You must have a lock made for this purpose, according to the figure; one side of its bow must be immoveable, as that marked A; the other side is noted B, and must be pinned to the body of the lock, as appears at E.
It must be so pinned that it may play to and fro with ease; this side of the bow must have a leg as at B, and then turn it into the lock; this leg must have two notches filed on the inner side, which must be so managed that one may lock or hold the two sides of the bow as close together as possible, and the other notch to hold the said part of the bow a proportionable distance asunder: so that, being locked upon the cheek, it may neither pinch too hard, nor yet hold it so slight that it may be drawn off. Let there be a key fixed to it to unlock it, as you see at D; and, lastly, let the bow have divers notches filed in it, so that the place of the partition, when the lock is shut home, will the least of all be suspected in the use of the lock. You must now get one to hold a sixpence, edgeways, between his teeth; then take another sixpence, and with your left hand proffer to set it edgeways between a second man’s teeth, pretending that your intent is to turn both into which of their mouths they shall desire, by virtue of your words; which he shall no sooner consent to do, but you, by holding the lock privately in your right hand, with your fore-finger a little down, after certain words, and the lock having hung on a while, may seem to pull the key out of his nose.
To thrust a Bodkin into the Forehead, without Hurt.
Take a hollow bodkin, so that the blade may slip therein as soon as the point is held upwards. Seem to thrust it into your forehead, and, with a little sponge in your hand, bring out blood or wine, making the spectators think that the blood or wine (whereof you may say you have drank very much) runs out of your forehead; then, after showing some appearance of pain, pull away your hand suddenly, holding the point downwards, and it will fall out, and seem never to have been thrust into the haft; but, immediately afterwards, throw that bodkin into your lap or pocket, and pull out another plain one like it, which will completely deceive the spectators.
To thrust a Bodkin through your Tongue.
This trick is to be performed in much the same manner as the former, and, as in the first case, without hurt; if the reader will take the pains to practise this trick, he will be in no more danger of performing one than the other.
To render the deception as complete as possible, proceed as follows:—Make a bodkin, or nail, the blade thereof being cut in the middle, so that one part may not be close to the other, by almost three quarters of an inch, each part being kept asunder by a small crooked piece of iron, of the fashion described in the next trick; then thrust your tongue between the aforesaid place, to wit, into the space left in the bodkin-blade, thrusting the said part behind your teeth, and biting it. It will seem to stick so fast in, and through your tongue, that one can hardly pull it out. You must have another bodkin or nail, just like the false one, to show the company.
To appear to cut your Arm off, without Hurt or Danger.
You must provide yourself with two knives, a true one and a false one, and let them be so like each other, that no person can tell one from the other. When you go to show this feat to the company, put the true knife into your pocket; then take out the false one, and clap it on your wrist undiscovered. If, with a sponge, you make the knife bloody, it will seem so much the more strange. This is the form of the knife:—