Hercat

“ Give a person two half-crowns and request him to hold them horizontally between the tips of his thumb and finger of his right hand, the coins touching each other. Then request him to drop the lower coin in his left hand and you will tell him which side will come uppermost. First note which side of the coin is underneath when you place them in position, for that will be the uppermost side when it reaches his left hand. The lower coin will turn completely over in the act of falling: nothing can prevent it. ”

“ When you make the first attempt, and appear to fail, in the upward movement of your hands you open them and allow the shilling resting upon the nail of your left hand to slip into the palm, while you permit the coin in the palm of your right hand to fall, with the one above it on the nail, on the table. ”

“ The coin left in the sleeve can be secretly got away by dropping the arm and allowing it to fall into the hand and then pocketed.
AN ORIGINAL COIN SWINDLE
Palm a halfpenny in your right hand and ask a friend (be sure he is your friend) to lend you a shilling. Pick up a glass, invert it, and place the borrowed shilling on its bottom. Then ask your friend whether the coin is on the top or bottom of the tumbler. He will naturally look surprised at such a question; and you then say,—“Ah, I see you know the trick.” ”

“ Girls of a marriageable age do not like to tell how old they are, but you can find out by following the subjoined instructions, the young lady doing the figuring: Tell her to put down the number of the month in which she was 56 born, then to multiply it by 2, then to add 5, then to multiply it by 50, then to add her age, then to subtract 365, then to add 115, then tell her to tell you the amount she has left. ”

“ HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WEALTH
Obtain three sixpences exactly alike, place one in your pocket and stick the other two with a small piece of wax under the edge of the table about an inch apart. After showing other tricks produce the sixpence from your pocket and show it to the company to prove it is an ordinary coin. Pull up your sleeves, and if the table has a cover turn it back. Place the coin on the table near the edge over the concealed sixpences, and showing your right hand is perfectly empty place your thumb over the coin and rub it 40 vigorously backwards and forwards on the table. ”

“ Supposing there are seven nuts left, take the seventh word, Glossema, reject the consonants as before, and pick out the vowels, O, E, A, which proves “number one” person holds the orange, “number two” the egg, and “number three” the apple, and so on with the other Latin words, the remaining number of nuts always indicating the word from which you are to select the vowels. This trick may be repeated ad lib. without fear of detection. ”

“ On returning you immediately refer him to the card which gives the correct answer. This is really a most puzzling trick and yet an easy one to perform. Commence by showing how the cards are to be moved by shifting a few yourself, noting how many you move, so you will remember which card you leave at the bottom. When you return to the room you subtract the number of pips on that card from ten and the product will show the number of the card from the top, the pips on which indicate the number of cards your friend has moved. ”

“ Presentation.—Hand the piece of earthenware to the spectator, together with the charcoal; request that his initials shall be written on the earthenware in a space marked the size of the tip of the index finger. After this has been done, you take it back between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, the finger over the initials exerting a firm pressure which has the effect of transferring the writing to the latter. Then place the earthenware under your heel and crush it. ”

“ Slide the shilling off the glass into your right hand, and as your friend holds out his hand to receive it back, drop the concealed halfpenny into it. The chances are ten to one that he will place the coin in his 43 pocket without glancing at it. ”

“ As the cards shown to the first person were laid on the table first, it stands to reason that the cards he thought of must be at the bottom of the parcel he has said “Yes” to; the second person’s card will be the middle one in the parcel, and the third person’s the top card.
AN INGENIOUS CARD TRICK
Select ten cards, regardless of suit, the ace, and from deuce to ten, arranging them as follows: Lay the ten face down on the palm of your hand, the nine next, and the others in rotation, finishing with the ace, which you call “one.” ”

“ Upon your returning hand a pencil to your confederate and request him to touch the cards in rotation until you say “Stop,” when the pencil will rest on the right card. Your confederate must hold the pencil in his right hand with his forefinger resting on top. When he touches the right card he must raise that finger slightly. It is a signal no one would notice, and the trick always creates a great deal of wonder.
HOW TO GUESS CARDS THOUGHT OF
Allow the pack to be shuffled freely and then place it on the table face down. ”

“ Put the pack behind you again, and move the top card to the front, and turn the one now on top round. Again hold the pack up and name the front card, at the same time noting the card facing you. By repeating this process you can name all the cards in the pack. Take care to have all your audience in front of you, or the turned card will be seen.
A NEW METHOD
Here is an absolutely new method of performing the same trick blindfolded, but with the aid of a confederate. You tell your friends that by placing your hands on a person’s head you can see with his eyes. ”

“ When you throw the scissors over on the palms of your hands, with their points toward your chest, allow the blades to rest there for an instant with the tips of your little fingers touching your palms through the scissors’ bows ”

“ You place your hand over his and say, “I can read your thoughts, you took the ——,” naming his card. This is an easy trick to perform and causes great amazement.
26 THE REJECTED RECRUITS—A LAUGHABLE TRICK
Select a king and the four knaves and lay the king on the table face upward. Tell the company that the king is recruiting for the army and accepts the knave of clubs, which you place on the king’s right. The knave of spades, which you place on the left, he rejects. The knave of diamonds is accepted and placed on the right. The knave of hearts is declined, and placed on the left. ”

“ When the paper is in the piece of candle give one good hard blow and extinguish the light. With the piece of candle concealed in your left hand, take the candle out of the candlestick, lay it on the table, and with a knife cut off the burnt end, which throw away and divide the remainder into three equal parts. ”

“ You then explain you will tap the cards with a pencil and he is to mentally add your first tap to the number he thought of and count your succeeding taps until twenty is reached, when he is to call “Stop,” and your pencil will then rest upon his number. For instance, we will suppose he thinks of twelve; he must count your first tap as thirteen and continue counting mentally until twenty is reached. ”

“ Whichever figure he selects, mentally multiply it by 9 and request him to multiply the row by the result. If he thinks 9 the most imperfectly made figure, you, of course, tell him to multiply by 81 and the result will be all 9’s. ”

“ This trick consists of fastening the scissors securely to the back of a chair with a piece of string and then removing them without cutting or untying the string. First make a loop of a piece of string about two feet in length and pass the double end through one of the bows and the 73 two loose ends through the loop and pull tight. Next pass the two single ends through the other bow of the scissors and tie them to the back of the chair. The puzzle is how to remove them, which is simple enough when you know how. ”

“ If, when you suggest the trick, you see your friend is not familiar with it, you 57 can give him the option of starting first, and you need not pick up the thread of your winning numbers until you reach 50, adding low numbers to his additions, which will help to puzzle him ”

“ But endeavour to lead your audience to believe that, like “Mr. Wemmick’s” marriage, it is all impromptu. He said, “Hello! here’s a church. Let’s have a wedding.” You say, “Hand me that serviette ring and I’ll show you 6 a trick.” If, when the contents of this little volume have been thoroughly digested, my readers desire to make a study of more advanced legerdemain, I recommend my Conjuring Up to Date, Card Tricks with and without Apparatus, and Latest Sleights and Illusions to their notice. ”

“ When you see he is getting on the right track, pick up the winning numbers earlier, and at last insist that you must now start first. In starting with a person who does not know the trick it is advisable, and more puzzling, to dodge about at first and not get on the track of the winning numbers until 56 or 67. But if your friend knows the trick and starts at 1 you cannot beat him. I have seen good accountants puzzle for hours over this little trick, which was invented by Mr. ”

“ After many attempts and failures show how easy it is to accomplish by taking the two coins at the ends of the row and placing them upon the coin in the centre.
44 SIMPLE TRICKS WITH HANDKERCHIEFS, RINGS, CANDLES, ETC. A KNOT THAT CANNOT BE DRAWN TIGHT Tie a single over-hand knot in a handkerchief, and holding it in your left hand, give one end to some one, telling him to pull at a given signal. ”