tube, passing into the neck, and reaching almost as far as the mouth of the bottle. This tube passes completely through the bottle, so that a stick can be pushed quite through the tube, and the bottle 3 slid backwards and forwards. Next comes a partition, 4. marked 4, which divides the interior into two equal portions, and the upper half is again divided by partitions, marked 3, 2, and 1. These partitions do not extend far into the neck, but terminate in tubes, which lead to the mouth of the bottle, but are hidden from the spectator by the shadows of the neck and the inner tube. When this is all complete, the bottom of the false bottle is soldered in its place, and care taken that every point of junction shall be airtight. When this point is ascertained, a little hole is bored through the side of the bottle into each partition, four on one side and one on the other, and they are so contrived that when the bottle is held in the right hand, the tips of the four fingers come upon the holes leading into the four small compartments, and the thumb closes that which leads to the single large one. The reader will now perceive that if the different partitions be filled with liquids, the little holes closed, and the bottle reversed, no fluid will escape, because the pressure of the atmosphere prevents it from doing so, just as water can be raised in a tube by dipping it into water and placing the thumb on the open end. As soon, however, as the fingers are removed, the liquid begins to flow, and it is easy to see that the performer has the instrument quite under control, the liquid in each partition flowing or not just as he presses his fingers on the little holes, or removes them. One of the small divisions is filled with port, the next with sherry, the next with claret, and the next with madeira. The large division is filled with spirits-of-wine and water, highly sweetened, from which are made the various liqueurs which may be demanded. Ask the spectators whether they would like a glass of wine, and offer them the choice of the four sorts which are in your bottle. When the answer is given, take a glass from the tray, place it on the table, and pour the wine into the glass, lifting slightly the finger that stops up the hole in the division from which the wine is poured. As all the holes are stopped, no other wine will come out. Your glasses must be small and very thick, so as to contain but a trifling quantity, and you need not fill them more than half full, so that your supply of wine will go a long way. The liqueurs are managed in a different way. Into the various glasses which you intend for the purpose, you previously put a drop of flavouring essence, which will not be seen by the spectators, but has the effect of converting the mere sweetened spirit and water into a very respectable liqueur. Indeed, half the liqueurs which are purchased are made in no other way. If a coloured liqueur, such as rosoglio should be demanded, a little cochineal in the glass will give the requisite tint, and never be suspected. Be careful not to show either the mouth of or the bottom of the bottle to the spectators, but hold it sideways while pouring. Before beginning the trick, you must put a common squib into the tube, and run a piece of quick-match from the squib to the mouth of the bottle. When your stock of wines and spirits is nearly exhausted, shake the bottle, and hold it to a candle, so as to look into it, and set it down instantly. The squib then ignites, and sends showers of sparks into the air, while you pretend to be in a desperate fright. As soon as the powder at the end of the squib explodes, a confederate pulls a string, and opens a hidden trap in the table, through which the bottle falls into a padded receptacle, and the trap closes again and leaves no mark. A very convenient way to make this trap is to have a round table with a good stout pillar in the centre, and to hollow out the pillar to some depth, so as to receive the bottle. This part of the trick, however, need not be performed by the young amateur, who must content himself with exchanging the false bottle for a real one, under cover of the smoke. A simple method of attaining this end is to place the table in rather a sloping position, so that when the explosion occurs the bottle upsets and rolls off the table. You seem to catch it, having and you can then substitute Leave the real bottle carelessly a real bottle of similar shape about you, the one for the other without difficulty. on a side-table, and after the performance is over, the spectators are sure to come up and handle it. Put a little wine and flavouring essence into it, and they will be quite deceived. Coffee and tea are furnished in a different manner, and the young conjuror need not trouble himself about them, as the wines and liqueurs. are quite wonderful enough for a drawing-room audience. These liquids do not come out of the bottle at all, but from a double reservoir carried inside the waistcoat, with pipes from it run down the arm and into the palm of the hand. When the performer wishes to produce tea or coffee, he holds his hand low, and then the fluids run down the tubes, and into the cups behind the neck of the bottle, from which they seem to be poured. When he wants wine or liqueurs, he holds his hand high, and then the tea and coffee remain in their receptacles. This ingenious and really philosophical trick always secures applause and excites wonder. THE VANISHED RABBITS. For this trick a very peculiar table is required. It is apparently the fairest of all conjuring tricks, whereas it is in fact one of the most deceptive. A single stout board is brought into the room and placed upon a couple of tressels, so that the audience may be sure that no traps are concealed in it. A slight cloth is then thrown over it that does not hang more than three or four inches over the edge. A rabbit is taken and allowed to run about on the table. A second rabbit is then produced and also allowed to run on the table. Presently the conjuror throws a handkerchief over them, raises it, strikes it, and one rabbit has vanished. He takes the handkerchief again, throws it over the second rabbit, rolls the animal up, lifts it carefully in both hands, gives a puff, flourishes the handkerchief, and that rabbit has also vanished. Rabbits are, unfortunately for themselves, very useful in such perfor mances, because they cannot cry out, and they do not scratch or bite. The whole secret lies in the table, which is as great a deceiver as the conjuror himself. The boards which compose it are double, and very thickness being merely produced by slips of wood thin, the apparent fixed to the edges. The two boards are joined like those of the bellows of an accordion, so that they can be separated some inches from each other. Elastic bands hold them together, and allow them to be separated when needful. The reader will now see that the rabbits are just slipped through a trap into the space between the boards, which recede sufficiently to allow them to pass, and yet are pressed together by the elastic bands, so as to prevent the animals from running about. P.S.-Owing to a mistake of the printer, the last figure on page 45 of my article, was placed in a wrong position. It ought to have accompanied the figure on page 43. The second end of the string on page 42 has been accidentally omitted. |