Tie a cord to the pedal of a bicycle, such pedal to be the one that is the nearer to the ground, and, standing behind the back wheel, pull the cord, when, strange as it appears, the machine will come towards you, although everyone would first imagine that the bicycle would move forward. How is this?
One ought to have dates at one’s finger ends seeing they grow upon the palms.
TO TELL THE SPOTS ON THE
BOTTOM CARDS OF SIX HEAPS.
Allow anyone to choose six cards from a full pack. Tell him the court cards count 10, and the other cards according to their pips. Having made his selection, tell him to lay the chosen cards upon the table face downwards, without allowing you to see them, and to place upon each as many cards as pips are required to make 12. Whilst he is doing so, you should be out of the room or blindfolded. On your return he hands you the cards left over, and you have to tell the total number of spots on the six bottom cards.
Suppose he had chosen 10, 6, 1, K, 3 and 7, which totals 37, now on the 10, he would place two cards to make 12; on the 6, he would place 6; and on the 1, 11 would be placed, and so on. On receiving the remaining cards from him you pretend to be looking through them carefully, but you simply want to know how many he has given you, which in the above example would be 11. To this number you add 26, which gives 37, the total spots required.
Should there not be enough cards left on hand to complete the six heaps, you can ask him how many cards he is short of, and this number, subtracted from 25, will give the total. It is better not to allow the person to choose six cards right off at the beginning, but for him to shuffle and cut the pack as he pleases, and to take the cards as they come.
BOOK-KEEPING COMMANDMENTS.