THE WATCH TRICK. 41 signal, he himself and his four lifters begin to draw a long full breath; and when the inhalation is completed, or the lungs filled, the second signal is given for raising the person from the chair. To his own surprise, and that of his bearers, he rises with the greatest facility, as if he were no heavier than a feather. Sometimes, when one of the bearers performs his part ill, by making the inhaling out of time, the part of the body which he tries to raise is left behind. The experiment was performed at Venice, by sustaining the heaviest man of the party on the points of the forefingers of six persons. It is asserted, that the experiment will not succeed if the person to be lifted is placed upon a board, and the strength of the individuals applied to the board. Abridged from SIR D. BREWSTER'S 'Natural Magic.' 28. The Watch Trick: If a person will tell you the hour he means to dine, you can tell him the hour he intends to get up that morning. First ask a person to think of the hour he intends rising on the following morning; when he has done so, bid him place his finger on any hour he pleases on the dial he would wish to dine, and to remember the hour he first thought of. To the hour his finger is on you now mentally add 12, and request him to retrograde, counting the number of hours you mention, whatever that may be, but that he is to commence counting with the hour he thought of from the hour he points at: for example. Suppose he thought of rising at 8, and places his finger on 12 as the hour of dinner, you desire him to count backwards 24 hours, 12 he calls 8 (that being the hour he thought of rising), 11 he calls 9, 10 he calls 10, and so on (mentally but not aloud) until he has counted 24, at which point he will stop, which will be at 8, and he will express his surprise to find that it is the hour he thought of rising. 29. The young Chemist's Chameleon Mineral. Scheele, the celebrated Swedish chemist, is the inventor of this composition. To prepare it, take one part of deutoxide of manganese and three parts of nitrate of potassa (nitre), reduce these substances to a very fine powder, mix them, and place them in a small crucible. Keep them at a red heat in a common fire for twenty minutes, then let them cool. Place four grains of this substance in each of two glasses; pour cold water into one, and the liquid will become first green, then in a few moments purple, then red; fill the second with moderately hot water, and you will obtain a beautiful violet which changes into crimson. The colours will be of greater or lesser intensity in proportion to the quantity of the powder used; thus, 11 grains in a pint of water will produce a TO TELL ANY NUMBER THOUGHT OF. 43 rich green, which passes to a deep purple and a red. In a considerably larger quantity of water the purple gives place to a rose colour. In the course of these changes of colours, the various intermediate shades will be observed; thus the green passes successively to blue, violet, blueviolet, red-violet, purple, and pure red. These variations in colour are due to the several degrees of oxidisation of the manganese. It may be remarked, it will be more rapid with an excess manganese, and slower with an excess of nitre. of 30. Square Words. The squaring of words is an entertaining task, rather more amusing than constructing acrostics. The writer of the following, which appeared in 'Notes and Queries,' says that four letters are easy, that five letters are respectable, six letters difficult, seven letters a triumph. 31. To Tell any Number Thought of. Ask a person to think of a number; then tell him to subtract 1 from that number; now tell him to multiply the remainder by 2; then request him again to subtract 1, add to the remainder the number he first thought of, and inform you of the total. When he has done this, you must mentally add 3 to that total, and then divide it by 3, and the quotient will be the number first thought of. This is an excellent arithmetical pastime, examples of which are below. 32. The Cannon-Ball Trick. As cannon-balls are now in fashion, and as one of the most astonishing illusions which M. Houdin used to exhibit was that of bringing a 'thirtytwo pounder' into a gentleman's hat in the 'most mysterious manner,' an explanation of the trick may perhaps be acceptable to juvenile conjurors. The illusionist borrows from the audience two hats, which he places upon his table, THE CANNON-BALL TRICK. 45 and by way of diversion gives a brief lecture upon head-dresses in general and hats in particular. Show me his hat,' says the professor, 'and I will describe the man. Here's your "flat brim;" that's a fast man." Here's your "broad brim; "that's a man of Here's peace. your unbrushed either-way-front" hat; that's an untidy bachelor. Here's your "well-worn" but still 66 66 "decent" hat; that's a family man. A Gibus! that's a play-goer.' And thus he proceeds. Now taking the borrowed hats from the table he advances to the company, when, lo! on turning them over, out fall the cannon-balls, rolling on the floor with a noise of thunder! The secret is this:-Any workman using a lathe can turn a ball of wood of a size big enough to go into a hat. When such is procured, a hole, about two inches deep, and of the size of a finger, is made in it. The ball is then to be painted and blackleaded and made to appear as much like the real thing as possible. By the simple contrivance of the hole, the balls can be lifted up in the same |