With a Piece of Cord.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue III, 18 July 1903, Page 148

With a Piece of Cord.

Take a piece of cord about two yards long, hold the two ends with the thumb and index finger oi tne right hand and form the figure shown

on the left side of the Illustration on the table. The task is to pull the cord off the table while another person is trying to prevent it by placing the index finger on any spot insiae the figure formed by the cord. "You may be certain that anyone win select the part of the loop marked with O. When we now pull the two ends of the cord it will slide past the linger that is trying to prevent it. Let us start over again. We lay the cord again and declare that if the partner places the index finger on the same spot of the figure the finger will be caught and the cord will not be removed. The partner places the finger on P, we pull, ano the cord is actually held fast. Solution: The partner has not noticed that we have changed the loops of the cord. By comparing the two fig-ures in our illustration you w-Hl notice the change. In the figure on the left the right end of the cord forms first the loop a, while in the figure on the right it forms nrsr the loop behind it, so that in this case the loop a belongs to the left end of the cord.