LEGERDEMAIN, lej-er-de-man, the art of deceptive juggling; variously styled pres tidigitation, thaumaturgy or sleight of hand; or less correctly, magic. Properly, magic (q.v.) is the name for necromancy, divination, sorcery or unusual and apparently supernat ural things accomplished by the aid of occult powers or discarnate spirits. The term magic has been popularly used by self-styled °magi cians° who are really jugglers or sleight-of hand performers, depending on their ability to trick or mislead spectators at a public perform ance, as in a theatre. The typical stage per former has a stock of tricks, depending largely upon the use of apparatus calculated to de ceive or mislead, as boxes and pitchers with double bottoms or concealed compartments. There is much substitution of like objects, as coin, eggs, handkerchiefs, etc. The expert pres tidigitator has a skilful knack of directing the attention of the public at the instant he substi tutes one thing for another. It is this substitu tion that has suggested the terms —legerde main (fine hand) and sleight-of-hand. He di rects the attention to one thing when he wishes it removed from another. When the spectator is advised to watch slowly the movement of his hands, it is likely that the important thing is done with his foot, or by an attendant, etc. The simple juggler amazes one by the celerity with which he handles half a dozen balls, plates, etc, but the legerdemain artist goes farther and is satisfied only by imitating the impossible in the work of the true magician or spiritual medium. The successful thaumaturgist may carry with him considerable machinery for the performance of his deceptions.' Some of these have become widely known and advertised, as the human head resting on a plate on a small table with no apparent body. In this trick, mirrors between the legs of the table hide the person who sits under with his head through a °faked° plate. These mirrors reflect dra pery of the same color as that at the rear and the spectators appear to see right through and under the table. Another popular trick is that of locking a man in a trunk and then tying the trunk with many ropes, after which a curtain is dropped. Within a few seconds the man ap
parently walks out, carrying the opened trunk in his hand. The obvious explanation is that there are two similar trunks and two men twins being hired for the performance. Rob ert Hnudini was the first to bring real scientific methods to the aid of modern con juring, and more recently the Herrmanns have been famous in this art. There is a well known popular vaudeville deception carried on by the scientific use of liquid air. Here the performer appears to fry eggs on a. cake of ice, whereas he simply freezes them.
Snake-charming is largely hypnotic, and it is believed that some of the East Indian per formers in the open air simply hypnotize the beholders into the conviction that they see what does not really take place. Other tricks are undoubtedly magic, performed through oc cult knowledge not generally recognized, as telepathy, clairvoyance, materialization, etc. The true scientific conjurer makes one of op tical delusions, as in the famous ghost trick; of reflections of sound; of expert and highly elaborate systems of signaling with a confed erate; trap-doors, curtains, invisible wires, electrical contrivances, etc. For several hun dred years there have been exhibitions of a person — usually a °beautiful lade — sus pended in mid-air, without apparent means of support. This trick undoubtedly has been ac complished in more ways than one. The method in case of °Astarte° was a supporting iron bar of the color of the back curtains that escaped detection. Another method, in which the elbow of the subject is allowed to touch a cornice, consists in using steel armor worn under the clothing and bolted to the cornice. Consult Smithsonian Annual Report ('Psychol ogy of Prestidigitation') for 1894; Hoffman, 'Modern Magic"Carter, 'Magic and Magi cians' (1903) ; Cochrane, 'The Machinery of Amusement' (in 'Modern Industrial Prog ress,' 1905); Houdini, 'Unmasking of Robert Houdini' (1908) Elbiquet, 'Text-Book of Magic' (1913). See MAGIC.