The question then arises: what influence has this book had on Magic and magicians?

There is no doubt that some of the methods for performing some of the sleights used by magicians are improvements on procedures which were standard before the book appeared and these improvements have been generally adopted my magicians and may now be said to be standard.

To that extent then, the book has value but there is no doubt that the book as a whole has had a bad effect on the art of Magic. There has arisen a certain school of magicians who have been led to the fallacy of thinking that in Magic the method is everything whereas in truth it is the effect which is everything and the methods for attaining that effect are purely secondary. In presenting a feat of Magic the magician has no need of the phenomenal skill essential to the card cheat; indeed, the simplest methods of doing the various sleights are always the best for he can devote his attention to the far more important requirements of entertaining his audience.