Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

You then address your audience to the following or some similar effect:--“In the old style of conjuring, I should merely have picked out your card, and handed it to you; and there was a time when people would have thought that a very good trick, but nowadays we should regard that as a very lame conclusion. I can assure you that I have not the smallest idea what your card was. How do you suppose I intend to find out?” Various guesses are hazarded, but you shake your head at each. “No,” you continue, “my process is much simpler than any you have suggested. I shall merely order the card you chose to walk out of the pack, and come to me.” Pronounce any magic formula you like, at the same time beckoning to the cards, and gradually withdrawing yourself away from the table, when the card must needs follow you. As it reaches the edge of the table, receive it in the left hand, and then take it in the right, drawing off with the first finger and thumb of the left hand the wax at the back. Ask the person who drew whether that was his card, and again hand the card and the rest of the pack for examination. This little trick, though simple, will require a good deal of practice to enable you to perform it neatly, but the effect produced by it will well repay your trouble. It may be well to mention, once for all, as bees’-wax is an article of frequent use in magical operations, that if, as sometimes happens, the pure wax is found too hard, or not sufficiently adhesive, the addition of a small quantity (say an eighth part) of Venice turpentine, mixed with it in a melted condition, will make it all that can be desired.