1849. Robert Heller saw Houdin give an exhibition of “second sight” in

London. It was the idea of people at the time that the experiment was the result of animal magnetism, but the acute Heller thought otherwise, and he went to work to perfect a system that far exceeded any of his predecessors in the art, adding certain subtle improvements that made the trick all but supernatural. Briefly stated, the effect is as follows: A lady is introduced to the audience as possessed of clairvoyant powers. She is blindfolded and seated on the stage. The magician, going down among the spectators, receives from them various articles which the supposed seeress accurately describes; for example, in the case of a coin, not only telling what the object is, but the country where it was coined, its denomination and date. In the case of a watch, she gives the metal, maker’s name, what kind and how many jewels in the works, and, lastly, the time to a dot. And the same with other objects, no matter what they may be. Nothing offered by a spectator seemed to baffle Houdin and Heller. Half-obliterated Roman, Grecian, and Oriental coins were described with wonderful ease and accuracy by the assistant on the stage; also secret society emblems and inscriptions thereon, numbers on bank-notes, surgical instruments, etc. [Illustration: ROBERT HELLER.] At a performance in Boston, described by Henry Hermon in his work, “Hellerism,” a coin was handed to Heller. He glanced at it for a moment and asked his assistant to name the object. “A coin,” she quickly replied. “Here, see if you can tell the name of the country, and all about it,” he next inquired. Without a second’s hesitation she answered, “It is a large copper coin--a coin of Africa, I think. Yes, it is of Tripoli. The inscriptions on it are in Arabic; one side reads, ‘Coined at Tripoli;’ the other side, ‘Sultan of two lands, Sultan of two seas, Sultan by inheritance, and the Son of a Sultan.’” “Very well,” said Heller, “that is correct. But look, what is the date, now?” “The date is 1-2-2-0, one thousand two hundred and twenty of the Hegira, or Mohammedan year, which corresponds to 1805 of the Christian era.” Salvos of applause greeted the performers at the conclusion of the scene. Mr. Fred Hunt, Jr., who was Robert Heller’s assistant for many years, wrote the following _exposé_ of the trick for the London _Times_, soon after Heller’s death: “In the years we were together, Heller was constantly enlarging and perfecting his system. He is now gone and has solved a greater mystery than that which puzzled so many thousands while he was on earth, and I believe that his sister, Haidee Heller, and myself are the only living persons in whom Robert Heller’s second sight is vested. Heller had so simplified this system as to embrace every variety of article classified in sets; one question, with a word or two added, sufficing to elicit a correct answer for ten different articles. “The student must be first posted in a new alphabetical arrangement, with which he must familiarize himself as thoroughly as a boy in learning his primer. This is the most difficult part of the business, but when mastered thoroughly, it comes as easy as if the question were plainly propounded. “This alphabet is as follows: A is H B is T C is S D is G E is F F is E G is A H is I I is B J is L K is Pray L is C M is O N is D O is V P is J Q is W R is M S is N T is P U is Look V is Y W is R X is See this Y is Q Z is Hurry. Hurry up--repeat last letter. “For example, you want the initials or name in a ring. Say it is ‘Anna.’ By the alphabetical arrangement H stands for A, D for N. The explanation ‘Hurry up’ always means a repetition of the last letter, and again H will give the answer when put as follows: “‘Here is a name? Do you see it? Hurry up. Have you got it?’ “Attention is paid only to the first letter of every sentence, and it will be perceived that the name of Anna is spelled. “Again, take ‘Gazette,’ which is abbreviated in a phonographic manner in order to simplify the question. G is A, A is H, Z is ‘Hurry’ (not ‘Hurry up’), E is F, T is P. The question would be: “‘Are you able to tell the name? Here it is. Hurry. Find the name. Please be quick.’ “Here you have ‘Gazet’ in short meter. The letters K, U, X, and Z being difficult wherewith to commence an interrogative sentence, the words ‘pray,’ ‘look,’ ‘see this,’ and ‘hurry,’ are used, as will be seen in the table. Care must be taken not to begin a sentence with either of these words unless applicable to the word to be spelled. For instance, if ‘Xenia’ is required, X is ‘See this,’ E is F, N is D, I is B, and A is H. Thus the question: “‘See this? Find it quick. Do hurry. Be quick. How is it spelled?’ “Again, for the initials U. S. you will say: “‘Look. Now, then.’ “U is ‘Look,’ and S is N. “If you want Kentucky named, thus the question: “‘Pray name the State. Quick.’ “Pray is K, and Q is Y. “After the alphabet we have the numbers, which, it will be seen, are easily understood after a little practice. NUMBERS. 1 is Say or Speak. 2 is Be, Look, or Let. 3 is Can or Can’t. 4 is Do or Don’t. 5 is Will or Won’t. 6 is What. 7 is Please or Pray. 8 is Are or Ain’t. 9 is Now. 10 is Tell. 0 is Hurry or Come. “‘Well’ is to repeat the last figure. “Example: The number 1,234 is required; attention must only be paid to the first word of a sentence, thus: “‘Say the number. Look at it. Can you see it? Do you know?’ “Or say the number is 100: “‘Tell me the number. Hurry!’ “A rather difficult number would be 1,111. The question would be put in this wise: “‘Say the number. Well? Speak out. Say what it is.’ “On a watch or greenback there are sometimes eight or nine numbers, which can be followed as easily as the above. “The table of colors is as follows: COLORS. 1 is White. 2 is Black. 3 is Blue. 4 is Brown. 5 is Red. 6 is Green. 7 is Yellow. 8 is Gray. “The solution of the numbers, as I have explained, will furnish the key. For example, the article presented is green; the question will be: “‘What is the color?’ green being the sixth color in the list. “Blue is wanted, and, as it stands third in the list, the word would be: “‘Can you tell the color?’ “White is wanted, and, as it stands first in the list, the question is: “‘Say the color.’ “Understand that the words explaining the numbers, as given in the list, are applied to the articles enumerated in each of the subjoined tables. THE METALS.