class="center blankabove">CHAPTER I.
Mysterious Disappearances. |
“Vanity Fair”—“After the Flood”—“The Magic Palanquin”—“Cassadaga Propaganda”—“The Appearing Lady”—“The Disappearing Lady”—“The Mysterious Trunk”—“The Indian Basket Trick”—“Decapitation”—“Spiritualistic Ties,” |
27 |
CHAPTER II. |
Optical Tricks. |
The “Cabaret du Neant”—The Three-Headed Woman—“Amphitrite”—“The Mystery of Dr. Lynn”—“Black Art”—The Talking Head—The Living Half-Woman—“She”—“The Queen of Flowers”—The “Decapitated Princess”—“Stella”—Houdin’s Magic Cabinet—A Mystic Maze—Platinized Glass—Statue giving a Double Image, |
55 |
CHAPTER III. |
Miscellaneous Stage Tricks. |
“Trilby”—The “Haunted Swing”—The “Scurimobile”—The Neoöccultism—“The Mask of Balsamo”—The Invisible Woman—Magic Harps, |
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CHAPTER IV. |
Conjuring Tricks. |
Trick with an Egg and a Handkerchief—The Cone of Flowers—The Magic Rosebush—“Magic Flowers”—The “Birth of Flowers”—Tricks with a Hat—A Cake Baked in a Hat—The Egg and Hat Trick—Multiplication of Coins—Magic Coins—The Dissolving Coin—The Spirit Slates—Second Sight—Magic Cabinets—The Traveling Bottle and Glass—Disappearance of an Apple and a Ninepin—A Goblet of Ink Converted into an Aquarium—The Invisible Journey of a Glass of Wine—The Wine Changed to Water—The Animated Mouse—The Sand Frame Trick—Houdin’s Magic Ball, |
105 |
CHAPTER V. |
Jugglers and Acrobatic Performances. |
Jugglers—The Leamy Revolving Trapeze—Walking on the Ceiling Head Down—The Mysterious Ball, |
139 |
CHAPTER VI. |
Fire Eaters and Sword Tricks. |
Fire Eaters, Tricks with Fire—A Stab through the Abdomen—The Human Target—Sword Swallowers—Sword Walker—Dancers on Glass, |
149 |
CHAPTER VII. |
Ventriloquism and Animated Puppets, |
164 |
CHAPTER VIII. |
Shadowgraphy. |
Shadowgraphy—French Shadows, |
173 |
CHAPTER IX. |
Mental Magic. |
Robert Heller—Second Sight—The Baldwins and Second Sight—Silent Thought Transference, |
184 |
BOOK II. |
ANCIENT MAGIC. |
CHAPTER I. |
Temple Tricks of the Greeks. |
Puppet Shows among the Greeks—The Shrine of Bacchus—The First Automobile Vehicle—The Statue of Cybele—Marvelous Altars—The Machinery of the Temples—Sounding of Trumpets when a Door was Opened—Opening and Closing Doors when a Fire was Lighted on the Altar—Invention in 1889 A.D. vs. Invention B.C.—An Egyptian Lustral Water Vessel, |
203 |
CHAPTER II. |
Miraculous Vessels of the Greeks. |
The Dicaiometer—Miraculous Vessels—Magical Pitchers—Apparatus for Permitting the Mixing of Wine and Water in Definite Proportions—The Magical Bottle—Ancient Organs, |
221 |
CHAPTER III. |
The Origin of the Steam Engine. |
The Eolipile of Heron—Heron’s Marvelous Altar—Heron’s Tubular Boiler, |
234 |
CHAPTER IV. |
Greek Lamps, Toys, etc. |
Perpetual Lamps—An Ancient Automaton—A Greek Toy—The Decapitated Drinking Horse—Odometers, |
239 |
BOOK III. |
SCIENCE IN THE THEATER. |
CHAPTER I. |
Behind the Scenes of an Opera House—The Ordinary Stage—The English
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