MAGIC

STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DIVERSIONS

INCLUDING TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY

COM PILE il AND EDITED ItV

ALBERT A. HOPKINS
EDITOR OF THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICA?? CYCLOPEDIA OF RECEIPTS, NOTES AND QUERIES, ETC.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION RT

HENRY RIDGELY EVANS

AUTHOR OF

nouus

WITH THE anosTs;

on, xix. CENTURY WITCHCRAFT, ETC.

WITH FOUR HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND COMPANY

LIMITI:!)

Dimstatts %our,
FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
St.

1897

COPYRIGHT,, 1W7, ElV

>ITTXX & CO.
NEW TORE

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HA EL. LONDON, ENG LA Mi

AH rights reserved

Tim iiilides list'd from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN amt r lie Pci ENTI FIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT
tire copyrighted

Primrc! in the IL 5. A, by
). J Link it OK* NLW York City

440

MAGIC: STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DIVERSIONS.

corresponding side of the frame is unmasked. After exposure (lie model

changes place, unii then the other side of the frame is opened.
The photograph reproduced in Fig. Si was taken in this manner. It contains
three representations of the same person. The easel, stool, and artist having

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been arranged, an image is taken on the left side of the plate, then the painter
moves liis position to the right anc|-# second exposure is made. The portrait
on tile easel is that of the same person, hut was taken afterward on the positive
by means of the negative and a vigli et ter (Fig. 3).
'[lie other photograph (Fig* 4} is likewise very curious, ami was taken with
the same apparatus, A hat was fixed firmly to a head rest, and the same person
then glided under it ami presented his two profiles,

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ILLUSITE PHOTOGRAPHY,
The amusing examples of illusive photography chicli wc show herewith are
due to Mr. Frank A. Gil move, of Aubirii, Ik T. The earn era is so arranged
that t ii o pictures which are reproduced suggest the story of ih\ Jekyll and 6lr.
Hyde* The porter with the sack and the gentleman who is about to give him
some money are one and the same person. The pedestrian is walking with
himself > and the fighter is prepared to annihilate himself.
The method of producing the illusion is very simple. A black-lined box is
fitted to the back of a kodak or an Vs other camera; the front of the box is
closed by two doors, On opening one door a picture pay lie taken on one
side of the plate; on closing this door and opening the other, the other half
of the plate is ready for exposure. The subject poses in one positi oli and his
photograph id taken with one door open, care being taken to bring the figure
within half of the area of the sensitized plate A good finder enables this
detail to be attended to. Then one door is closet! and the other is opened, and
the exposure of the other half of the plate is accomplished, The plate holder
is not removed during the dual exposure. If posable, instnianeous pictures
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442

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STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DIVERSIONS.

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should be taken , AS time exposures are rather risky, involving danger of shak
ing the camera, ami the length of exposure may not be the same for both sides
of the plate. Our engravings were taken with an ordinary four by five
kodak, and the box was an ordinary cigar box cut down to fit, and black
ened inside.

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A 1HXMAN HEAD UPON A TABLE.

PJIOTOUKPHTXf

The picture is made in the following wav: A table is provided with a top
having a portion of it movable at lb The person whose head is to lie photo
graphed sits in a chair underneath the table* The board is removed to allow

the persons head to puss above the table. The board is again placed in posi
tion on the table, and the closer the person's neck fits the hole in the table the
better. The camera is arranged with a box, as in the illusion we have just
described; but in this ease the camera is turned so that the two doors, C and J),
open lip and down instead of sideways. The camera is raised or lowered until
the crack between the two doors of the box is on a level with the edge of the
table* The upper door, G, in the box is opened wide, so as to expose to the
sensitized plate, when the shutter is worked, the head above the table, and all
of the objects within the range of the lens above the edge of the table.
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After making these arrangements an exposure is made, then the person

whose head lias been photographed is no longer required. The top door, C>
is now closed, and the bottom door* I), is opened wide* I >v this means the
upper part of the plate is protected from a second exposure and leaves tiie way
clear to expose the lower, and as yet uuexposed, part of the pinto. The shutter
is again opened, and this time everything in range of the lens below the edge
of the table is photographed, and, of course, does not show the person under
the table. The illustration which we give, as well as the diagram showing
how it may he produced, are the work of Mr. James Burt Smalley, of Bay
Mich,
City,
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PHOTO01iAPIIIX<

A H KAO OX A P LATTEI.

We have already shown how a photograph may be made upon a table, and
we now show how one can easily take pictures uf the same person in dilTcrcnt
attitudes on one plate. This trick is performed by Mr. Frank (dimore, of
Auburn, l, L Pictures made in tins manner seem extremely puzzling, when in

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440

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PAN CUT AWAY TO ItEPltESENT PLATTElt,

reality they are very simple to make. An ordinary extension dining-tabic is

used, the person to be photographed being seated in an opening between the
two ends of the table, caused by the removal of a leaf. The tablecloth is then
arranged so as to cover the gap. If necessary, the table may be built up with
boards so as to support the cloth and other articles. To make the illusion
complete, a pan, cut away so that it may be conveniently placed around the
neck, as shown in our engraving, may be used. This gives the appearance in
the photograph of being an ordinary platter bearing the head of a living
person.

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TRICK

PU TOUR A PHY.

447

PHOTOGRAPHING A CATASTROPHE.*
On this page w reproduce a curious photograph by J[. Bracq, which
appeared some time ago in tlie Photo Gazette.
Despite all the terrible catastrophe which it represents, carrying pic tu row
along with him in his fall, the subject has not experienced the least uneasiness,
not even so much as will certainly he felt by our readers at the sight of the
tumble represented.

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The mode of operating in this case is very simple, ami we are indebted to
La Nature for ilio description of the method employed by If, Jracq
The photographic apparatus being suspended at a few yards from the floor of
the room, in such a way as to render the ground-glass horizontal (say, between
the two sides of a double ladder a combination that permits of easy focusing
and putting the plates in place), there is spread upon the floor a piece of wall* From Photographic Aiuiiftemeutaj by Walter F, Woodbury,
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paper* about six feet in length by five feet in

width, at the bottom of which a waineco t has
been drawn. A ladder, a few pictures, a statu ette, and a bottle are so arranged as to give an
observer the illusioil of the wall of a room that
of a dining-room, for instance. A hammer,
BOme nails, etc,, are placed at the proper points*
Finally a live by two and one-half foot board,
to which a piece of carpet, a cardboard piato,
etc., have been attached, is placed under the foot
of a chair, which then seems tu rest upon this
false floor at right, angles with that of die room.
Everything being ready, the operator lies

FIO. 3. A li K A MOEA1EX

SCIENTIFIC DJ VERSIONS.

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down quietly in the midst of these objects, as

sumes a frightened expression, and waits until the shutter announces to him
that he niay leave his not very painful position. This, evidently, is merely an
example that our readers will be able to modify and vary at t heir wjjlL

NEW TYPE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT.

Our engraving shows a new type of photographic portrait which gives the
effect of a marble Mat. The model is placed behind a hollow column or thin
pedestal of painted wood. If it is desired to represent a man in classic cos
tume, Ei helmet of white cardboard is placed upon the model's head, his hair and
face is whitened with rico powder, ami those portions of the body it is desired
to render visible are surrounded with white flan neb The background should
he formed id black velvets After the negative is developed, the figure that it is
desired to preserve is cut around with a penknife; and the arms and all the
portions that arc not wanted are scratched out> The glass thus becomes trans
parent when the scratching has been done, and in the positive the bust stands
out. from the background.

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150

MAGIC: STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DI V FUSIONS.

A MULTIPLE PORTRAIT.
'Plie portrait which we reproduce wus taken by u photographer of Upnstant inopie, Mrs ISaboudjiau. The subject of the photograph is represented :i
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number of times* so that the whole presents the aspect

of a nnm her of persons standing in a line. Two m ir
to rei, A anti lb uro placed parallel to each other, and
ale separated by an interval of about two feet. Tn
the narrow corridor thus formed ho places the sub
ject to he photographed'; One of the mirrors must
be a little taller than the other, and the apparatus is
turned toward the shorter one and is slightly inclined
toward the floor* The mirrors are without frames*
The result of this arrangement is shown in on r en
graving, the same person being represented a unni her
of times* Them is considerable difficulty in lighting
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