52 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
Miss Heller's Second Sight. 
THE feats of an expert prestidigitateur 
have a charm for all ages. The young 
enjoy them in wonder and amazement; to 
those of riper years the methods by which 
the various feats are performed constitute a 
most interesting study; and the old enjoy 
them because they are made to feel young 
again. No wonder, therefore, that the exhi- 
bitions of first-class performers, like Heller, 
are crowded every night with a delighted 
audience. 
The so-called magician has in all ages 
employed extensively the resources of 
natural science, and to-day the seance of any 
one who is more than a mere juggler, is a 
veritable exhibition of scientific wonders. 
Science alone, however, will not enable any 
one to become an expert, any more than a 
mere knowledge of the laws of electricity 
will enable one to become a good telegraph 
operator. All Heller's apparatus and all 
his knowledge might be placed at the dis- 
posal of his audience, and out of that crowd 
there is probably not one that would make 
even a tolerable performer. Great natural 
skill and long training have given Heller an 
ease of manipulation and a certainty of 
success which never fails to astonish, and 
when to this we add the attractions of geni- 
ality and honhomie, it is no wonder that 
people crowd night after night to hear him. 
Mr. Heller makes great use of electricity 
and electro-magnetism, and most of his 
feats are ingeniously conceived and very 
deftly performed. His windmill and miller 
are admirable pieces of mechanism, though 
we must acknowledge that this mechanism 
is almost too apparent. His pistol feat is 
good, but old; we have seen a much better 
and more astonishing method of perform- 
ing the same trick. The transfer of the 
handkerchief to the heart of an orange 
which has developed on a tree in full sight 
of the audience is also very pretty, though 
perhaps a little too obvious. 
To describe these and other wonders 
would, however, occupy too much time, and 
therefore we proceed at once to a consider- 
ation of the famous second sight, which 
has been for weeks the acknowledged at- 
traction of his exhibitions. Now that Mr. 
Heller has withdrawn this feature from his 
performances, we will endeavor to explain 
how it might be done. There are several 
ways by which the same result might be 
attained; we will merely give that which 
seems to us best adapted to the end in view, 
and although it may not be the precise 
means used by Mr. Heller, it is certain that 
it is competent to perform all the wonders 
of the so-called second sight. Second sight, 
as exhibited by Miss Heller, has been fre- 
quently described in the papers. We will 
therefore give merely such a brief descrip- 
tion as is necessary to an understanding of 
our explanation. 
Miss Heller appears on the stage, and, 
after being blindfolded, seats herself on a 
lounge or sofa. Mr. Heller then walks 
amongst the audience, pointing to various 
articles, or touching them, and the lady at 
once, on the question being asked, not only 
tells what they are, but describes them. 
Thus, in the case of a fan, she not only tells 
us what the article is, but she further tells 
us that it is black, and that it has a tassel. 
A stick is described not only as a cane, but 
as brown and with a white top. Still more 
wonderful, one gentleman produces a watch, 
and she not only tells what it is, and what 
it is made of, but reads the time, details the 
figures engraved on the case, and even reads 
the motto— Sine Timob. Another gentle- 
man produces a shinplaster, as it is called — 
one of those issued in an inland city — Roch- 
ester, N. Y. — in the early days of the late war. 
She gives the number, the value, the loca- 
tion, every required particular; and with 
peculiarly feminine naivete she simulates an 
ignorance of the precise character of the 
articles, and of those features concerning 
which ladies are not supposed to be in gen- 
eral thoroughly informed. The little paper 
token she calls a thing like a bill, and arti- 
cles of masculine property are described in 
the same vague way — all of which adds to 
the charm of the performance. 
Several ways have been devised for car- 
