To allow a Person to think of a Card, and to make that Card appear at such Number in the Pack as Another Person shall Name.—Allow the pack to be shuffled and cut as freely as the company please. When they are fully satisfied that the cards are well mixed, offer the pack to any of the spectators, and request him to look over the cards, and think of any one, and to remember the number at which it stands in the pack, reckoning from the bottom card upwards. You then remark, “Ladies and gentlemen, you will take particular notice that I have not asked a single question, and yet I already know the card; and if anyone will kindly indicate the place in the pack at which you desire it to appear, I will at once cause it to take that position. I must only ask that, by arrangement between yourselves, you will make the number at which the card is to appear higher than that which it originally held.” We will suppose that the audience decide that the card shall appear at number 22. Carelessly remark, “It is not even necessary for me to see the cards.” So saying, hold the pack under the table, and rapidly count off twenty-two cards from the bottom of the pack, and place them on the top.[C] You then continue, “Having already placed the card thought of in the desired position, I may now, without suspicion, ask for the original number of the card, as I shall commence my counting with that number.” We will suppose you are told the card was originally number 10. You begin to count from the top of the pack, calling the first card 10, the next 11, and so on. When you come to 22, the number appointed, you say, “If I have kept my promise, this should be the card you thought of. To avoid the suspicion of confederacy, will you please say, before I turn it over, what your card was.” The card being named, you turn it up, and show that it is the right one.
[C] When the number named is more than half the total number of the pack, i.e., more than 16 in a piquet pack, or more than 26 in a whist pack, it is quicker, and has precisely the same effect, to count off the difference between that and the total number from the top, and place them at the bottom. Thus, in a piquet pack, if the number called be 12, you would count off 12 from the bottom, and place them on the top; but if the number called were 24 you would achieve the same object by counting 8 from the top, and passing them to the bottom.
In all tricks which depend on the naming of a card drawn or thought of, it adds greatly to the effect to have the card named before you turn it up.
This trick, unlike most, will bear repetition; but it is well on a second performance to vary it a little. Thus you may on the second occasion say, when the card has been thought of, “I will choose for myself this time; your card will appear at number 30.” It is desirable to name a number very near the total number of the pack (which we are now supposing to be a piquet pack), as the difference between that and the total number being very small, it is easy to see at a glance the number of cards representing such difference, and pass them to the bottom of the pack. You take in this instance two cards only, that being the difference between 30 and 32, and pass them to the bottom, when the card will, as you have announced, be the thirtieth.
If you are able to make the pass, you will, of course, avail yourself of it to transfer the requisite number of cards to the top or bottom of the pack.
The Cards Revealed by the Looking-Glass.—This is rather a joke than a feat of magic, but it will create some fun, and may often be kept up for some time without being discovered. Take up your position on one side of the room, facing a good-sized mirror or chimney-glass. Make your audience stand or sit facing you, when they will, of course, have their backs to the glass. Offer the cards to be shuffled and cut. Take the top card and hold it high up, with its back to you and its face to the audience. As it will be reflected in the mirror opposite you, you will have no difficulty in naming it, or any other card in like manner, till your audience either find you out, or have had enough of the trick.
To Guess Four Cards thought of by Different Persons.—Offer the pack to be shuffled. Place it on the table, and taking off the four top cards with the right hand, offer them to any person, and ask him to notice one of them, shuffle them, and return them to you. When they are returned, place them, face downwards, in your left hand. Take the next four cards, and offer them to another person in like manner. Proceed in like manner with a third and fourth group of four. When all the sixteen cards are returned, deal them out in four heaps, face upwards. Ask each person in which heap his card now is. That of the first person will be the uppermost of his heap, that of the second person second in his heap, and so on. It will sometimes occur that two of the cards chosen are in the same heap, but the rule will still apply. Should there be three persons only to choose, you should give them three cards each; and deal in three heaps.
The Pairs Re-paired.—After performing the last trick, you may continue, “As you have not yet found me out, I will repeat the experiment, but in a slightly altered form. This time I will invite you to think of two cards each, and all present may join if they please.” After giving the pack to be shuffled, you deal out twenty cards, face upwards, but placing them in couples. Invite as many of the company as please to note any particular couple they think fit, and to remember those two cards. When they have done so, gather up the cards, picking them up here and there in any order you please, taking care, however, that none of the pairs are separated. You now deal them out again, face upwards, in rows of five, according to the following formula: Mutus dedit nomen Cocis, which, being interpreted, signifies, “Mutus gave a name to the Coci,” a people as yet undiscovered. On examining the sentence closely, you will observe that it consists of ten letters only, m, u, t, s, d, e, i, n, o, c, each twice repeated. This gives you the clue to the arrangement of the cards, which will be as follows:
| M | U | T | U | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| D | E | D | I | T |
| 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| N | O | M | E | N |
| 8 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| C | O | C | I | S |
| 10 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
You must imagine the four words printed as above upon your table. You must deal your first card upon the imaginary M in MUTUS, and the second on the imaginary M in NOMEN, the two next cards on the two imaginary U’s, the two next on the two T’s, and so on. You have now only to ask each person in which row his two cards now appear, and you will at once know which they are. Thus, if a person says his two cards are now in the second and fourth rows, you will know that they must be the two cards representing the two I’s, that being the only letter common to those two rows. If a person indicates the first and fourth rows, you will know that his cards are those representing the two S’s, and so on.