Nowadays Conjuring has its professors and teachers, and may be ranked as a science, if not as an art. Tricks that have astonished audiences for a length of time are explained upon the payment of fees, and instructions are given to amateurs as to how to perform them; but in these pages we aim at nothing beyond describing certain tricks and telling how they are done, and we would seriously urge our young friends to remember that between this and teaching them how to perform the tricks there is a vast difference. Many of the tricks described may be performed on the descriptions here given, but any one anxious to become an adept even in what we describe will be well repaid in the greater amusement he will be able to provide for his friends if he takes a few lessons from some professor of magic. Valuable hints may be obtained from various books, and we heartily recommend, for pleasant reading as well as for study, the works of Piesse, Hoffmann, Cremer, and the "Memoirs of Robert Houdin." Perhaps next after personal lessons in the art, Hoffmann's will be found the most instructive book as to details; Cremer's gives the best variety of simple tricks adapted to the drawing-room or parlour; while for general interest and fascinating reading the "Memoirs of Robert Houdin" will carry off the palm against many novels and romances.

The following general hints and directions must always be borne in mind. The simplest trick cannot be performed without much patience and perseverance; every trick must be practised over and over again before attempting it in the presence of an audience. It is advisable to practise the tricks before a looking-glass, and for two reasons: firstly, to see that you are doing the trick neatly; and secondly, it is a training in accustoming the eyes not to look at the hands during the performance of a sleight. A conjurer should always have his eyes fixed intently on his audience, and keep up during the exhibition of his tricks an ever flowing talk or "patter." He must never lose confidence in himself; if so, all is lost. Nor must he call attention to what is about to be done; but when the trick is really done, he should then direct the attention of the audience to it, as if it were about to be done. A trick should not be repeated; if an encore is called for, a similar trick should be substituted. The object of the conjurer is always not to be found out.

The cultivation of the art of talking, or the use of "patter," is a leading essential to success; it is as necessary to rehearse the conversation to be used as the tricks to be exhibited. The talking, too, must always be uttered as if that were really the most important part of the entertainment, the tricks being only accessory thereto. This judicious "patter" will not only keep the audience amused, but will prevent them from concentrating their attention more closely than is desirable upon the manipulations of the performer. If some "clever fellow" should be present, more intent upon perplexing the performer than upon being amused, it will be necessary in self-defence to play off some tricks at his expense early in the entertainment.

The conjurer should dispense with all grotesque attire, ordinary evening or morning dress being ample. He should also do without confederates in the audience and assistants on the stage or platform, but an assistant behind the scenes will sometimes be very necessary. Showing off merely mechanical or automatic tricks is to be avoided. Many of them are very wonderful, but the whole credit of them is due to their inventors. As a general rule, the Magician's Wand and the Magician's Table are all the materials needed for the practice of conjuring sufficient to amuse a friendly audience in a drawing-room for an hour or more. The wand in itself is of no real use, but it serves as a means of directing the attention of the audience away from the hands of the performer, when it is judiciously placed upon or removed from the table, or when pointed at some particular object. It should be a tapering stick or ruler, from a foot to a foot and a half in length. The table may or may not be specially prepared, but it should be a few inches higher than an ordinary table, in order that the operator may stand at it, and if necessary place his hand behind and below, without stooping or appearing to arrange anything under it; a drawer or cloth judiciously placed will sometimes be necessary. With these general remarks we will proceed with our programme, giving first a few

SIMPLE DECEPTIONS AND MINOR TRICKS.

EATABLE CANDLE-ENDS.

Punch with a metal tube a few pieces out of some apples; place in one end of each piece a strip of burnt almond, and make the whole look as much like candle-ends as possible. During the entertainment have them brought in, and, lighting them one by one, proceed to explain in the "patter" the relish there is in tallow, and then eat them off as quickly as possible. The almond strips imitating the wick of the candle should be slightly oiled, to make them burn readily. A quick lad will be able easily to extinguish the flame before it reaches his mouth without letting it appear that the flame is extinguished. The imitation candle-ends should not be handed round for inspection; but when the performer is able to make a clever substitution it may be advisable to allow some real candle-ends to be carefully examined.

The instructions as to How to Swallow a Flame come in appropriately here. On putting the candle or other lighted object to the mouth, breathe strongly inwards; the flame will then enter the mouth without touching or scorching the lips, and as the lips close will become extinguished.

TO PULL A STRING THROUGH A BUTTON-HOLE.

Tie together the ends of a piece of string about two feet long; pass it thus tied through a button-hole of the performer's coat; hitch each end on to one or other of the thumbs, catch up with the little fingers the upper strings on the thumbs of the opposite hand; then stretching out the hands will have the effect of giving the string a very complicated appearance. If the hold of the right thumb and left little finger, or vice versÂ, be then loosed, and the hands smartly separated, the string will come away from, and seem as though it had passed through, the substance of the coat.

THE CUT STRING RESTORED.

Take a piece of string about four feet long; hold the ends, points upwards, between the first and second finger and thumb of the left hand and the first finger and thumb of the right hand, letting the remainder of the string hang down in a loop; then bring the right hand close to the left, crossing at right angles that end of the cord held in the left hand, and continue to pull until half the length of the string has passed the left hand, at the same time slipping the third finger of the left hand between the two parts of the string. The first finger and thumb of the right hand should then seize the string at a point just below the little finger of the left hand, the third finger of that hand at the same time drawing back the string towards the palm of the hand. The part of the string now held horizontally between the two hands is only the continuation of the end held in the left hand, although it will appear to be the middle of the string. This piece of the string some one of the audience should be invited to cut, and thus apparently cut the string in half, although in fact he will only be cutting off two or three inches. Place all the ends of the string between the teeth, withdraw the short piece with the tongue, and show the remainder—apparently the string as it was at the commencement. Of course, the string must not be measured, or the trick will be detected. Some little practice will be needed before the necessary arrangement of the string can be neatly made.

THE MUSICAL SNAIL.

A common garden snail may be made to perform musical sounds by making it crawl along a pane of glass placed on rests like a sounding-board; the sounds emitted will be something like those of a harmonium.

TO EXTRACT A CORK FROM A BOTTLE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE CORK.

Fill a bottle full of water or other liquid, and cork it so tightly that the bottom of the cork is flush with the liquid. Wrap the bottle round at the bottom with a thick cloth, and knock it against some immovable object. The motion of the water acting as a solid body should force out the cork.

THE BOTTLE FOUNTAIN.

Force a glass tube, one end of which is a trifle larger than the other end, through the stopper of a bottle, with the small end of the tube upwards. The bottle should be about two-thirds full of water, and the tube should reach nearly, but not quite, to the bottom. Blow with considerable force down the tube, and on quickly removing the mouth the water will spurt out, forming a fountain of spray so long as any water remains in the bottle.

TO PLACE WINE UNDER A HAT, AND TO DRINK IT WITHOUT TOUCHING THE HAT.

Cover a glass of wine over with a hat placed on an ordinary table, and say that you will drink the wine without touching the hat. As a preliminary, impress upon the company the necessity of every one abstaining from touching the hat; then get under the table, and pretend from there to drink the wine by sucking it through the table. After getting up, request some person (who will not be likely to refuse) to remove the hat, in order to ascertain whether the wine has disappeared. Immediately upon this being done, take up the glass and swallow its contents, claiming to have drunk the wine without lifting the hat. Of course this deception should not be practised more than once before the same audience.

CARD TRICKS AND COMBINATIONS.

For Parlour Magic a pack of cards will be found the source of endless amusement and variety. For the sleight-of-hand card tricks considerable practice is needed before they can be performed neatly and cleverly, so as to prevent the detection of the trick. To palm a card, to make the pass, to force a card, to make a false shuffle, to sight a card, are necessary accomplishments for the conjurer to learn and practise. As a general rule, it will be found more convenient to exhibit card tricks with a piquet pack of cards, or with an ordinary pack from which have been thrown out the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes; the pack so reduced can more readily be palmed; indeed, for a lad whose hand has not attained its full size, the reduction of the pack from fifty-two cards is absolutely necessary.

TO PALM A CARD.

This consists in bringing a card from the general pack into the hollow of the hand and keeping it there unperceived. The card it is desired to palm should first be brought to the top of the pack; hold the pack, with the faces of the cards downwards, in the left hand, covering the pack with the right hand. Push the card to be palmed until it projects beyond the edge of the pack; with the third finger of the left hand press the card upwards into the right hand, which should be half closed over it. Slightly bend the card, and it will lie snugly curved up against the inside of the hand. The better to prevent detection, then take the pack of cards between the finger and thumb of the right hand and offer it to be shuffled. If the palmed card is not known by the performer this will give him an opportunity of seeing it. The mere motion of taking the pack into the hand will give sufficient opportunity to return the palmed card into the pack. The possessor of a large hand with long fingers may in this way, if necessary, palm a whole pack of cards, and so enable him to increase very considerably his repertoire of card tricks.

TO MAKE THE PASS.

No one should attempt conjuring tricks with cards until he has thoroughly mastered this sleight; it requires a good deal of practice to perform it neatly and without risk of detection. Its object is to reverse the respective positions of the top and bottom halves of the pack. There are various methods of producing this result, some requiring the use of both hands and some of one hand only. Upon the instructions here given the plan may be varied after experience has been gained, but M. Robert Houdin states that at least an hour a day for a fortnight should be devoted to practising the "pass" before the conjurer appears before an audience. At any rate, it is useless to attempt card-conjuring until the "pass" has been mastered. The following description of how to make the pass is derived from Hoffmann's translation of Houdin's account of the trick:—The cards are to be held in the left hand, with the faces downwards, and between the two cards at which the pass is to be made the tip of the little finger is to be inserted; then cover the whole pack with the right hand, and at the same time take between the middle finger and thumb of that hand the opposite ends of the cards forming the lower portion of the pack; with the little and middle fingers of the left hand draw away and make the upper packet pass under the lower packet of cards. The whole trick will, after practice, be done easily, lightly, noiselessly, and in less than a second. The different motions here separately described will have to be done simultaneously, and with such rapidity that no motion of the cards should be apparent.

TO FORCE A CARD.

This means that when offering a pack to one of the audience for him to draw from it any card he chooses he is made to draw that card which the performer wants. The trick, although of some difficulty to perform successfully, is really more dependent upon mental address than upon manipulation. The card to be forced should be placed either at the top or the bottom of the pack, and by a cut brought into the middle of the pack, and should be held by the little finger, as explained in making the pass, immediately above that finger. Proceed with the pack closed to some one of the audience, requesting that a card may be taken, at the same time spreading the whole pack out fan-wise, and very slightly pushing forward the card to be taken. In all probability the card offered will be taken, owing to its being slightly more prominent than the rest; but if it seems that any other card is about to be selected close the pack up, appear to cut it again, and make the offer a second time. Be very careful not to spread out the cards until the invitation to take one has been given—so long as the pack is closed a card cannot readily be removed—but immediately upon giving the invitation spread the whole pack out, slightly advancing the desired card as instructed. If by inadvertence the wrong card is allowed to be taken, the mistake may be remedied by forcing the desired one upon some other person. The card to be forced should not be held, while all the other cards should be tightly secured in one or other of the performer's hands. The readiness with which the forced card may be removed will imperceptibly act as an inducement to its removal. If, on the other hand, the wrong card should be taken—and from the nature of the trick it is unadvisable to force the right card upon a second person—let the card taken be again placed in the pack; palm it in accordance with the instructions given as to palming a card, and manage then, unperceived, to get a sight of it, when it may answer all the purposes that the card it was desired to force would have answered.

TO SIGHT A CARD.

As stated above, it is sometimes necessary to sight a given card, and this has to be done in the presence of, but yet altogether unknown to, the spectators. The following plan will generally be found to succeed:—Slip the little finger, as in making the pass, under the card that it is desired to look at, bend the top half of the pack upwards and the bottom half downwards, so that in a modified degree they make two packs, bent in a concave form, thus:—two arcs pointing toward one another. The cards may then readily and openly be cut at the desired point, and a careless wave of the hand holding the pack will enable the performer to get the necessary sight of the desired card. Houdin's instruction on this point is apparently simpler, but we think more difficult to attain by an inexperienced performer. After instructing as to the position of the little finger, he says that the pack should be opened at that point with extreme rapidity, and the card ascertained by a swift glance. This method undoubtedly is better, if it can be safely performed without detection; but the rapidity of motion and the swiftness of the glance will be difficulties not easily overcome by an amateur magician.

THE FALSE SHUFFLE.

This is a movement intended to neutralise suspicions that may be held by spectators to the effect that the cards are retained in a pre-arranged order. There are several kinds of false shuffles, but the performer must use his discretion as to which he adopts. Generally speaking, however, it is only one, or at most a few cards that it is desired not to lose sight of, and then the neatest so-called false shuffle will be that which permits the pack, as a whole, to be genuinely shuffled, while the card or cards to be kept in view are retained in one position in the pack, secured either at the top or bottom of the pack, or the place where they may be found may be designated by means of the little finger, as in making the pass.

Clumsy performers who find a difficulty in mastering the above preliminaries of card-conjuring sometimes make use of what is called the Long Card.

THE LONG CARD.

This is a card either a trifle longer or wider, or both longer and wider, than the remainder of the pack; the difference being such that, although readily distinguishable by the touch of the performer, it is not perceptible to the eye of the spectator. To make the long card, have the whole pack, excepting one card, slightly shaved down at a book-binder's; this can be done in a second by placing the cards in a book-binder's cutting machine. The use of the long card should, however, be as much as possible avoided: it encourages the use of mechanical appliances, when a little diligence will overcome all difficulties by sleight-of-hand. Remember, as the penny showman announces at country fairs, that "The true Hart of Conjuring is to make the And of the performer deceive the Heye of the spectator."

TO GUESS A CARD THOUGHT OF.

This trick can only be successfully performed by introducing it apparently in a casual manner between tricks of an altogether different nature. Spread out the cards in such a manner that when they are held with their faces towards the audience one card only is entirely exposed to view. Shuffle them about freely, with the faces of the cards turned continually towards the audience, and request a person in the company to take a mental note of one of the cards. The probability is that the majority of those present would fix upon just that card that has been throughout completely exposed to view. Suppose, for example, it is the jack of hearts. When one of the audience has expressed himself as having mentally selected a card, shuffle the pack, carefully keeping in view the jack of hearts by using the false shuffle already described. Flourish the cards well about, and finally pick out the jack of hearts, apparently as a card taken at random. Refrain from looking at its face in the presence at any rate of the audience, and place it back uppermost on the table. Again select a card to be noted by the audience, and proceed as before, until three or four cards have been placed upon the table. Then request the company present who have selected cards to name them, and as they do so pick up the respective cards named from the table. In nine cases out of ten, with an audience with whom this trick is not familiar, all will proceed smoothly; and a performer may generally rest satisfied that if the trick should be known to two or three in an ordinary drawing-room audience, they will keep silence, to ensure a due share of credit to the performer and amusement to the rest of the spectators. In the event, however, of a card other than the one desired having been selected, at once, but politely, insinuate that the memory of the spectator may perhaps be deficient, take up the wrong card, and, while continuing with some appropriate talk or "patter," shuffle the cards as if at random, keeping the wrong card conspicuously in view of the audience until sight is obtained of the correct card; palm it at once, or keep it in view until it can be brought out apparently at random, and changed for the wrong card in such a way that the change shall not be seen. Then, still insisting upon the defective memory of the spectator, say that for his satisfaction the necessary change has been made. If this part of the trick be cleverly done, it is generally as effective as when all goes smoothly, it being evidently easier to select by chance a proper card than to change the spots or designation of one card into the spots or designation of another; besides which, it often is the cause of raising a laugh in the performer's favour, which will be of material assistance in the event of any subsequent trick not going off altogether satisfactorily.

This trick is usually done with a portion of a pack picked up at random, necessitating the spectator fixing on a card seen rather than on any card in an ordinary pack.

TO SHOW THE FIVE CARDS FIVE DIFFERENT PERSONS HAVE SELECTED.

This is a clever variety of the above trick, or rather, the above is a variety of this. On the top of the pack the performer should put any card the designation of which he knows—suppose, again, the jack of hearts; make the pass, bring that card to the middle of the pack, and force it upon some person to whom the pack is offered from which to draw a card. Take the card back, without, of course, looking at it, and again repeat the process until the same card has been forced upon five or more different persons. The persons asked to draw the cards in this trick should be placed at some distance from each other, and each should be requested not to make known to any one the card drawn. This is necessary to prevent the audience from suspecting that a particular card is being forced, but the reason given may be attributed to sharp hearing on the part of the performer, or some other equally plausible tale may be invented. Shuffle the whole pack, without, however, losing sight of the forced card, and deliberately select four cards in addition to the forced card, or sufficient cards to agree with the number of persons upon whom the card has been forced. Place the cards selected face downwards on a table, and when all are placed pick them up, hold them fan-wise towards the audience, and ask each person alternately whether the card he selected is not held out. Of course all will answer "Yes." To prevent conversation on the subject of this trick, proceed at once to some other, prefacing it with some such observation as, "By a careful attention to the movements of my hands, the audience will probably detect the secret of the clever little trick I am about to exhibit." Then show off some very familiar trick in as roundabout a way as possible, until the jack of hearts is probably forgotten.

TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF OUT OF THIRTY-FIVE EXPOSED CARDS.

Deal out thirty-five cards, faces uppermost, in seven packs of five cards in each pack; and when all are placed, desire some person to select and mentally note any one of the cards dealt out, and to state in which pack it is situated. We will suppose the card selected is stated to be in the third pack of seven cards. Pick the cards up in order, row by row, and proceed to deal them out again in the same order as that in which they were picked up, but placing them this time in five packs of seven cards in each pack, placing one card alternately on each pack, and then again ask in which pack the selected card is to be found. The card selected should be the third card in the pack designated—that is to say, in the second dealing the card should be in the pack at the number corresponding with the number of the pack in which it was placed after the first deal. To confuse the spectators, the packs, after the first dealing, may be picked up out of the proper order, so long as the performer bears in mind in what order the pack containing the selected card is picked up. This trick can hardly claim to rank as a conjuring trick; it is nothing but a combination of cards, but it may fairly be shown in an amateur entertainment of parlour magic. As one merit of such combinations is their variety, we proceed with others of a similar nature, again enforcing the hint that no trick or combination should be shown twice in succession. If the above should be called for a second time, show instead one of the following.

TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF WHEN THE NUMBER OF CARDS IS NOT FIXED, BUT WHEN IT IS SOME NUMBER DIVISIBLE BY THREE.

When a card has been mentally noted by one of the audience, proceed to deal out the cards in three heaps, with the faces of the cards turned uppermost, and so that the first card shall be first in the first heap, the second card first in the second heap, the third card first in the third heap, and so on. When the heaps are completed, ask to be informed in which heap the selected card will be found, and place that heap in the middle, and again deal out the cards as before. Again ascertain in which heap the card noted will be found, and once more let that heap be placed second among the heaps. Once again form the three heaps, and once again ask for the same information, making the same arrangement of the heaps. The card selected should then be the last card of the first half of the pack, if the whole number of the pack be even—that is to say, the twelfth in a pack of twenty-four, or the eighteenth in a pack of thirty-six. The arrangement is somewhat simpler when the number of cards is odd, as: fifteen, twenty-one, &c., for then the card selected should be the middle one of the heap in which it is found after the third time of dealing the cards.

TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF BY ARRANGING THE CARDS IN A CIRCLE.

Arrange the first ten cards of any suit in the manner shown in the annexed diagram. Request some one present to think of one of the exposed cards and to touch some other card; desire also that the number of the card touched may be added to the number of cards exposed, namely, ten; and then ask him to count that sum backwards, beginning at the card touched, and reckoning that card as the number thought of. For example, suppose the three was the card thought of and the six was the card touched: six added to ten makes sixteen; and if commencing with three at the sixth card, and counting up to sixteen on the cards backwards—that is, three on the six, four on the five, five on the four, six on the three, seven on the two, and so on up to sixteen—it will be found that the counting will end on the three, the card thought of.

TO NAME A CARD NOTED.

Take a number of cards out of a full pack, say from ten to twenty, carefully counting and remembering the number, and holding them up with their faces to the audience, and so that the backs only can be seen by the performer. Open the cards out, commencing from that card which was uppermost when they were turned faces downwards, and request some person present to note the designation of any one of the cards shown, together with its order from the top of the pack, whether it is first, second, third, fourth, or what order, and to name the order. Immediately then place the cards face downwards on the table, and place upon them the remainder of the pack of cards, knocking the sides and ends well together, or indeed, if it is desired, letting the cards be knocked together by any of the audience. To find the card noted, subtract from fifty-two (the number of cards in a full pack) the number of cards held out at the commencement of the trick, and to the result add the order number of the card noted; the result will give the position in the whole pack at which the card will be found. For example, hold out twenty cards, and suppose that the seventh card from the top was the card noted; the position of that card in the whole pack will be found by subtracting twenty from fifty-two, and adding seven to the result, which will indicate that the card noted will be the thirty-ninth card in the whole pack. To pick out the card and show it is, of course, then an easy matter.

TO GUESS THE RESPECTIVE CARDS THOUGHT OF BY DIFFERENT PERSONS.

Show to each person cards equal in number to the number of persons the performer intends to request to think of a card, and from the cards shown to each person request that one may be mentally noted. For example: if three persons are to make selections, to each show three cards. When the first has made his selection, place on one side the cards from which his choice was made, and proceed in the same manner with the second and third. Then deal out the first three cards, placing them with their faces uppermost, on them deal the second three cards, and on these again the third three cards. Request each person to name the heap in which the card he selected is to be found, and the result will be that the card chosen by the first will be at the bottom, by the second in the middle, and by the third at the top of the respective heaps in which the cards are to be found. The more persons selecting cards the better and more complicated does the trick appear.

TO DISCOVER A CARD BY THE TOUCH OR SMELL.

This is not a first-rate trick, as it is done either with prepared cards or with the aid of a confederate; as, however, it is a universal favourite, we give it a place here.

First Method, with Prepared Cards.—Offer the long card (previously described) or any other card of which the designation is known, and as the person who has drawn it holds it in his hand, pretend to feel the pips with the forefinger, or, if blindfolded, smell it, and declare its designation.

Second Method, with the Aid of a Confederate.—Offer, when blindfolded, to select from a pack of cards all the court or some other combination of cards. Before commencing, however, arrange some signal with a confederate that shall be intelligible to the performer, but that shall remain unnoticed by the audience. Accompany the performance of the trick with plenty of "patter," the better to keep attention away from the confederate; expatiate upon the delicacy of the sense of touch or upon the strength of the sense of smell, directing full attention to the thoroughness of the blindfolding, and one by one hold up the cards to the audience, declaring in accordance with the signal given whether the cards held up are of the designation to be named, or the reverse. The signal agreed upon may be by touch or sound, according to the circumstances of the case.

TO TELL ALL THE CARDS WITHOUT SEEING THEM.

This is generally one of the most successful of this series of tricks, inasmuch as the whole pack of cards is brought into use, and in the hands of an operator of ordinary intelligence and care it need never fail. The secret of the whole trick is a pre-arranged order, and if this be not carefully done the trick, of course, fails. The following is the order in which the cards may be arranged: 6, 4, 1, 7, 5, king, 8, 10, 3, knave, 9, 2, queen; but it is, of course, open to the performer to vary the order, and provided he maintains a uniform order throughout, and remembers the order, one arrangement is as good as another. In order to keep the above order in mind, the following sentence has been prepared to serve as an artificial aid to memory:—

In the above sentence it will be seen that certain words which suggest numbers or particular cards are made to be reminders of those cards. As this trick only undertakes to designate the value and not the suit of the cards, it is not necessary in picking up the cards that the whole of one suit should be lifted before commencing another, and the numbers only need be according to the series adopted. The cards, being duly arranged, should be handed round to be cut, with the understanding that they may be cut whist-fashion only, and not shuffled: that is, a portion of the cards may be removed from the top to the bottom of the pack again and again by as many of the audience as may desire to make the cut. By means of a judicious sleight, all that is necessary for the performer to do is to sight the bottom card, or if he is clever at palming, the top card will give the necessary key to the whole. The cards may then be dealt out in the ordinary way from the top card, each card as it is dealt being named and then turned over. For example: if the cutting has resulted in leaving a knave at the bottom of the pack, that will give a three at the top, and taking the key from either of these two cards, the order will be as follows: 3, 10, 8, king, 5, 7, 1, 4, 6, queen, 2, 9, knave, and so on throughout. When the sequence is thoroughly mastered a corresponding sequence of suits may be arranged, so that the full designation of the card may be given.

THE NERVE TRICK.

This is another of the same class of tricks that enables the performer to name a card selected by some other person. Any one may select a card. After it has been examined and returned to the pack, make the pass, and bring the card to the bottom. Then cut the cards in two packs of about equal size, and to the person who selected the card give that half of the pack which contains the card selected at the bottom, requesting him to hold it tightly at the corner between his forefinger and thumb. Impress upon him the necessity of holding the cards tightly, as the success of the trick depends entirely upon him, and all the performer offers to do is to knock all the cards on the floor except the one that was chosen. When the cards are properly held, the performer has to strike them sharply, upon which all except the bottom card should fall to the ground, and that, of course, is the selected card. The trick of striking the cards in the right place can only be learnt by practice.

TO MAKE SOME OTHER PERSON DRAW THE CARDS THE PERFORMER CALLS FOR.

We have given several tricks in which the performer finds out the card or cards selected by the audience, but in this trick we explain how the performer makes one of the audience select the cards he calls for. After shuffling the cards, let the performer spread them out with their faces downwards, without entirely separating them; before, however, letting them leave his hand, sight and note the designation of the bottom or some other card—say, for example, the ace of spades. Then call up any one of the audience, or request that some one of those present will kindly step forward and assist in the development of the trick; say that neither he nor you have seen the faces of the cards on the table, but, nevertheless, you will get him to select from the pack just those cards called for, and ask him to be good enough to hand you up some cards one by one, without looking at their faces, as you call for them. The card the position and designation of which you know should be first asked for, when probably—indeed, almost certainly—some other card will be handed in. Suppose the card handed in is the two of diamonds, then call for the two of diamonds, and receive, say, the queen of clubs; for the third card call for the queen of clubs, and perhaps the jack of diamonds will be picked out. Say now that you will select a fourth card, which shall be the jack of diamonds, and leisurely examine the cards on the table, finally taking up the ace of spades, the position of which you have borne in mind. The four cards in the performer's hand will then be the four cards that have been named. If, however, the known card should be picked up, expose at once what you have, and bring the trick to a conclusion.

TO CALL FOR ANY CARD.

Having seen a card, make the pass, and bring the seen card to the bottom of the pack; place the cards behind the back, and call for the card that is known, at the same time turning the top card face outwards. Bring the cards forward, showing the bottom card only to the audience, and again place the cards behind; call for the top card, bringing it now to the bottom, and turning over the card which will be left at the top; and so on proceed until the audience is satisfied that you are able to discern the cards by the touch.

Another Method of performing this trick is done by the performer standing in the middle of a room in which there is a mirror, and while holding the cards high above his head reading them off from the reflection in the mirror; this form of the trick, however, can only be expected to deceive very simple or young persons.

TO DISCOVER WHAT CARDS HAVE BEEN TURNED.

Place the court cards and a certain number of diamonds (but not the ace or seven) in a row on the table, and undertake to go out of the room, and name upon return which, if any, of the cards have been reversed in position by being turned during your absence. Except the court cards, the spades, clubs, and hearts are useless for this trick, inasmuch as the form of the designation printed on the card is irregular. A very careful examination of any pack of cards will show that they are not evenly printed—that is, that the pips of the common cards or the lines of the court cards are nearer to the outside edge of the card on the one side than on the other. The cards on which the difference is not distinguishable reject, placing the others with the broad margin to the right and the narrow margin to the left hand. Explain that the position of any one card or cards may be reversed by turning the top to the bottom, and vice versÂ, and that upon your return to the room you will denote the card or cards. This, of course, with the above explanation as to how the cards are printed, will be an easy matter.

TO SEND A CARD THROUGH A SOLID TABLE.

Request some one of the company to draw a card, examine it, and return it to the pack. Make the pass, and bring the chosen card to the top of the pack; make a few false shuffles, always leaving the chosen card at the top of the pack. Place the whole of the pack, face downwards, on the table, and near to the edge at which the performer is sitting, the performer being careful to be alone on one side of the table, with the audience facing him. Slightly moisten the back of the right hand and sharply strike the cards therewith; the top card will then adhere to the hand. Bring both hands at once smartly under the table, in such a way as to prevent the card being seen. Take the chosen card with the left hand, and bring it up from underneath the table. Show the card, which will be recognised as the one chosen at the commencement of the trick.

TO TELL THE PAIRS.

Deal out twenty cards, and request ten persons each to take two cards during your absence, to return them to the table in pairs, and to remember their designation. Upon your return collect the pairs, and distribute the cards according to the numbers in the following table:—

Upon now being told in which row or rows the cards selected by any individual are placed, you will be able to point out the pair selected by that individual. The key to the trick is in the four following Latin words, "Mutus dedit nomen cocis." In these words it will be seen that there are ten different letters, each of which is repeated. The figures under the letters denote the pairs as they are placed. If it is stated that a pair selected is in the first and third rows, it will be evident that the cards are those placed under the letters "M" which appear in those lines. If both the cards are stated to be in the fourth row, it is evident that they must be the tenth pair, or those placed under the letter "C." The performer will, of course, understand that the key must be remembered, and the necessary arrangement of the pairs of cards be made from memory.

THE FOUR KINGS.

Take the four kings and two knaves out of a pack of cards, and spread the kings only before the audience, in order that it may be seen that they are the kings, at the same time hiding the two knaves between the third and fourth king; then place the six cards at the bottom of the whole pack, face downwards, on the table. Lift up the pack and remove the bottom card, which will be the fourth king; let it be seen that it is a king, and place it on the top of the pack. Take the next two cards, which will be the knaves, carefully keeping them from being seen, and one by one place them in different positions in the pack. This arrangement will leave one king at the top of the pack and three kings at the bottom, but as the kings only have been shown, it will appear as though there was one king at the top, one at the bottom, and the other two in different positions in the pack. Let any one present cut the cards, and the performer, while placing the bottom cut on the top, may say that he is now, without apparently altering the relative position of any of the cards, going to bring the four kings together into the middle of the pack. Make a few conjuring passes and utter some conjuring mumblings over the pack, hand it to any person in the audience, and announce the trick as completed. The four kings will be found together as promised.

THE TURNOVER.

The turnover is a pretty sleight, and forms an appropriate termination to some of the before described tricks, in which the card selected by one of the audience is found and exposed by the performer. When the card selected has been ascertained let it be brought to the top of the pack, and held there with its edge somewhat pushed over the remaining cards, which are to be held with their edges perfectly even. If when so placed the whole pack is suddenly dropped out of the hand, the cards, all excepting the top card, will fall on their faces, while the projection of the top card, finding resistance in the air as it falls should, during its descent, turn over and fall face upwards.

TO TELL THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PIPS SHOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF PACKS MADE UP IN A CERTAIN MANNER.

Take the whole pack of fifty-two cards, and let them be well shuffled by as many persons as care to do so. Explain that if during your absence any one present will deal out the cards, faces downwards, into packs made up according to instructions, you will upon your return tell the aggregate number of pips shown on the bottom cards of the packs, the court cards being considered as equal to ten pips and the ace as equal to one pip. The dealing has to be done in this way: Take the top card, and count it as the number shown upon its face; place upon it then sufficient cards to make that number up to twelve; then take the next card, and proceed in the same way, and so on until all are dealt out, or until the remaining cards are insufficient in number to make up twelve. The remaining cards must be handed to the performer. To ascertain the number of pips on the bottom cards, the performer counts the number of packs on the table, from that number deducts four, multiplies the remaining number of packs by thirteen, and adds to the result the number of cards remaining which were insufficient to make up twelve; the number so obtained will be found to be equal to the aggregate of the pips on the bottom cards of the packs. This counting will, of course, be done with many apparently intricate calculations, founded upon the pips of the cards in the performer's hand combined with the packs on the table. Below is an illustration of the trick, which will perhaps make the above more intelligible. Suppose (1) a seven card is first turned out: it will be placed on the table, with five cards on the top of it to make up twelve; (2) a court card next, counting ten, has two cards placed upon it; (3) a two has ten cards placed over it; (4) a nine requires three more cards, or, in all, four to form the pack; (5) a five requires seven more cards; (6) a three requires nine additional cards; (7) an eight card requires four; (8) a court card and two cards, leaving two cards remaining.

The table annexed will show the pips on the bottom cards of the respective packs, with the number of cards in each pack:—

This arrangement shows eight packs, with two cards over; following the rule given, deduct four packs from the number of packs, multiply the remainder by thirteen, add two (the cards remaining), and the result will be 54, the aggregate number of pips on the bottom cards; thus: 8-4=4×13=52+2=54.

TO ASCERTAIN THE NUMBER OF PIPS ON UNSEEN CARDS.

In these tricks aces count as eleven instead of as one, court cards count as ten. The piquet pack of thirty-two cards only must be used for the first method, the ordinary pack of fifty-two for the second method.

First Method, with three cards out of the piquet pack of thirty-two cards. Let any person select three cards, and place them separately, faces downwards, on the table. On each of these must be placed as many cards as will, with the number of pips on the card, make fifteen. The remaining cards are to be handed to the performer, who goes through any farce he chooses to make the audience believe that his calculations depend upon the pips of the cards handed to him. The actual result is obtained by adding sixteen to the number of the remaining cards. For instance, suppose the cards selected are a king, a ten, and an eight; on the king (which counts ten) will be placed five cards, on the ten will be placed five cards, and on the eight will be placed seven cards, making in all twenty cards used and twelve remaining. The total number of the pips will be twenty-eight, made up of the king, which equals ten, the ten, and the eight, i.e., 10 + 10 + 8 = 28. The twelve cards which remain, added to sixteen, also make twenty-eight.

Second Method, with two cards out of the ordinary fifty-two card pack. The two cards must be placed as the three described in the first method, and each have placed upon it sufficient cards, with the number of pips on the card, to make up twenty-five. The number of cards remaining will be the number of pips on the two bottom cards. For instance: take it that the nine card and the seven card are selected; on the nine card sixteen other cards will have to be placed, and on the seven card eighteen other cards, making thirty-six cards in all, leaving sixteen cards over; thus 52-36 = 16, or 9 + 7 = 16.

LIKE WITH LIKE.

Select from a full pack all the picture cards and aces and one ordinary card; place the ordinary card in the centre of a table, and proceed with the following descriptive and illustrated anecdote:—"One dark night four farmers came to a tavern, represented by the card on the table, and asked for a night's lodging. The landlord, having four unoccupied rooms, showed one farmer into each of the rooms." (At this point place round the card representing the tavern the four knaves). Proceed: "Not long after, four policemen knocked at the door, and also requested lodging for the night; but as the rooms were all occupied, each policeman had to share a room with one of the farmers." (Here place an ace over each of the four knaves.) "Presently four gentlemen came with a similar request, and for the same reason a gentleman was put into each of the already occupied apartments." (Here place a king upon each ace.) "To add to the crowding and inconvenience consequent upon these arrangements, four ladies next called and required accommodation, and the landlord, at his wits' end, placed a lady in each of the already over-tenanted rooms." (Place a queen above each king.) "The ladies were naturally indignant, and suggested that it might at least be arranged that they should be placed together in one room, similar requests being at the same time made by the kings, the policemen, and the farmers. The landlord consented, and all were soon lodged like with like." While finishing the story, place the four descriptions of cards in heaps, and one heap upon the top of the other, and let them be cut as often as is desired. If the cards are now told off in order from the bottom of the pack, and placed around the tavern, the knaves will be found in one circle, the aces in another, the kings in a third, and the queens in a fourth.

TO MAKE A CARD COME OF ITS OWN ACCORD OUT OF A PACK.

Let a card be drawn, ascertain its designation by means of one of the sleights already described, or when it is replaced in the pack keep its position in view. Being previously supplied with a tiny piece of wax attached to a long hair, press the wax on the card in question, retaining the hair attached to the thumb or wrist-link. Place the cards on the table, and by means of the hair pull away from the others the card that was drawn. The hair will be imperceptible to the audience if placed facing the performer. While pulling the card away, say that the card chosen will now walk out of the pack. When it is separated from the pack the performer should quickly take it, remove the wax, and expose it to view.

TO DRAW A PARTICULAR CARD FROM A COAT POCKET.

For this trick a long card will be required. Force that card upon some person, hand him the pack, and request him to be good enough to place the drawn card in any position in the pack he chooses, and to place the pack in his own coat pocket, promising that the card drawn shall be picked out of the pack while in his pocket. The sense of touch will render the trick perfectly simple, and easy to perform as promised. The same trick may be varied by placing the cards under a hat, in a basket, bag, or in any other convenient receptacle.

TO DEAL OUT THE ALTERNATE CARDS IN A PACK SO THAT THE CARDS DEALT OUT SHALL FALL IN ROTATION AND IN SUITS.

The very greatest care is necessary in arranging the cards for this trick, as in the event of one card being misplaced, the whole trick will be spoiled. To arrange the pack sort the suits of spades, clubs, and diamonds in numerical sequence, and the suit of hearts in the order of seven, ace, queen, two, eight, three, jack, four, nine, five, king, six, ten; place the hearts face uppermost so that the seven is at the bottom and the ten at the top. The other suits are also to be placed face uppermost, with the aces at the bottom. Sort in together the suits of clubs and hearts by placing the seven of hearts under the ace of clubs, the ace of hearts between the ace and two of clubs, and so on. Place the suit of spades on the top of the suit of diamonds, so that the ace of spades is immediately atop of the king of diamonds. Work in together the two half-packs so formed by placing the seven of hearts under the ace of diamonds, and then take one card alternately from the bottom of each pack, so that when completely arranged the top faced card will be the king of spades, and the second card the king of clubs. The cards are then ready to be brought forward for the trick to be performed. Turn the pack face downwards, remove the top card and place it at the bottom, turn up the next card, place the third at the bottom, turn up the fourth card, and so on, alternately removing a card to the bottom of the pack and turning up a card. The cards turned up, commencing with the ace of diamonds, will fall in rotation and in suits.

TO CATCH A SELECTED CARD FROM A PACK THROWN IN THE AIR.

Let a card be drawn by a spectator, replaced by him in the pack, and by means of the pass or a false shuffle brought to the top by the performer. Palm the card, again hand the pack to one of the spectators and request him to throw the whole pack loosely towards you, and undertake, while the cards are in the air, to pick out the drawn card. When the cards are thrown thrust the hand smartly into the middle of the pack, deftly bringing forward the palmed card at the same time. This is one of the best of the simple sleights-of-hand, and a little practice will enable any one to make the illusion very pleasing.

THE FOUR RECRUITS.

The following simple deception or puzzle is always received with great amusement:—Place the four knaves out of an ordinary pack of cards in a row, state that they represent four recruits, two of whom were passed, and two refused upon the medical examination owing to a physical disability; ask the company to designate which were passed and which refused, and why. Nine people out of ten will fail to detect any difference, but upon examination of most packs of ordinary cards it will be found that two of the jacks are printed with two eyes in each head, whereas the others are printed with one eye only. It may also be noticed that the kings are usually printed three with two eyes in each head, and one with one eye only, while the queens are all given two eyes each. These peculiarities are not so likely to be found in the modern fanciful cards which are now becoming generally used.

THE FOUR CONFEDERATES.

Let some one draw any four cards from the pack, and tell him to notice and remember the particulars of one of them. When the four cards are returned, dexterously place two of them at the bottom and two at the top of the pack. Under those at the bottom place any other four cards, and then, taking eight or ten cards from the bottom, spread them out on the table, and ask if the card fixed upon is among them. If it is not it will then be apparent that the remembered card is one of the two at the top of the pack. Make the pass so as to get those two cards to the bottom of the pack, drawing off the lowest of them; again ask if that is not the card. If the answer is again "No," bid the right card to be drawn from the bottom of the pack. If, however, the card should be among those first shown, the four cards placed under the two of the four that were held out at the commencement of the trick must be dexterously removed by making the pass to the top of the pack, leaving the other two to be dealt with as above described.

THE TRANSMUTABLE CARDS.

For this trick two cards of the same sort, say, for example, the king of spades, are required in the pack. One of these is to be placed next to the bottom card, which we will call, but which may be any card, the seven of hearts. The other is to be placed at the top of the pack; then shuffle the cards by a false shuffle without disturbing these three cards, and show some one of the audience that the bottom card is the seven of hearts. Then privately and secretly drawing this card aside, take the king of spades from the bottom, which will be supposed to be the seven of hearts, and place it, face downwards, on the table, requesting the person to whom the seven of hearts was shown to cover it with his hand. Again shuffle the cards without displacing the first and last cards, pass the other king of spades from the top to the bottom of the pack, and show it to some other person. Draw it privately and secretly away, bring the seven of hearts to the bottom of the pack, then place it upon the table and request the second person who believes it to be the king of spades to cover it with his hand. Take up the magic wand, wave it, and command the seven of hearts, supposed to be under the hand of the first person, to change into the king of spades; and command the king of spades, which is supposed to be under the hand of the second person, to change into the seven of hearts. Afterwards request both persons to remove their hands and to take up and show the cards they have been covering, when, to the astonishment of all, it will be seen that the performer's commands have been strictly obeyed.

THE TWO CONVERTIBLE ACES.

On the ace of spades fix, by the use of soap or some similar substance, a heart coloured red, and on the ace of hearts a spade coloured black, in such a manner that they will easily slip off. Show these two aces round; then, taking the apparent ace of spades, desire some person to put his foot or his hand upon it, and during the act of placing on the ground, or on the table, as the case may be, draw away the spade. In like manner place the seeming ace of hearts under the foot or hand of some other person. Then, as in the preceding trick, command the two aces to change places.

A variety of this trick is sometimes practised with one card only, say the ace of spades, over which a heart is slightly pasted. After showing the card to some person, let him hold one end of it, face downwards, and while he is being amused with the "patter" of the performer who holds the other end of the card, the heart is slipped off. Then, placing the card on the table, request that it may be covered with the hand; knock under the table and command the heart to turn into a spade.

TO TELL THE NUMBER OF CARDS BY THEIR WEIGHT.

Take up a parcel of cards, say forty, among which insert two long cards; let the first long card be, for example, the fifteenth, and the other the twenty-sixth from the top. Seem to shuffle the cards, and then, cutting them at the first long card, poise those cut off in the left hand, and say, "There should be fifteen cards here." Cut them again at the second long card, and say, "There are here only eleven cards." Then holding up the remainder, say, "Here are fourteen cards." Let the different heaps be then counted, to satisfy the audience as to the accuracy of the performer's judgment.

TO DISCOVER A CARD DRAWN BY THE THROW OF A DIE.

Prepare a pack of thirty-six cards, in which six different cards are contained six times. Dispose these cards in such a manner that each of the six different cards shall follow each other, and let the last of each suit be a long card. The cards being thus disposed, it follows that if they are divided into six parcels by cutting at each of the long cards, these parcels will all consist of similar cards. Let some person draw a card from the pack, and let him replace it in the parcel from whence it was drawn, by dexterously offering that pack. Should he succeed in placing it elsewhere, bring it, by making the pass, into its proper position. Cut the cards several times, so that a long card may be always at the bottom. Divide the cards in this manner into six heaps, and giving a die to the person who drew the card, tell him that the number he throws shall indicate the parcel in which is the card he drew, which necessarily follows. The performer should place the cards in his pocket immediately after completing the trick, and be prepared with another pack to show should any one request to be allowed to examine the cards.

Many other card tricks might be given that are of a more complicated nature than the above, but those selected are thoroughly simple and easy, and of sufficient variety to enable an amateur performer to pass from one to another without ever being reduced to the necessity of repetition.

CONJURING WITH AND WITHOUT SPECIAL APPARATUS.

THE TRANSPOSABLE MONEY.

This is a trick fit only for lads with plenty of pocket-money, but it is both simple and neat. Take two halfpennies and two shillings, and grind part of each coin on one side only, so that they may be but of half the usual thickness, then rivet together a shilling and a halfpenny, and file round the edges of the halfpenny to make it the same size as the shilling. Place one of these double pieces, with the shilling upwards, on the palm of the hand, at the bottom of the three first fingers; place the other piece, with the halfpenny uppermost, in like manner, on the other hand. Let the spectators notice in which hand is the halfpenny, and in which the shilling. Then shut both hands, when the pieces will naturally turn over; open the hands again, and the coins will apparently have become transposed.

THE PENETRATIVE COIN.

Provide a small box that will shut with a spring, but that can only be opened with a key, and place this box open in a pocket or some equally convenient receptacle. Ask some person present to mark a coin, so that it may be known again, say a shilling, and lend it for the purpose of the trick. Take this piece in one hand, and being provided with another coin of the same appearance to place in the other hand, slip the marked coin dexterously into the small box and close it, change the remaining coin from one hand to the other, keeping it in view of the company, in order that it may be supposed to be the marked coin. Place the box containing the marked coin upon the table, convey away the coin left in the hand, and pretend to make it pass into the box. Present the box to the person who lent the coin, and inform him that the marked coin is therein. Let the key be then given him, and when the box is unlocked, bid him thoroughly examine the coin, and satisfy himself and the audience that it is the genuine marked coin handed up by him.

At the best shops at which conjuring apparatus is supplied, boxes fitting one into the other are provided for this trick, all of which may be quickly closed at one movement, but which require considerable manipulation to open one by one.

THE PHANTOM COIN.

Take a sixpence or other small coin, the impression of which is new and sharply cut, and fasten it unnoticed by means of a bit of common wax to the end of the thumb. Then, when speaking to some one of the company, show him the coin, ask him to hold out his hand, in order that the coin may be placed therein. Keep his eyes turned from his hand by engaging them in some other direction, press the coin firmly on the palm of his hand, and bid him close his fingers over the coin, holding it tightly. The imprint of the coin on the hand will produce a sensation as if the coin were actually there, but it being stuck to the thumb of the performer, will, of course, be taken away when the victim closes his hand. Let the performer then dexterously palm the coin or make away with it in some other manner, make some cabalistic flourish of the magic wand, utter some charm, and declare the coin to have vanished. The person to whom the coin was supposed to be given will, upon opening and looking at his hand, be astonished to find nothing there.

THE COIN MELTED AND RESTORED.

Borrow from some one of the audience a half-crown piece, for preference ask for a new coin, and let it be marked before it is handed in. (N.B.—In conjuring tricks with coins and other articles of common every-day use, it is always advisable to borrow from the spectators, as the impression is then conveyed that the articles used are not specially prepared.) See that there is a good clear space between the table behind which the conjurer stands and talks, and the audience, so that without inconveniencing the spectators, or coming too near to them, he can readily pass round, and stand in front of the table when the exigencies of the trick require such a position to be taken up. Provide a lighted candle, and let it be placed upon the table. Having received the half-crown, look intently at it, rub it smartly on both sides, place it on the table beside the candlestick, and rub the hands briskly together—all this by the way of by-play-keeping up in the meantime some suitable discourse on the nature of metals, the heat required to melt them, the necessity of developing mesmeric power, and so on. Take up the coin in the right hand, moving it towards the left, as though to place it therein, but instead, during its passage, palm it in the right hand, according to the instructions given for palming a card.[2] Having pretended to place the coin in the left hand, close that hand accordingly, as though it really held the coin. Work about the fingers of that hand, as if to further mesmerise the coin, and at the same time take the candlestick in the right hand; this action, while helping the performer the more easily to keep the coin palmed in a natural manner, will make it appear to the audience that it is impossible for the coin to have been kept in that hand. The next appropriate motion is to hold the left hand, still closed, over the flame of the candle, and to work the fingers as if allowing the slowly-melting coin to ooze out by degrees, at the same time flicking the wick of the candle, and if possible damping it slightly, so as to make it "sputter." In the continuation of the talk, or "patter," at this point, call attention to the coin as in the process of being passed into the candle, open the left hand, and show that the coin is now no longer therein. After a short lapse of time, and to allow of the molten silver becoming thoroughly absorbed in the wax or tallow of the candle, put down the candlestick on the table, and with the fingers of the right hand (in which, remember, the coin remains palmed) make believe to draw the now thoroughly melted and absorbed coin out of the candle through the wick, transferring it bit by bit into the palm of the left hand. This action should be rapidly performed, and it is well if, during its progress, the sputtering of the candle can be again arranged. During the execution of this movement, bring the palmed coin immediately above the hollow of the left hand, and secretly let it fall therein. Take the fingers of the right hand from the wick of the candle, pretend to drop from them the remainder of the recovered metal into the palm of the left hand, make believe to manipulate it into its original shape by rubbing it gently with the fingers, as if still hot and difficult to hold, toss it from hand to hand in order the more rapidly to cool it, and finally return it to the spectator from whom it was borrowed.

This is one of the easiest to perform of sleight-of-hand tricks with coins, but as an introduction to a series of such tricks in a performance of parlour magic it will be found to be very effective, and will, if shown in a lively manner, with an accompaniment of appropriate "patter," never fail to elicit for the encouragement of the performer considerable applause and admiration.

THE FLYING COINS.

Again ask from some one of the audience the loan of a half-crown piece, and at the same time take the opportunity—without, however, calling verbal attention to it—to ostentatiously show the left hand, so that it may be seen that nothing is held therein. The borrowed coin should be taken between the finger and thumb of the right hand, and while it is being handed up, the performer should secretly take a similar coin from some concealed part of his clothes, and palm it in the right hand. The palming will be assisted rather than otherwise by taking the borrowed coin between the thumb and fingers of that hand. That coin is then to be visibly passed, and distinctly held for a second or two with the tops of the fingers of the left hand; subsequently, the right hand is to be brought towards the left, in order that the borrowed coin may be again visibly taken into the right hand; and while this is being done the palmed coin being just over the palm of the left hand, should be secretly let fall therein, just at the moment when the fingers and thumb of the right hand are taking away the visible coin. As a consequence, although the borrowed coin will now have been removed from the left hand, another coin, unknown to the spectators, remains there. (A little careful practice before a looking-glass will be needed before the dropping of the secreted coin from the palm of the right hand to the palm of the left hand can be neatly and artistically managed.) The pretended passage of the coin from one hand to the other becomes now a very simple matter. Expatiate upon the great speed at which magic causes the objects with which it deals to travel, that the closest possible attention will be needed to detect the coin as it passes; and as the command "Pass" is pronounced, open the left hand, and expose to the audience the coin hitherto secretly held there; palm the other coin in the right hand, bringing that hand down carelessly to the side, or dexterously place the coin in some place of concealment. The latter can easily and safely be performed, as for some seconds it will be found that the whole attention of the company will be fixed upon the coin in the left hand, and a smart natural movement of the right hand will not then be noticed.

The trick may be continued, and its effect considerably heightened, by now offering not only to pass another half-crown in the same way, and adding that, although the pass is too rapid to be made visible, except to the very quick-sighted, yet, there being two coins involved, it will be quite possible by the chink to make the pass audible. It will be evident that the above instructions, with the slight adaptation needed of jerking the two coins together at the time when the pretended pass is made, will be all that are sufficient. Another variety of the same trick, executed in a similar manner, may be performed, to induce the company to believe that the coins are passed from one hand held on the top of a table, to the other hand held underneath the table; in short, there are few tricks so easily and simply capable of variations as those of the Flying Coins.

THE BOX, THE HALFPENCE, AND THE DIE.

This is a very simple, ingenious little trick, but one that requires special apparatus, which may, however, be purchased at a trifling cost at most of the toy-shops, or at any of those establishments from which conjuring materials are professedly supplied. The materials required are a block made to represent a pile of ordinary halfpennies (see Fig. 1), out of which a large round piece has been cut (see Fig. 2, which is Fig. 1 made transparent), and a round pasteboard box that will cover both blocks (Fig. 3). A loose heap of halfpennies should also be provided to hand round the room, with a die and a box, in order that the illusion of the actual halfpennies being used in the performance of the trick may be kept up. The trick can be best performed by an operator sitting at one end of a long dining-room table, and, provided only he is careful to keep his audience at a properly respectful distance, they may be clustered round the opposite end of the table. When the exhibited materials have been handed back, the block (Fig. 1) should be adroitly substituted for the real halfpennies. A simple way of doing this will be to seem to manipulate the coins into an exactly even heap; during the manipulation a dexterous movement of one or other of the hands will enable the necessary change to be made, when the coins may for convenience, and for the better subsequent developments of the trick, be placed on a handkerchief or table napkin, spread over the knees for the purpose. The block (Fig. 1) is to be covered with the box; the command "Pass" is to be given; the real halfpennies are to be produced from underneath the table, and thrown thereupon. At the same time let the box be lifted by slightly pinching it near the bottom with the finger and thumb of the right hand, by which motion the block of imitation halfpennies will also be lifted. When the box is well beyond the edge of the table, and over the lap, relinquish the pressure, letting the block fall into the lap; throw the box on the table, and the impression will be created that the halfpennies, upon being covered with the box, disappeared through, and had to be brought up from beneath the table. It will be understood that in this simple deceit, as well as in the more professional sleight-of-hand tricks, considerable dexterity must be shown to make several of the movements, that are necessarily described as separate movements, simultaneously. The die is brought into use in the second part of the trick in the following manner:—Proceed as above, so far as substituting the real for the imaginary halfpennies is concerned, and at the same time pass round the die, in order that it may be duly inspected and examined, meanwhile place the block in the box secretly, pinching it tightly so as to hold the block therein. When the die is returned, cover it visibly with the box, which will secretly contain the block. (Fig. 2). Pretend to pass the coins up through the table. Remove the box without removing the block, and it will appear that the magic box has changed the die into the halfpennies, and that the die has disappeared. It is scarcely necessary to observe that a reversal of this part of the trick will, of course, bring back the die, and make the halfpennies disappear.

TO PICK A MARKED SHILLING OUT OF A HAT COVERED WITH A HANDKERCHIEF.

Place three shillings taken from some cool place (not the pocket), or let some one of the audience place three such shillings in a hat, and cover them with a handkerchief. After this has been done, continue the "patter" for a minute or two, to allow of the warmth communicated to the coins by the hand passing away. Then hand the hat and coins to any one of the audience, and request him to remove any one, but only one, of the coins. By asking him whether he will be able to recognise that particular coin again, induce him to retain it for as long a time as possible in his hand, and, in order that there may really be no mistake, instruct him how to distinctly mark it by scratching it with a knife, or in some other equally effectual manner. It is important that the person taking and marking the coin should not wear gloves. When all this has been done, let the coin be again placed in the hat, and covered with the handkerchief. The warmth of the hand of the person who marked the coin will have made it perceptibly warmer than the other two, and if the performer is tolerably quick in thrusting his hand into the hat, there will be no difficulty in detecting this warmth, and selecting the marked coin. It is not necessary, however, that it be at once brought out; the performer should make-believe to search for it for some time before finally withdrawing and exhibiting it.

BURNING THE HANDKERCHIEF.

This is a good sleight-of-hand trick for amateurs. It requires no special apparatus, and, as here described, gives a good illustration of the many uses to which the magic wand may be put. Place a lighted candle on some small table near to, but well removed from contact with, the spectators; show both hands perfectly empty; borrow a pocket-handkerchief from some lady present. (N.B.—The handkerchief should, for the convenience of the performer, be of a small size, and therefore a lady's handkerchief is preferable.) Take the handkerchief by the centre, pull it carefully between the left finger and thumb, and advance to the candle. Before burning it, however, stop and say, as if in answer to some remark overheard, "Oh, no; the handkerchief has not been changed. See!" and, at the same time, allow another inspection of it. Suggest now to its owner that, if burned, she will desire her handkerchief to be restored again to its proper condition, and such being the case, announce the necessity of the magic wand for that purpose. Return to the table on which the wand will have been placed, which should be some table other than that on which the candle is standing, and at the same time place, unperceived, between the left thumb and forefinger, a small piece of material similar to that out of which a handkerchief is made. The centre of this piece of cambric should be pointed outwards so that it may be readily pulled out at the desired moment, the remainder being neatly rolled up and palmed under the thumb. Place the wand in one of the coat pockets, and again take the handkerchief, putting it this time into the left hand, and pull up the small piece of material, completely hiding the centre of the real handkerchief between the second and third finger and the palm of the hand. The portion of the smaller material sticking out from the thumb and forefinger may now be safely burnt, and the audience may be challenged to see there is no doubt but that it is the actual handkerchief. (Of course in this, as in all tricks, no person from the audience must be allowed to approach the performer, except upon invitation; and, indeed, it is almost always better that articles to be inspected should be taken by the performer to the audience; if the audience approaches near to the tricks when being performed the illusion is generally weakened, if not altogether spoiled.) The handkerchief being apparently burned at its centre, may, what remains of it, be now rolled up into a ball, and while this is being done, the actually burnt piece of material should be separated from the real handkerchief; then take the magic wand from the pocket, and in doing so, drop the small semi-burnt piece of cambric, unperceived, into that pocket, touch the handkerchief with the wand, and return it to its owner to be examined, when it will be found to be perfectly whole.

THE AUGMENTED COINS.

On a small tray or salver place a number of counters, gilt in imitation of sovereigns (these counters may be purchased at a very small cost), and ask of the audience if some one of their number will kindly give permission to have the coins passed into his hands or pockets. Several of those present will doubtless volunteer the necessary permission, but the performer may then protest that one will be sufficient to show his power, and however much of a wizard he may be, he yet cannot endow all present with unlimited wealth. The conjurer may further remark that he will be open and above board, that he will pass coins from himself to some one of the audience unseen, and without the knowledge of that one himself. The performer will do well to select for the trick some person whose countenance indicates an easy disposition, and such an one should be invited to take from the tray a handful of the coins. This having been done, the remainder of the counters should be emptied from the tray on to the table. The person who has taken the handful of coins should next be asked to count them, and the performer at the same time must approach him, with the empty salver, carefully held between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, in order that the coins, as they are counted, may be placed therein. It may here be observed that in the right hand and underneath the salver the performer should have concealed a small number of similar coins or counters; for convenience of illustration we will say seven. These counters may very easily be concealed from sight, inasmuch as the three last fingers which are to hold them will be naturally covered by the tray. As the assisting spectator—who, by the way, should be no confederate—counts the coins one by one, repeat after him the numbers as they are named, to prevent any mistake or misunderstanding, until he has finished, having reached, we will suppose, twenty-two. He should now be requested to be good enough to take in one of his hands these twenty-two pieces, and the performer, suiting the action to the word, will here pour the twenty-two coins or counters into his own right hand, where they may be made to imperceptibly mingle with the seven already concealed there, as before mentioned, and at once the whole twenty-nine should be handed to and placed boldly into the offered hand of the spectator. As a matter of experience, it will be found that seven coins so added to twenty-two will not be detected; but as a further precaution, and to prevent the possibility of the counters being again numbered, ask the assisting spectator to keep the hand holding the coins as tightly closed as possible, and in the other hand to hold the salver, in order still further to give his assistance and to prove that the salver has nothing to do with the deception.

The operator should now return to his platform, or behind his conjuring table, and request that the coins may be held out in the clenched palm on a level with the heads, or rather a little above the heads, of the audience generally, in order that no one may be struck by the coins that are to be made to pass from the performer to take their place with those held out. The performer himself takes up from the table a number of counters, say eight, deliberately counting them one by one as they are taken, and allowing the entire audience to see that here again there is no deception. (N.B.—Unimportant movements like this should always be deliberately done.) The spectator whose assistance hitherto may be described as so valuable should now be asked if he has any objection to urge why these further eight coins or counters should not be passed from the performer on the stage or platform to him at his seat among the audience in the body of the room. It may confidently be reckoned upon that no objection will be urged. Here, again, as a preliminary to the final movement by a repetition both from the performer and the spectator, announce the number of counters (twenty-two) that are believed to be in the hand of the latter, and point out that with the eight about to be passed to him there should then be thirty. At this juncture the eight coins must be dropped into the hollow of the left hand of the performer; he should bend forward towards that part of the audience where the assistant for the time being is situated, and ask him to make a similar movement towards the platform, the performer indicating by means of his right hand the exact direction in which the assistant should move. This motion of the right hand will momentarily divert the attention of the audience generally from the left hand, which is to be taken advantage of by secreting the coins in some part of the attire of the performer. Everything is now ready to make the necessary "pass," and it may now be done at the first convenient point of the performer's address. Give the order "pass," and ask whether the shock of the advent of the additional counters was not felt. At any rate, ask the audience to verify, by counting, that the additional coins have duly reached the assistant's hand; and while all eyes are so occupied get possession secretly of another counter, and hold it, unperceived, in the right hand. It will be readily understood that the assistant will have but twenty-nine counters in his hand, inasmuch as the actual number added was only seven. Possibly, however, he will be so overwhelmed at the operation that has been apparently performed that one counter more or less will not be noticed; or, indeed, he may mis-count one, and, if so, the trick may be allowed to end; but if not, some allusion to the thirtieth coin having been dropped in its transit may be made, and the one palmed in the conjurer's right hand may be apparently brought out of a handkerchief, fan, lap, or pocket of some one of the other intervening spectators. At any rate, a careful reading of previously and subsequently described sleight-of-hand tricks will suggest to an ingenious lad many methods by which, with the aid of the additional coin, the latter part of the trick may be extended and varied.

TO GUESS THE TWO ENDS OF A LINE OF DOMINOES.

For this trick a whole set of dominoes is required, and from the set the performer should secretly secure one which is not a double. Let the remaining dominoes be well shuffled, and placed according to the ordinary rules of domino games, and the performer may safely and surely undertake to tell, without seeing them, the two numbers forming the extremes of the line which may have been placed during his absence from the room. The numbers on the extreme ends of the domino line will correspond with the numbers on the domino secreted by the performer. If the trick has for any good reason to be repeated, see that the secreted domino is exchanged for another.

Numerous other simple domino tricks will on this model occur to frequent players with dominoes, and, indeed, many of the card tricks may be so adapted as to be shown with dominoes instead of cards. So much space has been devoted to card tricks that the reader cannot do better, if he desires to show some domino tricks, than refer back to the card tricks, and make the necessary adaptations for himself.

THE LOST RING RECOVERED.

This is a trick suitable to the abilities of any amateur, and requires but little in the way of apparatus, a couple of common toy jewellery rings, a piece of elastic thread, and a lemon being the appliances needed. Take a piece of elastic thread, from three to four inches long; let one end be fastened to one of the rings and the other to the inside of the performer's coat-sleeve, care being taken to have the elastic of such a length that it permits the ring to be placed on the finger, and that when the ring is removed it will fly up the sleeve, so as to be concealed from the audience. Before commencing to show the trick, a lemon should be procured, and in the middle of it a slit be cut crosswise, and into the slit the second ring should be pushed until it lies in the very centre of the lemon. The slit should be carefully cut so as to remove no portion of the rind; it will then be found that when the ring has been pushed into the lemon the slit will close up and be imperceptible, unless its existence is known. The lemon should then be cut into slices, nearly but not quite severed, and held so that if anything were between the slices it would fall out. Of course, care must be taken that the lemon is so cut as to allow the ring to be in the middle of one of the slices. A piece of tape and a bodkin have next to be borrowed. The end of the tape should be slipped through the eye of the bodkin, and pushed lengthways through the lemon in such a way that it is passed through the ring. The ends of the tape may now be given to two different spectators, and they should be instructed to keep the tape at full stretch. The first ring worn on the performer's finger, and to which the elastic is attached, must at this juncture be slipped from off the finger, and held between the thumb and finger, care being taken that it is so held that the audience cannot see the elastic thread. The hand should be pointed towards the lemon, the fingers being then suddenly spread out, and the ring let go, and it will fly away and become hidden up the performer's coat-sleeve. Surprise at this sudden disappearance of the ring may be expressed, but it should be surmised that as it was the performer's intention to pass it into the lemon, perhaps the lost jewel may of its own accord have taken its flight thither. Let the performer then go to the lemon, and separating the divisions into which it has been sliced, push them one by one apart. Each outer slice should be alternately taken and pulled off from the tape, keeping the central slice until the last. When this is reached, again take the knife and cut the slice gradually down, carefully destroying the slit through which the ring was passed, and continue cutting until the metal of the ring is visible. The performer should let some one of the audience disengage the embedded ring, which will, of course, be found strung upon the tape.

TO GET A RING OUT OF A HANDKERCHIEF.

Obtain a piece of gold or brass wire, and bend it into the form of a wedding-ring, seeing first that both ends are sharpened. Borrow from one member of the audience a handkerchief and from another a wedding-ring, unless the performer has previously provided himself with a suitable ring for the trick. At any rate, palm the false ring, and allow the real ring to be inspected by handing it round to the company, and announce that it is to be made to pass through the handkerchief. The performer then takes the borrowed handkerchief, and places his hand underneath it, at the same time substituting the false ring, which had been previously concealed by being palmed, for the actual ring, which will in the meantime have been received back again. The false ring now has to be pressed against the centre of the handkerchief, and an independent person should be desired to hold the ring covered by the handkerchief by closing his finger and thumb through the hoop of the ring. Two other spectators may also here be asked, the one to hold the handkerchief by two of its corners, and the other by the other corners, keeping it as far as possible at full stretch, so that it may be clearly seen that the ring in the handkerchief has not been merely placed in one of its folds. When the audience have had time to satisfy themselves on this point, those holding the corners of the handkerchief may be relieved from their duties, the person holding the ring, however, still retaining his hold. Request now some other person to grasp the handkerchief as tightly as he pleases some two or three inches or more below the ring, the person holding the ring being then asked to let go. Let a hat or some other object be now held by some person other than the performer over that part of the handkerchief that is being grasped and that contains the false ring; the performer then passes his hand under the hat, opens the false ring by bending one of its sharpened points a little asunder, brings that point gently through the fabric of the handkerchief, draws out the remainder, and carefully rubs the hole made thereby in the handkerchief, in order that the hole may be concealed. The actual ring should not be placed outside and over the handkerchief, and upon the hat being removed it will appear to the audience that the ring has been taken from the inside and placed over a portion of the handkerchief. The false ring will, of course before this point of the trick, have been palmed or otherwise got rid of.

In this short account of card, coin, and other conjuring tricks we have purposely avoided describing such tricks as require either a long training or expensive apparatus; but in order to show more clearly what a very simple affair conjuring is, we will here give an account of two professional conjuring tricks that have attained a world-wide celebrity. The first given is a description of the celebrated Gold-fish Trick, as performed by Herr Frikell, which trick, by the way, dates long before Frikell's time, although the charm with which he conjured, by combining the genius of the actor with that of the conjurer, has given him such a pre-eminence in what he undertook as to make old tricks appear to be invested with a new charm. The second description is Robert Houdin's own account of the Cups and Balls Trick, modifications of which have often been published under the title of "The Travelled Balls."

Fig. 1.—Bowl with Gold-fish.