Part 9

From the prime conductor of an electric machine suspend six concentric hoops of metal at different distances from each other, in such a manner as to represent in some measure the proportional distances of the planets. Under these, and at a distance of about half an inch, place a metallic plate, and upon this plate, within each of the hoops, a glass bubble blown very thin and light. On electrifying the hoops, the bubbles will be immediately attracted by them, and will continue to move round the hoops as long as the electrification continues. If the electricity be very strong, the bubbles will frequently be driven off, run hither and thither on the plate, making a variety of surprising motions round their axis; after which they will return to the hoop, and circulate as before; and if the room be darkened, they will all appear beautifully illuminated with electric light.

_The Electric Ball._

Provide a ball of cork about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, hollowed out in the internal part by cutting it in two hemispheres, scooping out the inside, and then joining them together with paste. Having attached this to a silk thread between three and four feet in length, suspend it in such a manner that it may just touch the knob of an electric jar, the outside of which communicates with the ground. On the first contact it will be repelled to a considerable distance, and after making several vibrations, will remain stationary; but if a candle be placed at some distance behind it, so that the ball may be between it and the bottle, the ball will instantly begin to move, and will turn round the knob of the jar, moving in a kind of ellipsis as long as there is any electricity in the bottle. This experiment is very striking, though the motions are far from being regular; but it is remarkable that they always affect the elliptical rather than the circular form.

_To spin Sealing-wax into Threads by Electricity._

Stick a small piece of sealing-wax on the end of a wire, and set fire to it. Then put an electrical machine in motion, and present the wax just blown out at the distance of some inches from the prime conductor. A number of extremely fine filaments will immediately dart from the sealing-wax to the conductor, on which they will be condensed into a kind of net-work resembling wool.

If the wire with the sealing-wax be stuck into one of the holes of the conductor, and a piece of paper be presented at a moderate distance from the wax, just after it has been ignited, on setting the machine in motion, a net-work of wax will be formed on the paper. The same effect, but in a slighter degree, will be produced, if the paper be briskly rubbed with a piece of elastic gum, and the melting sealing-wax be held pretty near the paper immediately after rubbing.

If the paper thus painted, as it were, with sealing-wax be gently warmed by holding the back of it to the fire, the wax will adhere to it, and the result of the experiment will thus be rendered permanent.

_The Electrified Camphor._

A beautiful experiment of the same nature is made with camphor. A spoon holding a piece of lighted camphor is made to communicate with an electrified body, as the prime conductor of a machine; while the conductor continues electrified by keeping the machine in motion, the camphor will throw out ramifications, and appear to shoot like a vegetable.

AMUSEMENTS WITH CARDS.

Many of the following recreations are performed by arithmetical calculations, and may therefore be considered as connected with science; but as it has been the aim of this work to unite amusement with instruction, some experiments on this subject are introduced, the performance of which depends on dexterity of hand. As this is only to be acquired by practice, and, after all, is merely a mechanical operation, the study of it will produce little useful knowledge, though it may afford much entertainment; but as it must be gratifying to know the method by which they are performed by those persons skilled in such manoeuvres, who publicly exhibit them to the astonishment of the spectator, they are presented to our readers, that when they recognize them at any of these exhibitions, their eyes may not be in danger of deceiving their judgment.

_To tell the Number of Points on Three Cards, placed under Three different Parcels of Cards._

You first premise that the ace counts for eleven; the court cards ten each; and the others according to the number of their pips. You then propose to any person in company to choose three cards, and to place over each as many as will make the number of the points of that card, fifteen; take the remaining cards, and, under the appearance of looking for a particular card, count how many there are, and by adding sixteen to that number, you will have the amount of the pips on the three cards. For example:

Suppose a person choose a seven, a ten, and an ace; then over the seven he must place eight cards; over the ten, five cards; and over the ace, four cards. In this instance there will remain twelve cards; to which if you add sixteen it will make twenty-eight, which is the amount of the pips on the three cards.

_The Ten Duplicates._

Select any twenty cards; let any person shuffle them; lay them by pairs on the board, without looking at them. You next desire several persons, (as many persons as there are pairs on the table,) each to look at different pairs and remember what cards compose them. You then take up all the cards in the order they lay, and replace them with their faces uppermost on the table, according to the order of the letters in the following words:

M U T U S 1 2 3 4 5 D E D I T 6 7 8 9 10 N O M E N 11 12 13 14 15 C O C I S 16 17 18 19 20

(These words convey no meaning.)--You will observe, that they contain ten letters repeated, or two of each sort. You therefore ask each person which row or rows the cards he looked at are in; if he say the first, you know they must be the second and fourth, there being two letters of a sort (two U's) in that row; if he say the second and fourth, they must be the ninth and nineteenth, (two I's,) and so of the rest. This amusement, which is very simple, and requires very little practice, will be found to excite, in those who are unacquainted with the key, the greatest astonishment.

The readiest way is to have a fac-simile of the key drawn on a card, to which you refer.

_To tell how many Cards a Person takes out of a Pack, and to specify each Card._

To perform this, you must so dispose a PIQUET pack of cards, that you can easily remember the order in which they are placed. Suppose, for instance, they are placed according to the words in the following line,

_Seven Aces, Eight Kings, Nine Queens, and Ten Knaves;_

and that every card be of a different suite, following each other in this order: spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds. Then the eight first cards will be the seven of spades, ace of clubs, eight of hearts, king of diamonds, nine of spades, queen of clubs, ten of hearts, and knave of diamonds, and so of the rest.

You show that the cards are placed promiscuously, and you offer them with their backs upward to any one, that he may draw what quantity he pleases; you then dexterously look at the card that precedes and that which follows those he has taken. When he has carefully counted the cards, which is not to be done in your presence, (and, in order to give you time for recollection, you tell him to do it twice over, that he may be certain,) you then take them from him, mix them with the pack, shuffle, and tell him to shuffle.

During all this time you recollect, by the foregoing line, all the cards he took out; and as you lay them down, one by one, you name each card.

Unless a person has a most excellent memory, he had better not attempt the performance of the above amusement, as the least forgetfulness will spoil the whole, and make the operator appear ridiculous.

_A Hundred different Names being written on the Cards, to tell the particular Name any Person thought of._

Write on ten cards a hundred different names, observing that the last name on each card begins with one of the letters in the word INDROMACUS, which letters, in the order they stand, answer the numbers 1 to 10, thus:

I N D R O M A C U S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On ten other cards write the same names, with this restriction, that the first name on every card must be taken from the first of the other cards, whose last name begins with I; the second name must be taken from that whose last name begins with N; and so of the rest. Then let any person choose a card out of the first ten, and after he has fixed on a name, give it to you again, when you carefully note the last name, by which you know the number of that card. You then take the other ten cards, and, after shuffling them, show them to the person, and ask if he sees the name he chose, and when he answers in the affirmative, you look to that name which is the same in number from the top with the number of the card he took from the other parcel, and that will be the name he fixed on.

Instead of ten cards there may be twenty to each parcel, by adding duplicates to each card; which will make it appear more mysterious, and will not at all embarrass it, as you have only to remember the last name on each card. Instead of names you may write questions on one of the parcels, and answers on the other.

_Several different Cards being fixed on by different Persons, to name that on which each Person fixed._

There must be as many different cards shown to _each person_, as there are cards to choose; so that, if there are three persons, you must show three cards to each person, telling the first to retain _one_ in his memory. You then lay those three cards down, and show three others to the second person, and three others to the third. Next take up the first person's cards, and lay them down separately, one by one, with their faces upwards; place the second person's cards over the first, and the third over the second's, so that there will be one card in each parcel belonging to each person. You then ask each of them in which parcel his card is, and by the answer you immediately know which card it is; for the first person's will always be the first, the second person's the second, and the third person's the third in that parcel where each says his card is.

This amusement may be performed with a single person, by letting him fix on three, four, or more cards. In this case you must show him as many parcels as he is to choose cards, and every parcel must consist of that number, out of which he is to fix on one; and you then proceed as before, he telling you the parcel that contains each of his cards.

_To name the Rank of a Card that a Person has drawn from a Piquet Pack._

The rank of a card means whether it be an ace, king, queen, &c. You therefore first fix a certain number to each card; thus you call the king four, the queen three, the knave two, the ace one, and the others according to the number of their pips.

You then shuffle the cards, and let a person draw any one of them; then turning up the remaining cards, you add the number of the first to that of the second, the second to the third, and so on, till it amounts to ten, which you then reject, and begin again; or if it be more, reject the ten, and carry the remainder to the next card, and so on to the last; and to the last amount add four, and subtract that sum from ten, if it be less, or from twenty, if it be more than ten, and the remainder will be the number of the card that was drawn; as for example, if the remainder be two, the card drawn was a knave; if three, a queen, and so on.

_To tell the Amount of the Numbers of any two Cards drawn from a common Pack._

Each court card in this amusement counts for ten, and the other cards according to the number of their pips. Let the person who draws the cards add as many more cards to each of those he has drawn as will make each of their numbers twenty-five. Then take the remaining cards in your hand, and, seeming to search for some card among them, tell them over to yourself, and their number will be the amount of the two cards drawn.

For example.--Suppose the person has drawn a ten and a seven, then he must add fifteen cards to the first, to make the number twenty-five, and eighteen to the last, for the same reason; now fifteen and eighteen make thirty-three, and the two cards themselves make thirty-five, which deducted from fifty-two, leave seventeen, which must be the number of the remaining cards, and also of the two cards drawn.

You may perform this amusement without touching the cards, thus:

Let the person who has drawn the two cards deduct the number of each of them from twenty-six, which is half the number of the pack, and after adding the remainders together, let him tell you the amount, which you privately deduct from fifty-two, the total number of all the cards, and the remainder will be the amount of the two cards.

_Example._--Suppose the two cards to be as before, ten and seven; then the person deducting ten from twenty-six, there remain sixteen, and deducting seven from twenty-six, there remain nineteen; these two remainders added together make thirty-five, which you subtract from fifty-two; and there must remain seventeen for the amount of the two cards, as before.

_To tell the Amount of the Numbers of any Three Cards that a Person shall draw from the Pack._

After the person has drawn his three cards, draw one yourself and lay it aside, for it is necessary that the number of the remaining cards be divisible by three, which they will not be in a pack of fifty-two cards, if only three be drawn. The card you draw, you may call the confederate, and pretend it is by the aid of that card you discover the amount of the others. Then tell the party to add as many more to each of his cards as will make its number sixteen, which is the third part of the remaining forty-eight cards; therefore, suppose he has drawn a ten, a seven, and a six; then, to the first he must add six cards, to the second nine, and to the third ten, which together make twenty-five, and the four cards drawn being added to them make twenty-nine. You then take the remaining cards, and, telling them over, as in the last amusement, you find their number to be twenty-three, the amount of the three cards the person drew.

This amusement may also be performed without touching the cards, thus:--When the party has drawn his three cards, and you have drawn one, let him deduct the number of each of the cards he has drawn from seventeen, which is one-third of the pack after you have drawn your card; and let him tell you the amount of the several remainders, to which you privately add one to the card you drew, and, deducting that amount from fifty-two, (the whole number of the cards,) the remainder will be the amount of the three cards drawn.

_Example._--Suppose the three cards to be ten, seven, and six, as before; then, each of those numbers subtracted from seventeen, the remainders will be respectively, seven, ten, and eleven, which, added together, make twenty-eight, to which the single card you drew being reckoned as one, and added, makes twenty-nine; and that number deducted from fifty-two, leaves twenty-three, which is the amount of the three cards the party drew.

* * * * *

The following amusements principally depend on dexterity of hand; and, as what is termed _making the pass_, will be necessary to be acquired, to enable the operator to perform many of them, we subjoin the following explanation of this term:

_How to make the Pass._--Hold the pack of cards in your right hand, so that the palm of your hand may be under the cards: place the thumb of that hand on one side of the pack; the first, second, and third fingers on the other side, and your little finger between those cards that are to be brought to the top, and the rest of the pack. Then place your left hand over the cards in such a manner that the thumb may be at C, the fore-finger at A, and the other fingers at B, as in the following figure:

+----------------+ +----------------+ | _Bottom._ | | _Top._ | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | _Thumb._ | | | | 3 | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | |_Little Finger._| | | +----------------+ +----------------+ C

The hands and the two parts of the cards being thus disposed, you draw off the lower cards, confined by the little finger and the other parts of the right hand, and place them, with an imperceptible motion, on the top of the pack.

But before you attempt any of the tricks that depend on _making the pass_, you must have great practice, and be able to perform it so dexterously and expeditiously, that the eye cannot detect the movement of the hand; or you may, instead of deceiving others, expose yourself.

_The Long Card._--Another stratagem, connected with the performance of many of the following tricks, is what is termed the _Long Card_; that is, a card, either a trifle longer or wider than the other cards, not perceptible to the eye of the spectator, but easily to be distinguished by the touch of the operator.

_The Divining Card._

Provide a pack in which there is a long card; open it at that part where the long card is, and present the pack to a person in such a manner that he will naturally draw that card. You then tell him to put it into any part of the pack, and shuffle the cards. You take the pack, and offer the same card in like manner to a second or third person, taking care that they do not stand near enough to see the card each other draws.

You then draw several cards yourself, among which is the long card, and ask each of the parties if his card be among those cards, and he will naturally say _yes_, as they have all drawn the same card. You then shuffle all the cards together, and, cutting them at the long card, you hold it before the first person, so that the others may not see it, and tell him that is his card. You then put it in the pack, shuffle it, cut it again at the same card, and hold it to the second person.

You can perform this recreation without the long card, in the following manner:

Let a person draw any card, and replace it in the pack. You then _make the pass_, (see p. 107,) and bring that card to the top of the pack, and shuffle them, without losing sight of that card. You then offer that card to a second person, that he may draw it, and put it in the middle of the pack. You _make the pass_, and shuffle the cards a second time in the same manner, and offer the card to a third person, and so again to a fourth or fifth.

_The Four Confederate Cards._

A person draws four cards from the pack, and you tell him to remember one of them. He then returns them to the pack, and you dexterously place two under and two on the top of the pack. Under the bottom ones you place four cards of any sort, and then, taking eight or ten from the bottom cards, you spread them on the table, and ask the person if the card he fixed on be among them. If he say _no_, you are sure it is one of the two cards on the top. You then pass those two cards to the bottom and, drawing off the lowest of them, you ask if that is not his card. If he again say _no_, you take up that card, and bid him draw his card from the bottom of the pack. If, on the contrary, he say his cards _are_ among those you _first_ drew from the bottom, you must dexterously take up the four cards you put under them, and, placing those on the top, let the other two be the bottom cards of the pack, which you are to draw in the manner before described.

_The Numerical Cards._

Let the long card be the sixteenth in the pack of piquet cards. Take ten or twelve cards from the top of the pack, and, spreading them on the table, desire a person to think on any one of them, and to observe the number it is from the first card. Make the pass at the long card, which will then be at the bottom. Then ask the party the number his card was at, and, counting to yourself from that number to sixteen, turn the cards up, one by one, from the bottom. Then stop at the seventeenth card, and ask the person if he has seen his card, when he will say _no_. You then ask him how many more cards you shall draw before his card appears; and when he has named the number, you draw the card aside with your finger, turn up the number of cards he proposed, and throw down the card he fixed on.

_The Card found out by the Point of the Sword._

When a card has been drawn, you place it under the long card, and by shuffling them dexterously, you bring it to the top of the pack. Then lay or throw the pack on the ground, observing where the top card lies. A handkerchief is then bound round your eyes, which ought to be done by a confederate, in such a way that you can see the ground. A sword is put into your hand, with which you touch several of the cards, as if in doubt, but never losing sight of the top card, in which at last you fix the point of the sword, and present it to the party who drew it.

_The Card hit upon by the Guess._

Spread part of the pack before a person, in such way that only one court card is visible; and so arrange it, that it shall appear the most prominent and striking card. You desire him to think on one; and observe if he fix his eye on the court card. When he tells you he has determined on one, shuffle the cards, and, turning them up one by one, when you come to the court card tell him that is the one.

If he does not seem to fix his eye on the court card, you should not hazard the experiment; but frame an excuse for performing some other amusement; neither should it be attempted with those who are conversant with these sort of deceptions.

_The Card changed by Word of Command._

You must have two cards of the same sort in the pack, (say the king of spades.) Place one next the bottom card, (say seven of hearts,) and the other at top. Shuffle the cards without displacing those three, and show a person that the bottom card is the seven of hearts. This card you dexterously slip aside with your finger, which you have previously wetted, and, taking the king of spades from the bottom, which the person supposes to be the seven of hearts, lay it on the table, telling him to cover it with his hand.

Shuffle the cards again, without displacing the first and last card, and, shifting the other king of spades from the top to the bottom, show it to another person. You then draw that privately away, and, taking the bottom card, which will then be the seven of hearts, you lay that on the table, and tell the second person (who believes it to be the king of spades) to cover it with his hand.

You then command the cards to change places; and when the two parties take off their hands and turn up the cards, they will see, to their great astonishment, that your commands are obeyed.

_The Three Magical Parties._