EXPLANATION.--When you receive the thirty cards from the first person, you palm off five or six cards (the number is immaterial) and retain them concealed in your hand, handing the remainder to the second person. When he has counted off ten and placed them on the table, you take those that are left from him and hand them to person number one. When picking up the pile of ten from the table, while pretending to square it, you add the palmed cards and hand the pile thus increased to person number two. You must be careful not to allow the two persons to count the cards after the changes have been made. If you see they are inclined to do so, take the piles from them and place them in their pockets yourself.
Ask some one to shuffle the pack, and, on receiving it back, glance at the bottom card. Put the pack behind your back, and then turn the top card round with its face toward you; bring the pack in front of you, the bottom card facing the audience and the turned card facing you. Having already glanced at the bottom card, you can tell them its name, and you now know the card on top. Put the pack behind you again, and move the top card to the front, and turn the one now on top round. Again hold the pack up and name the front card, at the same time noting the card facing you. By repeating this process you can name all the cards in the pack. Take care to have all your audience in front of you, or the turned card will be seen.
Here is an absolutely new method of performing the same trick blindfolded, but with the aid of a confederate. You tell your friends that by placing your hands on a person's head you can see with his eyes. To illustrate this, tell your assistant to seat himself at a table, and you then stand behind him blindfolded, with your fingers lightly touching his temples. The cards are spread out faces down on the table, and no matter which card he picks up and looks at, you at once say what it is. Of course, you take the tip from him; but how? I will tell you.
He must keep his mouth shut and his teeth together. The slightest pressure between his upper and lower teeth--so slight that it is quite imperceptible--will cause his temples to throb--try it on your own temples--and, of course, by the arrangement of a very simple code he can communicate to you the name of each card. Say one throb stands for hearts, two for diamonds, three for clubs, and four for spades. We will say his temples throb twice. You say, "You are looking at a diamond." Then we will suppose they next throb five times. You say, "It is the five of diamonds," and so on. When you come to an ace, of course one throb will suffice; when he picks up a knave, let him give two throbs in rapid succession--a kind of postman's knock; a queen, a postman's knock and one throb over; and for a king, a double postman's knock--rat-tat, rat-tat. With a little practice and a more elaborate code, you can describe all kinds of articles which may be selected--keys, watches, books, etc. It is a capital trick and one which no one can possibly discover.