end, twist it once round, and put both ends into the left hand. Draw the
right hand rapidly along the double strings until you come to the place
where the strings have crossed each other, as seen in the engraving.
Conceal the junction with the thumb and finger of the right hand; hold the
strings in a similar manner with the left hand, and tell some one to cut
the string between them. You show that the string has been divided into
two pieces, and say that you will join them with your teeth. Put all four
ends into your mouth, and remove with your tongue the little loop that has
been cut off. When you take the string out of your mouth, the spectators
will not notice the absence of so small a portion of its length, and will
fancy that you really have joined them.
[Illustration:
1. The twisted string. 2. The manner of holding it.
]
14. THE GORDIAN KNOT.
[Illustration: 1]
[Illustration: 2]
Take a silk handkerchief, and lay it on a table. Take each of the corners,
and lay them across each other in the middle of the handkerchief, which
will then be square, as in the cut, Fig. 1. Do the same with the new
corners, and go on until the handkerchief is reduced to the size of your
hand. Then with your left finger and thumb take hold of the center, taking
care to grasp all the four corners that lie there, and with the right
finger and thumb take hold of the outer layer of silk, and pull it towards
you as far as it will come. Then turn it a little on your left hand, and
repeat the operation until it is all screwed up into a tight ball, as is
represented in the engraving, Fig. 2. No ends will be then perceptible,
and a person who is unacquainted with the mode will never be able to
untie it. Of course you must prepare it previously. When the person to
whom you give it has failed to untie it, you take the ball in your hand,
and holding it behind your back, you reverse the method by which it was
tied, and when it is loose a good shake will release it.
15. THE KNOT LOOSENED.
This is a very amusing deception. You ask any one for a handkerchief, and
tie the ends firmly together in a double knot, allowing him to feel it,
or pull the ends as tight as he pleases. You then throw the center of
the handkerchief over the knot, ask the person to hold it tight between
his finger and thumb. You ask him if the knot is still there, to which
he will answer in the affirmative. You then take hold of any part of the
handkerchief, and direct the holder to drop the handkerchief at the word
"three." You count, "one, two, three," at which word he looses his hold of
the handkerchief, and there is no vestige left of the knot.
[Illustration]
The method of managing this trick is as follows: Take the handkerchief and
tie the ends in a simple knot, keeping _one end tight_, and the other end
loose. We will call the tight end A, and the loose one B. Keep A _always_
in the right hand, and on the stretch horizontally, and the handkerchief
will look as in the cut. Do this when you tie it the second time, and draw
B tight, which will then form a double tie round A, but will not hold it
firm. When you throw the handkerchief over the knot, you draw out A with
the finger and thumb of the left hand, and the knot will apparently remain
firm, although in reality it is nothing but a double twist of silk, which
of course falls loose when the handkerchief is dropped.
16. TO PUT NUTS INTO YOUR EAR.
Take three nuts in the left hand, show them, and take out one of them
between your right finger and thumb, and another between the first and
third finger. This latter is not seen by the company. You then put one of
them in your mouth and retain it there, unknown to the spectators, while
you exhibit the second as the one that you put into your mouth. This
second one you carry to your ear, as if you meant to insert it there, and
on replacing it in your left hand, only two nuts will be left instead of
three, the third of which appears to have gone into your ear.
17. TO CRACK WALNUTS IN YOUR ELBOW.
Conceal a very strong walnut in your right hand, and take two other
walnuts out of the dish. Place one of them on the joint of your arm, and
say that you are going to break it by the power of your muscles. You will
now have one walnut in your arm and two in your right hand. Close your
left arm, and strike it an apparently violent blow with the right hand,
at the same time clenching the right hand violently, which will smash the
second walnut in it, and the spectators hearing the crash will be sure
to fancy that it is caused by the demolition of the walnut in your arm.
Then open your arm very gently (for fear of dropping any of the fragments,
you must say), and, when pretending to take out the walnut which you had
placed there, you substitute for it the broken one from your right hand.
18. TO TAKE FEATHERS OUT OF AN EMPTY HANDKERCHIEF.
Procure at the military clothier's four or five large plumes, such as
are worn by officers. Take off your coat, and lay the plumes along your
arms, the stem being toward your hand. Now put on your coat again, and the
feathers will lie quite smoothly and unsuspected. Borrow a handkerchief
from one of the spectators, and wave it about to show that it is empty.
Throw it over your left hand, and with the right draw out one of the
plumes from up the coat-sleeve, at the same time giving it a flourish in
the air, which will loosen all the fibers of the feather, and make it
appear much too large to have been concealed about the person. Wave the
handkerchief again, and repeat the operation until all the plumes are
gone. You can carry enough plumes under the sleeve to cover a table with,
and if you prepare a board or an ornamental vase full of holes, you can
place the plumes upright as you take them out.
19. THE KNOTTED HANDKERCHIEF.
This feat consists in tying a number of hard knots in a
pocket-handkerchief borrowed from one of the company, then letting
any person hold the knots, and by the operator merely shaking the
handkerchief, all the knots become unloosened, and the handkerchief is
restored to its original state.
To perform this excellent trick, get as soft a handkerchief as possible,
and taking the opposite ends, one in each hand, throw the right hand
over the left, and draw it through, as if you were going to tie a knot
in the usual way. Again throw the right-hand end over the left, and give
the left-hand end to some person to pull, you at the same time pulling
the right-hand end with your right hand, while your left hand holds the
handkerchief just behind the knot. Press the thumb of your left hand
against the knot to prevent its slipping, always taking care to let the
person to whom you gave one end pull first: so that, in fact, he is only
pulling against your _left hand_.
You now tie another knot exactly in the same way as the first, taking care
always to throw the right-hand end over the left. As you go on tying the
knots, you will find the right-hand end of the handkerchief decreasing
considerably in length, while the left-hand one remains nearly as long as
at first; because, in fact, you are merely tying the right-hand end _round
the left_. To prevent this from being noticed, you should stoop down a
little after each knot, and pretend to pull the knots tighter; while, at
the same time, you press the thumb of the right hand against the knot, and
with the fingers and palm of the same hand, draw the handkerchief, so as
to make the left-hand end shorter, keeping it at each knot as nearly the
length of the right-hand end as possible.
When you have tied as many knots as the handkerchief will admit of, hand
them round for the company to feel that they are firm knots; then hold
the handkerchief in your right hand, just below the knots, and with the
left hand turn the loose part of the center of the handkerchief over them,
desiring some person to hold them. Before they take the handkerchief in
hand, you draw out the right-hand end of the handkerchief, which you have
in the right hand, and which you may easily do, and the knots being still
held together by the loose part of the handkerchief, the person who holds
the handkerchief will declare he feels them: you then take hold of one of
the ends of the handkerchief which hangs down, and desire him to repeat
after you, one, two, three; then tell him to let go, when, by giving the
handkerchief a smart shake, the whole of the knots will become unloosed.
Should you, by accident, whilst tying the knots, give the wrong end to
be pulled, a hard knot will be the consequence, and you will know when
this has happened the instant you try to draw the left-hand end of the
handkerchief shorter. You must, therefore, turn this mistake to the best
advantage, by asking any one of the company to see how long it will take
him to untie one knot, you counting the seconds. When he has untied the
knot, your other knots will remain right as they were before. Having
finished tying the knots, let the same person hold them, and tell him
that, as he took two minutes to untie one knot, he ought to allow you
fourteen minutes to untie the seven; but as you do not wish to take any
advantage, you will be satisfied with fourteen seconds.
You may excite some laughter during the performance of this trick, by
desiring those who pull the knots along with you, to pull as hard as they
please, and not to be afraid, as the handkerchief is not yours; you may
likewise go to the owner of the handkerchief, and desire him to assist you
in pulling a knot, saying, that if the handkerchief is to be torn, it is
only right that he should have a share of it; you may likewise say that he
does not pull very hard, which will cause a laugh against him.
20. HOUDIN'S NUT TRICK.
To perform a clever trick with dexterity before a "small party" is at once
to become the hero of the evening. If you cannot sing, you must solve
conundrums, or dance a horn-pipe; if neither of these be "your forte,"
a good trick or two will give equal pleasure to the "bright blue eyes"
peering at you. The nut trick is exhibited thus: The professor hands the
audience a dessert plate and a cambric handkerchief for examination;
these being returned, he places the plate upon a table near to him; the
handkerchief is then spread out quite flat over the plate. At command,
sugared almonds, nuts, and comfits pour into the dessert plate the instant
the kerchief is lifted up, producing an effect that would have astonished
the magi of old. The way in which it is done is this: Make a calico bag
large enough to hold the nuts and sweetmeats you intend to distribute,
exactly to the pattern of a nightcap, or the letter A: a small selvage is
turned up at the bottom of the bag; procure two pieces of watch spring,
and bend them quite flat, each spring to be exactly half the diameter of
the bag. These are put into the selvage, and sewn up firm. When the bag is
opened, it will close itself in consequence of the springs. A long pin is
passed through the top of the bag and bent round hook-shape. If the bag be
now filled with nuts, &c., it may be suspended by the hook, without any
danger of the nuts or anything else falling out; because, although the
mouth of the bag is downwards, the springs keep it shut. When this trick
is to be shown, the prepared bag is hung on the side of the table that is
away from the audience. The plate is also placed on that side; and when
the handkerchief is laid over the plate a portion is left to fall over the
side of the table. Now the kerchief is picked up with the _right_ hand
in the center (just as a lady does when she wishes to exhibit the lace
edge), and with it the bag of nuts; the folds of the cambric hide the
bag. The left hand is now used to draw over the handkerchief and to press
the bag; this causes the springs to open, and out fall the "good things"
upon the plate. This causes sufficient diversion for the merest tyro of a
conjuror to drop the bag behind the table unseen, while he advances to the
audience, politely inquiring, "Will you take a few nuts or sweetmeats?"
21. CONJURING A RING.
Several very marvelous tricks can be shown with an ordinary finger ring,
such as passing it through the table, through a basin, an ale-glass or a
plate, then into a box or nest of boxes, and other feats of legerdemain of
a similar kind. These tricks are so good that they are always shown by the
professors of magic at evening parties, but are never explained; however,
we will attempt it. Procure a soft clean silk handkerchief and a sham gold
ring; now a needleful of black silk, double; sew the silk to the middle of
the handkerchief, and let the ring hang from it, suspended by the end of
the silk, say at about three or four inches from the kerchief. When the
handkerchief is held up by two corners, the suspended ring must always
hang on the side facing the magician; the handkerchief can then be shaken,
folded, and crumpled up in the hands, so as to make it appear "all fair."
Now, to pass a ring through a drinking-glass and plate, and through the
table on which it is placed. "If any lady or gentleman will kindly lend
me a ring, I shall be happy to exhibit the electric and magnetic action
of metallic substances on diaphanous bodies and ceramic manufactures, by
showing their imperviousness, and the porosity of ligneous products of the
Honduras." "Hem!" says Aunt Caroline, "what an extraordinary youth!" Do
not, however, allow yourself to be carried away by any flattery of this
kind, but determine to do the trick well, and _deserve_ praise. Take the
borrowed ring in the LEFT hand, and keep it there; pretend to pass it to
the right hand, and say, "I will place it in the handkerchief. Who will
kindly hold it for me while I put the glass on the plate in the center
of the table?" While you thus freely ask who will hold the kerchief,
you will secure the most bashful lady or gentleman in the company to
hold the (your) ring in the handkerchief. "You will perceive, ladies and
gentlemen, that the glass and the plate are now quite empty. I shall now
place the glass in the plate on to the center of the table, and request
the lady (or gent) to place the ring and the handkerchief over the glass.
I particularly draw your attention to the fact that you will _hear_ the
ring fall into the glass when I request it to be released. You will then
be certain that it is in the glass; but at my command it shall pass into
this box (show the box round), which I shall place under the table.
Now, miss (or sir) be good enough to let the ring fall into the glass.
Silence! Ting! You heard it fall?" "Yes," all must reply, except the deaf.
Presto! It is now in the box. You lift the handkerchief, smooth down your
brow with it, and put it into your pocket. The audience are now left to
themselves. They rush to the plate and glass, it is not there; now the
box, behold! it is as sound as ever: how it got there Aunt Carry could
never tell, but you could, for you put it there out of your left hand when
you placed the box under the table.
22. THE ERRATIC EGG.
[Illustration]
Transfer the egg from one wine-glass to the other, and back again to its
original position, without touching the egg or glasses, or allowing any
person or any thing to touch them. To perform this trick, all that you
have to do, is to blow smartly on one side of the egg, and it will hop
into the next glass; repeat this and it will hop back again.
23. THE OBEDIENT DIME.
A CAPITAL TRICK AT THE DINNER TABLE.
[Illustration]
Lay a dime between two half-dollars, and place upon the larger coins a
glass, as in the diagram. Remove the dime without displacing either of
the half-dollars or the glass. After having placed the glass and coins as
indicated, simply scratch the tablecloth with the nail of the fore finger
in the direction you would have the dime to move, and it will answer
immediately. The table cloth is necessary; for this reason the trick
is best suited to the breakfast or dinner table. The amusement will be
heightened by reciting the following words prior to moving the finger:
"Little dime, do not stay
In a place so out-of-the-way;
But when my finger moved shall be,
Like a good fellow come to me."
24. THE PRISONER RELEASED.
[Illustration]
Place a dime in the bottom of a glass, and over the latter put a quarter,
as in the diagram. The puzzle is to remove the small coin from beneath the
larger one, without touching either of the coins, or touching or upsetting
the glass. To do this capital trick you must blow with considerable force
down one side of the glass upon the edge of the quarter. The dime will
be expelled by the force of the air, and will fall either upon the upper
surface of the quarter or upon the table. A little practice will render
the performance of this feat very easy.
25. ADVANTAGEOUS WAGER.
Request a lady to lend you a watch. Examine it, and give a guess as to
its value; then offer to lay the owner a wager, considerably below the
real value of the watch, that she will not answer to three questions which
you will put to her consecutively, "My watch." Show her the watch, and
say, "What is this which I hold in my hand?" she, of course, will not
fail to reply, "My watch." Next present to her notice some other object,
repeating the same question. If she name the object you present, she
loses the wager; but if she be on her guard, and remembering her stake,
she says, "My watch," she must, of course, win; and you, therefore, to
divert her attention, should observe to her, "You are certain to win the
stake, but supposing I lose, what will you give me?" and if, confident
of success, she replies for the third time, "My watch," then take it and
leave her the wager agreed on.
26. THE DOUBLE MEANING.
Place a glass of any liquor upon the table, put a hat over it, and say,
"I will engage to drink the liquor under that hat, and yet I'll not touch
the hat." You then get under the table, and after giving three knocks,
you make a noise with your mouth as if you were swallowing the liquor.
Then getting from under the table, you say, "Now, gentlemen, be pleased to
look." Some one, eager to see if you drank the liquor, will raise up the
hat, when you instantly take the glass, and drink the contents, saying,
"Gentlemen, I have fulfilled my promise. You are all witnesses that _I_
did not touch the hat."
27. THE THREE SPOONS.
This is a most capital trick, but it requires a confederate's aid. Place
three silver spoons crosswise on a table, request any person to touch
one, and assure him you will find out the one he touches by a single
inspection; although you will leave the room while he does so, and even if
he touches it so gently as not to disarrange the order in which they are
once put in the slightest degree. You retire; and when he gives you notice
to enter, walk up to the table and inspect the spoons, as if trying to
ascertain whether there are any finger-marks upon them, and then decide.
Your confederate, of course, makes some sign, previously agreed upon,
to give you notice which is the identical spoon; the actions may be,
touching a button of his jacket for the top spoon, touching his chin for
the second, and putting his finger to his lips may signify the lowest; but
the precise actions are immaterial, so that the spoon they indicate be
understood.
28. THE JUGGLER'S JOKE.
Take a little ball in each hand, and stretch your hands as far apart as
you possibly can, one from the other; then tell the company that you will
make both the balls come into whichever hand they please, without bringing
the hands into contact with each other. If any of the lookers-on challenge
your ability of achieving this feat, all you have to do is to lay one of
the balls down upon a table, turn yourself round, and take it up with your
other hand. Both the balls will thus be in one of your hands, without the
latter approaching the other, agreeably to your promise.
29. TO CAUSE WINE AND WATER TO CHANGE PLACES.
Fill a small narrow-necked bulb with port wine, or with water and colored
spirit of wine, and put the bulb into a tall, narrow glass jar, which is
then to be filled up with cold water: immediately, the colored fluid will
issue from the bulb, and accumulate on the surface of the water in the
jar, while colorless water will be seen accumulating at the bottom of the
bulb. By close inspection, the descending current of the water may also
be observed, and the colored and the colorless liquids be seen to pass
each other in the narrow neck of the bulb without mixing. The whole of the
colored fluid will shortly have ascended, and the bulb will be entirely
filled with clear water.
30. IS IT POSSIBLE?
Side by side place three pieces of anything, (money is most convenient,)
then take away the middle piece without touching it.
By removing the right hand piece to the side of the left, you thus take
away the center without touching it.
31. THE TOPER'S STRATAGEM.
Get a bottle full of water, with the cork driven tightly in, and the top
of it level with the neck of the bottle. You must remove the cork from the
bottle without touching the cork with anything, and without injuring the
bottle.
Wrap a towel round the bottom of the bottle, and strike it evenly and
repeatedly, but not too hard, against a wall, post, or tree, and after
some time the cork will be driven out of the bottle.
32. THE IMPOSSIBLE OMELET.
Produce some butter, eggs, and other ingredients for making an omelet,
together with a frying-pan, in a room where there is a fire, and offer to
bet a wager, that the cleverest cook will not be able to make an omelet
with them. The wager is won by having previously caused the eggs to be
boiled very hard.
33. NEW PERPETUAL ROTARY MOTION.
By an accidental occurrence, it has recently been discovered that a
piece of rock-crystal, or quartz, cut in a peculiar form, produces, upon
an inclined plane, and without any apparent impetus, an extraordinary
rotary motion, which maybe kept up for an indefinite period of time. The
curiosity of this philosophical toy having excited general interest in
the scientific world, Professor Leslie, in his lecture, thus explains the
phenomenon:
"The crystal has six sides, and being cut accurately from the faces to a
perfect convex surface, if placed upon a wetted smooth surface, and held
parallel, no motion will take place, because the center of gravity of each
face is balanced and supported in this position of the plane surface; but
if a slight inclination is given to the plane, a rotary motion commences,
in consequence of the support being removed from the center of gravity.
The impetus once given, the centrifugal force increases the rotary motion
to such a degree, as for an observer to be unable to distinguish the form
of the crystal.
"_To produce the effect._--Place the crystal on a piece of plate or common
window glass, a china or glazed plate, or any smooth surface, perfectly
clean, as grease or a particle of dust would impede its motion. Wet the
surface, and give the plane a slight inclination, when, if properly
managed, a rotatory motion will commence, which may be kept up for any
length of time by giving alternate inclinations to the plane surface,
according to the movements of the crystal; to heighten the pleasing effect
of which, a variety of paper figures, harlequins, waltzers, &c., may be
attached. The first trial of the experiment had better be made by giving a
slight rotatory motion to the crystal."
34. THE MIRACULOUS APPLE.
To divide an apple into several parts, without breaking the rind. Pass
a needle and thread under the rind of the apple, which is easily done
by putting the needle in again at the same hole it came out of; and so
passing on till you have gone round the apple. Then take both ends of
the thread in your hands and draw it out, by which means the apple will
be divided into two parts. In the same manner, you may divide it into as
many parts as you please, and yet the rind will remain entire. Present the
apple to any one to peel, and it will immediately fall to pieces.
35. AN OMELET COOKED IN A HAT, OVER THE FLAME OF A CANDLE.
State that you are about to cook an omelet; then you break four eggs in
a hat, place the hat for a short time over the flame of a candle, and
shortly after produce an omelet, completely cooked, and quite hot.
Some persons will be credulous enough to believe that by the help of
certain ingredients you have been enabled to cook the omelet without fire;
but the secret of the trick is, that the omelet had been previously cooked
and placed in the hat, but could not be seen, because the operator, when
breaking the eggs, placed it too high for the spectators to observe the
contents. The eggs were empty ones, the contents having been previously
extracted, by being sucked through a small aperture; but to prevent the
company from suspecting this, the operator should, as if by accident, let
a full egg fall on the table, which breaking, induces a belief that the
others are also full.
36. THE INFALLIBLE PROPHET.