Later Day Tricks
A. Roterberg
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The Disappearing Gold Fish
IN almost every magician's repertory is found the trick of changing in some form or other ink into water containing several live gold fish. With a little extra trouble an additional effect may be introduced by covering the glass containing the water with a borrowed handkerchief, upon removal of which the fish have mysteriously disappeared.
To prepare for the trick, a fine flesh colored silk thread is passed through the mouth and out of the gill of one of the gold fish, the end of the thread being then tied to the thread proper. After the other fish are treated in the same way, all threads are connected and the ends on the other side of the knot are cut off short. Here another fine thread is tied on, which leads upwards inside of the glass and is secured to the rim of the latter by tying its end to a bent pin which is slipped over the rim of the glass. This arrangement, besides being unnoticeable, is not at all cruel to the fish, as it allows them full liberty to swim around in the glass. The glass is then covered with the handkerchief and in taking the latter off, the bent pin is seized from without, the gold fish being thereby pulled out of the water and carried along under cover of the handkerchief, out of which they are allowed to drop into a deep bowl which stands on the servante and which is partly filled with water.
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