pass them back into the hat and it covered. To do this trick you must have
in your left hand a plate, and under the plate and in your left hand have
previously placed five pieces of coin such as you will have placed in
the hat; after you have counted the fifteen pieces into the hat, you then
ask the person whom you have selected from the audience to assist you in
performing the tricks, to count the money out of the hat into the plate,
to see that there is no mistake, after which you turn the money out of the
plate into the hat, and at the same time let fall the five pieces you have
secreted in your hand under the plate; you then ask him to draw out five
pieces, which will still leave fifteen, you take the five that is drawn
out and place them in a drawer (see the orange and apple trick), then you
go through the magic words, _Presto_, _Pacillo_, _Pass_; you then open the
drawer, (after placing your finger on the spring to hold the inside drawer
in which the five pieces were placed,) and show the audience that the five
pieces are gone; you then tell him to get the hat and see how many pieces
are in it; he gets the hat, and to the surprise of all, he counts the
original number, fifteen.
67. MYSTERIOUS COIN, OR HOW TO MAKE DOLLARS PASS THROUGH A WINE GLASS, A
CHINA PLATE, A TABLE, AND FALL INTO THE HAND.
After performing trick 40, (p. 27,) you may address the company again,
and say: "I will show you the nature of this trick, if you will only look
sharp enough to see how it is done. Therefore, watch closely, and if you
have _very_ penetrating eyes, you may see the money go through this glass
and fall upon the plate, and from that through the table into my hand.
I will do it deliberately, so that you may have every opportunity of
detecting the deception, which will make you as wise as myself."
Now you take a plate and place it on the table, place upon that a wine
glass upside down, and take the empty leathern case and hold it before the
audience, to convince them that nothing is inside. Place it, in a careless
manner, over the riveted money, which you had before put a little aside
from the view of the spectators. Place a small ball on the bottom of the
glass, then take the case with the concealed coins therein, and place
them over the ball, which will be secreted therein. Now tell the company
to keep a sharp look out, and they may discover the whole process. Take
the loose coins and throw them on the table; bring them again under the
table, and exchange them for a ball previously deposited on the shelf, and
lay the same upon the table. Remove the case alone, which, of course,
will leave the money exposed on the top of the glass. "Now," says the
performer, "I presume that you have discovered the whole mystery; but if
not, I will give you another opportunity, and will return the money whence
it came." Cover the money with the case, and bring the ball which you
previously exposed to the spectator under the table, and exchange it for
the money on the shelf, which you again toss upon the table. Remove the
case with the coins concealed therein, and the ball will appear on the top
of the glass, as at first. Our performer makes the following concluding
speech: "Now, as you have, I suppose, discovered the whole mystery, I
hope, ladies, that _you_ will not set up an opposition line against me;
since, if you do, you will very seriously injure my pockets, and, of
course, _attract_ all the company, and leave me in an empty house with
empty pockets."
68. PROFESSOR WYMAN'S GREAT TRICK OF THE EGYPTIAN FLUIDS, OR
IMPOSSIBILITIES ACCOMPLISHED.
Mix wine and water together, then separate them by means of a red and
white tape. To perform this trick you must have three covers (tin) made,
of an obeliatic form, terminating at about one inch and a half on top,
upon the top of two of these covers is soldered a piece of thick brass,
copper, or lead, say about a quarter of an inch in thickness, in the
center make a hole about the same in diameter, about two inches from the
top, and on the inside will be a partition or floor, through the center of
which make a small a hole, (this partition must be water tight.) Previous
to performing the trick fill the two covers (the tops of them) one with
water, the other with wine, then cork them well which excludes the air,
consequently keeps the liquid from coming out at the small hole made in
the center of the partition, then take two sound tumblers and put about
as much water in one as there is water in one of the covers, place the
cover over that, the tumbler that has the water, then put about the same
quantity of wine in the other tumbler, as there is in the other cover,
and place that cover over it; now have a tumbler with a hole through the
center of the bottom (made with a drill), have this hole closed with a
long peg from the under side, then through your trick table have a small
auger hole made to admit the peg, this tumbler must also be covered with
a similar cover in external appearance; you then take the covers off
the tumblers containing water and wine, and in presence of the audience
mix the two liquids, then pour both into the tumbler that has the hole
through the bottom, place the tumblers back and cover them over, now
lift the tumbler up containing the mixture that the audience may see it,
(keeping your hand in front of the peg,) place it back with peg through
the hole, cover it over, then take a red and white tape string that has
previously been fastened to a small stick, and place it in the top of the
cover that is over the false tumbler, then take the end of the red tape,
which has a small wire to it, and after removing the cork from the cover
over the wine, drop the end of the wire into the whole; the air is then
let into the wine, which lets it run down into the tumblers underneath,
do likewise with the white tape, then reach your hand under the table
and draw the peg out of the tumbler and let the mixture run down into a
tumbler or cup secreted there for that purpose; now remove the covers and
show the audience that the tumbler you poured the mixture into is empty,
and the one you poured it out of contains it again, which will greatly
astonish them. That accomplished magician, Professor Wyman, has astonished
applauding and delighted thousands in every city in the United States and
Canada, by the performance of this wonderful experiment.
69. THE MAGICIAN'S SNOW BALL. ONE OF THE FAKER OF AVA'S FEATS.
Take a cup and fill it with rice, then change it into a handkerchief. To
do this trick you have two cups (tin) made to fit one within the other,
but let the outside cup be about two inches deeper than the inside one,
let the rims be turned square down all round, but let that of the inside
cup be a trifle larger than the outside one, so that when the tin cover
(which you must also have) is put over them it will fit sufficiently tight
to lift out the inside cup when it is taken off. Previous to performing
this trick you must place in the bottom of the deep cup a white pocket
handkerchief, then place the other cup in it, after which bring it out in
presence of the audience, then fill the inside cup (which to the audience
appears to be the only cup) with rice, place the cover over it, after
which repeat the mystic words _Presto_, _Pacillo_, _Pass_, then remove
the cover and the inside cup will have stuck to it and be concealed from
view, now take out the handkerchief, and it will greatly astonish those
who see it.
70. THE MAGNETIZED CANE.
[Illustration]
Is a very surprising little fancy, and is calculated to create much
astonishment in the parlor or drawing room. To perform this trick, take a
piece of black silk thread or horse hair, about two feet long, and fasten
to each end of the same bent hooks of a similar color. When unobserved,
fasten the hooks in the back part of your pantaloon-legs, about two inches
below the bend of the knees. Then place the cane (it should be a dark one
and not too heavy), within the inner part of the thread, as represented
in the engraving, and by a simple movement of the legs, you can make the
cane dance about, and perform a great variety of fantastic movements. At
night your audience cannot perceive the thread, and apparently the cane
will have no support whatever. The performer should inform the company
before commencing this trick, that he intends to magnetize the cane, and
by moving his hands as professors of magnetism do, the motion of the legs
will not be noticed.
71. PROFESSOR WYMAN'S MODE OF PERFORMING THE EGG BAG TRICK.
Take a bag and exhibit it to the audience, turn the bag inside out, then
back again, after which take several eggs out of it. To perform this
trick, have you a bag about a half yard wide, and about five eighths
deep, made of black cambric, then take strips of the same cloth about
three inches wide and sew them on each side of the strip lengthwise of
the bag, these are called cells, it is in these that the eggs are placed;
let the end of the cells be closed at the mouth of the large bag, so that
the mouth of the cells will be the reverse of that of the large bag,
these are filled with eggs made of wood, with the exception of one or
two natural eggs, which you take out first, and break, to convince the
audience that they are genuine. When you turn the bag you keep these cells
next to you, and as the large bag is turned upside down, the eggs are in
the bottom of the cells at the mouth of the large bag. The performer will
then catch the bag just above the eggs, and give it a few wraps across the
other hand, to convince the audience that there is nothing in it, after
which he turns the bag again and takes out several eggs, which to the
audience is a great mystery.
* * * * *
In this account of conjuring, I have purposely avoided such tricks as
require expensive apparatus. Such apparatus is either entirely beyond a
boy's reach, or at all events he ought not to be encouraged in the notion
of spending much money on objects of no real use. A boy of any ingenuity
will make the greater part of the apparatus himself, or at least he can do
the painting and polishing of his machinery. I have mentioned no machinery
that need cost more than a dollar at the outside, and not that, if a boy
is acquainted with the use of tools. It has also been my especial care
to introduce only such experiments as are adapted for performance at the
parlor or drawing-room table or fireside, and by imparting interesting
facts, to stimulate the young experimentalist to inquire into the laws
that regulate them; by aiding him to acquire dexterity of practice,
to smoothe the road to the development of principles; and, above all,
to enable him to escape an imputation which every boy of spirit would
consider the depth of disgrace--that of being
"No Conjuror!"
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: That is, make two bags and sew the edges together, so that
actually there will be a third bag between the two.]
TRICKS WITH CARDS.
Although proficiency in games with cards, is, in our opinion, a most
pernicious accomplishment for youth, and one which cannot be too severely
reprobated, we do not consider SLEIGHT-OF-HAND TRICKS with a pack of
cards, at all objectionable, but rather a source of much harmless
amusement; and, under this impression, we do not hesitate to insert the
following series of excellent deceptions and sleight-of-hand tricks.
Playing cards are believed to have been invented in Spain as early as the
fourteenth century; for, in 1378, John the First, king of Castile, forbade
card-playing in his dominions, in an edict which is anterior to any
similar legislative measure in other parts of Europe. The figures upon the
cards themselves, add to the strength of the supposition; for the suits
answering to those of spades and clubs have not the same inverted heart
and trefoil shape which ours of the present day display, but _espadas_,
or swords, and _bastos_, or cudgels, or clubs; so that in fact we retain
their names, though we have altered the figures. At the present time,
too, cards are a favorite diversion of the Spaniards, and the monopoly of
selling them is vested in the hands of the sovereign.
In the reign of Henry the Seventh, card-playing was a very fashionable
court amusement in England. The cards then used, differed materially
in their figures from those now in vogue, as instead of clubs, spades,
diamonds, and hearts, they had rabbits, pinks, roses, and the flowers
called columbines, upon them; as also bells, hearts, leaves, acorns, deer,
&c. Let us now turn to the tricks that can be played with cards.
In accordance with my rule, I shall lay the principal stress on card
tricks that require no apparatus, and may be performed with ordinary
cards.
1. TO MAKE THE PASS.
This is a necessary beginning for card tricks. "Making the pass," is the
technical term for shifting either the top or the bottom card to any place
in the pack that you like. It is almost impossible to describe it, and I
can only say that it will be learned better in five minutes from a friend,
than in as many hours from a book. As, however, a friend is not always to
be found who can perform the pass, I will endeavor to describe it.
[Illustration]
The cards are held in both hands, right hand underneath and left above,
as in the engraving, where, as the _bottom_ card is to be raised to the
top, the little finger is seen between that card and those above it. By a
quick movement of the right hand, the bottom card is slipped away towards
the left, and is placed upon the top card, under shadow of the left hand,
which is raised for the moment to allow of its passage.
This movement must be assiduously practiced before it is exhibited in
public, as nothing looks more awkward than to see it clumsily performed,
in which case two or three cards generally tumble on the floor.
2. TO TELL A CARD BY ITS BACK.
While shuffling the pack, cast a glance at the bottom card, make the pass,
and bring it to the top. Continue to shuffle, and lay upon it by degrees
as many cards as you like, say six. Then lay the pack on the table, face
downwards, and divide it into seven heaps, beginning at the bottom, and
leave the seventh heap larger than any of the others.
When you have done this, take one card from the top of the seventh heap,
appear to calculate, and lay it, face upwards, on one of the other heaps.
Do so with five more cards, thus leaving your slipped card at the top of
the seventh heap. You then announce that by the aid of the six cards you
will name the seventh. You name it accordingly, after carefully studying
the other cards, and on asking a spectator to take it up, it will be seen
that you are right.
If you place five cards above the slipped card, you will lay out six
heaps, and if eight cards, there will of course be nine heaps.
3. THE CARD NAMED WITHOUT BEING SEEN.
As in the last trick, cast a glance at the bottom card, say the ace of
spades. Lay out the pack in as many heaps as you like, noting where that
one is laid which contains that bottom card. Ask any one to take up the
top card of any heap, look at it, and replace it. You then gather up the
heaps apparently by chance, but you take care to put the heap containing
the bottom card upon the card which has been chosen. You then give any one
the cards to cut, and on counting them over, the card that immediately
follows the ace of spades is the card chosen.
If by any accident the two cards should be separated when cut, the upper
card of the pack is the chosen one, and can be picked out with seeming
care.
4. THE CARD TOLD BY THE OPERA GLASS.
Make out a table, such as is given in Fig. 1, and place it in an
opera-glass, so that the figures will be visible when you look through it.
For convenience, I have made mine as seen in Fig. 2, the numbers 1, 2, 3
in each series being understood. The best plan is to write the numbers, or
cut them out of a book, and paste them on a circular piece of cardboard,
which must then be soaked in oil, so as to make it semi-transparent. The
light will then easily pierce through it, and the figures will be better
visible than if it were opaque.
It will be seen that Fig. 2 contains as much matter as Fig. 1, and that
two thirds of the figures are saved by it.
[Illustration:
+----------+---------+---------+
| 1. 131 | 10. 132 | 19. 133 |
| | | |
| 2. 231 | 11. 232 | 20. 233 |
| | | |
| 3. 331 | 12. 332 | 21. 333 |
|----------+---------+---------|
| 4. 121 | 13. 122 | 22. 123 |
| | | |
| 5. 221 | 14. 222 | 23. 223 |
| | | |
| 6. 321 | 15. 322 | 24. 323 |
|----------+---------+---------|
| 7. 111 | 16. 112 | 25. 113 |
| | | |
| 8. 211 | 17. 212 | 26. 213 |
| | | |
| 9. 311 | 18. 312 | 27. 313 |
+----------+---------+---------+
Fig. 1.]
[Illustration:
+---------+---------+
| 1. 31. | 10. 32. |
| | |
| 4. 21. | 13. 22. |
| | |
| 7. 11. | 16. 12. |
+---+-----+-----+---+
| 19. 33. |
| |
| 22. 23. |
| |
| 25. 13. |
+-----------+
Fig. 2.]
These preliminaries being arranged, tell any one to take any twenty-seven
cards out of a pack, and to think of any one of them. Deal them into
three heaps, and ask him in which heap it is, and what number from the
top he would like it to come after the third deal. Suppose he chooses it
to be the twenty-sixth card, you take up your opera-glass and look for
the number 26. This you will find last but one, arranged thus--26 213 The
meaning is, that if the chosen card is to be the twenty-sixth, the heap
in which it was found must be for the first time placed second, the second
time first, and the last time third. So you pick up the cards, taking care
to keep that heap number two. You again deal them in three heaps, and this
time you place the heap in which is the chosen card at the top, being
number one. Deal them a third time, and on gathering up the heaps, place
it at the bottom.
Then, on counting from the top, the chosen card will be found to be the
twenty-sixth.
5. THE FOUR KINGS.
Take the four kings out of a pack of cards, and also two other court
cards, which are not to be shown. Spread out the kings before the
spectators, but conceal the two court cards between the third and fourth
kings. Lay the cards face downwards on the table. Take off the bottom
card, which is, of course one of the kings; show it as if by accident,
and place it on the top. Take the next card, (which is one of the court
cards,) and place that in the middle of the pack. Take the third card, (i.
e., the second court card,) and place that also near the middle of the
pack. There will then be one king at the top and three at the bottom. Ask
any one to cut the cards, and to examine them, when he will find all four
kings together in the middle of the pack.
It is better to use court cards to place between the third and fourth
kings, because if the cards should slip aside, they would not be so
readily distinguished as common cards.
6. THE FOUR ACCOMPLICES.
Let a person draw four cards from the pack, and tell him to think of one
of them. When he returns you the four cards, dexterously place two of them
under the pack, and two on the top. Under those at the bottom you place
four cards of any sort, and then, taking eight or ten from the bottom
cards, you spread them on the table, and ask the person if the card he
fixed on be among them. If he say no, you are sure it is one of the two
cards on the top. You then pass two cards to the bottom, and drawing off
the lowest of them, you ask if that be not his card. If he again say no,
you take that card up, and bid him draw his card from the bottom of the
pack. If the person say his card is among those you first drew from the
bottom, you must dexterously take up the four cards that you put under
them, and placing those on the top, let the other two be the bottom cards
of the pack, which draw in the manner before described.
7. TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF IN A CIRCLE OF TEN.
[Illustration]
Place the first ten cards of any suit in a circular form, as in the
annexed figure; the ace being counted as one. Request a person to think
of a number or card, and to touch also any other number or card; desire
him to add to the number of the card he touched the number of the cards
laid out, that is, ten; then bid him count that sum backward, beginning
at the card he touched, and reckoning that card at the number he thought
of; when he will thus end it at the card or number he first thought of,
and thereby enable you to ascertain what that was. For example, suppose he
thought of the number three, and touched the sixth card, if ten be added
to six, it will of course make sixteen; and if he count that number from
the sixth card, the one touched, in a retrograde order, reckoning three on
the sixth, four on the fifth, five on the fourth, six on the third cards,
and so on; it will be found to terminate on the third card, which will
therefore show you the number the person thought of. When the person is
counting the numbers, he should not, of course, call them out aloud.
8. TO GUESS THE CARD THOUGHT OF.
To perform this trick, the number of cards must be divisible by 3, and it
is more convenient that the number should be odd. Desire a person to think
of a card; place the cards on the table with their faces downward, and,
taking them up in order, arrange them in three heaps, with their faces
upward, and in such a manner that the first card of the pack shall be
first in the first heap, the second the first in the second heap, and the
third the first of the third; the fourth the second of the first, and so
on. When the heaps are completed, ask the person in which heap the card
he thought of is, and when he tells you, place that heap in the middle;
then turning up the packet, form three heaps, as before, and again inquire
in which heap the card thought of is; form the three heaps afresh, place
the heap containing the card thought of again in the center, and ask which
of them contains the card. When this is known, place it as before, between
the other two, and again form three heaps, asking the same question.
Then take up the heaps for the last time, put that containing the card
thought of in the middle, and place the packet on the table with the
faces downward, turn up the cards till you count half the number of those
contained in the packet; twelve, for example, if there be twenty-four, in
which case the twelfth card will be the one the person thought of. If the
number of the cards be at the same time odd, and divisible by three, such
as fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-seven, &c., the trick will be much easier,
for the card thought of will always be that in the middle of the heap in
which it is found the third time, so that it may be easily distinguished
without counting the cards; in reality, nothing is necessary but to
remember, while you are arranging the heap for the third time, the card
which is the middle one of each. Suppose, for example, that the middle
card of the first heap be the ace of spades; that the second be the king
of hearts; and that the third be the knave of hearts: if you are told that
the heap containing the required card is the third, that card must be
the knave of hearts. You may therefore have the cards shuffled, without
troubling them any more; and then, looking them over for form's sake, may
name the knave of hearts when it occurs.
9. TO TELL THE NUMBER OF CARDS BY THE WEIGHT.
Take a pack of cards, say forty, and privately insert among them two
cards rather larger than the others; let the first be the fifteenth, and
the other the twenty-sixth, from the top. Seem to shuffle the cards, and
cut them at the first long card; poise those you have taken off in your
hand, and say, "There must be fifteen cards here;" then cut them at the
second long card, and say, "There are but eleven here;" and poising the
remainder, exclaim, "And here are fourteen cards." On counting them, the
spectators will find your calculations correct.
AUDACITY.
Several tricks may be successfully played by sheer audacity. I once
astonished a whole party by holding a pack of cards over my head, and
naming each. The fact was, that I was standing exactly opposite a large
mirror, in which the cards were reflected, while the spectators, having
their backs to the mirror, suspected nothing.
I will give one or two tricks that depend on audacity for success.
10. THE CARD FOUND AT THE SECOND GUESS.
Offer the cards to any one, and let him draw one. You then hold the cards
behind your back, and tell him to place his card on the top. Pretend to
make a great shuffling, but only turn that card with its back to the
others, still keeping it at the top. Then hold up the cards with their
faces towards the spectator, and ask him if the bottom card is his. While
doing so, you inspect his card at your leisure. He of course denies
it, and you begin shuffling again furiously. "Let me do that," he will
probably say; so, as you are perfectly acquainted with his card, you let
him shuffle as much as he likes, and then, when you get the cards back
again, shuffle until his card is at the bottom. Then pass them behind your
back, make a ruffling noise with them, and show him his own card at the
bottom.
11. THE CARD FOUND UNDER THE HAT.