568 PSYCHOLOGY OF PRESTIDIGITATION. 



of time, bide his bauds or tbe objects be bolds, witbout our iu)ticiug 

 tbe iuterruptiou iu tbe course of our perceptiou, aud it is duriug- tbese 

 iuterru])tious tbat tbe decisive act is executed. 



Let us suppose, for example, that tbe prestidigitator in a certaiu 

 trick wishes to substitute one card for another, wliicb is called "tiler la 

 carte." To couceal this operation be proceeds as follows: Ue stands 

 not behind tbe table, but in front of it, between tbe audience and the 

 table, which of course necessitates his turning a little when bo phices 

 the card upon the table. This slight cbange of position conceals his 

 hand and enables him to change tbe cards. There are many secret 

 movements made by tbe i^restidigitator on returning to the stage after 

 having been among the audience. His back being turned, it is very 

 easy for bun to substitute other objects for those confided to him. 

 Often, also, the artist arranges matters so that at a certain part of the 

 trick it become necessary for him to go to the other end of the hall in 

 order to procure an important object, and during this time tbe substi- 

 tution is made; sometimes, also, to give himself more time, be pretends 

 to be eagerly looking for something which he has not in reality let fall. 

 Tbere is a trick during which i)reteiided search a watch is wrapped iu 

 paper and placed m a double-bottomed box. Better still, the substi- 

 tution can be made by confiding the object to an aid and then asking 

 him for it again. For instance, it is a live bird with which we have 

 just concluded a trick; we give it over to the "servant,"' telling him to 

 replace it in its cage, and then, as if on second thought, we say, "No; 

 baud me the bird; I wish to use it in a new trick." The aid, who 

 has bad his back turned for one moment, and, moreover, whose move- 

 ments no one thought of watching, has made the exchange. A live bird 

 was given to him; he gives in its i)lace a dead one, and afterwards the 

 spectators will be astonished to perceive the substitution, inasmuch as 

 they fully believed tbat tbe bird bad not been out of their sight. 

 Another example of substitution similar to the preceding one: An 

 object has been borrowed by tbe magician, which he Avrajis up under 

 the spectators' eyes, and he wishes to replace it by a similar object — 

 tbat is to say, similar only in appearance, as it is one of his "trick" 

 objects which he has secretly placed in the crown of a hat. The pres- 

 tidigitator says simply: "I place the object in this hat; or, rather, I 

 will confide it to this person." In saying the first words he rapidly 

 introduces the little object into the hat and takes out the one already 

 there. He does the act in a careless, negligent way, even avoiding 

 casting his eyes into the hat, and tbe consequence is that when he 

 changes his mind the spectators are not aware of the secret action. 



In many tricks it is convenient to hide the hand at times behind a 

 screen or some other object. Should we wish to relieve ourselves of a 

 handkerchief, for instance, which we have in our hand, we draw near 

 an armchair and let tbe handkerchief fall behind it, Mithout the audi- 

 ence knowing that the chair has for a moment hidden the x)restidigi- 



