CHAPTER XXXIX
MORE EXPERIMENTS
TIPS AND DODGES FOR THE WINTER EVENINGS
The Refractory Cork
A very interesting and amusing experiment may be performed with a bottle and a cork.Take a cork of a diameter less than the internal diameter of the neck of the bottle you propose using, and ask a friend to make it enter the bottle by blowing upon it.
At first sight this seems a very easy task, and your friend at once proceeds to blow strongly upon the cork. This, however, instead of making the cork enter the bottle, causes it to fly out.
Again your friend tries to overcome the troublesome cork, on the next occasion by blowing very gently, but again it flies out (Fig. 1).
The explanation of this is as follows:—
In blowing upon the cork, a certain amount of air at the same time enters the bottle, the air in which becomes so compressed that it rapidly ejects the cork. There are, however, three ways in which the refractory cork may be overcome.
Fig. 1.—The refractory cork.
Indeed, the experiment will prove to you that, by so doing, you create in the bottle a partial vacuum, and as soon as your mouth leaves the neck of the bottle air enters it owing to atmospheric pressure. This incoming current of air pulls with it the cork, which at once slides into the aperture.
The same result may also be achieved by first warming the bottle,[330] when, owing to the expansion of the air, a part of it is expelled. Directly the air inside the bottle cools, a vacuum is created, and a current of air from without enters. If you add to this current of air by blowing air from your mouth, you will find this quite sufficient to cause the cork to enter the bottle. Then, again, having a straw or a pipe-stem handy, all you have to do is to blow through the tube, directing the air exactly on the base of the cork, which will once again enter the aperture.
Whichever of these means is adopted, you must always take the precaution of seeing that the bottle is perfectly dry. It should be wiped every time. The moisture formed in the neck is sufficient to prevent the cork from gliding along the glass.
The Flying Coin
You may be inclined to think that special apparatus is necessary to make a coin fly from the bottom of a glass, but here is shown a very simple method by which the trick may be performed at any moment in your home.First procure a liqueur glass of conical shape, having in its largest part a diameter not much greater than that of a silver dollar. At the bottom of this glass place a quarter, and above it, near the top of the glass, a silver dollar, the latter forming a kind of cover (A, Fig. 2). Now declare to your friends that, without touching the dollar, you will make the quarter jump from the glass.
Fig. 2.—The flying coin.
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A Cigarette-smoking Lamp-glass
This is a very striking experiment, and is quite easy to perform. The apparatus is also quite simple, and may be easily obtained. It consists of a lamp-chimney, a cork, a cigarette, together with two little valves.
Fig. 3.—The self-smoking cigarette.
Fig. 4.—The self-smoking cigarette.
The first valve allows the smoke to escape, at the same time preventing the entrance of any external air, whilst the lower valve allows the smoke from the cigarette to enter the glass tube, but will not allow it to escape by the same hole.
Having thus made the valves, next plunge the tube in the water as far as the cork, and place the cigarette in the hole made for it. After having lit it, proceed to make the lamp-chimney smoke it.
In order that it may inhale the smoke, slowly raise the glass. By so doing a vacuum is produced between the surface of the water and the bottom of the cork. To destroy this vacuum, air must enter from without, and the only means of its entrance is through the cigarette, as the valve on the top of the cork remains tightly closed. In passing through the cigarette this current of air greatly assists combustion, and the smoke formed will pass with the air into the lamp-chimney.
If now the glass be lowered again, the air which is compressed by so doing closes the central valve, whilst that above the oblique tube is opened. From this valve the smoke will ascend in clouds (Fig. 4).
In this way the glass may be made to smoke the whole cigarette.
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Water Swinging
Nearly every one has seen, at the circus or elsewhere, an acrobat executing giddy circular movements with a glass of water, and doubtless has wondered how it is that none of the liquid is spilt. This is due to the action of centrifugal force.Having placed the glass full of water on the table, it is only a matter of taking it properly with the hand, holding it at arm’s length, and, with the arm thus extended, describing a complete circle, after which it may be placed upon the table without the loss of a single drop.
To insure the success of the experiment, particular attention must be paid to the manner in which the glass is held. Instead of taking it as you would when drinking, hold it with the hand reversed, the palm being turned upwards, as shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.—Centrifugal force experiment. First position.
Fig. 6.—Swinging the glass.
Fig. 7.—The action completed.
Fig. 8.—The spoon mirror.
A Novel Mirror
A simple method of illuminating the back of the mouth and throat, especially when throat trouble is suspected, may often be found extremely useful. Here is a means of supplying, at a moment’s notice, an extemporized illuminant of this kind.Take a well-cleaned spoon, and hold it against a candle flame, when you form an excellent mirror, which will permit you to concentrate the rays of light and produce at the back of the throat enough illumination for the making of a careful examination (Fig. 8).
A silver spoon, moreover, allows you to study the curious properties of curved mirrors. Holding the hollow part of the spoon before your face, notice that the head is at the bottom; turn the spoon round, and you have the bulging part a convex mirror, which will show an image, very long and narrow. If you approach this face in the spoon little by little, you will see the nose attain the most amusing proportions.
A Disappearing Coin
If you look at an object which has been placed in water, owing to the phenomenon of refraction, the article appears in a different position from that in which it really is.It is due to this phenomenon, therefore, that a stick, when half plunged into water, seems to be bent or broken.
A very interesting experiment based on this principle is the following:—
Take a bowl full of water, and at the bottom place a coin. Next request one of your friends to lower his head until his eye, the edge of the bowl, and the near edge of the cent, appear to be in the same line.
As a matter of fact, it is not the coin itself that your friend can see, but only the image created by refraction.
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Now, keeping your friend in the same position, inform him that you intend to make the coin disappear from his view.
To do this, remove some of the water from the bowl, which may be accomplished by means of a small syringe (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9.—The disappearing coin.
Electrified Paper
Very few people realize that paper can be electrified at a moment’s notice, no special apparatus for the purpose being required.Take a piece of light paper, which should have been well dried, and rub it briskly with a clothes brush, silk handkerchief, or even the open hand.
After a little time the paper, becoming electrified, will adhere to your face, your hands, or your clothes, as easily as if it were attached by means of gum.
Nor is this property confined to thin paper. Thick paper, when dried, will act in the same manner. For instance, take a postcard, dry it, and rub it, and you will notice that, as is the case with sealing-wax, glass, sulphur,& c., the card has the power of attracting light bodies, such as small pieces of cork.
The following interesting experiment may be carried out with an electrified postcard and a walking-stick.
Balance the walking-stick over the back of a chair, and announce that you can make the stick fall without touching it, without blowing it, or without interfering with the chair. This is easily possible by utilizing the electrified postcard.
Fig. 10.—The electrified postcard.
First rub it on the sleeve of your coat. Now hold it near one end of the stick, and you will notice that the latter follows it as iron follows a magnet (Fig. 10), until the moment when the equilibrium being destroyed, the stick falls to the ground.
Of course the experiment may be varied by using any other suitable article in place of the stick, as for instance a fishing-rod.
Electrified Balloons
From the last experiment it may have been gathered that if a piece of paper is dried and rubbed with a silk handkerchief or the dry hand it will adhere to the face, arms, or clothing.It may not be so widely known, however, that if toy balloons be filled with air, and then stroked for a short time with a piece of fur, they will act in the same way as the electrified paper.
It is rather amusing to see these balloons, after being treated thus, placed against the wall or ceiling, where they will stick as if they were glued there.
Fig. 11.—The electrified balloons.
You will be surprised to find that the balloons now repel each other in the same manner as pith balls do (Fig. 11).
Exploding Flour
Flour will create an explosion!Take a large handful of flour, and leave it for some time near the fire, in order that every trace of dampness may be expelled.
Whilst the flour is drying take a large tin box (a cracker tin will do admirably), and near the bottom make a small hole.
Through this hole pass the end of a piece of india-rubber tubing, and place the handful of dry flour in front of it.
At the other end of the box place a short piece of candle, and after lighting it, cover the box with the lid, taking care that it is not too firmly fixed.
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If you now blow down the tube with your mouth, or better still, with a pair of bellows an explosion at once takes place, as a result of which the lid will be blown off (Fig. 12).
Fig. 12.—Exploding flour.
The Apparently Impossible
Have you ever had tea on the top of a mountain? If so, you will agree that your cup of tea could by no means be termed excellent.Now, why is it that a cup of tea made on a mountain-top is much inferior to one made at a lower level? If the fault lay in the tea, the defect could be easily remedied, but such is not the case, for it depends upon the fact that water on the top of a mountain boils at a lower temperature than water at the sea-level.
In order to make a good cup of tea, the water must boil at a temperature very near 100° C., and it is at this temperature that the water is generally boiled in your homes.
Why is it, then, that water boils at different temperatures at different altitudes? It is because, as the altitude is increased, so the atmospheric pressure becomes less.
At sea-level, atmospheric pressure is equal to about 15 lbs. to the square inch, but at the top of a mountain it is much less. The greater the atmospheric pressure the more heat is required before the bubbles of vapor formed within the water can break at the surface.
After this explanation, perhaps the subjoined experiment will be attempted with additional interest.
Take a flask, to which should be fitted a good cork or india-rubber stopper, and in it boil some water, taking care of course to remove the stopper beforehand.
After some minutes the steam from the boiling water will have expelled all the air from the flask. Now remove the source of heat, at the same time quickly inserting the stopper.
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If the flask is allowed to stand for a minute or two, the temperature of the water will fall considerably below 100° C.
Next inform your friends that, without applying any extra heat, you will cause the water in the flask to boil vigorously again. This seems to them impossible, especially when you tell them that you are going to do it by means of cold water. Quickly turn the glass upside down, and squeeze a sponge soaked in cold water on its upturned under-surface. Immediately the liquid inside will begin to boil, as if extra heat had been applied (Fig. 13).
Fig. 13.—A curious boiling experiment.
Well, directly the cold water comes in contact with the flask it causes the steam contained therein to condense, and, as no air can enter, thanks to the well-fitting cork, the pressure on the surface of the warm water is now considerably less than it was before.
Directly the pressure is lessened the vapor bubbles contained within the warm water are able to rise to the surface, and the water is seen to boil merrily.
Making Coal Gas
Here is a very simple way of obtaining coal gas.Procure an ordinary long clay tobacco pipe, the bowl of which should be filled with very small pieces of coal. Carefully cover the top with soft clay, and put the bowl in the fire, with the long stem protruding through the bars. Now watch this end of the pipe very closely and see what happens.
Fig. 14.—Simple gas-making.
Very soon you will notice a light-colored smoke issuing from the mouthpiece, but after a time this smoke disappears. But what happens if you hold a lighted match to the mouthpiece of the pipe? Immediately a bright yellow flame appears (Fig. 14).
The gas now burning is the same gas as is burnt in your house, although this latter, of course, is much purer.
If now you take the pipe from the fire, allow it to cool and then break it, you will be surprised to find that its contents have changed in appearance, for, in place of the coal, you will see what looks like a cinder. This is the coke. Thus you have manufactured gas from coal, at the same time producing coke.
Experiments with Carbonic Acid Gas
In a previous chapter, when describing how to make a miniature cannon, it was explained that the “gunpowder” with which the “shell” was fired is in reality carbonic acid gas.It may not be amiss to show how to generate it, in order that you may discover for yourselves some of its properties.
There are several ways of obtaining carbonic acid gas, but most of these are of a complicated nature. The following, however, is an extremely simple method.
Take a 6-oz. or 8-oz. flask, and fit it with a cork with a hole, in which may be fitted a piece of glass tubing.
This tubing should be bent twice at right angles, as shown in Fig. 15, and the longer end should be allowed to dip into a large glass.
Fig. 15.—A carbonic acid gas experiment.
You will notice that bubbles of gas are given off, and, as this gas is considerably heavier than air, it will, after being forced up the tube, displace the air in the glass, and gradually fill it. To test whether the glass is full, hold a match in the top. If the match is extinguished, the glass which is full may be removed. In this way several glasses can be filled, care being taken to cover each with a glass plate or cardboard disc to prevent diffusion.
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From this experiment you will have discovered the three main properties of this gas (commonly known as carbon dioxide)—that it is colorless, is considerably heavier than air, and will not support combustion. Its high density affords another interesting experiment, which consists of pouring the gas from one glass to another (Fig. 16).
Fig. 16.—Pouring carbon dioxide from one glass to another.
Next take two glasses, one containing air and the other carbonic acid gas, and, by means of a clay pipe, blow a soap bubble into each, carefully watching the different manners in which they behave. That dropped into the glass containing air will sink to the bottom, where, coming in contact with the glass, it will burst. The other bubble, however, as soon as it reaches the gas in the glass, rebounds owing to the high density of the carbon dioxide, but after a time, when it has settled down, it will float motionless on the surface (Fig. 17).
Fig. 17.—Soap bubbles in A (air), and B, carbon dioxide.
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CHAPTER XL
PHOTO PASTIMES
Camera Knights’ Experiments
It has been presumed in commencing these notes that most would-be experimenters already possess a camera, or will at least shortly do so. Thus the greater number of experiments are such as would interest a camera fiend more deeply than the ordinary reader, although the latter might still derive much enjoyment from conducting them so far as the lack of a “dark box” will allow him.It will perhaps be as well to spend a paragraph at the outset in describing simply and noting a few peculiarities about the commonplace camera. Photography means drawing by the agency of light. Now light is reflected from an illuminated object in straight lines or rays, of which a proportion may be collected by a lens and thrown in points upon a surface behind. (See Fig. 1, A, illuminated object; B, lens; C, surface behind lens; D, rays of light thrown upon surface C.)
Fig. 1.—Rays of light collected by lens and thrown upon surface behind.
Fig. 2.—Camera in position to photograph object A.
Finally a last note remains to be taken of the “stops.” These are really various sized holes in a metal screen, any one of which may be placed at will before the lens, and by the use of which the sharpness or distinctness of the photograph may be improved. Thus a lens at full aperture will not give such a sharp picture as would be obtained if a small hole were used, but, as the amount of light permitted to pass in the latter case is much diminished, a longer exposure must be given. Consequently when a short-timed snapshot is being secured, the largest practicable aperture or stop should be employed, even though the sharpness of the picture be thereby to some extent sacrificed.
Having thus briefly reviewed the essential features of a camera, arrangements may be made for conducting our first experiment.
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Experiment A.—A Fireside Photo
Probably no souvenir can give greater pleasure to the amateur photographer, or prove more acceptable to his bosom chums, than their portrait, as a fireside group, lighted by the glow from a genial fire. Nor is this difficult of attainment.First the figures should be grouped seated on chairs—and perhaps some standing behind, if many faces are to be included—in a quarter circle from one chimney-corner, whilst the camera may be securely placed some 9 or 10 feet away, about the position shown at X in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.—Relative positions of camera and sitters for a fireside photo.
Supposing the group to have been arranged and the camera firmly in position, the person (B, in Fig. 3) seated next the grate should hold a tablespoonful of saltpeter and also a square inch or so of sheet zinc. Then, all being so far ready, let the outside member of the group (marked A in Fig. 3) open the camera shutter and slip back to his seat, whilst the flashlight operator drops the saltpeter and zinc successively among the glowing coals. The flame of dazzling brilliancy which results records the sitters’ figures on the plate, so that directly it is over, the person (A) may again visit the camera and close the shutter. His movements will not be noticeable, since they are made before and after the flashlight.
The operation of development may be proceeded with at once and should go fairly easily, but flashlight exposures are difficult to estimate accurately, and therefore, although a square inch of zinc has sufficed for a small group with stop and an extra rapid plate, this amount may have to be increased if the group be large or if other conditions be changed.
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One last hint as to behavior of the sitters. Let them sit as naturally and quietly as possible, but be advised to blink their eyes as much as the bright light prompts them rather than keep them staring wide open, when their faces must wear a most inane expression in the finished photo.
Experiments B.—“Photo-Chemical”
Salts of silver form the basis of most modern photographic processes. Thus in order to perform chemical experiments of a photographic nature, some solution of silver must be available, the nitrate salt being usually employed.
Fig. 4.—Silver solution and precipitate.
(1) Prepare a weak solution of table salt, and add it drop by drop to a little of the silver nitrate in a test tube (or wine-glass as a makeshift). A white sediment is precipitated, which, by shading part of the tube with a band of paper and exposing to daylight, may be shown to be sensitive to light, inasmuch as the unscreened part will rapidly turn purple. This precipitate consists of silver chloride, which, in combination with unaltered nitrate, forms the essential ingredient of printing paper. In Fig. 4, A is Solution; B, Precipitate; C, Band of Paper.
(2) Photographic plates are coated with bromide of silver, a yellow substance, which may be prepared similarly to the previous precipitate by adding potassium bromide solution (instead of table salt) to the nitrate of silver. Its appearance does not change rapidly under the influence of light, but if first exposed and then treated with a developing solution the yellow color very soon changes to black—finely divided metallic silver being, in fact, produced. Actually, light more readily alters the constitution of the bromide than that of the white chloride, but the former knows better how to preserve an outward appearance of composure.
(3) Suppose, now, another solution be made, this time of the fixing salt known familiarly to every camera knight as “Hypo.” When this is added to either the white chloride or yellow bromide[345] precipitates above noticed, they gradually dissolve away, except such portions as have changed color under the influence of light.
Such action constitutes the process of fixing a photograph, whereby the sensitive silver compound is removed from those parts of the paper or plate which have more or less escaped the influence of light.
(4) This experiment is an aquatic performance in which one actor only—our old acquaintance Hypo—takes part. Provided proper care be taken in the preparatory stages, it will afford at the climax as excellent a spectacle as many another more complex.
Fig. 5.—Preparing saturated solution.
Fig. 6.—Grooved cork for “dripping” solutions.
Let the smallest crystal of solid Hypo be dropped in this liquid, or let it but be disturbed, and behold! a wonderful transformation proceeds, until the glass interior becomes a shimmering mass of sparkling crystals. The reason of this curious behavior is not far to seek. Hypo, in common with most chemicals, dissolves to a greater extent in hot water than in cold, but is different, inasmuch as the excess of salt does not settle out as the solution becomes cold.[346] Cold solution is therefore really over-saturated, and to such an extent that only an extra crystal or the least disturbance is sufficient to upset the delicate balance, upon which climax the great excess of Hypo soon settles out.
(5) This is another reaction in which Hypo takes part, but one other substance is required as well, viz. permanganate of potash. Condy’s fluid is equally suitable, and in either case the solution need only be weak—just a transparent deep pink color. The vessel containing this permanganate may be about half full. When Hypo solution is gradually dripped into this and the mixture stirred, the color is immediately dispelled, leaving the liquid clear as water.
Inasmuch as every photographer knows the necessity for washing his prints until all fixing salt is removed, this decoloring action may be fully employed in testing the washing water occasionally. When it no longer affects the tint of a pink permanganate solution he may rest assured that the deleterious Hypo—like some friends in being welcome so they stop not too long—has really departed. For the ready performance of this experiment it may be noted that any solution can most easily be “dropped in drips” from a bottle whose cork is cut grooved at both sides (Fig. 6).
Fig. 7.—Sensitizing blue-print paper.
Experiment C.—Blue Print Paper
Engineers’ drawings have for many years past been copied upon ferro-prussiate, or “blue print” paper. The original design being made in opaque ink upon tracing linen, a sheet of the sensitive paper is held against this in strong daylight until blue coloration has advanced everywhere except beneath the ink lines of the drawing. These remain yellow, or rather white, when finished, as the excess of sensitive salt is removed by washing.Since this last operation is in itself all-sufficient to insure permanency, the simplicity is unique. In fact, the impossibilty of securing other colors than blue has been the only factor to exclude this process from far wider use.
The preparation of the sensitive surface presents no great difficulties, provided a drawing-paper of good quality be used. It should be cut into strips about 6 inches wide, which are passed one by one up and down (see Fig. 7) through a dish containing the following solution: 1 oz. ferri-cyanide of potash + 4 oz. water, added to 1 oz. ammonio-citrate of iron + 4 oz. water. (Note—4 oz. water = nearly 1⁄4 pint.) This must be done in very dull light—candle or paraffin[347] oil by preference—and the wet paper pinned up to dry in a dark cupboard, hanging from the edge of a shelf or other projecting support. Then it may be cut into pieces of the required size and stored with a wrapping of tissue and brown paper in a handy box.
All manner of designs may be produced on this paper, such for example as fern leaves, lace, and embroidery. Actual sea-view photos or imitation moonlight views also look very well indeed. Another notion is to secure the copy of some picture printed in black on thin paper, which has been oiled and dried in order to render it translucent for quicker printing. The final washings should be thorough, and then the blue print will last its maker as long as the latter cares to keep it.
Experiment D.—To Show the Constituents of White Light
Few physicists to-day doubt that light consists of waves set up in an all-pervading medium called ether; that, moreover, white light is composed of different tinted rays—to be seen reflected from the bevel edge of a looking-glass, or indeed from the more natural rainbow—which further are caused by the different lengths of waves whereby the colored lights are propagated.Now we may produce these phenomena for ourselves by cutting a slit 11⁄2 inches long in a temporary window-shutter, or, more conveniently, in the end of a large wooden box (A, Fig. 8). Near this a glass prism, such as once adorned gas-pendants so profusely, must be supported (B, Fig. 8) on a block of wood, and at the opposite end of the box a sheet of paper pinned to the inside (C, Fig. 8). The arrangement is shown in the diagram.
Now notice, if you regard this screen from the open top—a large cloth covering head and box in order to keep out superfluous light—a band of color is depicted thereon, gradating gently like a rainbow from violet through blue and yellow to red. Thus the white light[348] which entered through the slit has been separated into its component parts. So far, gorgeous enough! But for the photographer much greater interest is at hand, will he proceed as follows. Place the box so that bright sunshine enters through the slit, and after fastening a piece of blue print paper instead of the white on the box interior, allow this to print, at the same time excluding extraneous light by a dark cloth overspread. When this piece of paper has been washed and fixed, the colored band should have registered itself in various shades of blue, from which it will be noticeable that the purple and blue lights have darkened the paper most, whilst red and yellow hardly affect it at all. If ordinary printing paper, or still better, a photographic plate (in which latter case a considerably shorter exposure will suffice, and outside light must be rigorously excluded) be used, instead of the blue print paper, the result is still more striking.
Fig. 8.—The refraction of white light into its constituent colors.
Then again, suppose instead of sunlight, ordinary lamplight or incandescent gas be used as an illuminant, the gradation varies, whilst still another modification is to photograph the spectrum of a methylated spirit-flame in which common salt is being burnt. In this case the light is so yellow that an orthochromatic plate must be used. Another illuminant worth testing is magnesium ribbon, which also may be ignited in the spirit-flame.
Before saying a final adieu to these spectrum results, one last item[349] remains for remark—last but not least. We say that the series of visible colors extended from violet through blue and yellow to red, and that darkness obtained at each end. Well! Mount a plate or piece of printing paper inside the box, so that half of it is well in the darkness beyond the bluish-violet bands, and expose long enough to secure a slight opacity in these parts (i.e. where the blue bands fell) when the plate is developed and fixed. The half of the plate which was in darkness and therefore apparently received no exposure, nevertheless develops darker than the remainder, seeming to indicate that some light, although invisible to the human eye, had affected the sensitive silver compounds in the plate. This is actually the case. The rays of light which exert this wonderful influence are called “ultra-violet,” meaning beyond the violet, and their existence explains, amongst other matters, why photography of the heavens has revealed the presence of many thousands more stars than can ever be seen by man. Such stars emit only “ultra violet” light.
Experiment E.—One Person in Two Places—and Spiritualism
Pictures of a man decapitating himself, or of the reader’s sister turning the skipping-rope for another girl, who is herself, may justly be called mystifying. Not only may they almost deceive the operator himself, but will quite nonplus the uninitiated, to whom proofs may thus be presented of the most impossible happenings. Two methods are applicable to the production of such freak portraits, viz:—(1) To photograph the entire picture in two separate halves on the plate, moving the sitter from one position to another for each exposure.
(2) To employ a background as dark and dim as practicable, whilst well-lighting the sitter and furniture, and giving a separate exposure for each position of the model. The latter procedure is by far the simpler, and provided reasonably correct exposures are given, success should not be very elusive.
To take for a concrete example the portrait of a boy playing checkers with himself. Hang up a curtain of black or deep-red material in some dark recess of a room, and a few feet before it stand a small bamboo table with checker-board, &c., complete, at which the person to be photographed may be posed sitting. As mentioned above, all available light must be concentrated on the group, whilst if the model be wearing light clothes, the effect will be enhanced accordingly.
As to the camera, this may with greatest advantage be of the focussing type, or at any rate a box instrument fitted with magnifiers,[350] so that by being placed near to the sitter the latter may be rendered large and sharp in the portrait whilst the background remains indistinct. This should be of such a size that its somber image well covers the whole plate. A suggested arrangement for the tableau is sketched in Fig. 9.
The first exposure may be made with the person seated at 1—the left-hand side of the table—he either resting one finger on a checker as if about to make his move, or adopting such other pose as his acting capabilities may suggest.
Primarily the time of exposure should be just sufficient for the light-clothed sitter, and therefore not enough for the table and background, which receive a second exposure. This should be made when the model has taken his chair to the opposite side of the table, and again assumed a position natural to the player, who anxiously watches his opponent’s play.
Fig. 9.—One person in two places.
| A. | Table. |
| B. | Black or red curtain as background. |
| C. | Fireplace. |
| D. | White sheet as reflector. |
| E. | Camera. |
| 1 and 2. | Positions of sitter in first and second exposures. |
Spirit Photography
Spirit or ghost photography is but a modification of these methods. The chief element of success is to ignore the caution of the preceding paragraph, and render the ghost figure as transparent as possible. The first exposure should be an adequate one of the human model, who has twisted himself into an attitude of groveling terror compatible with the fright from which he is supposed to be suffering, whilst the background behind him must be dark and indistinct, if he[351] is next to impersonate the spook. The latter’s surroundings, on the contrary, may be as detailed and well-lighted as convenient, because the white-robed figure is to appear transparent.A sheet will be fit apparel for the “spirit,” and must be large enough to drape entirely the gliding form with outspread arms.
The second exposure must be abnormally short, so as just to obtain a faint impression of the sheet and its folds. Finally, if the terror-stricken person can maintain his attitude of fear during the first exposure, and also for the photograph of the ghost, whose rôle may be taken by some one else beneath a sheet, there is no necessity to have any part of the background unusually dark. Still, darkness is said to favor spooks, so the background is perhaps entirely a matter of choice.
With such dash toward the borders of the spiritual realm, this series of photo experiments must conclude. The most ardent camera fiend can scarcely denounce them as embracing too narrow a field when he considers that ghosts as well as mundane matters—psychical and physical alike—have been approached. Even if his finger-tips do not resemble ebony with silver nitrate, he may still rightly term his hobby the “Black Art.” And his friends! Well, if present at the researches, may their remarks be unheard. Doubtless they will ponder deeply, and conclude that the camera does sometimes lie.
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Sun pictures of the earliest types had been no long time in existence before a rumor spread that photography could not lie. Critics and admirers of the new process rightly enough concluded that a knight of the camera must be constrained to narrow interpretations by his instruments as no artist is by his brushes. But this conclusion, held widely now as then, is only in part correct. The camera records the relative position of objects absolutely, but may on the other hand ruthlessly destroy all sense of perspective, or render globular images of rectilinear buildings. Nor are these the only peculiarities which, in themselves disadvantageous, may frequently be turned to account by the photographer.Sensitive plates are seldom correctly exposed. They either suffer under- or over-exposure, and when there is a gross error the resulting picture either lacks detail and is blotchy, or else presents the light gradation of a London fog. But, as a set-off to these failings, it might be noted that moonlight pictures are obtainable by excessively short daylight exposures, which give only the outline of the objects, and a contrast between light and shade appropriate to night scenes, whilst photographs of flowers, portraits, and cloud studies may mostly receive full exposure with advantage, the softness of lighting engendered lending additional charm to such subjects.
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Fig. 10.—Slanting screen (C) with circular aperture to equalize exposures of sky (A) and foreground (B) in landscapes.
Fig. 11.—A method of securing “modeling” in portraiture.
A supplementary method of securing pleasant portrait effects is to mount a disc of cardboard (A, Fig. 11), round whose edge holes of various sizes from 1⁄4 to 5⁄8-inch diameter and about 1⁄2-inch apart are cut (B, Fig. 11), in front of the camera on a spindle (C, Fig. 11) as shown. Any one of the holes should be adjustable exactly in front of the lens, and the mode of usage is to spin the card disc rapidly whilst the exposure is being given. This should, of course, be proportionately longer than usual.
Novel Results
Excellent imitations of crayon pictures are to be produced by taking the required photograph through a negative screen, which has been made by copying to equal size or slight reduction, a piece of[353] rough drawing-paper rubbed evenly with charcoal. It is employable in two ways, either by keeping it in contact with the sensitive plate in the dark slide whilst the photograph is being taken—a slightly longer exposure being given—or else holding it in the frame on the opposite side of the negative to the sensitive paper during printing, which is conducted in the sunshine.By systems of double or triple printing, all manner of novel results are obtainable. The only difficulty presented in this work is that of correct registration, but if printing paper—the most usual medium—be employed, this should not be insurmountable even at the first trial. As a first instance of these compositions, suppose out of black paper 4 inches by 6 inches, a piece be removed the shape of the negative portion required, and this mask be used to print through on to a sensitized postcard. The black shape removed should have been gummed on to tissue paper and this used, after the picture portion has been secured, to print a border—showing the grain of the translucent paper—around the photograph.
For a second, and last, example of triple printing, proceed by first preparing the negative of a picture frame, in which, however, an ordinary plain canvas surface has superseded the work of art. The idea is then, by multiple printing, to introduce a camera view into this frame image, and so make the result resemble the copy of another painting.
Cut a black paper mask with an aperture the exact size of the canvas image in the frame negative, and through this mask print the photograph required a shade lighter than usual. Then substitute the frame negative, and, with the same mask in place, secure a slight record of the inner canvas image over the photograph already printed. This gives the requisite oil painting effect. Lastly the piece of black paper, originally removed to form the mask, is fixed over the canvas image of the frame negative and the sensitive paper replaced in position, so that registration and printing of the frame periphery is secured. Then toning and fixing ensue, and the “fraud” is complete.
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Fig. 1.—Plan of Marionette stage.
CHAPTER XLI
HOW TO MAKE AND WORK MARIONETTES
Constructing the Stage
Marionettes, though claiming no rivalry to the time-honored institution of Punch and Judy, have a great charm of their own, and, with no traditional story of Punch, Judy, and Dog Toby, are at liberty to perform whatever play their manager may desire.Although it is possible, of course, to purchase ready-made Marionette theaters and puppets, the purpose of this chapter is to describe a method by which the whole apparatus can be constructed at home at the cost of very little money and time.
Naturally, the first thing to be made is the stage. This must depend very much upon the Marionettes you intend to work. As a convenient size, suppose you decide upon figures 8 inches in height. This means that the frontage of the stage must be about 28 inches wide by 16 inches high, whilst it will run back to a depth of some 14 inches.
Make a base of plain wood, 42 inches by 22 inches. If more convenient this can be made in two pieces, each 21 inches by 22 inches. These fit together flush and are held by a couple of hooks and nails fastening beneath. Glue a block of wood at each corner to form a support, as shown in Fig. 1, which depicts the under side of the base. A, B are the two hooks and nails; C, C, C, C are the above-mentioned blocks. At a distance of 2 inches from what will be the front, and 21⁄2 inches from either end, cut a mortice in each piece of the base (D, D in the figure), through which the tenons of the stage front will project. They must, therefore, be made to suit the thickness of the wood employed. At a distance of 5 inches from the back make[355] four mortices, a couple in each part of the base as E, E, E, E in the figure. These will serve to hold the rear of the stage.
The front of the stage is now constructed as indicated by Fig. 2. Two pieces must be made exactly similar to one another, each to form one-half of the front. The tenon, D, should be long enough to pass through the mortice made for it in the base, and project from the other side sufficiently to allow of a peg being pushed through a hole bored in it. This peg will serve to maintain the upright front in place. Furthermore, two hooks must be placed upon one of the halves, to fasten to corresponding nails in the other half, thus holding the pieces of the stage front firmly together.
The back of the stage consists of two pieces of wood each 18 inches by 18 inches, having tenons to fit into the mortices below the pegs, and fastened together by hooks and nails. Before proceeding further with the work, bore two holes, of sufficient size to hold a piece of stout copper wire firmly in each piece of the base (P, P, P, P, Fig. 1). The use of these will be explained shortly.
Fig. 2.—Construction of front of stage.
Fig. 3.—Stage front completed.
A Movable Curtain
The following plan will be found very suitable for the arrangement of the movable curtain. Take a piece of strong copper wire and bend it, as shown in Fig. 4. The length of the unbent portion should be about 30 inches. Fit the two ends, A and B, into holes bored in the stage front, inside and above the opening. The wire rod will thus run the whole length of the actual stage, whilst the ends A and B suffice to clear the fixed curtains already tacked up. Hang the movable curtains by a number of little rings upon this rod. When drawn, the two curtains, which should be of some stout material, will completely cover the stage.
Fig. 4.—Wire rod for movable curtain.
Fig. 5.—Arrangement for drawing curtains.
Fig. 6.—Frame for wings.
You must next bend a couple of pieces of strong copper wire into the shape depicted in Fig. 6. The sides A B and C D should measure 20 inches, whilst B C must be of such a length that the ends A and D can fit into the holes P P already bored in the base. These pieces of wire serve to support the wings, trees, or other stage arrangements as occasion requires.
The stage is now complete, and will take to pieces and pack up flat with no trouble or inconvenience of any kind.
Fig. 7.—A stage tree.
Interior Decoration
The next questions that arise concern scenery. This depends entirely upon the play to be performed. The floor of the stage must be covered with suitable paper, or better still with a carpet. In the arrangement of the wings and the scenery connected therewith, do not forget that the spaces on each side must be left clear. Marionettes cannot enter by doors, and a descent from the ceiling is not only undignified but impracticable. The side scenery must therefore be as simple as possible.Unless your performance is to be upon a very extensive scale, the actual amount of scenery required is not great. An interior can easily be painted. Pieces representing the walls of the room can be hung upon what may be called the wing wires, whilst the rest of the interior can be painted upon the stage back.
In all probability a rural scene will also be required. A stage tree or two (Fig. 7) should be fastened to the wing wires, and the background of sky and landscape need present no difficulty to a handy amateur. Street scenes can be arranged by hanging the ends and fronts of houses from the wing wires, whilst the background may either depict the street fading into the distance, or have another house at the corner, after the fashion of stageland. A great variety of scenery may be made with the help of an artistic friend; and when at the theater, inspect the effects closely. By doing this many invaluable hints as to setting and scenic inventions can be acquired.
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But what is a theater without the actors? Who are to perform upon the boards you have so carefully constructed?
It has already been mentioned that the Marionettes are to be about 8 inches high. This will be found a convenient size for the beginner, since very small figures are apt to be troublesome, and large ones are sure to prove unwieldly. It is important to have the Marionettes so articulated that they will readily answer every motion of the operator’s strings, and be neither too stiff nor too limp.
Fig. 8.—Dutch doll for puppet.
Home-made Figures
Fig. 9.—Universal arm-joint.
The arms should be attached to the body by what is known as a universal joint (seen in Fig. 9). Make the surface A B (Fig. 10) perfectly even, and then scoop a slight hollow in the wood. In this hollow drive a staple almost up to the head, leaving only enough room to insert a piece of string in the loop, whilst the head of the staple is level with the surface A B. Round off the end of the arm (Fig. 11), and pierce a hole about half-an-inch from the end. Thread a piece of string through the staple and through the hole in the arm, tying the ends together fairly tightly, so that the arm is perfectly free at the joint but does not hang loosely.
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For the head, either touch up the original Peggy’s head to make it respectable, or remove it altogether, replacing it by that of a china doll. In the former case, a flaxen wig must be glued over the black painted hair, and a human complexion given to the crimson cheeks. Undoubtedly a better effect is produced by exchanging heads with a china sister.
The dressing of the Marionettes need be a matter of no difficulty. The costumes must depend entirely upon the nature of the play, although certain stock characters may be made once and for all, and kept in readiness. A sailor, a soldier in resplendent uniform, a policeman, and an ordinary man or two can be kept prepared; whilst for the fair sex, an old lady, a young one, a maid-servant, and a little girl are likely to be of service. The remainder of your cast must be regulated by circumstances. The clothing may be fastened to the above-mentioned characters; but in special cases the costumes should be made to take off as occasion may require.
Fig. 10.—Socket for arm.
Fig. 11.—Rounded end of arm.
Fig. 12.—Showing how and where threads should be attached.
Five black threads are attached to each figure and ascend to the flies, where they are manipulated by the performer. A glance at Fig. 12 shows how and where these threads are to be attached. Fix A and B to the right and left hand respectively, C and D to the knees, whilst E must fasten to the back, where it serves to support the figure. These threads should be very fine, for the whole success of your undertaking depends upon their concealment.
Working the Puppets
Fig. 13.—Finger loops for manipulating puppet.
The sticks are then held, one in each hand, or both in the same. Although more convenient for manipulation, this method possesses the disadvantage of limiting each operator to the management of one puppet, and where there are several characters upon the stage, much confusion may result. If the two sticks be held in one hand free play, so far as pulling the strings is concerned, is allowed to the fingers, and there should be no difficulty in working two Marionettes at the same time, one with each hand.
An easier method of manipulating the figures is shown in Fig. 13. The thread attachments are the same, but instead of being fastened to sticks, each string terminates in a brass ring placed upon the finger. The threads should be of such a length that, when the hand is held as in Fig. 13, the body of the puppet will be upright, the legs stretched, and the arms dropped by the sides.
Place the rings upon the fingers in the following order: The body string, E, to the third finger; the leg strings, C and D, to the thumb and little finger; and the arm threads to the first and second fingers, as shown in Fig. 13.
With very little practice the figures can be made to walk, the progressive motion of the legs being manipulated by alternately moving the thumb and little finger. A similar movement of the first and second fingers will put the arms into action.
When sitting upon a chair, the lower parts of the legs bend by their own weight, and you will need only to pull the body string to make the figure rise quite naturally.
The theater, scenery and actors being ready, it remains to decide what they shall play.
Your programme must necessarily be chosen according to the audience. Presuming there is somebody to assist you in working the figures, thereby making it possible to have three or four characters upon the stage at once, the variety of plays is very great, and the choice of one or two short pieces should be easy. Several publishers issue large assortments of Marionette plays, and catalogues can be obtained giving full particulars as to the number of characters required, scenery necessary, and so forth.
The Marionette stage is not adapted to heavy drama. Tragedies[361] would be ridiculous on the “two foot boards.” The rôles, therefore, assumed by each character should be amusing and topical, containing allusions likely to be understood by the spectators, and interspersed with such local “gags” as opportunity may suggest.
The two operators should divide their labors, as far as possible, in such a way that the lady does the female characters, whilst her partner works the men. The reason for this division is clear, for it will come more natural for a lady to caricature the female voice, whilst her accomplice will be better suited to the stern accents of the menacing policeman, or the passionate entreaties of the ardent lover.
Working
Practice the parts carefully and thoroughly. Be ready with some joke or patter to cover any mishap that may occur. Accidents are unfortunate, but in Marionette-land quite probable, so if Aladdin’s left arm fails to work at the critical moment, there is nothing to do but make the audience think it all part of the fun.Supposing the evening for your entertainment to have arrived, and that all is in readiness, place the theater upon a table at such a height that the spectators will get a clear view of the stage, but will not be able to see the flies. The table should be against a wall, and arranged in such a manner that you and your partner have sufficient room to move behind it. In the space between the table and wall a couple of boards must be placed on trestles, so that the operators may stand above the stage.
A curtain must hang from the ceiling to meet the top of the theater. On no account should the audience be able to watch the heads of the manipulators moving the puppets. There are few better plans than to have the stage arranged in the embrasure of a window, for the curtain can then be easily contrived, whilst the “show” does not take any of the space required for the spectators. But this, of course, must depend upon the nature of the room at your disposal.
The guests having been marshaled into their places, the entertainment should open with an overture. If there be intervals in the course of the play, the pianist will find fresh employment, whilst at times a running accompaniment is very suitable.
Start with a one act farce, to be followed by a fairy tale or pantomime. Conclude with another short farce, into which may be introduced all kinds of whimsicalities, jokes, local patter, and topical allusions.
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The puppets will do exactly as you direct them. Make them work their best; let the show be worth seeing and hearing, for the possibilities of the Marionette stage are very great, and with ordinary care a most enjoyable entertainment can be produced.
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CHAPTER XLII
LIVING MARIONETTES
A Good “One Man” Show
A living Marionette entertainment is well adapted for a “One Man Show,” and sure to prove a success. The very appearance of the weird creature, half human and half doll, makes the spectators laugh, and this laugh will scarcely subside until the curtain has been finally rung down on the entertainment.
Fig. 1.—The dummy body with the human head.
Fig. 2.—Front view of living Marionette stage.
The stage must be about 3 feet wide, and of the same height, thus allowing room for the head and false body. The stage front may be made in the same manner adopted for the Marionettes proper, though so much space will not be required at the top, as can be seen from Fig. 2. The stage itself should be about 12 inches deep, and arranged at such[364] a height that when standing behind, your chin will be about 11 inches above the stage. The whole construction will then be somewhat like the box and stage of an old-fashioned Punch and Judy Show.
A strip of perfectly black cloth is next stretched from side to side along the inner edge of the stage, i.e. the part farthest removed from the audience. This cloth should be 11 inches wide, and when in place will occupy the position shown in Fig. 3. Between this edge of the stage and the actual back of the box should be a space of 15 inches. The actual back must also be covered with black cloth. The sectional appearance of the stage will therefore be as in Fig. 4. An arrangement of curtains, as described in connection with the Marionette stage, must be fitted with the strings below the stage, in order that you may pull them unseen by the audience.
The wooden bodies should be 10 inches high, and headless. A collar must be sewn to the costume where the neck should be, in order to conceal the spot where the living head is thrust over the false body.
The most satisfactory way of working the limbs of the puppet is as follows: Above the stage, in the flies, a rod, upon which are strung several brass rings, extends from side to side (A, Fig. 4). Now the strings attached to the arms and legs pass up and through these rings, whence they descend behind the cloth screen and are moved[365] invisibly by the operator. As there is only one figure to work, you can hold the arm threads in one hand, the leg threads in the other, whilst the supporting body thread passes in a loop around your neck. In this way the body is forced to move with the living head, as though really a part of it (Fig. 5).
You should now make up your face to suit the character. Suppose the body represents an ordinary Jack Tar, with bell-bottomed trousers, blue collar, and so forth. The comic sailor’s beard must be so adjusted that its bushiness will conceal what may be called the junction between your head and his false body. The hat or round cap can be put on at a nautical tilt.
Having fixed the body-thread around your throat and fastened the beard, crane your own neck forward, and place the Marionette body upon the stage, having the strip of black cloth between it and your shoulders. Arrange the arm and leg strings through the rings, and keep the ends in your hands ready for action. When everything is completed, draw the curtain and commence.
Fig. 4.—Sectional view of Marionette stage.
Comical Effects
Songs and monologues are naturally the best turns for the Living Marionette. Choose a rollicking, nautical song, suitable to Jack Tar. All the gestures and motions can be given to the limbs by means of the threads, whilst every now and again Jack can enliven himself and the audience by executing a hornpipe. A little practice with the leg-strings will enable you to perform this with great effect.
Fig. 3.—Black cloth arrangement to conceal top of performer’s body.
Or if the other branch of the Service be on the boards, the cavalryman may flourish a saber, which, at full arm’s length, will scarcely reach the tip of his ear. A tiny rifle raised to the shoulder makes another laughable effect.
The Man about Town is a humorous figure. Dressed in an exaggeration of the latest style, with a dapper strut, flourishing a modish cane, he is a person to be admired—and laughed at. Over the pigmy body looms an enormous face, smoking a huge cigar, big even for an ordinary individual. Naturally it would be impossible to sing or speak with the cigar in his mouth, and it cannot be gracefully removed with dummy hands that will scarcely reach it. The simplest method of getting the cigar out of the way is to make[366] “Bertie” stumble over his own cane, for instance, and in the agitation of the moment drop his “smoke.” He will then be able to air his peculiarities in comfort, and will prove a most amusing personage.
Two figures may be introduced upon the stage, although they are likely to prove a tight fit. Some laughable dialogues and duets are the result. Quarrels or love scenes must be intensely funny. A young gentleman and a younger lady can be introduced with much formality, and, advancing to shake hands, meet with an embarrassing adventure, pleasant enough in its way. Owing to the smallness of their arms and the largeness of their faces, before their hands have met, their lips have perforce sealed the contract of friendship.
A general idea of Living Marionettes and their working may be gained from the foregoing suggestions. Sentimental songs, sung with a whimsical air of grotesque pathos, will probably “bring the house down,” whilst the applause attending a good comic song in character will encourage all parties concerned.
Living Marionettes are sometimes introduced in conjunction with an ordinary Marionette show, and should be given after the latter has concluded. The contrast between the symmetrical little mannikins and the distorted living doll will be remarkable, whilst the exuberant humor of the latter is sure to provide a pleasant finale to what all will judge a delightful evening.
Fig. 5.—Living Marionette operator at work.
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CHAPTER XLIII
A HOME CIRCUS
A New Form of Entertainment
A home circus has so far been beyond the wildest dreams of the amateur showman. Yet when one considers the wide scope a circus presents to performers of every type, it is curious that “amateur circuses” are not almost as popular as “amateur theatricals.” At first sight such a show seems impracticable, on account of the large floor area required for the ring. This need occupy but little more space than a stage, however; and, taking into consideration the fact that the audience almost completely surrounds the performers, it will ultimately be found that a circus does not necessitate so large a room as might be anticipated.
Fig. 1.—Showing barricade and ring entrance.
Fig. 1 gives a plan of a ring. It principally consists of a circular barricade about 30 inches high. In one portion there is a gap of four or five feet, which acts as an entrance (A, Fig. 1). If the ring can be so arranged that a door of the room in which the circus is being constructed, coincides with this entrance, much trouble will be saved. Should this be impossible, however, two or three screens can be arranged to form a passage from the ring entrance to the nearest door.
The method of constructing the barricade is explained in Fig. 2. A number of broomsticks are sawn into 30 inch lengths and fixed to heavy wooden bases in order that they may stand firmly upon the[368] floor. A hole is then bored in the other extremity; this may be done by means of a red-hot meat skewer.
The position selected for the ring must next be marked out in chalk, and the wooden stands placed round it at intervals of about a yard. Then thread a piece of stout cord through the holes in the extremities of the uprights.
Having determined the exact circumference of the ring, purchase a sufficient length of cheap red flannelette to go completely round it. The cost of this material should be about 10 cents per yard, and its width exactly equal to the height of the stands. A number of large hooks must be obtained from the same shop, and sewn along one edge of the flannelette. It remains only to hook the material to the cord, as shown in Fig. 2, in order to complete the barricade.
Fig. 2.—Construction of barricade.
The vexed question of “lights”—always a difficult problem in amateur theatricals—need not here be considered, the gas or electric fixtures already installed being sufficient.
A circus is never complete without its horses, so attention must now be paid to this department. It is hardly practicable to turn several full-grown animals loose in a circus constructed in an ordinary room nor is it probable that the reader’s purse will run to the importation of one or two Shetland ponies. But a whole stud of “circus horses” may be obtained at small expense by carrying out the following directions.
Fig. 3.—Showing outline of horse and part to be stitched.
At this stage, if the young showman is wise, he will place the operations in the hands of his mother or sister, for the two patterns must be stitched together along the edges, to the points marked A and B, Fig. 3. This done, the whole affair should be turned inside out.
Next obtain a quantity of rags or shavings, or purchase some excelsior from an upholsterer’s, and stuff first the head and then the haunches of the “horse.” The two unsewn pieces of cloth in the center remain empty. One of them must be cut in half, and the two sections thus obtained folded and stitched into the form of two small bolsters and stuffed with flock (A, B, Fig. 4).
Fig. 4.—Opening in horse for rider; tapes at A and B to be tied.
Other Decorations
The “noble thorough-bred” is now ready for its final decorations.Unravel some coarse rope and sew it along the neck of the horse to represent the mane. Another piece, unraveled at one end only, does duty for a tail. The ears are constructed by cutting a piece of calico, folded in the form of a sugar bag, perpendicularly down the center, and stitching the two halves into position on the head.
The color of the horse must next be determined. If dapple-gray, a few ink blobs upon the white background will suffice; but if chestnut,[370] brown, or black, a distemper must be applied with a thick brush. This distemper can be made by mixing ordinary water color, of the shade required, with size water, and thickening with whiting.
When the distemper is dry, the “rider” of the horse must get into the hollow in the center, and secure it to his hips by tying the tapes together at A, B, Fig. 4. A “valance” of cretonne should then be sewn completely round the horse to hide the “rider’s” legs (Fig. 5). A pair of reins, and two dummy legs stitched on the flanks complete the “mount.”
Fig. 5.—Ready for the tournament.
These horses can be used in numerous ways. A very effective item in which they might be employed is a “tilting scene.” Two knights attired in armor—this latter commodity can be easily constructed,[371] as it consists simply of back- and breast-plates made from painted cardboard, with a helmet of the same material—“canter” into the ring. A clown follows them, also mounted, and carrying two long poles upon the ends of which are pads of rag, one covered with soot and the other with flour.
Fig. 6.—Dummy horse for bareback rider.
There is another style of “horse” shown in Fig. 6. The carcase is made in a manner similar to that already described, but in this case the stuffing must be replaced by two men or boys, who crouch in the position illustrated in the diagram. It will be necessary, however, slightly to stuff the “horse” in such places as the head and haunches, in order to make it of correct shape.
The two men or boys must carry upon their backs an oval-shaped piece of board, having four “legs” nailed to its side, by means of which the carriers hold it firmly in position during the performance. This is clearly shown in Fig. 6. The purpose of the board is to make a flat and solid surface upon which the “daring bareback rider” can perform.
The performance consists of jumping over garlands and through hoops; leaping on to the back of the “horse” whilst it is at full gallop, and other of the more simple feats seen at circuses.
It is preferable, however, that the “bareback rider” should be a clown, who, instead of jumping the garlands, trips over them, and falls headlong to the ground, completely misses the horse when attempting to leap upon its back, and lands on the ringmaster instead, thus making a travesty of the whole affair.
The next performance should be of a more serious nature.
Among the reader’s acquaintances is sure to be one who goes in for gymnastics, and he should be prevailed upon to give an exhibition of his prowess upon the parallel bars, these being preferable to any other apparatus on account of the small space they occupy. To increase the interest of the display, a clown should attempt to emulate each movement as it is performed, but must fail miserably and come a “cropper” every time. It is advisable to have a set of mattresses to soften any unpremeditated falls.
How is it Done?
Another item suitable for the programme of the home circus is a “mock” conjuring entertainment. The ring-master announces that Herr Bluffemstein, the famous illusionist, will present his marvelous performance. Thereupon one of the boys or young men taking part in the circus must stalk majestically into the ring, and bow stiffly to the audience. If possible he should be attired in evening dress. He should also wear a fierce, upturned mustache, and carry an air-gun under his arm. A large target is then placed in the curtained entrance to the ring. This target consists merely of a wooden board[373] containing several bent nails, upon which lighted candles are stuck. Below each candle a large number is painted (Fig. 7).“Herr Bluffemstein” then requests the audience to call out one of these numbers. Upon their complying, he loads the air-gun, raises it to his shoulder, takes aim, fires—and the lighted candle over the chosen number goes out! He repeats this marvelous feat of marksmanship several times. Then, without warning, the remaining candles are suddenly extinguished one by one, and a voice exclaims: “I say, mister, how much longer are you going to keep me blowing out these lights?”
The next moment a boy, wearing a glaring red wig, steps from behind the target, where he has been engaged in blowing out the candles through small holes bored exactly level with the wicks.
Fig. 7.—Target for trick shooting.
The illusionist hands the kettle to his assistant, with instructions to take it away and fetch something else. The boy, however, lifts off the lid, and placing his hand into the interior, draws out a piece of wire to which is attached a smoldering ball of brown paper.
The conjurer, enraged at thus having his second trick spoilt, chases his assistant round the ring. He at length gives up the chase as hopeless, and entices him to proceed with the next trick. The boy again leaves the ring; but soon returns with a slate, a slip of ordinary writing-paper, a wet sponge, and a piece of brown paper.
The latter requires a little preparation before being used. The conjurer and his assistant must fix upon a certain number—say 21—and write it reversely on the brown paper with a thick piece of chalk. This, of course, must be done “behind the scenes,” and the assistant should be careful that the audience do not catch sight of the figures when he enters the ring.
“Herr Bluffemstein” takes the slip of white paper, and hands it in turn to three people sitting in different parts of the room, with the request that each shall write a certain number upon it without letting[374] him know what has been written. Whilst they are thus engaged he wipes the slate with the wet sponge, and proceeds to wrap it in the brown paper, taking care that the chalked figures come in contact with the middle of the slate. Placing the parcel on the ground, he orders his assistant to stand upon it. The pressure thus applied will, of course, print the chalked figures on to the slate.
The conjurer then takes the paper from the member of the audience who last wrote upon it. Handing it to the boy, he instructs him to add up the figures, and read out the result. The boy pretends to make the addition, but in reality calls out the number previously decided upon.
When the slate is unwrapped the audience are amazed to perceive the apparently correct figures chalked upon it. But before their astonishment has had time to abate, the assistant whips up the brown paper, and displaying the chalked figures to the audience, exclaims: “Why, sir, there’s still a lot more chalk to come off! And do you know I nearly forgot the number I was told to call out?”
There are numerous other tricks than can be adapted in the above manner, but space will not permit further examples to be given. It is a good plan to finish up with a really first-class illusion, such as
The Indian Sack Trick
In this illusion the assistant brings forward a sack and proceeds to get into it. The conjurer then seizes the top of the sack, and pulls it right over the boy’s head. Producing a piece of rope, he requests some one in the audience so to tie the mouth of the sack that it will be impossible for the assistant to get out.When this is done, the conjurer places a screen round the boy, and slowly counts “One, two, three!” As he utters the last word, he pulls away the screen. The assistant is then seen to be perfectly free, with the sack slung carelessly across his shoulder. When the sack is examined it is found to be still securely tied with the identical knot made by the member of the audience.
The explanation lies in the fact that two sacks are employed. The assistant has one secreted up his coat, and as the conjurer pulls the first sack over his head, the boy carefully pushes the top of the other through its mouth. The conjurer hides the junction between the two by gathering the material together in his hand—apparently with the intention of making it more easy to tie. Consequently the member from the audience unconsciously ties the mouth of the second sack instead of the first. All that is necessary for the assistant to do, therefore, when the screen is placed round him is to scramble out of the[375] first sack, stuff it up his coat out of sight, then sling the other carelessly over his shoulder.
Juggling is another performance eminently suitable for a show such as the home circus. The only juggling the average person is capable of, however, consists in balancing a stick upon his finger, or keeping a couple of balls in motion. But the few hints given below will make it possible for any one to give a trick juggling performance after a few hours’ practice.
Trick Juggling
Fig. 8 shows the first feat—that of balancing a stick, card, and wooden ball upon the hand. The whole secret lies in the card. It really consists of two cards pasted together, with a piece of wire passing diagonally between them and protruding about half an inch at each end. In both the ball and stick are small holes into which this wire fits. The audience, of course, must be kept in ignorance of this—not a difficult thing to do when several feet separate them from the performer.
Fig. 8.—Balancing stick, card, and wooden ball.
Fig. 9.—Two balls balanced upon stick.
The juggler should also number amongst his apparatus several cardboard plates of the pattern shown by the three diagrams comprising Fig. 10. A segment must first be cut from a circular piece of cardboard, as shown by A. The edges of this segment should then be gummed together, the result being the conical contrivance seen in B. Lastly, a circular cardboard ring must be fixed to the edge of this cone, C, and the plate is complete. It is quite an easy matter to impart a spin to these plates as they are thrown into the air, and then catch them on the end of a stick, where they will rapidly revolve without the possibility of falling.
Fig. 10.—Cardboard plate for spinning.
Fig. 11.—Balancing ball on fan.
Fig. 12.—Trick cards.
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Numerous other devices can be adopted by the juggler, and the suggestions offered above may be enlarged upon considerably. The merest tyro in the “art of balancing” should thus be able to contribute an excellent item to the home circus.
Every owner of a dog has taught his pet at some time or another several little tricks. The manager of the circus should therefore get those of his acquaintances who possess dogs to combine in contributing to the programme.
Then, again, a big dog might be clothed in a “bull’s skin” made from calico, and a farcical bull-fight arranged. Here the circus “horses” could be once more employed to good purpose.
The “strong man” is a character always associated with circuses, and there is no reason why the home circus should not possess one. The weights must be made from wood, painted black to represent the genuine article. After the “strong man”—who should be selected from the most powerfully-built of the reader’s acquaintances—has lifted the different “weights,” apparently with a great deal of exertion, he makes his exit, leaving them upon the ground. A little boy then enters, and picking up all the “weights,” walks unconcernedly from the ring.
As has been before mentioned, the home circus presents scope for almost every kind of amateur performance, but it must be left to the ingenuity of the reader to give further variety and make the programme as attractive as possible.
As a grand finale, a stirring, spectacular sketch should be given—such as an attack upon a settler’s hut by redskins, or a raid on the shanty of a miner. The main idea in this sketch must be to make a lot of noise, blaze away with toy pistols at frequent intervals, and burn as much “colored fire” as possible. The soldiers or mounted police should arrive in the nick of time, of course, and drive the marauders completely from the field. Thus everything ends quite happily.
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CHAPTER XLIV
HOW TO MAKE AND WORK A PEEP-SHOW
An Old Form of Entertainment Revived
A peep-show makes an excellent and quite novel form of home entertainment, and a boy would be well repaid for any trouble to which the construction of one might put him.The first consideration is the dimensions of the show. One can be large enough to occupy the whole of a table, or so small that it can be made from a soap or cigar box. The best course, therefore, will be to leave the question of size to the reader.
Fig. 1 is an illustration of the peep-show when finished.
Fig. 1.—The finished show.
Having obtained the box, commence operations upon it. First[379] of all one end must be entirely removed, not a very difficult task to accomplish. The next thing to do is to make the peep-holes. There is no fixed size for these. They may be large enough for both eyes to be applied, or to permit only one to gaze through. But provided they are of sufficient dimensions to allow the “audience” to obtain a comprehensive view of the interior that is all that is required.
The number of peep-holes must, of course, be regulated by the size of the show.If the reader possesses a fretsaw the making of the holes will present no difficulty. The best method to be adopted by those who have not one of these useful instruments, is to make small holes in the necessary places with a red-hot poker. They can then be easily whittled to the desired size with a penknife, the edges being finished off with a piece of emery paper. Should the reader wish to make his show “extra smart,” he can putty a piece of glass inside the box over the holes. But this is not essential.
Fig. 2.—Showing back view of stage front and lighting.
Fig. 3.—Candle stand and roof protector.
The dotted lines in the illustration of the finished show (Fig. 1) indicate the position of this stage front. A reference to the same diagram will also show a small door at the side of the show (D, Fig. 1). This must next claim our attention.
Simply cut a small aperture about 3 inches wide by 4 inches deep, and hinge the oblong of wood thus obtained back into its position by means of a piece of linen and glue. The object of this door is to enable the showman to attend to the lighting of his show, done by means of a candle, or, if necessary, two or three candles. The lights are placed behind the stage front in such a position that they are invisible to those gazing through the peep-holes. In order that the[380] candles shall not scorch the roof, they should be placed upon pieces of tin, bent to the shape shown in Fig. 3.
The first portion of the show is now complete, and we will turn our attention to the second, and more important section.
Another raid must be made upon the tobacconist’s or grocer’s and a second box procured similar to the first. It is necessary that this box should be of the same width, and at least twice as high as the first is deep.
This box is represented by B, Fig. 1. Stand it on end and place the other against it in the manner shown by the diagram. Now take a pencil and mark a line across the second box at its junction with the first. With a fretsaw or penknife make a cut along this line, and then completely remove the square of wood below this cut. A glance at Fig. 4 will make this clear.
Fig. 4.—Scene-raising apparatus.
It is now time to turn attention to the most important portion of the show—the scenes.
If the reader possesses any artistic ability, he cannot do better than paint them himself. A few hints upon this subject will perhaps be useful.
He must pay a visit to a stationer’s, and purchase a supply of white drawing-card, such as is used by artists. A fair-sized sheet costs only two cents. Having procured this he must lightly sketch, in pencil, the first scene upon it. If he be at all doubtful as[381] to his artistic abilities, however, the following is an excellent plan to adopt.
Armed with a pencil and piece of tracing-paper cut to the size of the scenes, he should carefully examine the various illustrations appearing in magazines. A short search should reveal a mountain, a mass of foliage, a waste of sea, or some other subject suitable for the background of the first scene. He must then get to work with the pencil and trace this upon the tracing-paper. Another search will bring to light something adaptable for the middle-distance. Lastly, a group of objects for the foreground must be selected, and the whole transferred first to the tracing-paper and thence to the drawing-card. Thus by taking a background from one illustration and a foreground from another, almost any scene may be built up.
After being sketched-in in pencil the scenes must be colored. This should be done with a view to general effect rather than perfect detail. First the predominant colors should be laid on in a bold wash, then the objects in the background painted in. The coloring must be as vivid as possible, in fact, almost gaudy.
Instead of each scene representing a single incident, it is preferable to weave the whole series into some sort of a narrative, such as “A Voyage round the World,” “With Shackleton to the South Pole,” or, if the reader is very imaginative, “Round the United States in an Aeroplane.”
Having procured the scenes—they can number from half-a-dozen to a score—proceed to fix them in the show. Fig. 5 gives an interior view of scene-raising apparatus.
Fig. 5.—Interior view of scene-raising apparatus.
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It will now be observed that when one of these threads is pulled, the scene to which it is attached is lifted swiftly out of view of the audience and behind the top portion of the box.
In order to prevent the scenes and threads becoming entangled when raised and lowered, thin strips of wood should be glued up either side of the box, thus making a series of grooves in which each scene can work. In Fig. 4 the first scene has been raised, leaving one of these grooves displayed to view.
Another reference to this diagram (C, Fig. 4) will show a number of small nails corresponding to the holes at B. When a scene is pulled up, the wire-ring at the end of the thread can be slipped over this nail, thus preventing its dropping down again.
It now remains only to put the two sections of the peep-show together. This is easily done. Simply push one box firmly against the other in the manner shown in Fig. 1, and secure them either by means of small brads or strong glue.
The whole contrivance can then be painted and decorated to suit the taste of the young showman, and everything is ready for the first “performance.”
The showman lights his candles, places the show upon the table in a convenient position, and gets his “audience” to look through the peep-holes. Then he starts upon his description of the first scene, making it as entertaining as possible by well padding with jokes. When he has finished with the first scene—Zr-r-rip!—he pulls the thread, the picture is whisked out of the audience’s view before they quite realize what has happened, and the next scene is displayed.
Thus he will go through the whole series of pictures, and then—well, after that, I trust he will be listening to the congratulations of the audience upon his success as a peep-show man.
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CHAPTER XLV
THE “MECHANICAL” PEEP-SHOW
Secrets of Lightning Transformations
There is another variety of peep-show well worthy of attention. It is known as the “mechanical” peep-show. A short account of the finished show will not be out of place before proceeding with a more detailed description.Upon looking through the peep-holes the interior of a cottage is perceived, including side wings. The next moment, however, a faint click is heard—and the interior of the cottage miraculously vanishes, giving place to a scene in a forest glade!
The simplest and most satisfactory manner of explaining this marvelous transformation is to describe how one of these “mechanical” shows may be made.
Procure a wooden box similar to the first of those employed in the manufacture of the previous show. Having decided upon the number of peep-holes, cut them out in the manner already described. Another “stage front” must then be fixed in position about 3 inches from the peep-holes (Fig. 1). For the sake of convenience it is advisable to turn the box upside down, with the lid at the bottom instead of the top. This will permit the interior of the show being attended to without unnecessarily disturbing the mechanism.
Having, for the time being, finished with the body of the peep-show, turn your attention to the internal parts. These are by no means complicated.
Fig. 1.—Handles and tin clip for holding scenes.
With the flap thus formed hanging downwards, place the card upon the table, and proceed to paint thereon a forest scene (C, Fig. 2). If a suitable illustration can be procured from a magazine it will only be necessary to paste it on the card and carefully trim the edges.
Fig. 2.—A double-barreled scene.
Fig. 3 is an example of one of the wings employed in the show. Like the scene, it is “double-barreled.” A strip of white cardboard is the first requisite. Its size will be dependent upon the dimensions of the show.
Fig. 3.—Part of double-barreled wing.
Next take a piece of wood slightly longer than the wing, and about 1⁄4-inch wide by 1⁄8-inch thick. Glue this to the center of the wing as shown at C, Fig. 3. A closer reference to this diagram reveals that the strip of wood is whittled to a point at E; also that a wire “handle” is fixed to the other extremity, D. At present, however, this “handle” should be held in reserve.
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Three other wings have also to be made. Fig. 4 suggests the various forms they may take.
The segments of the show are now complete, and all that remains is to put them together.
First take the hinged scene and fix it in the end of the box opposite the peep-holes. To prevent the flap falling down at an inopportune moment and displaying the wrong scene, a slit must be made at the top of the box and a small strip of tin inserted (B, Fig. 1). This strip of tin is also shown at B, Fig. 2. It will be found that when this is pushed down, it clips on the flap D, holding it against C.
On being pulled up, however, the flap is released, and, falling down, changes the picture. To lift the flap again, attach a piece of thread to one corner, carrying the loose end out through a small hole in the back of the box.
The wings should be placed in the interior of the show, in the position illustrated by Fig. 4. The wooden point at the base of each wing acts as a pivot in a small hole made in the bottom of the box. Four corresponding holes must also be bored at the top.
The wire “handles” next claim attention. They should be pushed through the small hole, as shown in Fig. 1, and fixed firmly in each wing. The holes must, in every case, be large enough to permit the wings to revolve easily and with the least possible resistance.
Each “handle” is connected by a straight piece of wire having both ends bent in the form of a small ring (G, Fig. 4). It will also be noticed in this diagram that one of these “handles” has a considerably longer shank than the others (H, Fig. 4). This is to enable the showman to bring about the transformation previously explained.
Fig. 4.—Simultaneous revolving wings.
The mechanical peep-show is now finished. After the showman has grouped his audience at the peep-holes, and all is ready for the transformation, he simply turns the wire handle with one hand, and with the other simultaneously raises the clip securing the back scene. All that is heard by those at the peep-holes is a faint click as the wings revolve. Then they perceive, with no little bewilderment, that in some inexplicable manner the interior of the show has been completely changed. The showman will be wise to refrain from permitting them further to examine the apparatus, however, for when they realize the absurdly simple mechanism by which the transformation is wrought, their bewilderment will vanish even more rapidly than do the scenes themselves.
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CHAPTER XLVI
HOW TO MAKE AND WORK A PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW
His Highness of the Hump
Mr. Punch and Mrs. Judy at one time held quite an exalted position among forms of entertainment dear to the heart of the British boy. As far back as the reign of Queen Anne, a well-known periodical devoted quite a considerable space to a criticism of a Punch and Judy performance!
Fig. 1.—The framework.
Fig. 2.—Frames hinged together.
Punch is just as amusing indoors as out, and the boy who is interested in giving different forms of home entertainment will find a Punch and Judy an excellent addition to his other shows.
The stage upon which Mr. Punch performs his amusing antics is simple of construction.
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It will first be necessary to procure six uprights, each 7 feet long and 1 inch thick; and nine crosspieces each 21⁄2 feet long and 1 inch thick.
Take a pair of uprights and join them together with three crosspieces—one at each end and the other in the center. The result will be a framework such as is shown in Fig. 1. The four remaining uprights must be similarly treated.
Altogether three frames will have been constructed, and they must be hinged together, as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.—The platform.
It will be noticed that the framework has only three sides. The fourth side is to be occupied by Punch’s platform, which merely consists of a small board about 6 inches wide and 2 feet 6 inches long. An oblong nick 1 inch by 1⁄2 inch should be cut in each side of this platform, as shown both in Fig. 3 and A, Fig. 4. A cut of similar dimensions must also be made 5 feet 6 inches from the ground in both the front uprights of the framework (B, Fig. 4). The incisions in the platform dovetail into those in the uprights. To make all quite secure two small catches (A, Fig. 4) are fitted to the ends of the platform, and these clamp round the uprights, holding everything firmly in position.
Fig. 4.—Arrangement for supporting platform on frame.
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Fig. 5.—Front of show complete.
A row of tacks or brads is driven into the front of the two uprights to about three-quarters of their length. A corresponding number of small curtain rings—to be obtained at any hardware store for 5 cents a dozen—are then sewn down the sides of a piece of the cambric 5 feet 6 inches long. By this means the cloth may be hooked to the front of the show, as illustrated in Fig. 5.
Packing Up the Show
When the Punch and Judy Show has to be packed away, it is merely necessary to unhook the front cloth, take out the platform, and fold the framework up as though it were a screen or a clothes’ horse.But before this trial “pack up” is attempted, there are one or two small but important additions to be made.
First of all, the top of the opening at which Punch presents his cheery countenance must be decorated. This is easily done. Two small nails are driven perpendicularly into the top of the front uprights, and a stout piece of wire stretched between them. A frieze of cambric is then hemmed round the wire (Fig. 5). The wire should be simply hooked on the nails, so that it can easily be detached when the show is folded up.
A similar frieze must also be tacked along the edge of the platform.
With regard to the scenery! Mr. Punch is very modest in this direction, for he requires only two wings with which to garnish his abode. These generally take the form of a scene of the top window of a house, and the front of a shop or a portico.
The front and back of one of these wings are shown in Figs. 6 and 6a respectively.
It consists merely of a framework of wood, 11⁄2 feet long by 9 inches wide, over which a piece of white cardboard is nailed or glued. The desired scene is then executed on the cardboard in either oil paint, water color, or crayon.
The window itself should be cut completely out and hinged back again with a strip of linen, so that Punch and the other characters may poke their heads through (Fig. 6a).
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The complete wings must then be hinged one on each side of the show, as seen in Fig. 7. In this diagram the wings are illustrated as seen from the inside.
Fig. 6.—Exterior view of window.
Fig. 6a.—Back of wing.
Fig. 7.—Swing-doors opening inwards.
The Puppets
The “stage” is now complete, and it remains but to make the grotesque little puppets that perform upon it.Pride of place must be given, of course, to the redoubtable Punch himself.
The most difficult part of this puppet to construct is the head. There are very few boys skillful enough to carve out the correct features from an ordinary block of wood; therefore they must find some other foundation upon which to work. A Dutch doll, to be purchased at any toyshop for a few cents, serves splendidly. Whilst the reader is in the toyshop buying the one doll, he may as well extend his order to about a dozen more; not only are they useful for making Punch, but their stony countenances can be transformed into those of Judy or any of the other characters.
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The dolls should all be decapitated, and have their hands and feet removed as well. One of the heads must then be selected, and the little snub nose taken off with a sharp knife. A semicircular line should next be penciled right across the lower part of the face, and all the wood below this line cut away to the depth of 1⁄8 inch or so (Fig. 8). A “false” chin is to go here, whilst a “false” nose must adorn the spot whence the original member was removed.
Fig. 8.—Preparing Punch’s face.
Fig. 9.—Punch’s nose and chin.
Fig. 10.—Pattern for Punch’s coat.
Fig. 11.—Mr. Punch.
The adjusting of the “false” nose and chin is by no means a simple task, requiring, as it does, considerable ingenuity. But on the whole it will be found much easier than having to carve the entire face.
The clothing of Punch is best left in the hands of the reader’s mother or sister. Although it is astonishing what a boy can do with needle and thread when necessity puts him to the trial, making the tiny suit of scarlet calls for an amount of patience and a carefulness over detail that only a lady can be relied upon to exercise.
Fig. 10 shows the pattern for Punch’s coat. The cloth selected for the garment must be folded double, cut to the pattern given,[392] then hemmed round the edges as indicated by the dotted lines. The sleeves are made separately, being afterwards sewn into position on the jacket.
When the reader’s mother or sister has finished the little scarlet coat, Punch’s head must be glued by its neck into the collar, a lace frill being afterwards attached to finish off the joint neatly. The hands from the Dutch doll should next be glued into the sleeves, and smaller frills similarly attached.
Before the head is stuck in position, however, a hole must be bored in the base of the neck just large enough to admit the tip of the forefinger.
For Punch’s nether garments two cylinders of cloth only are necessary. The feet from the Dutch doll must be glued into one end of each cylinder, whilst the other ends should be sewn individually inside the front of the coat.
A conical hat must next be made, and either glued or tacked to the head. After the hump has been well stuffed with wadding, Punch should have assumed an appearance similar to that of the gentleman depicted in Fig. 11.
Working the Figures
To “work” the figures the performer first puts his hand up the back of the coat, and sticks the tip of his forefinger in the hole in the head. He then places his thumb and second finger in the diminutive sleeves. By this means the puppet can be made to fling his arms about, and move his head in a most grotesque fashion.The other puppets are constructed on practically the same lines; but in the majority of cases it will be unnecessary to provide them with knickerbockers and legs, as the audience see only the upper part of the bodies above the platform. In these circumstances the attire can take the form of a simple, long, loose gown, such as that worn by the Clown in Fig. 12.
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Fig. 12.—The Clown.
Fig. 13.—Skull head for the Ghost.
By a judicious application of paint, and by gluing on colored tufts of wood for hair, the remaining heads can be transformed into craniums suitable for the other puppets.
The Ghost
The Ghost, however, may receive a little special treatment. One of the heads should be vividly painted in black and white to represent a skull. Then attach it to a wooden stick, decorated with a series of black rings, as shown in Fig. 13.The body consists of a long white gown similar to the other dresses, the only difference being that the head is left quite free in the collar. When the mysterious visitor makes his first appearance his head is right down upon his shoulders, as in Fig. 14.
Directly Punch becomes too familiar, however, the showman can make the Ghost suddenly shoot out his long neck, thereby giving the old gentleman a bad attack of the “nerves.”
There remains one other piece of “stage furniture” to be constructed. This is the gallows—which plays such an important part in the exciting scene where Punch turns the tables on Jack Ketch.
Take a piece of wood six inches long, half an inch wide, and an eighth of an inch thick, and nail it at right angles to the extremity of another piece the same width and thickness, only eight inches long. A third strip of wood must then be nailed diagonally between the other two. The completed article will have the appearance of Fig. 15.
The end of the longer arm must be whittled to a blunt point, and a hole bored in Punch’s platform to receive it. Two small holes should[394] also be bored in the short arm. They must be about two and a half inches apart, and a piece of string knotted in the first, then looped down and threaded through the second, as shown in the diagram. It is into this loop that the wily Punch persuades Jack Ketch to place his head, when the old fellow gleefully gives a sharp pull to the other end and hangs him.
Fig. 14.—Ghost as seen at first appearance.
Fig. 15.—The gallows.
Fig. 16.—The squeaker.
First obtain a piece of tape six or seven inches long and half an inch wide; also two pieces of tin about two inches long and half an inch wide. Both pieces of metal must then be bent slightly in the center, and a single layer of tape placed between them. The remaining tape is next bound firmly round the outside, all being held fast with thread. The finished squeaker is illustrated in Fig. 16. Before being used it should be well soaked in water.
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To produce the required sound place the squeaker between the teeth, half speaking and half blowing the words through it.
The story of Punch is so well known that most boys will be able to work out a performance of their own. But those who wish to give the correct version of the adventures encountered by our Hero of the Hump will find at any theatrical publishers’ a little book giving the complete dialogue.
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CHAPTER XLVII
DISSOLVING VIEWS
Without a Magic Lantern
Previous to the introduction of the cinematograph, dissolving views ranked amongst the most popular of entertainments. By means of a specially-constructed magic lantern, a painted picture from a glass slide is thrown upon a screen. Then, at the will of the operator, the picture apparently dissolves into a haze, through which a second picture gradually makes its appearance.Subjects are usually chosen which specially adapt themselves to such an optical illusion. For instance, a picture might be shown of a small country village, which slowly dissolves into a view of the same place several years after, when it has developed into a thriving and populous town.
But the specially constructed magic lantern necessary for these dissolving views is a very costly piece of apparatus, the purchase of which would entail the careful saving of two or three years’ pocket money. However keen a boy may be to provide some form of home entertainment for the amusement of his friends, such an alarming prospect would make his keenness dissolve as completely as the pictures he hoped to display.
Fig. 1.—Show as seen by audience.
Fig. 1 depicts the show as seen by the audience. It consists principally of a framework not unlike that of a model stage, the dimensions[397] of which must be left to the decision of the reader. For the sake of convenience, however, it will be advisable to explain the method of constructing apparatus capable of displaying views about the size of a picture postcard.
A stage front similar to that in Figs. 1 and 2 should first be cut from either thin wood or stout cardboard. The size of a picture postcard is usually 31⁄2 inches by 51⁄2 inches. Consequently the opening in the stage front must be about 61⁄2 inches by 81⁄2 inches. This allows for a nice margin around each dissolving view.
It will be noticed from the diagrams that both sides of the show are fitted with two small rods, bearing miniature curtains. These are to prevent the audience seeing what the showman is doing “behind the scenes.” Their mode of fixture is explained in Fig. 3. Four pins, with their heads nipped off, are bent in the shape of a horseshoe, and a pair driven into each side of the stage front (A, Fig. 3).
Fig. 2.—Show from back view.
Fig. 3.—Back view of partially constructed apparatus.
Having done this, make a journey to the nearest glazier’s, and[398] purchase a piece of glass of about the same dimensions as the wooden base. This should not cost more than ten cents. Clean the glass thoroughly, and rest it against the top of the stage-front at an angle of about 60° (Fig. 3). Next take a picture postcard, and lay it on the wooden base between the end of the glass and the stage front. (See B, Fig. 3.)
If the room now be darkened, and a bright light thrown upon the postcard, its reflection will be clearly visible on the glass, and to those looking through the stage front it will appear exactly similar to the view projected upon a screen by a small magic lantern.
Should the reflection be at all lopsided, the angle of the glass must be altered until this defect is remedied. A block of wood, or an ordinary cigar-box, must then be placed upon the wooden base with its edge along the glass, and nailed securely in position. (See A, Fig. 4.)
Fig. 4.—Showing position of picture postcard and glass screen.
Fig. 5.—Lighting apparatus with serrated shutter.
Exhibiting
Whilst the paint is drying the young showman can turn his attention to the lights. These merely consist of two lamps—photographic dark-room lamps are most suitable, or a wax candle will serve quite well. Each lamp is provided with a cardboard shutter serrated at the bottom, as shown in Fig. 5. It is this serration that imparts the dissolving effects to the various views.When the paint is dry the first exhibition may be given.
The room in which the entertainment is to take place must be darkened; the glass placed in position between the cigar-box and the stage front, and the lamps lit. Two picture postcards must also be obtained; the first being placed upright upon the cigar-box at the[399] back of the show, and the other on the wooden base between the glass and the stage front. A glance at Fig. 4 explains this.
The two lamps must now be so arranged that the light from one, whilst brightly illuminating the first postcard, leaves the portion of the show behind the glass in complete darkness; and the light from the other falls solely upon the card on the cigar box.
If the shutter of the first lamp is now closed, and that of the second opened, the audience will see only the postcard at the back, set in a frame of dead black.
The exhibitor should then slowly press down the shutter of the second lamp, and simultaneously raise that of the first. The serrations—in one case gently cutting off the light, and in the other permitting it to stream forth gradually—will have the effect of making one postcard slowly dissolve from view, and give place to the reflection of the other.
The back of the show being in complete darkness, the glass acts as a perfect mirror, and whilst the audience are gazing at the reflection of the first card, a fresh view may be substituted for that at the back, without their being aware of the change.
Having accomplished this, the showman must uncover the second lamp and push down the shutter of the first. The result will be that the reflected view fades from sight, and the fresh picture postcard is displayed.
It is then a simple matter to slip the card already used from its position between the glass and stage front, and insert another in its place.
In this manner a succession of views may be made to dissolve into one another.
As has already been mentioned, there is no limit to the dimensions of such a show—the showman being guided by the size of the pictures he is able to obtain. Picture postcards are always procurable, and no difficulty should be experienced in obtaining slightly larger views from magazines, art catalogues, &c.
Of course, in the very large shows a much brighter light is required, and four lamps must be used instead of two.
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CHAPTER XLVIII
INDOOR FIREWORKS
Without the Use of Explosives
A firework display without the employment of brimstone and saltpeter is somewhat unusual. But it is quite possible to give such a display, and to do so without the heavy expense usually attending Fourth of July pyrotechnics.It is first necessary to make a frame or “stage,” upon which to present the firework display. In appearance this frame greatly resembles a three-winged clothes-horse; in fact, one of these humble home “thoroughbreds” may, after slight alteration, be easily pressed into service.
Fig. 1.—Showing frame and side wings.
To represent the windows and glass domes of the Exposition Building, small squares should be cut from the cardboard scene and tissue paper pasted over them. When a light is placed behind, the effect will be very pleasing, and will considerably enhance the reality of the firework display.
After draping the two side wings (C and D, Fig. 1) with red or green cloth, the framework or “stage” may be set aside, and attention[401] paid to the fireworks themselves. They are by no means of a character calculated to send cold shivers down the backs of timid parents. Fig. 2 shows a portion of one. It simply consists of a piece of cardboard, slightly larger than the top frame (A, Fig. 1).
A design similar to that in the diagram must be lightly penciled upon it. Then, with a rather coarse needle, prick out this design with a series of small holes, through which the light can easily penetrate. It is also necessary to make four larger holes at each corner of the card, and to drive four wooden pegs or nails into the corresponding corners of the frame. By means of these the cardboard design can be quickly removed from or fixed to the “stage.” (See D, Fig. 4.)
Fig. 2.—Showing firework design formed by series of small holes.
Fig. 3.—Revolving wheel, spaces fitted with colored tissue paper.
A small stand upon which this wheel can revolve is the next requisite. This simply consists of a flat wooden base, with two wooden uprights glued firmly upon it. These uprights are connected at one extremity by a short piece of wire—an ordinary pin will serve the purpose excellently—forming an axle for the cardboard to revolve upon. Fig. 3 makes this quite clear.
Now to test the effect of the first firework.
Fix the cardboard design in the upper portion of the frame, and stand the whole upon a table. Then take a magic lantern (B, Fig. 4),[402] or, failing this, a bull’s-eye lantern or cycle lamp, and focus its rays upon the cardboard design. Next place the “wheel” (C, Fig. 4) in such a position that the beam of light shines through one of the tissue paper films, and then continues its original course to the screen.
When everything is in position, the room in which the display is to take place must be darkened. Having done this, grip the edge of the “wheel” by the thumb and forefinger, and spin it sharply round.
Fig. 4.—Firework apparatus complete.
The Firework Boxers
But our firework show gives scope for far better effects even than this. Some time ago great surprise was caused at an exhibition by the production of a firework boxer. With a little care and ingenuity, the same surprising result may be produced in the following manner:—By means of a needle prick out two boxers in a defensive position (C and D, Fig. 5). The others must then be designed; only in this case, one boxer is administering the coup de grace to his unfortunate opponent.
Two grooved strips of wood are next glued to the top and bottom, as shown at A, Fig. 5, and two pieces of cardboard slid between them (B, B). These two cards should then be connected by three pieces of wire, as shown in the diagram, and have their corners rounded off in order to insure free movement in the grooves.
[403]
By pulling the left wire one pair of figures is hidden and the other revealed. Thus we have two firework boxers, who will fight a short but decisive contest.
Fig. 5.—The firework boxers.
Fig. 6.—Another type of indoor fireworks with changing views.
Care should be taken when manipulating these “mechanical” fireworks that the hand does not come between the light and the framework.
Of course, on the above principles, numerous other designs may be made for the show, and a stock of “fireworks” manufactured that will dwarf any supply.
[405]
CHAPTER XLIX
HOW TO MAKE A TELEPHONE
For Use at Home
It is quite easy to make a telephone, which besides affording amusement, will, at times, be found extremely useful. Fitted from the ground floor to the rooms above, or from your friend’s house to your own, it is impossible to overestimate its convenience.
Fig. 1a.—Section of case.
The whole affair is so easily and cheaply made that no difficulty can possibly be experienced, and you have only to exercise care in order to succeed in constructing a very handy and interesting machine.
Fig. 1b.—Magnet case.
[406]
First of all purchase two bar-magnets, i.e. straight and magnetized at one end only—not the ordinary horse-shoe magnets. These bar-magnets should be about four inches long, and can be bought from any electrician; at the same time obtain from him an ounce of silk-covered wire, No. 36.
Before taking the magnets from the shop it would be as well to test them. This can be done by placing the marked end of one to the unmarked end of the other, and unless the former is able to support the weight of the latter, do not take either, but insist upon the electrician giving you stronger ones.
Having made your purchase, set to work upon the actual apparatus. The first things to be made are the wooden cases for the magnets, and these require care in construction.
From a straight broom-handle cut off two lengths, each a little longer than the magnets, i.e. about 41⁄2 inches long, and split them carefully down the middle with a chisel. Along the center of each of these halves cut a groove (B, Fig. 1a), in such a manner that when the two halves are put together they fit properly, and there is room for the magnet to slip backwards and forwards in the hole running through them. Now glue the parts together and you will have two short wooden tubes, or magnet cases, as shown in Fig. 1b.
Making Mouthpieces
Having made the cases for the magnets, now make the mouthpieces. Procure two wooden boxes such as boot-buttons are sold in, and glue one to the end of each of the wooden tubes you have just made, cutting a hole in the bottom of the box to correspond with the bore of the case. In Fig. 1a you will see the work, so far as you have completed it, shown in section. In the lid of the box cut a clean hole the size of a dime right in the center, but this lid must not be fastened to the box just yet.The next things to be made are two bobbins upon which to wind the wire—one for each instrument. Cut a piece of fairly strong cardboard about 1⁄4-inch wide and just large enough in circumference to fit the marked end of the magnets tightly. Divide your No. 36 wire into two equal lengths, and wind each piece around the bobbins, leaving the two ends free to the length of about two inches.
Next slip the magnet, M, into the groove, and push it through so that the bobbin, L, is contained in the box C, Fig. 2. Make two holes in the bottom of this box, pass the ends of the wires through them and fasten them with binding screws, as in the illustration H, Fig. 2.
[407]
The thin plate which vibrates with the voice must next be made. Obtain a smooth piece of very thin sheet-iron—of just such a texture as is used by photographers for ferrotypes. Take the greatest care to keep this perfectly flat. Cut two round pieces large enough to cover the mouthpieces as you will see in P, Fig. 3, where it is shown in section. Take the lid in which you have already cut the circular hole and fasten it to the box in such a way that it keeps the iron plate in position (Q, Fig. 3).
Fig. 2.—Arrangement of magnet.
Fig. 3.—Section of completed instrument.
Fig. 4.—Connection with battery.
It remains only to make the connections with the batteries in the manner shown in Fig. 4, and you will be able to speak with your telephone. It is very possible, however, that the voice will carry faintly, but do not be disappointed, as this can be very easily remedied by making an apparatus which is usually attached to the telephone, and is known as
The Microphone
Fig. 5.—Sectional view of microphone.
Make a base, BC, and an upright, A, from a piece of thin pine wood, as shown in Fig. 5. Buy from the electrician two blocks of carbon such as are used in batteries (these will cost but a few cents), each measuring about a cubic inch. In one side of each of these blocks fasten a long binding screw, whilst in an adjacent side make a hollow with a rat-tailed file or a penknife. Then get a small pencil of charcoal such as is used in the large arc lamp, and cut off a piece 4 inches long; file both ends to a point in the way that you sharpen a pencil (E, Fig. 5).
Having made these various parts, fit them together. Screw the two pieces of carbon to the upright in such a way that one rests[409] upon the base whilst the other is at such a height that the charcoal pencil rests lightly in the hollows, between the two carbons, as in DD, Fig. 5.
The microphone is now complete, and can be attached to the telephone as shown in Fig. 6. It will be found to increase the sound to such an extent that your voice will be distinctly audible, and conversation perfectly clear.
Fig. 6.—Connection of microphone and telephone.
Fig. 7.—Experiment with microphone.
[410]
CHAPTER L
TELEGRAPHY AT HOME
A Galvanometer Adapted
Like most of the inventions that have revolutionized the world, the electric telegraph is constructed upon the simplest principles.As will be shown, an instrument for transmitting and receiving messages can easily be made at a very small cost by any one prepared to devote a little care to its construction; and when completed it will be found of considerable use and convenience.
To make a model of the elaborate machines now employed, which not only receive but print messages in legible Roman characters, would be far beyond the scope of any amateur, necessitating the purchase of many costly parts and requiring a considerable knowledge of engineering to fit them satisfactorily together. But the instrument that can be made according to the following instructions, is exactly similar to those in use throughout many smaller offices the world over.
The telegraph is based upon the following principle. A current of electricity, passed through a hoop of wire within which a needle is suspended, will move that needle from left to right, or from right to left, according as the wires are attached to one or other of the poles of a battery. This simple apparatus is called a galvanometer. A telegraph instrument is nothing but a galvanometer adapted to convenient usage.
Before entering upon the method of construction, it would be as well to inform whoever undertakes this work that the utmost care is necessary in adjusting the various parts. The slightest fault will certainly spoil the whole instrument, and the least carelessness render all the labor expended utterly useless.
Now to describe the simplest way to make a receiver and transmitter.
Three pieces of wood will be required, a cigar-box furnishing the best material for the purpose; if you have not one at home, any tobacconist will let you have one for a few cents.
To commence with the base. Cut a piece of wood measuring 6[411] inches by 5 inches. In this two grooves must be made (D D and E) according to the measurements shown in A, Fig. 1. The width of these grooves must, of course, depend upon the thickness of the wood, for the dial and the upright will have to be fitted into them.
A.—Base of instrument.
B.
C.—Upright.
Fig. 1.
The upright is very easily made, being simply a strip of wood 31⁄2 inches by 1 inch (C, Fig. 1). In this drill a hole (K) 3 inches from the end and 1⁄2-inch from either side, taking the same care as with the hole in the dial.
Having thus prepared the several pieces of the framework, the dial should be glued into its groove. A small square block of wood glued into the angle formed by the base and the dial will insure the latter’s being perfectly perpendicular. The upright will be fixed in its place later.
To proceed with the more delicate part of the work. Cut a piece of cardboard, fairly thin in texture, 5 inches long and 1 inch wide, and[412] bend it into the shape of an oblong hoop. Upon the hoop or bobbin wind about half an ounce of fine cotton-covered copper wire, size No. 36, which can be obtained from any electrician. Wind this wire very carefully and evenly, but not tightly, leaving about 4 inches free at either end (A, Fig. 2).
The next thing to be made is a magnetized needle, which can be easily done as follows. Take a piece of ordinary watch spring, an inch long, and make it red hot. When in this condition drill a hole through the center, and when it is cooler round the ends, as in B, Fig. 2. Heat it once more to a red heat and then plunge into cold water to harden. The needle must now be magnetized by being drawn several times firmly across the pole of a strong magnet, care being taken that it is always drawn in the same direction.
The pointer (C, Fig. 2) should be made in a similar manner, except that it must not be magnetized, and should be at least twice as large as the needle. Through the hole in the magnetized needle pass a couple of inches of straight stout wire, and with a little solder, or even sealing-wax, fasten the needle as shown in B, Fig. 2.
A.—Coil of wire.
B.—Magnetized needle.
C. Pointer.
Fig. 2.
Fasten the coil upon the back of the dial, one end of the protruding axle passing through the hole you have already made in the[413] wood. Then glue the upright firmly in its groove, with the other end of the axle through its corresponding hole. Take great care that the needle can revolve freely within the coil. Fasten the pointer to the end of the axle passing through the dial, and in this latter drive two pins or wooden pegs (P P) on either side of the pointer, in order that it may only move within a limited arc (B, Fig. 1).
Fig. 3.—Revolving needle in coil.
Testing
It would now be as well to test what you have already done. Connect the loose ends of the coil to the poles of a battery, reverse them, and repeat this two or three times. If the instrument has been properly made, the needle should swing to the left when the wires are connected in one way; to the right when they are reversed.
Fig. 4.—The keyboard.
The bridge should be made from a piece similar to the springs and bent as shown in Fig. 5. Another strip of brass must be screwed flat to the board at AE, parallel to BF, and over this a couple of wooden or ivory knobs should be fastened to the springs, as they are used to press down CD in contact with AE (Fig. 4). When released they should fly back to BF. Be very careful to see that all these details are thoroughly in order, as they form the most vital part of the keyboard.
Fig. 5.—The instruments ready for use.
Message Transmitting
At the ends CD of the springs fasten two binding screws, and do the same at A and B. Fasten the two loose ends from the coil to C and D, and attach the wires from the battery to A and B. Now is the time to see whether your machine has been properly made. By pressing down one key you will find that the current of electricity deflects the needle and the pointer to one side, and by releasing this key and pressing the other one, the pointer will swing down to the other side. If this is done satisfactorily your telegraph instrument is complete, and with a couple of them you will be able to send messages from one room, or one house, to another.The complete apparatus should appear as in Fig. 5, which also shows the connections with the battery.
A couple of Daniels’ cells, or two ordinary dry batteries are sufficient to work both instruments.
Two copies of the Morse alphabet should also be made, one to[415] be kept by the side of each machine. When the needle deflects to the left it designates a dot. When it turns to the right it is a dash. A short space separates the letters, and a longer one the words.
When the alphabet has been mastered both for transmitting and receiving, the use of your telegraph will be a matter of the greatest simplicity, and you will be able to send messages with considerable speed to your friend at the other end of the line. Below, the Morse alphabet is given, as well as a message, which it is hoped you will be able to send.
Morse Alphabet
| A | · — |
| B | — · · · |
| C | — · — · |
| D | — · · |
| E | · |
| F | · · — — |
| G | — — · |
| H | · · · · |
| I | · · |
| J | · — — — |
| K | — · — |
| L | · — · · |
| M | — — |
| N | — · |
| O | — — — |
| P | · — — · |
| Q | — — · — |
| R | · — · |
| S | · · · |
| T | — |
| U | · · — |
| V | · · · — |
| W | · — — |
| X | — · · — |
| Y | — · — — |
| Z | — — · · |
Message
[416]
CHAPTER LI
ELEMENTARY HYPNOTISM
The Mysteries and Marvels of “Under-Sleep”
The term “Hypnotism” is defined in Nuttall as “an artificially induced state of sleep,” and is of Greek origin, the prefix “hypo” signifying “under” or “beneath,” and the Greek root “hypnos,” sleep.Hypnotic, or “under-sleep” conditions, may be induced in several ways, and are not limited to the best-known method, that of absorbing the attention of the subject by means of an object; for oblivion may be caused quite as successfully by means of the sense of touch as in gentle continuous stroking, pressure of the skin, by the motion of the hands over the body without touch, or by soothing words, which, accompanied by the penetrating magnetism of the eye, convey hints or suggestions to the intelligence.
Methods of hypnotism may be divided into two classes:—
1. The Mental Method—which directs the subject’s imagination and senses to co-operation, creates an image in his mind, thrusts the dormant brain into a totally different environment from that to which it is accustomed, renders it extraordinarily hypersensitive to suggestion, and unfolds experiences probably hitherto unique, at the will of the exponent.
2. The Physiological Method—that steeps the faculties in oblivion as completely as when chloroform is administered.
This latter form is often used as a therapeutic means of securing rest and relief from pain. It has been proved that individual character takes a far greater part in the mental method than the physiological.
When an object is used to induce hypnosis, it is held at a distance of about eight inches from the eyes, and removed gradually to a foot above the forehead (Fig. 1).
During this process the gaze should follow the slowly moving object until the lids are strained to their widest extent (Fig. 1a). This position naturally fatigues the eyeballs and causes the lids to close swiftly.
[417]
Fig. 1.—Range of object to induce hypnotic sleep.
Fig. 1a.—Gazing with eyelids open to widest extent.
“You are worn-out. Your head is heavy. Your limbs are fatigued. You need rest. Sleep is essential. You are gradually falling asleep.”
Before hypnotism can take place, the patient makes his mind a perfect blank, and concentrates his whole being and vision on the button, coin, glass, or crystal held before him. It will now be seen that his eyes begin to water, the pupils undergoing a series of changes, contracting, dilating, and recontracting, as if he were succumbing to natural slumber. His sight becomes gradually insensible to the light, and in a few moments he is unconscious.
The state of hypnotism begins with the second narrowing of the pupil, and is accompanied by a quickening or retarding of the pulse, rigidity of body and heaviness of brain, which becomes chaotic and wildly confused before the final stage is reached. The will is entirely surrendered to the hypnotizer, and the subject is powerless to move, speak, or feel, except at his suggestion.
A sure test that the individual experimented upon is really oblivious to everything about him is shown when the operator gently moves his arms from his side in a horizontal position and lifts his eyelid. When the arms remain rigidly outstretched and the eyeball is fixed and glassy, the exponent is assured that his subject is completely at his mercy (Fig. 2).
[418]
In order to bring about this condition successfully, the hypnotizer must possess no small amount of cultured will-power and concentration. His mind must be absorbed in the experiment as wholly as the subject’s faculties are concentrated upon him. He is now forcing his brain to act at his dictation, not only upon his own movements, but upon those of the individual chained to him by his exertion of hypnotic influence. One mind operates them both, and, during his subject’s trance, he has as complete a sway over his nervous system as if he possessed two bodies and a double supply of arms and legs.
Fig. 2.—The subject, when hypnosis is complete.
Of every movement of our bodies, the brain is supreme operator. The code of suggestion is flashed through telegraph wires composed of nerves and muscles. No turn of the head, twitch of the finger, beat of the heart, can take place without the coalition of those wonderful brain-cells. When an individual is stricken with paralysis, and has lost all power over his limbs, it is not because his bodily organs are injured. Impotence is caused by the fact that his brain has lost its ability to exert its power over his organs.
The wheels of a brain, however carefully oiled and cleaned, remain motionless unless the engine fires are lit; and, in hypnotism, helplessness is not brought about by the mastery of the exponent over every separate joint and muscle (for it would be absolutely useless, even were it possible, for him to concentrate his attention on every minute movement of the body), but simply because he is robbing the brain of its individual control, and is exerting his own will to dominate the purpose and identity of his subject as relentlessly as the magnet dominates the needle.
Weak-willed Subjects not Essential
Some subjects are less amenable to hypnotic influence than others. The belief that those of weak will are the easiest prey is a fallacy.The real reason lies in the fact that the individual is incapable of[419] concentrating his will in obedience to the dominating mind. This is generally the case with persons inclined to hysteria or of neurotic temperament, and for such, a revolving glass is the best object to be gazed upon, as it wearies the eye and induces slumber without the need of concentration or surrender of will.
There are others who cannot easily be hypnotized because they determinedly set themselves to oppose the purpose of the operator to such an extent that his brain becomes exhausted in the process and loses its potency. In such cases the best plan is for the hypnotizer to inspire faith by means of experiments performed over other individuals in the presence of the resisting or cynical, until the incredulous are convinced that the hypnotic influence is not induced by trickery or confederacy. The influence of imitation is an important factor in hypnotism, and faith once founded does a great deal to overcome defiant wills.
It has been found that some of the best results have been those when the subject is taken completely by surprise.
The motion of the hands often brings about unconsciousness as swiftly as when an object is used. The hypnotizer should stand a few paces from the subject, gaze into his eyes, and with hands raised sweep them gently in continual passes over the body, reaching from above the head to below the hips. This action should be continued without a pause for some minutes, the hands sweeping across the face, as near as possible without touching it (Fig. 3). The motion may also be performed at the back of the subject (Fig. 3a).
Fig. 3.—Motion of hands “before” subject.
Fig. 3a.—Motion of hands “behind” subject.
The power of hand motion has been explained as due to stimulation[420] over those zones of the body most susceptible to hypnotic influence, or the slight motion of the air, or mental influence. It is probable that all these influences combine, the most important being the mental influence.
The idea that the hypnotizer possesses some magnetic fluid which passes from him to the subject in the process of hypnotism has been proved to be without any foundation, and is merely a foolish superstition. There is nothing mysterious or supernatural in the influence of this power. It is due entirely to the exertion of mental force and the involuntary co-operation of the individual hypnotized.
Performance of hypnotism in a drawing-room is not difficult, although, like everything else, it needs practice and perseverance before it can be successfully accomplished; and, unless the mind of the hypnotizer is disciplined to determination and control, it naturally fails to act upon other minds.
Now, provided that the student has some knowledge of the subject, and has trained himself to keep his attention fixed, to the exclusion of everything else, upon the matter in hand, a few experiments may be undertaken. Elementary ones should be essayed at first.
Fix upon an individual among your onlookers. Ask him to withdraw for a moment or two, while you and your friends decide what he shall accomplish. However simple the action, every mind must be concentrated upon it, and there must be no laughing or talking.
If you know something of the character and temperament of the subject chosen, this will aid you considerably. He should have faith in your power, and willingly surrender his will to your control. As an aid to concentration, request him to close his eyes; or, better still,[421] blindfold them. Next turn him round several times, taking care not to induce giddiness. Your only reason for doing this is to shut out all objects that may draw his thoughts from your purpose.
Place the tips of your fingers lightly on his shoulders, but do not push him forward (Fig. 4). He must move only when he feels the impulse of your will impelling him with sufficient force to render resistance difficult or impossible. He will probably stand motionless for a few moments, and this is when spectators are inclined to giggle a little, just as when, for no particular reason, one’s risibilities are stirred while being posed before a camera.
If, however, the slightest sound intrudes upon the silence, the growing spell will be broken, for it at once disturbs the train of thought surrounding the subject, and draws his attention from your will. Silence is absolutely essential, for it has almost as powerful an influence as the strongest will.
This gained, you will feel your subject sway a little under your fingers before he goes slowly and unhesitatingly forward, feeling his way with outstretched hands, and walking with the peculiar tread of a somnambulist, until he unerringly picks up the photograph, takes a pin from the curtain, removes a flower from a vase and places it in his button-hole, or any other trivial act you have fixed upon. Then he will pause, as if in relief that the deed is accomplished.
Fig. 4.—Inducing hypnotic sleep.
As you excel in this form of hypnotism, you may try more complicated experiments, but not until you have overcome the rudimentary difficulties and have developed your powers to such an extent that you have absolute faith in your ability, for self-reliance and self-confidence are the corner-stones of hypnotism.
[422]
Auto-Suggestion or Self-Hypnosis
In order to cultivate these, experiment upon yourself by the means of auto-suggestion or self-hypnosis, which is a splendid means of training those faculties necessary to the mastery of other minds.Change your state by means of words which imply a condition either mental or physical not personally experienced by you, and believe implicitly in your own ideas. Treat yourself exactly as if you were experimenting on another individual, surrendering your subjective and objective mind wholly to absorb the idea conveyed, and gradually its meaning will influence and take possession of your brain to the exclusion of everything else.
The change suggested should be exactly opposite to your natural state—for instance, if you are warm, tell yourself determinedly that you are cold until you credit the fact, when your body, which blindly follows mind and will, experiences the sensation of cold.
If you have a headache, suggest that the pain has gone, &c. Auto-suggestion may be perfected to such an extent, that, under its hypnotic trance, a needle may be plunged into the skin without the action’s causing the slightest degree of pain.
In suggestion, it is always the subjective mind that is swayed by hypnotic influence. This is always keenly alive, and it is through its medium that the subject is induced to an extraordinary power of imagining and experiencing the processes suggested by the hypnotizer.
Elementary exhibitions are very entertaining, and are quite sufficient to illustrate the motive power which achieves your purpose. Some individuals are better hypnotists than others, because they have a natural supply of animal magnetism at their disposal, but it is extraordinary what results can be brought about by study and patience, so that students less gifted need not despair of success.
For the sake of those who have succeeded in such simple experiments as the foregoing, the following may be undertaken. In these, intuition, sympathy, and imagination play almost as important a part as thoughtful concentration, which is ever the most powerful possession in the outfit of the hypnotizer.
Here, one word as to the difference between the terms hypnotist and hypnotizer. The former is a scientist, who employs his art solely for therapeutic or medicinal purposes. The latter is the entertainer, and care should be taken to distinguish between the two words.
Experiment.—Place the subject in a chair, with palms on knees. Pass your hands over him for a space of several minutes, the while his eyes are fastened on your own. Watch his expression carefully.[423] It undergoes several changes, the individual character dominating (Fig. 5), gradually disappears, and finally gives place to vacancy (Fig. 5a). The firm lines of the mouth fade, and the lips become slightly parted. The face grows blank and purposeless, the eyes staring and void.
You have some plan in your mind which you are straining to impress on his brain. Supposing it is that he shall not remove his hands from his knees. Say to him, in a low soothing voice, which penetrates his hearing perfectly (to shout, breaks the spell in a moment), “Your hands are stuck to your knees; you cannot remove them. They’re glued; they’re tight fast. Do what you will, you can’t lift them. Now try——”
Fig. 5.—Face showing character before hypnotic sleep.
Fig. 5a.—Face showing vacancy under hypnotic sleep.
Now ask him his name. He tells you in a dazed, obedient voice that it is “John Jones.” You determine he shall forget his name. You say to him again and again, “You have forgotten your name. You cannot tell me what it is. You don’t know your own name; you can’t remember.”
The subject’s face at once indicates that he is absolutely nonplused. He struggles to remember, but in vain. Should you suggest that his name is Mary Smith, he will believe you implicitly, and, with a relieved expression, declare this name to be his own.
Bid him open his mouth as wide as he can. Then say to him,[424] “You can’t shut your mouth. It is fixed, rigid. Try to shut it.” He vainly endeavors to do so. He places one hand on his head, the other on his lower jaw, and tries to force his lips together, but he is powerless so long as your will opposes him. When you command him to shut his mouth, he does so without effort.
A subject should not be kept longer than a few moments in this subservience to your will. He can be released by a snap of your fingers at his ears or before his eyes. Address him softly by his name, and he will return to consciousness in an instant. When he looks dazedly round, reassure him, kindly, that he is quite well, and will suffer no harmful results from your experiments.
Fig. 6.—Awakening the subject.
When he finds a subject who answers readily and quickly to the hypnotic influence, he may be tempted to continue an exhibition of his powers in order not to lose time on less amenable individuals, but he should determinedly resist this temptation.
A valuable aid for him will be to time his experiments by a watch, limiting each individual’s trance to a space of, at most, four minutes’ duration.
The hypnotizer must be in perfect health, for, unless his body,[425] nerves, and mind are in proper condition, the supply of animal magnetism fails. He must study hygiene, take sufficient exercise, and be most particular to keep his body, linen, hair, and finger-nails scrupulously clean.
A dirty finger, held up before a subject undergoing the hypnotic trance, inspires the latter with a revolting sense of disgust, and clouds the vision conjured by the brain.
The hypnotic entertainer should abstain from any indulgences, and eat only plain, wholesome food. During the process of hypnotism, the exponent should never lose his head or self-reliance. Any dread experienced by him is at once conveyed to the subject. Should the latter be unable to awake from the trance at command, the operator must wave his handkerchief before his eyes. If these are closed and refuse to open, he must at once rub the eyebrows with the tips of his fingers, beginning at the root of the nose, and ending at the temples, terminating this action by gentle fanning or blowing until such efforts meet with success (Fig. 6).
It should always be remembered by the student that the power of hypnotism—like fire—is a good servant, but a bad, tyrannical, and lawless master, unless properly controlled.
[426]
CHAPTER LII
THE POWERS AND MYSTERIES OF CLAIRVOYANCE
Marvels of the “Sixth” Sense
Clairvoyance, originally a French word, means the ability to see clearly. The reason so few people possess this extraordinary psychic faculty, is because most human beings are three-quarter parts blind, deaf, and insensate to anything beyond the ordinary emotions.The power of prophecy and acute intuition is a sixth sense which most of us have in a slight degree dormant and uncultivated.
Clairvoyance has often been mistaken for superstition or wilfully imposed and cunning deceptions, and it is difficult for ignorant and cynical people to believe that it is founded on science and truth.
It has stood firm through the ages in spite of the quackery of wizards, paraphernalia of sorcerers (used to inspire fear and awe in the uninitiated), the sneers of those of material minds. All of us at some time or other have felt the control of that still small voice, potent and penetrating as conscience, which comes, unaccompanied by earthquake or fire, to instill us with awe, joy, extreme sadness, or warning at some critical juncture of our lives; often anticipating, with power greater than speech can convey, some event that concerns our well-being.
Why this power should be deemed more extraordinary or mysterious than the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch which, even to those thoroughly conversant with the anatomy of the human body, remain steeped in mystery, it is difficult to say.
Science teaches that a million delicate sounds escape the ear and brain, and as many minute exquisitely fashioned atoms escape the eye.
A magnifying glass reveals the marvelous structure of insects and microbes invisible to naked sight, and it is only by means of a telescope that the beauty of the stars is discerned; thus the developed power of clairvoyance may be called the magnifying lens of the soul.
It is because this lens is dull and misty that we fail to see.
The history of ages and a great deal of our most cherished literature prove its existence.
Many of the stories and prophecies of the Bible are founded on[427] clairvoyance. People were simpler and more trusting then; for this reason visions and clear sight were granted them.
Pilate’s disregard of the warning conveyed in his wife’s dream, affected the whole course of Christianity, and the Bible abounds with examples of the disasters that befell those who disobeyed the spiritual promptings sent them.
This wonderful faculty of inner sight is the possession of the individual born blind. He demonstrates its existence when by merely passing his fingers over an object he can describe exactly a color he has never seen. In him it is nature’s recompense, and no one who watches his movements can doubt that he is guided by this psychic organism, yet when we note the same power granted to a man or woman blessed with eyesight, we at once decide that happy coincidence, trickery, or charlatanism is the origin of the manifestation.
Clairvoyance teaches that everybody has a distinctive color, which conveys more of character and personality than any word or action. The shades of these colors vary according to temperament, and are as much concealed from untrained vision as the million tints composing the gold, purple, and green bands of the rainbow.
- Optimistic persons emanate a pale blue aura.
- Large-minded progressive persons, a pale green.
- Pessimistic worried persons, gray.
- Ill-health in mind or body, dark green.
- Kindly benevolent, humane persons, pink.
- The thinker and scholar, deep blue.
- The degraded, brown.
- The passionate and bad-tempered, red.
- The ambitious, orange.
- The lover of the beautiful in Art, yellow.
Keys to Character
These colors, however, although providing the key to the character, are subject to constant changes. Our moods sway and change our thoughts according to the happenings that affect us.For example, bereavement or anxiety has power to transform the blue aura of the optimistic temperament to gray, and this temporary change of color studied alone may perplex the clairvoyant, and mislead him to a false diagnosis of character.
In order to prevent this, the seer will do well to request some article constantly worn by the inquirer to be handed him; the older and shabbier it is the better. A dilapidated glove, an everyday tie or a[428] ring constantly worn are equally valuable by which to discriminate between the temporary and habitual aura peculiar to temperament. When a man’s glove emits a pale blue aura, in contradiction to the gray of his own personality, the deduction is that he is naturally of a hopeful and cheerful tendency, but that some mental anxiety or bereavement causes the gray, deep or pale, according to the depth of emotion dominating him.
The reason of this difference of colors is that the glove is, as it were, saturated with the essence of his normal disposition, while the color of his character has been changed by circumstances or environment.
In the brain there exists a small and delicate organ known as the pineal gland, and it is thought by some scientists that this is responsible for, and sensitive to, the subtle vibrations of ether which are too minute to stir the tympanum of the ear. Its cultivation produces the power that beholds and distinguishes the difference in shades of mental color in which the mind is absorbed.
People of erratic temperament possess an aura of many and constantly changing colors, but those whose calm never varies maintain but one.
Some few persons are aware of the tones of their aura, and are therefore keenly sensitive to the influence of their surroundings.
They will be perfectly miserable if the paper on their walls, or the material of their clothes, clashes in color with that of their character; while they are at their best and happiest surrounded by the tints that blend or contrast harmoniously.
The clairvoyant’s outfit consists of six qualities:—
- 1. Power of magnetism.
- 2. Mental health and influence.
- 3. Physical health and cleanliness.
- 4. Temperance in food and drink.
- 5. The power of discerning the aura and interpreting its colors.
- 6. The liberty from all evil or slothful habits.
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Crystal Gazing
By means of crystal scrying the gazer creates and becomes subject to the influence of auto-hypnosis—that is, he is able to throw himself into a trance which veils his own personality and links him to that of his client.The surface of the crystal gradually reflects images, and subconscious impressions conveyed by and vital to the individual whose past, present, and future are being revealed.
Sympathy and intuition merge the soothsayer’s aura with the temperamental coloring of his client. His magnetic force creates further powers, while his psychic discernment or sixth sense is the nucleus about which these are bound.
No student of clairvoyance can be successful in discerning character and personal emanations of color unless he is disciplined by simple rules which should govern his life.
Excessive eating, drinking, intemperance in any form, self-indulgence, bad habits, and drugs destroy this delicate sixth sense past redemption.
Want of sincerity and integrity results in the rapid decline of its power.
The body and mind must be pure and of perfect mental and physical balance. No nervous fretting or pettiness of outlook should be permitted to intrude.
In clairvoyance the brain is ruled by large and lofty aims, and it must be kept as unspotted and clean as a white garment; so only is it capable of performing its proper functions.
Likewise it is essential to remember the important, nay, vital dominion it exerts over the body, which cannot rise to perfect beauty and health unless its mental orbit is lofty and serene.
In consulting a clairvoyant the client should be serious, earnest, and trustful that he will hear the truth. Frivolity, incredulity, or idle curiosity forms as it were a thick crust between the mind of exponent and inquirer, which prevents the penetrating of thoughts and vision, strains the powers, and results in disappointment.
In the same spirit in which one visits a doctor or solicitor should the clairvoyant be approached, and there must be no determined reserve to conceal thoughts and character in the mind.
Clairvoyance in a drawing-room full of people is extremely difficult—indeed impossible, unless the onlookers can be induced to keep perfect silence during the operation.
It is always better to be closeted alone with the inquirer in a small[430] room to which street noises do not penetrate, provided only with the necessary furniture, kept clean and fresh, airy, and well lighted.
The crystal should never be touched by any one save the clairvoyant, and must be kept free from spots and smudges. A black silk handkerchief round its globe will be a help to divination by preventing the reflection of lights.
There may be, especially to beginners, temptations to pose as the possessor of supernatural powers—to make passes over the crystal, light wax tapers, burn perfumes, and murmur incantations—but these methods, although employed by the ancient prophets, are of no aid to the modern sage. Indeed, they do harm by appealing to the senses and superstitions, and, being a mere affectation, are unworthy of that sixth sense and harmful to it.
Simple Manifestations Best
The simpler the manifestation, the more assured the clairvoyant may be of arriving at the truth.Self-confidence, an absolute belief in his gift, and faith in his methods dominate him.
He does not endeavor to avoid exertion of his nervous forces by discreetly “pumping” the inquirer as to ways and means, but takes a delight in silent investigation.
The clairvoyant should come to his task fresh and buoyant, bubbling with enthusiasm, and yet without frivolity or thoughtless mind. At the slightest sense of fatigue he should desist from his efforts, for it is extremely harmful to apply any force or strain to this abstract power.
Physical fatigue and excitement must be avoided, for these engender jangled nerves, sleeplessness, and finally inability to isolate the mind from the orbit of our own concerns to the sphere of others.
The processes that occur in crystal-gazing are thought transference and telepathy. A communication of ideas is set up between the prophet and client, and the mirror-like surface of the crystal is the medium by means of which innate thoughts are reflected.
As far as possible, the clairvoyant submerges his own personality in that of the inquirer, putting himself in his or her place. The best means of creating these links is to place an article constantly worn by the inquirer to the head. Profound silence brings about the sense of atmosphere and aura usual to the latter, and by these means, and an intent gazing into the crystal, visions originate.
The crystal is supposed to be the magic bridge which spans the[431] chasm fixed between itself and the spiritual world. In the iron it contains are situated the collective and culminating forces.
Mists of white, green, blue, and violet tints are symbols of good fortune and happiness; black, yellow, and red are warnings of disaster.
When the mists disperse and gradually ascend to the surface, the clairvoyant may reply to any question in the affirmative; mists that descend to the bottom are signs of negation.
Images that develop to the left of the clairvoyant are real; those on the right are purely symbolical.
It will be seen from the above that in order to apply oneself to the achievement of reading the secret depths of mind, character, talent, and circumstances, it is necessary to possess the power of separating oneself from material surroundings and allowing the spirit to dominate the body.
This can only be executed by the process of hypnotizing oneself. Clairvoyance is based on certain forms of this semi-somnolent state, for, just as in hypnotism, the mind reigns supreme over matter and becomes isolated by means of an object, so, in clairvoyance, a waking trance is brought about by fixed gazing into the crystal.
However, there are other methods of inducing this state, more or less difficult of manipulation, until constant practice and experience have made them a habit.
For the reason, formerly mentioned, that long gazing at a bright surface is injurious to eyesight, many clairvoyants prefer to create visions without the use of a crystal.
Words repeated over and over again have a mysterious power of isolating the sixth sense from the rest.
For example, the word AUM is extraordinarily symbolical. It stands for three influences—
A = the objective.
U = the subjective.
M = the Eternal.
U = the subjective.
M = the Eternal.
These are the three kingdoms in the heart of man.
The objective, being the natural surroundings of objects and events which we all can feel and see.The subjective, being the realm of influences the degree of which is felt according to the perception and training of our spiritual forces; too often vague and illusive, because most of us ignore its existence.
The Eternal World, being that state to which the subjective world, in its highest state of development, leads. This word repeated, slowly[432] and steadily at first, and then at great speed, has a marvelous power to create as it were a vacuum between the spirit and body of the prophet.
His mind dwells on its meaning; the vibration of the different letters acts on his mind, and he is carried by gentle stages to the very seat of his spiritual being.
It is when he attains this full development that he is granted large, clear, and deep perceptions of his client’s character, and is able to reveal facts concerning him which in his normal state would be absolutely impossible.
The sensation experienced is that of being plunged into space in which the senses of sight, hearing, and touch are transmuted to the brain and spirit.
The student will doubtless be discouraged at first at his inability to produce this state, but he should remember that hard work and perseverance are the attributes which all must give to be perfect in any learning, art, or science.
One destined to become a great mathematician stumbles in childhood with despair over the first addition sum, and the most distinguished musician has to do battle with the rudiments of music.
Thus it is in clairvoyance. Seemingly insuperable difficulties surround the novice who has never learnt to recognize the value and power of the sixth sense. Patience, a tranquil, determined mind, and not a little courage, are necessary in this branch of science. Time and growth work wonders in the persistent mind, and it will be seen that the obstacles gradually move aside, the curtain is lifted, and the strenuous seeker reaches that mature vision which he has formerly imagined dimly, if at all.
It is a good plan for the novice to ponder on his own name, and, shut away from all distractions, repeat it again and again to himself. He will gradually feel a sense of deepest mystery surrounding him, for in that name is concentrated the riddle of existence. The blending of spiritual and material kingdoms lies behind it, and the material slips rapidly into obscurity.
The Eternal Question
The eternal question based on introspection faces him. “What am I? Whither am I going? What is the meaning of this thoughtful brain, this palpitating heart, these stirring pulses through which the mysteries of the soul flash in a thousand directions?”These and many other questions will move into being until the eternal atmosphere of spirituality is reached, and the wings of the soul[433] become unfurled and increase in strength and power to lift him to the realms of his desire.
Only when the heart is pure and worthy will the vision be granted—the dross of bitterness, envy, hatred, and malice, which generally hide the precious jewel from the light, and render scintillating brilliance impossible, all discarded.
Every one knows how difficult it is to control the mind, and keep it from mean and uncharitable thoughts. It is more rebellious even than the body, and influences it for good or evil.
Temptations small and great are created and emerge from the mind. No one thieves with his fingers until the thought of theft is born. His mental faculties plan the ways and means and cunningly devise protections against the punishment in which the act when culminated results, unless artful deceptions render discovery impossible. No treason or wrong-doing was ever committed before the deed was hatched in the brain.
The mental sphere may be a hotbed of falsehoods and treachery, or it may be a world of purest truth and virtue.
Therefore, before all else, the clairvoyant must learn to discipline and constrain his thoughts, and this is extremely difficult, and seems at first almost impossible; yet, if the lamp is to burn brightly, it must be kept clean, and daily fed with all thoughts that are benevolent, gentle, and good.
A humble demeanor, a longing for purity and singleness of purpose are needed to bring about these noble qualities, and here it is that proper treatment of the body is invaluable.
Simple diet, early rising, daily exercise, constant isolation, and cultivation of good habits create the orbit for the higher faculties. These are the elementary rudiments of clairvoyance, and, unless they are mastered, the clairvoyant, no matter how diligent and persevering he may be in his studies and labor, is doomed to failure.
A quiet state of mind helps in all the storms and stress of life. It is a harbor of quiet blue waters, in which the seafaring vessel may shelter beneath peaceful starlit skies, securing power and refreshment and shafts of clearest light by which other human ships may be led towards his haven.
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CHAPTER LIII
TABLE-TURNING
Fun for an Impromptu Party
There is something sufficiently fascinating about table-turning to fix the attention and interest of guests gathered for an evening’s recreation, and as it needs no previous arranging, it is an excellent device at an impromptu party.The table must be round, light, and of wood. As many of the company as can be squeezed in its circle may take part, but the excitement will be shared by the onlookers. Each places both hands lightly on the surface with the thumbs touching, and the little finger joined to that of his neighbor. It is important that there should be no break in the chain of hands, as this prevents the flow of the electric current, which is alone responsible for the vibration and movement of the table.
The time of waiting for its first motion must be spent in silence, and may last from five to twenty minutes. Any “wag” who takes it into his head to jerk the table with his knees, or push it with his hands during this period, should at once be called upon to forfeit his place.
Those experienced in table-turning know perfectly well how different the movement caused by such a proceeding is from the real tilt the table gives when moved by the electric current, and will soon discover the impostor, for no trick can bring about the same curious vibration.
The table should be treated with the greatest respect, otherwise its “spirit” becomes taciturn and silent, and, even after the tilting backwards and forwards has gone on for some time, it has been known to retire at the slightest sign of levity and incredulity. Not until the manipulators are assured of its movement should any question be asked, and, before this is done, they must agree upon some plan by which they may comprehend the answers given.
Two taps or bows may stand for “Yes,” one for “No,” or vice versa; but, when once decided upon, should remain fixed.
The question must not be asked until the preliminary vibrations have[435] ceased; then one of the party—the medium, so-called because he or she possesses more magnetic power than the rest, addresses the spirit, and those anxious to hear anything affecting themselves must use him or her as mouthpiece. The table is questioned in some such way as this:—
Medium—“Are you going to be kind to us to-night, O Spirit? Please answer two taps for ‘Yes,’ and one for ‘No.’”
At this polite request the spirit doubtless replies in the affirmative. When ages and dates are required, the medium counts the number of taps, and gleans the result when the taps cease.
Names are discovered by carefully going through the alphabet. Each tap stands for a letter, and, when the table pauses, the initial and other letters of the name are provided, until the whole is spelt out. Thus, supposing the medium inquires the name of his left-hand neighbor, which it may be presumed is Alice, the spirit, having apparently heard the question, gives one decided jerk, and then is perfectly motionless. The medium says “A—next letter, please.” The table obediently bobs twelve times; that is, until L is reached. The medium continues, “Next letter, please,” and the table obligingly bobs nine times. “I,” says the medium—“next letter, please.” Three bobs give C. Five bobs give E. The table is then motionless, and another question may be asked.
Queries should never be clamored at once by the impatient guests, nor should one monopolize the spirit’s attention with his own affairs. A good plan to follow is for each in turn to supply the medium with an inquiry. The initials, Christian or surname, of the man or maid one is destined to marry may be revealed by the spirit. Initial letters are better, because when there are many eager to know their fate, the full names take too long.
Sometimes it will be noticed that the spirit gives very decided answers, jerking to one side so abruptly that the players are obliged to push back their chairs and have some difficulty in keeping their hands on its surface. At other times it seems undecided, and if the question is an unwelcome one, the spirit will race through the alphabet again and again at a great speed and without a moment’s pause. When this is the case, another question should be asked.
The Presence of an “Unbeliever”
Should the spirit refuse to communicate at the end of twenty minutes, the manipulators may be sure that an “unbeliever” is in their midst, or that the whole assembly has too small magnetic power. When this happens, other persons should try their skill.[436]
As mediums are not uncommon, there will probably be one among them, and a brief waiting at the table will prove that this is the case.
A good experiment to spare further waste of time is for the circle of attendants to decrease until only sufficient are left to maintain the chain. In this way the medium is discovered. A good medium creates movement in five minutes or less, and, with a tiny tea-table, it has often been shown that, when once set in full motion, all may withdraw except the medium under whose magnetic touch the table will continue to gyrate for several minutes.
The spirit has many characteristics, and sometimes tires of the part expected of it, and, yielding to a frivolous mood, will dance or jump all over the floor, sometimes carrying its ministers out of the room to the passage. At others it remains true to the rôle of dignified sage, philosopher, and seer; but its moods are complicated, and these depend a great deal upon the amount of concentration and will that dominate it.
Constant peals of laughter provoke it to giddiness or abrupt, curt “answers,” while not infrequently, after several hours in which inquiries have been constantly fired at it, it shows a most discourteous inclination to remain stolidly non-committal and motionless. Then the medium with gentle coaxings may restore its good temper and patience, but only for a short period.
Perhaps the real reason for this reserve is to be found in the players themselves, whose magnetic power becomes exhausted, and fails to act as spontaneously as during the early hours of the evening. At any rate, when the medium asks courteously, “Are you very weary, O Spirit?” the table will frequently reply with two most emphatic bobs.
Another means of discovering a medium and an “unbeliever” (the latter term does not imply a cynic, but simply an individual with an insufficient supply of magnetism) is to ask the spirit to spell out the name of the person it loves best. In nine cases out of ten, it will spell out the name of the medium, and it will be found that it is as quick to reveal the person it hates, viz., the “unbeliever”—no matter if he is far removed from its vicinity.
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CHAPTER LIV
PALMISTRY
Secrets of the Past, Present, and Future
At social functions, such as garden and evening parties, fairs, &c., there are few people whose notice and attentions are so solicited as the palmist’s. He speedily finds himself the central figure of a knot of people of both sexes, all eager to thrust their hands under his discerning eye, and compare their own estimation of their character—which, alas! is often subject to a severe shock—with that revealed by the sage’s comparison of lines, mounts, and stars engraved upon the palm.The true palmist is no flatterer, nor is he over-hasty in judgment.
Fig. 1.—Names of the “mounts” and their signs.
Shape, quality, proportion, and texture are of paramount importance, and these should be examined before the lines are studied. The size of the fingers, and the manner in which they are set on the hand, furnish the key to the character of the hand examined. Each finger has its name and sign, and each has its distinguishing characteristics. For just as every leaf and petal possesses some minute difference that distinguishes it from its neighbor, so no hands in the world are exactly alike in form and structure.
The name given to the first finger is Jupiter; to the second, Saturn; to the third, Apollo; to the fourth, Mercury; and to the thumb, Pollux. Fig. 1 shows some signs with their respective names.
The natural bend of the fingers is important, and the palmist should be quick to notice its natural attitude before examining the interior of the hand.
Some fingers are distinguished by their independent, prominent position over the rest. When the tips are inclined to curl to the palm, a[438] plodding, determined nature is indicated, one that does not easily relinquish a set aim or purpose because of obstacles.
A wide space between Jupiter and Saturn shows unconventionality, and originality of thought and outlook.
When the Jupiter finger is upright and straight, and of normal length, a just, candid nature is revealed. Should its position be in advance of the other fingers, the love of dominion. Falling slightly behind: dependency on others, a shirking of taking the initiative and responsibilities. Short: ingratitude, no enthusiasm. Pointed: tact, comprehension, and sympathy. (Fig. 2.) Square: integrity, unkindly frank in expressing opinions.
The generous and broad phalanges of Saturn show gravity, depth of character, and sense of proportion. A short Saturn: imprudence, inclination to act on impulse, somewhat foolhardy. Spatulate: energy. Square: cool, clear-headed, thought before action, absence of hasty judgments. (Fig. 3.)
Fig. 2.—The Jupiter pointed finger.
Fig. 3.—The Saturn square finger.
Fig. 4.—The Apollo spatulate finger.
Mercury, set lower than the other fingers, reveals the fact that many adverse circumstances have been battled with. Pointed: tact, discrimination, intuition. Square: love of scientific pursuits, good reasoning powers.
Beneath each finger rest their respective mounts. There are two mounts of Mars—that immediately at the base of the Jupiter mount, and that situated beneath Mercury mount. The mount of Luna is directly opposite to that of Venus, which is found where the thumb joins the wrist. (Fig. 5.)
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In many hands it will be observed that the position of the mounts varies. Jupiter may swell over the boundary line, and squeeze Saturn into close proximity with Apollo, which, in its turn, may take the place allotted to Mercury. These signs are important.
Jupiter’s approach to Saturn shows timidity and self-consciousness.
Saturn’s approach to Apollo shows that the creation of art and literature is tinged with melancholy.
Apollo’s approach to Mercury shows humanity, charity, and a peaceable disposition.
Mercury’s approach to Mars: self-reliance and resource in danger.
Mars’ approach to Mercury: originality, defiance, and ability to hold one’s own against opposition.
Luna inclining towards the wrist: reveries, some frivolity and love of pleasure.
Fig. 5.—Showing the position of the various mounts.
Jupiter and Mercury are worldly, versatile traits.
Jupiter and Apollo are honest, noble traits.
Jupiter and Venus are somewhat selfish, vain traits.
Saturn and Mercury are signs that, unless among gay companions, the individual has no power of resource.
These mounts are generally prominent in the hands of those who depend entirely upon others for their amusement, and have developed no powers by which to create a world of their own. They are shallow, discontented persons as a rule, unable to concentrate their minds on books or music.
Saturn and Mars: a thrifty temperament, verging on the avaricious.
Saturn and Luna: hypersensitiveness, distrust of self. A nature which is distressed, and rendered almost morbid by the sadder side of life, art, and literature.
Apollo and Luna: extreme imaginative force.
Apollo and Mars: in a creative hand show an inclination to depict the strong things of life, a certain amount of realism in portrayals. A love of danger and adventure.
Mercury and Mars: a superabundant amount of fun and good spirits.
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Mercury and Venus: a gay, somewhat heartless, temperament.
Mercury and Luna make a humorist.
Venus and Apollo: a charitable, generous individual.
The Phalanges
Each finger has three divisions, known as the phalanges, and these are supposed to represent three worlds.The first, which includes the nail, stands for the spiritual.
The second stands for the intellectual.
The third stands for the material.
Correct comparison of these phalanges provides the orbit of thoughts and ambitions in which the mind of the individual revolves, and when one of these predominates in length over the others, that quality for which it stands is the principal quality possessed, although a further study of the hand may contradict these attributes, or render them more excessive.
For this reason the student is warned not to form his judgment by one indication only. He can arrive at no reliable solution to the riddle of character until he has studied every portion of the hand and linked together the various peculiarities it expresses.
The thumb is, as it were, the figurehead of the hand. There is more character to be discerned in its form, habitual attitude, phalanges, and the space between it and the first finger, than in any other signs conveyed by the physical formation of the rest. The first phalange indexes strength or weakness of will power, constancy or fickleness, affection or coldness of disposition. The second phalange shows by what degree of reason the will is guided. Should it be much thinner towards the base than at the apex, a certain degree of narrow-minded, one-sided views is indicated.
The third phalange represents emotions. The two angles stand for music, and are strongly marked upon the thumb of the musician and composer. The first indicates time, the second harmony.
When the length of the third phalange preponderates over the first and second, a passionate character, uncurbed by the power of will, discipline of reason, and self-control is shown.
In a well-balanced, warm-hearted nature, these phalanges are in proportion. Extreme length in the first phalange shows a tyrannical and dogmatic will, which will surely prove a stumbling-block through life, unless the thumb of the right hand modifies this natural obstinacy.
The palmist should beware of, as it were, labeling the hand. He cannot be too cautious in reaching an ultimate conclusion. The hand[441] possesses a range of complexities. Strength and weakness are mingled. Great talents may be mitigated by signs of almost equal inefficiency. Therefore all the links of circumstances and character depicted should be consolidated into a chain before the exponent ventures to voice his convictions.
The left hand indicates natural tendencies; the right shows how far the good and bad propensities of the individual have been developed. It is possible that the former may represent an intellectual type which the latter does not verify. For instance, a clear and unbroken head line in the left hand may be marred and broken in the right, thus showing that ability in this direction has been neglected; or it may be that an inefficient head line in the left palm continues clear and deep on the right; and the conclusion arrived at is, of course, that, by dogged will and perseverance, inherent incompetency has gradually been remedied.
Upon the palm six important lines are inscribed, as shown in Fig. 6:—
The life line, which forms a semicircle at the base of the thumb.
The head line, which traverses the palm, and forms an angle with the life line.
The heart line, which runs above and parallel with the head line.
The fate line, which runs horizontally from Mount Saturn to the wrist.
The Apollo or fortune line, which runs parallel with the fate line from Mount Apollo to Mount Luna.
The line of health, which forms an angle with the base of the life line, and reaches almost to Mount Mercury.
The ring of Saturn, reaching from Mount Apollo to Mount Jupiter.
The line of intuition, curving from Mount Mercury to Mount Luna.
Upon the depth, direction, and length of these lines the vitality, health, affections, future, finances, general tendencies of disposition and circumstances of the subject may be arrived at.
| A - A. | The Line of Life. | E - E. | The Line of Fortune. |
| B - B. | The Head Line. | F - F. | The Line of Health. |
| C - C. | The Heart Line. | G - G. | The Ring of Saturn. |
| D - D. | The Line of Fate. | H - H. | The Line of Intuition. |
| I. Bracelets. | |||
Fig. 6.—The principal lines of the palm.
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Signs—and Wonders!
The age of the subject is arrived at in the following manner. Divide the fate line, call the point of division 30. The age of 10 is slightly above the base of Luna. From 10 to 50 the line should be partitioned into equal parts; after that, however, the distances lessen.The life line may also be used to calculate age, but here the method of calculation is reversed, for childhood is above the thumb, and old age is indicated by the length of the curve to the wrist.
Doubtless the most interesting marks to be found among the minor lines of the hand, such as indicate voyages, change of environment, talents and ambitions, are those which concern the attachments, love affairs, and future marriage of the subject.
These are the influence lines, which may be discerned running from Mount Luna to the line of Fate, from Mount Venus to the line of Life, and on the Mount of Mercury. Their depth, length, and clearness depend upon the enduring nature of the sentiment involved. When crossed, barred, or cut, they demonstrate the fact that difficulties and opposition from parents, friends, or relatives are to be encountered, or it may be that the influence was merely a fleeting infatuation, what is commonly known as “calf-love,” which time and deeper development of the character have annihilated.
These signs should be compared with the age calculated upon the fate line—it will then be discovered whether the influence lines are of the past, present, or future; only constant practice and experience can aid the exponent to a correct estimate of the period of these happenings.
It may happen that the hand of a man or woman under thirty years of age shows no indication of any of these influences, but this does not mean that love and matrimony will never happen to them, for these lines are sometimes late in appearance and may be found years after.
An island situated on an influence line is extremely unfortunate, for it means either that marriage will be rendered impossible by the ill-health of the subject, or that the man to whom she is engaged is fickle or worthless in character. Likewise, it is unfortunate for Mercury’s influence lines to terminate on the heart line, for this foretells bereavement and widowhood. Should it cross the heart line and run towards Venus, a separation is almost certain to culminate the alliance.
Nearly all the lines traversing Mount Luna are attachments or influences connected with the opposite sex. When they rise from the life line, they may stand for close friends or relatives of the same sex.
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Another important group of lines may be discerned at the base of the palm. The subject should rest the elbow on the table, with the hand bent over the wrist, which is marked with “rascettes” or bracelets. When these lines curve up towards the palm, they signify that the ideals, thoughts, and impulses governing the character are noble and uplifting; when they droop to the wrist, mercenary ambitions and self-interest are dominant. When the rascettes are creased by other lines, a life of strenuous work is shown. When deep, smooth, and continuous—health, wealth, and happiness.
In drawing-room palmistry, the palmist is often embarrassed and kept from concentration of thought by the buzzing chatter and laughter of friends and acquaintances, all of whom are eager to have their hands read, and the majority of whom expect that a lightning glance is sufficient to reveal every detail of their character and future.
Palms are thrust under his notice by smiling, optimistic young people, each of whom believes implicitly that for her or him the future is a land of honey and roses—a straight sunny path, wherein there are no piercing thorns and sole-bruising flints.
Guileless and Good
We all hold ourselves very dear; flaws in our natures, however serious and detrimental to character, seem trifles light as air. We appear to ourselves—especially when we are young—to be very good and guileless. We are assured that all follies will be conquered, repented of, left far behind us in the land of oblivion, long before old age catches us in the hip and thigh. And the palmist will often find that those who clamor most loudly for frank and impartial revelations are just those who are wounded by a single word that jars their self-esteem or questions the high price set upon their individual qualities.For this reason he must go gently, speaking without flattery or undue censure, and upon such occasions he would do well to keep his mind from diving beneath the surface of the trivial pleasant prophecies expected of him. He should never wound the susceptibilities of some nervous, high-strung soul by prophesying ill-health, bereavement, or death.
The more serious side of the science can be dealt with only when the exponent and subject are secure from prying eyes and listening ears, and even then the palmist should be the very embodiment of tact, sympathy, and discretion.
Should the subject really desire the probings of some past secret misfortune, the palmist may voice his interpretation of the history written in his hand, but, in a manner of humane and tender kindness, making[444] much of the lighter side, and endeavoring to encourage and help by faith in a happier future.
To blurt out some past tragedy or foretell one before others is a wanton cruelty of which the palmist should never be guilty. He should always endeavor to put himself in the place of the subject, and even when the latter is, as often happens to be the case, incredulous of his powers and eager to show his ignorance, the palmist should not allow himself to be stung to retort by revealing a jealously-guarded secret.
The physician, the clergyman, the lawyer are the recipients of pathetic and strange confidences; the palmist will also discover many, and must ever hold them as inviolably.
He must be a gentleman in the highest sense of the word—honorable, chivalrous, humane; and, whenever the opportunity occurs, strong to encourage the weak and console and comfort the men and women, both young and old, whose hands reveal their heart-break, weariness, and sense of failure.
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CHAPTER LV
PHRENOLOGY
The Estate “Under the Hat”
Phrenology is that science which may be said to provide a chart or map for the discovery of the treasures existing in the “estate under the hat.” It is of Greek origin (phren, the mind; and logos, science), and is closely allied to craniology (Gr.: kranion-logos, skull-science).The difference between these terms is as follows:—Craniology is a mere acquaintance with the skull. Phrenology is a full and detailed knowledge of its contents.
This study is not founded on superstition, and the phrenologist is neither charlatan nor magician, for, just as a man’s mind may be revealed by the contour of his features, the twitching or tightening of his lips, a frowning or smoothing of the brows, so the physical formation of his skull reveals the propensities, talents, virtues, and weaknesses peculiar to his nature. The thin leather of a bulging purse indicates an amount of coin; a closer observation demonstrates of what this coin is composed—cents, dimes, or dollars—and in the same way the skin of the skull bulges, and close study and knowledge of the locality of its developments show the various qualities endowed.
The student must possess a chart (Fig. 1), and memorize it before he essays to indicate character by means of phrenology, for its kingdoms are as well defined as the counties on a map.
Fig. 1.—Phrenology chart.
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| 1. | Amativeness | 15. | Self-esteem | 29. | Size |
| 2. | Conjugal love | 16. | Firmness | 30. | Weight |
| 3. | Parental love | 17. | Conscientiousness | 31. | Color |
| 4. | Friendship | 18. | Hope | 32. | Order |
| 5. | Inhabitiveness | 19. | Spirituality | 33. | Calculation |
| 6. | Continuity | 20. | Veneration | 34. | Locality |
| 7. | Vitativeness | 21. | Benevolence | 35. | Eventuality |
| 8. | Combativeness | 22. | Constructiveness | 36. | Time |
| 9. | Destructiveness | 23. | Ideality | 37. | Tune |
| 10. | Alimentiveness | 24. | Sublimity | 38. | Language |
| 11. | Acquisitiveness | 25. | Imitation | 39. | Causality |
| 12. | Secretiveness | 26. | Mirth | 40. | Comparison |
| 13. | Cautiousness | 27. | Individuality | 41. | Human nature |
| 14. | Approbativeness | 28. | Form | 42. | Suavity |
1. The social region, which includes—
A. Amativeness.—Normal—interest in and love for the opposite sex. Too prominent—material. Too small—coldness and indifference.
B. Conjugal affection.—Normal—constant and faithful love. Too prominent—jealous and selfish. Too small—fickle and inconstant fancy.
C. Parental love.—Normal—self-abnegating love for children. Too prominent—indiscreet monopolizing. Too small—absence of tenderness.
D. Friendship.—Normal—sociability, warm attachments. Too prominent—too exacting, infatuations. Too small—inability to make friends.
E. Inhabitiveness.—Normal—love of home and native land. Too prominent—intense dislike to travel. Too small—a desire for constant change of scenery.
F. Continuity.—Normal—the power of concentration. Too prominent—the prevalence of one idea, self-centered. Too small—lack of concentration.
2. The selfish propensities—B. Conjugal affection.—Normal—constant and faithful love. Too prominent—jealous and selfish. Too small—fickle and inconstant fancy.
C. Parental love.—Normal—self-abnegating love for children. Too prominent—indiscreet monopolizing. Too small—absence of tenderness.
D. Friendship.—Normal—sociability, warm attachments. Too prominent—too exacting, infatuations. Too small—inability to make friends.
E. Inhabitiveness.—Normal—love of home and native land. Too prominent—intense dislike to travel. Too small—a desire for constant change of scenery.
F. Continuity.—Normal—the power of concentration. Too prominent—the prevalence of one idea, self-centered. Too small—lack of concentration.
A. Vitativeness.—Normal—vitality, joy of living. Too prominent—extreme dread of illness and death. Too small—callous of calamity.
B. Combativeness.—Normal—courageous, antagonistic instincts. Too prominent—quarrelsome. Too small—want of mettle, cowardly.
C. Destructiveness.—Normal—hardness and durability. Too prominent—vindictive. Too small—lack of interest, inability to endure pain or misfortune.
D. Alimentiveness.—Normal—good and healthy appetite. Too prominent—gluttony, fastidiousness. Too small—want of appetite.
E. Acquisitiveness.—Normal—thrift and economy. Too prominent—avarice. Too small—extravagant, a spendthrift.
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F. Secretiveness.—Normal—reserve, tact, discretion. Too prominent—deceit, intrigue, falsehood. Too small—indiscreet revelations, thoughtlessness.
G. Cautiousness.—Normal—apprehension, prudent care. Too prominent—timid, over-anxious. Too small—reckless, foolhardy.
3. Self-controlling faculties—B. Combativeness.—Normal—courageous, antagonistic instincts. Too prominent—quarrelsome. Too small—want of mettle, cowardly.
C. Destructiveness.—Normal—hardness and durability. Too prominent—vindictive. Too small—lack of interest, inability to endure pain or misfortune.
D. Alimentiveness.—Normal—good and healthy appetite. Too prominent—gluttony, fastidiousness. Too small—want of appetite.
E. Acquisitiveness.—Normal—thrift and economy. Too prominent—avarice. Too small—extravagant, a spendthrift.
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F. Secretiveness.—Normal—reserve, tact, discretion. Too prominent—deceit, intrigue, falsehood. Too small—indiscreet revelations, thoughtlessness.
G. Cautiousness.—Normal—apprehension, prudent care. Too prominent—timid, over-anxious. Too small—reckless, foolhardy.
A. Approbativeness.—Normal—appreciation of public opinion, courtesy, manners, good breeding. Too prominent—ostentatious, “playing to the gallery,” undue love of adulation. Too small—ignoring of general opinions, unconventional.
B. Self-esteem.—Normal—individuality, personality, a proper sense of personal importance and ability. Too prominent—conceit, egoism, tyranny. Too small—sense of inability and incompetency.
C. Firmness.—Normal—will-power, assertion of self, determination, fortitude. Too prominent—overbearing, perverse, illogical. Too small—inability to concentrate or overcome.
4. Moral sentiments—B. Self-esteem.—Normal—individuality, personality, a proper sense of personal importance and ability. Too prominent—conceit, egoism, tyranny. Too small—sense of inability and incompetency.
C. Firmness.—Normal—will-power, assertion of self, determination, fortitude. Too prominent—overbearing, perverse, illogical. Too small—inability to concentrate or overcome.
A. Conscientiousness.—Normal—high regard for honor and duty. Too prominent—morbid hypersensitiveness. Too small—want of principle.
B. Hope.—Normal—optimistic trust and buoyancy. Too prominent—foolish disregard of experience. Too small—an inclination to despair, sad and melancholy.
C. Spirituality.—Normal—trust, faith, religious, devout, reverential. Too prominent—fanaticism. Too small—cynicism.
D. Veneration.—Normal—chivalry towards the old, admiration for the great, modest, quiet demeanor. Too prominent—obsession. Too small—disrespectful, irreverent.
E. Benevolence.—Normal—philanthropic inclinations, humane, charitable, generous. Too prominent—imprudent giving, waste of sympathy. Too small—selfish blindness and indifference.
5. Intellectual faculties—B. Hope.—Normal—optimistic trust and buoyancy. Too prominent—foolish disregard of experience. Too small—an inclination to despair, sad and melancholy.
C. Spirituality.—Normal—trust, faith, religious, devout, reverential. Too prominent—fanaticism. Too small—cynicism.
D. Veneration.—Normal—chivalry towards the old, admiration for the great, modest, quiet demeanor. Too prominent—obsession. Too small—disrespectful, irreverent.
E. Benevolence.—Normal—philanthropic inclinations, humane, charitable, generous. Too prominent—imprudent giving, waste of sympathy. Too small—selfish blindness and indifference.
A. Individuality.—Normal—a desire for knowledge, respect and regard for the feelings of others. Too prominent—over-curious, spying. Too small—lack of humor.
B. Form.—Normal—ability to remember faces, shapes, and general appearance of buildings, &c. Too prominent—sensitiveness to want of beauty and contour. Too small—inability to observe shapes carefully.
C. Size.—Normal—the power of judging proportions at a glance. Too prominent—too much sense of comparison. Too small—incapable of judging length and breadth.
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D. Weight.—Normal—mechanical and mathematical inclinations. Too prominent—great regard for the laws of balance and gravity. Too small—awkward movements, want of harmony.
E. Color.—Normal—the art of blending colors, delight in nature. Too prominent—hypersensitive of uncongenial environment; the clashing of colors is torture. Too small—a want of artistic sensibility, taste, and appreciation; perhaps color-blind.
F. Order.—Normal—ability to plan, to arrange, to discover the best method for doing business, &c. Too prominent—prim, fussy, fastidious, the mind obsessed by little things; extremely fretted by want of method in others. Too small—slovenly, chaotic, Bohemian; duties performed or left according to mood and inclination.
G. Calculation.—Normal—the power of mental arithmetic, the summing up of events. Too prominent—self-interest, any kind action done for the sake of some return, cold, distrustful. Too small—financial imprudence, inability to make accounts balance.
H. Locality.—Normal—swift sense of strange surroundings, an observation of streets and buildings. Too prominent—a passion for explorations. Too small—want of observation of new things.
I. Eventuality.—Normal—interest in present events. Too prominent—undue regard for trivial incidents. Too small—inability to remember recent events.
J. Time.—Normal—memory of periods and length of time, love of punctuality. Too prominent—inordinate importance attached to dates,& c. Too small—slackness in punctuality.
K. Tune.—Normal—sense of euphony in speech, harmony in music. Too prominent—passionate love of music. Too small—want of appreciation.
L. Language.—Normal—fluent and attractive speech. Too prominent—prosy, garrulous. Too small—inability to express thoughts clearly and concisely.
6. Reasoning faculties—B. Form.—Normal—ability to remember faces, shapes, and general appearance of buildings, &c. Too prominent—sensitiveness to want of beauty and contour. Too small—inability to observe shapes carefully.
C. Size.—Normal—the power of judging proportions at a glance. Too prominent—too much sense of comparison. Too small—incapable of judging length and breadth.
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D. Weight.—Normal—mechanical and mathematical inclinations. Too prominent—great regard for the laws of balance and gravity. Too small—awkward movements, want of harmony.
E. Color.—Normal—the art of blending colors, delight in nature. Too prominent—hypersensitive of uncongenial environment; the clashing of colors is torture. Too small—a want of artistic sensibility, taste, and appreciation; perhaps color-blind.
F. Order.—Normal—ability to plan, to arrange, to discover the best method for doing business, &c. Too prominent—prim, fussy, fastidious, the mind obsessed by little things; extremely fretted by want of method in others. Too small—slovenly, chaotic, Bohemian; duties performed or left according to mood and inclination.
G. Calculation.—Normal—the power of mental arithmetic, the summing up of events. Too prominent—self-interest, any kind action done for the sake of some return, cold, distrustful. Too small—financial imprudence, inability to make accounts balance.
H. Locality.—Normal—swift sense of strange surroundings, an observation of streets and buildings. Too prominent—a passion for explorations. Too small—want of observation of new things.
I. Eventuality.—Normal—interest in present events. Too prominent—undue regard for trivial incidents. Too small—inability to remember recent events.
J. Time.—Normal—memory of periods and length of time, love of punctuality. Too prominent—inordinate importance attached to dates,& c. Too small—slackness in punctuality.
K. Tune.—Normal—sense of euphony in speech, harmony in music. Too prominent—passionate love of music. Too small—want of appreciation.
L. Language.—Normal—fluent and attractive speech. Too prominent—prosy, garrulous. Too small—inability to express thoughts clearly and concisely.
A. Causality.—Normal—power of fathoming and understanding what is read or heard. Too prominent—theoretical knowledge rather than practical. Too small—deficiency in arriving at independent conclusions.
B. Comparison.—Normal—acquiring of sound knowledge and discarding what is worthless; discriminating between what is true in art and literature and what is false. Too prominent—undue importance attached to words, carping criticism, invidious, harsh. Too small—credulous, easily imposed upon.
The student will at first find considerable difficulty in determining the exact position of the different faculties. It is only by close study of his chart, practice on human heads, and experience, that he will at length achieve unerring ability to distinguish, blend, and separate[449] the different characters, inclinations, intellects, and emotions with which the human mind is gifted.B. Comparison.—Normal—acquiring of sound knowledge and discarding what is worthless; discriminating between what is true in art and literature and what is false. Too prominent—undue importance attached to words, carping criticism, invidious, harsh. Too small—credulous, easily imposed upon.
Bald-Pated Friends
In case the would-be phrenologist is not possessed of an amiable, bald-headed relation, he should endeavor to ingratiate himself in the favors of a hairless friend, for there is nothing so excellent for practice as a thatchless skull. Indeed, he is fortunate who has a large circle of bald-pated friends and acquaintances, for, even if he dare not attempt to find out their qualities by the sense of touch, he may achieve much by observation.Women’s heads are the most difficult to examine, and never should the student exhibit his art on the well-coiffured damsel. There deception lies, for what seems to him an abnormal development of “bumps” will in all probability be artificial pads used by the fair one to discipline her tresses into fashion’s latest erection, to say nothing of hairpins and many other mysteries which the mind of a man, be he ever so learned in phrenology, can never hope to fathom.
The woman who is really curious to have her faculties read must consent to unpin her locks, so that the hand of the phrenologist may come in contact with her head; and he must possess a sensitive touch, which quickly discerns the different developments of the skull.
Phrenologist—and Man!
Students of phrenology will be astonished to find what a great deal of information may be gained by means of careful observation, when actual investigation is impossible. No opportunity should be lost of studying shape, poise, and balance of the human head. From the temples and brows of the man occupying the same seat on an omnibus a great deal is to be learnt, in spite of his headgear; the faculties 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, and 35 will probably protrude, and demonstrate what degree of love of form, size, individuality, eventuality, alimentiveness, destructiveness, vitativeness, conjugality, and amativeness exist in his nature.Churches, concert rooms, and theaters abound with opportunities for the scrutiny of masculine heads, and upon each is engraved those abstract qualities furnished by the memorized chart.
The phrenologist should take pains to keep his hands and nails perfectly clean. He should bathe them between each experiment, as the natural grease of the hair soils them, and no one likes to have his skull touched by unclean fingers. It is essential for him to possess[450] and cultivate a buoyant disposition, which will tend to help and encourage him, and not to condemn a subject for the weaknesses of character he discovers.
Few ills have no cure. This is as true of mental inefficiency as of physical ailments, and the prophecies of the humane phrenologist are set in the major and not the minor key. Every individual, however seemingly worthless or uninteresting, possesses some divine gift, which perhaps lies dormant and neglected through his ignorance of its existence. Here it is that the phrenologist is able to let a chink of light penetrate the darkness, and a few kind, judicious words will do much to bring back the latent self-respect to him who has despaired of being released from the fetters of evil habits, intemperance, sloth, or indifference to the liberty of wholesome well-being.
The motto of the student should be never to condemn. When he has once reached the secret of identity, he should set himself to appeal and rouse the dying spirit of manhood to a new resurrection of power and achievement, for probably adverse and bitter circumstances, heredity, and poverty have done much to batter down the higher nature and develop the baser qualities of the man whose faculties he examines; and he can only dimly imagine, but never fathom, the strength of the temptations that warp the various molds in which the human mind is set.
The Humorous Side of Phrenology
In drawing-room exhibitions, only the lighter side of phrenology should be dealt with. A fund of humor and wit can be demonstrated here, so that instruction is blended with amusement, and it is not unfitting to use animals as illustrations of different qualities. For instance, the refrain in the once-popular lyric, “But the cat came back,” clearly testifies that this animal possessed the nodosity of inhabitiveness to a marked degree. Not so the man of music-hall fame whose pathetic pleading, “Please don’t take me home,” stirs our heartstrings most potently, or “Bill Bailey,” the wanderer. The small dog that ogles a larger comrade engaged with a bone, but who fears his mightier powers too greatly to venture open attack, possesses “cupboard” affection rather than amativeness.The blinkered horse, were it granted speech, would doubtless demonstrate the fact that it has cultivated the faculty of spirituality in no small degree, for its sense of the unseen is remarkable.
The bull has only to kick up his heels and lower his horns at a red parasol to vindicate his apt discernment of color. The manner in which the watch-dog registers the shape of his enemy’s calves in his[451] memory is a truly astonishing sign of his sense of form and locality. The serpent’s feline smile at the bird is eloquent of its sociability and expectation; its glistening coils are the personification of blandness and invitation to embrace. Stay-at-home oysters are famous for domesticity. The fish swallowing the hooked worm illustrates a beautiful trust and faith in the providential plans man culminates for his welfare. In the hobbled ass, wandering over and over his patch of grass, economy, adhesiveness, and a very praiseworthy amount of application are shown.
It might be well for the ambitious phrenologist to study the skulls of these and other animals, birds, and fishes, for in these the unadulterated essences of virtues and vices and instinctive propensities are discovered. The human head may be likened to a very rich pudding composed of very different ingredients, flavorings, and strata of coloring, and sugared with conventionalities and hypocrisies. The animal, on the contrary, exhibits its true qualities as frankly as a sirloin of raw beef suspended in a butcher’s window.
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CHAPTER LVI
TELLING FORTUNES BY CARDS, DICE, DOMINOES, ETC.
What the Future has in Store
There is no more amusing diversion for a frivolous half-hour’s entertainment than that of fortune-telling by cards. Young or old enjoy it, and with a ready tongue the combinations presented may be so varied that quite surprisingly good predictions can be made.Surround the whole business with as much mystery as possible. Insist that all shuffling be done by the subject himself, and that cutting is always carried out with the left hand.
Learn the meanings of the cards by heart. This is not difficult, and by doing so one is enabled to tell a fortune quickly: always a more impressive proceeding than telling it card by card.
These are the generally accepted meanings of the cards:—
Clubs
Ace of Clubs, wealth and prosperity. King of Clubs, upright, affectionate. Queen of Clubs, deeply in love. Knave of Clubs, generous and sincere. Ten of Clubs, a fortune from an unexpected quarter. Nine of Clubs, obstinacy; disputes with friends. Eight of Clubs, a love of money. Seven of Clubs, fortune and great happiness. Six of Clubs, a lucrative partnership. Five of Clubs, marriage with a wealthy person. Four of Clubs, inconstancy. Three of Clubs, a second or third marriage. Two of Clubs, opposition.Spades
Ace of Spades, a love affair; if reversed, a death. King of Spades, an ambitious person. Queen of Spades, a treacherous friend. Knave of Spades, indolent, but well-meaning. Ten of Spades, an unlucky card. Nine of Spades, the worst card in the pack; sickness, or loss of fortune. Eight of Spades, opposition from friends. Seven of Spades, sorrow. Six of Spades, great fortune. Five of Spades, success; a happy marriage. Four of Spades, illness; small loss of money. Three of Spades, an unfortunate marriage. Two of Spades, a death.[453]
Hearts
Ace of Hearts, pleasure; if with Spades, quarreling; if with Diamonds, news of an absent friend; if with Clubs, merry-making. King of Hearts, nice, but hasty and passionate. Queen of Hearts, fair, affectionate. Knave of Hearts, the subject’s dearest friend. Ten of Hearts, the antidote of bad cards that lie near it, but confirming the good. Nine of Hearts, wealth; this is also the wish card. Eight of Hearts, feasting and merry-making. Seven of Hearts, fickle. Six of Hearts, generous, easily imposed upon. Five of Hearts, waverer, changeable. Four of Hearts, marriage late in life. Three of Hearts, imprudent; hot-headed action, which has disastrous consequences. Two of Hearts, extraordinary success and good fortune.Diamonds
Ace of Diamonds, a letter; the card next to it will indicate its nature. King of Diamonds, hot tempered. Queen of Diamonds, a coquette. Knave of Diamonds, a selfish person. Ten of Diamonds, money. Nine of Diamonds, a roving person. Eight of Diamonds, marriage late in life. Seven of Diamonds, a gambler. Six of Diamonds, early marriage. Five of Diamonds, friendship. Four of Diamonds, unhappy marriage. Three of Diamonds, quarrels, lawsuits, and disagreements. Two of Diamonds, a serious love affair.There are two effective ways of fortune-telling.
For the first, ask your subject to shuffle the cards very thoroughly and to wish all the time. Then cut them into three piles with the left hand. Should the wish card (the Nine of Hearts) be one of those cut, it is a lucky omen.
Notice two other cards and their possible bearing on the wish. Now, after lifting the cards and putting them together with the left hand, proceed to divide them into piles in this fashion.
The first pile is to yourself. The second, to the house. The third, to your wish. The fourth, what you do expect. The fifth, what you don’t expect. The sixth, sure to come true. The seventh foretells the happenings of to-night.
Arrange these piles, as you deal out the cards one by one, in a semicircle. Then proceed to read them off by their meanings.
Another and rather more complicated method is to ask the person whose fortune is being told which King he will be (if it is a woman, one would naturally ask which Queen).
After the wishing has been done as before, the fortune-teller lays out the cards in rows—seven in a row.
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To read the fortune the teller must start from the King or Queen chosen, counting seven from him or her in every case.
The King or Queen of the same suit will always be the lover or sweetheart of the one whose fortune is being told, and the Knave being their thoughts, it is, of course, quite easy to discover their feelings.
It is rather a good plan to write the meanings of the cards on an old pack. By using this a few times a rapid flow of ideas will much more readily be induced. It might be mentioned that a too strict adherence to rule is by no means either necessary or desirable in fortune-telling. Tell what the combination of cards suggests to you—quite irrespective of the exact meaning of each—and you will be infinitely more amusing and obtain much greater fame as a wizard.
Fig. 1.—Cards dealt for fortune-telling: 1. to yourself; 2. to the house; 3. to your wish; 4. what you do expect; 5. what you don’t expect; 6. sure to come true; 7. to-night.
Fig. 2.—Cards foretelling a wish about a love affair—leading to an early marriage.
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Fig. 3 conveys the following:—You will get a letter (Ace of Diamonds) about money (Ten of Diamonds). Your good fortune, however, will not permit you to marry until late in life (Eight of Diamonds). The five cards representing Fig. 4 tell that the subject’s dearest friend (Knave of Hearts) will make the acquaintance of a flirt (Queen of Diamonds), and will shortly after suffer illness or slight loss of money (Four of Spades), but afterwards he will fall in love with a fair affectionate woman (Queen of Hearts) and enjoy extraordinary success (Two of Hearts).
Fig. 3.—Foretelling the receipt of a letter about money, but the good fortune will not permit the recipient to marry until late in life.
Fig. 4.—Reveals that the subject’s dearest friend will make the acquaintance of a flirt, and will shortly suffer illness or slight loss of money, but afterwards will fall in love with a fair affectionate woman and enjoy extraordinary success.
A Throw of the Dice
Although forecasting of the future from dice is one of the most ancient methods of prediction, it is curiously enough almost unknown in modern days. For this reason it is of special value to the home entertainer, and will prove infinitely simpler than the cards, the meanings being easier to learn as well as fewer in number.First chalk a magic circle on the table, then obtain a small cup or box to shake the dice in.
Three dice only should be used.
The person whose future is at stake must shake and cast the dice in the circle. This, as in card fortune-telling, should be done with the left hand.
Three tells you of an approaching accident; four, a rise in your position; five, that you will make the acquaintance of one who will be a friend; six, predicts loss; seven, a scandal; eight, a reproach—that[456] is not undeserved; nine, a wedding; ten, a christening; eleven, trouble for one you love; twelve, an important letter; thirteen, tears; fourteen, beware of an enemy; fifteen, good luck and happiness; sixteen, a journey; seventeen, a water journey; three sixes, or eighteen points, is a very good sign. It means great profit in business, or something the person wishes for very much.
Fortune-Telling by Dominoes
A fairly unique accomplishment is to reveal the future by the aid of dominoes, and there is something sufficiently fascinating and mysterious about this mode of revelation to fill the uninitiated with awe at the powers of the exponent.Each small oblong has its secret meaning by which some happening[457] vital to the subject is illustrated. It is a matter of little difficulty to commit these to memory; and in this, as in other methods of divination, the fundamental principle is that of comparison and calculation.
The dominoes used range from double-six to double-blank, and by these are symbolized the various vicissitudes of fate likely to befall mankind. The exponent places his paraphernalia upon the table, and, having turned them with their black spots facing the surface, proceeds to shuffle them. When this is done, the subject is requested to draw three pieces, one at a time. Between the choice of each the dominoes are shuffled.
The first supplies an impression; should it be drawn a second time, the impression becomes a conviction. The third, however, may lessen or wholly contradict its degree of importance, and this is where calculation and comparison in blending the signs are essential to a successful justification and interpretation of these symbols.
Double-six is an emblem of matrimonial happiness and financial prosperity.
Six-five is almost equally fortunate. Perseverance and concentration are rewarded by ultimate success.
Six-four implies a comfortable income, and secures happiness in marriage.
Six-three demonstrates that fate smiles upon the love and marriage of the subject.
Six-two.—Prudence, hard work, and a certain amount of good luck, or exposure and shame for any wrong-doing.
Six-one promises two marriages to the young subject, the first of which will not be as happy as the second. Should the subject be of middle age, this domino foretells the speedy arrival of good things and the fact that he or she will never be left lonely and uncared for.
Six-blank is, alas, a sign of great trouble—sickness, death, or heavy money losses.
Double-five presages that all achievements will be rewarded with a large amount of success, but inordinate wealth is not prophesied.
Five-four is almost as unfortunate a draw as six-blank. Should a young girl lift it, it means that her future husband will be poor and leave her a widow. Further, he may be of extravagant disposition, in spite of his poverty.
Five-three indicates a tranquil and contented existence. Sufficient money and matrimonial affection of moderate strength, the couple being incapable of passionate devotion.
Five-two conveys a warning that love and marriage are destined to an unhappy termination.
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Five-one portends social popularity, but financial worries and losses.
Five-blank is supposed to demonstrate egotistical and avaricious characteristics, tendencies to swindling and intrigues, also a warning to remain unmarried.
Double-four.—The man who earns his livelihood by manual labor may regard this domino as a sign of future security and prosperity, but to him whose profession needs mental achievement it is rather disastrous. Troubles and disappointments await him.
Four-three.—Matrimony and moderate income.
Four-two proclaims an early marriage and moderate income.
Four-one.—Wealth or many friends.
Four-blank.—A sure warning that single life will be the best and happiest. It counsels that any secrets imparted to another will be indiscreetly revealed.
Double-three.—Enormous riches.
Three-two foretells prosperity in matrimony, travels, and speculations.
Three-one.—Some danger and unhappiness. The necessity for acting with extreme caution in all matters.
Three-blank.—Domestic unhappiness—such as a quarrel or incompatibility of temperament of husband and wife. The absence of harmony in the home.
Double-two promises average happiness and income.
Two-one.—Two marriages, if the individual be a woman; financial failures to a commercial man.
Two-blank.—The intrigues of unscrupulous persons will meet with temporary success. It also denotes poverty, and an indolent husband. The individual will return safely from all journeys undertaken.
Double-one.—An existence free from money worries; peace and constancy in love and marriage.
Double-blank seems to favor the deeds of unprincipled persons, and foretells want of integrity in lover and husband.
Figured Futurity
That a certain amount of character and future may be revealed by means of figures is a fact that may be tested for itself. The results achieved by this method of divination are truly astonishing, and an ample reward to the mathematician for his attempt to solve the riddle of human nature.Certain groups of figures stand for different qualities. Those given in the table which follows are only a small portion of the whole, but[459] they are sufficient for the beginner. Each letter of the alphabet has its accompanying digit, and each digit has its abstract conditions, thus:—
| A. | 1. | Passion, ambition, design. |
| B. | 2. | Destruction, death. |
| C. | 3. | Religion, destiny, the soul. |
| D. | 4. | Solidity, sagacity, power. |
| E. | 5. | The stars, happiness, graces, marriage. |
| F. | 6. | Perfect labor. |
| G. | 7. | Course of life, repose, liberty, success. |
| H. | 8. | Justice, preservation. |
| I. | 9. | Imperfection, grief, pain, expectation. |
| J. | 600. | Perfection. |
| K. | 10. | Success, reason, future happiness. |
| L. | 20. | Austerity, sadness. |
| M. | 30. | Fame, a wedding. |
| N. | 40. | Fêtes, a wedding. |
| O. | 50. | Pardon, liberty. |
| P. | 60. | Widowhood. |
| Q. | 70. | Science, the graces. |
| R. | 80. | A cure. |
| S. | 90. | Blindness, error, affliction. |
| T. | 100. | Divine favor. |
| U. | 200. | Irresolution. |
| V. | 700. | Strength. |
| W. | (double V.), 1400. Perfection of strength. | |
| X. | 300. | Safety, belief, philosophy. |
| Y. | 400. | Long and wearisome journey. |
| Z. | 500. | Holiness. |
| 800. | Empire. | |
| 900. | War, combats, struggles. | |
| D | 4 | J | 600 | S | 90 |
| I | 9 | A | 1 | M | 30 |
| C | 3 | M | 30 | I | 9 |
| K | 10 | E | 5 | T | 100 |
| S | 90 | H | 8 | ||
Dick 26James 726Smith 237
[460]Add the three totals together:—
| Dick | 26 | |
| James | 726 | |
| Smith | 237 | |
| Which | makes | 989 |
900. War, combats, struggles.
80. A cure.
9. Imperfection, grief, pain, expectation.
The deduction being that Dick James Smith is endowed with a quarrelsome, headstrong nature, optimism, and inefficient will-power, which are destined to cause him great trouble, loss, and misery before they are conquered.80. A cure.
9. Imperfection, grief, pain, expectation.
Should the total of the names reach beyond 1390, the first digit must be subtracted, as in the name:—
| Johannah | Christine | Whiting | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | 600 | C | 3 | W | 1,400 |
| O | 50 | H | 8 | H | 8 |
| H | 8 | R | 80 | I | 9 |
| A | 1 | I | 9 | T | 100 |
| N | 40 | S | 90 | I | 9 |
| N | 40 | T | 100 | N | 40 |
| A | 1 | I | 9 | G | 7 |
| H | 8 | N | 40 | ||
| E | 5 | ||||
| 748 | 344 | 1,573 | |||
600. Perfection.
60. Widowhood.
5. The stars, happiness, graces, marriage, showing that Johannah Christine Whiting’s life will be a mixture of joy and sorrow, the latter borne by a courageous and tranquil spirit. Her integrity and attractiveness of character will, no doubt, bring her much love and many friends.
The fortune-teller who uses the cabalistic method of revealing Destiny’s secrets should be extremely careful to attach the correct figures to the letters contained in the names of the subject, otherwise it is quite obvious that his delineation will be at fault. He should add the numbers several times to make sure they are exact. If he has a good memory, he will memorize the table of qualities, and a great aid to this is to[461] practice with it before him, manufacturing names, or taking those of some well-known poet, author, statesman, or ecclesiastic.60. Widowhood.
5. The stars, happiness, graces, marriage, showing that Johannah Christine Whiting’s life will be a mixture of joy and sorrow, the latter borne by a courageous and tranquil spirit. Her integrity and attractiveness of character will, no doubt, bring her much love and many friends.
His own name will doubtless reveal the fundamental truths of this method, and the cognomens of well-known personages will show him the distinguishing traits that have made them famous. For instance, take Florence Nightingale:—
| F | 6 | N | 40 |
| L | 20 | I | 9 |
| O | 50 | G | 7 |
| R | 80 | H | 8 |
| E | 5 | T | 100 |
| N | 40 | I | 9 |
| C | 3 | N | 40 |
| E | 5 | G | 7 |
| A | 1 | ||
| L | 20 | ||
| E | 5 | ||
| 209 | 246 | ||
| Florence | 209 |
| Nightingale | 246 |
| 455 |
400. Long and wearisome voyage.
50. Pardon and liberty.
5. The stars, happiness, graces.
50. Pardon and liberty.
5. The stars, happiness, graces.
Divinations by Tarocs
Tarocs differ from the numeral cards used for bridge, whist, &c., in several ways. A pack consists of seventy-eight cards, made up of twenty-two emblematic pictures and fifty-six ordinary.These latter are grouped into four suits of fourteen cards each:—four coat cards—king, queen, chevalier, and valet; and ten pip cards, numbering from 1 to 10.
The twenty-two emblematic cards are known as the Major Arcana, and are divided into three groups of seven, which equal twenty-one cards. The twenty-second stands for the highest point successful achievement may reach. The Major Arcana contains:—
| 1st Division. | ||||
| 1. | The Juggler | emblematic | of the | male inquirer. |
| 2. | The High Priestess | „ | „ | woman inquirer. |
| 3. | The Empress | „ | „ | action, initiative. |
| 4. | The Emperor | „ | „ | will. |
| 5. | The Pope | „ | „ | inspiration. |
| 6. | Lovers | „ | „ | love. |
| 7. | The Chariot | „ | „ | triumph, providential protection. |
| 2nd Division.[462] | ||||
| 1. | Justice | emblematic | of | justice. |
| 2. | The Hermit | „ | „ | prudence. |
| 3. | The Wheel of Fortune | „ | „ | destiny. |
| 4. | Strength | „ | „ | fortitude, courage. |
| 5. | The Hanged Man | „ | „ | trial and sacrifice. |
| 6. | Death | „ | „ | bereavement. |
| 7. | Temperance | „ | „ | temperance. |
| 3rd Division. | ||||
| 1. | The Devil | emblematic | of | immense force or illness. |
| 2. | The Struck Tower | „ | „ | ruin and deception. |
| 3. | The Stars | „ | „ | hope. |
| 4. | The Moon | „ | „ | hidden dangers, enemies. |
| 5. | The Sun | „ | „ | material happiness, marriage. |
| 6. | Judgment | „ | „ | change of circumstances. |
| 7. | The Foolish Man | „ | „ | inconsiderate actions. |
The Universe, emblematic of success.
The Minor Arcana, divided into two groups of four, corresponding to the suits of ordinary playing cards:—| Scepters | relate to | diamonds, | interpreted | as | enterprise. |
| Cups | „ | hearts, | „ | „ | love. |
| Swords | „ | spades, | „ | „ | misfortune. |
| Pentacles | „ | clubs, | „ | „ | interest. |
| King, | emblematic | of | man. | Divine world (spirituality). |
| Queen, | „ | „ | woman. | Human world (vitality). |
| Chevalier, | „ | „ | youth. | Material world (materiality). |
| Valet, | „ | „ | childhood. | Transition stage (life in growth). |
[463]
(1) 1, 2, 3 of each suit appertain to man—abstract qualities, creation, and enterprise.
(2) 4, 5, 6 of each suit represent woman—opposition, reflection, and negation.
(3) 7, 8, 9 of each suit represent youth and materialism.
(4) The four tens of each suit represent the stage of transition.
In order to tell fortunes by means of tarocs, the manipulator must be perfectly conversant with the design, class, and interpretation of each card.
Process of Divination
The complete pack is used. Shuffle and cut into three parts, each composed of twenty-six cards, thus:—
26 26 26
Take the central pack, and place on the right.The inquirer shuffles the two remaining packs, which equal fifty-two. These are dealt out in a similar fashion—three groups of seventeen cards, thus:—
17 17 17
Again remove central pack to the right.Deal out the remaining packs, which equal thirty-four, in three groups of eleven, thus:—
11 11 11
It will be seen that seventy-eight cards divide equally in the first deal.In the second deal, however, only fifty-one cards are used, so that there is one over. This card is shuffled with the third deal.
Two cards are now over, and these are placed as discards, until the central pack of the last deal of eleven is put on the right, when they are shuffled with the remaining twenty-two discards. The cards will now be as follows:—
26 17 11
[464]Discards = twenty-four, making in all seventy-eight. They are next placed beneath each other in sequence, thus:—
| A. | 26, | emblematic | of the | supernatural, spiritual. |
| B. | 17, | „ | „ | thoughts and calling of the individual. |
| C. | 11, | „ | „ | physical and material. |
Another simple method is to shuffle all the cards and request the inquirer to cut. The manipulator then proceeds to draw the first seventeen tarocs, uncovering only the eighteenth and last card of the pack. These two cards create what degree of sympathy is shared between himself and his client, the keynote being given by the symbolic meaning attached to the card. The seventeen cards are now revealed from left to right, their interpretation being given separately. In order to reach a proper signification, they are then compared as follows:—
The first with the seventeenth.
The second with the sixteenth.
The third with the fifteenth,
The second with the sixteenth.
The third with the fifteenth,
and so on, each process increasing or taking from the first manifestation.
[465]
CHAPTER LVII
GRAPHOLOGY
Character from Handwriting
More or less consciously, every one is a reader of handwriting! If we have not devoted thought and study to the subject, we merely gather a vaguely favorable, or unfavorable, impression from the first letter written to us by a new acquaintance, and store it up with the other impressions we have already gleaned from their personality.When, however, time and thought are given to the fascinating cult of Graphology, it will be found to reward its students, by letting a thousand little sidelights on to character—and if the most “proper study of mankind is man,” then assuredly is Graphology a most helpful adjunct to that end.
One must crawl before one can walk, and learn the alphabet before one can master a language, therefore an impulsive learner must not grow disgusted because his laborious reading of a handwriting is disjointed, and may be obviously unlike the writer. By the time he can read a character from a letter, without gathering a word of that letter’s sense—which is what every graphologist worthy the name can, and does do—he will have come to see how one sign outweighs or counterbalances another, and so learn to read a human character from a sheet of paper and the more or less erratic tracings of a pen.
As a home entertainment, any amount of fun is to be got out of it. One unfailing source of amusement is to notice how all are willing vaguely to accept the ownership of every failing save the one you ascribe to them.
The jealous girl is “perfectly horrid,” she knows. But she certainly “isn’t jealous.” The lazy man is “bad tempered, perhaps,” but “no one could call him indolent.”
Friends and relations will, however, be ready to assure you of the correctness of your delineation.
The first thing to notice when studying character from handwriting, is the direction of a hand. Is it even, upward, or tending to[466] meander down the page? The even hand suggests honesty, conscientiousness, and a calm, well-balanced nature. The upward hand tells of will power and ambition, cheerfulness and energy. The hand that slopes downward tells of a timid and weak nature, depression and melancholy. It must always be remembered, however, that temporary ill-health, and even a temporary wave of depression, will frequently alter the direction of a hand.
Sometimes a beginner is puzzled by the varying direction—now upward, now downward—of a hand; generally this betokens a mind struggling at the time with adverse circumstances or ill-health.
Capital letters and terminals are both important. The more clearly formed and beautiful the letter, the more refined and artistic the nature.
The graphologist picks out certain letters as being especially important—M, A, L, and D in the capital letters. The small d and e in terminal letters are certainly the most important.
The Principal Letters
Taken in alphabetical order, the following are the principal letters to study:—A. Well made, and simple in outline, indicates refinement, gentleness, intelligence, perhaps poetic feelings. Flourishes are always bad, and tell of pretension and egotism. If a small a is unjoined—open-mouthed as it were—the subject is something of a gossip. This also applies to the small o.
Artistic—refined—loves poetry.
Selfish and egotistical.
C. A well-rounded C shows a kindly, perhaps indolent nature. A curly tail suggests selfishness and egotism.
D. The small d is very truth-telling. A small d united to the letter following shows a good sequence of ideas. Too much flourish tells of an ill-balanced imagination.
[467]
E. The capital letter shows egotism, even as the letter C does, in the curled back tail. A long tail to the small e tells of imagination, good-nature, ardor; if exaggerated, carelessness.
M is the next really important letter—in some respects the most important. The first high loop means ambition, pride, discontent. A big flourish to the termination shows egotism; a moderate one force of character.
T, or rather the particular method of crossing the T, is always of immense interest to the graphologist. Energy, strength of will, temper, perseverance, obstinacy, may all be shown or found to be lacking. The thickly crossed T indicates energy; the little hook back at the end, perseverance; a thick abrupt ending, temper. Impulsive people cross their T’s high. Those who make long bars are energetic and quick in thinking.
Egotist.
Force of character.
Quick-tempered, willful and persevering.
Short tails and a tendency to make as much as possible out of a sheet of paper, show the opposite characteristic.
Misleading Signs
It cannot be too emphatically impressed on the beginner, that it is fatal to judge from one sign alone. Study them all ere you commit yourself to an opinion; above all, study the signature.A specimen for delineation should always consist of about six lines, not of copied matter. It must be written on unlined paper, and have the writer’s usual signature attached.
Never attempt to gather anything from an envelope, as one is so often asked to do. Like copied matter, or indeed anything written specially to order, it is hopelessly misleading.
Flourishes always show a certain vulgarity of mind. A small and graceful one after the signature—particularly in the case of a woman—is, however, quite pardonable, and is indicative merely of love of praise and appreciation. Thick and heavy marks of punctuation are[468] one of the signs of a passionate nature. Caution and careful attention to detail are shown by stops between initials and after the signature, the careful crossing of T’s and dotting of I’s. Frank, impulsive natures seldom, if ever, close their A’s and O’s.
Benevolent—kind-hearted, very refined, a poor one at keeping a secret, devoted to those she loves.
Suggests an affectionate nature—one who would be greatly influenced by his friends! Critical—rather impulsive; a good worker at things he likes. Loves beauty and can keep his own counsel.
It will perhaps simplify matters for the student, if a list is compiled[469] of the principal human virtues and failings, and the means of discovering them by the handwriting, described:—
Ambition.—This is shown in the upward tendency of the hand. Should will power be lacking, expect discontent.
Business.—A businesslike person is always to be recognized by the care of such details as stops, spacing, crossing of T’s, the general air of law and order in the hand. Look for perseverance and will power to insure success.
Diplomatic, lacking in will power, possessing extravagant tastes, greatly influenced by the opposite sex.
Candor.—Clear, well-spaced lines and open rounded letters. Well and firmly crossed T’s.
Caution.—See Business.
Coldness.—Upright hand, closed up letters, no graceful “loop.”
Criticism.—This is often found allied to a good sequence of ideas. The separated letters of criticism and the carried on T crosses, &c., betray the quick thinker.
Deceit.—This is always indicated by the screwed-up, badly-formed letters, that run into one another; lines uneven, and words that trail off into a mere scrawl.
Determination is shown by the firmly crossed T, and the general firmness of the whole handwriting.
Eccentricity.—Always betrays itself in a weird signature. Economy, short tails; careful hand, short terminals.
Egotism.—Look for a flourish—for the curl back in capital C’s and E’s; for the curled back small d.
Extravagance.—Wide margins and spacing, a rounded, rather flourishing hand; few stops; generally somewhat thick. Compare other signs.
[470]
Fun.—The love of fun is usually indicated by quaintly-rounded terminals and oddly shaped, and often rather illegible capitals.
Generosity.—Curled up terminals, bounded hand, M’s and N’s written like U’s.
Honor.—Even handwriting; might almost have been written over lines. See Candor; and for honesty also.
Imagination.—Good capitals; small d’s joined to following letter bear a hurried look; flying crosses to T’s.
Indolence.—Bounded hand; short terminals.
Intelligence.—Shown by the small attractive hand; clear and firm good capitals.
Jealousy.—A weak hand; sloping, long-looped, flyaway T’s; egotistic C’s.
Loyalty.—Of course you cannot expect to find much character in handwriting until the age of seventeen or so, but the lad who is loyal to his friends and his sense of duty—the typical Boy Scout’s hand, for example—will ever be found firm and boldly ascending the sheet.
Melancholy.—Downward tendency, not only to lines but even words.
Music.—Look for imagination, tenderness, and refinement.
Neatness.—Easily to be seen.
Obstinacy.—Heavy; crushed down as it were on an imaginary line; thick.
Originality.—Imagination marked; unique capitals and flourishes.
Pride.—The exaggerated first loop to the M.
Possesses good sequence of ideas; clever, vivacious, good-natured and devoted.
Selfishness.—Upright hand, generally heavy.
Sensitiveness.—A very sloped, rather weak, and long-looped hand.
Temper.—Thickly crossed, flying T’s; uneven and rather angular handwriting.
Truth.—See Candor.
[471]
Vanity.—Look for flourish beneath signature.
Will Power.—Straight thick little bar under signature; thickly crossed T’s; purposeful-looking hand; no return to tails of G’s and Y’s.
In conclusion, one might truthfully say that the more closely one studies the handwriting of one’s friends, the more converted must one become to the belief in Graphology. Go slowly. Compare carefully. Remember always that human beings inevitably suffer from the faults of their qualities, therefore search and you will be rewarded by the enthusiasm of those to whom you give your delineations.
Very intelligent, quick-tempered, imaginative, impulsive, very refined, generous, yet knows the value of money.
[472]
CHAPTER LVIII
A SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN’S PARTY
A Word to Grown-Ups
It is undoubtedly one of the hardest tasks imaginable to give a successful children’s party, and the reasons that militate against success are legion.In the first place children are the keenest of critics; secondly, that which interests a mite of three will bring boredom unmitigated to the “fellow of ten,” while the maiden of twelve and the “man” of fifteen have very strong views of their own on the subject of amusements.
A children’s party, then, is not an undertaking to be approached lightly. It is of course an easy matter to hire the services of a ventriloquist or a conjurer or some public entertainer for the afternoon, and leave the rest to luck, yet how many hostesses have come to grief on the rocks of such an enterprise.
And let it be remembered that it is an absolute impossibility to provide an entertainment that will appeal equally to children ranging from three to fifteen. Only a section will appreciate the show. Far better to let the youngsters be their own entertainers.
It may of course be presumed that no one will dream of giving a children’s party who is the occupant of a very small house. Twenty children want more room than fifty adults. This is a truism that cannot be too strongly emphasized.
Having fixed upon the date for your party and having sent out the invitations, you will, wise general that you are, take complete stock of your field of campaign, and make up your mind that at least four rooms will have to be more or less gutted to receive the host of youthful invaders you are about to summon forth.
Let it be supposed that you have in your house three sitting-rooms. The dining-room will be the refreshment room, the parlor, stripped of all breakables and needless accessories, for the older children to play in, the morning room to be converted into a dressing-room. Upstairs it will be as well to transform a bedroom into a play-room for the tiny tots and their nurses.
[473]
There is one fatal mistake that hostesses are sometimes guilty of in giving a children’s party,—they ask their guests to come too early and send them away too late. The secret of success with children lies in the one hackneyed sentence: “Enough is as good as a feast.” Children are easily tired, and they can crowd into three hours as much healthy enjoyment as would certainly not be the case were another hour to be given them. If your young guests leave you with regret you do not want any more thanks; if they fly to get their coats and hats, all your labors, no matter how sincere and arduous they may have been, will have been spent in vain.
From four till seven P.M. will be found quite long enough, with tea at half-past four. Here again lies another fatal pitfall. Avoid kickshaws!—digestion-ruining cream cakes and jam puffs particularly. Bread and butter, chocolate biscuits, plain cakes, and sponge cakes produce no ill effects. Such advice as this may provoke a scornful laugh from the would-be hostess who reads these lines. “Teach me how to feed children!” I hear her say. “What presumption!” Yet it is homely advice that is the most useful, the most disregarded when all is said and done.
Tea Time
Half-past four will be found a good time for tea. Soon after five the healthiest hunger will have been appeased, and then, having “let digestion wait on appetite,” marshal your guests into the drawing-room and allow them to “fall to” to amuse themselves.Let the revels be of the simplest. If there is one game children love more than another it is Musical Chairs, and as there cannot be a person living, who does not know that historic pastime, there will be no need to describe it in detail.
However, among your young guests you will be sure to find one or two boys who do not care to play the game, yet who can be made exceedingly useful in another way as “umpires.” Most boys of fourteen or fifteen have a great sense of honor when games are under consideration; let two boys, then, be the arbiters of the sport—let them decide whether, when the music stopped, Tommy found a seat before Johnny, or whether Billy was too rough when he pushed Mary aside and took the seat that should have been hers. You will have no need to grumble at the impartiality or the reverse of the young umpires.
After Musical Chairs, what better than Blind Man’s Buff, a game that never stales, made more exciting if “Buff,” after having caught a victim, fails to identify his prey, and must therefore pay a forfeit to be chosen by his captive? Children love forfeits.
[474]
Hissing and Clapping, Dumb Crambo, Acting Proverbs—there is no end to the games that children love. And let them choose their own. You will add a thousandfold to the success of your party if you allow your guests to please themselves, and by so doing you will give yourself far more pleasure than would be the case if you “fussed about” arranging, directing, ordering. Children love responsibility as much as “grown-ups.”
Above all, remember that “Boys will be boys.” It is only with the greatest tact that you will be able to eliminate the boisterous element, which will crop up now and again in the best regulated parties. If you can enlist in your services some jolly bachelor who loves children, and who can romp with them as a child, you will have solved the problem of keeping down the rowdy element. A man of this stamp can work wonders with an obstreperous youngster, can smooth out the creases in your handiwork, can keep things at concert pitch, and if at the end of the party he is a worn-out and exhausted wreck—being who he is, he won’t mind.
So seven o’clock comes. The time for farewells has arrived. Wraps and coats must be put on, and the little ones, flushed, excited, happy, are dispatched to their various homes.
“Thank you so much, it has been fun.” “We’ve had a ripping time, thank you.” “It’s been splendid.” Such thanks as these will repay you for three hours of babel and pandemonium, for all the forethought and tact you have brought to bear on a by no means too easy task.
[475]
CHAPTER LIX
PARLOR GAMES
For Christmas Parties
At Christmas parties, at which guests of all ages are found, it is sometimes a perplexing riddle to the hostess to know how to entertain them all. Musical items which may delight the older members of the company may only serve to render younger folk restless and dull, and dancing is not always possible in rooms of limited size. Moreover, there are still many young folk who are unable to set their feet nimbly to waltz and two-step, and would much prefer a romp to whirling round in time to a measure.Self-consciousness and shyness are usually very evident when the party enters the drawing-room, and this coating of ice, if not thawed quickly, will rapidly freeze into impenetrable restraint and gloom. At such times a good game, quickly organized, is invaluable. The rules should be explained by the hostess in so simple a manner that the youngest person present can follow them, and everything necessary should be arranged beforehand to avoid awkward delays and pauses.
The Clothes-pin Game
The players are formed into two lines a few feet apart; at the top and bottom of the lines are two tables upon which as many pins as there are players are placed, and exactly divided into two heaps. The hands of all are crossed at the wrists. The first players of each line use the second player’s right hand to pick up a pin. The latter in the same way passes it to the next player, and in this manner it goes through the lines to the table at the end, upon which the last players place it. Meanwhile, of course, the first players are sending other pins down the rows.The line that succeeds in removing all the pins in the heap from one table to the other in the shortest time wins the game. The fun lies in the awkward manipulation of one’s neighbor’s hand. Should a pin be dropped in the process, it must be picked up by the umpire and[476] returned to the top table, and throughout the game the wrists must be kept crossed.
Proverbs
One of the party retires while the rest decide upon a well-known proverb. When he returns, he stands in the center of a semicircle. Some one taps three times with a stick, and at the third tap each player shouts one word of the proverb loudly and simultaneously. This is repeated three times, and it is amazing how difficult it is to distinguish even the most well-known proverb in the uproar.Should one word give the key to the player not in the secret, the individual who speaks it takes his place. For instance, in the proverb, “All is not gold that glitters,” it may happen that the word “glitters” provides the keynote. Therefore, he or she who speaks it takes the place of the one who guesses.
The proverb must contain as many words as there are players, and each shouts only the one word allotted to him.
The Game of Shadows
A white sheet is stretched against the wall, with a lamp immediately before it. All other lights are extinguished. One of the company sits on a chair or stool with eyes fixed on the sheet. Behind him the company files noiselessly, the while he endeavors to identify them by means of the shadows silhouetted on the screen.Simple disguises are allowable and increase the fun. For example, a boy may don a girl’s hat, a girl a boy’s; or a skirt or shawl may be draped over a boy’s suit, thus concealing the wearer’s identity. The one whose shadow betrays her takes the place of the player who identifies her.
Gardeners
Two rows, headed by a chosen captain, face each other. In turn they fire at each other the names of vegetable, flowers, or fruit, beginning with the letter A, and using in turn the other letters of the alphabet—asparagus, artichokes, apples, &c.The players on each side set their wits to work to aid their captain when he shows signs of faltering. They are not allowed to speak aloud, their promptings being given in whispers, and this is where the fun comes in, for, when one is excited and eager to give a word, it is very difficult to remember to whisper, especially when placed at the tail of the line.
When a gardener and his side pause to remember a word the[477] opposite side counts twenty slowly; if at the end of that time their opponents still fail they forfeit a man. The game goes on until one captain has secured all his adversaries’ followers. Should any one except the leaders speak aloud, he or she is obliged to cross to the other party.
When a captain surrenders he is obliged to go to the end of the line, and the next man takes his place and responsibilities. Wild flowers or plants are not allowed.
Tidings
Each player adopts some trade or profession. One member reads out the social gossip from a daily paper. When he pauses and points at one of the rest, that one must reply quickly some sentence regarding his calling or the stock he sells, for instance—Reader.—The ball that took place at the residence of the Hon. Mrs. Mortimer last evening was distinguished by the presence of the President.
A number of débutantes were present, the majority of whom were dressed in—Here the reader glances at the carpenter, who answers, “Shavings.”
Reader—“Their headgear consisted of (glances at the fruiterer)—
Fruiterer—“Pine-apples.”
Reader—“Their jewels were necklaces (glances at the ironmonger)—
Ironmonger—“Of nails.”
Reader—“The dancing took place in—
Tobacconist—“A cigar box.”
Reader—“The walls of which were richly decorated with—
Lawyer—“Red tape.”
Reader—“The band was composed of forty instruments all—
Doctor—“Medicine bottles.”
Reader—“The President’s first partner was—
Fishmonger—“A codfish.”
Reader—“Who was most becomingly clad in—
Druggist—“Silver scales.”
Reader—“Her bouquet was composed of—
Dry Goods Merchant—“Spools of cotton.”
Reader—“And her tiny feet were cased in—
Mason—“Bricks.”
Reader—“Her dancing was as light as—
Plumber—“A gas escape.”
Reader—“And her charming smiles showed to view a perfect set of—
[478]
Bootmaker—“Black heels.”
It can be imagined from this example the merriment and laughter similar answers evoke.
The Lawyer
The party is divided into two rows, through which walks the lawyer. He asks a number of questions, and the answers may contain any words except “yes,” “no,” “white,” “black.”The person to whom he puts his query does not reply, but the one immediately opposite does.
The lawyer exchanges places with the one who makes the first mistake.
An Example
Lawyer (pointing to Mary)—“Your hair is very long; is it your own?”Tom opposite bawls “false.”
To Jessie—“Do these pretty boots pinch your feet?”
Jack—“Of course, they are two sizes too small.”
To John—“Did you use your razor this morning?”
Jane—“He hasn’t any hair to cut.”
To Timothy—“Is your nurse waiting to put you to bed?”
Elsie—“Naturally—he goes to bed at seven.”
To Dick—“What would you like on your next birthday?”
Ethel—“A rattle.”
To James—“What is your favorite pastime?”
Alice—“Putting dolly to bed.”
To Freda—“What is the color of your face?”
Andrew (afraid to say “white” for fear of forfeit)—“Green.”
Cabbages
Any number of players can take part in this game. They kneel in a circle on the floor with fingers stretched out before them and thumbs tucked in.The game is started by the leader’s query to her neighbor: “Can you play cabbages?”
As the latter has not been initiated into the mysteries of the game, she at once replies—
“No.”
The question is asked by each player, and is always answered in the negative until the circle is completed, when the leader again queries:
[479]
“Can you play cabbages?”
Neighbor—“No.”
Leader (suddenly)—“Then why on earth are we sitting here?”
The blank expressions which result in this query are ludicrous in the extreme, and are followed by bursts of merriment.
The Lover’s Coming
All the members of the party save one are massed together at the end of the room. The leader walks close to them, and throws a light rubber ball towards any person she likes.The person must be prepared to catch the ball. As the leader throws it, she accompanies the action with these words, “My lover comes thus”—the ball is tossed in a way to illustrate the manner of the supposed lover. The thrower terminates her sentence by a letter of the alphabet. The one to whom the ball is thrown has to provide an adjective beginning with the given letter as she catches the ball—thus:
Leader—“My lover comes g”—(throws ball).
Catcher—“Gayly”—(tosses ball back).
Leader—“My lover comes h.”
Catcher—“Hopping.”
Leader—“My lover comes o.”
Catcher—“One-eyed.”
Leader—“My lover comes s.”
Catcher—“Smirking.”
Excitement is caused by the difficulty in producing a word at a moment’s notice, and being ready to catch the ball at the same time.
Telegrams
Each player is provided with paper and pencil, upon which any twelve letters are written, with sufficient space left between for words.The leader gives a topic, such as a wedding, accident, invitation,& c. A watch is placed on the table, and from ten to fifteen minutes given, during which each player concocts a telegram from the letters supplied by his left-hand neighbor.
At a signal, the telegrams are thrust under a hat, and read out in turn by the leader.
Example 1.—Topic: a sensational robbery.
| S. | B. | O. | B. |
| H. | M. | J. | P. |
| K. | I. | P. | H. |
From these letters may be devised the following telegram:— “Serious burglary; one box hairpins missing. Jane prostrate; kindly inform police—Henry.”
Example 2.—Topic: a catastrophe.
| C. | A. | S. | D. |
| P. | B. | C. | A. |
| B. | Q. | D. | W. |
The funnier the telegram, the greater the laughter when it is read out.
The Fan Fight
The players divide into two lines. A piece of tape is stretched across the room, and before every two players a feather is placed. Each player possesses a Japanese fan, and the object is to lift the feather and waft it on to a stretch of newspaper, which marks the opponents’ den.The dens are guarded by goal-keepers, also armed with fans, and their business is a lively one.
Feathers must not be blown, or pushed with the hand, as happens sometimes when the excitement of the game makes one forgetful of all else but the threatening direction the feather is taking. Only the fan is to be used.
The feathers should be of different colors. When one of a side succeeds in driving a feather into the opposite den, he and his adversary retire from the game, but naturally they share the prevailing excitement and watch every movement of their respective sides, cheering and encouraging them to win.
When the feathers belonging to one side are all captured in a den, the other side is conqueror.
Panama Canal
One of the company is chosen as director, and addresses the company in some such way as this:—“Ladies and Gentlemen,—It having been discovered by the director of the Panama Canal Company that the water of the canal is often disturbed to a dangerous degree by means of the passionate sighs and turbulent emotions of the passengers cruising upon it, they have decided[481] that a penitentiary tax shall be levied upon all ships containing lovers, and that, for every kiss given, toll shall be exacted.”
The company now pass slowly before the director, who asks each questions as to the name, destination, cargo, number and description of passengers, and any other questions relating to vessels which may occur to him.
No answer must contain the letter K, for this being the initial letter of “kiss” is forbidden, and the person who uses it is obliged to pay any forfeit demanded by the captain.
A few questions and answers might run like this:—
Captain to passing figure—
“What have you in your ship?”
“Tomatoes.”
“Where do you hail from?”
“Liverpool.”
“To which port are you sailing?”
“Boston.”
“Have you any girls on board,” &c. &c.
Of course, the captain’s aim is to force “the ships” to introduce the letter K in their answers.
The Longest Line
This is a good competitive game. Men and boys should stand with their feet on a chalked line. Each must stoop down to a half-sitting position, and with the left hand resting on the knee and the right hand inserted beneath the right leg, draw a line as long as possible without rising or using the left hand.Musical Buff
Station a person in each corner of the apartment. Then blindfold one of the party, and lead him to the center.The master of the ceremonies points to each of the four in succession, and each says in a clear separate tone the word “Come.”
When the word has been said by each in turn, the blind man endeavors to find his way towards the person who spoke first.
Magic Hieroglyphics
For this seemingly mysterious achievement a confederate is required. He must know that—[482]
| A | is shown by | one tap, | because | it is the | first vowel. |
| E | „ | two taps, | „ | „ | second vowel. |
| I | „ | three taps, | „ | „ | third vowel. |
| O | „ | four taps, | „ | „ | fourth vowel. |
| U | „ | five taps, | „ | „ | fifth vowel. |
The confederate is banished from the room while the party decide upon the word he shall be called upon to guess. Monosyllables are preferable.
When he returns the wizard is armed with a wand, by means of which he proceeds to make imaginary pictures on the carpet.
Supposing the word to be orange. He begins with four taps, and the confederate, who is all attention, knows that the word begins with the fourth vowel, O.
The wizard, flourishing his wand, remarks with extreme innocence:
“Rather fatiguing work, as you perceive.”
The confederate says to himself R.
One tap is the next sound for A.
And some sentence such as—
“No one can imagine the mental strain,” supplies the letter N to his alert companion.
The wizard’s query, voiced in a mocking tone,
“Getting near it?” supplies the letter G.
A few more imaginary pictures, and two taps, which represent letter E, and the confederate with an air of profound relief wipes his brow and declares confidently that the word is orange.
Result.—The company applaud loudly, and is thoroughly mystified.
The Auction Game
This is a most fascinating resource for a wet wintry afternoon, and its preparations are interesting enough to keep a whole houseful of young folk occupied and amused. A large piece of cardboard is cut into twenty-five squares, and on each is pasted a picture of some article taken from advertisements in old newspapers, magazines, or catalogues. The pictures are numbered, and on the back a price in keeping with the article is written.The more variety there is among the stock for sale the better. It may contain anything from a thoroughbred Persian to a set of ninepins, and the prices may be copied from the catalogues, &c.
When this is done, a mint of paper or cardboard money is manufactured.[483] The range of coin corresponds to the prices of the articles. Should the most expensive of these be marked $500, the paper money must include that amount. Upon each disc of cardboard is written its value.
The guests having arrived, the capital is divided among them in equal portions. If there has been no time to manufacture the coin, imitation money can be purchased quite cheaply, and this lends a greater reality to the game.
The first thing is to secure an auctioneer amongst the party, who possesses a ready flow of language, and is not troubled by shyness. An amiable uncle, or other grown-up relative, will do capitally.
The auctioneer stands on a chair or stool, and cries out the article before him, treating it as if it were real.
He is provided with a hammer, and the company begin an eager bidding for the thing that takes their fancy.
The players, as may be expected, are as anxious as people in a real auction to obtain what they covet at the lowest price possible.
Should a member offer more than he is able to pay, and succeed in being the last to name the highest price, he pays a forfeit of ten cents to each of the other buyers, and the article is again placed on the auctioneer’s table.
The winner is the individual who has got the best value for his money, and has the most capital in hand by the time the twenty-five articles are sold.
It is a good plan to offer prizes—a good one for the discreet and careful buyer, and a “booby” for the poor foolish spendthrift, who has nothing to show at the end of the game.
Excitement and eagerness are increased by the cry of the auctioneer, “Going, going, gone!” and the beat of his hammer.
If he is able to introduce funny narratives concerning the articles into his harangue, so much the better.
For instance, a pair of boots, fashioned from the corpse of the King of Prussia’s pet calf, and the black kid gloves which King Charles II. wore at the funeral of his great-aunt; the mouse-trap that once held prisoner a rodent of aristocratic lineage and purple blood; the ash-tray, into which the burnt cigar of Peter the Great is supposed to have fallen—all should go at a high price.
The Whistle
Another excellent game is played in the following manner.One of the company is blindfolded, and a long ribbon, through[484] which is threaded a whistle, is pinned to his back, and he is told that he must catch the blower and discover the whistle.
Of course, he has no idea that it is on his own person.
He is swung into the center of the room, and his playmates make surreptitious dives at the whistle and raise it to their lips, taking care not to stretch the ribbon so that he will feel the tug.
Perfect silence should be maintained by those eddying round him; they move on tip-toe, with bated breath, but now and then sounds of stifled laughter are heard.
The “blind” man seeks high and low for the possessor of the whistle, his ears strained to catch the direction of the sound. He may succeed in embracing a youth or damsel, but his search round her neck, waist, or in her fingers for the missing whistle is futile.
It will be long ere he guesses the secret, if he ever does, and the delight of young and old at his expense is hilarious.
The Blind Brothers
All who are unfamiliar with this mysterious game are banished from the room and brought in separately.The master of ceremonies blandly invites each to be seated on one of two chairs placed back to back and touching each other; the other chair is occupied by one of the initiated in the performance. A sheet is thrown over the couple, and round them circle those of the guests who are aware of what is to happen.
One of the two blind men, the confederate, is secretly armed with a light roll of paper.
To the strains of the pianoforte, the other players march round. Suddenly the individual who has been brought in feels a light tap on his head; he should at once cry out to his companion—
“Brother, I’m balked.”
The confederate immediately replies, “Who balked you?”
The other tries vainly to guess.
Presently his companion bangs his own head, and wails in distress—
“Brother, I’m balked,” and the other replies—
“Who balked you?”
It is long before the guileless brother guesses that the assault comes from the arm of his relative lifted out of the sheet.
Should he fail to do so in a given time, another victim is called in to take his place; he joins the circle moving round the chairs, and sees for himself the manner in which the poor unsuspecting “brother” is deceived.
[485]
The Poets’ Corner
This is an excellent and ingenious pastime for young men and women who have outgrown the old-world games of “Hunt the Slipper” and “Hide and Seek.”The “poets” are each given a slip of paper and pencil, at the head of which they write any question they like. When this is written, the papers are folded, so that the sentence is concealed, and passed on to the left-hand neighbor, who, without looking at the question, writes any word she likes beneath so long as it is a noun. This is again concealed, and passed to a third party, who must compose a rhythm or stanza, which includes both question and noun. As these have no relation to each other, some ingenuity is needed to link the two in a verse.
For example, suppose the question given is as follows:—
Question—What is the time?
Noun—Chair.
Verse.
“What is the time?” Grandfather asks,This is one of the pleasant tasksHe sets the children from his chair.And round eyes at the timepiece stare.Little Alice reads the time—The old clock helps her, and chimes out nine.
Or—
Question—What is your age?Noun—Cigar.
Verse.
Cigar, cigar,What is your age?Wrinkled and brown,Reserved as a sage.Till you rest on my lip,And the light is setTo your tip.What is your age?Your eye glows brightWith the spark of youth.Come, answer with truth!The cigar replies,Time flies,[486]An hour perchanceI may live,The ashes showThe span of my age.I am calm philosopher,Thoughtful sage.
Jack’s Going Strong
“Jack” is a piece of firewood, held in the flames until its tip glows. It is then passed from hand to hand among the players. Each says, as he receives the smoldering torch, “Jack’s going strong.” The aim is to get rid of “Jack” before the spark dies. The player, who is obliged to own that “Jack is dead,” is compelled to pay a forfeit.“Jack” should be a long stick, held out at arm’s length, so that, if he falls by accident, he will not burn holes in party dresses. The floor should be without a carpet. There is much fun and excitement to be gleaned from this simple game, as no one wishes to have “Jack’s” corpse on their hands.
Name Divinations
This is a clever puzzle game, which seems to the beholder to be steeped in magic and mystery. In order to discover the name or birthplace of a person, the following table of five columns is necessary:—| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | D | H | P |
| C | C | E | I | Q |
| E | F | F | J | R |
| G | G | G | K | S |
| I | J | L | L | T |
| K | K | M | M | U |
| M | N | N | N | V |
| O | O | O | O | W |
| Q | R | T | X | X |
| S | S | U | Z | Y |
| U | V | V | Y | Z |
| W | W | W | ||
| Y | Z |
The manipulator shows the table to the individual whose name he wishes to discover, asking him to point out the column or columns that contain the initial letter. A glance at the table will show that if it is in only one column it must be the top letter. Should it be found to be in more than one, it is discovered by adding the first letters of the columns in which it is stated to be, the sum supplying the alphabetical position of the letter. For example, take the name Elizabeth.
Elizabeth glances at the table and looks for the columns in which her initial letter occurs. It is obvious that she must be careful not to overlook its repetition. She informs you that it is to be found in columns 1 and 3. Now, the columns mentioned are topped by the letters A and D, which are the first and fourth letters of the alphabet. Add these together and you get 5. E is the fifth letter. In case you forget it, write it on a slip of paper. The next letter, Elizabeth informs you, occurs in columns 3 and 4. These are headed by D and H = 4 + 8 = 12. The twelfth letter is L. Columns 1 and 4 contain I, headed by A and H = 1 + 8 = 9. The ninth letter is I. Z is found in columns 2 and 4 and 5, headed by B, H and P = 2 + 8 + 16 = 26. The twenty-sixth letter is Z. The next letter exists only in column No. 1, therefore it is A. The next letter exists only in column No. 2, therefore it is B. The next letter exists only in columns 1 and 3. The top letters of these, A and D = 1 + 4 = 5. The fifth letter is E.
T is found in columns 3 and 5. Top letters D and P = 4 + 16 = 20. The twentieth letter is T.
H occurs in column 4, therefore it is the top letter, H.
Result—Elizabeth.
Wizard Photography
The wizard, who possesses a confederate, is banished from the room. During his absence the latter produces a piece of paper, and declares his intention of taking a photograph of any individual among the company upon it, in such a manner that it shall be visible to the wizard alone, who, upon examining it closely, will call out the name of the original.Naturally every one considers that this must be quite an impossible proceeding, and for that reason every one becomes very curious and watchful, making up his mind to discover the trick.
The confederate fixes upon one of the company, poses her to his satisfaction, tells her not to look grave, &c., just as professional photographers do, and when she is quite ready and gazing at the sheet of paper, which is held out in the manipulator’s left hand, he passes his[488] right over it, snaps his fingers, and tells her that the wonder is accomplished.
He hastens to wrap the “plate” in his handkerchief, and, calling in the wizard, hands it to him, retiring to a seat where the latter can observe him without appearing to do so. The wizard, looking very mysterious and wise, bids the company maintain an unbroken silence, while he unwraps and examines the “plate.”
His confederate, meanwhile, imitates as nearly as possible the position of the original of the photograph.
Should she cross her feet, toss back her hair, rest her chin on her hand, or perform any other trivial action, the confederate does the same, quite naturally so as not to rouse any suspicion or notice. All attention being concentrated on the wizard, his actions will not be observed by any one save the manipulator, who is led by the position he assumes to guess the individual whose likeness on the “plate” is supposed to be visible to him alone.
Few would realize, until they try the game, the wonder and admiration of the guests, for the wizard who successfully achieves his purpose, and the means employed, are seldom, if ever, discovered.
The Missing Ring
A plain curtain ring is threaded through a piece of tape or ribbon, knotted at the ends. The guests form a circle round a central figure. The ring is passed swiftly along through hands gripping the tape, while the master of ceremonies counts one, two.At three, all fists must be threaded by the tape and perfectly motionless, and the man in the center, who is permitted to observe the circuit of the ring, is called upon to say which person has possession of it. Should he guess rightly, he changes places with the individual.
Apples and Nuts
Mix a number of hazel nuts and apples together on a table removed from the wall; hand a teaspoon and table knife to each of the guests. Bid them, at a given signal, move to the table, with the knife in the right hand, the spoon in the left, and scoop up one apple and one nut. This is no easy matter on a smooth surface, for the probability is that the fruit and nuts will roll to the floor.When they are secured they must be conveyed to a dish at the other end of the room. He who performs this feat successfully the most times wins, and the apples and nuts are awarded him as a prize.
[489]
Amiable Dog
The party is divided into two lines. The first player begins by saying, “Our little dog is amiable.” The first player on the opposite side must answer quickly with another adjective beginning with the same letter thus, “Our little dog is artful.” Meanwhile, the first player counts ten. If in that time his opponent fails to respond he is obliged to go over to the opposite rank. Other letters of the alphabet may be used. The side that gains all the “men” wins.[490]
CHAPTER LX
PARLOR TRICKS AND PUZZLES
Tangrams
One of the oldest and most fascinating puzzles comes, like so many quaint things, from the Far East where, over four thousand years ago, a learned Chinaman named Tan made the invention which forty centuries have been unable to improve or alter. Worthy of a civilization that invented Chess, Tan’s puzzle has lived on unchanged through the ages, affording amusement and thought to men of such ability as Napoleon, who, during his exile on St. Helena, used to spend hour after hour with the little black geometric figures.
Fig. 1.—Showing dotted lines marked off for black pieces in tangram puzzle.
Fig. 2.—Showing square dissected and numbered for tangrams.
Fig. 3.—Showing original Tan presenting puzzle to his wife.
Fig. 3a.—Showing how Tan can be fitted together.
Take for example Fig. 3, which shows the original Tan presenting the puzzle. Fig. 3a shows how the good gentleman can be fitted together, as the numbers designate which pieces are to be placed against each other.
Fig. 4.—Showing pieces fitted together to represent figure in cocked hat.
Fig. 4a.—Showing how pieces are placed for figure in cocked hat.
Fig. 5.—Representation of depressed cat.
Fig. 5a.—Showing construction of pieces for representation of depressed cat.
Fig. 6.—Lady holding her skirts high.
Fig. 6a.—Showing pieces fitted for representation of lady holding up her skirts.
These seven pieces can be so disposed as to make hundreds of figures, giving scope for boundless ingenuity and skill.
A good winter evening competition can be arranged by making several sets of Tangram pieces, and distributing one set to each member of the party. The name of some familiar object should then be announced (for example—horse—cat—washerwoman), two minutes being allowed for construction, and points given to the best Tangram.
Fig. 6b.—The gentleman tired of life.
Fig. 6c.—Showing means whereby depressed gentleman is represented.
[494]
A Scissor Trick
Ask one of the ladies, who naturally knows all about scissors, to do the following trick. Holding the hands with palms upward, hang a pair of scissors on the little fingers, as shown in Fig. 7. The fingers should then be slightly bent so that the scissors stick upright as in Fig. 8; next ask her to turn the hands round rapidly back to back when the scissors will make a complete revolution, and should finally point upward again. But it is just at this point that the trick comes in, for the fair lady will find that instead of the scissors pointing up to the ceiling, they are directed down to the floor! (Fig. 9.)
Fig. 7.—How to hold the scissors.
Fig. 8.—Showing fingers slightly bent and scissors sticking upright.
Fig. 9.—Position of scissors after complete revolution.
When the hands are in the position of Fig. 8, take care that the rings of the scissors are passed over the last joints of the little fingers only, so that a complete revolution can take place between the palms of the hands and the fingers themselves. To bring the scissors upright will then follow in the natural course of events.
Blowing through a Bottle
Can you blow hard enough to make your breath pass right through a thick glass bottle? The majority of people will say “No,” and dare you to perform the task. It is really very easy.Take a large round bottle or jam jar, and place a lighted candle[495] behind it, as in Fig. 10. Now stand so that the bottle or jar is interposed between yourself and the light, and blow. The flame will be extinguished at once!
There is scarcely need to tell your surprised friends that the shape of the bottle has really caused your breath to follow the curve of the two sides, unite at the back, and blow out the light.
Fig. 10.—How the candle flame is extinguished.
A Safe Bet
Lay a dime, or a dollar if you feel so inclined, upon the palm of your hand, and promise to give it to whoever can brush it off with an ordinary clothes brush, as shown in Fig. 11. The only condition you need make is that they shall brush towards the tips of the fingers and not to one side.You need have no fear of the result, and can feel quite assured that your money is as safe as if it were in your own pocket. Whatever the explanation may be, the fact remains that no amount of brushing will move the coin the hundredth part of an inch on your open palm.
Fig. 11.—The position of coin in palm.
Do not touch the Coin
Place a dime upon a polished table and ask one of your friends to pick it up without touching either the coin or the table.
Fig. 12.—Showing how coin is removed from table.
Quis Separabit?
If there happen to be a newly-married couple amongst your friends, the following little trick may cause them a blush of happiness.Get them to fold their hands, as shown in Fig. 13, in such a way that the wedding-ring finger of the left hand, and the corresponding finger of the right hand, are doubled inwards as far as the second joint, and the knuckles of those joints press firmly against each other.
Fig. 13.—Hands folded.
Fig. 14.—Thumbs separated.
Fig. 15.—Paper being drawn through arm to electrify it.
Stick no Bills
Take a piece of coarse brown paper, the coarser the better, and warm it steadily before the fire. Now draw it rapidly a dozen times between your arm and your body, as in Fig. 15, so that it receives a good friction upon each side. Now press the paper against the wall, and you will find that it remains as firmly stuck as though a whole pot of the best paste had been used for the purpose.[497]
A Mighty Voice
A prophet is never without honor but in his own country, and few of your acquaintances will believe you to be such a wonderful person that with a single shout you can break a glass. Yet it is very easy to convince them.Take an ordinary wine-glass, and hold it by its foot firmly to the table. Make the glass ring with a touch of the finger (it will probably sound a rather low note). While the glass is yet tingling, raise it rapidly to your mouth, and shout the same note that it rang full into the bowl with all your force. The chances are ten to one that the glass will shiver to pieces.
The reason of this phenomenon is the vibrations caused by the tingling are so suddenly increased by the strength of your voice that the glass is unable to bear the strain, and therefore breaks.
A Genuine Match
It is surprising how universal is the law of love! Even two plain pieces of wood are unable to resist the impulses of the great passion.Take out the bottom of a match-box, and split it into two pieces. Double over the ends at about a quarter of the way up, as in Fig. 16. On one piece make the rough sketch of a girl, and upon the other a similar drawing of a man, and then place the pieces together, as shown in the illustration.
Fig. 16.—Drawings in position.
[498]
The Dying Fish
Cut a piece of deal into a prism about four inches long, and color two of the sides black or dark blue, painting the remaining side white. Sharpen one end into a small triangular point, and paint two eyes and a mouth thereon, so that the completed figure appears as in Fig. 17.Now, if you put this in a basin of water very heavily salted, you will find that the fish floats quite naturally, as in Fig. 18, whilst if you place him in a basin of plain fresh water, he will immediately turn on his back and float dead, with the white side uppermost, as in Fig. 18a.
Fig. 17.—Completed figure of fish.
Fig. 18.—“Dead” fish floating.
Fig. 18a.—Fish on his back.
Fig. 19.—Showing egg hanging on wire.
New-laid Eggs
Here is a very handy method of discovering whether an egg is fresh or not.Pass an elastic band around the egg, and hang it upon a wire, as shown in Fig. 19. Twist the egg and band round several times, and then release it, when the band will rapidly untwist with the egg. If the latter be quite fresh, it will stop almost immediately, but if it happens to be rather older than is desirable, it will twist and untwist, reversing several times before it finally comes to rest. This applies to eggs which have been boiled—indeed to any egg that is “set.”
[499]
A Will-power Test
This is scarcely a trick, as it really serves to prove which of two persons has the stronger will-power.Place a door-key between the pages in the middle of a book in such a way that the handle projects an inch or two, as in Fig. 20. Pass a piece of string round the book, and draw into a tight knot, so that the key is held firmly in its place.
Now, let the persons who desire to test the strength of their wills support the book by the ring of the key resting on their extended forefingers, as in the illustration. If one person wills the book to turn from right to left, and the other wills it to turn in the opposite direction, it will be found that the book obeys whichever party is possessed of the stronger will.
Fig. 20.—A will-power trick.
Let one of the parties (preferably he of the stronger will) think of some name, Mary, for instance. Informing nobody else of the name he has chosen, let him repeat the alphabet very slowly, when it will be found that, as he arrives at the first letter, M, the book will give a slight turn, and will behave in a similar way for all the other letters of the name. If both parties know the name, the book will turn much more readily, as a result of the united forces of their wills.
Fig. 21.—The magic repeater.
The Magic Repeater
This is an interesting example of some strange agency at work amongst us.Make a running noose at the end of a piece of fine thread, and pass it securely round a quarter, as shown in Fig. 21. Taking care that the thread passes over the tip of the thumb, support the thread from your hand, in the manner shown in the illustration, in such a[500] way that the quarter is hanging within a wine-glass or tumbler. Take care also to keep the hand perfectly steady, and await results.
For a few seconds the quarter will oscillate, but it will soon become quite still. Then, actuated by no motion of your hand, it will begin to swing to and fro like a pendulum, and will finally strike one of the sides of the glass.
Counting the number of times it thus makes the glass ring, you will find that the number corresponds exactly with the nearest hour to the time of day. For instance, at 11:20 there would be eleven rings, whilst at a quarter to twelve there would be twelve.
The cause of this phenomenon can be left to scientists to decide.
Fig. 22.—The obliging banana.
The Obliging Banana
It is rare that one can get a fruit so obliging as to peel itself, but upon certain occasions a banana will put itself out of the way to render this favor.Cut off one end of a banana, and with a knife just start ripping up the skin on the four sides in the usual manner.
Now take an empty bottle, put some methylated spirit inside, and drop a lighted match to ignite the spirits. As soon as the flame has died out, place the prepared end of the banana in the mouth of the bottle, and you will find that the banana is slowly drawn inside, peeling off its skin as the fruit disappears (Fig. 22).
The reason for this condescension on the part of the banana is simple. As soon as the bottle begins to cool from the heat of the flames, the air is contracted inside, a vacuum is caused, and the fruit is sucked into the bottle.
The same trick can be performed with a water bottle and a shelled hard-boiled egg.
[501]
The Smoker’s Fancy
Although most ardent smokers will admit there is little pleasure in smoking in the dark, there are few who will not be surprised at the following trick.Induce a cigarette devotee to have his eyes bandaged, and make him moisten the ends of two cigarettes. Having lighted one of them, allow the victim to have a few whiffs and then take it out of his mouth and replace it by the unlighted cigarette. Continue changing the cigarettes in this manner for a few minutes, and you will presently find that he is quite unable to tell which he has in his mouth, and is quite at a loss to know whether he is puffing away at the lighted “cig.” or not.
Fig. 23.—The mysterious bands—first stage.
The Mysterious Bands
Take a full sheet of a large newspaper, e.g. the first and last pages (which make one sheet) of a paper like the New York Times, and cut three straight strips (a, b, c) about three inches wide, as shown in Fig. 23. Now join the ends of these strips in the following manner in order to make three loops.In the strip a bend round D, and paste it on to the under side of E.
Make a loop of b in a similar manner, but giving the strip a half turn, and pasting the under side of F to the under side of G.
In the third strip this twist is replaced by a full turn of the paper, so that H is pasted on the under side of N, as in the first instance.
When making these bands it will be quite easy to conceal from the spectators the twists you have given to the paper; and, indeed, the success of the trick depends upon this part of your preparation not being observed.
Now comes the exhibition of the trick. Cut each of the loops into[502] two, in the direction of the dotted lines in Fig. 24, when the following astonishing result will be obtained.
The band a will be cut into two equal loops, as in Fig. 24a, the loop b will turn into one large loop twice the size of the original as in Fig. 24b, whilst the loop C will be transformed into two links of a chain, as in Fig. 24c.
Fig. 24.—Showing where to cut loops of paper.
Fig. 24a.—Band cut into equal loops.
Fig. 24b.—Showing large loop twice the size of original.
Fig. 24c.—Showing loop C transformed into two links of a chain.
Sold Again
Get some one to take a nickel out of his pocket, and, without showing it to you, ascertain the date of the coin, and then turn it face upwards on the palm of his hand. You will now remark that “you can tell the date.”Appear to scrutinize the coin very attentively, and then, with the utmost importance, tell the owner of the penny the actual day of the month, and smile complacently at his indignation.
Simple Subtraction
If you have fifteen matches and remove six, how can you obtain a remainder of ten?
Fig. 25.—Showing first arrangement of matches.
[503]
When he gives it up, remove the six matches marked A, B, C, D, E, and F, and you will have the result shown in Fig. 26.
Fig. 26.—Showing result when six matches have been removed.
A Tricky String Puzzle
Take a piece of string about a yard long and tie the ends together, making a loop. Passing this loop through the ring of a key, hang it upon the extended thumbs of a friend, as in Fig. 27. The strings are crossed. The trick is to remove the key without taking the string from the other person’s thumbs.
Fig. 27.—Showing string upon extended thumbs.
Fig. 28.—Second stage of string trick.
Fig. 29.—Showing mode of freeing key from string.
A and B are the hands of the person just described whose thumbs bear the string.
C and D are your own hands, left and right respectively.
E is the hand of a third person who holds the key.
F and G are the two sides of the loop.
Begin by catching the string F on your little finger of C and G on the little finger of D, as in Fig. 28. Now transfer the string from the little finger of C to the thumb of B, and thus free your hand C.
Between the forefinger and thumb of B you must take the string G between the key and A.
Now catch this part you have taken round the thumb of B, slip[504] the string from the little finger of D, and when E pulls the key, it will come quite free from the string (Fig. 29).
A Sure Eye
Stick a sharply-pointed knife, preferably with a heavy handle, into the lintel of the door, or into a wooden beam upon the ceiling. Then ask for some one with a sure eye to mark the exact spot on the floor by putting a cent upon it, where the knife will drop when displaced.This is easily done in the following manner. Take care that the knife is very lightly stuck into the wood, so that it will fall at the slightest touch.
Fill a glass with water, and raising it to the knife immerse the handle to the height of an inch or so. Then watch where the drop of water, which will fall when you remove the glass, strikes the ground, place the cent upon the spot, and you will find that the knife will fall upon that identical place.
“That is the Man”
Fold a piece of paper into four, and cut a pointer out of it, as shown in Fig. 30. Now run a needle through a cork and balance the pointer on its tip, as shown. Place an inverted tumbler over the whole contrivance (Fig. 30a).
Fig. 30.—The paper pointer.
Fig. 30a.—Pointer mounted on cork.
By rubbing the outside of the tumbler with a piece of rag, or even a handkerchief, you can make the pointer turn in whatever direction you desire, as it will swing round to whatever portion of the glass you happen to rub.
Announce that you will make it point to Mr. Jones. If you then rub the glass on the side nearest to that gentleman, the paper needle will swing round and point directly to him.
By rubbing the handkerchief rapidly round and round the glass the needle will be made to revolve with considerable speed, to the great delight of the younger members of the party.
Needle-Threading Extraordinary
Thread a No. 6 needle with a couple of yards of fairly coarse cotton or thread, and draw them through until the two ends are of equal length.Now pass the point of the needle right through the two strands, as in Fig. 31, and continue pulling the needle as in Fig. 31a until the threads have passed through each other and appear a continuous piece, as in Fig. 31b. This should have been done before showing the trick to the company. As there will be no knot, it is highly improbable that any one will notice a peculiarity in the thread.
Fig. 31.—Needle-threading—first stage.
Fig. 31a.—Thread passing through itself.
Fig. 31b.—Showing thread as a continuous piece.
[506]
Holding the needle with the point upwards beneath the table, out of sight of yourself and the others, catch one of the threads at a point between the eye of the needle and the point where they pass through each other, as in Fig. 32, and pull that steadily downwards.
Fig. 32.—Showing point where thread is pulled steadily downwards.
Fig. 33.—Result of thread passed through eye of needle.
Fig. 33a.—Threaded needle complete.
Drawing the knot to the bottom of this series of loops, you can then cut off all the ends as well as the knot, and present the threaded needle to your friends as it appears in Fig. 33a.
The Magician’s Bite
Take an ordinary piece of string or thread, and offer to cut it in two if somebody present will guarantee to join it into one piece again without any knot. You may announce at the same time that by wizardry you are able yourself to do this by a simple bite of the teeth.
Fig. 34.—Showing string passed round hands.
Fig. 34a.—Showing ends of string looped together.
Fig. 35.—Showing point where to cut string.
Fig. 36.—Showing whole piece of thread.
A Trick in the Sunshine
This trick can only be done on a sunny day, for a reason which will be very evident to those who try it.Obtain a clear glass bottle, in the cork of which stick a hooked pin. By means of a piece of thread hang a small weight from this pin within the bottle, as in Fig. 37, and then request some one to cut the cord without drawing the cork.
Fig. 37.—Sun’s rays focused on weighted thread.
Light a Cigarette Without Matches
Concentrate the rays of the sun upon the end of the cigarette, and draw in the ordinary way (if you are old enough to smoke), when the cigarette will rapidly be ignited.Another String Trick
Stick a penknife into a post or tree, or other strong upright of wood, and pass a piece of string behind the post and above the knife, as in Fig. 38. Bring the end C round the post and pass B over it. Bring C round again and cross it over the knife, and B round the knife over C, as in Fig. 38a. Pass the ends round the post again, always remembering that B must be over C, and then tie the two ends in a knot, as in Fig. 39.
Fig. 38.—Knife and string trick—first stage.
Fig. 38a.—Knife and string trick—second stage.
Fig. 39.—Knife and string trick—third stage.
Try This!
A candle can be lighted without approaching the match to the wick in this way.Light a candle in the ordinary manner, and take care that the wick[509] is fairly long and burns brightly. Blow it out suddenly, and by applying a lighted match to the smoke at the height of an inch or two, the candle will instantly relight without your having to put the match to the wick.
A Steady Hand
If any of your friends boast of a steady hand, you can easily give their pride a fall by wagering that not one of them can move a glass of water from one table to another without spilling every drop it contains.Fill a tumbler with water to the very brim. Place a piece of perfectly flat, stout paper on the top of it, as shown in Fig. 40, and the palm of the hand on the top of that. Now turn the glass upside down very quickly and carefully, and place it upon a flat part of the table, having done which slide the piece of paper from beneath it. As the air cannot enter none of the water escapes, but it will be absolutely impossible to move the glass without spilling the water.
Fig. 40.—A water trick.
[510]
CHAPTER LXI
“HOW WOULD YOU——?”
Puzzles That Please
History records that the blind poet Homer lost his reason in a vain endeavor to solve a riddle, and from his days until these present times much care and thought have been expended in the invention of puzzles both difficult and simple. It is the object of this chapter to present the reader with a few simple ones.Two easy and yet fascinating puzzles can be worked with an ordinary checker-board.
1. The Traveling Checker
Place a checker upon a square near the center of the board, as in Fig. 1. In how few moves can you make it traverse every square in the board and return to its starting-point?
Fig. 1.—The traveling checker.
Fig. 2.—Joining the rings.
2. Another Checker Puzzle
Place sixteen men on a checker-board in such a manner that no three men shall be in a line, either horizontally or perpendicularly.3. Joining the Rings
Nine rings are connected by six straight lines, as shown in Fig. 2. Connect these same nine rings by four straight lines.[511]
4. The Ten Rows
This is a puzzle with nine checkers or counters. Dispose these counters in such a manner that ten rows are formed with three men in each row.
Fig. 3.—The cabalistic sign.
5. The Cabalistic Sign
Fig. 3 shows a piece of paper cut into a famous cabalistic sign. How can you divide it into four pieces which, placed together, shall form a square?6. The Dangerous Anarchists
Once upon a time there were eight anarchists confined in separate cells connected by the system of passages shown in Fig. 4. The prisoners, each of whom had his own number, occupied cells in the order shown.One day the governor of the jail decided that his prisoners should be transferred from one cell to another in order that their numbers should run consecutively from left to right. Accordingly he gave orders for this to be done, but at the same time directed his warders that on no account were any two prisoners to meet, either in the passages or cells. As there was only one vacant cell at their disposal, how did the warders work this maneuver successfully?
Fig. 4.—The dangerous anarchists.
[512]
7. Catching the Donkey
A man once wanted to saddle a donkey, and proceeded, bridle in hand, to the field where Ned was feeding.Let Fig. 5 represent the field, which the man entered by the gate at 63, whilst the ass was standing in the opposite corner at 2.
Now you can move either the man or the donkey to any number in the straight line, but neither must cross or rest upon a line covered by the other. For instance, if the donkey be at 2, the man can move to 62, 61, 59, 36, or 13; but he cannot go to either 60 or to 5, for then the donkey would gallop up and let fly with his heels. Ned, on the other hand, can go to 6, 28, 51, 3, or 4, but if he were to go to 60 or 5 the man at 63 would catch him at once.
Fig. 5.—Catching the donkey.
8. Like to Like
Fig. 6.—“Like to like.”
[513]
9. The Broken Chain
A lady once took to a jeweler a gold chain, broken into five pieces of three links each (Fig. 7). She asked him to repair the chain, agreeing to pay 25 cents for each link that he had to break and weld in order to restore the chain to its original length.The following day she sent her maid for the chain with 75 cents. If you had been the jeweler, how would you have mended this chain of five pieces by breaking only three links?
Fig. 7.—The broken chain.
10. The Diamond Cross
The same lady wished to have a diamond cross reset, and pleased with the intelligence shown by the jeweler, she decided to give him the work.
Fig. 8.—The diamond cross.
But the jeweler was a crafty man, and knowing how she had reckoned the diamonds, he stole two, and having reset the remainder, he returned the finished piece of work.
When she received her cross, the lady thought it looked rather different, and counted the stones according to her former plan. The numbers were exact! So she paid the jeweler, who went off smiling.
How had he managed the theft?
11. The Quarrelsome Railways
Five competing railway companies decided to place termini in a certain small town. But land was dear; and after much negotiation they were able to secure sites only as shown in Fig. 9.[514]
But none of the companies would grant any of its competitors running powers over its lines, and as the municipal authorities decided that all five lines should enter the city side by side, the engineers found themselves confronted with the following problem:—How is each line to reach its destination, without crossing any of its competitor’s tracks?
How would you extricate them from this dilemma?
Fig. 9.—The quarrelsome railways.
12. Another Railway Problem
This problem is shown in Fig. 10. In the railway A, B, C there are two sidings, A, D and C, E; which meet at F. At this latter place there is only sufficient space to contain one car of the size of G or H, and there is no room for the engine, I. Consequently, if this engine is sent up either of the sidings it must return by the same tracks.
Fig. 10.—The second railway problem.
13. The Miter
Study Fig. 11 closely, and think how you can divide a piece of paper thus shaped into four similar parts.
Fig. 11.—The miter.
Solutions
1. The Traveling Checker
You cannot make the checker traverse all the squares in less than sixteen moves, as shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 12.—Solution to traveling checker.
Fig. 13.—Solution to second checker puzzle.
2. Another Checker Puzzle
The way to place the sixteen pieces so that no three are in a line in any direction, can be seen from Fig. 13.3. The Rings Joined
The nine rings can be joined by four lines, as shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 14.—The joined rings.
4. The Ten Rows
The complicated geometrical figure shown in Fig. 15 shows the ten rows formed with nine counters.5. The Cabalistic Sign
By making the two cuts shown in Fig. 16, the piece of paper will be divided into four parts that will fit together into a square.[516]
Fig. 15.—The ten rows.
Fig. 16.—Solution to cabalistic sign puzzle.
6. The Dangerous Anarchists
The simplest method of rearranging the prisoners was as follows (as there was only one vacant cell at any time the numbers designate which prisoner was moved therein)—1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, 4, 5, 6.7. Catching the Donkey
According to the rules of the game, the donkey moves first, and the following is one of the shortest methods by which the man can catch him. It will doubtless amuse you to find other, and probably quicker ways of cornering Ned.| Donkey | to | 3 |
| Man | „ | 36 |
| Don. | „ | 21 |
| Man | „ | 30 |
| Don. | „ | 3 |
| Man | „ | 8 |
| Don. | „ | 4 |
| Man | „ | 7 |
| Don. | „ | 5 |
| Man | „ | 12 |
8. Like to Like
Moving two men at a time, the four moves are:—| 2 | and | 3 | moved to | spaces | 9 | and | 10 |
| 5 | „ | 6 | „ | „ | 2 | „ | 3 |
| 8 | „ | 9 | „ | „ | 5 | „ | 6 |
| 1 | „ | 2 | „ | „ | 8 | „ | 9 |
Fig. 17.—Solution to “Like to like” puzzle.
9. The Broken Chain
To repair the chain the jeweler had recourse to a very simple device. Breaking the three links of one of the pieces he used them to join the remaining four pieces, thus restoring it to the original length.10. The Diamond Cross
The owner of the diamond cross thought she had been very clever in counting the stones as she did, but her cunning overreached itself, for the jeweler had only to remove the diamonds of the extremities of the cross-piece, and shift this latter up one point, as in Fig. 18, to make his theft almost unnoticeable. You will find the diamonds count nine, even though two stones have been removed.
Fig. 18.—Solution to diamond cross puzzle.
Fig. 19.—Solution to the quarrelsome railways puzzle.
Fig. 20.—Solution to miter puzzle.
11. The Quarrelsome Railways
After much surveying and discussion, the railways laid their lines as shown in Fig. 19.12. The Other Railway Problem
The following is the simplest method by which the engine could transpose the cars G, H.I pushes G into F, and returns and pushes H up to G. The two[518] cars are then coupled together, drawn down to C and pushed over to A. G is then uncoupled, and I takes H back to F and leaves it there. I then returns to G, pulls it back to E and leaves it there. I then returns to H by way of C, and draws it down to D, thus completing the task.
13. The Miter
A glance at Fig. 20 will show how the miter can be divided into four similar parts.[519]
CHAPTER LXII
SOME OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
When Seeing Eyes are Blind
“But, I tell you, I saw it; surely I can trust my own eyes!”How often have we heard this uttered as a conclusive proof of some friend’s statement!
And really at first it would seem to be an assertion admitting of no further question, were it not for the fact that we know our eyes are no more infallible than anything else in this world, and are quite as liable to make mistakes as are our memories.
It is true that eyes are good and faithful servants, fit to be trusted in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, but like all good and faithful servants there is that hundredth case when their judgment goes wandering, and when they leap to rash conclusions, carried away by deceptive appearances.
Strange as it may seem, upon certain occasions, the best eyes are actually blind! If you shut one eye and hold the page with Fig. 1 at arm’s length, you will be able to see both the spots A and B. Now look steadily at A, and you will still see B quite plainly, but if you gradually draw the book nearer to your eye, a certain point will be reached when B becomes invisible, although if you continue to make the book approach your face B will spring into view once more. In other words, at the moment when you could no longer see B your blind spot had been directed towards it, and of course saw nothing.
Fig. 1.—When two are one.
Fig. 2.—Section of the eye.
But at the spot E, where these big nerves are collected together, the retina, as you notice, is pointed, and gives no record of what is thrown upon it. So, you see, when any object happens to come into such a position with the eye that its image is cast upon the point E of the retina, we have no record sent to the brain—in other words, we cannot see it.
But the eye is not only blind in one point; it is very apt to be deceived by appearances, and to make all kinds of mistakes in consequence. Take Fig. 3 for instance. Would you not say that B D is shorter than A C? Yet if you measure them you will find they are the same length. Or in Fig. 4, A B is surely longer than C D. They are identical. Or take Fig. 5, A is clearly farther from B than C is from B, and yet A B and B C are of the same length.
Fig. 3.—Is A C longer than B D?
Fig. 4.—Which is longer—A B or C D?
Fig. 5.—The distance from A to B is the same as B to C.
Fig. 6.—Zollner’s lines.
Hills that Don’t Rise
Should it ever happen that you go cycling in France, you will find this deception practiced upon your eyes all day long. The roads in that country are very straight, and are bordered upon either side by tall trees, so that from wherever you stand a long avenue stretches before you to a point where the trees seem to merge into one another, as parallel lines invariably appear to do. But flat as the country may be, you will always find yourself confronted with a gentle incline, as it seems, very slight but none the less perceptible. You brace for a long and steady climb, yet somehow, as you cover the ground, the hill seems always before you and yet there is no noticeable ascent. The reason is simple. There is no ascent. The borders of trees, like the little lines in Fig. 6, deceive the eyes in a similar way until it is almost impossible to believe that the hill is merely an optical illusion, and that the road is flat as the proverbial pancake.There is another trick the eye is very fond of playing us. A straight line, held on a level with the eye appears very much shorter than it really is. Look at Fig. 7, which appears to represent a number of pins lying with their points towards you. Now lift the book to the level of the eyes, close the right one, and they will appear to be sticking upright in the page.
What a jumble of lines there is in Fig. 8, something like a spider’s web, and one can make nothing out of it. But lift the book up, as in the last example, and close one eye—the letters are plain enough, are[523] they not? You have played a trick on your own eye, and made its habit of shortening lines serve to interpret a message that would otherwise be unintelligible.
Fig. 7.—The standing pins.
Fig. 8.—“Yes or no?”
The Stars don’t Twinkle
Every cloudless night the eyes make a mistake that we can easily discover, but which we are totally unable to remedy.Of course you have looked up to the sky thousands of times and seen the stars twinkling. Not only that, but if the night is clear you can see they are stellate, or star-shaped, like the starfish which is named after them. You can see both of these things, and yet the strange fact is that neither of them is true!
The stars do not twinkle at all, and they are not stellate. The twinkling is the result of the intervening atmosphere, and not the fault of our eyes; but the second error can be easily brought home to our untrustworthy organs of vision by the following experiment.
Fig. 9.—The illusion of the stars.
Like many well-trained servants, the eyes are quite at a loss if anything contrary to the usual routine is presented to them. They know perfectly well the laws of perspective,—how in the ordinary course of nature these laws are never broken by a hairbreadth. They are therefore accustomed to judge in the fraction of an instant the size of an object by its apparent distance away. That this is the result of practice can be easily seen from the fact that very young creatures—human and otherwise—have no idea of the relative distances of objects, and strain to touch a distant gas-light, or, like a young calf, rush headlong into a neighboring wall which their green young[524] fancy deludes them into thinking is really some distance away. But as we grow older we learn many things, and perspective amongst others.
The Dwarf, the Man, and the Giant
Now if we make a drawing such as Fig. 10, which represents three men walking down a passage, our eyes know quite well that if all these men were of the same size, Mr. Jones in front would appear smaller than Mr. Smith behind him. And Mr. Smith in his turn would appear smaller than Brown who closes the procession.Yet in our illustration Jones appears a veritable giant, towering above Smith and making Brown appear a mere pigmy. If you measure them, you will find they are all three the same size.
The reason of the deception is this. The lines showing the passage disappearing into the far distance immediately suggest to the eye the correct perspective, and, knowing the laws of that perspective, the eye is perfectly convinced that if all three were the same size, Brown in the rear would appear proportionately bigger than Jones. As he does not do so, the eye immediately leaps to the conclusion that he must be very much smaller. It therefore telegraphs to the brain that Brown is a dwarf, following in the tracks of an ordinary man and a giant!
Fig. 10.—The dwarf, the man, and the giant.
Color Illusions
Most of us know the result of turning a series of circles (as in Fig. 11) horizontally with the eye. The circles appear to revolve rapidly round their center, and in different directions. This is solely because the eyes become confused, giving one more proof, were it needed, that they are no more infallible than anything else on this wide earth.Some very interesting experiments in color illusions can be made. So cunning is the deception played upon us by our eyes, it is extremely difficult to believe that some of the tints we see in the experiments are but imaginary.
Fig. 11.—Revolving circles.
Fig. 12.—The color top.
Fig. 13.—To make black print red.
You can make another top, after a similar fashion. Cut your[526] postcard as before, making one half of it black. Now, out of the white side, cut a segment with an angle of 45 degrees, leaving a little piece near the center as shown in Fig. 13. This piece you have left has nothing to do with the effect, but is simply to make the top revolve better.
Take an ordinary book, of which the printing is presumably black, and revolve the top upon the pin at the rate of about five turns a second (a sharp twitch with the finger will do this perfectly well). If you look at the printing now you will find the letters are colored red, as though the book had been printed in red ink!
In both these experiments the alternation of black and white has not only confused the eye, but has deceived it into seeing colors which do not really exist.
So we have shown very conclusively that the old proverb, “all is not gold that glitters,” can be applied to even the plainest of black and white; and, as the poet remarks, “things are not what they seem.”
Therefore, when people wish to impress you with the evidence of their own eyes and clinch an argument by stating that they saw such and such a thing and cannot be wrong, show some of these optical illusions and demand a better proof of what they affirm, very courteously assuring the dogmatist that the best of eyes are liable to make mistakes.
[527]
CHAPTER LXIII
CIPHERS AND CRYPTOGRAMS
Successful Systems of Secret Writing
From the earliest times secret writing has been considered no less an art than a necessity. Innumerable have been the systems invented and the means employed to insure the secrecy of messages and instructions. Yet in the passage of time by far the greater number of these methods of cipher has become obsolete and practically useless, failing in most cases to comply with the three great necessities which Bacon declared to be indispensable to all ciphers and cryptograms: (1) Easy of reading and writing; (2) difficult of solution; and (3) void of suspicion.Ciphers may be generally divided into two branches—code ciphers and letter ciphers. The first of these terms refers to systems so arranged that one group of characters represents several words or sentences, whilst the other term designates those cryptograms where each letter in every word has its corresponding symbol.
As letter ciphers are the more usual, and certainly the handier of the two classes, examples are given of some systems which have been successfully used at different times and for different purposes.
The simplest of all methods, and, for that matter, the easiest to be detected, consists in having an arbitrary list of numbers, one of which shall represent each letter in the alphabet—e.g., A appears as 4, B as 8, C as 12, &c.
This plan can be varied by substituting letters for the numbers, and having each letter of the alphabet represented by another letter—e.g., A being substituted by G, B by L, C by Q, and so on; but the disadvantages attending these very simple ciphers are so great that for a message of any real importance the system is useless.
In the same way the expedient of reversing the alphabet and making A represented by Z, B by Y, C by X, is too simple and generally known to require further description.
One of the easiest and earliest ciphers is shown in Fig. 1. This is written in the following manner: The “bounding” lines in which the desired letters are contained are drawn and the position of the[528] letter in them indicated by a dot. Taking, for example, Fig. 1, A would be one dot, B two, and C three dots inscribed inside the two lines forming the angle. Thus the word CIPHER would be written
.At this point it might be remarked that in all the examples here given the letters are arranged in their simplest order—that of alphabetical sequence; whereas, for practical purposes, they can be arranged in any form desired, the more complicated the better. To illustrate this Fig. 2 shows another arrangement of the letters, by using which the same word would appear
.| A B C | J K L | S T U |
| D E F | M N O | V W X |
| G H I | P Q R | Y Z |
Fig. 1.—One of the earliest ciphers.
| d j v | a o w | e p u |
| h l s | b m r | i y |
| g k t | c q x | f n z |
An example of another simple cipher created merely by the transposition of letters is shown in Fig. 3, which can be read by taking the first letter of the first line, the last letter of the last line, the last letter of the first line, and the first letter of the last, then the last letter of the first line, the penultimate letter of the last, and so on. When the letters in Fig. 3 are properly transposed they will be found to read “A very simple cipher.”
| a y p e i e |
| c e p |
| h r i |
| r m l s v |
Fig. 3.—Transposition of
letters cipher.
letters cipher.
Lord Bacon invented a cipher composed of two letters only, which, although confusing to the uninitiated, is somewhat too cumbersome for any general use. Supposing the two letters decided upon to be A and B, they are grouped into series of five and employed in the following manner: The first letter in the alphabet, A, is represented by AAAAA, B becomes AAAAB, C appears as AAABA, D as AABAA. Using this combination, the same word “cipher” would be written AAABA, BBAAA, BBBBB, AABBA, ABAAA, BBBAB.
Amongst the easy ciphers must be mentioned that shown in Fig. 4, which is used thus: In the center block of small type you find the[529] letters of the word you wish to write in cipher. Suppose it to be TO-MORROW. Now in the vertical column at the side you find that the letter on a line with “t” is A, whilst the letter at the top of the vertical column is G. Therefore the cipher letters for “t” are AG. The next letter, “o,” is on a line with B and under E, so the cipher letters are BE. In a similar way “m” becomes CD, and, proceeding with the remaining letters in the same fashion, we obtain the whole word written in cipher thus: AG, BE, CD, BE, BF, BF, BE, CG.| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | a | d | g | k | n | q | t | x |
| B | b | e | h | l | o | r | uv | y |
| C | c | f | ij | m | p | s | w | z |
Fig. 4.—The “two-letter” cipher.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a | b | c | d | e |
| 2 | f | g | h | i | j |
| 3 | k | l | m | n | o |
| 4 | p | q | r | s | t |
| 5 | uv | w | x | y | z |
Fig. 5.—The Nihilist code.
Russian Nihilist Code
An adaptation of the last-mentioned system is shown in Fig. 5, where the letters at the side and top are replaced by numerals. This method is very much in use amongst the Russian Nihilists, who would therefore write the sentence “Plot discovered” as follows: 41, 32, 35, 45; 14, 24, 44, 13, 35, 51, 15, 43, 15, 14.This, again, can be very much complicated by multiplying each number by the position held by the letter in the word. Thus in the sentence just put into cipher, P is the first letter in the word “plot,” L is the second, O the third, T the fourth, whilst in the next word D is the first, I the second, &c. You therefore multiply the ciphers in the first word by 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively, and deal similarly with those of the second word. The sentence thus treated would appear—41, 64, 105, 180; 14, 48, 132, 52, 175, 306, 105, 344, 135, 140.
To read this the system must be reversed, and each number divided by its position in the word.
A useful form of musical cipher is shown in Fig. 6, which explains[530] itself. In using this system it is usual to separate the different words by dividing the notes into bars, as can be seen from a glance at Fig. 7. Here it will be noticed that only crotchets and minims are used for ciphers, whilst the other notes introduced have no significance, only serving the purpose of confusing whoever has sufficient curiosity to pry into the message. Therefore, discordant as the passage may sound to the wrong person, it probably makes very sweet music to whoever has ears and eyes to understand its meaning.
Before proceeding to more complicated ciphers, that known as the fractional may be mentioned. This is a very simple method, and easily learned. The letters of the alphabet are divided into groups of five as shown in Fig. 8, each group being marked successively up to five, and each letter in the group treated in the same way. The numerator is used to designate the group to which the letter belongs, whilst the denominator shows the individual letter in that group.
| 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| f | g | h | i | j |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| k | l | m | n | o |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | q | r | s | t |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| u | v | w | x | y | z |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Fig. 8.—The fractional cipher.
Adopting this method the word CIPHER therefore appears as in Fig. 9. As numerals above 5 do not appear in this cipher any more than does the figure 0, they can be added at will to complicate the appearance of the cryptogram, as shown in Fig. 10, where the same word is shown with the addition of meaningless numerals.
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
Fig. 9.—The word
“cipher.”
“cipher.”
| 10 | 29 | 43 | 28 | 10 | 47 |
| 38 | 40 | 16 | 39 | 56 | 39 |
Fig. 10.—Complicated
fractional cipher.
fractional cipher.
The Sphinx
Now to turn to more scientifically constructed ciphers, such as have been employed by various Governments in correspondence with their ambassadors and secret servants.The Sphinx Cipher, shown in Fig. 11, is based upon a key-word of six or seven letters, previously arranged by the parties concerned A key-alphabet is written in full at the top of the plan, and against each letter of the key-word a complete alphabet is written as shown in the figure.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
| B | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a |
| A | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b |
| L | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b | c |
| F | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b | c | d |
| O | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b | c | d | e |
| U | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b | c | d | e | f |
| R | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a | b | c | d | e | f | g |
Fig. 11.—A Government cipher, called the “Sphinx.”
Suppose that the key-word chosen is BALFOUR, and that the message to be sent is WAR DECLARED LEAVE NOW, the key-word is then applied to the message thus:—
| W | A | R | D | E | C | L | A | R | E | D | L | E | A | V | E | N | O | W | . | |||
| B | A | L | F | O | U | R | B | A | L | F | O | U | R | B | A | L | F | O | . |
You then find in the top row the first letter of your message, which is W, and you see that the letter on a line with B and under W is X, which will be the first letter of your cipher. You then find A above and A by the side, which will give you C. You then find R above, and in the L horizontal column is its equivalent U. Proceeding thus with your message you arrive at the cipher, which reads: XCU HJISBTHH QKHWG QSB.
To read this it is only necessary to write the key-word under the cipher and reverse the proceeding.An ingenious cipher, used by the War Office of a well-known Continental Power, is partially shown in Fig. 12.
On two adjacent sides of a square entire alphabets are written, commencing at any letter (in the figure they begin at K in one and S in the other). Against each letter of the perpendicular alphabet the[532] entire twenty-six letters are written horizontally, beginning with A and continuing in order. Leaving the first of these horizontal alphabets simple, against the remaining twenty-five, small alphabets are written as you will see in the figure, which shows the plain alphabets and five letters so treated.
| K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | |
| S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| T | Aa | Ba | Ca | Da | Ea | Fa | Ga | Ha | Ia | Ja | Ka | La | Ma | Na | Oa | Pa | Qa | Ra | Sa | Ta | Ua | Va | Wa | Xa | Ya | Za |
| U | Ab | Bb | Cb | Db | Eb | Fb | Gb | Hb | Ib | Jb | Kb | Lb | Mb | Nb | Ob | Pb | Qb | Rb | Sb | Tb | Ub | Vb | Wb | Xb | Yb | Zb |
| V | Ac | Bc | Cc | Dc | Ec | Fc | Gc | Hc | Ic | Jc | Kc | Lc | Mc | Nc | Oc | Pc | Qc | Rc | Sc | Tc | Uc | Vc | Wc | Xc | Yc | Zc |
| W | Ad | Bd | Cd | Dd | Ed | Fd | Gd | Hd | Id | Jd | Kd | Ld | Md | Nd | Od | Pd | Qd | Rd | Sd | Td | Ud | Vd | Wd | Xd | Yd | Zd |
| X | Ae | Be | Ce | De | Ee | Fe | Ge | He | Ie | Je | Ke | Le | Me | Ne | Oe | Pe | Qe | Re | Se | Te | Ue | Ve | We | Xe | Ye | Ze |
Fig. 12.—Another Government cipher—still in use.
The cipher is used in this way. The letters in each word of the message are divided into couples. These couples are found in the doubled alphabets in the center of the cipher scheme, and the key letters at the side and top show the actual cipher equivalent.
Suppose it is desired to put into this cipher the words CABLE CODE. Dividing the letters into couples CA, BL, E. CO, DE are obtained. Finding the combination CA it is simple to ascertain that the index letters are TM, which is therefore the cipher. BL is EL, whilst the remaining letter E from the top alphabet is found to be SO. Treating the word CODE in the same way the ciphers prove to be HM, XN, and therefore the message is transmitted thus: TMELSO HMXN.So far an idea has been given of the systems of cipher from the simplest methods to the most complicated of political cryptograms. Although the actual details are necessarily hidden, it may be assumed as a positive fact that the most secret political ciphers now in use by civilized Governments are but adaptations of one or other of the methods described.
[533]
CHAPTER LXIV
SECRET SIGNS
Friend from Foe
In a condition of affairs where every man’s hand was against his neighbor’s, the necessity of being able to tell friend from foe was more urgent than in these peaceable times.When plotting was rife upon every hand, and one man possibly held the lives of many confederates in his power, knowing that an incautious word of his might doom them all to punishment and probably death, it became of paramount importance to have some means of discerning allies from enemies.
Obviously the means of finding out such important information must be such as to awaken no suspicion in the event of a mistake, whilst on the other hand there should be no possibility of a stranger inadvertently obtaining possession of the secret.
From earliest times the formation of Secret Societies has necessitated the invention of Secret Signs, and in nine cases out of ten, it may be said, the extinction of the societies from one cause or another has resulted in the loss of their secret signs of recognition.
There are, however, even now, several Societies or Fraternities whose members are possessed of certain signs whereby they can know each other, and in several cases they claim lineal descent from some of the old fraternities whose origins are lost in antiquity.
However, now that universal liberty, especially in this country, has abolished the necessity for concealment, secret political societies have disappeared, and with them their complicated systems of signs, tokens, and pass-words.
In certain colleges and schools societies still exist, and as a secret bond is held by many to be a very effective link in the dearest of friendships, below are given a few suggestions to enable you to invent some secret signs which shall be a tie between yourself and such friends as you may consider worthy of initiation into their meanings.
Like verbs, secret signs may be roughly classed into active and passive. Active signs are those which are given by movements of the limbs or contortions of the face, whilst passive signs are connected[534] entirely with the disposal of parts of the clothing or the wearing of various objects attached to the person.
Amongst active signs, the readiest in execution are those performed by the hands in view of the person, whose attention it is desired to attract, e.g., the signs can be given at the moment of shaking hands, where such a ceremony is observed.
“Shakes” and “Passes”
In this latter case a very good “shake” can be obtained by pressing the thumb firmly against the back of the hand, as shown in Fig. 1. This will arouse no suspicion in anybody ignorant of the meaning, though, if reciprocated, it forms an excellent sign of recognition.
Fig. 1.—A handshake sign.
Fig. 2.—An eyebrow sign.
On the other hand, there are many little actions, unnoticeable in themselves, which may have a great meaning to those “in the know.”
A simple stroking of the eyebrows (Fig. 2) is to all appearances a harmless movement, but in the secret signs of a well-known society it meant that treachery was in the air, and every person in the room would have to be watched.
In a certain Italian Society, clasping the forehead with the left hand as though in extreme weariness (Fig. 3) implied: “Be cautious, you are being watched.” A similar action with the right hand meant: “We are known, make your escape as best you can; leave me alone.”
In the same society, when a member found himself in a mixed assembly, and desired to ascertain who amongst the guests belonged to his fraternity, he would stroke his left cheek thoughtfully with extended first and second fingers, as in Fig. 4.
[535]
Fig. 3.—The sign of an Italian secret society.
Fig. 4.—The “cheek” sign of an Italian secret society.
Fig. 5.—The hat flourish.
1st. The right hand is raised to the shoulder, and then passed slowly down across the body to the left knee.
2nd. The right hand is placed upon the left shoulder, then drawn slowly down the left arm until it reaches the hand. Thus clasped they are raised to the breast.
3rd. The right hand is clasped, the thumb and little finger extended. The former is placed against the lips, whilst the latter touches the breast.
Those who desire to invent secret signs should avoid all those dependent upon an unnecessary action, like the hat-flourish. It is[536] more satisfactory to apply the secret to some everyday action which, from its very unobtrusiveness, will attract the attention of no stranger.
Members of certain religious secret societies to this day distinguish one another by a peculiar style of cross, worn as a pendant from the watch-chain, whilst a pass-word is current amongst them to enable them to test those whom they meet wearing the symbol.
The use of flowers in the button-hole is a very common method of attracting recognition, whilst a development of the same idea is seen in the wearing of different colored neckties or ribbons, which in a crowd will pass unnoticed save by those whose attention is desired. Yet to both of these systems a certain danger is attached, for there is always the chance of some unsuspecting person quite inadvertently wearing the same flowers or colors.
Every one has heard of the language of flowers, but it is surprising to what an extent this can be carried by enterprising young ladies with a good collection in the garden or green house.
It has been frequently proved that some safeguard is a necessary addition to the sign, and this safeguard usually takes the form of a pass-word. Repeated after the sign has been given, this word serves to show that the secret sign was neither given by accident nor picked up through curiosity.
Pass-Words
Pass-words, and the methods of giving them, vary considerably. The word, which must of course be known to all duly intrusted with the secret, should be of two syllables.One party called A says the first syllable, and the other person B repeats the second, then saying the whole word. Supposing the pass-word chosen be Oxford, A would make some remark introducing the word Ox, whilst B, replying in a similar vein, would mention the last syllable “ford” and conclude by repeating the whole word. With this system it is almost impossible for an outsider to palm himself off as one of the elect, even if he has become acquainted with all the signs of the society.
It is a well-known fact that gypsies have a concerted plan of signals which are employed to show members of the party the direction taken by their leaders.
The “Patteran”
The “patteran,” as it is called, is made in various ways. A piece of rag fluttering from some bush near a cross-road, is a favorite[537] signal, whilst small twigs or leaves strewn in a particular direction, have a somewhat similar meaning.Tramps and vagrants of all kinds have a series of signs, which they chalk upon the walls of the various houses at which they call, serving to inform their brethren of the treatment received at the hands of the occupiers.
By this method a rude cross will usually describe the rather chilling welcome offered them by an irate householder, whilst a rough sketch of a loaf of bread shows that the inmates are sufficiently sympathetic to dispense with a portion of “the staff of life.” On the other hand, an upraised leg with a boot upon its foot tells a tale which need not be further enlarged upon.
As to the various modes of recognition that can be produced by whistles and cries of all kinds, they are too familiar to require description in these pages.
[538]
CHAPTER LXV
GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS FOR THE BLIND
The Wonderful Sense of Touch
It cannot fail to strike those of us who are blessed with the use of our eyes how extremely fortunate it is that our blind friends need not be debarred from many of our games. Being deprived of their sight, their sense of touch is developed to such an incredible extent that in the playing of many games their fingers prove of the same use to them as our eyes do to us.Practically all games for the blind can be purchased at very moderate cost, yet as they can be quite easily made at home the following hints are offered in the hope that they will prove of use, and help some of our readers to entertain a friend less fortunate than themselves.
Cards
An ordinary pack of cards can be very simply adapted to the use of the blind.
Fig. 1.—Pin pricks showing value and suit of card.
Fig. 2.—Distinguishing marks for suits and color respectively.
In Figs. 2 and 3 are shown the marks which should be pricked. These are in the Braille alphabet, now universally understood by the blind, and read by them with the same ease as we read printing.
Fig. 3.—Values to precede the signs for suits.
Fig. 4.—Cards prepared for Patience.
In Whist or Bridge, each person, as he plays his card, states what it is, King of Hearts, and so on, as this saves feeling the cards after they have been laid on the table.
A very suitable game, calculated to amuse the player for hours, is Patience, under all its forms. For this the cards must be prepared somewhat differently, as in many games the first thing to be distinguished is the color.
The handiest plan is to mark a B or an R for Black or Red, in Braille characters immediately before, or underneath the denomination. A glance at Fig. 4 will serve to show what is meant.
With the cards thus marked, any game of Patience can be played as easily by a blind person as by an ordinary player.
Checkers
An ordinary Checker Board can be adapted for the use of the blind with very little trouble and no expense.Cut thirty-two squares of thick cardboard, each square identical in size with the black squares on the Checker Board. Upon each of the black spaces one of these pieces of card should be glued, so that when complete the board is composed of sunk and raised instead of colored squares.
For the convenience of any ordinary person who may be playing with a blind opponent, the cardboard squares should be colored black with India ink.
The checkers usually purchased have a molding on both top and bottom. It will simplify matters considerably if you can buy a set with one side only molded. By using the white men with the molding uppermost and the black men reversed, as in Fig. 5, the difference will be sufficient to enable the blind person to distinguish by touch.
Fig. 5.—Molded (white) and plain (black) draughts for the blind.
Halma
The preparation of a Halma board is very similar to that of a checker board. Having raised the alternate squares with cardboard,[541] the “Homes” at each corner should be further raised by glueing a piece of cardboard over all the spaces, and then raising the alternate squares upon this base, as in Figs. 6 and 6a.
Fig. 6.—Section of Halma board showing “Home.”
Fig. 6a.—Plan of raised corner.
Fig. 7.—Color distinctions for Halma men.
Dominoes
Owing to their construction, Dominoes really need no alteration to make them suitable for the blind, but care should be taken when[542] purchasing to see that the pips are cut deep into the ivory, so that the player can tell at a touch how many there are in the piece before him.Chess
This is one of the games in which the blind frequently excel, and in consequence it is a general favorite. The undivided attention they are able to give, and the natural acuteness which their affliction usually brings to such a pitch of excellence, serves them in good stead when playing “the king of games.”The board should be prepared as in the case of checkers, with the exception that points should be made from the back, in the manner described in connection with the Halma board.
The different men are, of course, by their construction, easily distinguishable from one another, but it will assist matters very materially if a set is used in which the men differ considerably in shape and size.
In the center of each piece a hole must be bored in the base, large enough to allow the man to be placed, and removed from one pin to another with ease. For this reason wooden chess men are preferable.
The question of distinguishing the colors has been solved in various ways. In some cases the tops of the men of one color have been halved, as shown in Fig. 8, and this has proved a very satisfactory arrangement.
Fig. 8.—Color distinctions for Chess men.
The following method seems to be as good as any, and has the advantage of being easily contrived. Drive a pin firmly into the heads[543] of one set of men (say the black), and either leave plain, or make a little knob of sealing-wax around the pinhead. This will render the different colors perfectly distinguishable to the blind player.
Round Games
In the majority of round games the blind are able to take an active part, but this depends very much upon the individual concerned. As a general rule rough games should be avoided, especially if the space for playing be limited.
Fig. 9.—The Braille Alphabet.
At spelling and guessing games the cleverest seeing player must look to his or her laurels, for the blind are very quick-witted in such[544] contests, and frequently have the answer ready while others are still repeating the question.
As a matter of interest as well as of use, the blind alphabet of the Braille system is shown in Fig. 9, and by this means letters and notes can be written, which will be perfectly intelligible to a blind person. In pricking the characters through a paper, it should be remembered that the points must be reversed, and the letters begun from right to left, as the blind person will read from the other side, where the pin-pricked holes will have raised little points of paper.
[545]
INDEX
- Blind, games for, 538
- Alphabet, the Braille, 543
- Cards, 539
- Checkers, 540
- Chess, 542
- Color distinction for Chess men, 542
- Color distinction for Halma men, 541
- Dominoes, 541
- Halma, 540
- Patience cards, preparation of, 540
- Bunkum entertainments, 127
- Ghost, a home-made, 138
- Lectures, Bunkum, 135
- Maids of Lee, three old, 133
- Thought-reading, 130
- Trick shooting, 137
- Ventriloquism, fake, 131
- Cartoons and “fake” sketching, 263
- Drawing-board for, 263
- Easel for, 263
- Figured faces, 267
- Leading characteristics of, 264
- Reversible scenes, 270
- Simultaneous drawing of, 266
- Smoke pictures, 269
- Subjects for, 264
- Charades, 76
- Scenery and “props” for, 76-82
- Children’s party, 477
- Ciphers and Cryptograms, 527
- Appointment, a musical, 530
- Cipher, an early, 528
- Cipher, the fractional, 530
- Cipher, complicated fractional, 530
- Cipher, Government, 531
- Cipher, a musical, 530
- Cipher, “two letter,” 532
- Code, the Nihilist, 529
- Letters, “transposed,” 528
- Lines, “bounding,” 527
- “Sphinx,” the, 531
- Writing, secret, 527
- Circus, home, 367
- Ball-balancing, 376
- Barricade and ring entrance for, 367
- Barricade, construction of, 368
- Cards, trick, 376
- Circus horses, how to make, 368
- Conjuring entertainment, a mock, 372
- Decorations for, 369
- Dog, performing, 377
- Horses for, 368
- Indian sack trick, the, 374
- Juggling, trick, 375
- Plates for spinning, how to make, 376
- Target for trick shooting, 373
- Tilting scene, 370
- Clairvoyance, 426
- Character, keys to, 427
- Crystal-gazing, 429
- Crystal, use of, 430
- Kingdoms, the three, 431
- Magnetism, power of, 428
- Sense, the sixth, 431
- Simple manifestation, 430
- Sphere, the mental, 433
- Visions, to create, 431
- Clog dancing, 244
- Clogs suitable for, 244
- Double shuffle, the, 247
- Single shuffle, the, 246
- Slide, the, 248
- Standing position for, 245
- Variations of double shuffle for, 247
- Conjuring, 158
- Dissolving coin, the, 163
- Magic dye-works, the, 160
- “Patter,” 162
- Servante, the, 158
- Table for, 158
- Wand, the magic, 159
- Watch and target trick, 165
- Dissolving views, 396
- Apparatus for, 396
- Apparatus for lighting, 398
- Exhibiting, 399
- Electrical effects, some, 285
- Arc lamp, principle of, 289
- Battery of cells, how to make, 286
- Battery of cells, tray for, 287
- Compass test, the, 288
- Decomposing water by electricity, 293
- Electrical weathercock, an, 290
- Electro-plating, 294
- Electrotyping, 294
- Force, magnetic lines of, 289
- Granulating zinc. 287
- Primitive electro-motor, a, 291
- Spark-producing, 288
- Warming water by electricity, 293
- Experiments, chemical[546], 312
- Chlorine, with, 313-314
- Electric fire, 315
- Freezing flask of ammonia to wood, 318
- Hydrogen, preparation of, 316
- Musical flame, a, 317
- Niter paper, 314
- Novel fountain, a, 319
- Soap bubble, to explode a, 317
- Sodium or potassium, with, 315
- Water’s affection for ammonia, 318
- Experiments, electrical, 272
- Discharger, the, 278
- Dynamic electricity, 272
- Electrophorus, the, 277
- Electrostatic motor, an, 282
- Faraday’s bell chimes, 284
- Frictional machine, for producing electric charges, 283
- Gold leaf electroscope, how to make, 276
- Leyden jars, how to make, 276
- Positive and negative electricity, 280
- Special apparatus for, 275
- Static electricity, 272
- Swinging mannikin, the, 281
- Experiments, more, 329
- Carbonic acid gas, 338
- Coin, a disappearing, 333
- Electrified balloons, 335
- Electrified paper, 334
- Exploding flour, 335
- Flying coin, the, 330
- Gas-making, 337
- Lamp-glass, a cigarette-smoking, 331
- Mirror, a novel, 333
- Refractory cork, the, 329
- Water swinging, 332
- Experiments, odd, 320
- Glass-cutting, 327
- Illusion, an optical, 321
- Pyrometer, the, 325
- Revolving man, the, 322
- Wall, mysterious writing on, 320
- Experiments, scientific, 297
- Bottle cannon, the, 310
- Changing water into wine, 300
- Electric fountain, an, 309
- Eruption of Vesuvius, the, 301
- Floating pins, the, 304
- Glass-emptier, a novel, 307
- Glass raising, 305
- Glass raising, extraordinary, 306
- Match trick, a, 298
- Peculiar candlestick, a, 302
- Swimming paper fish, the, 303
- Syphon, 308
- Tricolor glass, the, 299
- Vacuum, creating a, 305
- Fireworks, indoor, 400
- Designs for, 401
- Firework boxers, the, 403
- Frame and side wings for, 400
- Revolving wheel for, 401
- Views, changing, 403
- Fortune-telling, 452
- Arcana, Major, 461
- Arcana, Minor, 462
- Cards, by, 452-455
- Dice, by, 455
- Dominoes, by, 456-457
- Futurity, figured, 458
- Tarocs, divinations by, 461
- Graphology, 465
- Character by handwriting, 466-471
- Signs of, 466-467
- Handbell-ringing, 105
- Bell-ringing companies, 106
- Flourishing with, 108
- Handkerchief manipulation, 169
- Bow, the double, 170
- Knot, the disappearing, 172
- Knot, a flick, 172
- Knot, the one-hand, 169
- Knot, the wrist, 169
- Knots, the instantaneous, 171
- Hypnotism, 416
- Auto-suggestion, 422
- Gaze, the, 416
- Hands, motion of, 419
- Hypnosis, to induce, 416
- Hypnotizer, 422
- Hypnotist, 422
- Method, the mental, 416
- Method, the physiological, 416
- Self-hypnosis, 422
- Subject awakening, 424
- Test, a sure, 417
- Timing experiments, 424
- “Under-sleep,” 416
- Illusions, ghost, 183
- Coffin trick, the, 186
- Frauds, mirror, 183
- Ghost producing, stage for, 184
- Nymph, the sea, 186
- Paris, 185
- Plan of room for, 188
- Reflection, principle of, applied to ghost illusions, 183
- Illusions, optical, 519
- Black print red, how to make, 526
- Color top, the, 525
- Dwarf, the man, and the giant, 524
- Hills that don’t rise, 522
- Pins, the standing, 522
- Zollner’s lines, 521
- Illusions, stage, 189
- Cupboard, the magic, 189
- Disappearing princess, the, 199
- Floating lady, the, 194
- Indian basket trick, the, 197
- Mandarin’s head, the 191
- Mesmerism, Houdin’s, 195
- Queen Mary illusion, the, 193
- Reflection, principle of, for stage illusions[547], 189
- Impersonations, 41
- Rehearsing, 42
- Stage table for, 44
- Juggling, 225
- Double inside fall, the, 228
- Double over fountain, the, 231
- Double vertical fall, the, 228
- Falls from right to left, 227
- Horizontal pass, 227
- Inside and outside falls, 227
- Parallel fall, the, 226
- Shower, the, 230
- Triple shower, the, 230
- Triple over pass, the, 229
- Triple pass, the, 229
- Vertical fall, 225
- Make-up, 26
- Adhesia, 29
- Crêpe hair, 29
- Grease-paints, 26
- High lights, 27
- Juvenile, 29
- Liners, 28
- Lining, 26
- Lining paint, 27
- Lip-rouge, 30
- Low lights, 28
- Mustache-making, 33
- Nose putty, 32
- Old age, 31
- Removal of, 33
- Wig, measuring for, 32
- Wig, mid-gray, 31
- Wig-paste, 26
- Marionettes, 354
- Curtains, arrangement for drawing, 356.
- Curtain, movable, 356
- Figures, home-made, 358
- Interior decoration for, 357
- Puppets, the working of, 357
- Stage, construction of, 355
- Stage for, 354
- Stage, plan of, 354
- Marionettes, living, 363
- Black cloth arrangement for, 364
- Effects, comical, 365
- Stage for, 363
- Stage, sectional view of, 364
- Minstrelsy, 56
- End-men, 56
- Interlocutor, 56
- Make-up, minstrel’s, 57
- Negro minstrel troupe, seating arrangements for, 56
- Nigger black, 57
- Programmes, 60-61
- Songs and gags, 59
- Speeches, stump, 59, 65
- Wig, end-man’s, 57
- Wig, interlocutor and sentimentalist’s, 57
- Musical glasses, 101
- Harmonica, 101
- Musical sketches, 86
- Accompaniment, 89
- After-dinner stories, 86-87
- Burlesque, 91
- Dual art, the, 89
- Self-accompaniment, 88
- Mysteries, black stage, 174
- Assistant for, 175
- Barrel, the floating, 179
- Dimensions of, 177
- Head, the floating, 174
- Lighting, 178
- Vanishing man, the, 181
- Mystery, room of, 201
- Electric bells for, 207
- Ghostly sounds, apparatus for producing, 205
- Haunted house, how to make a, 201
- Magnet, use of, for mysterious tongue, 209
- Mysterious hatstand, the, 206
- Plan of, 206
- Potato trick, the, 209
- Palmistry, 437
- Characteristics, distinguishing, 437
- Hands, 437
- Hands, proportion of, 437
- Hands, quality of, 437-438
- Hands, shape of, 437-438
- Hands, texture of, 437
- “Mounts” and their signs, 438-439
- Palm, principal lines of, 441-443
- Phalanges, the, 440
- Papergraphy, 220
- Parlor games, 475
- Apples and nuts, 488
- Auction, the, 482
- Brothers, the blind, 484
- Buff, musical, 481
- Cabbages, 478
- Coming, the lover’s, 479
- Dog, the amiable, 489
- Fan fight, the, 480
- Gardeners, 476
- Hieroglyphics, magic, 481
- Jack’s going strong, 486
- Lawyer, the, 478
- Line, the longest, 481
- Name divinations, 486
- Panama Canal, 480
- Poets’ corner, the, 485
- Proverbs, 476
- Ring, the missing, 488
- Shadows, game of, 476
- Telegrams, 479
- Tidings, 477
- Whistle, the, 483
- Wizard photography, 487
- Peep-show[548], 378
- Candle stand and roof protector for, 380
- Lighting of, 380
- Scenes for, 380
- Scene-raising apparatus for, 380-381
- Stage front for, 379
- Peep-show, mechanical, 383
- Scene, a double-barreled, 384
- Wings, revolving, 385
- Phonograph, 97
- Programme for, 99
- Programme, a Sunday, 100
- Records, 97
- Songs, humorous, 97
- Photo pastimes, 341
- Blue print paper, 346
- One person in two places, 349
- “Photo-chemical,” 344
- Photography, meaning of, 341
- Photography, spirit, 350
- Photos, fireside, 343
- Pictures, imitations of crayon, 352
- Portrait effects, 352
- Printing double, 353
- Printing triple, 353
- “Stops,” 342
- White light, constituents of, 347
- Phrenology, 445
- Chart, phrenology, 445
- Craniology, 445
- Side, the humorous, 450
- Plate-spinning, 233
- Balancing, 236
- Plate waltzing, 238
- Prepared plates for, 235
- Spinning wand for, 233
- Table prepared for, 238
- Punch and Judy show, 387
- Figures, working the, 392
- Framework for, 387
- Ghost, how to make, 393
- Packing up, 389
- Puppets, how to make, 390
- Scenery for, 389
- Stage for, 388
- Squeaker, the, 395
- Puzzles, 510
- Anarchists, the dangerous, 511
- Chain, the broken, 513
- Checker, the traveling, 510
- Diamond cross, the, 513
- Donkey, catching, 512
- Like to like, 512
- Miter, the, 514
- Railway problem, 514
- Railways, the quarrelsome, 513
- Rings, joining the, 510
- Rows, the ten, 511
- Solutions to, 515-518
- Quick-change, 34
- Cues, 38
- Curtain-raiser, 36
- Dressers, 37
- Entrances and exits, 36, 38
- Scenery for, 36
- Sketch for, 39
- Transformations, one-piece, 39
- Recitals, 116
- Attitude for, 116
- Gesture, 119
- Second-sight, mechanical, 211
- Codes for, 211-219
- Secret Signs, 533
- “Cheek,” the, 535
- “Eyebrow,” the, 534
- Handshake, the, 534
- Hat flourish, the, 535
- Italian secret society, an, 535
- Pass-words, 536
- “Patteran,” the, 536
- Shadow drawings, 271
- Shadow shows, puppet, 256
- Plays for, 261
- Puppets, how to make, 257
- Puppets, manipulation of, 259
- Screen for, 256
- Stage for, 256
- Shadows, figure, 253
- Arrangement of screen for, 254
- Shadows, hand, 250
- Light for, 250
- Pictures, how to make, 251
- Screen for, 250
- Singing, 111
- Accompanist, value of, 113
- Breathing, 111
- Pronunciation, clear, 111
- Rehearsing, 114
- Songs, modern, 112
- Voice production, 111
- Suggestions in black, 62
- Banjo, 62
- Bones, how to play, 62, 63
- Jokes, 63
- Music for minstrelsy, 66
- Tableaux, 68
- Lighting arrangement for, 71
- “Props” for, 74
- Staging for, 71
- Table-turning, 434
- Medium, the, 435
- Medium, to discover, 436
- Power, magnetic, 435
- “Unbeliever,” to discover, 435
- Telegraphy, 410
- Alphabet, Morse, 415
- Framework for, 411
- Galvanometer, a, 410
- Keyboard, the, 413
- Message, transmitting, 414
- Needle, magnetized, 412
- Pointer, the, 412
- Receiver, how to make, 410
- Testing, 413
- Transmitter, how to make, 410
- Telephone[549], 405
- Bar-magnets for, 406
- Bar-magnets, testing, 406
- Battery with connection, 407
- Magnets, cases for, 406
- Microphone, 408
- Microphone, connection with, 409
- Microphone experiment, 409
- Mouthpieces, how to make, 406
- Receivers, 405-406
- Theatricals, 11
- Back-cloth for, 21
- Fire for stage, 19
- Fireplace for, 19
- “Flats” for, 14-15
- Footlights, the, 13
- Gesture for, 23
- Graining, 21
- Make-up for, 24
- Plays for, 22
- Potzentausend, play of, 22-24
- Prompter for, 23
- Proscenium, the, 21
- Scenery for, 13-14
- Scene-painting, 21
- Stage for, 12-13
- Stage door, the, 15-18
- Stage-manager, 25
- Stage porch, the, 18
- Stage sideboard, 20
- Stage trees for, 14
- Stage windows, 15
- Wigs for, 22
- Tight-rope, the, 240
- “Backward spring,” the, 243
- “Backward walk,” the, 243
- Balancing pole, the, 241
- Fixing bars for, 240
- “Forward spring,” the, 243
- “Forward walk,” the, 242
- Trick balancing on, 240
- Tricks and puzzles, parlor, 490
- Banana, the obliging, 500
- Bands, the mysterious, 501
- Bite, the magician’s, 506
- Bottle, to blow through, 494
- Fish, dying, 498
- Needle-threading extraordinary, 505
- Repeater, the magic, 499
- Scissor trick, 494
- Smoker’s fancy, 501
- String puzzle, 503
- Sunshine trick, 507
- Tangrams, 490
- Will-power test, 499
- Universal hat, 50
- Chapeaugraphy, 50
- Vamping, 92
- Vamping chords and relative changes, 93-96
- Ventriloquism, 140
- Breathing for, 143
- Dialogue, ventriloquial, 150
- “Distant,” 145, 151
- Figures, ventriloquial, 148
- Figure manipulation, ventriloquial, 149
- “Grunt” voice, 146
- Imitations, ventriloquial, 154
- “Near,” 144
- Speaking with still lips, 144
- “Theek” voice, 147
- Whistling, 123
- Solos, 125
THE END
Transcriber’s Notes
The language used in the source document has been retained (including inconsistent, archaic and unusual spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation), except as mentioned below. In particular, non-English words and phrases have not been corrected unless mentioned under “Changes made”.The (minor) deviations in spelling in the Index compared to the text have not been standardised.
Depending on the hard- and software used and their settings, not all elements may display as intended.
Discrepancies between illustrations and their descriptions (e.g., Fig. 1B in Chapter L) have not been rectified unless listed below. Items that cannot work as described (e.g. the rotating target in Chapter XX) have not been corrected or explicitly noted. Possibly offensive language (e.g. in the minstrel entertainment) and dangerous activities (as the experiments with hydrogen and chlorine gas) have been included in this transcription without further explicit warning.
Page 119, the David: as printed in the source document.
Page 184, The space, D, G, is also invisible: possibly an error for The space, D, C, is also invisible.
Page 216, The code for playing cards ...: the intended meaning of the suits (clubs and spades) given and the explanation (well and very well) in the text contradict each other.
Page 238. Fig. 9: the illustration may have been printed upside-down (cf. Fig. 10 and the text).
Page 295, various combinations of wines and liquids: as printed in the source document. Possibly an error for wires and liquids.
Page 458: It is not clear why One-blank is not listed.
Page 522, Figs. 7 and 8: The illusion “the standing pins” may not work in all formats; the bottom part of Fig. 8 has been added because it may be impossible to see the solution according to the directions given when reading this e-text.
Changes made
The (single) footnote has been moved to the end of the chapter.Some minor obvious typographical and punctuation errors and misprints have been corrected silently.
Page 65: emotional parts of thumping changed to emotional parts or thumping.
Page 214: closing bracket added after the last two responses by the professor.
Page 257: The complete illustration consisting of Figs. 10-12 has been flipped horizontally, as have the individual figures.
Page 295: ‘the coil has been mentioned’ changed to ‘the coin has been mentioned’.
Page 438: reference to Fig. 2 changed to reference to Fig. 3.
Page 475: CHAPTER LVIX changed to CHAPTER LIX.
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