Endless Amusement: A Collection of Nearly 400 Entertaining Experiments in Various Branches of Science; Including Acoustics, Electricity, Magnetism, Arithmetic, Hydraulics, Mechanics, Chemistry, Hydrostatics, Optics; Wonders of the Air-Pump; All the Popular Tricks and Changes of the Cards, &c., &c. to Which is Added, a Complete System of Pyrotechny; Or, the Art of Making Fire-works.Unknown
Science
Endless Amusement: A Collection of Nearly 400 Entertaining Experiments in Various Branches of Science; Including Acoustics, Electricity, Magnetism, Arithmetic, Hydraulics, Mechanics, Chemistry, Hydrostatics, Optics; Wonders of the Air-Pump; All the Popular Tricks and Changes of the Cards, &c., &c. to Which is Added, a Complete System of Pyrotechny; Or, the Art of Making Fire-works.
Show these two aces to the company; then, taking the ace of spades,
you desire a person to put his foot upon it, and as you place it on
the ground, draw away the spade. In like manner you place the seeming
ace of hearts under the foot of another person. You then command the
two cards to change their places; and that they obey your command, the
two persons, on taking up their cards, will have ocular demonstration.
A deception similar to this is sometimes practised with one card,
suppose the ace of spades, over which a heart is pasted lightly. After
showing a person the card, you let him hold one end of it, and you
hold the other, and while you amuse him with discourse, you slide off
the heart. Then laying the card on the table, you bid him cover it
with his hand; you then knock under the table, and command the heart
to turn into the ace of spades.
_To tell the Card that a Person has touched with his Finger._
This amusement is to be performed by confederacy. You previously agree
with your confederate on certain signs, by which he is to denote the
suite, and the particular card of each suite; thus: if he touch the
first button of his coat, it signifies an ace; if the second, a king,
&c.; and then again, if he take out his handkerchief, it denotes the
suite to be hearts; if he take snuff, diamonds, &c. These
preliminaries being settled, you give the pack to a person who is near
your confederate, and tell him to separate any one card from the rest,
while you are absent, and draw his finger once over it. He is then to
return you the pack, and while you are shuffling the cards, you
carefully note the signals made by your confederate; then turning the
cards over one by one, you directly fix on the card he touched.
_The Card in the Pocket-book._
A confederate is previously to know the card you have taken from the
pack, and put into your pocket-book. You then present the pack to him,
and desire him to fix on a card, (which we will suppose to be the
queen of diamonds,) and place the pack on the table. You then ask him
the name of the card, and when he says the queen of diamonds, you ask
him if he be not mistaken, and if he be sure that the card is in the
pack: when he replies in the affirmative, you say, "It might be there
when you looked over the cards, but I believe it is now in my pocket;"
then desire a third person to put his hand in your pocket, and take
out your book, and when it is opened the card will appear.
_The Card in the Egg._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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