A Will-power Test
This is scarcely a trick, as it really serves to prove which of two persons has the stronger will-power.
Place a door-key between the pages in the middle of a book in such a way that the handle projects an inch or two, as in [Fig. 20]. Pass a piece of string round the book, and draw into a tight knot, so that the key is held firmly in its place.
Now, let the persons who desire to test the strength of their wills support the book by the ring of the key resting on their extended forefingers, as in the [illustration]. If one person wills the book to turn from right to left, and the other wills it to turn in the opposite direction, it will be found that the book obeys whichever party is possessed of the stronger will.
Fig. 20.—A will-power trick.
There is yet another way of testing this strange example of personal magnetism.
Let one of the parties (preferably he of the stronger will) think of some name, Mary, for instance. Informing nobody else of the name he has chosen, let him repeat the alphabet very slowly, when it will be found that, as he arrives at the first letter, M, the book will give a slight turn, and will behave in a similar way for all the other letters of the name. If both parties know the name, the book will turn much more readily, as a result of the united forces of their wills.
Fig. 21.—The magic repeater.