This feat may also be done with a thinner wand on two wine glasses.
Or you may hang two loops of paper or strong thread on the edges of two sharp swords and suspend the wand on them.
To Cut a Silk Cushion in Two at One Stroke.
Hang a silk cushion, stuffed with feathers or down, so high that the centre of it would be a few inches higher than the top of your lead-cutting stool, then, aiming at the most acute edge, deliver as at the lead. On account of the inconvenience caused by the escape of the feathers from the cushion when cut, this feat has of late years been left unperformed at public assaults-of-arms. The last time I saw it executed was many years ago by my esteemed friend, Mr. Alfred Shury, at that time one of the best swordsmen in London.
This and the following are the feats said to have been done by Saladin, when he met Richard Cœur de Lion in the Diamond of the Desert.
They consequently bear his name.
PLATE XXXIII.—CUTTING A VEIL.
PLATE XXXIII.
To Cut a Veil in Two at One Stroke.
Fold a veil neatly lengthways and lay it on the edge of the sword, almost close to the hilt.