Put a little wax on the nail of the middle finger of the right hand, and take a half-dime into the palm of the same hand. Close the hand, pressing the wax on the coin. Then rapidly open it, and the silver piece will adhere to the wax, and be quite concealed behind the finger when you hold your hand up.
44. THE RESTORED DOCUMENT.
Make a memorandum book, and line the cover with paper which has been previously rubbed with a mixture of lamp-black and oil. The paper must be loosely affixed, so that it can be raised up, and a leaf from the memorandum book placed under it. You must also make a flat box, having a double opening.
You now take a leaf out of the memorandum book, and ask some one to write a sentence, at the same time offering him the book to write upon. The pencil with which you furnish him is very hard, and he is forced to press upon the paper in order to mark. In so doing, the black is transferred by the pressure of the pencil from the blackened paper to the white leaf that has been placed under it, and of course makes an exact copy of the writing. You then give the man his document, put the memorandum book in your pocket, and go out of the room to fetch your box, which you have forgotten. While you are out of the room, you take out the leaf from under the black paper, and put it into one side of the flat box, and shut down the cover that hides it. You bring in the box, apologising for your absence, and give the box, open at the other side, into the writer's hands. Tell him to burn his writing in a candle, and to place the ashes in the box. He does so, and closing the box, returns it to you. You then flourish about a little with the box, wave it in the air, bring it down with a bang on the table, strike it with your wand, and then, opening it as at first, you produce the duplicate leaf, which the writer acknowledges to be in his own hand-writing. If the lamp-black should have come off and smeared the paper, you can account for it by observing that it is very difficult to get rid of all traces of the burning.
45. THE MAGIC RINGS.
Get a blacksmith to make a number of rings, about six or seven inches in diameter, as in the cut. A is made with a spring opening on one side, B is a set of two rings forged permanently within each other, C is a set of three rings formed in the same manner, and D D are two simple rings. The rings should be about the thickness of a rather large black-lead pencil.
Lay the rings on one another, and they will all appear to be separate and distinct: D D should be the uppermost rings, then B, then A, and then C. Hand round D for inspection and if any more are desired, hand round the other D. When returned, hang them over your left arm, or grasp them in your hand, and tell the company that you are going to weave all the rings together. You clash them together, and after going through some complicated movements, bring out B, which the spectators will think you have just fastened together. Hand them round. When they are returned mix them all up, and bring out C. Then take A in your hand, and passing one of the outer rings of C through the opening, you have four rings together. Then add D and you have five. Take off D and substitute B which will give you six. So you go on weaving them into all kinds of fantastic shapes. You must always conceal the joint in A with your thumb, and contrive as often as you can to have one at least of the rings D at liberty This is a capital trick, and may be diversified to any extent, especially if the number of rings is increased.
46. THE FISH AND INK TRICK.
This is really a first-rate delusion. You bring before the spectators a glass vase, full of ink. You dip a ladle into it, and pour out some of the ink upon a plate, in order to convince the audience that the substance in the vase is really ink. You then throw a handkerchief over the vase and instantly withdraw it, when the vase is found to be filled with pure water, in which a couple of gold fish are swimming.