Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

TO CHANGE, INVISIBLY, THE NUMBERS SHOWN ON EITHER FACE OF A PAIR OF DICE.--Take a pair of ordinary dice, and so place them between the first finger and thumb of the right hand (see Fig. 116), that the uppermost shall show the “one,” and the lowermost the “three” point, while the “one” point of the latter and the “three” point of the former are at right angles to those first named, and concealed by the ball of the thumb. (The enlargement at a in the figure shows clearly the proper position.) Ask someone to name aloud the points which are in sight, and to state particularly, for the information of the company, which point is uppermost. This having been satisfactorily ascertained, you announce that you are able, by simply passing a finger over the faces of the dice, to make the points change places. So saying, gently rub the exposed faces of the dice with the forefinger of the left hand, and, on again removing the finger, the points are found to have changed places, the “three” being now uppermost, and the “one” undermost. This effect is produced by a slight movement of the thumb and finger of the right hand in the act of bringing the hands together, the thumb being moved slightly forward, and the finger slightly back. This causes the two dice to make a quarter-turn vertically on their own axis, bringing into view the side which has hitherto been concealed by the ball of the thumb, while the side previously in sight is in turn hidden by the middle finger. A reverse movement, of course, replaces the dice in their original position. The action of bringing the hands together, for the supposed purpose of rubbing the dice with the opposite forefinger, completely covers the smaller movement of the thumb and finger.