ARRANGE a pack of cards en chapelet,48 and provide yourself with a few loto cards (all alike),
whose three rows of numbers you have committed to memory.
Get some one to cut from the pack a pretty large number of cards (about half the full quantity); give the remainder to some other spectator, and ask the two holders of the cards each to sort his portion into the different suits. This is done in order to destroy the arrangement of the cards, which otherwise some specially acute person might possibly notice.
This done, ask a third spectator to choose one of the loto cards, which you offer him for that purpose. You then announce to the company that you are gifted with a very remarkable memory, and that you only need a single glance to enable you to learn. anything instantaneously by heart. You ask the first person to shew you the cards which she has just sorted as above-mentioned. You glance at them for a moment, and hand them back again; then ask for the loto card which was selected, run your eye rapidly over it, and return it.
Inform the person who holds the remainder of the pack that his duty will be to see that not one of the cards you are about to require from the first person is among those in his own possession. Begin by asking for five or six cards, taking care however not to ask for the one which
commences your series. Next ask the spectator who has the loto card to tell you which row ―
top, bottom, or middle ― you shall name. When a row has been selected, state the numbers which compose it.
Again ask for such and such cards; have a second row of numbers selected, which you name accordingly; then ask, one by one, for all the cards remaining in the hands of the spectator, with the exception of the one which commenced series.
State the last row of figures on the loto card. Name the remaining card of the chapelet, take back the other half of the pack from the person charged to check your operations, have the card you last named (the first of your series) replaced in the middle of the pack; make the pass, palm off the card, give the pack to some one to hold; get rid of the card, and announce that you propose to make it pass into one of the two candles which are on your table, whichever the company may choose. (You have beforehand taken the precaution to prepare both candles accordingly.) Ask someone to look through the pack, so as to make certain that the card is no longer therein, then cut the candle in half, and produce the card from it.
You may further elaborate the trick by placing an almanac in the hands of the spectators, who may indicate, first any month, then any given day of that month, when you will tell them instantly on what day of the week the date so chosen falls.
48 En chapelet, i.e. placed in a known order, corresponding with a given formula or memoria technica, so
To produce this result, you may, if you please, learn an almanac by heart;49 but you will do better to prepare seven pieces of pasteboard, on the faces of which you have printed very bold letters indicating the seven days of the week, thus―
M, TU, W, TH, F, SA, SU.
You hand these cards to a confederate, who will take his place among the company, and will quietly hold up, when required the card answering to the date indicated.
To work this last feat smartly, you should first ask some one to name a month. When he has done so, you ask for cards, or name the numbers on the loto card, thereby giving time to your confederate, who is provided with an almanac, to look out the month indicated. You then ask some one to name a date in that month; and it will be for your confederate to find out that date as quickly as possible. You may, however, give him time by repeating the question asked, "Let me see, the ― of ―? That falls on a ―."
As your confederate is placed facing you at the extreme rear of the hall, and the attention of all present is naturally attracted to yourself, no one is likely to suspect the artifice employed.
The trick may be presented as follows:
49 This, which is apparently "wrote sarcastic," as Artemus Ward would say, is perfectly practicable, and a
far more artistic mode of performing the trick than the clumsy method suggested. The day of the week in which any given date falls may be readily ascertained, as follows: ―You must commit to memory the date of the first Saturday in each month. This is not a very difficult matter in any case, and by the help of some simple form of mnemonics, should be mastered in a few minutes. For instance, the following doggrel verse will give the date of the first Saturday in each month for the year 1887:
Feb'ry, March, November, five,
To merry May we seven give;
Six for August stands alone; For Jan'ry and October one; Two for April and July;
Four will the date for June supply; And three we may divide between September and December.
Beating these lines in mind, you have merely to subtract from the required day of the month the date of the first Saturday, as above; then divide by seven and the remainder will give the day of the week, one indicating Sunday, two Monday, and so on. Suppose, for example, the required date is June 29. We subtract in the first place four, being the number of the first Saturday in June. This leaves 25. Dividing by seven, we have, as remainder, four, indicating that the 29th June (1887) falls on a Wednesday. Again, take September 30. Here we subtract, in the first place, three, and dividing the surplus, 27, by seven, we have six remainder, indicating that September 30 falls. on a Friday. If there is no remainder, the date in
question will fall on a Saturday.
Suppose, however, that the date required is one earlier than the first Saturday, for instance, the 2nd of December, the first Saturday in that month falling on the third. In such case you have merely to reckon backwards from the first Saturday; a very simple matter.
Where (as in the case of May) the first Saturday falls on the seventh, the required date, if below that number, will itself indicate the day of the week, e.g., in such case the 1st will fall on a Sunday, the 2nd on a Monday and So on. --TRANS.
"The pack of cards I hold in my hand, ladies and gentlemen, is composed, as packs usually are, of thirty-two cards, all different.
"I will ask you, madam, to take from this pack a pretty large number, say half, or thereabouts, and to sort them into the different suits. I will hand the rest of the pack to you, sir. Perhaps you will kindly do the same thing. Your duty, sir, will be to check my operations; that is to say, to assure yourself that the cards which I shall presently ask this lady to give me are not among those you hold. You will please ascertain this, as I call for the cards.
“Here again I have a set of loto cards. The game of loto has now gone out of fashion, and I haven't the smallest intention of challenging you to play at it. I shall merely ask this young lady to choose one of the cards.
"And, lastly, I will pass round this almanac, commencing, sir, with you.
“You have no doubt heard of persons gifted with extra ordinary memories, and you have probably envied the fate of the happy mortals so richly endowed. Now, I will undertake to prove to you, that anybody may possess, if he pleases, an excellent memory. All that is needed is cultivation.
“I myself had naturally a shocking bad memory; so much so that, when I was at school, I was always getting punished, for not knowing my lessons. Luckily, an old usher who took a great interest in me undertook to impart to me the power of immediately learning by heart anything I chose. And I may fairly say that, though it cost me a great deal of hard work to acquire the faculty, my efforts were crowned with success. To prove the fact, I will ask this lady to spread out, fan-wise, the cards she holds in her hand, and to show them to me. Thank you, madam, that is quite sufficient, I know them all. Now, miss, will you oblige me with your loto card for one second. I return it, with thanks. That single glance has enabled me to learn by heart all the numbers on it. As to the almanac, I mastered that long ago; and if the school-boards only knew how valuable I find it, they would immediately make the almanac one of the compulsory subjects in all their schools.
"Will you be kind enough to name any month you please, sir? January? Very good. Meanwhile, madam, may I trouble you to give me, from the cards you hold, the ten of hearts, the eight of clubs, the nine of diamonds, the knave of spades, the ace of hearts, and the seven of clubs.50 "And you, miss, which row of the figures on your loto would you like me to repeat? The middle row? Good; 14, 39, 58, 79.
"You selected the month of January, sir. Will you be kind enough to name some particular date? The twenty-first? The twenty-first of January falls on a Friday. Please to pass the almanac to the lady next you? What month, madam? June?
50 It is obvious from this series that the formula or chapelet employed by the writer is the familiar “Le Roi dix-huit ne valait pas ses dames,” meaning, “Roi dix huit neuf valet as sept dame,” or, “King ten eight nine
“Will you now give me, madam, the queen and king of diamonds, the ten of spades, the eight of hearts, the nine clubs, the knave of diamonds, the ace of spades, the seven hearts, and the king and queen of clubs? Thank you!
"Which row of figures, miss? The top row? 24, 44, 66, 86.
"What day in the month of June, madam? The first? The first of June is a Wednesday. Pass the almanac on, please, to the gentleman next you. What month, sir? December?
"Madam, will you give me, if you please, the king of clubs, ―no, we have already had that card ―will you give me the ten of diamonds, the eight of spades, and the nine of hearts?
"The last row of figures on the loto card is 1, 25, 44, 69, 70. What date in the month of December, sir? The seventeenth. The seventeenth of December falls on a Saturday.
"Madam, you have only one card left, I think; it is the king of spades. Retain it for one instant, if you please." (To ensure this feat producing its full effect, the performer must have a pretty good memory, and carry the above scene through smartly without any hesitation.)
“You see," you continue, "what a result may be attained by a little practice. I wish all the young ladies and gentlemen at school would take example by me. It would be an excellent thing for them.
"Now, sir,"―to the gentleman who holds the lower half of the pack,― "as there is nothing more for you to check, kindly hand me back the cards.
"Madam, will you be kind enough to place your king of spades here, in the middle of the pack, which I will leave in your own keeping. Now will you be kind enough to tell me into which of the two candles on the table I shall pass that king of spades? Into this one? Very good. I just take the card on my wand, and say `Fly.' The deed is done. Look in the pack, the card is there no longer. I cut the candle in two, and ― here it is. I will not detain you longer with this experiment, which, after all, is really nothing very surprising. I merely wished to prove to you, that with determination you may conquer anything, even a very refractory memory."