Privately cut the rim of the edge which is raised to protect the face of a half-dollar, so that a little bit of the silver may stick up; take the coin in your right hand, and by pressing it with your thumb against a door or wainscot, the bit that sticks up will enter the wood, and thus support the half-dollar.
The Bowing Beau.
Make a figure, resembling a man, of any substance, exceedingly light, such as the pith of the alder tree, which is soft, and can easily be cut into any form: then provide for it a hemispherical base, of some very heavy substance, such as the half of a leaden bullet, made very smooth on the convex part. Cement the figure to the plane part of the hemisphere; and, in whatever position it is placed, when left to itself, it will rise upright. The figure of a beau, or master of the ceremonies, is appropriate for this trick.
The Vanishing Wafers.
On each side of a table-knife, place, in the presence of your company, three wafers. Take the knife by the handle, and turn it over two or three times, to show that the wafers are all on. Desire some person to take off one wafer from one side of the blade; turn the knife two or three times again, and there will appear only two wafers on each side; remove another wafer, turn the knife as before, and there will appear only one wafer on each side; take the third wafer away, turn the knife as before twice or thrice, and there will appear to be no wafer on either side. After a momentary pause, turn the knife again two or three times, and three wafers will appear on each side.
The secret of this capital trick consists in using wafers of the same size and color, and turning the knife, so that the same side is constantly presented to the view, and the wafers are taken off that side, one by one. The three wafers will thus remain untouched on the other side, so that when you have first made it appear that there are no wafers on either side, you may, apparently, show three on each, by the same means. The way to turn the knife is as follows: when you lift it up, turn it in your hand, with your finger and thumb, completely round, until the side that was uppermost when you lifted it, comes uppermost again. This is done in an instant, and is not perceptible, if adroitly managed.
The Cut Lace Joined.
Conceal a piece of lace in your hand; then produce another piece of the same pattern; double the latter, and put the fold between your forefinger and thumb, with the piece which you have previously concealed, doubled in the same manner; pull out a little of the latter, so as to make a loop, and desire one of the company to cut it asunder. If you have conveyed the concealed piece of lace so dexterously as to be undetected, with the other between your thumb and forefinger, the spectators will, naturally enough think you have really cut the latter; which you may seem to make whole again, while repeating some conjuring words, and putting away the two ends of the piece that is actually cut.
Vanishing Dime.
Stick a little wax upon your thumb, take a bystander by the fingers, show him a dime, and tell him you will put the same into his hand; then wring it down hard with your waxed thumb, and, using many words, look him in the face; suddenly take away your thumb, and the coin will adhere to it; then close his hand; it will seem to him that the dime remains; now tell him to open his hand, and, if you perform the feat cleverly, to his great astonishment, he will find nothing in it.