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Popular Mechanics Co.

"The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do"

Cut the pin in half and push it through
from the under side until the head of the pin touches the
cardboard. Spin slowly in a strong light and some of the lines
will appear colored. The colors appear different to different
people, and are changed by reversing the rotation.
[Illustration: An Optical Top]

** Card Trick with a Tapered Deck [70]
Another simple trick to perform but one not easily detected, is
executed by using a tapered deck of cards as shown in Fig. 1. A
cheap deck of cards is evened up square, fastened in a vise and
planed along the edge in such a manner that all the pack will be
tapered about 1/16 in. This taper is exaggerated in the
illustration which shows
[Illustration: Cards from a Tapered Deck]
one card that has been turned end for end.
It is evident that any card reversed in this way can be easily
separated from the other cards in the pack, which makes it
possible to perform the following trick: The performer spreads the
cards out, fan-like, and asks an observer to withdraw a card,
which is then replaced in any part of the pack. After thoroughly
shuffling the cards the performer then holds the deck in both
hands behind his back and pronouncing a few magic words, produces
the card selected in one hand and the rest of the pack in the
other.


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