Harper's Young People, August 3, 1880 Part 10

MORE MIRTHFUL MAGIC.

BY W. B. BARTLETT.

THE BOOK PUZZLE.

The player agrees to let any person in the room turn over as many books, one at a time, as desired, while he is out of the room, and promises to tell you, upon his return, which book was turned over last. He goes out, and comes back when the person who turned the books says, "Come in."

When he opens the door, he says, "You must stay outside while I find out, so no one will suspect us of being in league with each other." The one who turned the books is then shut out, and the other selects any thin book, and leans it against the door, and says, "Come in." As the door is opened, of course the book is turned over on the floor, and the victim is told, "That is the last book you turned over."

THE NEWSPAPER TRICK.

Take a common newspaper or handkerchief, and request any one of the company to place it on the floor so that two persons can stand upon it at the same time, and neither be able to see or touch the other.

_Answer._--Place it across the door-sill, and let one stand upon it in the entry. Then close the door, and ask the other to step upon the other end in the room, and neither can see nor touch the other, for the door prevents.

THE COW PUZZLE.

Tell the company that seven cows were walking in a straight line into a narrow door, and say to them, "If you should ask the last cow, 'How many pairs of horns are before you?' what would she reply?"

Some will answer, "One pair," and some, "Seven pairs," but after puzzling them for a while, you can reply, "In the opinion of most scientists, she would not say anything, for she could not speak, poor thing!"

ANOTHER COW PUZZLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Draw a square with a lead-pencil, and say, "Suppose this field was inclosed with walls fifty feet high, without opening or possibility of digging under, and a cow was in there, how could you get it out?"

_Answer._--Rub it out.

CHARADE.

As by the fire the lovers sit, On rosy wings the moments flit; One little word confirms their bliss, And seals it with a loving kiss.

That bliss they never could sustain Without my second's golden grain; Yet if it does attend their feet, Their daily walk is incomplete.

My whole leaps forth from out the flame, Airy and light, but still the same; Showing a hard and common thing Made pure and white through suffering.

THE USEFUL SUNFLOWER.

In Southwestern Russia, between the Baltic and the Black seas, the sunflower is universally cultivated in fields, gardens, and borders, and every part of the plant is turned to practical account. A hundred pounds of the seeds yield forty pounds of oil, and the pressed residue forms a wholesome food for cattle, as also do the leaves and the green stalks, cut up small, all being eagerly eaten. The fresh flowers, when a little short of full bloom, furnish a dish for the table which bears favorable comparison with the artichoke. They contain a large quant.i.ty of honey, and so prove an attraction to bees. The seeds are a valuable food for poultry; ground into flour, pastry and cakes can be made from them; and boiled in alum and water, they yield a blue coloring matter. The carefully dried leaf is used as tobacco. The seed receptacles are made into blotting-paper, and the inner part of the stalk into a fine writing-paper; the woody portions are consumed as fuel, and from the resulting ash valuable potash is obtained. Large plantations of them in swampy places are a protection against intermittent fever.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A NAUGHTY LITTLE DOG.

"You bad dog, you's done gone tore my bes' bunnit mos' to pieces. I's a big min' to gib you a whippin' that you'll 'member. Yes, I has."]