Amusing experiments, transmutations, sleights and subtleties, legerdemain, etc. For the instruction and amusement of the youth. Fifth edition, enlarged with the addition of some of the most noted tricks of modern professors.
Preface to the 5th edition:
In preparing for publication a New Edition of this popular Manual, the whole has been thoroughly revised, and, where needful, re-written, by a gentleman holding a distinguished position as a lecturer on popular science at one of the public institutions of the metropolis. He has also contributed descriptions of some of the newest and most striking feats of the most eminent professors of familiar necromancy-among which it may be needful merely to name the “Cash-Box” and “Bottle” tricks, by which Messrs. Houdin and Robin, in past seasons, surprised and delighted the sight-seers of London.
Table of Contents
- Preface To The Fifth Edition
- Transmutations
- The Spectral Lamp
- Curious Change Of Colours
- The Protean Light
- The Chameleon Flowers
- To Change The Colours Of Flowers
- Changes Of The Poppy
- To Change The Colour Of A Rose
- Light Changing White Into Black
- The Visibly Growing Acorn
- Changes In Sap Green
- 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
- Splendid Sublimation
- Magic Inks
- Chameleon Liquids
- The Magic Dyes
- Wine Changed Into Water
- Two Colourless Transparent Liquids Become Black And Opaque
- Two Colourless Fluids Make A Coloured One
- Change Of Colour By Colourless Fluids
- To Change A Blue Liquid To White
- Veritable “Black” Tea
- Restoration Of Colour By Water
- Two Solids Make A Liquid
- A Solid Opaque Mass Made A Transparent Liquid
- Two Cold Liquids Make A Hot One
- Quintuple Transmutation
- The Same Agent May Produce And Destroy Colour
- Union Of Two Metals Without Heat
- Magic Breath
- Two Bitters Make A Sweet
- Visible And Invisible
- Sight And Sound
- Artificial Mirage
- Two Objects Seen As One
- Optical Illusion
- Pin-Hole Focus
- Optical Deceptions
- Accuracy Of Sight
- Hand-Writing Upon The Wall
- Imitative Haloes
- To Read A Coin In The Dark
- To Make A Prism
- Combination Of Colours
- The Magic Lantern, Or Phantasmagoria
- Dissolving Views
- Optical Augmentation
- Gold Fish In A Glass Globe
- Colours Produced By The Unequal Action Of Light Upon The Eyes
- Coloured Shadows
- Ocular Spectra
- Beautiful Colours Of Mother-Of-Pearl
- White Letters Seen Further Than Black
- The Magic Mirror
- Artificial Rainbow
- Fringe About A Candle
- The Double-Coloured Reflexion
- Luminous Cross
- Simple Substitute For An Opera-Glass
- Multiplying Theatres
- Apparatus For Writing In The Dark
- An Optical Delusion, Called Jumping Up To The Ceiling
- Portable Microscope
- Simple Microscopes
- The Phenakistiscope, Or Stroboscope
- To Look At The Sun Without Injury
- Brilliant Water-Mirror
- Optical Illusion Under Water
- The Magic Wheels
- An Optical Delusion, Called The Dance Of The Witches
- Chinese Shadows (Ombres Chinoises)
- The Stereoscope
- Sound Cannot Be Obtained Without Air
- Acoustic Rainbow
- Transmission Of Sound
- Progress Of Sound
- Sound Turning Corners
- To Tell The Distance Of Thunder
- Hearing By The Touch
- Conversation For The Deaf
- Glass Broken By The Voice
- Figures Produced By Sound
- Transmitted Vibration
- Double Vibration
- Champagne And Sound
- Music From Palisades
- Theory Of The Jew’s Harp
- Music Of The Snail
- To Tune A Guitar Without The Assistance Of The Ear
- Music From Glass Or Metal Rods
- The Tuning-Fork A Flute Player
- Musical Bottles
- Theory Of Whispering
- Theory Of The Voice
- Sound Along A Wall
- Sounds More Audible By Night Than By Day
- Musical Echo
- Light And Heat
- Flashes Of Light Upon Revolving Wheels
- Decomposition Of Light
- Theatrical Incantations
- To Imitate The Light Of The Sea
- Instantaneous Lights
- An Intense Fire Will Not, Apparently, Ignite Paper
- To Colour The Flame Of A Candle
- To Divide The Flame Of A Candle
- The Structure Of Flame
- Cane-Wick Lamp
- Camphor And Platinum Lamp
- Platinum And Ether Lamp
- Floating Light
- Substitute For A Wax Taper
- Phosphorescent Fish
- The Luminous Spectre
- Light, A Painter
- Effect Of Light Upon Crystallization
- Effect Of Light On Plants
- Instantaneous Light Upon Ice
- White Light From Zinc
- Brilliant Light From Two Metals
- Brilliant Light From Steel
- Sparks From Tin
- Light From Sugar
- Light From The Potato
- Light From Derbyshire Spar
- Light From Oyster-Shells
- To Strike Light With Cane
- Cause Of Transparency
- Transparency Of Gold
- Tint Changed By Thickness
- Shadows Made Darker By Increased Light
- Miniature Thunder And Lightning
- The Burning-Glass
- 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
- Heat And Cold From Flannel
- Ice Melted By Air
- 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 Colours
- Substitute For Fire
- Gas And Steam
- Laughing Gas
- The Luminous Wand
- To Make Carbonic Acid Gas
- Carbonic Acid Gas In Wine Or Beer Vessels
- To Extinguish Flame With Gas
- Effect Of Hydrogen On The Voice
- Magic Taper
- The Gas Candle
- Gas Bubbles
- Gas-Light In The Day-Time
- Miniature Balloons
- Miniature Gas-Lighting
- Musical Gas
- Miniature Will-O’-The-Wisp
- Phosphoric Illumination
- Combustion Of Iron In Oxygen Gas
- Glow-Worm In Oxygen Gas
- Luminous Charcoal
- Brilliant Combustion In Oxygen
- Flame From Cold Metals
- Phosphorus In Chlorine
- Caoutchouc Balloons
- To Increase The Light Of Coal Gas
- Gas From India Rubber
- Ether Gas
- Magic Vapour
- Gas From The Union Of Metals
- Invisible Gases Made Visible
- Light Under Water
- Gaseous Evanescence
- To Collect Gases
- The Deflagrating Spoon
- What Is Steam?
- The Steam-Engine Simplified
- To Boil Water By Steam
- Distillation In Miniature
- Candle Or Fire Crackers
- Steam From The Kettle
- Fire, Water, And Air
- Coloured Flames
- Yellow Flame
- Orange-Coloured Flame
- Emerald-Green Flame
- Instantaneous Flame
- To Cool Flame By Metal
- Proof That Flame Is Hollow
- 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-Coloured Flame On 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
- Imitative Diving Bell
- The Waterproof Sieve
- More Than Full
- To Cause Wine And Water To Change Places
- Pyramid Of Alum
- Visible Vibration
- Charcoal In Sugar
- Floating Needles
- Water In A Sling
- Attraction In A Glass Of Water
- Instantaneous Freezing
- To Freeze Water With Ether
- Production Of Nitre
- Curious Transposition
- Animal Barometer
- Magic Soap
- Equal Pressure Of Water
- To Empty A Glass Under Water
- To Empty A Glass Of Water Without Touching It
- Decomposition Of Water
- Water Heavier Than Wine
- To Inflate A Bladder Without Air
- Air And Water Balloon
- Heated Air Balloon
- The Pneumatic Tinder-Box
- The Bacchus Experiment
- The Mysterious Circles
- Prince Rupert’s Drops
- Vegetable Hygrometer
- The Pneumatic Dancer
- The Ascending Snake
- The Pneumatic Phial
- Resin Bubbles
- Moisture Of The Atmosphere
- Climates Of A Room
- Bubbles In Champagne
- Proofs That Air Is A Heavy Fluid
- To Support A Pea On Air
- Pyrophorus, Or Air-Tinder
- Beauty Of A Soap-Bubble
- Why A Guinea Falls More Quickly Than A Feather Through The Air
- Solidity Of Air
- Breathing And Smelling
- No. I.—Mechanical Tricks, Including Sleights And Subtleties; Also, Tricks With Cards And Ruses
- To Bore A Hole Through The Nose And Put A Thread In It Like A Needle
- The Magic Cigar-Box
- Cure For Troublesome Spectators
- The Magic Halfpenny
- A Lady’s Handkerchief, Like A “Phoenix Bird” Of Old, Made To Rise Again From Its Ashes
- The Multiplication Trick
- The Inexhaustible Box
- The Ring And The Handkerchief
- The Knotted Handkerchief
- The Invisible Springs
- The Miraculous Apple
- The Self-Balanced Pail
- The Phantom At Command
- The Miraculous Shilling
- The Locomotive Shilling
- The Penetrative Sixpence
- The Vanishing Sixpence
- To Make A Sixpence Balance And Spin On Its Edge, On The Point Of A Needle
- Ruses
- The Wonderful Hat
- To Bring A Person Down Upon A Feather
- The Apparent Impossibility
- An Omelet Cooked In A Hat, Over The Flame Of A Candle
- The Impossible Omelet
- Go If You Can
- The Figure Puzzle
- The Visible Invisible
- The Double Meaning
- Quite Tired Out
- Something Out Of The Common
- To Rub One Sixpence Into Two
- Magic Circle
- Feats With Cards
- The Forced Feat
- The Nerve Feat
- The Turn-Over Feat
- To Tell The Name Of A Card Thought Of
- A Card Thought Of By One Person, To Be Found In A Part Of The Pack Named By Another Person
- To Tell The Names Of The Cards By The Weight
- The Queens Going To Dig For Diamonds
- The Ingenious Confederacy
- The Changeable Cards
- “Hold It Fast”
- Class II.—Chemical Changes
- “Water Apparently Changed To Blood”
- Water Stirred Yellow, Scarlet, And Colourless
- “The Bottle Trick”
- Class III.—Pneumatic Tricks
- The Magic Funnel
- The Mixed Wines Separated
- The Bottle Trick
- Class IV.—Electro-Magnetic Deceptions
- The Coil And Battery
- “The Cash-Box Trick”
- Class V.—Optical Effects
- Class VI.—Acoustic Phenomena, Including Ventriloquism
- Ventriloquism
- Illusions Of Touch
- Illusion Of The Taste
- The General Bleacher
- Influence Of Coloured Glass On Bulbous Roots
- The Spinning-Top “Asleep”
- To Judge Of Weights
- To Dissolve The Soda In Glass
- Waterproof Paper
- To Dissolve Gold Or Platinum
- Colder Than Ice
- Contra-Crystallization
- One And One Do Not Make Two
- To Copy Writing Instantly
- The Rival Dials
- To Spin India Rubber
- Indelible Writing
- Vegetable Anatomy
- To Tell What O’clock It Is By The Moon
- The Physiognotype
- Infinite Divisibility Of Matter
- Holding The Breath
- Sand In The Hour-Glass
- Resistance Of Sand
- Glass Broken By Sand
- To Bleach Ivory
- Vanishing Shells
- The Magic Egg
- The Magic Whirlpool
- Magic Porcelain
- A Galvanic Tongue
- Drinking Porter Out Of Pewter
- Electric Or Galvanic Preservation
- Light From The Diamond
- To Break A Stone With A Blow Of The Fist
- Mimic Frost-Work
- To Melt Lead In A Piece Of Paper
- Metallic Reduction
- Amusements In Electricity, Galvanism, And Magnetism
- The Origin Of Galvanism
- Experiments In Electricity
- Electrotype Apparatus
- Electrical Shock From A Sheet Of Paper
- Light Under Water
- Experiments In Galvanism
- Experiments In Magnetism
- Magnetic Swan
- Magnetic Angling
- The Obedient Watch
- To Show The Effect Of The Magnetical Agency By Means Of A Balance
- To Show That The Power Of Attraction Resides Chiefly At The Poles
- To Show The Repulsion Of The Poles
- To Show The Directive Power Of The Magnet
5th edition 1900, 260 pages; PDF 152 pages.
word count: 62067 which is equivalent to 248 standard pages of text
