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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
86
TO
GUESS,
BY
THE
AID
OF
A
PASSAGE
OF
POETRY
OR
PROSE,
SUCH
ONE
OF
SIXTEEN
CARDS
AS,
IN
THE
PERFORMER’S
ABSENCE,
HAS
BEEN
TOUCHED
OR
SELECTED
BY
THE
COMPANY.--This
feat
is
performed
by
confederacy,
the
assistance
of
the
confederate
being
open
and
avowed,
but
the
mode
in
which
the
clue
is
given
constituting
the
mystery.
You
allow
the
pack
to
be
shuffled,
and
then
deal
sixteen
cards,
the
first
that
come
to
hand,
either
face
upwards
or
face
downwards,
in
four
rows
on
the
table.
The
sole
preparation
on
the
part
of
yourself
and
your
confederate
is
to
commit
to
memory
the
following
simple
formula--animal,
vegetable,
mineral,
verb,
signifying
respectively
one,
two,
three
and
four.
You
retire
from
the
room
while
the
card
is
chosen,
your
confederate
remaining.
Upon
your
return
your
confederate
selects
and
hands
for
your
perusal
a
passage
in
any
book
which
the
audience
may
select,
only
taking
care
that
the
first
word
in
such
passage
which
comes
within
either
of
the
four
categories
above
mentioned,
shall
be
such
as
to
represent
the
number
of
the
row
in
which
the
card
is,
and
that
the
second
word
which
comes
within
either
of
those
categories
shall
represent
the
number
at
which
the
card
stands
in
that
row.
We
will
suppose,
for
instance,
that
the
passage
handed
to
the
performer
is
that
portion
of
Hamlet’s
soliloquy
commencing,
“Oh,
that
this
too
too
solid
flesh
would
melt.”
Here
the
first
word
which
comes
within
either
of
the
four
categories
is
“flesh,”
which,
being
clearly
animal
(1),
indicates
that
the
chosen
card
is
in
the
first
row.
The
second
word
coming
within
either
of
the
categories
is
“melt,”
which,
being
a
verb
(4),
indicates
that
the
chosen
card
is
the
fourth
of
its
row.
Had
the
passage
been
“To
be,
or
not
to
be,
that
is
the
question,”
the
two
verbs
would
have
indicated
that
the
card
was
the
fourth
of
the
fourth
row.
“How
doth
the
little
busy
bee,”
etc.,
would
have
indicated
the
first
of
the
fourth
row,
and
so
on.
With
a
little
tact
and
ingenuity
on
the
part
of
the
operators,
this
may
be
made
an
admirable
trick,
and,
unlike
most
others,
will
bear
being
repeated,
the
mystery
becoming
deeper
as
passages
of
varying
character
and
different
length
are
employed.
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