Within the pages of this work, historian S.H. Sharp defines and describes seven fundamental principals; including secret: Closures; Reservoirs; Conduits; Liquid Substitutes; Displacement; Siphons; and Hydraulic and Pneumatic Control. The author traces hydraulics and pneumatics as used in the religious wonders of early history – moving and speaking statues, inexhaustible vessels, unfillable basins, etc. – to today’s modern Lotta Bowl, Foo Can, Multum in Parvo, Mermaid Illusion, various automata, etc.
Also included in this massive work are two special appendices: Scientific Magical Invention and Characterization – a system on which to base the scientific invention or creation of new magical illusions; What Happened to ‘Psycho’? – an essay which traces the chronology of the automaton from 1875 to modern times.
This outstanding instructive work is a must. It contains technique every magician should know about!
Contents (from book ToC):
1 Introduction
1 Hydraulic And Pneumatic Principles Tabulated
13 Class One Secret Closures Or Retainers
13 A). Soild
13 I. Fixed Closures
13 a) Complete Closures
13 – The Indian Hubble Bubble Jar
14 – A Modified Hubble Bubble Jar
14 – Louis Histed’S Version Of The Hubble Bubble Jar
15 – The Original Chinese Rice Bowls
16 – The Brahmin Rice Bowls
17 – Deluge Water Bowls
18 – The Hindu Lota
19 – A Removable Tubed Lota
20 – A Bottle Lota
20 – The Inexhaustible Punch Bowl
21 – The Greek Dicaiometer
21 – An Improved Hindu Lota
22 b) Partial Or Trap Closures
22 – The Lota For Vanishing Liquids
22 – The Unspillable Inkwell
22 – The Aquarius Water To Ribbons
23 – A Full Or Empty Milk Jug
24 c) Fixed Partial Or Trap Closures
25 – The Foo Can
26 – Liquid Vanish From A Newspaper
27 B). Perforated
27 An Ancient Wine Or Water Jug
28 A New Full-Or-Empty Jug
28 2. Removable Closures Or Retainers
29 a) Retained By Atmospheric Pressure
20 – The Chinese Rice Bowls
31 – The Chung Ling Soo Rice And Water Bowls
32 b) Mechanically Retained
32 – A1 Baker’S Rice Bowls Method
33 – Robert-Houdin’s Water Bowl Closure
36 – The Marvellous Equilibrium
38 – Philippe’s Method
39 – Producing A Tray Of Full Glasses
40 – Carrying Water In A Sieve
41 c) Nested Containers
42 Germain’S Water Jugs
47 Class Two Liquid Substitutes
47 a) Painted Substitutes
47 b) Shell Substitutes
47 – New Vanishing Ink On Hand
48 – The Wandering Stout
49 – The Wine Proof
50 – A Cloth Substitute
55 Class Three Secret Reservoirs
55 1. Enclosed Reservoirs
55 – The Double Funnel
56 The Glass Reservoir Funnel
56 Tray Reservoirs
57 The Mermaid Ilusion
57 2. Exterior Or Detached Reservoirs
57 – An Inexhaustible Lustral Bowl
59 – Hartz’s Inexhaustible Punch Bowl
59 – The Vanishing Divers
65 Class Four Displacement
65 1. Secret Lining Displacers
65 – Anverdi’s Modification
67 – Multum In Parvo
67 – The Filtering Ink Experiment
69 – The De Muth Milk Bottle
70 2. Submerged Displacers 70
70 a) Solid Displacers
70 – Full Or Empty
72 b) Hollow Displacers
72 c) Inflatable Displacers
75 Class Five Secret Conduits
75 1. Hidden Conduits
75 – The Undrinkable Cup Of Tantalus
76 – Overflowing Vases And Coconut
78 2. Transparent Conduits
78 a) Normal Transparent Connections
78 b) Double Transparency Conduits
78 – Water Column Control
79 c) Prismatic Reflectors
80 3. Surface Conduits
81 4. Liquid Stream Conduits
81 – The Mysterious Water Faucet
85 Class Six Secret Siphons
85 a) Simple Siphons
86 – The Glass Tomb Of Belus
86 – The Witch’s Cauldron
87 – Vanishing Liquid From A Goblet
88 b) The Pre-Primed Siphon
88 c) The Self-Priming Siphon
89 d) The Wick Siphon
89 – The Changing Liquids – Water To Wine
90 e) Intermittent Siphons
95 Class Seven Hydraulic And Pneumatic Control
95 1. Buoyancy Or Flotation Devices
95 a) Self-Buoyancy
95 – Flotation Pistons
95 – Automata Controlled By Floats
95 – Mechanism Worked By Flotation Devices
96 — Conradi’s Glass Through Hat
99 b) Inflation
99 – A Magic Fruit Tree
99 – The Glove Column
100 – Producing Balloons ” 100
100 c) Altered Specific Gravity
100 2. Control By Air Pressure, Liquid Pressue Or Suction
101 a) Air Lock
101 – The Spurting Drinker
102 Intermittent Air Lock
102 – The Bunder Boat
103 – A Greek Wine Dispenser
104 – The Bottle Imp
105 – The Diving Fish
105 – An Impromptu Bottle Imp
195 – Self-Raising Divers
106 – The Thirsty Man’s Bowls
107 – Water Spouting (Regurgitation)
108 – Come Or Go Wine
109 – Hofzinser’s Squeeze-Ball Glass
109 – Anverdi’s Squeeze-Ball Tray
111 – The Japanese Water Fountains
111 – The Water Sprite
115 – Single-Handed Fountains
116 – The Bewitched Water Fountain
117 = The Wine Spigot
118 3. Pneumatically Controlled Automata
119 Maskelyne’s ‘Psycho’
120 J.N. Maskelyne & Clarke’s Automaton Control Patent
120 Maskelyne And Cooke’s Means For Actuating Automaton Mechanism
121 a) Plate-Lifter Control
122 – Pneumatic Thought Transference
122 – The Magic Pendulum
122 – Devant’s “Bogey Golf”
122 b) Airjet Control
122 – A Pneumatic Obedient Ball
123 – Air Jet Levitation
123 – Air Jet Speed Control
124 – Pneumatic Rapping Hands
124 – The Rolling Tube
125 – The Swinging Match
125 c) Vortex-Ring Control
125 d) Control By Thermal Change
126 – The Ordeal Of Boiling Water
126 – Yu-Bana Or Yukagura
128 – The Thermostat
128 – Dippy Duck
131 Appendix 1 – Scientific Magical Invention And Characterization
143 Appendix 2 – What Happened To “Psycho”?
- Publisher: Hades Publications
- Pages: 159
- Location: Alberta, Canada
- Dimensions: 9″x11″
- Date: 1991
- Binding: hardbound
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SKU: 1999 Category: Books Tags: Conjurers' Secrets, Hades Publications, History Project, Image Size: Huge, Magic Book Contents, October 2003, qms027, Released: 1991, S.H. Sharpe, Sold, The 1990's, Updated