THE REVOLVING PINS

Take a piece of elastic which is not covered with silk or wool, and through the middle of this stick a pin, which you have bent as shown in the ill.u.s.tration.

Now hold the elastic between the thumb and first finger of each hand and twirl it round, stretching it a little at the same time. The rapid movement thus caused will make the revolving pin look like a gla.s.s object, and if you have a strong light falling on the pin and a dark background behind it, the resemblance becomes very much stronger.

After a little practice you will be able to represent many things in this way--cheese dishes, vases, champagne gla.s.ses, etc.; and if the bent pin should fall into a horizontal position while revolving, on account of its shape, you can tie one end to the elastic with a piece of white thread, which will not in any way interfere with the working.

This trick looks well in a darkened room, when the pin is illuminated by a ray of sunlight coming through a hole in the window shutter.

THE MYSTERIOUS BALL

This seems to be a plain wooden ball with a hole bored in its center, through which a string is pa.s.sed. The ball will move lightly up and down this cord, but let some one who knows the trick take the string in his hand and it becomes quite a different matter; the ball will move quickly, or slowly, at command, and, if told to do so, will stand still until ordered to move on again.

The reason for this peculiar behavior is that inside the ball there are two holes, one of which is quite straight, while the other is curved, and turns out of the straight hole.

It is through this curved pa.s.sage that the cord is pa.s.sed, and you can easily see that to regulate the movements of the ball, it is only necessary to hold the string more or less tightly. If you hold the cord perfectly tight, the ball will not be able to move at all. The ball can be purchased at any top shop.

THE MAN WITH HIS HEAD THE WRONG WAY

Put on a coat and vest so that they fasten behind. Then fix a mask over the back of the head and a wig over the face. The effect is very curious.

TO FIND AN OBJECT WHILE BLINDFOLDED

To play this trick, you must take one of your friends into your confidence. Borrow a watch and put it in your pocket, and then ask your audience to sit at the end of the room, blindfold your friend, and lead him outside. Now say: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you will give me some small object to hide, I promise that the blind man will find it, although I shall not even tell him what he is to look for, and I shall lower the gas, so that if the bandage should slip, he will still be unable to see." A key, pencil, or any small thing having been handed to you, lower the gas and proceed to hide the object, at the end of the room, mentioning where you have put it, but not mentioning that you have placed the watch close beside it. You then request "Silence" and lead in the blind man and ask him to begin his search.

He is guided, of course, by the ticking of the watch, and knows that whatever he finds close to it is the object hidden. When he calls "Found," he must slip the watch into his pocket. You then turn up the gas and quietly ask your audience if they do not think your friend is a very clever fellow?

CHINESE SHADOWS

Here is a simple way of making shadow pictures: Place a candle on the table and fix a piece of white paper on the wall at the same height from the ground as the light is. Now place some non-transparent object, as, for instance, a large book, between the candle and the paper, and on one side of the table place a mirror so that it will reflect the light of the candle on to the paper on the wall. If you now put little cardboard figures between the candle and the mirror, a shadow will be thrown on the white paper and you can move your figures about just as you please.

HAND SHADOWS

It is very difficult to explain how these shadows should be made, but you must bear in mind the fact that it is necessary to stand between the lamp and the wall, and extend your arms so that the shadow of your body does not interfere with the picture shadows you intend to make with your hands. The ill.u.s.trations given will show you how to make two very good shadow pictures, but the fun of the game is for several people to make up pictures of their own, and see who can succeed in making the best.

THE GAME OF SHADOWS

For this game you require a white sheet to be hung up at the end of the room. Then the "shadow-makers" take up their places on low stools behind the sheet. There must be only one lamp in the room, which should be placed about six or seven feet behind the "shadow-makers."

Then the "shadow-makers" drape themselves with shawls, or anything handy, and take their places so that their shadows are thrown upon the sheet. They must, of course, try to disguise themselves, so that the "shadow-seekers" may not be able to guess their ident.i.ty. By loosening the hair and letting it fall over the face, a girl may appear like a man with a beard; bending the finger over the nose gives one a very queer-looking hooked nose in the shadow, and entirely alters the appearance of the face. Covering one's self up in a sheet and then extending the arms gives one the appearance of a large bat. As soon as a "shadow-maker's" ident.i.ty has been guessed he must take his place as a "shadow-seeker," and the one who guessed him becomes a "shadow-maker." The penalty of a glance behind the sheet on the part of the "shadow-seeker" is to pay a forfeit.

THINK OF A NUMBER

Tell some one to think of any number he likes, but not to tell you what it is. Tell him then to double it. When he has done that, let him add an even number to it, which you must give him. After doing this, he must halve the whole, then from what is left, take away the number he first thought of. When this is completed, if he has counted correctly, you will be able to give him the exact remainder, which will simply be the half of the even number you told him to add to his own.

LIVING SHADOWS

In order to make these, you must stand in the corner of the room, near a mirror. Let some one hold a light behind you, so that the shadow of your head and shoulders will be thrown upon the wall, and also that the reflected light from the mirror will fall at exactly the same spot as the shadow of your head.

If the mirror is now covered with a piece of thick paper, from which two eyes, a nose, and a mouth are cut out, the effect shown in the drawing will be produced. In order to make the shadow still more lifelike, cut out two pieces of paper, fasten one over the mirror, and move the other over it. In this way the eyes and mouth of the shadow may be made to move.

TO GUESS THE TWO ENDS OF A LINE OF DOMINOES

For this trick a whole set of dominoes is required, the performer taking care to hide one of the set, not a double, in his pocket. The remaining dominoes should be shuffled, and placed according to the ordinary rules of domino games, and the performer undertakes to tell, without seeing them, the two numbers forming the extremes of the line, set during his absence from the room. The numbers on the extreme ends of the domino line will be exactly the same as the numbers on the domino which the performer has in his pocket. If he is asked to repeat the trick, he should be sure to change the hidden domino, or he may chance to be found out.

TO TELL THE AGE OF ANY PERSON

Prepare a set of cards by making a copy of the tables given here. Hand them to the person whose age you wish to ascertain, and ask him to name the cards on which his age appears.

If you then add together the first number on each of the cards he names, the total will be the age required.