The sibyls, kg. 5. Having properly heated the triangle, and placed it under the cover, you introduce the talisman, and tell any one of the company to choose one of the papers on which the questions are wrote, and place it in the talisman, and he will immediately have an answer wrote on that paper, the words of which will be of different colours, according to the different metals of which the talisman is composed. The paper being placed in the talisman, and the cover placed over it, the heat of the triangle will make the answer visible in a few moments. This experiment may be repeated if the triangle be made sufficiently hot; and two papers may be placed in the talisman at the same time. This deception, when well executed, occasions a surprise that cannot be conceived by a mere description. 7. Make a wooden pedestal AB, about ten inches long, eight wide, and one deep: and at one end erect a box C, about ten inches high, eight broad, and two and a half deep. The top of the pedestal must slide in a groove, on which inscribe a dial M, of six inches diameter, and which is to be divided into nineteen equal parts, in twelve of which write the names of the months, and mark the respective signs of the zodiac; and in the seven other divisions, which must be next the end B, write the days of the week, and mark the figures of the planets. Next the inner circle NO, make an opening into the box, of about one-tenth of an inch. On the centre of the dial place an index that turns freely on its centre. Within the pedestal place a pulley P, about four inches diameter, which is to turn on an axis that is directly under the centre of the dial; and on the upper part of that axis fix a bent index R, which comes out at the opening made by the inner circle (H), and passes over those seven divisions only on which are wrote the days of the week. Within the box C, let there be two rollers S and T, as in the figure: let that of S contain a spring; and at the end of T let there be a pulley V, of three quarters of an inch diameter, round which goes a string or thread that passes under the small pulley X, and is fastened to that of P: so that when the last pulley makes about one-third of a turn, that of V may make three or four turns. There must also be a scroll of paper, about two feet long, and each end of which must be pasted to one of the rollers. In the front of the box, between the two rollers, make an aperture D, about four inches long On each of the seven cards write a different que stion, and draw one of the seven planets. Next take a memorandum book that contains seven leaves, and on each of them write the name of one of the foregoing sibyls; in each of the leaves place several pieces of paper; and on each of them write, with the sympathetic ink that does not appear till the paper is heated, different answers to the same question. Then give a person the seven cards on which the questions are wrote, and tell him to choose one of them privately, and conceal the rest, so that it cannot possibly be known which of them he has chosen. Next, tell him to place the index that points to the month against that in which he was born (1), and to place the index of the planets against that which is on the card he has chosen, and which is to preside over the answer: you tell him to do this privately, that no one may see him, and after that to cover the dial with his handkerchief. Then let him open the door that is before the aperture in the box, and tell you the name of the sibyl there visible. You then open the memorandum book, and taking out the papers that are in the leaf where the name of the sibyl just mentioned is wrote, you desire him to choose any one of them he thinks proper. The talisman used in the last experiment being properly heated, is then to be introduced, when you direct the person to put the blank paper into it; and taking it out a few moments after, he will find the answer to his question. To make this operation appear the more extraordinary, it will be proper to have a small press or cupboard, at the back of which there is a door that opens into an adjoining room, by which means an assistant having prepared the talisman, may place it in the cupboard the moment before it is wanted. This contrivance will be useful on many other ocansions. tic Inks. 8. Provide an urn of wood or metal about six The magie inches high, and two and a half diameter in the widest urn. part, and of such figure in other respects as you think proper (see fig. 9.). Let there be a cylinder of copper C, (fig. 10.) of about one-eighth of an inch dia meter, (H) If the axis be made to pass through the top of the pedestal, this opening will not be necessary. (1) These months and the index are of no other use than to give the experiment an air of greater mystery. The convertible cards. On a small square piece of paper draw the figure of a flower or leaf, with that sort of sympathetic ink whose colour most resembles it. You then present several sorts of flowers or leaves to a person, and desire bim to choose any one of them. Then put that flower on a chafingdish of hot coals; and taking the paper on which it is secretly drawn, you give it to the person to examine, and then put it in the urn, having previously heated the cylinder (K). Then taking some of the ashes of the burnt flower, you strew them over the paper, after which you take it out and show the company the figure of that flower. While the flower is burning, you may sprinkle some powder over it, suppose that of saltpetre; and by that, mixed with the ashes of the flower, the company may imagine the effect is produced. The press or cupboard mentioned in the preceding experiment, will be here very convenient for heating the cylinder and placing it in the urn. A similar deception may be performed by putting the paper in a copper vessel, that may be placed on an iron plate over the chafingdish in which the flower is burnt. But this method has not so mysterious an appearance as the other, and in some persons may cause a suspicion that the effect is produced by heat. 9. To perform this experiment, you must observe, that there are several letters which may be changed into others, without any appearance of the alteration; as, the a into d, the c into a, e, d, g, o, or q, the i into b, d, or l, the l into t, the o into a, d, g, or q, the v iny, &c. to Take a parcel of cards, suppose 20, and on one of them write, with the ink of the fourth class, the word law (L), and on the other, with the same ink, the words old woman; then holding them to the fire, they will both become visible. Now you will observe, that by altering the a in the word law into d, and adding o before the, and oman after the w, it becomes old woman. Therefore, you make those alterations with the invisible ink, and let it remain so. On the rest of the cards you write any words you think fit. Present the cards in such a manner to two persons, that one of them shall draw the word law, and the other the word old woman. You then tell the person who drew the word law, that it shall disappear, and the words on the other card shall be wrote in its place; and that you may not change the cards, desire each of the parties to write his name on the cards. Then putting the cards together, and holding them before the fire, as if to dry the names just wrote, the word law will presently change into old woman. This experiment may be varied by fixing on a word that may be changed into three other words, and making four persons draw the cards on which those words are wrote; and it may be further diversified by choos- Experiing three such words, as that the first can be changed ments with into the second, and the second into the third. You Sympathethen tell him who drew the first word, that it shall be tie laks. changed into that drawn by the second person; and him you tell, that his word shall be changed into that of the third person. 10. Write on several slips of paper different ques- The oreos tions, and such as may be answered by the name of las letters. some person; for example, Who is the merriest man in the company? Answer, Mr ***. To whom will Miss *** be married? Answer, To Mr ** These questions are to be wrote in the sympathetic ink of this class, and exposed to the fire, and the answers wrote in the same ink, and left invisible. The papers are to be folded in form of letters, and in such manner that the part where the name is wrote shall be directly under the seal, and the heat of the wax will make it visible. Then give the letter to the person who requires the answer, and he will find it plainly wrote. A deception similar to this may be made with a number of blank cards, on each of which an ace of spades is drawn with the invisible ink; then let a person choose any one of them, and enclose it in a lettercase, prepared in such a manner that the figure of the ace shall be directly under the seal, and on opening the letter it will be immediately visible. DECEPTIONS with CLASS V. 11. Have a box that is divided into three parts af. The incom. ter the same manner as the talisman in the 21st experi-rehensible ment, except that, instead of being triangular, it must writing. be of a long square, (see fig. 14.). Divide its top B into two equal parts D and E, as in fig. 13. and to the part D adjust a plate of copper L about one quarter of an inch thick, and under both the plate L, and the opening E place a cloth. The upper part C must have a button by which it may be fixed on the cover B, so as to appear of one piece with it. At the bottom of the box place a piece of cloth, or other stuff, on which you may stamp certain mysterions characters, and observe that the bottom of the cover must rest upon the cloth. Then provide a slip of paper GH (fig. 12.) of the same size with the bottom of the box; and at each end of it write, with the green sympathetic ink, the name of a different card, and make some private mark by which you can tell at which end each name is wrote (M). Take a parcel of cards, and offer those two of the m whose names are wrote on the paper to the two persons, that they may draw them. You tell the parties to keep their cards to themselves, and you propose to make the names of those cards appear upon a slip of paper, which you put into the box. You then ask which name of the two cards shall appear first. The copperplate being previously heated and placed in the cover, (K) There are some sorts of sympathetic inks that require much more heat than others. (L) These letters should not be joined. (M) That there may be no suspicion of the paper being prepared, you may cut it from a whole sheet, before the company, having previously wrote the names. the writing once only; and it will directly change to Miscella the colour required (0). SECT. IV. Miscellaneous Performances. neous Performances. 15. A person having an even number of counters in To tell odds one hand, and an odd number in the other, to tell in or evens. which hand the odd or even number is.-Let the person multiply the number in his right hand by an odd number, and the number in his left hand by an even number, and tell you if the sum of the products added together be odd or even. If it be even, the even number is in the right hand; but if it be odd, the even number is in the left hand. Example. 1. Number in the right} 18 hand Multipliers In the left 7 ༠།༣ 14 3 54 14 Their sum 68 7 In the left 18 3 2 །། 36 336 Experi- cover, you put it over that end of the paper on which ments with; is the name required, and it will presently appear. SympatheThen taking the paper out, and showing the name tic Inks. wrote, you put it in again, turning the other end to the side of the box where the plate is, and it will in like manner become visible. Winter changed The first name may be made to disappear at the same time that the second appears, if the cloth at the end opposite to that where the plate is made be damp. 12. Take a print that resembles winter, and trace over the proper parts of the trees, plants, and ground, Sato spring, with the green sympathetic ink; observing to make some parts deeper than others, according to their distance. When those parts are dry, paint the other objects with their natural colours. Then put the print in a frame with a glass, and cover the back of it with a paper that is pasted over its border only. The revivihed bou. quets. The trans When the print is exposed to the heat of a moderate fire, or to the warm rays of the sun, all the grass and foliage will turn to a pleasing green; and if a yel low tint be given to some parts of the print, before the sympathetic ink be drawn over, this green will be of different shades; and the scene that a minute before represented winter, will now be changed to spring. When this print is placed in the cold, winter will again appear, and will again be driven away by the warm rays of the sun. This alternate change of seasons may be repeated as often as you please; remembering, however, as was before observed, not to make the print at any time too hot, for then a faded autumn will for ever remain. DECEPTIONS with CLASS VII. 13. Provide a number of artificial flowers, such as roses, jonquils, pinks, or any other you find conveni ent. These flowers must be made of white thread or silk, and their leaves of parchment. Dip the roses in the red sympathetic ink, the jonquils in the yellow, the pinks in the violet, and their leaves in a solution of salt or tartar. When they are all dry, form them into small bouquets, which will all appear white, and may be used in this experiment, either the day they are dipped, or several days after. You take one of these bouquets, and after showing the company that every part of it is white, you dip it in an infusion of any of the blue flowers mentioned under the article COLOUR-Making, N° 13. and, drawing it presently out, all the flowers and leaves will appear in their natural colours (N). 14. Write on a paper, with the violet liquor, as colorated many letters or words as you please; and ask any perwriting. son whether he will have that writing turn to yellow, green, or red. Have a sponge with three sides that you can readily distinguish, and dip each of its sides in one of the three sympathetic inks. Draw the side of the sponge that corresponds to the colour the person has chosen, over rise. 16. To tell, by the dial of a watch, at what hour To tell at any person intends to rise.-Let the person set the hand what hour of the dial to any hour he pleases, and tell you what any person hour that is: and to the number of that hour you add, intends to in your mind, 12. Then tell him to count privately the number of that amount upon the dial, beginning with the next hour to that on which he proposes to rise, and counting backwards, first reckoning the number of the hour at which he has placed the hand. An example will make this plain. Suppose the hour at which he intends to rise be 8, and that he has placed the hand at 5. You add 12 to 5, and tell him to count 17 on the dial, first reckoning 5, the hour at which the index stands, and counting backwards from the hour at which he intends to rise; and the number 17 will necessarily end at 8, which shows that to be the hour he chose. That the hour at which the counting ends must be that on which he proposed to rise, will be evident on a little reflection; for if he had begun at that hour, and counted 12, he would necessarily have come to it again; and calling the number 17, by adding 5 to it, only serves (N) The liquor should be put in a sort of jar with a narrow neck, that it may not be seen by the company: and you should draw the flowers gently out that the liquor may drop if thin, and they may have time to acquire their colours. (0) The sponge should be well cleaned immediately after the experiment. To tell 17. If the number 11 be multiplied by any one of the nine digits, the two figures of the products will always be similar. As follows: II II II II JI II II II II 88 99 II 22 33 44 55 66 77 Place a parcel of counters on a table, and propose to any one to add, alternately, a certain number of those counters, till they amount to 100, but never to add more than 10 at a time. You tell him, moreover, that, if you stake first, he shall never make the even century, but you will. In order to which, you must first stake 1, and remembering the order of the above series, 11, 22, 33, &c. you constantly add to what he stakes, as many as will make one more than the numbers of that series, that is, as will make 12, 23, 34, &c. till you come to 89, after which the other party cannot make the century himself, nor prevent you from making it. If the other party has no knowledge of numbers, you may stake any other number first, under 10, provided you take care to secure some one of the last terms, as 56, 67, 78, &c. This deception, may be performed with other numbers; and in order to succeed, you must divide the number to be attained by a number that has one digit more than what you can stake each time, and the remainder will be the number you must first stake. Observe, that, to be sure of success, there must be always a remainder. Suppose, for example, the number to be attained is 52, making use of a pack of cards instead of counters, and that you are never to add more than 6: then divide 52 by the next number above 6, that is, by 7, and the remainder, which is 3, will be the number you must stake first; and whatever the other stakes, you must add as much to it as will make it equal to the number by which you divided, that is 7. There fore, if his first stake be 1, you must stake 6, &c. so that your second stake will make the heap 10, your third stake will make it 17, and so on, till you come to 45, when, as he cannot stake more than 6, you must make the number 52. In this, as in the former case, if the other person has no knowledge of numbers, you may stake any number first under 7; or you may let him stake first, only taking care to secure either of the numbers 10, 17, 24, 31, &c. after which he cannot make 52, if you constantly add as many to his stake as will make it 7. 18. A person privately fixing on any number, to tell what num- him that number.- -After the person has fixed on a ber a per- number, bid him double it and add 4 to that sum, then son primultiply the whole by 5; to the product let him add vately fixes 12, and multiply the amount by 10. From the sum of the whole let him deduct 320, and tell you the remainder; from which, if you cut off the two last figures, the number that remains will be that fixed on. And 4 added to it, makes From which deducting 320, the remainder is And by striking off the two cyphers, it becomes the original number 18 Miscella 90 neous Berformances. 102 1020 700 7 points thrown 19. Three dice being thrown on a table, to tell the To tell the number of each of them, and the order in which they number of stand.-Let the person who has thrown the dice double the number of that next his left hand, and add 5 to by 3 dicc, that sum; then multiply the amount by 5, and to the without product add the number of the middle die; then let the seeing whole be multiplied by 10, and to that product add the them. number of the third die. From the total let there be subtracted 250, and the figures of the number that remains will answer to the points of the three dice as they stand on the table. Example. Suppose the points of the three dice thrown on the table to be 4, 6, and 2. Then the double of the first die will be To which add That sum multiplied by 5 will be To which add the number of the middle die And multiply the sum by To that product add the number of the third die And the three remaining figures 8 5 13 5 71 ΤΟ 710 2 712 250 462 will answer to the numbers on the dice, and show the order in which they stand. &e. am 20. Some person in company having put a ring pri- To tell a vately on one of his fingers; to name the person, the what is hand, the finger, and the joint, on which it is placed.—ger, joint, Let a third person double the number of the order in has been which he stands who has the ring, and add 5 to that privatey number; then multiply that sum by 5, and to the pro-put. duct add 10. Let him next add 1 to the last number if the ring be on the right hand, and 2 if on the left, and multiply the whole by 10: to this product he must add the number of the finger (counting the thumb as the first finger), and multiply the whole again by 10. Let him then add the number of the joint; and, lastly, to the whole join 35. He is then to tell you the amount of the whole, from which you are to subtract 3535, and the remainder will consist of four figures, the fret of which will express the rank in which the person stands, the second the hand (the number I signifying the right hand, and 2 the left), the third number the finger, and the fourth the joint. Example. Suppose the person who stands the third in order has put the ring upon the second joint of the thumb of his left hand; then The |