A clever trick employed to deceive me on one occasion was as follows: I was handed a slate and a damp sponge, with a request to cleanse the slate. I did so, and handed it back to the medium, who held it in plain view in one hand. In a short time the slate was given back to me with writing on it that could not be produced by any of the methods I was already acquainted with. I witnessed this test a second time, and it was only by accident that I discovered it, and all through the breaking of a string, to which the device employed was attached. The apparatus was a strip of narrow wood, nearly the length of the slate. Glued on it were raised letters of cork (felt would do also). These letters were in reverse, and were well rubbed with soft chalk. This strip of wood was attached to a cord running up the left sleeve, across the back, and down the right arm-hole, and thence under the vest and the end fastened to a button. The length of the string allowed the wood to hang behind the slate when held in the left hand. To keep the wood up in the sleeve until wanted, there was a loop on the string far enough up to suit the purpose. This loop was slipped over the button, where it could be easily detached with the right hand. The sponge was soaked in water containing alum, which makes the chalk adhere better to the slate. When the slate was handed to the medium, he held it downward in his left hand, and allowed the strip of wood to slip down behind it, when it was pressed firmly against the surface of the slate, and then pulled up into the sleeve again out of sight. This same idea has been utilized in using a blotter, the same as is used for ink, to dry the slate with. The blotter has the writing done on it with chalk, thus doing away with the strip of wood. Take a slate and cover it with writing on one side. Cover this writing with a piece of slate-colored silk, held in the corners lightly with wax. At one end of this silk have a few minute hooks. The slate is now cleaned on both sides, and, placing the slate on the floor, the piece of silk is allowed to attach itself by means of the hooks to the medium’s pants, or dress, as the case may be, thus leaving the slate devoid of trickery. It is hardly necessary to remark that the slate is placed on the floor written-side downward. [Illustration: Fig. 16.--The Caustic Trick Pencil.]