DISAPPEARANCE OF A SILVER DOLLAR.
After the trick has been performed, do not be afraid to let the person who has held the coin, and who is thoroughly astonished, examine the glass and its contents at his leisure. The glass disk is entirely invisible in the water, and if, as it is well to do, you have taken care to select a glass whose bottom is perfectly plane and of the same diameter as the disk ([Fig. 2]), the latter will remain adherent to the glass even when it is inverted to empty the water in order to prove once more to the spectators that it contains nothing but clear water.
THE SPIRIT SLATES.
Two ordinary wooden-framed slates are presented to the spectators, and examined in succession by them. A small piece of chalk is introduced between the two slates, which are then united by a rubber band and held aloft in the prestidigitateur’s right hand.
Then, in the general silence, is heard the scratching of the chalk, which is writing between the two slates the answer to a question asked by one of the spectators—the name of a card thought of or the number of spots obtained by throwing two dice. The rubber band having been removed and the slates separated, one of them is seen to be covered with writing. This prodigy, which at first sight seems to be so mysterious, is very easily performed.
