Page:Magic (Ellis Stanyon).djvu/210

208 58). It consists of a piece of brass tubing made to correspond with the performer's ordinary wand but with square ends. In one end of this tubing is inserted a cylindrical lead weight made to fit nicely. At each end of the weight is glued a piece of felt, so as to prevent noise while the fake is working. With this trick wand you can apparently defy the law of gravity. It is divided internally into three compartments, two small ones at either end, and a larger one in the centre, by means of the partitions, which do not, however, extend completely across the wand. A quantity of quicksilver is inserted in the wand and the ends sealed up. In the normal condition, this will remain in the central space, but if the wand is tilted either way, the mercury will flow into the little pocket at the lower end. Should this end be laid upon the table, the weight of the fluid metal would more than counterbalance the remaining portion of the wand, and it would therefore be suspended apparently in space. By reversing the wand, the other end would perform a like phenomenon.