fy who have seen the wonderful productions by
Messrs. Maskelyn and Cooke, Devant, and their many followers. The
gradual disappearance of a lady in evening dress, visibly, and in mid
stage growing smaller and smaller until she is small enough to be put
into a paper bag, which is rolled into a ball and thrown away, is an
illusion that no Oriental will ever attempt to compete with. Such
illusions can be seen at any time of the year at the Palace Theatre
and other halls in London, in Paris and even Bombay.

There may be many who will readily disagree with my disparagement of
the Indian Jadoo-wallah. I admit that Magic may have come originally
from the East. The Egyptians for instance, had wonderful illusions
that were freely used by their priests in the temples mainly for the
extortion of money or valuables from their gullible disciples. These
illusions were merely mechanical devices such as the mysterious
opening and shutting of doors on the sound of a certain word like
"Abracadabra." These devices can be duplicated by our skilful
mechanics, but would not be worth very much these enlightened days as
a lucrative investment.

It may also be said that the comparison to the detriment of the Indian
is not a fair one as he has no stage upon which to perform, whereas
the European gives his show usually in a roped off portion of the
drawing room, or on the stage of a concert hall. The reason of this is
that the European cannot as a rule collect his audience in the open.
When he does get an outdoor assembly he is just as much an adept as he
is indoors. Many of my readers may have regrettably to agree with me,
especially those who have met our "three card trick" friend, or the
perfectly good gentleman with the thimbles and the pea, at Ascot.

CHAPTER II

When the Jadoo-wallah has sat himself down with his bag and baskets in
their correct places he usually proceeds to show the following
tricks:--

The cups and balls.

The bamboo sticks.

The ring on the stick.

The ball in the glass box.

The bunder-boat.

The bowl of rice.

The coloured sands.

The rope trick.

The egg bag.

The swastika.

The dancing duck.

The mango tree.

The basket trick.

I will attempt to describe each trick for the benefit of those who
have not actually seen them performed, and will then attempt to give a
lucid explanation of how these tricks are done.

THE CUP AND BALLS

The performer has three cups of wood, som