Illuminated Prospects
Provide yourself with some of those prints that are commonly used in
optical machines, printed on very thin white paper; taking care to
make choice of such as have the greatest effect from the manner in
which the objects are placed in perspective. Place one of these on the
borders of a frame, and paint it carefully with the most lively
colours, making use of none that are terrestrial. Observe to retouch
those parts sev
cut off the upper part or sky, and fix that on another frame.
The prints being thus prepared, place them in a box, A B C D, Figs. 14
and 15, the opening to which, E F G H, should be a little less than
the print. Cover this opening with a glass, and paint all the space
between that and the prints, which should be about two or three
inches, black. The frame that contains the sky should be about an inch
behind the other. In the back part of this box, which is behind the
prints, and which may be about four inches deep, place four or five
small candlesticks to hold wax lights, and cover that part entirely
with tin, that it may be the more luminous.
When the print is placed between the wax lights and the opening in the
front of the box, and there is no other light in the room, the effect
will be highly pleasing; especially if the lights are at a sufficient
distance from each other, and not too strong, that they may not
occasion any blots in the print. Those prints that represent the
rising or setting of the sun will have a very picturesque appearance.
Such as represent conflagrations have also a striking effect.
There should be two grooves for the print next the glass, that you may
insert a second subject before you draw away the first; and that the
lights in the back of the box may not be discovered.
You must not, thinking to make the print more transparent, cover it
with varnish; for that will prevent the gradation of the colours from
being visible. The frame should enter the side of the box by a groove,
that a variety of subjects may be introduced.
[D] When you colour a print, place it before you, against a
piece of glass, in a position nearly erect, that it may be
enlightened by the sun. You may also colour both sides of the
print.
EXPERIMENTS IN MAGNETISM.
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Curious Experiments With A Viper
Many natural philosophers, in their eagerness to display the powers of science, have overlooked one of the first duties of life, humanity; and, with this view, have tortured and killed many harmless animals, to exemplify the amazing effects of the a... Curious Transcolorations
Put half a table-spoonful of syrup of violets and three table-spoonfuls of water into a glass; stir them well together with a stick, and put half the mixture into another glass. If you add a few drops of acid of vitriol into one of the glasses and s... Dancing Balls
Take a common tumbler or glass jar, and having placed a brass ball in one of the holes of the prime conductor, set the machine in motion, and let the balls touch the inside of the tumbler; while the ball touches only one point, no more of the surfac... Decorations For Sky-rockets Sky-rockets May Be Decorated According
to fancy. Some are headed with stars of different sorts, such as tailed, brilliant, white, blue, and yellow stars, &c. Some with gold and silver rains; others with serpents, crackers, fire-scrolls, and marrons; and some with small rockets and other de... Different Degrees Of Heat Imbibed From The Sun's Rays By Cloths Of
different Colours. Walk but a quarter of an hour in your garden, when the sun shines, with a part of your dress white, and a part black; then apply your hand to them alternately, and you will find a very great difference in their warmth. The black ... Dioptrical Paradox
Construct a machine similar to that in Fig. 25. Its effect will be, that a print, or an ornamented drawing, with any object, such as an ace of diamonds, &c. in the centre F, will be seen as an ace of clubs when placed in the machine, and viewed thro... Double Spiral Wheels For These Wheels The Block Or Nave Must Be
as long as the height of the worms, or spiral lines, but must be made very thin, and as light as possible. In this block must be fixed several spokes, which must diminish in length, from the wheel to the top, so as not to exceed the surface of a cone ... Easy And Curious Methods Of Foretelling Rainy Or Fine Weather
If a line be made of good whipcord, that is well dried, and a plummet affixed to the end of it, and then hung against a wainscot, and a line drawn under it, exactly where the plummet reaches, in very moderate weather it will be found to rise above i... Easy Method Of Making A Rain Gauge
A very simple rain gauge, and one which will answer all practical purposes, consists of a copper funnel the area of whose opening is exactly ten square inches: this funnel is fixed in a bottle, and the quantity of rain caught is ascertained by multi... Easy Method Of Obtaining Flowers Of Different Colours From The Same
Stem. Scoop out the pith from a small twig of elder, and having split it lengthwise, fill each of the parts with small seeds that produce flowers of different colours, but that blossom nearly at the same time. Surround them with earth; and then tyi... Electrified Air
Fix two or three pointed needles into the prime conductor of an electrical machine, and set the glass in motion so as to keep the prime conductor electrified for several minutes. If now, an electometer be brought within the air that is contiguous to... Example Suppose The Person Wishes His Card To Be The Twentieth
from the top; and the first time of making the heaps, he says it is in the third heap; you then look at the table in the perspective, and you see that the first figure is two; you, therefore, put that heap in the middle of the pack. The second and thi... Example Suppose The Three Cards To Be Ten Seven And Six As
before; then, each of those numbers subtracted from seventeen, the remainders will be respectively, seven, ten, and eleven, which, added together, make twenty-eight, to which the single card you drew being reckoned as one, and added, makes twenty-nine... Example Suppose The Two Cards To Be As Before Ten And Seven Then
the person deducting ten from twenty-six, there remain sixteen, and deducting seven from twenty-six, there remain nineteen; these two remainders added together make thirty-five, which you subtract from fifty-two; and there must remain seventeen for th... Experiments With Sparrows
Count Morozzo placed successively several full-grown sparrows under a glass receiver, inverted over water. It was filled with atmospheric air, and afterwards with vital air. He found, First.--That in atmospheric air, HOURS MIN. The firs... Exploding Gas Bubbles
Adapt the end of a common tobacco-pipe to a bladder filled with hydrogen gas, and dip the bowl of the pipe into soap-suds, prepared as if for blowing up soap bubbles; squeeze out small portions of gas from the bladder into the soap-suds, and the bub... Exploding Salt
If a small quantity of powdered charcoal and hyper-oxymuriate of potash be rubbed together in a mortar, an explosion will be produced, and the charcoal inflamed. Three parts of this salt, and one of sulphur, rubbed together in a mortar, produce a vi... Feathers Heavier Than Lead
At one end of a fine balance, hang a piece of lead, and at the other as many feathers as will poise it; then place the balance in the receiver. As the air is exhausted, the feathers will appear to overweigh the lead, and when all the air is drawn of... Fire Globes For The Water
Bowls for water-globes must be very large, and the wheels on them of ten sides: on each side nail a piece of wood four inches long; and on the outside of each piece cut a groove, wide enough to receive about one-fourth of the thickness of a four-oun... Fixed Sun With A Transparent Face
To make a sun of the best kind, there should be two rows of cases, which should show a double glory, and make the rays strong and full. The frame or sun-wheel must be made thus: have a circular flat nave made very strong, 12 inches diameter; to this... Flowers Curiously Affected By The Sun And The Weather
The petals of many flowers expand in the sun, but contract all night, or on the approach of rain; after the seeds are fecundated the petals no longer contract. All the trefoil may serve as a barometer to the husbandman; they always contract their le... Fulminating Gold
Put into a small long-necked bottle, resting on a little sand, one part of fine gold filings, and three parts of aqua regia, (nitro-muriatic acid.) When the gold is dissolved, pour the solution into a glass, and add five or six times the quantity of... Fulminating Mercury
Dissolve 100 grains of mercury by heat, in an ounce and a half of nitric acid. This solution being poured cold upon two measured ounces of alcohol previously introduced into any convenient glass vessel, a moderate heat is to be applied, till efferve... Fulminating Powder
This powder is made by rubbing together, in a hot marble mortar, with a wooden pestle, three parts, by weight, of nitre, two of mild vegetable alkali, and one of flowers of sulphur, till the whole is accurately mixed. If a drachm of this powder be e... Glass Broken By Air
Lay a square of glass on the top of an open receiver, and exhaust the air. The weight of the external air will press on the glass, and smash it to atoms. ... Golden Ink
Take some white gum arabic, reduce it to an impalpable powder, in a brass mortar; dissolve it in strong brandy, and add a little common water to render it more liquid. Provide some gold in a shell, which must be detached, in order to reduce it to a ... Gunpowder Exploded By Reflection
Place two concave mirrors at about 12 or 15 feet distance from each other, and let the axis of each be in the same line. In the focus of one of them place a live coal, and in the focus of the other place some gunpowder. With a pair of double bellows... Honorary Rockets These Are The Same As Sky-rockets Except That
they carry no head nor report, but are closed at top, on which is fixed a cone; then on the case, close to the top of the stick, is tied on a two-ounce case, about five or six inches long, filled with a strong charge, and pinched close at both ends; t... Horizontal Water-wheels
To make horizontal wheels for the water, first get a large wooden bowl without a handle; then have an eight-sided wheel, made of a flat board 18 inches diameter, so that the length of each side may nearly be seven inches: in all the sides cut a groo... Horizontal Wheels They Are Best When Their Fells Are Made
circular; in the middle of the top of the nave must be a pintle, turned out of the same piece as the nave, two inches long, and equal in diameter to the bore of one of the cases of the wheel; there must be a hole bored up the centre of the nave, withi... How Far Sound Travels In A Minute
However it may be with regard to the theories of sound, experience has taught us, that it travels at about the rate of 1142 feet in a second, or nearly thirteen miles in a minute. The method of calculating its progress is easily made known: when a g... How To Make The Pass Hold The Pack Of Cards In Your Right Hand So
that the palm of your hand may be under the cards: place the thumb of that hand on one side of the pack; the first, second, and third fingers on the other side, and your little finger between those cards that are to be brought to the top, and the rest... How To Meal Gunpowder Brimstone And Charcoal
There have been many methods used to grind these ingredients to a powder for fire-works, such as large mortars and pestles made of ebony, and other hard woods; but none of these methods have proved so effectual and speedy as the last invention, that... Illuminated Phosphorus
Put some of Canton's phosphorus into a clear glass phial, and stop it with a glass stopper, or a cork and sealing-wax. If this wire be kept in a darkened room (which for this experiment must be very dark) it will give no light; but let two or three ... Illuminated Prospects
Provide yourself with some of those prints that are commonly used in optical machines, printed on very thin white paper; taking care to make choice of such as have the greatest effect from the manner in which the objects are placed in perspective. P... Illuminated Spiral Wheel First Have A Circular Horizontal Wheel
made two feet diameter, with a hole quite through the nave; then take three thin pieces of deal, three feet long each, and three-fourths of an inch broad each: nail one end of each of these pieces to the fell of the wheel, at an equal distance from on... Illuminated Writing
It is well known that if any words are written on a wall with solid phosphorus, the writing will appear as if on fire; but it is necessary to give this caution, lest accidents should occur. In using it, let a cup of water be always near you; and do ... Imitative Fire-works
Take a paper that is blacked on both sides, or instead of black, the paper may be coloured on each side with a deep blue, which will be still better for such as are to be seen through transparent papers. It must be of a proper size for the figure yo... Inflammable Phosphorus
Take the meal of flour of any vegetable, put it into an iron pan over a moderate fire, and keep it stirring with an iron spoon till it changes to a black powder; to one part of this add four parts of raw alum. Make the whole into a fine powder; put ... Interesting Experiment For The Microscope
The embryo grain of wheat, at the time of blossoming, being carefully taken out of the husk, will be found to have a small downy tuft at its extremity, which, when viewed in a microscope, greatly resembles the branches of thorn, spreading archwise, ... Invisible Gold Ink
Put as much gold in as small a quantity of aqua regia as will dissolve it, and dilute it with two or three times the quantity of distilled water. Next dissolve, in a separate vessel, fine pewter in aqua regia, and when it is well impregnated, add... Invisible Green Ink
Dissolve salt of tartar, clean and dry, in a sufficient quantity of river water. Use the violet solution to render it visible. ... Invisible Grey Ink
Mix alum with lemon-juice. The letters written with this ink will be invisible till dipped in water. * * * * * We now present our readers with a variety of amusing experiments, which may be performed by the forego... Invisible Ink
Put litharge of lead into very strong vinegar, and let it stand twenty-four hours. Strain it off, and let it remain till quite settled; then put the liquor in a bottle. You next dissolve orpiment in quick lime water, by setting the water in the s... Invisible Red Ink
To the pure spirit of vitriol or nitre, add eight times as much water. Use the above solution of violets to make visible the characters written with this ink. ... Invisible Silver Ink
Dissolve fine silver in aqua fortis; and after the dissolution, add some distilled water in the same manner as in the gold ink. What is written with the above ink will remain invisible for three or four months, if kept from the air; but may be eas... Invisible Violet Ink
Express the juice of lemons, and keep it in a bottle well corked. Use the violet infusion to make the writing visible. ... Invisible Yellow Ink
Steep marigold flowers seven or eight days in clear distilled vinegar. Press the flowers and strain the liquor, which is to be kept in a bottle well corked. If you would have it still more clear, add, when you use it, some pure water. To make the... Iron Transformed Into Copper
Dissolve blue vitriol in water, till the water is well impregnated with it; and immerse into the solution small plates of iron, or coarse iron filings. These will be attacked and dissolved by the acid of the vitriol, while the copper naturally conta... Iron Transformed Into Silver
Dissolve mercury in marine acid, and dip a piece of iron into it, or rub the solution over the iron, and it will assume a silver appearance. It is scarcely necessary to say, that these transmutations are only apparent, though to the credulous it ... Luminous Liquor
Put a little phosphorus, with essence of cloves, into a bottle, which must be kept closely stopped. Every time the bottle is unclosed, the liquor will appear luminous. This experiment must be performed in the dark. ... Magic Fountain
Take a tall glass tube, hermetically sealed both at top and bottom, by means of a brass cap screwed on to a stop-cock, and place it on the plate of the pump. When the air is exhausted, turn the cock, take the tube off the plate, and plunge it into a... Magical Explosion
Make up some gunpowder, in the form of a small cartridge, in each end of which put a blunt wire, so that the ends inside of the cartridge be about half an inch off each other; then join the chain that proceeds from one side of the electrifying batte... Magical Transmutations
Infuse a few shavings of logwood in common water, and when the liquor is sufficiently red, pour it into a bottle. Then take three drinking-glasses, and rinse one of them with strong vinegar; throw into the second a small quantity of pounded alum, wh... Method Of Rolling Rocket Cases The Cases Must Be Made Of The
strongest cartridge-paper, and rolled dry. The case of a middling-sized rocket will take up paper of four or five sheets thick; having cut your papers to a proper size, and the last sheet with a slope at one end, fold down one end, and lay your former... Method Of Taking The Impression Of Butterflies On Paper
Clip the wings off the butterfly, lay them on clean, in the form of a butterfly when flying. Spread some thick clean gum-water on another piece of paper, press it on the wings, and it will take them up; lay a piece of white paper over it, and rub it... Money Augmented By An Optical Illusion
In a large drinking-glass of a conical shape, (small at the bottom and wide at the top,) put a shilling, and let the glass be half full of water; then place a plate on the top of it, and turn it quickly over, that the water may not escape. You will ... Musical Cascade
Where there is a natural cascade, near the lower stream, but not in it, let there be placed a large wheel, equal to the breadth of the cascade: the diameter of this wheel, for about a foot from each end, must be much less than that of the middle par... Neptune In His Chariot
To represent Neptune in his chariot, you must have a Neptune (made of wood, or basket-work) as big as life, fixed on a float large enough to bear his weight; on which must be two horses' heads and necks, so as to seem swimming. For the wheels of the... Never-yielding Cement
Calcine oyster-shells, pound them, sift them through a silk sieve, and grind them on porphyry till they are reduced to the finest powder. Then take the whites of several eggs, according to the quantity of the powder; and having mixed them with the p... Note All The Vents In The Under Side Of The Cases Must Be Lighted
at once, and the sharp point of the cone cut off; at which place make it spherical. WHEELS. Wheel-cases are made to any length; which must always depend on the size of the wheel, but must not exceed the length of each angle. Charge for wheel... Odoriferous Water-balloons
They are made in the same manner as air-balloons, but very thin of paper, and in diameter one inch and three-fourths, with a vent of half an inch diameter. The shells being made, and quite dry, fill them with any of the following compositions, which... Of Gunpowder &c
Gunpowder being a principal ingredient in fire-works, it will not be improper to give a short definition of its strange explosive force, and cause of action, which, according to Dr. Shaw's opinion of the chemical cause of the explosive force of gunp... Of Lightning And The Best Method Of Guarding Against Its Mischievous
Effects. Experiments made in electricity first gave philosophers a suspicion, that the matter of lightning was the same with the electric matter. Experiments afterwards made on lightning obtained from the clouds by pointed rods, received into bottl... Of Mixing The Composition The Performance Of The Principal Part Of
fire-works depends much on the compositions being well mixed; therefore, great care must be taken in this part of the work, particularly for the composition for sky-rockets. When you have four or five pounds of ingredients to mix, which is a sufficien... Of Painting The Glasses
You first draw on a paper, the size of the glass, the subject you mean to paint; fasten this at each end of the glass with paste, or any other cement, to prevent it from slipping. Then with some very black paint mixed with varnish, draw with a fine ... Of Saltpetre
Saltpetre being the principal ingredient in fire-works, and a volatile body by reason of its aqueous and aerial parts, is easily rarefied by fire; but not so soon when foul and gross, as when purified from its gross and earthy parts, which greatly r... Of Such Ingredients As Show Themselves In Sparks When Rammed Into
choked Cases. The set colours of fire produced by sparks are divided into four sorts, viz., the black, white, grey, and red; the black charges are composed of two ingredients, which are meal-powder and charcoal; the white of three, viz., saltpetre,...