To Make The Appearance Of A Flash Of Lightning When Any One Enters A
Room with a lighted Candle.
Dissolve camphor in spirit of wine, and deposit the vessel containing
the solution in a very close room, where the spirit of wine must be
made to evaporate by strong and speedy boiling. If any one then enters
the room with a lighted candle, the air will inflame, while the
combustion will be so sudden, and of so short a duration, as to
occasion no danger.
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To Make A Ring Suspend By A Thread After The Thread Has Been
burned. Soak a piece of thread in urine, or common salt and water. Tie it to a ring, not larger than a wedding-ring. When you apply the flame of a candle to it, it will burn to ashes, but yet sustain the ring. ... To Make A Rocket Form An Arch In Rising Having Some Rockets Made
headed according to fancy, and tied on their sticks, get some sheet tin, and cut it into round pieces about three or four inches diameter; then on the stick of each rocket, under the mouth of the case, fix one of these pieces of tin 16 inches from the... To Make An Eolian Harp
This instrument may be made by almost any carpenter: it consists of a long narrow box of very thin deal, about five or six inches deep, with a circle in the middle of the upper side, of an inch and a half in diameter, in which are to be drilled smal... To Make An Old Gold Chain Appear Like New
Dissolve sal ammoniac in urine, boil the chain in it, and it will have a fine gold colour. ... To Make Any Number Divisible By Nine By Adding A Figure To It
If (for example) the number named be 72,857, you tell the person who names it to place the number 7 between any two figures of that sum, and it will be divisible by 9; for if any number be multiplied by 9, the sum of the figures of the product will ... To Make Artificial Coruscations
There is a method of producing artificial coruscations, or sparkling fiery meteors, which will be visible, not only in the dark but at noon-day, and that from two liquors actually cold. The method is this:--Fifteen grains of solid phosphorus are to ... To Make Beautiful Transparent Coloured Water
The following liquors, which are coloured, being mixed, produce colours very different from their own. The yellow tincture of saffron, and the red tincture of roses, when mixed, produce a green. Blue tincture of violets, and brown spirit of sulphur,... To Make Crackers
Cut some stout cartridge-paper into pieces three inches and a half broad, and one foot long; one edge of each of these pieces fold down lengthwise about three-quarters of an inch broad; then fold the double edge down a quarter of an inch, and turn t... To Make Luminous Writing In The Dark
Fix a small piece of solid phosphorus in a quill, and write with it upon paper; if the paper be carried into a dark room, the writing will appear beautifully luminous. ... To Make Moulds Of Horn
If you wish to take the impression of any coin, medal, &c., previously anoint it with oil; then lay the horn shavings over it in its softened state. When dry, the impression will be sunk into the horn; and this will serve as a mould to re-produce, e... To Make Pictures Of Birds With Their Natural Feathers
First take thin board or panel, of deal or wainscot, well seasoned, that it may not shrink; then paste white paper smoothly on it, and let it dry; if the colour of the wood show through, paste a second paper over it. When the paper is dry, get ready... To Make Pomatum With Water And Wax
Water and wax are two substances that do not naturally unite together; therefore, to those who witness the following process, without knowing the cause, it will have the appearance of marvellous. Put into a new glazed earthen pot, six ounces of rive... To Make Several Rockets Rise Together Take Six Or Any Number Of
sky-rockets, of any size; then cut some strong packthread into pieces of three or four yards long, and tie each end of these pieces to a rocket in this manner: Having tied one end of the packthread round the body of one rocket, and the other end to... To Make Squibs And Serpents
First make the cases, of about six inches in length, by rolling slips of stout cartridge-paper three times round a roller, and pasting the last fold; tying it near the bottom as tight as possible, and making it air-tight at the end, by sealing-wax. ... To Make The Appearance Of A Flash Of Lightning When Any One Enters A
Room with a lighted Candle. Dissolve camphor in spirit of wine, and deposit the vessel containing the solution in a very close room, where the spirit of wine must be made to evaporate by strong and speedy boiling. If any one then enters the room wi... To Make The Phosphorus Match Bottles
Nothing more is necessary for this purpose, than to drop small pieces of dry phosphorus into a common phial; gently heat it till it melts; and then turn the bottle round, that it may adhere to the sides. The phial should be closely corked; and when ... To Make Touch Paper
Dissolve in some spirits of wine or vinegar, a little saltpetre; then take some purple or blue paper, wet it with the above liquor, and when dry it will be fit for use. When you paste this paper on any of your works, take care that the paste does no... To Melt A Piece Of Money In A Walnut-shell Without Injuring The
shell. Bend any thin coin, and put it into half a walnut-shell; place the shell on a little sand, to keep it steady. Then fill the shell with a mixture made of three parts of very dry pounded nitre, one part of flowers of sulphur, and a little saw-... To Melt Iron In A Moment And Make It Run Into Drops
Bring a bar of iron to a white heat, and then apply to it a roll of sulphur. The iron will immediately melt and run into drops. This experiment should be performed over a basin of water, in which the drops that fall down will be quenched. These dr... To Name The Rank Of A Card That A Person Has Drawn From A Piquet
Pack. The rank of a card means whether it be an ace, king, queen, &c. You therefore first fix a certain number to each card; thus you call the king four, the queen three, the knave two, the ace one, and the others according to the number of their p... To Observe An Eclipse Of The Sun Without Injury To The Eye
Take a burning-glass, or spectacle-glass, that magnifies very much; hold it before a book or pasteboard, twice the distance of its focus, and you will see the round body of the sun, and the manner in which the moon passes between the glass and the s... To Prepare Charcoal For Fire-works
Charcoal is a preservative, by which the saltpetre and brimstone are made into gunpowder, by preventing the sulphur from suffocating the strong and windy exhalation of the nitre. There are several sorts of wood made use of for this purpose; some pre... To Procure Hydrogen Gas
Provide a phial with a cork stopper, through which is thrust a piece of tobacco-pipe. Into the phial put a few pieces of zinc, or small iron nails; on this pour a mixture, of equal parts of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) and water, previously mixed... To Produce Beautiful Fire-works In Miniature
Put half a drachm of solid phosphorus into a large pint Florence flask; holding it slanting, that the phosphorus may not break the glass. Pour upon it a gill and a half of water, and place the whole over a tea-kettle lamp, or any common tin lamp, fi... To Produce Fire By The Mixture Of Two Cold Liquids
Take half a pound of pure dry nitrate, in powder; put it into a retort that is quite dry; add an equal quantity of highly rectified oil of vitriol, and, distilling the mixture in a moderate sand heat, it will produce a liquor like a yellowish fume; ... To Produce Fire From Cane
The Chinese rattans, which are used, when split, for making cane chairs, will, when dry, if struck against each other, give fire; and are used accordingly in some places, in lieu of flint and steel. ... To Produce Metallic Lead From The Powder
Take one ounce of red lead, and half a drachm of charcoal in powder, incorporate them well in a mortar, and then fill the bowl of a tobacco-pipe with the mixture. Submit it to an intense heat, in a common fire, and when melted, pour it out upon a sl... To Produce The Appearance Of A Flower From Its Ashes
Make a tin box, with a cover that takes off. Let this box be supported by a pedestal of the same metal, and on which there is a little door. In the front of this box is to be a glass. In a groove, at a small distance from this glass, place a doubl...