This work reveals a mix of card tricks and other small magic effects, science tricks, and in particular chemical stunts and experiments. It also covers the making of fireworks in some depth including how to make an artificial volcano.
Interesting was that even in 1850 it was clear that experimenting with mercury (quicksilver) was risky as the following quote from the book shows:
Feats performed through the medium of quicksilver should be executed with the greatest caution, as there is some danger attending them.
(Obviously, nobody should be casually experimenting with mercury. It is toxic and evaporates at room temperature. Since it has no odor you would be poisoning yourself without knowing it.)
- Legerdemain
- To Change Bird-Seed Into A Living Bird
- To Make An Egg Tumble
- A Curious Method Of Restoring A Fly To Life In Two Minutes, That Has Been Dead Twenty-Four Hours
- To Make Water Freeze By The Fireside
- To Take A Bird Out Of A Cage, And To Make It Appear As If It Were Dead, Or To Roll It About As You Please
- To Purify Bad Water
- To Suspend A Quart Pot From The Ceiling, And Cut The String In The Middle, Without The Measure Falling To The Ground
- To Give Eggs A Fine Variegated Appearance
- To Chalk A Ring Round A Person That He Cannot Get Out Of
- The Enchanted Cock
- To Suspend A Ring By A Burnt Thread
- A Conceit To Produce Laughter
- The Travelling Egg
- The Simple Deception
- To Produce A Colour Which Shall Appear And Disappear By The Influence Of The Atmosphere
- To Make An Exploding Bubble
- How To Lift Up A Flint Glass Bottle With A Straw
- To Make A Cone Or Pyramid Move Upon A Table Without Springs Or Any Other Artificial Means
- To Make A Peg That Will Exactly Fit Three Different Kinds Of Holes
- The Mysterious Bottle
- The Magic Spoon
- To Put A Penny-Piece Under A Candlestick, And To Withdraw It Without Lifting It Up
- To Make A Magic Picture
- To Make A Shilling Turn Upon Its Edge On The Point Of A Needle
- The Transposable Pieces
- A Candle Converted Into Carburetted Hydrogen Gas
- To Produce An Electric Spark From A Piece Of Brown Paper
- To Walk Upon A Hot Iron Bar
- To Make An Egg Stand On One End On A Table Or Looking-Glass
- To Place A Lighted Candle Under Water, Without Extinguishing It; Or A Handkerchief, Without Wetting It
- To Tell A Person Where He Has Deposited The Last Of The Three Given Knives
- To Make A Watch Stop And Go At The Word Of Command
- To Tell The Number Thought Of By A Person
- To Tell What Remains After Working A Question In Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, And Division, And You Not Knowing Any Of The Figures But Those Used In The Addition
- To Make A Ball Or Loaf Of Bread Dance Upon A Table
- To Cut And Tear Into Pieces A Handkerchief, And To Make It Whole Again
- How To Take Three Balls Off Two Strings
- Magic Squares
- The Magic Cards
- The Magic Paper Oracle
- Tricks With Cards And Dice
- To Tell Any Card In The Pack
- To Tell A Card Thought Of Blindfold
- To Pick Out All The Court Cards Blindfold
- To Hold Four Knaves Or Four Kings In Your Hand, And To Change Them Suddenly Into Blank Cards, And Then Into Four Aces
- Ups And Downs
- The Turn-Over
- Cards In Couples
- To Call Any Number Of Cards From A Pack
- Three Dice Being Thrown On A Table, To Tell The Number Of Each Of Them, And The Order In Which They Stand
- Any Number Of Dice Being Given, To Determine What Degree Of Probability There Is Of Throwing An Assigned Number Of Points
- Fire Works
- To Make Artificial Fire Balls
- To Make Fire Flash From Water
- To Make Luminous Writing In The Dark
- The Fiery Fountain
- To Cause A Brilliant Explosion Under Water
- To Make A Party Appear Ghastly
- To Cause A Report Like A Gun With A Pipe
- To Make Detonating Balls, &c
- To Make Crackers
- To Make Waterloo Crackers
- To Make Squibs And Serpents
- To Make Sky Rockets
- To Make Red Fire
- To Make Green Fire
- To Make A Blue Candle
- To Make An Artificial Volcano
- How To Eat Fire, And To Blow It Up In Your Mouth
1st edition 1850, 24 pages; PDF 24 pages.
word count: 9167 which is equivalent to 36 standard pages of text
