The record-union., 1896-09-13
THE MAGIC ART.
Bancroft, the Magician, Writes Enter
tainiDSly.
Secrets Pertaining to the So-Called
Art Of Magic Jealously
Guarded.


art of magic are guarded with jeal-
Gus care rarely suspected by those un-
initiated into the inner circles Of its
mysteries. The tabled dragon OF an
cient mythology which stood sentinel
over the iron box containing the elixir
of life could have been no more faithful
to his trust than are the custodians or
secrets which have coined princely for
tunes for their possessors. During the
earlier years Of my apprenticeship to
the magician's art / collected small
library of books on the subject, written
in many tongues, the oldest original
publication being a French work pub
lished in 1867. although 1 have several
reproductions of works of earlier Eng
lish origin. While engaged at this task
l learned of book containing secrets
of such value that the entire edition.
with the exception of one copy, had been
bought up and destroyed by interested
magicians. 1t is worthy of note that
the fund raised for this purpose in
cluded very liberal contributions from
prominent professional spiritualists,
who feared the effect of the disclosures.
1t was only after years of inquiry that l
discovered the owner Of this priceless
volume, and nothing short of one Of my
most cherished secrets was sufficient to
induce a loan Of the treasured docu-
ment, from which l copied many valu-
able extracts.
1t was some time later that l re-
ceived the first definite intimation of
the existence of an exclusive cult among
magicians. Although few published
books give explanations of illusions of
higher grade than such as are known
to amateurs and second-rate profess
sionals. / was struck by suggestion
contained in an English essay on pc
culiar branch of the art. After re-
peated experiment and months of pa
tient practice l developed the idea into
a practical illusion of a high order.
Feeling indebted to the author Of the
essay referred to, wrote him in care
Of his London publisher, giving a de-
scription Of my invention. His reply
disclosed the fact that his nom de plume
concealed the identity of prominent
English barrister of high literary at
tainments, and being one Of the few per-
sons gifted with that natural aptitude
so essential to the successful magician,
he had penetrated into regions OF mag
ical lore that l had not heretofore sus-
pected. The correspondence having been
satisfactory, / was forthwith initiated
into secrets known only to six other
persons, two of the six being in the
United States, one in England, one in
France, one in Germany and one in In
dia. In return I was pledged to Sc
crecy and obliged to furnish explana-
ticns of a certain number of my own il
lusions.
1t is needless to say that none of the
secrets are of supernatural order In
fact, one of the self-imposed duties of
the profession is the exposure of i'm
posters who profess occult powers. On
the contrary. everything pertaining to
the art rests upon a scientific adapta-
ton and combination of natural laws.
Without infringing upon the possess
sions of the Mystic Seven" as one of
my American friends has facetiously
christened our scattered members
though, SO far as 1 know, the number
is purely accidental may illustrate
by an example the highly scientific
character Of some Of the illusions of
modern magic.
1t has been aScertained that when an
impression Of a given object is con-
NCyCO " Tie DIdIH lQTOuSn the eve. IL
remains active for the average space of
about eight seconds. 1t is also recog-
nized that a moving object conveys
stronger impression than one which is
stationary. Adding to these facts a
principle from hypnotic science, viz:
that the power of suggestion is suffi-
clent to resuscitate a sensation or i'm
preston, some unique and very start
ling experiments have been construct
ed. For these experiments given OBJ
ject is exhibited and put in motion. To
insure strong impression this pre-
liminary is repeated-of course, on a
plausible pretext. The object is then
instantly vanished" by one of the nu-
merous means employed for effecting
instantaneous disappearance, but be-
fore the audience has had time to real
ize or even suspect the disappearance.
they are led by suggestion to expect a
repetition Of the motion; the attention
is now arrested by an object which. for
practical purposes, has ceased to exist.
and with the aid of the resuscitated i'm
preston the eye follows through empty
space the motion of an imaginary OBJ
Ject. The possible development Of such
illusions is apparent, and it is to this
branch of the art that my recent efforts
have been directed. The most serious
obstacle is the limited duration of the
Illusion, and the fact that many people
in every large audience are compara
lively unimpressionable; but these diff
ficulties can, hope, be overcome. From
this illustration it will be readily COM
pretended how utterly unreliable IS the
description of an illusion by those I'M
acquainted with it's explanation. for as
matter of fact, the spectator can only
describe the apparent effect and this.
1t must be remembered has little or no
connection with the true solution of the
mystery.
Ever since the beginning of the art in
generations long forgotten, it has been
the endeavor of the magician to apply
principles borrowed from the misty re-
gions of a dawning science and the mod
ern introduction of hypnotism into the
magic art, and it's combination with
highly scientific optical illusions. is no
more marvellous to-day than was the
introduction of chemistry during the
Dark Ages, or of electricity at a later
period. Indeed, electricity is still en-
pioyed to assist the production of MANY
Of the most inexplicable feats, notwith-
standing the apparent precaution of
complete insolation. The present devel-
opment of the art is such that one of the
chief demands upon the magician's in
genuity Is the formulation of new con-
ditionS for the exercise of necromantic
principles. For example, it is exceed
ingly difficult to find an unsolved prob
lem for apparently freeing the human
body from it's natural limitations Manv