University of Virginia Library

1. To tell a card thought of by a party after three deals. Take twenty-one cards of a pack, and deal them out one by one in three lots, requesting the party to think of a card, and remember in which lot it is.

Having dealt out the cards, ask the party in which lot the card is.

Take up the lots successively, and place the lot containing the card in the middle.

Deal out the cards again, and ask the party to state in which lot the card is; and proceed as before, placing the lot containing the card in the middle.


400

Deal out the cards in like manner a third time, proceeding as before.

Then deal them out as usual, and the eleventh card will be the one thought of, infallibly. This is the usual way of showing the card thought of; but, as the trick may be partly discovered by the counting, it is better to hold the cards in your hand, and take out the eleventh card, counting to yourself, of course, from the left hand, but pretending to be considering the guess.

This is apparently a most mysterious trick, although a necessary consequence of the position of the lot containing the card in the three deals.