Drawing Matches to Win. Take 15 matches, bunch them up so they cannot be easily counted, lay them on a table, and tell some person that you will allow him to start the game, by drawing from the pile one, two or three matches—but no more. Tell him that you have the same privilege, and that you intend that he shall draw the last match, or, at least, that you will leave the last for him to draw.
If you watch your turns carefully you will succeed perfectly, unless, of course, your opponent is acquainted with the system—and very few persons are.
If he should first draw one, you draw one. If his second draw should be three, then you draw one again. Observe now that there are six drawn. In order to assure yourself of winning, make certain that this is the case either at your first or second draw—get six off the board. Then there are nine remaining. The next time you draw let it make four with what he draws, leaving five still to be drawn. Now if he draws three, you take one; if he draws two, you take two, and so on. You will thus see that the last match will always be left to your opponent.
He will now surely want to try it again. This time you begin the drawing by taking one, as he did at first, making a remark to that effect. Whatever number he takes, it cannot make the six. But should he follow your example and take but one, you still must be careful and trust to luck and careful computation, taking only one more on your second draw, which will make three off. The chances are small that he will take the remaining three to make the six. But if he does, it is an evidence that he is “getting on,” and he may possibly (but not probably) beat you.
Whether he does or does not, you simply let him start out again, and you proceed to follow according to his lead. You will defeat him nine times in ten without your being compelled to make your play certain, which can be done when you get your first draw, as follows: draw two; he cannot then defeat you, for whatever he draws, he will still leave from one to three for you, and you take the sixth off, when the rest is easy. Better not do this until he is quite sure that he has “discovered” your method, when this will put him all at sea again. This game is great fun, and will puzzle all of your friends.
Eye-Errors and Ghosts. A few experiments with the eyes will be found very interesting, and to the uninitiated, very queer. If you will hold up your forefinger about a foot from your face, and look at a tree or object beyond it, or at any tall object, you will see your finger double. Then look directly at your finger and you will see the tree double.
The explanation is that each eye sees separately, and when both are looking at the finger the right eye sees the tree or object on the right side of the finger and the left eye sees it on the left. When, however, you look at the tree directly with both eyes, each eye sees the finger apparently in a different place. If you will cover the one eye and look with the other, you cannot see either the tree or the finger double, which is the proof of the experiment.
Place two bits of white paper about a foot apart on a table. Cover the right eye and look steadily at the right-hand piece of paper with the left eye. By stepping backward you will reach a spot where the left-hand piece of paper will disappear. You can make the right-hand piece of paper disappear by looking at the left-hand piece of paper with the right eye.
When you have made one disappear in this way, move your head ever so slightly backward or forward, and the paper will instantly reappear. The reason of this is that every person’s eye has a blind spot on the retina, and when an image of the piece of paper falls on the spot it cannot be seen.
Instead of snatching the paper away after looking at it steadily, look up at the ceiling, and the image will be seen there. These “ghosts,” as they are sometimes called, are caused by the action of light on the retina of the eye.