live animals — from a cat to a tiger in a cage - — can be 
 easily produced or caused to vanish; and when the per- 
 formance is concluded, the magician covers himself with 
 a white sheet and disappears. 
 
 Such, in brief, is an idea of the wonderful illusions 
 that can be accomplished by this method, and the reader 
 will readily see how exciting and weird the performance 
 must be when properly presented. 
 
 The principle of Black Art, which is here given, may 
 assist the ideas of some and prove of interest to others. 
 
 While the mysterious cave of the wizard is entirely 
 draped in dead black, everything that appears so sud- 
 denly is of a pure white color. 
 
 The magician himself is dressed in the Eastern style 
 of a flowing white robe. 
 
 All the white-painted articles that are to appear are 
 placed behind black screens upon the. stage, and conse- 
 quently they are invisible to the audience. 
 
 The darkness of the cave is considerably increased by 
 having a few lights with reflectors behind them arranged 
 around the sides and proscenium of this inner stage. 
 
 The performer himself does absolutely nothing towards 
 producing the desired articles, all the work being exe- 
 cuted by an invisible assistant. This assistant is attired 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 119 
 
120 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 in a suit of black, with black gloves, and a hood for cover- 
 ing the head and neck; the hood has small eye-holes 
 covered with very thin veiling, so that there is no fear of 
 the luster of the assistant's eyes being seen. 
 
 Now it will be understood that the tables, tubs, chairs, 
 etc., to be produced are first arranged in their proper 
 position upon the stage, and covered over with black 
 velvet. At the desired moment the assistant steps up to 
 the article and seizes the covering; then, when the ma- 
 gician commands the appearance of the object, the cloth 
 is rapidly whisked off and carried to the back of the 
 cave. The appearance of, say, the tub, right in the center 
 of the stage, is so sudden and noiseless as to be really 
 uncanny ; and as there cannot be any suspicious movement 
 on the part of the performer, the secret of its appearance 
 cannot be detected. The disappearance of any object is 
 brought about in precisely the same manner, only re- 
 versed; thus, supposing the tub had fulfilled its mis- 
 sion and was not wanted any longer, at a word from 
 the performer the assistant would simply put down a 
 black screen in front of the tub, so as to completely en- 
 velop it, and under cover of the screen it would be pulled 
 to the back of the cave. It will now be quite understood 
 that the screens must always be manipulated with the 
 greatest possible neatness and rapidity, because if the 
 screens or covers are made to travel slowly, the illusion 
 would be imperfect, and it would lose most of its effect 
 upon the audience. 
 
 The assistant must take great care never to walk in 
 front of any white object within the cave, and must 
 never allow his gloved hand to be seen when he is lifting 
 anything to the table, and he must never pass in front 
 of the performer's person during the performance. 
 
 Now that the general idea of the principle has been 
 thoroughly explained, let us describe the construction of 
 the cave, and a series of the most up-to-date tricks and 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 121 
 
 illusions that can be accomplished within its mysterious 
 portals, so that anyone possessing the inclination to pro- 
 duce a Black Art seance will be in a position to start 
 with a complete knowledge of the subject. 
 
 Presuming that the reader desires to present Black Art 
 at halls or bazaars, he could not do better than have his 
 inner stage or cave erected to the measurements given in 
 the accompanying diagram, Fig. 45. The width, it will 
 be seen, should be just twelve feet, with a depth of nine 
 feet, to allow the invisible assistant plenty of working 
 room. The proscenium should be eight feet high, and the 
 walls and ceiling must be draped with black velvet, while 
 the floor is covered with black felt, which will completely 
 deaden the sound of the assistant's footsteps. 
 
 A wooden frame must be made for the front of the 
 cave, and this should be painted black, with Egyptian 
 figures standing out in white. A special set of lights, 
 with reflectors, must be arranged to fit on the head and 
 side pieces of this framework. These lights shining in 
 the eyes of the spectators make it an utter impossibility 
 for them to detect any object within the mystic chamber, 
 unless it is of a pure white color. 
 
 Electric lights are naturally the best and most con- 
 venient for use in illuminating the front of the cave, but, 
 where it is impossible to secure them, ordinary bicycle 
 lamps will be found to answer the same purpose. 
 
 Portability is desirable when constructing an inner 
 stage of this description, and the most convenient method 
 of erecting the wizard's cave is the following: 
 
 First mark out upon the floor of the permanent stage 
 the exact position that your own chamber is to occupy; 
 then fix four upright posts into the floor, one at each 
 corner; these posts should be eight feet high, and each 
 one have a steel pin in the top. 
 
 Four thin battens must be laid on the top of these 
 posts, from corner to corner, being fixed by the steel pin 
 
122 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 passing through holes made for that purpose in each end 
 of the battens. Thus a strong but light framework is 
 formed, and additional strength may be obtained by hav- 
 ing two extra battens fixed diagonally from corner to 
 corner, although this is not absolutely necessary. 
 
 The wooden frontage is constructed with mitered cor- 
 ners, so that it can be taken to pieces and packed along 
 with the supports and battens. When required for use 
 the front frame must be put together and fastened to the 
 two first uprights ; then the felt carpet should be laid, and 
 the velvet walls and ceiling be put in their place. 
 
 It will be noticed that the diagram, Fig. 45, shows a 
 two-foot opening in the center of the back curtain : this is 
 left to allow the performer or his assistant to make their 
 entry or exit unobserved, and, in order to prevent the 
 opening being seen, a five-foot screen, reaching from floor 
 to ceiling, is stretched in front of the cavity, about eighteen 
 inches away from the curtain. Another screen, similar 
 in size to the one just described, is fixed on the right hand 
 side of the chamber, eighteen inches in front of the one 
 hiding the opening in the back; and by looking at the 
 plan the reader will see how it is possible to introduce or 
 cause to vanish an object almost from the very center of 
 the stage. 
 
 This ingenious arrangement allows the assistant to 
 fetch from behind the back curtain any articles that are 
 too bulky to remain hidden upon the stage until required 
 in the performance, and it also serves to get rid of any 
 large objects, such as barrels or tables, after they have 
 been vanished. 
 
 The screens should be sewed to the velvet ceiling and 
 tacked to the floor to keep them perfectly firm, and care 
 should be taken not to allow any lights whatever to be 
 behind the cave; in fact, all the footlights should be ex- 
 tinguished, and only those attached to the front of the 
 inner stage allowed to shine. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 123 
 
 Not one spot of color must be visible within the cham- 
 ber, or there would be danger of the assistant's presence 
 being detected by the audience, should he pass in front of 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 d) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 *-* 
 
 
 
 © 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 ^s. S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < ** — _ «J ** _ 
 
 --9/!--- 
 
 • 
 
 A : - »* 
 
 Fig. 45- 
 
 it; and as many lights as possible in the hall itself should 
 be extinguished prior to commencing a seance. 
 
 Having followed the instructions for erecting a suit- 
 able structure, everything may be arranged and made 
 
124 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 ready for a performance within fifteen minutes, providing 
 the work has been well rehearsed. 
 
 Perhaps the best articles for commencing a perform- 
 ance with are two tables and a barrel, which should be 
 placed in the positions indicated in the plan of the stage, 
 and then covered with bags of velvet. Care should be 
 taken that the covers or screens covering the white ob- 
 jects behind or beneath them should so hide the articles 
 that when the curtain ascends the audience can sec noth- 
 ing except an apparently empty stage. 
 
 All the apparatus that will be required during the 
 performance should be in readiness behind the cave, so 
 that the assistant cannot fail to have everything at his 
 fingers' ends to prevent any hitch in the show ; and the as- 
 sistant himself should stand well to the back of the stage 
 when his services are not required. 
 
 The performer now appears, either magically or by 
 simply walking in from the wings. He must, of course, 
 be dressed in white, and it is advisable for him to say a 
 few words describing the nature of the performance. 
 
 To cause the sudden and mysterious appearance of the 
 performer it is necessary to remove the barrel from the 
 center of the stage, so that it does not interfere with or 
 obstruct the view of the audience. 
 
 The magician himself should stand behind a black 
 screen in the very center of the chamber, and at the de- 
 sired moment his assistant should rapidly drag the screen 
 aside and expose the performer, who makes his bow while 
 the invisible assistant disposes of the screen. 
 
 A white wand, encased in a black cover, is procured 
 by the assistant, and directly the performer calls for the 
 article it must be slipped out of the bag and made to float 
 across the stage to his hand. This, of course, is accom- 
 plished by the assistant quietly walking across the stage, 
 holding the wand in his hand by its extreme end. 
 
 With a wave of the magicians stick the barrel appears 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 125 
 
 just beside him; this had been pushed into position by the 
 assistant, who, at the performer's command, snatches away 
 the sheet of black velvet with which it was covered, leav- 
 ing the barrel standing out in bold relief. 
 
 Being quite solid and quite ordinary it can be wheeled 
 or rather rolled down for the audience to examine, in 
 case they should imagine that it was merely produced by 
 reflection. 
 
 The interior of this barrel should be painted dead 
 black, so that any objects enveloped in a similarly colored 
 velvet bag can be dropped into the tub and afterward pro- 
 duced without any fear of the secret of their appearance 
 being discovered. 
 
 One very valuable accessory that should be constructed 
 is a cylindrical box to fit easily into the interior of the 
 barrel. 
 
 This cylinder should be covered entirely in black vel- 
 vet, and its use will now be obvious. A good effect may 
 be obtained by loading a peculiarly constructed skeleton 
 into the cylinder, which is introduced into the barrel, 
 from which the skeleton rises at the performer's command. 
 The introduction of the cylinder into the barrel is quite 
 invisible because of the color of the surroundings, and 
 the assistant should simply lift it up and drop it into the 
 tub. 
 
 The skeleton itself is made of papier mache or light 
 wood, with the back of the figure completely covered with 
 black velvet. The limbs are all joined, as is shown in the 
 illustration, with handles affixed to each separate portion, 
 so as to enable the assistant to operate the limbs without 
 experiencing any difficulty. (See Fig. 46, which is the 
 back view of the skeleton.) 
 
 After the skeleton has enjoyed his dance round the 
 stage and has been fully dismembered and rejointed, its 
 limbs are caused to leave the body one by one and drop 
 into the barrel from which they formerly arose. 
 
126 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 Directly every particle of the skeleton has been again 
 deposited into the barrel, the magician turns it upside 
 down and shows that it is quite empty. The quickness 
 of this disappearance is really remarkable, and will always 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 cause considerable astonishment. It is, of course, worked 
 by dropping each separate limb into the same cylinder 
 which introduced them into the barrel, and when the 
 whole body is inside the assistant quickly lifts the cylinder 
 out before the magician shows the barrel empty. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 127 
 
 Should the performer so desire, a white skeleton can 
 be painted upon the assistant's black suit, and a par- 
 ticularly weird or lively dance can be executed by him 
 with good effect; and by the simple process of turning 
 round, the skeleton can be made to vanish or produced 
 ad libitum, because the assistant's back is only plain velvet. 
 
 Out of the empty barrel a score or so of pigeons, doves 
 and geese can be made to fly, and a live child can be 
 placed in the tub, and almost immediately the magician 
 stabs about inside with a sharp sword, and afterwards 
 shows that the little boy or girl has entirely vanished. 
 
 Both these effects are executed by the use of the same 
 cylinder, which for the first production has to be furnished 
 with a lid or cover. The birds to be produced are put 
 into this cylinder, and the cover placed over the top ; then 
 it is loaded into the barrel, and at the proper moment the 
 lid is lifted off, and the birds allowed to escape. 
 
 The child is lifted into the tub and placed in the same 
 cylinder that was previously occupied by the birds; the 
 assistant, of course, lifts this lining and its contents out 
 of the barrel before the magician attempts to pass his 
 sword round the interior, and the child, being an accom- 
 plice, is carried away to the back. 
 
 Many other startling effects can be worked up with 
 the barrel and the cylinder to suit the style of any par- 
 ticular performer. 
 
 When the barrel has fulfilled its mission and is wanted 
 no more, it should be made to vanish and cleared away, 
 to allow as much working room as possible in the limited 
 area at the magician's disposal. To cause its evanish- 
 ment, another cylinder of velvet, of sufficient size to 
 encompass the barrel easily, should be quickly dropped 
 over the tub, so that it is completely covered, then it will 
 be quite invisible and can be dragged out of the way. 
 
 The two white tables, hidden beneath velvet sheets, 
 can now be produced at the performer's command. They 
 
128 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 should be standing upon either side of the stage as indi- 
 cated in the plan previously given, and at a wave of the 
 wand the assistant must snatch the covering away, leaving 
 the white table completely exposed. The same operation 
 should then be repeated upon the other side. 
 
 Suddenly a large vase or urn mysteriously appears upon 
 one of the tables; this is accomplished by the assistant 
 bringing from the rear the desired article encased in a 
 black cylinder. In this condition it is placed in the 
 proper position, and then the covering quickly lifted off 
 at the right moment. In the same manner a second vase 
 can be made to appear on the magician's hand, and this 
 is then shown quite empty and placed upon the other 
 table. 
 
 The performer now steps down to the audience, and 
 requests the loan of some four or five watches and chains. 
 Having obtained these, he goes to either urn, and unmis- 
 takably drops each borrowed timepiece into it. Then, 
 quickly walking to the other side of the stage, he extracts 
 the same articles from the other vase and returns them 
 to the audience. The secret of this startling effect is 
 that the assistant slips a cylinder with a bottom into one 
 of the vases while the performer is borrowing the watches. 
 Then, directly they are all dropped inside the urn, the 
 cylinder is removed and carried over and deposited in 
 the vase upon the other side, thus allowing them to be 
 removed therefrom. The principle of changing objects 
 can be relied upon for many weird transformations. 
 
HOW TO BE A SPIRIT MEDIUM 
 
 OR RULES TO BE OBSERVED WHEN FORM- 
 ING SPIRITUAL CIRCLES 
 
 The spirit circle is the assembling together of a given 
 number of persons for the purpose of seeking communion 
 with the spirits who have passed away from earth into the 
 higher world of souls. The chief advantage of such an 
 assembly is the mutual impartation and reception of the 
 combined magnetisms of the assemblage. These in com- 
 bination form a force stronger than that of an isolate 
 subject: first enabling spirits to commune with great 
 power; next developing the latent gifts of mediumship 
 in such members of the circle as are thus endowed; and, 
 finally, promoting that harmonious and social spirit of fra- 
 ternal intercourse which is one of the especial aims of the 
 spirits' mission. 
 
 The first conditions to be observed relate to the persons 
 who compose the circle. These should be, as far as pos- 
 sible, of opposite temperaments, as positive and negative 
 in disposition whether male or female ; also of moral char- 
 acters, pure minds, and not marked by repulsive points 
 of either physical or mental condition. The physical tem- 
 peraments should contrast with each other ; but no person 
 suffering from decidedly chronic disease, or of a very 
 debilitated physique, should be present at any circle un- 
 less it is formed expressly for healing purposes. I would 
 recommend the number of the circle never to be less than 
 three nor more than twelve. 
 
 The use growing out of the association of differing 
 
 129 
 
130 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 temperaments is to form a battery on the principles of 
 electricity or galvanism, composed of positive and nega- 
 tive elements, the sum of which should be unequal. No 
 person of a very strongly positive temperament or dispo- 
 sition should be present, as any magnetic spheres emanat- 
 ing from the circle will overpower that of the spirits, 
 who must always be positive to the circle in order to 
 produce phenomena. It is not desirable to have more 
 than two already well developed mediums in a circle, 
 mediums always absorbing the magnetism of the rest of 
 the party; hence, when there are too many present, the 
 force, being divided, cannot operate successfully with any. 
 
 Of Temperature. — Never let the apartment be over- 
 heated, or even close. As an unusual amount of mag- 
 netism is liberated at a circle, the room is always warmer 
 than ordinary, and should be very well ventilated. Avoid 
 strong light, which, by producing excessive motion in the 
 atmosphere, disturbs the manifestations. A very subdued 
 light is the most favorable for any manifestations of a 
 magnetic character, especially for spiritual magnetism. 
 
 Of the Positions to be Observed. — If the circle is 
 one which meets another periodically, and is composed 
 of the same persons, let them occupy the same seats (un- 
 less changed under spiritual direction), and sit (as the 
 most favorable of all positions) round a table, their hands 
 laid on it, with palms downwards. It is believed that 
 the wood, when charged, becomes a conductor, without 
 the necessity of touching or holding hands. I should al- 
 ways suggest the propriety of employing a table as a 
 conductor, especially as all tables in household use are 
 more or less magnetically charged already. If flowers 
 and fruit are in the room, see that they are just freshly 
 gathered, otherwise remove them; also avoid sitting in 
 a room with many minerals, metals or glasses; these all 
 injuriously effect sensitives, of whom mediums are the 
 type. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 131 
 
 I recommend the seance to be opened either with prayer 
 or music, vocal or instrumental; after which, subdued, 
 quiet and harmonizing conversation is better than weari- 
 some silence; but let the conversation be always directed 
 toward the purpose of the gathering, and never sink into 
 discussion, or rise to emphasis; let it be gentle, quiet and 
 spiritual, until phenomena begin to be manifest. Always 
 have a slate, or pen, pencil and paper on the table, so as 
 not to be obliged to rise to procure them. Especially 
 avoid all entering or quitting the room, moving about, 
 irrelevant conversation or disturbances of any kind within 
 or without the circle room, after the seance has been once 
 commenced. 
 
 The spirits are far more punctual to seasons, faithful 
 to promise and periodical in action, than mortals. En- 
 deavor, then, to fix your circle at a convenient hour when 
 you will be least interrupted and do not fail in your ap- 
 pointments. Do not admit unpunctual late comers; nor, 
 if possible, suffer the air of the room to be disturbed in 
 any way after the sitting commences. Nothing but neces- 
 sity, indisposition, or impressions (to be hereafter de- 
 scribed) should warrant the least disturbance of the 
 sitting, which should never exceed two hours, unless an 
 extension of time be solicited of the spirits. Let the 
 seance always extend to one hour, even if no results are 
 obtained; it sometimes requires all that time for spirits 
 to form their battery of the materials furnished. Let it 
 be also remembered that all circles are experimental; 
 hence no one should be discouraged if phenomena are not 
 produced after the first few sittings. Stay with the same 
 circle for six sittings: if no phenomena are then produced 
 (provided all the above conditions are observed) you 
 may be sure you are rightly assimilated to each other, you 
 do not form the requisite combinations, or neutralize each 
 other. In that case, break up, and let that circle of mem- 
 bers meet with other persons; that is, change one, two, or 
 
132 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 three persons of your circle for others, and so on, until 
 you succeed. 
 
 A well-developed test-medium may sit without injury 
 for any person, of any description of character or tem- 
 perament; but a circle sitting for mutual development 
 should never admit persons addicted to bad habits, crimi- 
 nals, sensualists, strongly positive persons of any kind, 
 whether rude, skeptical, violent tempered, or dogmatical. 
 An humble, candid, inquiring spirit, unprejudiced, and 
 receptive of truth, is the only frame of mind in which to 
 sit for phenomena, the delicate magnetism of which is 
 shaped, tempered, and made or marred as much by mental 
 as physical conditions. When once any of the circle can 
 communicate freely and conclusively with the spirits, the 
 spirits can and will take charge of and regulate the future 
 movements of the circle. 
 
 Of Impressions. — Impressions are the voices of spirits 
 speaking to our spirits, or else the monitions of the spirit 
 within us, and should always be respected and followed 
 out, unless (which is very rare) suggestive of actual 
 w T rong in act or word. At the opening of the circle, one 
 or more of the members are often impressed to change 
 seats with others; one or more impressed with the desire 
 to withdraw, or a strong feeling of repulsion to some 
 member of the circle, makes it painful to remain there. 
 Let any or all of these impressions be faithfully regarded, 
 and, at commencing, pledge to each other the promise that 
 no offense shall be taken by following out impressions. 
 
 If a strong impression to w T rite, speak, sing, dance, or 
 gesticulate, possess any mind present, follow it out faith- 
 fully. It has a meaning, if you cannot at first realize it. 
 Never feel hurt in your own person, nor ridicule your 
 neighbors, for any failures to express, or at first discover 
 the meaning of the spirits impressing you. 
 
 Spirit control is often deficient, and at first almost 
 always imperfect. But, by often yielding to it, your 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 133 
 
 organism becomes more flexible, and the spirit more ex- 
 perienced; and practice in control is absolutely necessary 
 for spirits as well as mortals. If dark and evil-disposed 
 spirits manifest to you, never drive them away, but always 
 strive to elevate them, and treat them as you would mor- 
 tals under similar circumstances. Do not always attribute 
 falsehoods to lying spirits or deceiving mediums. Many 
 mistakes occur in the communion of which you cannot 
 always be aware. 
 
 Strive in truth, but rebuke error gently; and do not 
 always attribute it to design, but rather to mistake in 
 so difficult and experimental a stage of the communion 
 as mortals at present enjoy with the spirits. 
 
 Unless strictly charged by spirits to do otherwise, do 
 not continue to hold sittings with the same parties for 
 more than a year. After that time, if not before, fresh 
 elements of magnetism are absolutely essential. Some of 
 the original circle should withdraw and others take their 
 places. 
 
 All persons are subject to spirit influence and spirit 
 guidance and control, but not all can so externalize this 
 power as to use it consciously or be what is significantly 
 called a medium; and finally, let it be remembered, that 
 except in the case of trance-speakers no medium can ever 
 hope successfully to exercise his or her gift in a large 
 or promiscuous assembly; while trance-speakers, no less 
 than mediums for any other gift, can never be influenced 
 by spirits far beyond their own normal capacity in the 
 matter of the intelligence rendered ; the magnetism of 
 the spirit and the spirit-circle being but a quickening fire, 
 which inspires the brain, stimulates the faculties, and, 
 like a hot-house process on plants, forces in abnormal 
 prominence dormant or latent powers of mind, but creates 
 nothing. Even in the case of merely automatic speakers, 
 writers, rapping, tipping, and other forms of test mediums, 
 the intelligence or idea of the spirit is always measurably 
 
134 HERRMANNS WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 shaped by the capacity or idiosyncrasies of the medium. 
 All spirit power is thus limited to expression by organism 
 through which it works; and spirits may control, inspire, 
 and influence the human mind, but do not change or 
 recreate it. 
 
MIND READING 
 
 The method of reading thought, as practiced by the 
 late Washington Irving Bishop, and others. 
 
 With these " mind readers " actual thought transfer- 
 ence by air waves, ethereal influence, etc., does not form 
 any part of their programme ; indeed, it is even a question 
 to-day as to whether or not such is a possibility. 
 
 The usual feats of the mind reader who gives public 
 exhibitions are to find concealed articles, write names 
 thought of, pick out keys thought of on piano or similar 
 instrument, and so forth. I will first explain 
 
 HOW TO FIND A HIDDEN PIN. 
 
 Request that someone produce an ordinary pin. 
 
 Allow yourself to be blindfolded and accompanied to a 
 separate room by some person in the audience, in whom the 
 spectators place confidence. While you are thus volun- 
 tarily exiled, one person in the auditorium (whether it 
 be parlor or theater), is to fix his mind upon some place, 
 then slowly walk there and hide the pin. He then re- 
 turns to his seat. The others who are present, of course 
 know where the article is. 
 
 You are now taken into the auditorium. The person 
 who hid the pin is requested to come and take your hand, 
 you being blindfolded. Ask him to fix his right hand 
 flatly upon yours, facing in the same direction, i. e., his 
 fingers are placed against yours. You now place your 
 hand upon the back of his, thus holding his hand in a sort 
 of vise. In order to hold his hand as above described, it 
 will be necessary for him to remain close to your side, 
 yet he should not otherwise come in contact with you. 
 
 i35 
 
136 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 Now tell him to fix his mind intently upon the spot where 
 the pin is hidden, and that you will lead him to the local- 
 ity. The secret of doing this seemingly supernatural feat 
 is as follows : 
 
 Relax your vise-like position of hands, so that if he 
 desired he could pull his hand away without much fric- 
 tion. Now, although you have not the remotest knowl- 
 edge (and you should not have any idea) as to where 
 
 - the pin is hidden, start off suddenly in some direction and 
 request that he follow you, but go so fast at first that you 
 will pull away from his hand. By practice you will learn 
 that if you have started in the proper direction, he will 
 willingly accompany you; if you should have started in 
 another direction, he will unconsciously hold back. His 
 resistance will be very slight, almost imperceptible, except 
 to a practiced operator. Let us suppose that you have 
 found that you are going in the right direction, move 
 along fast. When it is time to turn, his mind being in- 
 tently fixed upon the place he wants to go to, will uncon- 
 sciously, but very naturally, control his muscles, so that 
 he will at once show a slight resistance, and if you take 
 immediate action upon this " hint " and turn, he will 
 either " favor " you or show more resistance, according 
 to whether you turn in correct or incorrect direction. 
 When you have approached near to the spot, there will 
 be more resistance or freedom in accompanying you. 
 Then your " fine work " begins. Change the position of 
 hands so that his form the vise while your right hand is 
 the one between. Your left hand is now extended as a 
 " feeler." Request that while he attentively watches your 
 left hand, he also keeps his mind more intently than ever 
 upon the location of the object. Raise your left hand up, 
 at the same time raising your right hand slightly upward. 
 
 , If his thoughts are upon a place that is above the usual 
 level of your hands, he will willingly raise his hands 
 (which are on your right hand flatly), or if the article 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 137 
 
 is hidden low, he will resist, but favor your hands when 
 you begin to move them downward. Thus you can 
 closely locate the article. If you are not blindfolded 
 tightly, you can quite easily see what is below your nose, 
 and this may enable you to catch sight of the pin and pick 
 it up more readily, otherwise follow your " cues." 
 
 The foregoing explanation is the same as I once paid 
 one hundred dollars for. The whole secret is in the 
 fact that if a person is intently thinking of some object 
 in a certain place, his head will generally unconsciously- 
 lean toward the spot in question. If he is walking with 
 a mind reader, who declares that he is about to go to the 
 certain spot, the person will involuntarily aid him in 
 doing so, as I have indicated. Some performers do not 
 adopt the first position of hands, and then change them 
 when probably near the object, as I have described, but 
 instead, use the last named position entirely, thus leaving 
 the left hand of the operator free at all times. 
 
 The secret of picking out certain notes or keys on a 
 piano is similar. In this case move your left hand quickly 
 from one end to the other, at the same time moving your 
 right hand. Your accompanist will involuntarily hesi- 
 tate somewhere, then you may stop and move your left 
 hand over a very limited space until you finally settle 
 upon the exact spot. 
 
 To write a name thought of, is the most difficult of 
 all. This is done on a large blackboard. With chalk 
 in your left hand, mark out lines in shape of letters. The 
 person whose thought you are reading will assist you. 
 without knowing he is doing so. 
 
 Other feats are done on the same principle. 
 
 If the person whom you are operating with does not 
 keep his mind intently upon what you require, you will 
 not be as likely to succeed. If you fail, you can ascribe 
 this as the reason. The late Foster, a celebrated " spirit- 
 ualist," used to tell names by picking out letters on chil- 
 
138 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 dren's toy alphabet blocks. This he did in a similar way 
 to that I have described for rinding certain keys on a 
 piano. 
 
 Pick out your " subject " or person whom you 
 will operate with carefully. Avoid those of the extremely 
 skeptical or " know it all " kind. Do not try to do much 
 with women, unless they are aged and believe you to be 
 a medium ; in fact, those who believe in you will be your 
 best assistants. Do not select as an accompanist a person 
 who is about your own age; such a person is usually 
 jealous, and does not want you to succeed. Avoid law- 
 yers and doctors as assistants; they are recognized as 
 being more adept in all things than the balance of man- 
 kind, therefore they will oppose you on general principles. 
 The best " subjects " are clergymen, aged people and be- 
 lievers in spiritualism. Although most mind readers allow 
 pins to be hidden, a knife, or pocketbook will do quite 
 as well and is easier to locate when near. 
 
 Before trying anything of this sort in public, practice 
 well. Remember that you cannot acquire all in a day. 
 
 I have told the secret, and anyone who cares to practice 
 will soon learn the details and master them. 
 
VENTRILOQUISM 
 AND HOW TO ACQUIRE THE ART 
 
 BY PROF. CALLAHAN 
 
 I presume that all professional ventriloquists have their 
 own methods of accomplishing the art. I certainly have 
 mine, and the instructions herein given are based upon 
 my own experience. I learned without the aid of books 
 or teachers. I did not discover that I possessed this art. 
 I made up my mind I would possess it, and with a little 
 perseverance I succeeded. My first exhibitions were 
 given at sociables, amateur entertainments, etc. In a 
 very short time my services w^ere in demand in other cir- 
 cles, and my continued engagements throughout the coun- 
 try are but proof of what proficiency I have attained. 
 
 I mention this as an incentive to all ambitious students. 
 
 Apart from the financial value attached to the pro- 
 fessional exhibition of this art, there is much pleasure 
 and amusement to be derived from its practice among 
 one's friends. 
 
 Requiring as it does little or no paraphernalia, it is 
 applicable to almost any entertainment or gathering. 
 Probably many can recall anecdotes or practical jokes 
 perpetrated by persons proficient in the art. 
 
 The word ventriloquism is from Ventor, the belly, and 
 Loquor, to speak. Literally, speaking from the belly. 
 Many persons imagine that it is a natural gift. Profes- 
 sional ventriloquists favor the idea to keep others out of 
 the field. 
 
 I am asked almost every day if a " person has to be 
 
 i39 
 
i 4 o HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 born that way." In answer, let me say here, that almost 
 anyone, possessing an ordinary vocal apparatus, without 
 defect, can, by continued study, become thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the mysteries of this art. I will not say 
 that everyone can learn it. 
 
 The student should possess certain requisites. He 
 should have an ear acutely perceptive to the nice distinc- 
 tion of sounds, combined with an ardent desire to learn, 
 and a determination to " stick to it " until the study has 
 been given a fair trial. The progress of the student will 
 be greatly facilitated if he has a natural talent for mimicry. 
 We very often meet people who can imitate the voice or 
 mannerisms of some friend or acquaintance, although 
 never having professional instruction. Such persons would 
 invariably become good ventriloquists under proper train- 
 ing. All the works upon the subject that have come 
 under my observation seem to be of no help whatsoever 
 to the student. The methods are unintelligible, and al- 
 most impossible to follow. Many chapters are devoted 
 to a detailed description as to how and when the art was 
 discovered. " Ventriloquism among the Ancients/' etc. 
 All this is non-essential and not particularly interesting. 
 
 My object in writing this work is to present, in as 
 few and as simple words as possible, the facts which will 
 be of material aid to those interested. I do not consider 
 it necessary to give an anatomical description of the for- 
 mation of the throat. How many of my readers would 
 comprehend such terms as diaphragm, trachea, larynx, 
 pharynx, etc.? They only tend to confuse the reader, 
 and are of no essential benefit. 
 
 Before giving instruction relative to the different voices, 
 I would call your attention to a very important point. 
 The attention of the audience must always be attracted 
 to the point from which the voice is to come. 
 
 It matters not whether it is to come from the distance, 
 or from an automatic figure. The action must be so skill- 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 141 
 
 fully unobtrusive as to effect its object without its being 
 apparent to the audience — a look, gesture, or announce- 
 ment, as occasion seems to demand. 
 
 If you but turn your head, after having made an an- 
 nouncement that " Mr. So-and-so is up there, " the atten- 
 tion of the audience will be immediately attracted to that 
 point, and before you have uttered a word, they will be 
 impressed with the idea that » the voice is to come from 
 the suggested direction. With the audience in this ex- 
 pectant state it does not take much of the so-called 
 " power " to deceive them. 
 
 How much easier it is to catch a ball when prepared to 
 receive it. Having prepared your audience, the thing is 
 to execute w^hat I shall term the distant voice. To be- 
 come proficient in this requires practice. 
 
 As a beginning, the student should strain a little from 
 the chest , as if in pain, making a prolonged grunting 
 sound in a high key. Let the air escape slowly, keeping 
 the lips and teeth but slightly apart. Having tried this 
 a few minutes, attempt to say such words as " Oh — oh, 
 dear!" "I say!" " Halloo!" etc., straining a little 
 all the time. 
 
 This will give you the exact location from whence this 
 voice is to be started. After a few trials, you will be 
 astonished at the proficiency you have already attained. 
 It will be of great help to the student to note the effect 
 produced by a person calling from the distance. Observe 
 the sound carefully, and try to reproduce it by the method 
 laid down. After a few trials, you will be able to exe- 
 cute the sound with scarcely an effort. The sound should 
 be somewhat muffled. The hardest point to overcome is 
 to make the voice appear to come nearer. As this voice 
 is usually represented as coming from a box or closet, a 
 suggestive movement of the lid or door will help the 
 illusion. As the lid is gradually raised, the sound must 
 be heard more distinctly. To effect this, the student 
 
i 4 2 HERRMANN'S, WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 should gradually relieve the strain on the chest, making 
 the sound farther up in the throat, so that when the lid 
 is fully raised, the sound will come directly from the roof 
 of the mouth. In closing the box, the same principle re- 
 versed will apply. 
 
 From the time the lid is raised until it is closed, use 
 only the " distant voice." Do not interrupt it with the 
 natural tone. You will find this, too, difficult to over- 
 come, without long practice. Before you open the box, 
 you can hold a conversation with the supposed character 
 inside, or even opening the box and allowing the lid to 
 remain up, have your dialogue; but as the tone is chang- 
 ing all the time the lid is in motion, it must be evident 
 that the introduction of your natural tone only tends to 
 make it more difficult. It is better to keep up a continual 
 talking in the mimetic voice, while opening and closing 
 the box, than to break up the speech. A very good exhi- 
 bition of the " distant voice " can be given by bidding 
 " good-night " to a supposed person outside. As the voice 
 upon the outside grows faint and appears to go away in 
 the distance, the natural tone of the performer should 
 grow louder in equal proportion. In order to carry out 
 the deception, it must be made to appear to the audience 
 that the outside man could not hear your voice unless you 
 called in a loud tone. 
 
 Another good illustration of the " distant voice " is to 
 represent a charcoal man as if nearing the house, passing 
 it, and going away. Use only the word charcoal. The 
 €i distant voice/' in the same key can be made to represent 
 different characters successively. 
 
 As an experiment, I have located this voice in a box, 
 and turning around, used the same voice as if coming from 
 above. According to the statements of the audience, it 
 appeared to have an entirely different sound and to repre- 
 sent two distinct persons. This can be easily accounted 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 143 
 
 for. The audience were deceived by my suggestive move- 
 ments. Having made up their minds that they were to 
 hear a different person, they did not realize I was using the 
 same voice. 
 
 It is so difficult to execute the " distant voice " in dif- 
 ferent keys that, where it is desirable to introduce a 
 number of characters, it is best to do so by what I call 
 transition. Transition means, according to Webster, a 
 passage to another place. The trick is to alter the natural 
 tones of the voice , so as to make a very apparent distinc- 
 tion between it and the mimetic voice. This can be done 
 so skillfully that. the audience will not realize the change. 
 This is one of the greatest secrets of the art, and is essential 
 to success. 
 
 If your mimetic voice is to be low, you must raise the 
 natural tone in your announcement relative to where the 
 voice is to come from. You will find that by making 
 your reply in the mimetic voice, in a tone but a trifle 
 lower than the natural one, the difference or transition 
 will be so great that the mimetic voice will appear very 
 deep in comparison. If you are to continue the dialogue, 
 and the next voice is to be high, let your natural tone be 
 but a trifle higher than the one you have just given as 
 the low voice. This will make another marked difference. 
 The whole secret is in making these jumps, or " transi- 
 tions," without its being apparent to the audience. A little 
 care is all that is necessary. As has been stated before, 
 ventriloquism is talking from the stomach; yet a great 
 portion of the work done by professional exhibitors is not, 
 strictly speaking, ventriloquism. It is the power of imi- 
 tating various dialects and different tones of the voice, 
 without moving the lips. To do this it is not necessary 
 to " speak from the stomach." In a work upon the sub- 
 ject that I have seen, it says: " It is very rarely that a 
 ventriloquist shows a full face to the audience." This 
 
144 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 statement appears erroneous. At the present time a pro- 
 fessional exhibitor must be^able to face his audience during 
 the entire performance, and must have such control over 
 the muscles of the face that not a movement can be de- 
 tected while the voices are being heard. To become 
 skilled in this portion of the art, the student should prac- 
 tice before a mirror. 
 
 It is best to learn to produce the sounds first without 
 any attempt at holding the mouth still. Having mas- 
 tered this, observe the following directions : 
 
 Keep the lips in a natural position, opened but a little. 
 The teeth should almost touch each other; hold the jaws 
 rigid, and in this position you will find that the tongue 
 can be used almost as readily as in ordinary conversation. 
 There should be no apparent effort. The countenance 
 should appear perfectly at ease. 
 
 This rule will apply to all the mimetic voices used. 
 At first it will seem impossible to pronounce certain words 
 without moving the lips, but when the method is known, 
 whereby certain sounds (resembling distinct pronunci- 
 ation) are substituted, it will appear very easy. In pro- 
 nouncing the alphabet the sound of V is substituted for 
 B. M is pronounced like eng. For P use fee, W, 
 duggle-you. Words difficult to articulate should be 
 avoided as much as possible. In rendering a popular 
 song, the performer cannot well substitute words of hfe 
 own, but must adhere closely to the original. The fact 
 of a song being popular is of great help to the performer. 
 The audience being more or less familiar with the words 
 are not apt to watch the pronunciation so carefully. Oc- 
 casionally, very troublesome words will occur, and the 
 exhibitor must substitute a sound resembling the original. 
 Thus: Babies on our Block should be rendered Vavies on 
 our Vlock; a big piano, a vig flano; My Mary Ann, Ngi 
 Ngary Ann, etc. 
 
 A valuable adjunct to an exhibition is to have several 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 145 
 
 " character " dolls manufactured, with movable jaws. 
 There is no limit to the variety of characters that can be 
 introduced in this way, old or young, male or female, 
 Irish, Scotch, Negro, and in fact, almost any character 
 that may suggest itself. 
 
 The imitation of the sounds of animals, insects, the 
 sawing and planing of wood, etc., is called Polyphonism. 
 As it is so often used in conjunction with ventriloquism, 
 a few words in explanation will not be out of place. 
 
 To be an expert mimic of any peculiar sound, the stu- 
 dent should study from the original as much as possible. 
 Some sounds are almost impossible to describe, and the 
 reader must invent his own method of imitation. " What 
 is one man's physic is another's poison." I will attempt 
 to describe the manner of making some of the imitations. 
 
 A Bee. — Use considerable pressure upon the chest, 
 making exactly the same sound as has been laid down 
 as preliminary practice for the distant voice. 
 
 A Mosquito. — Use the pressure as before in the very 
 highest pitch you can reach. 
 
 A Fly. — Close the lips tight except at one corner. 
 Fill that cheek full of wind and force it to escape through 
 the aperture. In giving these Polyphonic imitations, the 
 performer should help out the illusion by some suggestive 
 action. Make the sounds faint, then loud. In giving an 
 imitation of a bee, produce a handkerchief and chase the 
 bee around. After pretending to catch it, put the hand- 
 kerchief containing the bee (?) into the pocket. In- 
 venting an excuse, reproduce the handkerchief, and as 
 you bring it forth allow the bee to escape. A good finale 
 will be to pretend to tear the handkerchief. Allowing 
 the handkerchief to pass through the thumb and fore- 
 finger, make a noise which, as near as I can describe, is 
 a spitting through the lips. 
 
 The sound of sawing wood is imitated by a sort of 
 " hawking " sound. It will always cause a laugh to shift 
 
146 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 off as if the saw had struck a knot. The sound is made 
 by pressing the lips together and forcing them open with 
 the expelled air. A meat saw can be imitated by the 
 " hawking " method used in a higher key, and with the 
 addition of a sort of hissing sound. 
 
 To represent planing use the syllable " sh," or " tsh," 
 carrying out the movement of planing. 
 
 There is no limit to these imitations. The sounds of 
 hens, roosters, dogs, cats, and in fact almost any animal 
 can be imitated and prove acceptable. 
 
 The drawing of a glass of soda water makes a very 
 good illusion. Practice from the original ; that is the best 
 way. 
 
 The mountain echo is a very pretty imitation. I have 
 heard of people asserting that ventriloquism was an echo, 
 but that unquestionably is a great mistake, as an echo 
 only repeats, it does not answer a question. 
 
 To imitate an echo (and it can be produced in an ordi- 
 nary-sized room, and invariably delights juveniles) , whistle 
 loud several short, quick notes, as if you were whistling 
 for a dog; then, as quickly as possible after the last note, 
 and very soft and subdued, whistle about a third of the 
 number of notes; but it must be in exactly the same pitch 
 or note e This will cause the whistle to appear exactly 
 like an echo at a great distance. This imitation, if well 
 done, is very effective. You can also produce an echo of 
 any sentence you wish to speak. Always let your voice 
 be formed close to the lips, and answer immediately, sub- 
 dued and in the same note and words, forming the echo 
 in the back part of the mouth. You will have a charming 
 echo. 
 
 The reader must not be discouraged if not successful 
 in his first attempts. Do not give up. I claim that 
 almost anyone who can imitate any peculiar dialect, can 
 become an acceptable ventriloquist by following the rule 
 for holding the mouth rigid. 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 147 
 
 There is not so much difficulty in learning the art as is 
 generally supposed. I am confident that I could, by per- 
 sonal instruction, teach any person of ordinary ability in 
 a few lessons. 
 
 By carefully following the instructions given here, the 
 reader ought to make considerable progress. 
 
 It is mostly a matter of practice. The art can be ac- 
 quired by any person with the proper amount of study. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 I would offer a few brief remarks on points to be re- 
 membered in practicing mimicry and improving ventrilo- 
 quial power. In the practice of mimicry study from 
 nature, and make an especial study of sound for ven- 
 triloquism. For it must be remembered that the power 
 and acuteness of hearing is possessed in a greater or lesser 
 degree by different individuals, and depends on the sensi- 
 bility of the auric nerves. It is said that the human ear 
 is capable of appreciating as many as twenty thousand — 
 nay, twenty-four thousand — vibrations in a second, and 
 that the whole range of human hearing, from the lowest 
 note of the organ to the highest known cry of the insects 
 (as that of the cricket), includes nine octaves. It is 
 absolutely necessary for the ventriloquist to possess all 
 the organs of sound entire and without fault to succeed 
 well, as by nice judgment of sound the professional ven- 
 triloquist judges the majority of his voices, especially 
 those greatly obscured and muffled. The student of ven- 
 triloquism will become more proficient as he is able to 
 understand thoroughly the human voice, for there is the 
 language of emotion, or natural language, by which the 
 feelings manifest themselves without previous teaching, 
 and which is recognized and felt without teaching. For 
 instance, there is the scream of joy, of terror, the laugh 
 of satisfaction, laugh of sarcasm and ridicule, which are 
 made by man, and understood by his fellow man, what- 
 
148 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 ever may be the speech or country of the other. There is 
 also to be considered the distinct qualities of voice pe- 
 culiar to each person, both in tone and quality. There- 
 fore I would advise the student to practice the imitation 
 of different voices, and let each voice be in a different 
 note or pitch. The student, to become proficient, must 
 never tire of continual practice of sound as it falls on the 
 ear. He will find it will clear away many difficulties 
 of acquiring more or less perfection as a mimic, and im- 
 prove him as a ventriloquist, if nature has gifted him 
 with the power of ventriloquism. 
 
 CALLAHAN AND THE SKELETON. 
 
 Strolling down Broadway one day, Callahan and a 
 friend came to a halt in front of a well-known phreno- 
 logical store. In the window were busts of statesmen, 
 authors, military men, murderers, idiots, and small heads 
 of every description. They glanced in through the open 
 door. There were half-a-dozen people standing about, 
 staring into the glass cases ranged along the wall, fitted 
 with plaster casts and skulls of celebrated characters, long 
 since forgotten. A sallow, yellow-faced man, named 
 Butts, with a fiery top-knot of hair, was standing before 
 a little group of men and women, half-a-dozen in num- 
 ber, holding up an old ghastly skull in his hand, evidently 
 describing it to them. Behind him, suspended to the wall, 
 and artistically wired together, was a full-length, com- 
 plete skeleton. Followed by his friend, Callahan walked 
 in. ' You see," said the sallow face, in a pedantic tone, 
 " how large the organ of destructiveness is developed." 
 " Hand-organ," said Callahan, throwing his voice near 
 the skeleton, in a groaning tone. The crowd looked up 
 at the motionless skeleton, then at Butts, and Butts glared 
 around. There was a momentary silence, and then the 
 phrenologist began again : " This skull was once a part 
 of the living body of the notorious Gibbs, the pirate — " 
 
HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 149 
 
 ,€ That's a lie! " This time the voice, harsh and grating, 
 seemed to come from the skull in Butts' hand. He 
 dropped the skull upon the hard floor, with a wild excla- 
 mation. The skull struck the floor so hard that it cracked 
 the jaw off, and scattered the white and grinning teeth 
 all around. 
 
 'There, you've broke my jaw with your nonsense!" 
 came from the skull. " Great Caesar! " tremblingly cried 
 Butts, throwing up his hands and starting back; " It's a 
 miracle!" At the same instant there came from the 
 skeleton a horrible, fiendish " ha-ha! " laugh. 
 
 This completed the scare of Butts and his friends, and 
 pell-mell they rushed out of the store, Butts half a lap 
 ahead and gaining on himself at every swing of his long 
 legs. 
 
 Butts, on the pavement, pitched headlong into the 
 breastworks of a man in a blue blouse, with a large bas- 
 ketful of crockeryware on his arm, and in this collision 
 away tumbled both of them upon the stones, amid the 
 crash of plates and pitchers, the cries and yells of the 
 downf alien, and the laughter and jeers of the crowd. 
 
 Callahan and his friend made their way out, and left 
 the crockery man, Butts and the rest to quarrel it out 
 among themselves. 
 
 CALLAHAN, THE VENTRILOQUIST 
 
 While performing in Philadelphia, I was out one after- 
 noon, and feeling quite fatigued, entered a saloon, and 
 seated myself in one corner. Just then an Irishman 
 dropped in ; and he w^as an Irishman, to be sure — a big, 
 red-headed, raw-mouthed terrier, about six feet eleven 
 inches high. He yelled out, with the air of a kine* 
 "Whiskey!" 
 
 I felt as though I would like to worry him, and so he 
 became the victim of sport. Someone in the rear of the 
 store cried out: " Give him turpentine; he's a lusher! " 
 
150 HERRMANN'S WIZARDS' MANUAL 
 
 The Turk got angry at such an insulting remark, and 
 offered to fight the man who made the suggestion, when 
 the voice, a little nearer, answered: " You are too fresh; 
 you could not kill a flea, you big Irish-Dutchman ! " 
 
 " Oh! murther! what the divil ails me? There must 
 be something w T rong; there's a man down in the cellar, and 
 I'm going to find him if it costs me my life! " " Don't 
 let him go down in the cellar. He will drink all the 
 whiskey! " said the voice that he was so angry at. Then 
 the bar-tender joined in: "No; you had better not go 
 down in that cellar. There's a dog down there — - a 
 Scotch terrier — and if you go down there he don't know 
 you, and he may bite you. ,, 
 
 " Let the terrier go down," said the voice, " and they'll 
 both have a fight! " This angered the brave son of the 
 Emerald Isle, and he swore to be revenged on the man 
 who was insulting and poking fun at him. I however left 
 the place, for I was so overcome with laughter that I could 
 not stand it any longer. I met the same man the next day, 
 and asked him to pardon me for playing a trick on him the 
 day before. " How so? " says he; "I never saw you be- 
 fore." " Well," said I, " do you remember the man you 
 offered to fight, yesterday, at the saloon ? " mentioning 
 Arch street. " Oh, bejabers I do," said he; " was that 
 you? Well," said he, " they said, after you left, that you 
 was a ventriloquist, and I would not believe them; I 
 swore that such a thing could not be." Then I invited 
 him to call and see me perform at the National Theater; 
 he did so, and I'll venture to say that he'll never forget it, 
 or me. 
 
 THE END 
 
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ANECDOTES OF THE GREAT 
 WAR 
 
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 Ill W. Monroe St., Chicago, U. S. A. 
 
 A Batch of Smiles (humor) 
 A Little Nonsense " 
 
 Flashes of Irish Wit " 
 Some Irish Smiles " 
 
 Anecdotes of the Great War 
 The Sunny Side of Life 
 Wit and Humor of Abraham Lincoln 
 New Book of Conundrums and Riddles 
 How to Write Love-letters 
 Art of Making Love 
 Etiquette for Every Occasion 
 Gypsy Witch Fortune-Teller 
 Telling Fortunes by Cards 
 Gypsy Witch Dream Book 
 Oriental Dream Book 
 Herrmann's Wizards' Manual 
 Card Tricks 
 
 Comic Declamations and Readings 
 Junior Recitations 
 Holiday Recitations 
 District School Recitations 
 Children's Select Recitations and Dialogues 
 Comic Dialogues for Boys and Girls 
 Juvenile Dialogues 
 High School Dialogues 
 Entertaining Dialogues 
 Fun for Friday Afternoons (dialogues) 
 Friday Afternoon Dramas 
 (Others in preparation) 
 
020 237 545 5 
 
 *MiWf ■■ K&mMi 
 
 FLASHES OF IRISH WIT 
 
 160 Page*. Paper Corert. Price 30 seat*. 
 
 BY CARLETON B. CASE. 
 
 The best bulls, blunders and banter 
 by the sons and daughters of the Emerald 
 Isle, gathered into one volume for the 
 delectation of all who appreciate a hearty 
 laugh. This is not a mere collection 
 from the ancient Irish authors, with their 
 "Handy Andys' 5 and other butts and 
 jokers, but, in the main, is the best wit 
 of the modern, the transplanted Irishman, 
 the kind that Americans best know and 
 appreciate. You will agree, when you 
 peruse it, that it is the most mirth- 
 provoking collection of real good Irish 
 fun you ever read, and to say that is equiv- 
 alent to saying that it is a book of un- 
 surpassed humor, for the Irishman above 
 all others "takes the cake** as a natural 
 wit* ifl^^Mfel 
 
 SHREWSBURY PUBLISHING CO. 
 Chicago