MAGIC. 45 



magic lamp of Aladdin and his like, and may evolve and 

 lose its identity in the stone of the alchemist, the love 

 philtre, and the elixir of life. 



But, with the introduction of evil spirits and all these 

 mystical forms of words and signs, even of the Devil himself, 

 we pass into a dark and awe-inspiring atmosphere of super- 

 natural terrors, far removed from the simple idea of giving 

 Nature a pattern and she will follow it. 



It is this confused vision of mysticism and terror that 

 the word " magic " usually calls up, a vision that is apt to 

 obscure the simple conception of Nature as a mimic, which 

 I have so repeatedly insisted is the only " original and 

 genuine " kind of magic, and to which I shall now return. 



The golden rule for magic is : Imitate the result you want, 

 and Nature will very likely follow your lead. 



I have already mentioned the instance of seafaring people 

 whistling for the wind ; I will now give a few others. When 

 at meals knives become accidentally crossed, do not most 

 of us uncross them hastily lest knives should be crossed 

 in anger before the day is out ? This is not likely to happen 

 at the present day, but when everyone met for meals in the 

 common hall, when drink ran free, and when people ate with 

 knives meant for other purposes as well, our ancestors were 

 probably all too familiar with dangerous incidents of this 

 kind, and we perpetuate the habit of uncrossing knives 

 without remembering the reason. 



When we make a stroke at billiards and our ball rolls 

 slowly and more slowly towards the red, it sometimes dawns 

 on us that it is going to miss it by a fraction of an inch. 

 Which of us, under these harassing circumstances, does not 

 twist his body into an agonizing contortion, trying to drag 

 his ball towards the one he aimed at ? It is not always 

 successful, but it seems to me to be a perfectly straight- 

 forward attempt at magic by imitating the swerve we wish 

 the ball to take. Those who do not play billiards have 

 probably observed a similar act on the croquet lawn or the 

 putting green. I will give another instance. 



