The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring / Being a complete hand-book of parlor magic, and containing over one thousand optical, chemical, mechanical, magnetical, and magical experiments, amusing transmutations, astonishing sleights and subtleties, celebrated card deceptions, ingenious tricks with numbers, curious and entertaining puzzles, together with all the most noted tricks of modern performers.

by George Arnold; Frank Cahill

ODD MAGIC SQUARES.

Squares of this kind are formed thus. Imagine an exterior line of squares above the magic square you wish to form, and another exterior line on the right hand of it These two imaginary lines are shown in the figure.

Then attend to the two following rules:

1st. In placing the numbers in the squares we must go in an ascending oblique direction from left to right; any number which, by pursuing this direction, would fall into the exterior line, must be carried along that line of squares, whether vertical or horizontal, to the last square. Thus, 1 having been placed in the center of the top line, (see the first table on p. 228,) 2 would fall into the exterior square above the fourth vertical line; it must be therefore carried down to the lowest square of that line; then, ascending obliquely 3 falls into the square, but four falls out of it, to the end of a horizontal line, and it must be carried along that line to the extreme left, and there placed. Resuming our oblique ascension to the right, we place 5, where the reader sees it, and would place 6 in the middle of the top band, but finding it occupied by 1, we look for direction to the 2d Rule, which prescribes that, when in ascending obliquely, we come to a square already occupied, we must place the number, which according to the first rule should go into that occupied square, directly under the last number placed. Thus, in ascending with 4, 5, 6, the 6 must be placed directly under the 5, because the square next to 5 in an oblique direction is "engaged."

Magic squares of this class, however large in the number of compartments, can be easily filled up by attending to these two rules.

We give opposite, a seven-placed square.

There are various other kinds of magic squares; but explanations of them would be too lengthy for our work.

The invention of these contrivances has been traced back to the early ages of science, and talismanic properties were attributed to them. Modern philosophers have amused themselves in bringing them to perfection, and none has contributed so much as "the model of practical wisdom," Dr. Franklin.