558 PSYCHOLOGY OF PRESTIDIGITATION. 



was going on behind a screen, and on being called upon the platform 

 he raised the screen, and iiiiniediately great excitement was evinced 

 on the part of the artist and his assistants; a hand-to-hand combat 

 ensued, and it ended in a law suit. The audacious offender was made 

 to pay heavy damages for having exceeded the rights the magician 

 had granted him. One may judge by this example how difficult it 

 would be to make scientific observations at a public representation. 

 Notwithstanding the difficulties of control, the i)ublic is the dui)e of 

 the illusions presented to him only in a certain degree, as he considers 

 the fact that he is attending a seance of prestidigitation; if it is 

 impossible for him to understand the secret of a trick, this would not 

 be a reason for him to believe that the laws of nature had been over- 

 thrown. Should a nutmeg appear suddenly as if it sprang from the 

 artist's linger ends, witliout the spectator being able to understand 

 how it was done, he would not from this believe it possible for nut- 

 megs to spring" from one's finger ends. The illusion exists, we may say, 

 only for the sense of sight ; our reason contradicts it. 



II. 



In seeking to analyze the different processes by which the illusion is 

 i:»roduced in these feats of sleight of hand, and the si)ectator prevented 

 from discovering the truth, we find it most difficult to give clear and 

 satisfactory definitions, as there exists not only one process, but many, 

 and they are of a very complicated nature. The illusion of each trick 

 is not merely the result of one single cause, but of many, so insignifi- 

 cant that to perceive them would be quite as difficult as to count with 

 the naked eye the grains of sand on the seashore. I will not enter too 

 much into detail, but will confine myself to exposing the principal arti- 

 fices resorted to by the prestidigitator. The illusions of the senses 

 which we will study may be divided into two principal groups, positive 

 and negative. Modern researches in hypnotism have familiarized us 

 with the term and with the phenomena they indicate. We know that 

 the positive illusions with which we will begin our description consist 

 in seeing that which does not exist; they give rise to appearances with- 

 out reality. Persons in a hypnotic state have these illusions; they are 

 one of the very first steps of this artificial condition of the mind. 



A person hypnotized can be commanded to see anything by the per- 

 son who hypnotizes him. For instance, he says: " Here is a bird!" in 

 a persuasive or commanding tone of voice. Immediately the subject 

 imagines a bird is in the room; he sees it, he touches it, he hears it 

 sing, catches hold of it with awkward but expressive gestures, and goes 

 through other like performances caused by the suggestion of a bird- 

 We cite this example of hypnotic illusion because there is a resemblance 

 between it and the illusions of the prestidigitator by the important fact 

 of its being the result of the influence of one mind over another. But 



