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The authorship of this book is not entirely clear, but Frikell is a likely author of at least good parts of the book. However, most likely it is a compilation of material from different sources with potentially a number of editors and compilers. Some of the other names associated with this book are H.L. Williams, George Arnold, Frank Cahill, and John Wyman, Jr. The book covers not only magic tricks of various kinds, but also a lot of what we would call today "kitchen table top experiments" in fields ranging from mechanical and chemical to optical, math and others. It also features a section of puzzles.
- Preface
- The Young Conjuror
- Sleight Of Hand
- 1. The Flying Dime
- 2. Another Method
- 3. The Beads And Strings
- 4. To Get A Ring Out Of A Handkerchief
- 5. To Tie A Knot In A Handkerchief Which Cannot Be Drawn Tight
- 6. The Three Cups
- 7. To Tie A Handkerchief Round Your Leg, And Get It Off Without Untying The Knot
- 8. The Magic Bond
- 9. The Old Man And His Chair
- 10. To Tie A Knot On The Left Wrist, Without Letting The Right Hand Approach It
- 11. The Handcuffs
- 12. To Pull A String Through Your Button-Hole
- 13. The Cut String Restored
- 14. The Gordian Knot
- 15. The Knot Loosened
- 16. To Put Nuts Into Tour Ear
- 17. To Crack Walnuts In Your Elbow
- 18. To Take Feathers Out Of An Empty Handkerchief
- 19. The Knotted Handkerchief
- 20. Houdin's Nut Trick
- 21. Conjuring A Ring
- 22. The Erratic Egg
- 23. The Obedient Dime
- 24. The Prisoner Released
- 25. Advantageous Wager
- 26. The Double Meaning
- 27. The Three Spoons
- 28. The Juggler's Joke
- 29. To Cause Wine And Water To Change Places
- 30. Is It Possible!
- 31. The Toper's Stratagem
- 32. The Impossible Omelet
- 33. New Perpetual Rotary Motion
- 34. The Miraculous Apple
- 35. An Omelet Cooked In A Hat, Over The Flame Of A Candle
- 36. The Infallible Prophet
- 37. Philosophy Cheated
- 38. The Disappearing Dime
- Tricks Requiring Special Apparatus
- 39. The Die Trick
- 40. The Penetrative Cents
- 41. The Doll Trick
- 42. The Flying Coins
- 43. The Vanished Half-Dime
- 44. The Restored Document
- 45. The Magic Rings
- 46. The Fish And Ink Trick
- 47. The Cannon Balls
- 48. The Dime In The Ball Of Cotton
- 49. The Egg And Bag Trick
- 50. The Dancing Egg
- 51. Bell And Shot
- 52. The Burned Handkerchief Restored
- 53. The Fire Eater
- 54. The Egg-Box
- 55. The Globe-Box
- 56. The Coffee And Handkerchief Tricks
- 57. The Magic Funnel
- 58. The Magic Bottle
- 59. The Bottle Trick
- 60. The Magic Quarter
- 61 To Change A Dime To A Quarter
- 62. Description Of The Magician's Table
- 63. Wyman's Gun Trick
- 64. The Hatched Bird
- 65. The Apple And Orange Trick
- 66. Enchanted Coin, As Performed By Professor Wyman
- 67. Mysterious Coin, Or How To Make Dollars Pass Through A Wine Glass, A China Plate, A Table, And Fall Into The Hand
- 68. Professor Wyman's Great Trick Of The Egyptian Fluids, Or Impossibilities Accomplished
- 69. The Magician's Snow Ball. One Of The Faker Of Ava's Feats
- 70. The Magnetized Cane
- 71. Professor Wyman's Mode Of Performing The Egg Bag Trick
- Tricks With Cards
- 1. To Make The Pass
- 2. To Tell A Card By Its Back
- 3. The Card Named Without Being Seen
- 4. The Card Told By The Opera Glass
- 5. The Four Kings
- 6. The Four Accomplices
- 7. To Tell The Card Thought Of In A Circle Of Ten
- 8. To Guess The Card Thought Of
- 9. To Tell The Number Of Cards By The Weight
- Audacity
- 10. The Card Found At The Second Guess
- 11. The Card Found Under The Hat
- 12. To Call The Cards Out Of The Pack
- 13. Heads And Tails
- 14. The Surprise
- 15. The Revolution
- 16. The Slipped Card
- 17. The Nailed Card
- 18. To Ascertain The Number Of Points On Three Unseen Cards
- 19. To Tell The Numbers On Two Unseen Cards
- 20. The Knaves And The Constable
- 21. The Pairs Re-Paired
- 23. The Queens Digging For Diamonds
- 24. The Triple Deal
- 25. The Quadruple Deal
- 26. The Card Discovered By The Touch Or Smell
- 27. The Ingenious Confederacy
- 29. "Hold It Fast"
- 30. The Charmed Twelve
- 31. The Trick Of Thirty-One
- 32. To Tell The Names Of The Card By The Weight
- Tricks With Cards, That Require Apparatus
- 33. The Cards In The Vase
- 34. The Metamorphosis
- 35. To Hold Four Kings Or Four Knaves In Your Hand, And To Change Them Suddenly Into Blank Cards, And Then To Four Aces
- 36. To Change A Card In A Person's Hand
- 37. The Card In The Egg
- 38. The Fifteen Thousand Livres
- Hints To Amateurs
- Cure For Troublesome Spectators
- The Secret Of Ventriloquism
- The Magic Of Chemistry
- Experiments On Combustion
- Potassium
- Crystallization Of Metals
- Beauties Of Crystallization
- To Crystallize Camphor
- Crystallized Tin
- Crystals In Hard Water
- Varieties Of Crystals
- A Liquid Changed To A Solid, And Heat From Crystallization
- A Solid Changed To A Liquid, And Intense Cold From The Liquefaction
- Magic Of Heat
- Sublimation By Heat
- Heat Passing Through Glass
- Metals Unequally Influenced By Heat
- Spontaneous Combustion
- Inequality Of Heat In Fire-Irons
- Expansion Of Metal By Heat
- Evaporation Of A Metal
- A Floating Metal On Fire
- Ice Melted By Air
- Splendid Sublimation
- Magic Inks
- Chameleon Liquids
- The Magic Dyes
- Wine Changed Into Water
- Two Colorless Transparent Liquids Become Black And Opaque
- Two Colorless Fluids Make A Colored One
- Change Of Color By Colorless Fluids
- To Change A Blue Liquid To White
- Veritable "Black" Tea
- Restoration Of Color By Water
- Two Liquids Make A Solid
- Two Solids Make A Liquid
- A Solid Opaque Mass Makes A Transparent Liquid
- Two Cold Liquids Make A Hot One
- Quintuple Transmutation
- The Same Agent May Produce And Destroy Color
- Union Of Two Metals Without Heat
- Magic Breath
- Two Bitters Make A Sweet
- Visible And Invisible
- To Form A Liquid From Two Solids
- The Spectral Lamp
- Curious Change Of Colors
- The Protean Light
- The Chameleon Flowers
- To Change The Colors Of Flowers
- Changes Of The Poppy
- To Change The Color Of A Rose
- Light Changing White Into Black
- The Visibly Growing Acorn
- Colored Flames
- Orange Colored Flame
- Emerald Green Flame
- Instantaneous Flame
- To Cool Flame By Metal
- Proof That Flame Is Hollow
- To Hold A Hot Tea Kettle On The Hand
- Incombustible Linen
- The Burning Circle
- Water Of Different Temperatures In The Same Vessel
- Warmth Of Different Colors
- Substitute For Fire
- Laughing Gas
- Flame From Cold Metals
- Phosphorus In Chlorine
- Magic Vapor
- Gas From The Union Of Metal
- Camphor Sublimed By Flame
- Green Fire
- Brilliant Red Fire
- Purple Fire
- Silver Fire
- The Fiery Fountain
- Combustion Without Flame
- Combustion Of Three Metals
- To Make Paper Apparently Incombustible
- Heat Not To Be Estimated By Touch
- Flame Upon Water
- Rose-Colored Flame Upon Water
- To Set A Mixture On Fire With Water
- Waves Of Fire On Water
- Water From The Flame Of A Candle
- Formation Of Water By Fire
- Boiling Upon Cold Water
- Currents In Boiling Water
- Hot Water Lighter Than Cold
- Expansion Of Water By Cold
- The Cup Of Tantalus
- The Magic Whirlpool
- Artificial Fire Balls
- To Melt Steel As Easily As Lead
- To Tell A Lady Ie She Is In Love
- An Egg Put Into A Phial
- To Astonish A Large Party
- Test Papers
- Infinite Divisibility Of Matter
- Amusements In Electricity, Galvanism And Magnetism
- Experiments In Electricity
- Electrical Shock From A Sheet Of Paper
- Light Under Water
- Simple Means Of Producing Electricity
- Attraction And Repulsion Exhibited
- How To Make An Electrical Machine
- Conductor
- The Plate Electrical Machine
- How To Draw Sparks From The Tip Of The Nose
- How To Get A Jar Full Of Electricity
- The Electrical Battery
- Dancing Balls And Dolls
- The Electrical Kiss
- Ringing Bells
- Working Power Of Electricity
- The Electrified Wig
- Imitation Thunderclouds
- The Lightning-Stroke Imitated
- The Sportsman
- Experiments In Galvanism
- With Metal Plates In Water
- To Make A Magnet By Galvanism
- Effects Of Galvanism On A Magnet
- Change Of Color By Galvanism
- The Galvanic Shock
- Familiar Galvanic Effects
- Experiments In Magnetism
- Test Of Magnetic Power
- To Make Artificial Magnets
- How To Magnetize A Poker
- To Show Magnetic Repulsion And Attraction
- Variation Of The Needle
- Dip Of The Needle
- To Suspend A Needle In The Air By Magnetism
- Magnetism By Hammering
- Power Of The Electro Magnet
- The Mariner's Compass
- To Make Artificial Magnets Without The Aid Either, Of Natural Loadstones Or Artificial Magnets
- The Watch Magnetized
- North And South Poles Of The Magnet
- Polarity Of The Magnet
- Magnetic Action And Reaction
- To Pass Magnetism Through A Board
- The Magnetic Table
- Interesting Particulars Concerning The Magnet
- Conclusion
- Exaggerated Magnetism
- The Magic Of Pneumatics And Aerostatics
- Weight Of The Air Proved By A Pair Of Bellows
- The Pressure Of The Air Shown By A Wine-Glass
- Another
- Elasticity Of The Air
- The Air-Pump
- To Prove That Air Has Weight
- To Prove Air Elastic
- Air In The Egg
- The Descending Smoke
- Half Eagle And Feather
- The Soundless Bell
- The Floating Fish
- The Mysterious Circles
- The Diving Bell
- The Air Balloon
- How To Make An Air-Balloon
- How To Fill A Balloon
- To Make Fire-Balloons
- Parachutes
- The Mysterious Bottle
- Caoutchouc Balloons
- The Magic Of Optics And Optical Amusements
- Light As An Effect
- Refraction
- The Invisible Coin Made Visible
- The Multiplying Glass
- Transparent Bodies
- The Prism
- To Make A Prism
- Composition Of Light
- A Natural Camera Obscura
- Bullock's Eye Experiment
- The Camera Obscura
- The Magic Lantern
- The Camera Lucida
- Painting The Slides
- To Exhibit The Magic Lantern
- Effects Of The Magic Lantern
- The Phantasmagoria
- Dissolving Views
- How To Raise A Ghost
- The Thaumatrope
- Construction Of The Phantasmascope
- Curious Optical Illusion
- Another
- Another
- The Picture In The Air
- Breathing Light And Darkness
- To Show What Rays Of Light Do Not Obstruct Each Other
- How To See Through A Philadelphia Brick
- The Stereoscope
- Ocular Spectra
- Brilliant Water Mirror
- Optics Of A Soap Bubble
- The Kaleidoscope
- Simple Solar Microscope
- Anamorphoses
- The Cosmorama
- Distorted Landscapes
- The Magic Coin
- Tricks In Mechanics
- Experiment Of The Law Of Motion
- Balancing
- The Prancing Horse
- To Construct A Figure, Which, Being Placed Upon A Curved Surface, And Inclined In Any Position, Shall, When Left To Itself, Return To Its Former Position
- To Cause A Cylinder To Roll By Its Own Weight Up Hill
- The Balanced Stick
- The Chinese Mandarin
- To Make A Quarter Dollar Turn On Its Edge On The Point Of A Needle
- The Self-Balanced Pail
- To Lift A Bottle With A Straw
- The Dancing Pea
- The Toper's Tripod
- Obliquity Of Motion
- The Bridge Of Knives
- Sand In The Hour-Glass
- Resistance Of Sand
- Tricks In Hydraulics
- The Pump
- The Siphon
- The Water Snail, Or Archimedean Screw
- The Bottle Ejectment
- The Magic Of Hydrostatics With The Ancients
- To Empty A Glass Under Water
- Tricks In Acoustics
- Difference Between Sound And Noise
- Sounds, How Propagated
- Visible Vibration
- Transmitted Vibration
- Double Vibration
- Champagne And Sound
- Music Of The Snail
- The Tuning-Fork A Flute Player
- Musical Bottles
- Theory Of Whispering
- Theory Of The Voice
- To Tune A Guitar Without The Assistance Of The Ear
- Progress Of Sound
- To Make An Aeolian Harp
- The Invisible Girl
- The Magic Of Acoustics
- To Show How Sound Travels Through A Solid
- To Show That Sound Depends On Vibration
- The Magic Of Numbers Or, Curious Problems In Arithmetic
- Aphorisms Of Number
- Palpable Arithmetic
- The Abacus
- Napier's Rods
- The Arithmetical Boomerang
- To Find A Number Thought Of
- To Discover Two Or More Numbers That A Person Has Thought Of
- How Many Counters Have I In My Hands!
- The Mysterious Halvings
- Who Wears The Ring!
- Probabilities
- Variations
- Combinations And Permutations
- The Visitors To The Crystal Palace
- How Many Changes Can Be Given To 7 Notes Of A Piano?
- The Arithmetical Triangle
- How Many Different Deals Can Be Made With 13 Cards Out Of 52?
- The Three Graces
- Another Method
- Another Method
- The Fortunate Ninth
- The Ten Tens
- Dividing The Beer
- The Difficult Case Of Wine
- Another Decimation Of Fruit
- The Wine And The Tables
- The Three Travelers
- Which Counter Has Been Thought Of Out Of Sixteen?
- Magic Squares
- Odd Magic Squares
- The Square Of Gotham
- The Mathematical Blacksmith
- Curious Properties Of Some Figures
- The Industrious Frog
- The Council Of Ten
- The Two Travelers
- Arithmetical Puzzle
- The Money Game
- The Philosopher's Pupils
- To Discover A Square Number
- The Sheep-Fold
- Countrywoman And Eggs
- How To Rub Out Twenty Chalks At Five Times, Rubbing Out Every Time An Odd One
- The Impossible Triangle
- Odd Or Even
- The Old Woman And Her Eggs
- The Mathematical Fortune Teller
- The Dice Guessed Unseen
- The Sovereign And The Sage
- The Knowing Shepherd
- The Certain Game
- The Astonished Farmer
- Magical Century
- The Unlucky Hatter
- The Basket Of Nuts
- The United Digits
- December And May
- The Two Drovers
- The Basket And Stones
- The Famous Forty-Five
- Subtraction
- The Expunged Figure
- The Mysterious Addition
- To Tell At What Hour A Person Intends To Rise
- To Find The Difference Between Two Numbers, The Greatest Of Which Is Unknown
- The Remainder
- A Person Having An Equal Number Of Counters, Or Pieces Of Money, In Each Hand, To Find How Many He Has Altogether
- The Three Jealous Husbands
- The False Scales
- The Apple Woman
- The Graces And Muses
- The Jesuitical Teacher
- Quaint Questions
- The Fox, Goose And Corn
- Multiplying Money By Money
- The Unfair Division
- A Popular Fallacy
- Tricks In Geometry
- Geometrical Definitions
- The Five Geometrical Solids
- How To Make Five Squares Into A Large One Without Any Waste Of Stuff
- Deceptive Vision
- The Carpenter Puzzled
- The Bricklayer Puzzled
- Triangular Problem
- To Form A Square
- Squaring The Circle
- Practical Paradoxes And Puzzles
- 1. The Chinese Cross
- 2. The Parallelogram
- 3. The Divided Garden
- 4. The Endless String
- 5. Chinese Maze. The Willow-Pattern Plate
- 6. The Vertical Line Puzzle
- 7. The Three Rabbits
- 8. The Accommodating Square
- 9. The Circle Puzzle
- 10. The Cardboard Puzzle
- 11. The Button Puzzle
- 12. The Quarto Puzzle
- 13. The Puzzle Of Fourteen
- 14. The Square And Circle Puzzle
- 15. The Scale And Ring Puzzle
- 16. The Heart Puzzle
- 17. The Cross Puzzle
- 18. The Yankee Square
- 19. The Card Puzzle
- 20. Three Square Puzzle
- 21. The Cylinder Puzzle
- 22. Puzzle Of The Four Tenants
- 23. The Puzzle Wall
- 24. The Nuns
- 25. The Horse Shoe Puzzle
- 26. The Card Square
- 27. The Dog Puzzle
- 28. Puzzle Of The Two Fathers
- 29. The Triangle Puzzle
- 30. Cutting Out A Cross
- 31. Another Cross Puzzle
- 32. The Fountain Puzzle
- 33. The Puzzle Op The Stars
- 34. The Counter Puzzle
- 35. The Japan Square Puzzle
- 36. The Cabinet Maker's Puzzle
- 37. The String And Balls Puzzle
- 38. The Double-Headed Puzzle
- 39. Arithmetical Puzzle
- 40. Grammatical Puzzle
- 41. The Tree Puzzle
- 42. An Epitaph On Ellinor Bachellor, An Old Pye Woman
- 43. A Curious Letter
- 44. A Puzzling Inscription
- 45. The Puzzling Rings
- 46. Moving The Knight Over All The Squares Alternately
- Another Method
- Another Method
- 47. Rosamond's Bower
- 48. A Maze Or Labyrinth
- 49. The Chinese Puzzle
- 50. Trouble-Wit
- Answers To Practical Puzzles
- 1. The Chinese Cross Answer
- 2. Answer To The "Parallelogram"
- 3. The Divided Garden Answer
- 4. Answer To The Endless String
- 5. Answer To The Chinese Maze
- 6. Answer To Vertical Line Puzzle
- 7. The Three Rabbits, Answer
- 8. The Accommodating Square
- 9. Answer To The Circle Puzzle
- 10. Answer, To The Cut Card Puzzle
- 11. Answer To The Button Puzzle
- 12. Answer To The Quarto Puzzle
- 13. Answer To The Puzzle Of Fourteen
- 14. Answer To The Square And Circle Puzzle
- 15. The Scale And Ring Puzzle
- 16. Answer To The Heart Puzzle
- 17. Answer To The Cross Puzzle
- 18. Answer To The Yankee Square
- 19. Answer To The Card Puzzle
- 20. Answer To The Three Square Puzzle
- 21. Answer To The Cylinder Puzzle
- 22. Answer To The Four Tenants
- 24. Answer To The Nun's Puzzle
- 25. Horse Shoe Puzzle
- 26. Answer To Card Square Puzzle
- 27. The Dogs Puzzle Answered See Dotted Lines
- 28. Puzzle Op The Two Fathers
- 29. The Triangle Puzzle
- 30. Answer To Cutting Out A Cross Puzzle
- 31. Answer To Another Cross Puzzle
- 32. Answer To The Fountain Puzzle
- 33. Answer To The Star Puzzle
- 34. The Counter Puzzle Answer
- 35. Answer To The Japan Square
- 38. Answer To The Cabinet Makers' Puzzle
- 37. Answer To The String And Balls Puzzle
- 38. Answer To The Double-Headed Puzzle
- 39. Arithmetical Puzzle
- 40. Grammatical Puzzle
- 41. Answer To The Tree Puzzle
- 42. Answer To An Epitaph On Ellinor Bachellor, An Old Pie Woman
- 43. Answer To A Curious Letter
- 44. Answer To The Puzzle Inscription
- The Magic Of Art
- Secret Writing
- The Circular Cypher
- Secret Correspondence By Music
- The Magic Of Strength
- Miscellaneous Curious Tricks And Fancies
- An Artificial Memory
- The Magician's Mirror
- The Perspective Mirror
- The Magical Gyroscope
- The Artificial Landscape
- Easy And Curious Methods Of Foretelling Rainy Or Fine Weather
- The Magical Measure
- The Boundless Prospect
- The Hour Of The Day Or Night Told By A Suspended Shilling
- Contrivance For A Watch Lamp, Perfectly Safe, Which Will Show The Hour Of The Night, Without Any Trouble, To A Person Lying In Bed
- The Enchanted Palace
- To Know Which Of Two Different Waters Is The Lightest Without Any Scales
- To Know If A Suspicious Piece Of Money Is Good Or Bad
- Pyramid Of Alum
- The Dancing Automaton
- To Melt A Piece Of Money In A Walnut Shell. Without Injuring The Shell
- The Invisible Springs
- The Flight Of The Ring
- Musical Figures Resulting From Sound
- To Make A Card Jump Out Of The Pack
- The Tell-Tale Cards
- The Double Dozen
- The Housebreakers
- The Magic Book
- The Tape Trick
- More Than Full
- Floating Needles
- The Knotted Thread
- The Bacchus Experiment
- Curious Method Of Measuring The Height Of A Tree
- The Transposable Pieces
1862 Edition, 362 pages; PDF 333 pages.
word count: 116882 which is equivalent to 467 standard pages of text