The New York herald., 1878-12-15
THE LECTURE SEASON.

PROFESSOR ROBERT c. SPICE ON ''MAGIc, AM
GENT AND MODERN"
lecture Magic. Ancient and Modern was
delivered at the Polytechnic Institute. Livingston
street Brooklyn. last evening, by Robert G. spce
Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy at
the Brooklyn Central Grammar School. Professor
Foster of the institute in introducing the lecturer
said that the lecture of series to be given
under the auspices of the Union for Christian Work.
for instruction and entertainment. at moderate
price Professor Spice after announcing the title of
his lecture said that by the term ancient he did
not intend taking his audience back far the
Pyramids, but only to the time when conjurers
and magcians high hats and long gowns and by
modern" to the present time. when they performed
in evening dress He proposed he said, to describe
some of the methods by which the magcians of olden
times deceived people. Owing to their peculiar style
of they had better facilities for concealing things
about their person After describing to his audience
the meaning of the word illusion the Professor bor
rowed handkerchief and pretended to burn hole
through its centre after which he presented back to
its good as it was before. He then
explained the simple manner in which he performed
the trick, and said 1t was which belonged to the
old school. Another was that of changing one ma
eral into another. This he illustrated by changing
what appeared to be ink into water One OF the
tricks of modern conjuring was that OF borrowing
coins and placing them in mysterious way within
balls Of yarn and other articles. There were also
tricks Of skill, of which was the rope trick per-
formed by the late Robert Heller. This Professor
Spice illustrated. There other tricks which re-
quired especial apparatus. One Of the lat
ter was "The Illusion of the Indian Ball" After
performing this trick Professor Spice entertained
his audience with several airs on the sconcertifis
which musical instrument he played with greet
deal of skill The tricks which comprised the sec.
ond part Of the programme ne did not explain.
Among these the inexhaustible hat: trick, the
making of certain playing cards arise in tuinber 1t
the word OF command, the making OF an omelet
turned into two beautiful bouquets with ring
ened to each and several other tricks Of very inter,
esting character.
WILLIAM /. MARSHALL ON THE AGE OF GOLD"
Mr.. William I. Marshall. Of Ftchburg, Mass. lee.
tured IN the Cooper Union. his subject being "The
Age Of Gold; or. Gold Mines and Gold Mining in the
Nineteenth Century" Gold. he said, is one Of tha
most widely difused substances contained in the
earth. There two classes Of gold 'mines-the
quartz and the placer The opinion Of the theoret-
cal Geological Of very little value to the gold seeker
The practical miner and the mining engineer are
the only two classes who can be relied on
az guides-the only ones who are worth consulting.
The products Of the mines have been grossly exag-
gerated and the people Of the East mised to their
marvellous character To the question. How do we
account for the appearance Of gold the seems
to that is the result Of volcanic changes which
we cannot account for. and the deposits generally
to found in volcanic regions and mountainous
tries. Hence it is impossible to gauge with any de-
gree of accuracy the extent Of any vein or "fnd,'
or how rich or how poor 1t may eventually prove.
This explains the failure Of many huge enterprises
BASED on sanguine and utterly falacions predictions
of the projectors and of the
Bonanzas not frequently met with ~ many
suppose. Gold is one OF the substances which is al
most always found in nature in pure state-thst is
not chemically combined with other substances. It
is generally found in conjunction with quartz or
when freed by the action of nature in the bed OF
streams or gules ut the foot OF mountain ranges
All the gold in possession OF mankind-some
$4,000 100000 in com. bullion and jewelry-R
freed from alloy would not I'LL the hall
of the Cooper Union. Water is the great
agency for the production Of gold. The
greatest discoveries made by "prospcctors,' q
class Of men of special training or education.
mostly guided by chance, and worthless for any
other purpose than prospecting. They sometimes
work their finds" but generally sell them. One
cent PAN said the lecturer, is large yield. though
1t seems small and insignificant. Gold in the pan
seems very much larger than when weighed In the
scales. The implements used by the miner were ex-
hibted and their explained by the lecturer. Tho
pan, cradle and other implements were displayed
and operated in full view of the audience. They
excited much curiosity and carried the spectators in
imagination to the very borders OF the Pacific. The
operations carried in the larger mines were Illus
by stereoptcon views. and the colossal enter
prises OF the kings of the Pacific slope de-
Dicfad in brilliant colOrs