take care that you know where to find it at pleasure. This you may do by
having _forced_ it. Then put a piece of wax under the thumb-nail of your
right hand, and fasten a hair by it to your thumb, and the other end of
the hair, by the same means, to the card chosen: spread the pack upon the
table, and, making use of any words you think fit, make it jump from the
pack about the table.
THE TELL-TALE CARDS.
Tell any one to shuffle the pack, to take off the upper card, and to
notice it, then to lay it on the table, with its face downward, and put so
many cards upon it as will make up thirteen with the number of spots on
the noted card.
For instance: if the card which the person first looked at was a king,
queen, knave, or ten, bid him lay that card with its face downward,
calling it ten; upon that let him lay another, calling it eleven; upon
that, another, calling it twelve; and upon that, another, calling it
thirteen; then bid him take off the next uppermost card: suppose it to be
an eight, let him lay it down on another part of the table, calling it
eight; upon the latter another, calling it nine, and so on in the same
way, until he makes that heap up to thirteen; then let him go to the next
uppermost card, and so proceed to lay out the third parcel in the same way
as the two preceding, and should the uppermost card be an ace, he must lay
it down, calling it one, the next two, &c.
All this should be done either while you are out of the room, or your back
is turned; upon your turning round, you take the cards which have been
left; your object being to count, without its being perceived, how many
there are remaining, you throw aside the three top cards, and lay the
next three on the table, with their faces upward; then throw away one,
then turn up one, and so on in the same way, until you ascertain how many
cards they are; we will suppose that you find twenty-five cards left;
deduct ten, when the remaining fifteen will be the number of all the spots
contained in all the bottom cards of the three heaps, counting the court
cards as ten; you must recollect that ten is, in all cases, the number to
be deducted from the cards remaining. Having found that fifteen is the
number of spots on the cards, do not declare it at once; but select from
those cards which lie on the table, face uppermost, three or four which
added together will make fifteen.
For instance: should there be a deuce, a five, and an eight, lay them
aside for a moment, and taking the other cards from which you selected the
three, put them along with those which you previously rejected; you now
hand the three telltale cards to any person, assuring him that the number
of pips on those cards will be the same as those on the bottom cards of
the three heaps, which will be found to be the case.
THE DOUBLE DOZEN.
Present a pack of cards to one of the company, desiring him to shuffle
them well, and to get them shuffled by whomsoever he pleases; then
make several persons cut them; after which you will propose to one of
the company to take the pack and think of a card, and remember it,
and likewise its order in the pack, by counting one, two, three, four,
&c., till he comes, exclusively, to the one thought of; offer to go
into another room, or to be blindfolded, while he is doing this. Now
declare in what order the card shall be in the pack; say, for instance
the twenty-fourth; and, by attending to the following instructions, it
will prove to be so:--Suppose the person who thinks of the card stops at
thirteen, and that the thirteenth card was the queen of hearts, the number
you have stated it shall be in the pack being twenty-four; you return
to the room, in case you had left it, or desire the handkerchief to be
removed, if you have been blindfolded; and, without asking any question
of the person who has thought of the card, ask only for the pack, and
apply it to your nose, as if to smell it; then passing it behind your
back, or under the table, take, from the bottom of the pack, twenty-three
cards; that is to say, one less than the number you have stated the card
thought of shall be; place these twenty-three cards on the top. This
being done, return the pack to the person who had thought of the card,
requesting him to reckon the cards from the top of the pack, beginning
by the number of the card he thought of. His card being the thirteenth,
he will be compelled to count fourteen, and you are to stop him when he
comes to twenty-three, reminding him that the number you have mentioned
is twenty-four, and that, consequently, the twenty-fourth card, which he
is going to take up, will be the card thought of; and so it will most
certainly be.[15]
THE HOUSEBREAKERS.
Take a pack of cards, and place all the aces together, the twos,
the threes, and so on up to the kings. There will then be thirteen
different heaps. You say, "Here are four houses (laying down the four
aces separately), which four knaves enter for the purpose of robbing
(laying a knave upon each ace), and take with them their implements for
housebreaking (and upon each of the knaves you lay a two, three, four,
five, six, seven, and eight). The mistresses of the houses come home
(laying a queen upon each of the heaps), bringing their money with them
(laying a nine upon each queen). Shortly after, their husbands also return
(laying a king upon each queen), also bringing money with them" (laying
a ten upon each heap). You have now disposed of all the cards, which form
four distinct heaps. Then lay one heap over the other, and let as many
persons cut them as please. When this is done, if you commence at the top
of the pack, and lay the cards face downwards, one by one, so as to make
thirteen separate heaps, you will find all the aces together, the twos,
and so on, as you originally placed them.
THE MAGIC BOOK.
Provide an octavo book of plain paper, of whatever thickness you please.
Turn over seven leaves from the beginning, and paint a group of flowers;
then turn over seven more leaves, and paint the same again, and so on,
until you have turned the book through to the end. Then paste a slip of
paper or parchment to each of the painted leaves. Turn the book over
again, and paint upon every sixth leaf a parrot, and then paste strips
upon them as you did upon the first, only a little lower down. Proceed in
this manner until you have painted the book full of pictures of various
sorts, taking care one side of the leaves is left white paper. When you
use the book, hold it in your left hand, and set the thumb of your right
hand upon the first of the parchment stays; run the book through, and it
will appear full of flowers; then stop and, blowing upon the book, run it
through again, with the thumb upon the second slips of parchment, and it
will, appear full of parrots. Afterwards, reverse the book, and run it
through as before, and it will appear composed of blank paper.
THE TAPE TRICK.
This trick consists in suffering a person to tie your thumbs together
tightly, and yet that you shall be able to release them in a moment,
and tie them together again. The mode of performing this trick is as
follows:--Lay a piece of tape across the palms of your hands, placed
side by side, letting the ends hang down; then bring your palms quickly
together, at the same time privately catching hold of the middle of the
tape with your fourth and fifth fingers. Then direct any person to tie
your thumbs together as tight as he pleases, but he will not, of course,
in reality be tying them, because you have hold of the tape, yet it will
nevertheless appear to him that he is doing so. Request him to place a hat
over your hands; then blow upon the hat, and say, "Be loose," slipping
your thumbs from under the tape; direct him to remove the hat, and show
your thumbs free. You then request the hat may again be placed over your
hands, and blowing upon it, you say "Be tied," slipping your thumbs under
the tape again; and when the hat is removed, your thumbs will appear tied
as at first. After performing the trick, convey the tape away, lest it be
detected.
MORE THAN FULL.
Fill a glass to the brim with water, and you may add to it spirit of wine
without causing the water to overflow.
FLOATING NEEDLES.
Fill a cup with water, gently lay on its surface small fine needles, and
they will float.
THE KNOTTED THREAD.
Considerable amusement, not unmixed with wonder, may be occasioned among
a party of ladies, by a clever performance of this trick. It is most
frequently performed by a female, but the effect of it is considerably
increased when it is displayed by a youth. A piece of calico, muslin, or
linen, is taken in the left hand, a needle is threaded in the presence
of the spectators, and the usual, or even a double or treble knot, made
at the extremity of one of the ends of it. The operator commences his
work by drawing the needle and the thread in it quite through the linen,
notwithstanding the knot, and continues to make several stitches in like
manner successively.
The mode of performing this seeming wonder is as follows: A bit of thread,
about a quarter of a yard long, is turned once round the top of the middle
finger of the right hand, upon which a thimble is then placed, to keep
it secure. This must be done privately, and the thread kept concealed,
while a needle is threaded with a bit of thread of a similar length. The
thread in the needle must have one of its ends drawn up nearly close,
and be concealed between the forefinger and thumb; the other should hang
down nearly as long as, and by the side of the thread, which is fastened
under the thimble, so that these two may appear to be the two ends of the
thread. The end of the piece that is fastened under the thimble is then
knotted, and the performer begins to sew, by moving his hand quickly after
he has taken up the stitch. It will appear as though he actually passed
the knotted thread through the cloth.
THE BACCHUS EXPERIMENT.
This experiment, showing the elasticity of air, is performed with a
pleasing toy. It represents a figure of Bacchus sitting across a cask,
in which are two separate compartments. Put into one of them a portion
of wine or colored liquid, and place the apparatus under the exhausted
receiver of an air-pump, when the elastic force of the confined air will
cause the liquid to ascend a transparent glass tube (fitted on purpose),
into the mouth of the Bacchanalian figure. To render the experiment more
striking, a bladder, with a small quantity of air therein, is fastened
around the figure, and covered with a loose silken robe, when the air in
the bladder will expand, and produce an apparent increase in the bulk of
the figure, as if occasioned by the excess of liquor drunk.
CURIOUS METHOD OF MEASURING THE HEIGHT OF A TREE.
To ascertain the height of an object a peculiar method of measurement is
in use among the Isthmus Indians. In measuring the height of a tree, for
instance, a man proceeds from its base to a point where, on turning the
back towards it, and putting the head between the legs, he can just see
the top; at the spot where he is able to do this he makes a mark on the
ground to the base of the tree; this distance will be equal to the height.
THE TRANSPOSABLE PIECES.
Take two quarter eagles and two dimes, and grind part of them away, on
one side only, so that they may be but half the common thickness; and
observe, that they must be quite thin at the edge; then rivet a quarter
eagle and a dime together. Lay one of these double pieces, with the dime
upwards, on the palm of your hand, at the bottom of your three first
fingers, and lay the other piece with the quarter eagle upwards in like
manner, in the other hand. Let the company take notice in which hand is
the quarter eagle, and in which is the dime. Then, as you shut your hands,
you naturally turn the pieces over, and when you open them again, the dime
and the quarter eagle will appear to have changed their places.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 15: Be sure and have the number you name greater than that of
the first position of the card in the pack; for instance, twenty-four is
greater than thirteen.]
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