Hocus Pocus; or The Whole Art of Legerdemain, in Perfection. / By which the meanest capacity may perform the whole without the help of a teacher. Together with the Use of all the Instruments belonging thereto.

To cure the tooth-ach.

This must be done by con­fed­er­acy, I won many a pint of wine by it; you must pretend you are grievously troubled with the tooth-ach, making wry faces and pretending a great deal of pain; then says your con­fed­er­ate, I will undertake to cure you in a quarter of an hour, it is a plain but a very safe and easy way, he then takes a thimble full of salt, puts it into a piece of paper, then says he, Hold this to your cheek on that side the pain lies, and it will be gone. You shaking your head at him, asking him, if he can find none to make sport with but you that are not disposed; he then proffers you to try his receipt, which, with seeming unwillingness take and hold it to your cheek a small time, then he will ask you if you find ease, you spitting much, say, Yes, truly I find it much abated; then he will say, to perfect it, lay down your paper upon the table, step into the yard and wash your mouth with a spoonful of cold water: Now (says he to the company, in your absence) You may see what conceit does, I will take out the salt, and put in the like quantity of ashes in the paper; laying it twisted as before in its place, then he coming in, takes up the paper again, and puts it into his mouth as before, the company will be laughing and fleering as tho’ you are ignorant, then privately convey the ashes away with the paper and another paper of salt like the former, as you must have in readiness as before, hold to your cheek, your con­fed­er­ate asking you, Well, what think you now? Why, indeed one would not have thought to have had so soon an alteration in a little; then will one or another say in company, Why, do you think you have salt in your mouth? Yes, I saw it taken out of the box; he will lay you a wager presently, that it is not salt, when by opening the paper, his folly is discovered, with no small sport to the company.

So let a con­fed­er­ate take a shilling and put it under a can­dle­stick on a table at a good distance from you, then you must say, Gentlemen, you see this shilling, then take your hand and knock it under the table, and convey it into your pocket: then say, The shilling is gone, but look under such a can­dle­stick and you will find it.

You must go and get you a post of about five or six inches long, and you must then get it turned hollow throughout, so that you may have a screw made just fit, and then put a needle at each end of the screw, and have two holes so contrived in the post that you may fasten two strings in the screw, so as when you pull one end of the string, the needle will run into your finger, and when you pull hold of the other end of the string, the needle will run into your thumb, which will cause great laughter to the campany. If these words are not sufficient for you to make one by, you may have them at my house ready made.