[Illustration: Billing used by Compars Herrmann when he played in opposition to Robert-Houdin on the latter's arrival in London. This shows that Herrmann duplicated all of Robert-Houdin's tricks. From the Harry Houdini Collection.] Probably the most notable warfare waged over the honor of having invented this trick arose between Robert-Houdin and Henri Robin, who were contemporaries. [Illustration: A Herrmann programme dated April, 1848, showing that Herrmann presented the inexhaustible bottle two months before Robert-Houdin appeared in London.] [Illustration: Henri Robin, generally conceded to have been the most polished conjurer in the history of magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.] Robin, whose right name was Dunkell, was of Holland birth and died in Paris in 1874. He was at his prime about 1839-40, when he toured the Continent. He was popular in London, Paris, and both the English and French provinces. A polished man, famous for the elegance of his speech and manners, he conducted his performance and all his business in a quiet, conservative fashion. In both Paris and London, he had playhouses named temporarily in his honor, Salle de Robin, and at one time in London he also appeared at the Egyptian Hall. He published his own magazine, _L'Almanach d'Cagliostro_, an illustrated periodical which was quite pretentious. Robin presented all the tricks and automata that Robert-Houdin claimed as his original inventions, and in the famous controversy, Robert-Houdin came out second best. Robin proved that he had used the bottle trick before Robert-Houdin did, by showing back numbers of his magazine, whose illustrations pictured Robin performing the trick at his theatre in Milan, Italy, July 6th, 1844, or three years before Robert-Houdin presented it in Paris. Robin, however, never wrote an autobiography nor any exhaustive work dealing with the history of magic, while Robert-Houdin did. The latter set forth his claims over other magicians so skilfully that for more than half a century the intelligent and thoughtful reading public has been deceived and has accepted his statements as authoritative. According to an article published in _L'Illusionniste_, scientists to this day, in explaining the law of physics as operated by the use of air-holes in the inexhaustible bottle, refer to it as the "Robert-Houdin bottle," when in reality the honor of its invention belongs to some obscure mechanic or magician whose name must remain forever unsung by writers on magic. CHAPTER VII SECOND SIGHT Evidently second sight was the foundation-stone of Robert-Houdin's success. Reading between the lines of his autobiography, one finds that this was the trick which carried him into the salons of fashion and royalty. Before he introduced second sight into his répertoire, his tricks were so commonplace that they did not arouse the interest of the court circle, whose approval furnished the seal of success.