TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

THE MYSTERIES OF MODERN MAGIC.

PAGE

Ancient Magic—Division of Magic—Cagliostro—Robertson—Comte de Grisi—Robert-Houdin—Carl Herrmann—Signor Blitz—Robert Heller—Alexander Herrmann—Bautier de Kolta—Harry Kellar, 1

BOOK I.

CONJURERS’ TRICKS AND STAGE ILLUSIONS.

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, 89

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 Stage—The Stage Floor—The Cellars—The Flies—The Gridiron—Traps-Sliders—Bridges—The Metropolitan Opera House Stage—Wing Posts—Curtain Calls—The Electric Lighting—Paint Bridge—The Property Man—Striking a Scene—The Dressing-Rooms—The Production of a New Opera, 251

CHAPTER II.

Some Remarkable Stages, Ancient and Modern.

An Electric Curtain—The Fan-Drop Curtain—An Elevator Theater Stage—Some Remarkable American Stage Inventions—A Revolving Stage—The “Asphaleia” Stage—A Theater with Two Auditoriums—Curio’s Pivoted Theater—The Olympian Theater of Palladio at Vicenza, 268

CHAPTER III.

Stage Effects.

Scene Painting—Sunrise Effect—Sun Effect—Change from Day to Night—Stars—Moon Effects—Rainbow Effect—Wind Effect—Thunder Effect—Lightning—Snow Effect—Wave Effect—Crash Effect—Rain Effect—Gradual Transformation—Fire and Smoke Effect—Battle Scenes—Theatrical Firearms—The Imitation of Odors, 293

CHAPTER IV.

Theater Secrets.

Traps—The Swan in “Lohengrin”—The Floating Rhine Daughters in “Rheingold”—The “Sun Robe”—The Ship on the Stage—Miscellaneous Stage Effects—The Destruction of the Temple of Dagon—The Horse Race on the Stage—The Effects in “Siegfried”—Siegfried’s Forge—Siegfried’s Anvil—The Dragon Fafner—Wotan’s Spear—The Bed of Tulips and the Electric Firefly—The Electric Torch and Electric Jewels—An Electrical Duel—The Skirt Dance, 311

CHAPTER V.

The Nautical Arena, 345

CHAPTER VI.

A Trip to the Moon, 348

CHAPTER VII.

Cycloramas.

The Electric Cyclorama—The Painted Cyclorama, 354

CHAPTER VIII.

Fireworks With Dramatic Accessories, 362

BOOK IV.

AUTOMATA AND CURIOUS TOYS.

CHAPTER I.

Automata.

Automaton Chess Players—The Automaton Chess Player—A Curious Automaton—The Toy Artist—A Steam Man, 367

CHAPTER II.

Curious Toys.

An Optical Illusion—The Money Maker—Experiments in Centrifugal Force and Gravity—The Magic Rose—Electrical Toys—The Electric Race Course—Magnetic Oracle—The Dancers—An Ancient Counterpart of a Modern Toy—Unbalanced Toy Acrobats—Columbus’s Egg—Jacob’s Ladder—The Mikado—A Toy Cart—The Phonographic Doll, 380

CHAPTER III.

Miscellaneous Tricks of an Amusing Nature.

Interesting Tricks in Elasticity—Novel Puzzle—Simple Match Trick—Crystallized Ornaments—Magical Apparition on White Paper—Magic Portraits—A Trick Opera Glass—A Toy Bird that Flies—The Planchette Table—Japanese Magic Mirrors—Magic Mirrors, 406

BOOK V.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DIVERSIONS.

CHAPTER I.

Trick Photography.

Lavater’s Apparatus for Taking Silhouettes—Photography upon a Black Ground—Spirit Photography—Artificial Mirage—Duplex Photography—Illusive Photography—Photographing a Catastrophe—New Type of Photographic Portrait—Photographing a Human Head upon a Table—Photographing a Head on a Platter—A Multiple Portrait—Multiphotography—Pinhole Camera—A Photographic Necktie—Magic Photographs—Electro-Photo Detective Thief Catcher—Composite Photography, 423

CHAPTER II.

Chronophotography.

Chronophotography—The Registration and Analysis of the Movements of Men, Animals, Birds, Fishes, Insects, etc.—Amateur Chronophotographic Apparatus, 462

CHAPTER III.

The Projection of Moving Pictures.

The Edison Kinetograph—Reynaud’s Optical Theater—Electric Tachyscope—Apparatus for Projecting Moving Pictures by the Demeny, Jenkins, Lumière, and Other Forms of Apparatus—The Kinetoscope Stereopticon—The Mutoscope and the Mutograph, with Illustrations of Moving Objects—“Cinematograph” Camera—Camera for Ribbon Photography—The Micromotoscope, 488

APPENDIX.

ADDITIONAL TRICKS.

The Magic Table—“Gone”—The Spider and the Fly—The Trunk Trick—“La Strobeika Persane”—“Metempsychosis,” 519

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS ON NATURAL MAGIC, 539

INDEX, 553

MAGIC: STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DIVERSIONS, INCLUDING TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY.