Note C — Chapter III · Card Tricks with Ordinary Cards, and not requiring Sleight-of-Hand.
Reading edition
When the number named is more than half the total number of the pack, i.e., more than 16 in a piquet pack, or more than 26 in a whist pack, it is quicker, and has precisely the same effect, to count off the difference between that and the total number from the top, and place them at the bottom. Thus, in a piquet pack, if the number called be 12, you would count off 12 from the bottom, and place them on the top; but if the number called were 24 you would achieve the same object by counting 8 from the top, and passing them to the bottom.