curing the mediums. In the upper part of the middle door is a
lozenge-shaped aperture, curtained on the inside with black muslin or
oilcloth. The bolts are on the inside of the doors.

The mediums are generally first tied by a committee of two gentlemen
appointed from the audience. The doors of the cabinet are then closed,
those at the ends first, and then the middle one, the bolt of which is
reached by the manager through the aperture.

By the time the end doors are closed and bolted, the Davenports, in many
instances, have succeeded in loosening the knots next their wrists, and
in slipping their hands out, the latter being then exhibited at the
aperture. Lest the hands should be recognized as belonging to the
mediums, they are kept in a constant shaking motion while in view; and
to make the hands look large or small, they spread or press together the
fingers. With that peculiar rapid motion imparted to them, four hands in
the aperture will appear to be half-a-dozen. A lady's flesh colored kid
glove, nicely stuffed with cotton, is sometimes exhibited as a female
hand--a critical observation of it never being allowed. It does not
take the medium long to draw the knots close to their wrists again. They
are then ready to be inspected by the Committee, who report them tied as
they were left. Supposing them to have been securely bound all the
while, those who witness the show are very naturally astonished.

Sometimes, after being tied by a committee, the mediums cannot readily
extricate their hands and get them back as they were; in which case they
release themselves entirely from the ropes before the doors are again
opened, concluding to wait till after "the spirits" have bound them,
before showing hands or making music.

It is a common thing for these impostors to give the rope between their
hands a twist while those limbs are being bound; and that movement, if
dexterously made, while the attention of the committee-men is
momentarily diverted, is not likely to be detected. Reversing that
movement will let the hand out.

The great point with the Davenports in tying themselves is, to have a
knot next their wrists that looks solid, "fair and square," at the same
time that they can slip it and get their hands out in a moment. There
are several ways of forming such a knot, one of which I will attempt to
describe. In the middle of a rope a square knot is tied, loosely at
first, so that the ends of the rope can be tucked thr