46 MAGIC. 



When we have put our shilling on the favourite and we see 

 to our horror that a rank outsider has his nose in front, do 

 not some of us try to run alongside waving our hats towards 

 the winning post as though to sweep our horse along ? 

 That this is magic and not a meaningless expression of excite- 

 ment is shown by the fact that no one who valued his shilling 

 would wave his hat in the opposite direction. In village 

 sports, when the local champion is making the high jump 

 which will win or lose the event, his supporters will invariably 

 lift one leg to help him over, and if one watches a tug-of-war 

 the spectators sometimes seem to be working harder than 

 the pullers in trying to sway them. 



When a singer has difficulty in reaching his top note do 

 we not feel, when the song is done, that our vocal cords ache 

 from the silent attempt to help him ? When we watch a 

 daring act on a high trapeze do we not clench our fingers to 

 our palms ? Mark Twain has told us that he crushed a piece 

 off the parapet of a cathedral when he thought a monkey 

 he was watching was going to miss his foothold. 



When we see a horse slithering on a frozen road do we not 

 lean back to hold him up ? When we balance a stick on end , 

 or build an unsteady house of cards, do we not stand back 

 with our feet apart and arms outstretched, steadying our 

 own balance ? We are imitating the perfect balance which 

 we hope for in our house of cards, and this is magic, though 

 why most of us stand with our mouths open I do not know. 

 Do we not sometimes tap the barometer to try and make it 

 jump up when we want the rain to stop ? The " magic " 

 idea may be a factor here, and I am not sure that it does not 

 underly the practice of faith curing, where it is urged that if 

 one behaves as if there was nothing the matter that dssirable 

 state of affairs will come to pass. 



Do we not sometimes omit to water our gardens because 

 if we do it is sure to rain ? The savage would argue " If I 

 pour water out of a watering pot Nature will pour water out 

 of the sky," but with us who are more civilized it may not 

 be magic, it may sometimes be laziness. 



