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

13. THE PUZZLE OF FOURTEEN.

Cut out fourteen pieces of paper, card, or wood, of the same size and shape as those shown in the diagram, and then form an oblong with them.

14. THE SQUARE AND CIRCLE PUZZLE.

Get a piece of cardboard, the size and shape of the diagram, and punch in it twelve circles or holes in the position shown. The puzzle is, to cut the cardboard into four pieces of equal size, each piece to be of the same shape, and to contain three circles, without cutting into any of them.

15. THE SCALE AND RING PUZZLE.

Provide a thin piece of wood of about two inches and a half square; make a round hole at each corner, sufficiently large to admit three or four times the thickness of the cord you will afterwards use, and in the middle of the board make four smaller round holes in the form of a square, and about half an inch between each. Then take four pieces of thin silken cord, each about six inches long, pass one through each of the four corner holes, tying a knot underneath at the end, or affixing a little ball or bead to prevent its drawing through; take another cord, which, when doubled, will be about seven inches long, and pass the two ends through the middle holes a a, from the front to the back of the board, (one cord through each hole,) and again from back to front through the other holes b b; tie the six ends together in a knot, so as to form a small scale, and proportioning the length of the cords, so that when you hold the scale suspended, the middle cord, besides passing through the four center holes, will admit of being drawn up into a loop of about half an inch from the surface of the scale; provide a ring of metal or bone, of about three quarters of an inch in diameter, and place it on the scale, bringing the loop through its middle; then, drawing the loop a little through the scale toward you, pass it, double as it is, through the hole at the corner A, over the knot underneath, and draw it back; then pass it in the same way through the hole at corner B, over the knot, and draw it back; then, drawing up the loop a little more, pass it over the knot at top, and afterward through the holes C and D in succession, like the others, and the ring will be fixed.

16. THE HEART PUZZLE.