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Audacity: Mutus

Tell out twenty cards in pairs, and ask ten people to take a pair each, and remember them. Take up the pairs in their order, and lay them on the table in order, according to the accompanying table, which forms a memoria technica, and may be construed. Mutus gave a name to the Coci, (a people who have yet to be discovered.) Arranging these words in your mind on the table, take the first card of the first pair, lay it on M in Mutus, and the second on the M in Nomen. The next pair goes entirely in Mutus, being two U's. The first card of the second pair goes on T in Mutus, and the second on T in Dedit; and so on until all the cards are laid in their places.

Ask each person in succession in which rows his cards are, and you can immediately point them out. For example, if he says the second and third row, you point out the second and fourth cards in those rows, because they both represent the letter E. If another says the first and last rows, you point out the last card in each, because the cards represent s in Mutus and s in Cocis. It will be seen that the whole table consists of ten letters, each repeated. 17. THE QUEEN DIGGING FOR DIAMONDS.

Select from a pack the aces, kings, queens, and knaves, together with four common cards of each suit. Lay down the four queens in a row, and say, "Here are four queens going to dig for diamonds. (Lay a common diamond over each queen.) They each took a spade with them (place a common spade on each diamond) and dug until they were nearly tired. Their four kings, thinking that they might be attacked by robbers, sent four soldiers to keep guard. (Lay an ace on each spade.) Evening came, and the queens had not returned, so the kings, fearing that they might have come to harm, became uneasy and set off themselves. (Place a king on each ace.) They were only just in time, for as they came along, they met their queens being carried off by four villains (lay a knave on each king), who, although only armed with clubs (place a common club on each knave), had overpowered the guards and driven them off. But the four kings, being possessed of bold hearts (lay a common heart over each king), soon vanquished the villains, and bound them." Gather up the cards, place the heaps upon each other and direct some one to cut them. Have them cut four or five times, and continue to do so until a common heart appears at the bottom. Then continue the tale, and say, "The party then returned home in the following order. First the queen (lay down the top card) with the diamonds which she had found (lay down the second card, which will be a diamond) in one hand, and her spade (the third card will be a spade) in the other, &c. &c." You continue dealing out the cards in that manner, and it will be found that they will be in precisely the same order as when they were taken up. 18. THE TRIPLE DEAL.

Take any twenty-one cards, and ask some to choose one from them. Lay them out in three heaps, and ask the person who took the card in which heap it is. You may turn your back while he searches. Gather them up and put that heap between the other two. Do this twice more, and the chosen card will always be the eleventh from the top. 19. THE QUADRUPLE DEAL.

This is a variation of the preceding. Take twenty-four cards, and lay them in four heaps. Act as in No. 18, putting the heap in which is the chosen card second. The tenth card will be the one thought of.