JUGGLER’S MAGIC.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2540, 8 February 1923, Page 1

JUGGLER’S MAGIC.

One of the bewildering tricks played by the famous jugglers of India is that of making a Joy disappear before the eyes of the spectators. One moment he is in plain view, dancing around with his bright red or green garments fluttering wildly; the next instant he fades away, and though there is absolutely no place in which he could hide, nobody sees him anywhere. This trick (says the “Pall Mall Budget”) has been borrowed by the jugglers from an Indian butterfly. The butterfly has such gorgeous blue and red wings that it is almost dazzling, and when it flits through the jungle even the dullest and most careless eye is attracted instantly by it. Yet the moment it settles on a twig it disappears utterly, and those who are not aware of its secret may search as they will they cannot find it. The secret is that the under side of those gorgeous wings are not gorgeous at all, but are the exact colour and shape of withered leaves, so the moment the insect folds its wings its glowing colours vanish, and it looks exactly like any one of the thousands of leaves. The trick of the is worked by the same simple means. The brilliant clothing of the dancing boy has a reverse side that is pure wliite. At the proper moment the boy flutters his garments wildly, reverses them, and squats close to a white wall or against a group of white clad jugglers. At the same moment he rubs white powder over his face and by this ludicrously simple trick he deceives the sharpest sight.