26 GILBERT BOY ENGINEERING
at one side. Use much
pantomime throughout the show.
Show 2. The Doctor.
Doctor seated with very large
plug hat and very long beard, bell rings, boy enters rubbing
stomach and groaning. Doctor seats himself, takes pulse,
examines tongue, listens to heart, all with much pantomime,
takes large coal tongs, shoves them down throat, (apparently
of course), and pulls up a long snake (Fig. 39).
More pantomime. Boy not yet well, doctor again
shoves coal tongs down his throat and pulls up an alligator,
and so on.
The snake and the alligator
are cut out of stiff paper or cardboard and are handed up by a
third boy as shown in Fig. 40.
GILBERT LIGHT EXPERIMENTS 27
Show 3. A surgical case.
Scene 1. A boy is seated at a table with a large plate
of potatoes. He swallows them whole, then swallows
knife, fork, spoon, saltcellar, and so on. Much
pantomime of enjoying a good meal.
Scene 2. Doctor seated
at table, boy rushes in, rubbing stomach, doctor lays him on
table, takes large knofe, jabs it into boy's stomach (Fig.
41), boy raises head to object, doctor hits him on head with
hatchet (Fig. 42) and proceeds to cut him open, throws back
coat to imitate opening stomach, and takes out all the
potatoes, knife, fork and spoon, and so on. Doctor sews
boy up, hits him on head with hatchet, boy comes to, pantomime
of feeling fine,shakes hand with doctor ant thanks him.
The knife and axe are cut out of cardboard, the plug hat is a
tube of stiff paper or ordinary hat. The whiskers are
another tobe of paper. The boy swallowing potatoes
really hands them to another boy hidden behind the chair.
Show 4. A Boxing Match.
28 GILBERT BOY ENGINEERING
Put one boy near the screen and another nearer the light.The
first is natural size, the second is enormous (Fig. 43).
If they now pretend to fight it is very, very funny from
the audience. In one of the fights, have the lamp on the
stool, let the little fellow beat the big fellow, and if the
big fellow finally runs away and steps over the lamp to the
chair it looks as though he had jumped into the ceiling.
Little fellow, then struts around as winner.
Show 5. Living Shadows.
Cover a mirror with two pieces of paper, out of each which you
have cut identical eyes, nose, and mouth with teeth, as shown
in Fig. 44. Paste the under paper against the mirror,
but paste the outer paper only at the top. Arrange the
light and boy as shown and sway the outer paper back and
forth. Do you see goggling eyes and snapping mouth?
Now have the boy, whose shadow is shown, make a speech with
proper gestures, while you sway the paper. The effect
will be extremely amusing to the spectators.
Show 6. Living Shadows Dialog.
Arrange two mirrors as above and place one on each side of the
screen. Have the two shadows carry on a dialog while two
other bows sway the papers.
You will have plenty of fun inventing shows of your own,
and with a few beards, mustaches, and false noses made of
paper or other material you can have very, very funny
times.
GILBERT LIGHT EXPERIMENTS 29
REFLECTION
OF LIGHT
The Law of Reflection: Angle of reflection equals
angle of incidence.
If a beam of sunlight is allowed to fall on a mirror and the
beam before and after reflection is made visible by dust in
the air, it is found that the beams make equal angles with a
ruler held perpendicular to the mirror, and that they are in
the same plane. The beam L Fig. 45, which strikes the mirror
is called the incident beam, and the beam R which is reflected
is called the reflected beam. The angle i which the incident
beam makes with the perpendicular PN is called the angle
of incidence, and the angle r which the reflected beam makes
with the perpendicular is called the angle of reflection. This
experiment illustrates the Law of Reflection, which is: The
angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence and the
reflected and incident beams are in the same plane.
FUN WITH SUNLIGHT
Experiment No. 22.
To prove the law of reflection.
Allow a small beam of sunlight to pass through the slit of
your shutter and fall on a mirror I placed on the floor or
table of your darkened room. Make sufficient dust to show the
sunlight. Is the sunlight reflected and does it make a bright
spot on the ceiling or opposite wall?
Now hold a ruler
30 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
perpendicular to the mirror opposite the spot where the light
strikes the mirror(Fig. 46). Do you find that the angle
between the reflected beam and the ruler is equal to the angle
between the incident beam and the ruler?
Hold a sheet of cardboard
edge-wise to the incident and reflected beams in such a
position that the incident beam is split in two (Fig. 47). Is
the reflected beam also split in two? That is, are the
reflected and incident beams in the same plane?
You have here proved the law of reflection.
Experiment No. 23.
Irregular reflection.
Let the beam fall on a piece of white unglazed paper (Fig.
48). Is there no reflected beam; is the light reflected in all
directions and does it make everything around it brighter? The
light is reflected in all directions because the surface is
rough (see Fig, 49).
You see all non-luminous
objects by means of light which.they reflect irregularly.
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 31
Experiment No. 24.
Twice the angle.
Hold the mirror perpendicular to the beam. Is the beam
reflected back to the slit? Now turn the mirror to an angle of
45° to the beam. Is the reflected beam turned through an angle
of 90°? That is, is the reflected beam turned through
twice the angle the mirror turns? Try other angles. The
reflected beam turns through twice the angle because the
angles of incidence and reflection are equal and each is equal
to the angle through which the mirror turns, therefore,
together they are equal to twice this angle.
FUN BY DAY WITH ONE MIRROR
Experiment No. 26.
The heliograph.
Reflect sunlight from your window (Fig. 50) to a distant
building, and have your friend reflect sunlight from near this
building to your window.
Now send a message to your friend by the Morse code. Uncover
your mirror for a short time for a dot and for a longer time
for a dash He reads the message on the wall of the building.
He replies and you read the message on the inside wall of your
room. This is the principle of the heliograph used for
military signaling.
Experiment No. 26.
Height of any point on
a building.
Drive one end of a straight stick into the ground and make the
stick exactly vertical. Place the mirror B, Fig. 51, beside it flat
on the ground and adjust until the stick and its image are in
a straight line; the mirror is then exactly horizontal.
32 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
Now if you want to find the height of the topmost window, for
example, stand back until you can just see the top of the
window, then measure : your distance BC from the mirror ; the
distance BE from the
mirror to the building; and your height CA from sole to eye.
The triangle ABC which you make
with the mirror is similar to the triangle DBE which the top
of the window makes (Fig, 51), that is, they have equal
angles, therefore,
DE AC
---- = ----
EB CB
Examples. If you are 12 feet from the mirror, your height to
your eye is 5 feet, and the mirror
is 120 feet from the building at the ground level, then:
Height of window
5
---------------------- = ---
120
12
5 x 120
Height
of window = --------- = 50 feet
12
FUN BY DAY OR NIGHT WITH ONE MIRROR
Experiment No. 27.
An object and its image.
Look at yourself in a vertical mirror and move back and forth.
Does your Image always appear to be as far behind the mirror
as you are in front?
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 33
Arrange the window glass
vertically,place a candle in front and another behind (Fig.
52), and make the rear candle coincide with the image of the
front candle. Measure the distance from each candle to the
mirror. Are they exactly equal?
Draw a line on a piece of paper and call it the mirror line
(Fig. 53). Draw three lines across it, and perpendicular to
it, at 2-inch intervals. Place the window' glass vertically on
the mirror line, place the front candle on each perpendicular
in turn. Is its image candle always at the same distance from
the mirror?
You have proved here that an
image is always the same distance behind the mirror that the
object is in front; and that it Is on a perpendicular drawn
from the object across the mirror line.
Experiment No. 28.
Slanting object.
Place a pencil in front of the vertical window glass (Fig.
54), and slanting toward the glass. Make a second pencil
of equal length coincide with the image. Does the image also
slant toward the mirror? It does, because each part of
34 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
the image is as far behind as the corresponding part of the
object is in front, and both are on a line perpendicular to
the mirror line.
Experiment No. 29.
To copy a drawing.
Arrange drawing, vertical window glass, book, paper, and
light, as shown in Fig. 55. Do you find it easy to copy the
drawings? Why is the drawing reversed?
WHY THE
IMAGE IS AS FAR BEHIND THE MIRROR
AS THE OBJECT IS IN FRONT
We will explain this first by means of rays and then by means
of waves, but you must remember that what you actually receive
in your eyes is light waves and not rays. The rays are only
imaginary lines which show the direction the waves are moving.
In Fig. 56 the eye sees image
B, but the light, of course, goes from A to the mirror and is
reflected to the eye. The angles r and i are equal by the law
of reflection ; also, since CD
and AB are parallel,
angle A is equal to i and angle B is equal to r. Therefore angles A
and B are equal ;
also the angles at F
are equal, since they are right angles. The triangles CFA and CFB then have two angles
equal and a side CF
in common, therefore they are equal
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 35
and FB is equal to AF. This shows that the
image is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front
because by the law of reflection r is equal to i.
We will now explain by means
of light waves why the image and objects are at equal
distances from the mirror, as follows:
The waves of light from the candle A strike the mirror as in 1, Fig. 57, and are
reflected as in 2. The curvature of the waves is exactly
reversed by reflection. The eye estimates the distance of an
object partly by the curvature of the waves which enter it,
and the image appears at B
as far behind the mirror as the object at A is in front, because the
reflected waves which enter the eye have exactly the curvature
they would have if the mirror were absent and the object were
at B.
We see, then, that the image of A is at an equal distance B
because the waves from A are reversed by the mirror but
unaltered in any other way.
Experiment No.30.
To illustrate reflected waves.
Fill with water a cake tin with flat sides (Fig, 58), place it
near a good light, dip a pencil in, two inches from one
side. Is the reflected wave
36 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
curved in the opposite direction to the original wave? Is it
larger and is it the size it would be if it came from a point
at an equal distance outside the pan? This is what happens
when a light wave strikes a mirror?
Experiment No.31.
Why your image is
reversed.
Hold your two bands in front of you (Fig. 59). Is one a
reversed image of the other?
Hold your left hand in front
of a mirror (Fig. 60). Does it appear to be your right hand?
It does, because each point of the image is the same distance
behind the mirror that the corresponding part of the left hand
is in front
Experiment No. 32.
Reversed words.
Print such words as STAR, STUN, and TOP on paper and look at
their images (Fig. 61). Are they reversed? Why?
Experiment No. 33.
Reading a blotting
paper.
Write a sentence in ink, blot it on fresh blotting paper. Try
to read it. It is hard. Read it in the mirror (Fig. 62). Is it
easy? Why?
Experiment No. 34.
To see behind you.
Hold the mirror in
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 37
front of you as in Fig. 63. Can you see behind you with ease?
Why?
Experiment No. 35.
To see around a corner.
Hold a mirror as in Fig. 64. Can you see around a comer with
ease? Why?
EXPERIMENTAL MAGIC
Experiment No. 36.
A candle burning in a
glass of water.
Place candle in front of window glass and glass of water
behind it, as in Fig, 65. Does the candle appear to burn in
the water?
Experiment No. 37.
Phantom candle in boy's head.
Arrange apparatus as in Fig. 66. Does the candle appear to bum
in the boy's head?
Experiment No. 38.
Phantom flame.
Arrange the apparatus as in Fig. 67 and hold your hand behind
in the image of the flame. Can you do this quite safely?
Experiment No. 39.
To make magical transformations.
Arrange the apparatus as in Figs. 68 and 69. Place the lighted
candle in position 1 and adjust block A until it coincides
with the image of block B.
Now to prepare a transformation, fold a sheet of paper once
38 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
over at the middle, and on the top half make a drawing of a
man. Make it with a lead pencil and bear down so as to crease
the lower half. Now draw on the lower half inside the creases
the skeleton of a man. Tear the halves apart, attach the man
to B and the skeleton to A, and adjust until the man seems to
turn into a skeleton when you move the candle from position 1
to position 2.
Now darken the room and ask a
friend to look into the glass, as in Fig, 69, while you move
the candle from 1 to 2. He will be much mystified.
Use photos of the same size, one of a boy and the other of a
girl and make the transformation. Make many other
transformations.
You may have seen similar magical transformations at the
theater or in side shows.
Experiment No. 40.
A magic box.
Make out of stiff cardboard a square box 24 inches
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 39
long and 3 3/4 inches wide and high. Cut the box into two
equal parts at an angle of 45°(see 1, Fig. 70), turn the
halves as in Z, cut a hole in one half, its center being 2
inches from the end. Cut two trapdoors and attach to each a
loop of cord for opening it. Now insert the window glass at
the division, see 3.
Now to have fun with your
friends, hide the box behind a large sheet of paper or
cardboard and have your friends look through a hole in the
paper or cardboard into the hole in the box.
Have the box in a good light and have different objects beeath
the trapdoors. If you now open one trapdoor, the object
beneath is seen by your friends. If now you close the first
door and open the second, the object will appear to be
transformed into the other object.
Use an empty glass and a glass
half full of milk and you can make the tumbler empty and fill
at will.
You can make many other very funny transformations.
40 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
FUN AT NIGHT
Hypnotism
Boys, you can put on imitation hypnotism shows which will
mystify and amuse your friends, as follows:
Get a piece of window glass 2
feet by 3 feet, or larger. Put it in a box (Figs. 71 and 78)
at an angle of 45° to the length of the box and exactly
vertical. Paint the inside of the box black. The box is open
toward the audience, also at the opposite end, BI, B2, B3. and at the
side, Al, A2, A3. A
strong light 1 is placed at the side and throws light on a
person sitting opposite Al,
A2, or A3,
but not on the glass. A weaker light 2 is placed so that it
will throw light on a person seated opposite Bl, B2, or B3, but not on the glass.
When light 1 is up, a boy seated opposite Al, A2, or A3 will be seen by the
audience by reflected light as seated at Bl, B2. or B3. When light 2 is up, a
boy seated at Bl, B2,
or B3 will be seen at
Bl, B2, or B3 by direct light.
The direct image is brighter than the reflected, and to cut it
down tack two or three layers of green or black mosquito
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 41
netting over the B
opening. Use black backgrounds behind A and B; this is important.
You should always try out your
apparatus just before you use it. Look at the window glass
from the audience side, have both lamps lighted, and the
boy A will appear to be seated beside boy B. If A appears too
low, tilt the glass toward A; if he appears too high, tilt the
glass toward B. If the glass is exactly vertical, A and B will
be at exactly the same height.
42 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
Now have an assistant turn down lamp 1 and A will disappear, turn up
lamp 1 and A appears
again. Also turn light 2 down and up and B disappears and
reappears.
These shows need five boys. One is the hypnotist, who stands
out in front and gives the patter talk to the audience. He can
wear a dress suit, mustache, tall hat, and so on, if he
desires. Two boys are needed as the hypnotism subjects, who
occupy chairs A and B, as required. The
remaining two boys are needed to operate the lamps.
You will invent all kinds of' shows for yourselves and make up
your own patter talk, but we suggest a few that will make
plenty of fun.
Show 1. To hypnotize a boy at a
distance of ten feet and to make him disappear and reappear.
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 43
Patter. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have much
pleasure in announcing that I will to-night give you an
exhibition of hypnotic power more wonderful than anything you
have yet seen. It may surprise those of you who know me to
learn that I have been studying hypnotism for years, and it
will surprise you still more to learn that I have discovered a
secret source of hypnotic power of immensely greater strength
than any such power discovered up to this time. Former
hypnotists have hypnotized their subjects at a distance of one
or two feet; but I dare not do this because my power is so
great that it might injure the subject. I will do all my work
at a distance of ten feet, which I have found to be a
perfectly safe distance. I do not care to explain my power any
more than to say that I have in the cabinet powerful bodies
44 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
which bathe my subjects in electro-magnetic forces and help me
in my work." (Note. This is perfectly true because lamps give
out light and light is electro-magnetic in nature ; of course,
do not tell the audience this.) "Now without further talk I
will give an exhibition of my hypnotic power by hypnotizing
Charles at a distance of ten feet." (Raises curtain.)
Note. Charles is
seated at center position, B2
(see Fig. 72). Light 2 is
turned up and 1 is
turned down. Chair at side is in position A2.
Hypnotist : "Charles, attention !" (Makes passes with hands
slowly and says, "Sleep I Sleep ! Sleep !" slowly. Charles
shivers, gets rigid, and slowly closes eyes.)
Hypnotist : "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, former hypnotists have
made their subjects do such simple things as rise in the air,
remain floating in the air, and so on. On another occasion I
will show you some of these simple things, but I will now give
you a much more wonderful example of hypnotic power. I will
make Charles dissolve into thin air and disappear entirely."
Hypnotist (to Charles) : "Charles, avaunt! Avaunt! Avaunt!"
(slowly with passes). (Lamp 2 is slowly turned down and at the
same time 1 is slowly turned up. Charles gradually fades into
nothing, but the chair is apparently left.)
Hypnotist: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles has now joined the
spirit world ; but for the sake of his family and friends, I
will call him back. I must do this quickly or he may get
beyond my power, great as this is." (Looking at ceiling)
"Charles, appear!" (Looking at glass) "Appear! Appear!"
(slowly). (Light 1 is slowly turned down and 2 slowly turned
up and Charles slowly appears.)
Hypnotist snaps his fingers. Charles wakes up and smiles.
Hypnotist drops curtain, bows to the audience, and goes behind
the curtain to help arrange for the next show.
Show 2. To hypnotize a boy, turn him into another
boy, and
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 45
then turn him back again.
(Charles is seated at position
B2, lamp
2 is up; Henry is seated
at position
A2, lamp
1 is turned down.)
Hypnotist: ^'Ladies and Gentlemen, I will now give you an even
greater example of my hypnotic power. Other hypnotists make
their subjects believe that they are some one else, but I will
actually turn my subject into another being and right before
your eyes. Now watch carefully and please do not talk, because
I have to concentrate my will to make this transformation, and
if my attention is diverted my subject might be left half
changed, which would be very serious indeed."
(Raises curtain, speaks to Charles) "Charles, attention!"
(Makes short passes and says) "Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" (slowly).
(To audience) "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, if you will
keep perfectly quiet I will change Charles into another
boy."
(To Charles) "Charles, change! Change! Change!" (slowly).
(Light 2 is slowly
turned down and 1
slowly turned up. Charles turns into Henry slowly. Henry is
also asleep. Hypnotist snaps fingers - Henry wakes up and
smiles.)
Hypnotist : "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, it would never do to
leave these boys mixed up in this way because their mothers
would never know which is which, not to mention their best
girls, so I will turn them back again. Now quiet, please.
Henry, attention!" (He mesmerizes Henry with passes and
saying, "Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" Henry stiffens and closes eyes.
He then says, "Change! Change! Change!" and Henry slowly
changes to Charles as light 2
is turned up and 1
down.)
Hypnotist wakes up Charles, drops curtain, bows, and retires
behind curtain again.
Show 3. Transmigration of souls.
Hypnotist: "Ladies and Gentlemen, my next exhibition of my
hypnotic power will deal with the transmigration of souls. You
have all heard of this strange Hindu theory, namely, that
46 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
our souls have passed down the ages and have migrated from one
animal or man to another. Now I have traced Charles's soul
history, and it is very interesting. I have not the time to
show you all the forms it has taken, but I will show you the
animals his soul inhabited one thousand, two thousand, and
three thousand years ago."
(Raises curtain, mesmerizes Charles as before, then says) "O
ancient soul form! Come! Come! ComeT (Makes passes and bows
three times toward Charles.)
(Charles slowly changes to a dog. Charles is at B2, dog is on a box at A2. At first light 2 is up and light 1 is down. The dog appears
as 2 is lowered and
1 is turned up.)
Hypnotist: "Charles is a very nice boy, and you see that one
thousand years ago his soul inhabited the body of a very nice
dog. I will now show you the body his soul inhabited two
thousand years ago."
(Turns toward dog, makes passes, bows three times, and says)
"O more ancient soul form! Come! Come! Come!"
(While hypnotist is talking Charles has left his seat and a
cat on a box is put in his place. The dog now changes to a cat
as light 2 is turned
up and light 1 down.)
Hypnotist : "You see that Charles's soul two thousand years
ago occupied the body of a very beautiful cat. I will now show
you the body his soul occupied three thousand years ago."
(Makes passes toward cat, bows three times, and says) "O most
ancient soul form I Come ! Come ! Come !"
(The dog has been replaced by a bird in a cage and the cat
changes to a bird as light 1
is turned up and light 2
down.)
Hypnotist: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles's soul occupied the
body of a beautiful bird three thousand years ago. I will now
turn the bird back to Charles. Otherwise the cat might eat
Charles up, and I am afraid Charles's mother would not forgive
the cat or me."
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 47
(Makes passes at bird and says) "Charles, appear! Appear!
Appear!"
(Charles has taken his place again at B2 and appears as light 2 is turned up and 1 down.)
Hypnotist snaps fingers and awakens Charles, drops curtain,
bows, and retires.
Show 4. The transmutation of metals.
Hypnotist : "Ladies and Gentlemen, those of you who know the
history of the sciences know that all through the ages and
down to the present time, scientists have been trying to
change the base metals into the noble metals, - lead
into silver, iron into gold, and so on. All such attempts have
previously failed, but I wish to announce modestly to-night
that I have succeeded, with the help of my marvelous hypnotic
power. I will now prove this to you by changing iron into
other metals."
(Raises curtain showing a flatiron - or any iron object
- on a box. He makes passes at the iron and says) "O
spirit of iron, depart! O spirit of silver, come! Come! Come!"
(The iron slowly changes to a silver cake basket, or any
object of silver.) (The iron object is on a box at B2, the silver object is
on an exactly similar box at At. At first light 2 is up, the iron
disappears and the silver appears as 2 is turned down and 1 up.)
Put a gold object in place of the iron, and change silver to
gold, and so on.
Show 5. To hatch an egg.
Have an egg on one box and a chicken on the other, and slowly
change the egg to a chicken. It is even funnier if you have a
full-grown hen. Pretend that your power is not strong enough,
great as it is, to change the hen back to the egg.
Show 6. Astral bodies.
Hypnotist: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I will next give you an
exhibition of occultism, and I will show you the results of a
marvelous discovery I have made. I have discovered a liquid
48 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
with remarkable powers. If a person drinks this liquid he is
immediately changed to his astral body. This body appears to
the eye to be the same as ever, but it is composed of bound
ether only and has no substance. I may say that this has
nothing whatever to do with hypnotism; the effects are
produced entirely by the liquid."
(Raises curtain, disclosing Charles and Henry apparently
seated side by side with a glass of liquid - water or milk -
in front of each. Charles is at Al and Henry is at B3. Both lights are up.)
Hypnotist : "You now see Charles and Henry. Boys ! Drink some
of the powerful liquid." (The boys do so.) "Now, Ladies and
Gentlemen, the boys appear to you the same as before, but they
are not.
"Charles ! Put your hand gently through Henry." (Charles does
so.) "Henry! Do you feel anything?" (Henry shakes his head to
indicate, no.)
"Henry ! Put your hand gently through Charles." (Henry does
so.) "Charles! Do you feel anything?" (Charles moves lips.)
"You say you don't feel anything, but you wish he would
wash his hands."
Hypnotist : "You see, Ladies and Gentlemen, their bodies have
no substance. They are simply astral bodies made up of bound
ether. I will prove this further.
"Charles ! Slice Henry gently with the butcher's knife."
(Charles does so.) "Henry! Does it hurt?" (Henry moves lips.)
"What! You like it?" (Henry nods yes and moves lips.) "You
like it because it makes you feel like a sliced orange?"
(Henry nods, yes.)
"Henry! Chop Charles gently with a hatchet." (Henry does so.)
"Charles ! Does it hurt you ?" (Charles shakes head and moves
lips.) "It doesn't hurt you and you like it because it makes
you feel like minced meat?" (Charles nods, yes.)
Hypnotist : "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I will show you
GILBERT LIGHT
EXPERIMENTS 49
another evidence of the marvelous power of this liquid. I will
have Charles pour some of the liquid on an apple and thereby
turn it into an astral apple. He will then give it to Henry to
eat.
"Charles! Change the apple and give it to Henry." (Charles
changes apple by pouring a little liquid on it out of the
glass, but instead of giving it to Henry he starts eating it
himself. Henry objects and apparently knocks the apple out of
Charles's hand. They sit in their chairs and each punches many
times to the right. Their fists go right through each other.)
Hypnotist drops curtain and apologizes solemnly to the
audience, saying that he is sorry the astral bodies got beyond
his control. He bows and retires.
Show 7. Power of the will over
supernatural beings.
Hypnotist : "Ladies and Gentlemen, I will now conclude the
entertainment of the evening by giving an exhibition of the
power of the human will over supernatural beings. Charles has
just had a terrifying experience and I am going to help him
out."
(Raises curtain and shows Charles seated at Bl. Charles is frightened
and keeps looking over first one shoulder then the other.)
Hypnotist : "Now, Charles, calm yourself and tell us exactly
what happened." (Charles moves lips.) "You say you just saw a
ghost up the dark road near Fred's house." (Charles nods and
moves lips.) "Did you run?" (Charles nods, yes.) "Were you
afraid?" (Charles shakes head, no.) "Why did you run then?"
(Charles moves lips.) "Oh, you just wanted to see whether you
could beat him running?" (Charles nods, yes.) "Did you beat
him?" (Charles nods, yes.) "Where did you leave the ghost?"
(Charles moves lips and waves hand toward door.) "You left it
at the front door ?" (Charles nods, yes.) "Can it get in ?"
(Charles shakes head and moves lips.) "Oh, you locked the
door. Well, it doesn't matter because you aren't afraid of
ghosts, anyway." (Ghost gradually appears beside Charles.
Henry, covered with
50 GILBERT BOY
ENGINEERING
sheet, is seated at A3
and appears at B3 as
light 1 is turned
up.)
(Charles is much startled, strikes at ghost with fists, then
with knife, drops knife with a clatter, takes up hatchet and
strikes at ghost; Charles is much agitated. Ghost is calm all
through this; it just looks at Charles, but now it moves over
into Charles. (Henry moves from chair A3 to Al.) Charles claws at his
own neck, trying to tear out ghost.)
Hypnotist now calls out, "Charles, calm yourself! I will help
you. You cannot get rid of the ghost because it is your own
ghost, but now just sit steady and I will pin the ghost to the
chair by my will power and when I say, 'Come !' get up quietly
and come out here in front."
(Hypnotist looks intently at ghost, makes passes, and says
quietly) "Come !" (Charles comes out in front.)
Hypnotist : "Now, Charles, look at your own ghost Do you want
to get rid of him entirely?"
Charles: "Yes."
Hypnotist : "All right. Now watch quietly and I will send him
away." (Looking at ghost and pointing finger at him) "O ghost
of Charles, disappear and never come back! Disappear!
Disappear!" (slowly). (Ghost disappears as light 1 is turned down.)
Hypnotist : "Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes our
entertainment for this evening. Thanking you all for your kind
attention, I bid you good-night." (Bows and retires.)
ELEVATIONS
The illusion show (Fig. 73) has a sheet of plate glass GG at an angle of 46°. You
can put on a similar show by turning your box on its side. You
can make a boy appear to rise in air and stay there. The boy
is lying on his back on a rug in place of T and has his legs folded
as though he were sitting with crossed legs. The hypnotist
then makes proper passes and
The
Science Notebook
