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there is no preparation. It is then placed across the hat, the hat falls to the ground and the egg sticks to it as if glued, the orchestra then plays a piece of music, and the egg, as if it was sensible of the harmony, twists about the cane from one end to the other, and continues its motion till the music stops.
Explanation.
The egg is fastened to a thread by a pin, which is put in lengthways, and the hole, which has been made to introduce the pin, is stopped with white wax. The other end of the thread is fastened to the breast of the person who performs the trick, with a pin bent like a hook—the cane passing under the thread near to the egg serves for it to rest on—when the music begins, the performer pushes the cane from left to right, or from right to left; it then appears as if the egg ran along the cane, which it does not, being fastened to its thread, its centre of gravity remains always at the same distance from the hook that holds it; it is the cane which sliding along presents its different points to the surface of the egg.—N.B. To produce the illusion, and persuade the company that it is the egg which carries itself toward the different points of the cane, the performer turns a little on his heel, by this means the egg receives a motion which deceives the
