THE CUP AND HALFPENCE.

This, too, if well performed, is a most astounding trick. Three-pennyworth of halfpence are shown, and a small cap or cup. The halfpence are thrown on the table, picked up again, arranged one on the other, and the cap placed over them. A hat is then introduced, and shown to be empty: this is then held in the left hand under the table, the cap removed with the right hand, the halfpence shown and re-covered. The conjuror then says "Pass!" when the halfpence are heard to fall in the hat; the cap on the table is raised, and they are gone, and in their place a small die or threepenny-piece appears. The halfpence are then taken in the left hand, held under the table, and commanded to pass; and on raising the cap they again appear beneath it.

This trick is very simple though ingenious, and the solution of it is as follows: The cap is of leather or any similar stiff material, and made to fit over three-pennyworth of halfpence easily; and the "trick" halfpence are six riveted together, the upper one being entire, but the other five being turned out, leaving nothing but their outer rims. Three-pennyworth of genuine halfpence are shown, as also the cap; and after showing the halfpence, while gathering them in the hand, “palm” them and place the “trick” halfpence (inside of which is the die) on the table, and cover them with the cap. Then taking the hat in the left hand, command the halfpence to pass, and at the word drop the genuine halfpence into the hat, at the same time raising the cap on the table, and by pinching the sides of it rather tightly the "trick" halfpence are raised with it, and the die or threepenny-piece appears; then covering the die or threepenny-piece with the cap and the "trick" halfpence concealed in it, show the genuine halfpence in the hat, and command them to return; and holding the genuine halfpence in the left hand, lift the cap, and the halfpence again appear. Then taking the cap in the right hand, adroitly drop the "trick" halfpence into it, and tender the cap for scrutiny.

The table-cloth should be a thick and soft one, to prevent the spectators from hearing the die fall as the "trick" halfpence are placed on the table.

THE SHOWER OF SUGARPLUMS.

This is a capital finale to an evening's amusement, particularly with young children. A small bag, capable of holding about a pint, must be made of a piece of figured calico, of a conical shape, but open at the bottom or larger end, on each side of which must be inserted a flat thin piece of whalebone; at the upper or smaller end must be a small hook made of wire-a lady's hairpin will answer the purpose perfectly. The trick is performed in this way:

The bottom of the bag must be opened by pressing the opposite ends of the two pieces of whalebone, when, of course, they will bend and divide, and the bag must then be filled with sugarplums, care being taken to put the small bonbons at the top of the bag, and the large ones at the bottom next the whalebone, which will prevent the small ones from falling out. The bag when filled must on the first opportunity be suspended by its hook at the back of a chair having a stuffed back, so that it cannot be seen.

When the trick is to be performed, a large handkerchief must be shown, with a request that it may be examined. It is then laid over the back of the chair. A little girl must then be asked if she is afraid of being out in the rain, and on her answering in the negative she must be requested to kneel

down in the middle of the room. The performer must then place his left hand on the handkerchief, and feeling the hook which supports the bag, he raises it with the handkerchief, and holds it above the little girl's head; then passing his right hand from the finger and thumb of the left hand which hold the handkerchief and bag, downwards, he can easily feel the bottom of the bag, and on pressing the opposite ends of the whalebone, they bend and open, and the contents of the bag of course fall out in a shower, and a general scramble among the children takes place,

TO REMOVE AN EGG FROM ONE WINE-GLASS TO ANOTHER WITHOUT TOUCHING EITHER THE EGG OR THE GLASSES.

Place two wine-glasses touching each other and in a direct line from you, and in the one nearer to you must be placed an egg with its smaller end downwards. Then blow with the mouth suddenly and sharply and strongly against the side of the egg, but in a downward direction, when the egg will be lifted up, and falling over, will lodge in the other glass.

THE EGG IN THE BAG.

This, too, is a capital trick if quietly and neatly performed, and the more slowly the better.

A small bag is produced, rather larger than a sheet of note-paper, into which an egg (or rather the shell of one out of which the contents have been blown) is dropped. The corner of the bag must then be squeezed round it to show that it is there, and it may be felt by any one present. The corner of the open end of the bag is then held by the finger and thumb of the left hand, and the right placed in the bag, which is then held open end downwards, and the right hand withdrawn empty. The bag is then seized by the right hand, and struck violently against the table, and then crumpled up in the hands. It is then held with the mouth upwards, the right hand is again placed in the bag, and the egg unbroken produced.

The trick is performed in this way: The bag is made double on one side, thus forming a second bag, the mouth of which is at the bottom of the other. After the egg has been dropped in the bag and felt to be there, it is held in the right hand, while the bag is held bottom upwards, and then dropped in the second bag. The right hand is then withdrawn. When the edge of the bag is seized by the right hand, the egg must be also held in the same hand in the bag, and it is thus preserved from being broken when the bag is struck against the table, &c. The mouth of the bag being thus held upwards, the egg of course falls into the first bag, and is then taken out and shown.

TO FIX A PENKNIFE BY ITS POint in the Ceiling, and aftERWARDS PLACE A SHILLING SO EXACTLY UNDER IT THAT WHEN DISLODGED BY STRIKING the Ceiling THE KNIFE SHALL FALL ON THE SHILLING,

This is a most ingenious trick, and is done in this way: Mounting a table, stick the penknife by its point in the ceiling, but only sufficiently to support it. Then, after a deal of examination of its position, &c., place a piece of brown paper on the floor, on which put the shilling, and then say you will undertake to place the shilling so exactly under it that, when dislodged, the knife shall fall upon it. When wonder is excited, and it is declared to be im

possible, call for a glass of water; then mounting on the table, dip the penknife in the water and withdraw the glass: a drop of water will soon fall on the paper, and on that very spot place the shilling. You then strike the ceiling with your fist, when the knife will fall, of course, on the shilling. The knife chosen for the purpose should be one having rather a heavy pointed handle, as the drop of water will then fall from the most central point.

TO PRODUCE A CANNON-BALL FROM A HAT.

A ball must be turned out of any kind of soft light wood, and must have a hole bored in it large enough to admit the middle finger, and it should be painted black. The trick is performed in this way: On the front of the conjuring table, i.e., the side next the spectators, should be placed a few layers of books, high enough to conceal from view the ball or any other apparatus with which it is intended to perform. On the side of the books next the performer the ball should be placed, with the hole in it towards him. The hat should be placed on the books on its side on the left-hand end of the table, with its crown next the spectators. When the trick is to be performed, the hat should be shown to be entirely empty, and then returned to its position on the books; then, having placed a hat-brush or silk handkerchief at the right hand of the table, say, "This trick cannot be performed unless the hat is perfectly smooth," and while leaning to the right to reach the brush or handkerchief, which diverts attention to that end of the table, the middle finger of the left hand must be placed in the hole in the ball, which is thus slipped into the hat, which must then be carefully brushed and held crown_uppermost. The brush should then be put down, and the right thumb placed on the rim of the hat, with the fingers extended underneath so as to support the ball in the hat, and the left hand should then be placed in the same position, and the hat, with the ball in it, carried and placed upon another table. A small ball must then be produced, and a boy asked if he thinks he can hold it in his mouth, and told to try. The ball is then taken in the right hand, pretended to be thrown against the hat, "palmed," and concealed in the pocket. The boy should then be asked if he will again take the ball in his mouth, and while opening it the cannon-ball is suddenly taken from under the hat and placed in front of his face.

PUZZLES.

Puzzles are so numerous that to give the shortest possible description of every known puzzle would occupy an entire volume, and many of them are so complicated that to describe them fully would be impossible.

A few only have been selected, and those which have been well known for the last thirty or forty years have been intentionally omitted. As a brief key to most puzzles, it may be observed:

That, when a string is used, the key is generally to be found in a loop which can be drawn through a hole and slipped over a knot or a ball (see the balls and rings puzzle);

That, when a mechanical puzzle has a number of similar parts, such as a

row of dots, pegs, or holes, one of them is tolerably sure to contain the key (see the cage and ball and the sceptre puzzles).

THE NUMERICAL PUZZLE.

This will be found an excellent mental exercise. The puzzle consists in placing the balls, which are numbered from 1 to 9, in such positions that any line of the numbers, when added together, amount to the same.

Fig. I shows the manner in which the board is constructed: it consists of a circular frame of wood, over the centre of which green cloth is stretched,

and on it lines in the form seen in the cut; at the angles are holes for the numbered balls to rest in. To change the position of these balls to the places in Fig. 2, it will be seen that the numbers are the same in all the lines if reckoned together.

THE CAGE AND BALL.

This consists of four pillars fixed at either end into circular pieces of boxwood, which form the cage. The ball, which is kept imprisoned (as will be seen in the illustration), is not capable of being removed through the spaces

between the pillars, it being too large. The puzzle is, therefore, to find out a means for the ball to escape. After trying in vain to move the pillars up or

down, liberty seems impossible; but one of the pillars unscrews upon being twisted from left to right, when the cage is opened and the ball free.

THE BALLS AND RINGS.

This is a very ingenious puzzle. It is a round frame of mahogany 2 in. wide and in. thick; in this at regular intervals are holes, between which are placed rings on one side and balls on the other, as shown in the cut. These are made fast with cord, which passes through each and then through the

holes in the frame; the ends of the cord are then tied in the form of a cross from one side of the frame to the other (B, Fig. 1).

The puzzle is to remove the balls into the places of the rings without untieing the string-i.e., from one side of the frame to the other.

It is done thus. In Fig. 2 at A the cord is pulled up tight, when it forms a loop through which the ball will pass, still remaining on its own string, and then over the edge of the frame, the rings being removed in the same way one by one into the vacant places, until the whole have changed position from one side of the frame to the other.