One of my favourite feats is that of swinging round two bowls of water attached to the ends of a long cord, without spilling a drop of the water (Fig. 5). It is difficult. Here is an easier one which anyone can try. It is really a feat of Japanese swordsmanship which anyone can practise without a sword. Make two bands of tissue paper, about a yard long and an inch wide. Get a friend to hold two razors, one in each hand. Open the razors and hang the bands of paper on the blades. Now take a stick and hang it on the bands of paper. This must be done very carefully, or the papers will be cut. Then pick up. a broomstick and with a mighty blow come down on the centre of the stick. If you are successful you will break the stick without breaking the bands of paper (Fig. 6).

 

The blow must be given quickly, and immediately before the blow is given the broomstick should be brought up very rapidly so that the stick resting on the papers is lifted slightly by the current of air caused by the upward movement of the broomstick.

 

A simpler and easier experiment is that of causing an egg to spin on a tray by merely turning the tray with a circular motion.  The egg should be a blown one. Place it on the tray near the hand. Then cause the egg to move round the tray by slanting the tray in different directions.

 

When the egg is well on the move, keep the tray level and turn it round and round with a wide sweep of the arm. The motion will cause the egg to spin quickly on its side, and if the movement is kept up the egg will eventually spin so fast on its side that it will raise itself and spin on its end. The tray must then be held still and level.

 

Here is a feat which requires a little practice (Figs. 8 and 9). Put some water into four glasses and lay a tea tray over them. On the tray, immediately over the glasses, stand four little cardboard tubes. (These can easily be made by bending post cards into tubes and fastening them with stamp-paper.) On the tubes place four eggs. It will be advisable for the beginner to use hard-boiled eggs; small apples will do equally well. Now open the hand, and with the outstretched palm give the tray a sharp blow in such a way that the cardboard tubes are knocked away and the eggs fall into the glasses of water.

 

The blow must not be "followed up"; the hand should remain stationary when the tray has been knocked away. It must be a hard blow, and it is as well to have someone to catch the tray.

 

For the performance of the next simple feat, knowledge of a secret is necessary. Remove the egg from one of the glasses used in the previous feat. Take a strip of paper about an inch wide and six inches long and hold it with one end on the edge of the glass. Now lay a penny - very carefully - over the end of the strip of paper, so that the penny is balanced on the edge of the glass over the paper. The feat consists in removing the paper, using only one hand, without disturbing the balance of the penny. The feat is quite simple if two hands are used, because with one hand you can hold the free end of the paper while with the other you give a sharp blow on the centre of the paper and so draw it away from the glass. But only one hand is to be used. To do this, take a knife or ruler and bring it down very quickly on the paper; the feat cannot be done with certainty in any other way.

 

For the accomplishment of our next feat, the amateur must have what is known as a "straight eye." Place the crown of a bowler hat on the top of a bottle, with the brim parallel to the neck of the bottle and the crown resting on the bottle top. On the top side of the crown, immediately over the mouth of the bottle, place a cork, and on the cork lay a threepenny piece.

 

Pull the hat away very quickly, and, if the building­up has been done properly, the cork will fall to the ground and the coin into the bottle.

 

A feat requiring a very steady hand can be performed with a glass half-full of water. The feat consists in balancing the glass on its edge on the table. The slightest movement of the floor of the room renders the feat impossible, but it can be done after a very little practice by anyone with a steady hand - or rather, two steady hands.

 

The following is a more showy feat. Place a small tray over a tumbler half-full of water. On the tray, immediately over the glass, place one of the cardboard tubes used in a previous trick, and on the tube a hard-boiled egg. One the egg balance a fork. It may be necessary to scoop out the bottom of the cork to make it stand on the egg. On the top of the cork place three pennies. Now knock away the tray, and with the same hand, catch the three pennies. The egg should fall into the glass.

 

An easier one now. Take the cap from a fountain pen, turn it upside down, and put a visiting card on the top. Put a penny on the car, and on the penny a small nut. Now flick away the card with the thumb, so that the penny, with the nut on it, is balanced on the cap. Then flick away the penny so that the nut remains there.

 

Our final feat shall be one I frequently do in public. I borrow a penny from the audience and place it on the bottom of an inverted soda-water glass. Holding the glass with both hands, I blow under the penny and cause it to spin on the glass.

 

The learner should note that my hands are held on either side of the glass with the forefingers pointed upwards. Thus, I am able to get the glass quite level. The feat is impossible if the glass is not level. To begin with, I blow under the coin; when it has begun to spin I blow on one side of it. It is not necessary to blow hard to make the coin spin, and when the coin is spinning, properly its movement on the glass is noiseless. The glass should be slightly concave.