Part 23 (2/2)

THE DANCING PEA

For this trick, take a piece, two or three inches long, of a stem of a clay tobacco pipe, taking care that one end is quite even; with a knife or file, work the hole at the even end larger, so as to form a little cup. Choose the roundest pea you can find, place it in the cup, and blow softly through the other end of the pipe, throwing back your head while you blow, so that you can hold the pipe in an upright position over your mouth.

The pea will rise, fall and dance in its cup, according to the degree of force you use in blowing, but you must take care not to blow too hard, or you may blow it away altogether.

THE BALANCING SPOON

Place a half-opened penknife on the edge of the table and hang a large cooking-spoon by its hook on to the knife, just where the blade and handle join. Place the spoon so that its inner (concave) side is facing the table and, after swinging for a little while, the knife and spoon will keep still in perfect balance. Even if you fill the spoon with sand it will not fall, so long as the heaviest point is under the edge of the table.

The cooking-spoon is hung on to the half-opened penknife where the blade and the handle join, and you can now place the end of the knife-handle on the tip of your finger, on the edge of the table, or on the rim of a gla.s.s which is standing near the edge of the table, and your knife and spoon will balance perfectly, without falling over.

THE FORCE OF A WATER-DROP

Get a match and make a notch in the middle of it, bend it so as to form an acute angle, and place it over the mouth of a bottle.

Now place a dime or other small coin on the match and ask any one to get the coin into the bottle without touching either the bottle or the match.

This is very easy to do. Dip your finger in a gla.s.s of water, hold it over the place where the match is notched, and let one or two drops fall on this point. The force of the water will cause the sides of the angle to move apart, and the opening thus become large enough to let the coin fall into the bottle.

THE SENTINEL EGG

This trick requires care and patience. You must lay a piece of looking-gla.s.s on a perfectly even table; then take a new-laid egg and shake it about for some time until the white is well mixed with the yolk. In this condition it is possible to balance the egg on its end and make it stand upright on the gla.s.s. This trick is more certain to be successful if you are clever enough to flatten the end ever so slightly and evenly, by giving it a gentle and unsuspected tap.

THE COIN TRICK

Take a coin in each hand and stretch out your arms as far apart as you can. Then tell your audience that you will make both coins pa.s.s into one hand without bringing your hands together. This is easily done by placing one coin upon the table and then turning your body round until the hand with the other coin comes to where it lies. You can then easily pick the coin up, and both will be in one hand, while your arms are still widely extended.

THE WONDERFUL PENDULUM

If you fill a winegla.s.s with water and place a thick piece of paper over it so that no air can get in, you will find that you can turn the gla.s.s upside down without spilling a drop of water, because the pressure of the air on the outside will keep the paper from falling off. It is on this principle that the present pendulum is to be made.

Take a piece of cardboard larger than the mouth of the gla.s.s; pa.s.s a cord through a small hole in the center of the card, and fasten it by means of a knot on the under side, then carefully cover the hole with wax, so that no air may get in.

Place your cardboard over the gla.s.s full of water, and by making a loop in the end of the cord you can hang the gla.s.s from a hook in the ceiling without any fear of its falling off. In order to make sure that no air can get into the gla.s.s, it is wise to smear the rim with tallow before laying the cardboard on.

<script>