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.
The Magic Repeater
This is an interesting example of some strange agency at work amongst us.
Make a running noose at the end of a piece of fine thread, and pass it securely round a quarter, as shown in [Fig. 21]. Taking care that the thread passes over the tip of the thumb, support the thread from your hand, in the manner shown in the illustration, in such a way that the quarter is hanging within a wine-glass or tumbler. Take care also to keep the hand perfectly steady, and await results.
For a few seconds the quarter will oscillate, but it will soon become quite still. Then, actuated by no motion of your hand, it will begin to swing to and fro like a pendulum, and will finally strike one of the sides of the glass.
Counting the number of times it thus makes the glass ring, you will find that the number corresponds exactly with the nearest hour to the time of day. For instance, at 11:20 there would be eleven rings, whilst at a quarter to twelve there would be twelve.