steady hand you can balance the whole on a pencil's point.

[Illustration: FIG. 1]

[Illustration: FIG. 2]

[Illustration: FIG. 3]

[Illustration: FIG. 4]

Or you can balance a coin edgeway on a needle's point. The needle is
stuck firmly into the cork of a bottle, and the coin is fixed in a
slit cut in a cork, in which two forks are stuck. (Fig. 2.)

The simplest of these tricks is to balance a pencil on the tip of your
finger by sticking two pen-knives in it, one on each side. (Fig. 3.)

A cork with two forks stuck in it can be made to balance almost
anywhere--on the neck of a bottle from which the contents are being
poured for instance. (See fig. 4.)

Amusing toys can be constructed on this principle. Tumbling dolls are
made of light wood or cork, glued to the flat side of a half bullet.
No matter how often they are knocked flat, they rise again at once.

The Dancing Egg

Another good trick that needs a little practice is to make an egg
dance. Boil an egg hard, keeping it in an upright position (between
cups set in the water or in some other way). Then turn a plate bottom
side up and put the egg on it. Turn the plate around, more and more
quickly, always holding it flat and level, and the egg will rise on
its end and stand quite straight while it spins about.

The Dancing Pea

A pea can be made to dance on a column of air as you sometimes see a
rubber ball rising and falling in a fountain of water. Take a piece of
a clay pipe about three inches long, and make one end into a little
rounded cup, by cutting the clay carefully with a knife or file. Then
run two small pins cross-wise through a big, round pea, put the end of
one pin in the pipe and hold the pipe in an upright position over your
mouth. Blow gently through the pipe and the pea will dance up and
down.

The Glass-Maker

Another trick to play with pins is the glass-making pin. Cut an
ordinary rubber band in two, and stick a bent pin through the middle
of this. Now hold an end of the elastic in each hand and whirl it
rapidly around, stretching it a little. The revolving pin will at once
assume the appearance of a tiny glass vase, or tumbler, and the shape
can be varied at will. It is best to have a strong ray of light on the
pin and the rest of the room darkened.

[Illustration: THE GLASS-MAKER]

Electricity

Various tricks can be played by means of the electricity in paper.
Ordinary sealing wax, rubbed briskly on a coat-sleeve unti