Take a piece of string about four feet long; hold the ends, points upwards, between the first and second finger and thumb of the left hand and the first finger and thumb of the right hand, letting the remainder of the string hang down in a loop; then bring the right hand close to the left, crossing at right angles that end of the cord held in the left hand, and continue to pull until half the length of the string has passed the left hand, at the same time slipping the third finger of the left hand between the two parts of the string. The first finger and thumb of the right hand should then seize the string at a point just below the little finger of the left hand, the third finger of that hand at the same time drawing back the string towards the palm of the hand. The part of the string now held horizontally between the two hands is only the continuation of the end held in the left hand, although it will appear to be the middle of the string. This piece of the string some one of the audience should be invited to cut, and thus apparently cut the string in half, although in fact he will only be cutting off two or three inches. Place all the ends of the string between the teeth, withdraw the short piece with the tongue, and show the remainder—apparently the string as it was at the commencement. Of course, the string must not be measured, or the trick will be detected. Some little practice will be needed before the necessary arrangement of the string can be neatly made.
THE MUSICAL SNAIL.
A common garden snail may be made to perform musical sounds by making it crawl along a pane of glass placed on rests like a sounding-board; the sounds emitted will be something like those of a harmonium.
TO EXTRACT A CORK FROM A BOTTLE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE CORK.
Fill a bottle full of water or other liquid, and cork it so tightly that the bottom of the cork is flush with the liquid. Wrap the bottle round at the bottom with a thick cloth, and knock it against some immovable object. The motion of the water acting as a solid body should force out the cork.
THE BOTTLE FOUNTAIN.
Force a glass tube, one end of which is a trifle larger than the other end, through the stopper of a bottle, with the small end of the tube upwards. The bottle should be about two-thirds full of water, and the tube should reach nearly, but not quite, to the bottom. Blow with considerable force down the tube, and on quickly removing the mouth the water will spurt out, forming a fountain of spray so long as any water remains in the bottle.
TO PLACE WINE UNDER A HAT, AND TO DRINK IT WITHOUT TOUCHING THE HAT.
Cover a glass of wine over with a hat placed on an ordinary table, and say that you will drink the wine without touching the hat. As a preliminary, impress upon the company the necessity of every one abstaining from touching the hat; then get under the table, and pretend from there to drink the wine by sucking it through the table. After getting up, request some person (who will not be likely to refuse) to remove the hat, in order to ascertain whether the wine has disappeared. Immediately upon this being done, take up the glass and swallow its contents, claiming to have drunk the wine without lifting the hat. Of course this deception should not be practised more than once before the same audience.