become accustomed to the business, and appear thoroughly to understand what is required of them.
In recent years the mystery known as “Second Sight” has been vastly improved. The old system, invented by Pinetti in 1785, and brought to great perfection by Robert-Houdin, has almost disappeared. It consisted of an elaborate code of signals, given by means of subtle variations in the questions put to the supposed clairvoyant; the form in which the question was put conveying the appropriate answer. Now it is customary to avoid speech altogether. The information is conveyed by means of gesture or slight sounds at varying intervals. This business requires an enormous amount of practice, and an abnormal memory on the part of those who become expert.
But there are certain tricks of this class which require little or no skill and a very small amount of practice. These are generally introduced by impostors who claim or tacitly suggest the possession of supernatural powers. The following is a very familiar example of the kind of trick employed by such persons. The performers are usually a man and a woman. The man first appears, and informs the audience that he will shortly introduce a lady possessing extraordinary powers. Not only can she read the thoughts of any person whose mind is en rapport with hers, but also she can foretell the future, trace missing friends, discover lost property, &c. In order to display the lady’s capabilities, he requests that any members of the audience who have questions they would like answered will write them secretly. For convenience in writing, slips of paper, pencils and squares of thick millboard are passed round, the millboard squares being for use as writing-desks. The writers are particularly cautioned to allow no one to see what is written, but to fold up the papers and retain them in their own possession. Further, the writers are instructed that, when the clairvoyant appears, the thoughts of each must be kept intently fixed upon what he has written. The pencils and millboards are then collected, and the preparations being so far complete, other portions of the entertainment are proceeded with. Finally, as the last item in the programme, the clairvoyant is introduced. A handkerchief, upon which some liquid has been poured, is held over the lady’s nose and mouth, and apparently she falls into a trance. Then she proceeds to describe the appearance of certain of the writers, the position they occupy in the room, and the nature of the questions they have written, giving to those questions more or less plausible answers. The trick never fails to produce the most profound astonishment, and by its means several persons have made rapid strides to fortune. But the whole business is an impudent imposture. Therefore it cannot be too often or too thoroughly exposed. It is accomplished as follows. Some of the millboards passed round for convenience in writing are built up of a number of thicknesses, fastened together at the edges only. Beneath the outer layer a sheet of carbon paper is concealed, so that the pressure of the pencil causes a reproduction in duplicate to be impressed upon an inner layer of cardboard. These prepared pads are handed round by attendants, who note the dress and appearance of the persons by whom the questions are written. That information, together with the prepared pads, is subsequently conveyed to the clairvoyant. She requires a certain amount of time in order to memorize the questions and the description of the writers; consequently she is not introduced to the audience until, say, an hour has elapsed. Of course, it would not be discreet to have all the millboards prepared. Many of them, perhaps the majority, are really what they appear to be; but, needless to say, the questions written upon these are never answered. It is carefully pointed out beforehand that the clairvoyant can only read the questions of those whose minds are in sympathy with hers. That statement, naturally, serves to account for her inability to read or answer questions written by those who have used the plain millboards.
In connexion with this trick a further imposture is carried out by inviting strangers to send, by post, any questions they wish to have answered. Such an invitation appears to be quite straightforward and genuine, but those who are sufficiently credulous or sufficiently curious to respond to it lend themselves to the perpetration of an ingenious fraud. In reply to any such communication, the writer is informed that it is necessary for him to attend one of the public performances, and endeavour to bring his mind into harmony with that of the clairvoyant. Enclosed is a complimentary ticket entitling him to attend any performance he pleases. The procedure, then, is simply this. Each ticket bears a private mark, and a corresponding mark is put upon the letter written by the person to whom it is sent. When any marked ticket is presented, the attendant notes the dress and appearance of the visitor and the seat he occupies. That information is given to the clairvoyant, together with the ticket. She refers to the letter bearing the mark corresponding to the ticket, and ascertains what that particular visitor wishes to know. Thus to the public she appears to read and answer a question which has not been written down, but merely thought of by a total stranger. There are numerous methods of obtaining information by means similar to those already described. Sufficient, however, has been said to show that such devices are of the simplest, and require nothing more than a callous effrontery to carry them into effect. Of course, all kinds of mischances are bound to occur. But, when one is supposed to be dealing with undiscovered laws of nature, it does not require much ingenuity to wriggle out of any situation, however difficult.
Modern magic calls to its aid all the appliances of modern science—electricity, magnetism, optics and mechanics; but the most successful adepts in the art look down upon all such aids and rely upon address and sleight of hand alone. The prestidigitator’s motto is “The quickness of the hand deceives the eye”; but this very phrase, which is always in a performer’s mouth, is in itself one of the innocent frauds which the conjuror employs as part and parcel of his exhibition. The truth is that it is not so much upon the quickness with which a feat is performed as upon the adroitness with which the time and means of performing it are concealed that its success depends. The right opportunity for executing the required movement is technically called a temps. This is defined to be any act or movement which distracts the attention of the audience while something is being “vanished” or “produced.” Experiment will readily convince any one that it is absolutely impossible to move the hand so quickly as to abstract or replace any object without being perceived, so long as the eyes of the audience are upon the performer. But it is very easy to do so unnoticed, provided the audience are looking another way at the time; and the faculty of thus diverting their attention is at once the most difficult and the most necessary accomplishment for a conjuror to acquire. It does not suffice to point, or ask them to look in another direction, because they will obviously suspect the truth and look with all the more persistence. The great requisite is to “have a good eye”—in French conjuring parlance avoir de l’œil; an earnest, convinced look of the performer in a particular direction will carry every one’s glances with it, while a furtive glance at the hand which is performing some function that should be kept secret will ruin all.
The motto prefixed by Robert-Houdin to his chapter on the “Art of Conjuring” is—“to succeed as a conjuror, three things are essential: first, dexterity; second, dexterity; and third, dexterity”; and this is not a mere trick of language, for triple dexterity is required, not only to train the hand to the needful adroitness, but to acquire the requisite command of eye and tongue. Unfortunately this dexterity may be applied not only to conjuring but to cheating, particularly in the case of cardsharpers. It takes various forms: (1) marking the cards; (2) abstracting certain cards during the game for clandestine use; (3) previously concealing cards about the person; (4) packing the cards; (5) substituting marked or prepared packs; (6) confederacy; (7) false shuffles. All these methods are thoroughly exposed in Robert-Houdin’s work Les Tricheries des Grecs. The successful card-sharper must have qualities which, if applied in a legitimate direction, would ensure distinction in almost any profession.
In the case of purely dexterical tricks, little advance has been made. Recently some new sleights were introduced from
