Alarum
Against the wall of a room, near the ceiling, fix a wheel of twelve or
eighteen inches diameter; on the rim of which place a number of bells
in tune, and, if you please, of different sizes. To the axis of this
wheel there should be fixed a fly to regulate its motion; and round
the circumference there must be wound a rope, to the end of which is
hung a weight.
Near to the wheel let a stand be fixed, on whi
that holds a balance or moveable lever, on one end of which rests the
weight just mentioned; and to the other end must hang an inverted
hollow cone, or funnel, the aperture of which is very small. This cone
must be graduated on the inside, that the sand put in may answer to
the number of hours it is to run. Against the upright piece, on the
side next the cone, there must be fixed a check, to prevent it from
descending. This stand, together with the wheel, may be enclosed in a
case, and so contrived, as to be moved from one room to another with
very little trouble.
It is evident, from the construction of this machine, that when a
certain quantity of the sand is run out, the weight will descend, and
put the wheel in motion, which motion will continue till the weight
comes to the ground. If the wheel be required to continue longer in
motion, two or more pulleys may be added, over which the rope may run.
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A Fountain Which Acts By The Heat Of The Sun
In the annexed engraving, Fig. 7, G N S is a thin hollow globe of copper, eighteen inches diameter, supported by a small inverted basin, placed on a stand with four legs, A B C D, which have between them, at the bottom, a basin of two feet diameter.... A Hundred Different Names Being Written On The Cards To Tell The
particular Name any Person thought of. Write on ten cards a hundred different names, observing that the last name on each card begins with one of the letters in the word INDROMACUS, which letters, in the order they stand, answer the numbers 1 to 10... A Lamp That Will Burn Twelve Months Without Replenishing
Take a stick of phosphorus, and put it into a large dry phial, not corked, and it will afford a light sufficient to discern any object in a room when held near it. The phials should be kept in a cool place, where there is no great current of air, an... A Liquid That Shines In The Dark
Take a bit of phosphorus, about the size of a pea; break it into small parts, which you are to put into a glass half full of very pure water, and boil it in a small earthen vessel, over a very moderate fire. Have in readiness a long narrow bottle, w... A Luminous Bottle Which Will Show The Hour On A Watch In The Dark
Throw a bit of phosphorus, of the size of a pea, into a long glass phial, and pour boiling oil carefully over it, till the phial is one-third filled. The phial must be carefully corked, and when used should be unstopped, to admit the external air, a... A More Powerful Fulminating Powder
The most wonderful instance of chemical detonation is formed by the combination of volatile alkali with silver. Gunpowder, or fulminating gold, are not to be compared with this invention, and the great danger attending its manufacture prevents us fr... A Person Having An Even Number Of Shillings In One Hand And An Odd
Number in the other, to tell in which hand the odd or even Number is. You desire the person to multiply the number in his right hand by an odd figure, and the number in his left by an even one; and tell you if the products, added together, be odd or... A Person Having Put A Ring An One Of His Fingers To Name The Person
the Hand, the Finger, and the Joint on which it is placed. Let a third person double the number of the order in which he stands who has the ring, and add 5 to that number; then multiply that sum by 5, and to the product add 10. Let him next add 1 to... A Powder Which Catches Fire When Exposed To The Air
Put three ounces of rock alum, and one ounce of honey or sugar, into a new earthen dish, glazed, and which is capable of standing a strong heat; keep the mixture over the fire, stirring it continually till it becomes very dry and hard; then remove i... A Sea-fight With Small Ships And A Fire-ship
Having procured four or five small ships, of two or three feet in length, make a number of small reports, which are to serve for guns. Of these range as many as you please on each side of the upper decks; then at the head and stern of each ship fix ... A Secret Correspondence By Means Of Invisible Ink
A person wishing to carry on a correspondence with another, and who is fearful of having his letter opened, or intercepted, can adopt the following plan: Write any unimportant matter with common ink, and let the lines be very wide apart: then bet... A Vessel That Will Let Water Out At The Bottom As Soon As The Mouth
is uncorked. Provide a tin vessel, two or three inches in diameter, and five or six inches in height, having a mouth about three inches in width; and in the bottom several small holes, just large enough to admit a small needle. Plunge it in water w... A Water To Give Any Metal A Gold Colour
Take fine sulphur and pulverize it; then boil some stale spring water; pour it hot upon the powder, and stir it well together; boil it again, and pour into it an ounce of dragon's blood. After it is well boiled, take it off, and filter it through a ... A Water Which Gives Silver A Gold Colour
Take sulphur and nitre, of each an equal quantity; grind them together very fine, and put them into an unglazed vessel; cover and lute it well; then set it over a slow fire for 24 hours; put what remains into a strong crucible, and let it dissolve; ... Account Of The Wonderful Effects Of Two Immense Burning-glasses
Mr. de Tschirnhausen constructed a burning-glass, between three and four feet in diameter, and whose focus was rendered more powerful by a second one. This glass melted tiles, slates, pumice-stone, &c., in a moment; pitch, and all resins, were melte... Aerial Bubbles
Take a stone, or any heavy substance, and putting it in a large glass with water, place it in the receiver. The air being exhausted, the spring of that which is in the pores of the solid body, by expanding the particles, will make them rise on its s... Aigrettes
Mortars to throw aigrettes are generally made of pasteboard, of the same thickness as balloon mortars, and two diameters and a half long in the inside from the top of the foot: the foot must be made of elm without a chamber, but flat at top, and in ... Alarum
Against the wall of a room, near the ceiling, fix a wheel of twelve or eighteen inches diameter; on the rim of which place a number of bells in tune, and, if you please, of different sizes. To the axis of this wheel there should be fixed a fly to re... Alternate Illusion
With a convex lens of about an inch focus, look attentively at a silver seal, on which a cipher is engraved. It will at first appear cut in, as to the naked eye; but if you continue to observe it some time, without changing your situation, it will s... Another
Dissolve bismuth in nitrous acid. When the writing with this fluid is exposed to the vapour of liver of sulphur, it will become quite black. ... Another
Dissolve green vitriol and a little nitrous acid in common water. Write your characters with a new pen. Next infuse small Aleppo galls, slightly bruised in water. In two or three days, pour the liquor off. By drawing a pencil dipped in this sec... Another
If you put a tea-spoonful of a liquor composed of copper infused in acid of vitriol, into a glass, and add two or three table-spoonfuls of water to it, there will be no sensible colour produced; but if you add a little volatile alkali to it, and sti... Another
Put half a tea-spoonful of a liquor composed of iron infused in acid of vitriol, into half a glass of water; and add a few drops of phlogisticated alkali, and a beautiful Prussian blue will appear. ... Another Curious Experiment With Oil And Water
Drop a small quantity of oil into water agitated by the wind; it will immediately spread itself with surprising swiftness upon the surface, and the oil, though scarcely more than a tea-spoonful, will produce an instant calm over a space several yard... Another Electric Orrery See Page 92
From the prime conductor of an electric machine suspend six concentric hoops of metal at different distances from each other, in such a manner as to represent in some measure the proportional distances of the planets. Under these, and at a distance ... Another Invisible Green Ink
Dissolve zaffre, in powder, in aqua regia, for twenty-four hours. Pour the liquor off, and the same quantity of common water, and keep it in a bottle well corked. This ink will not be visible till exposed to the fire or the sun; and will again be... Another Method
Artificial coruscations may also be produced by means of oil of vitriol and iron, in the following manner:--Take a glass vessel capable of holding three quarts: put into this three ounces of oil of vitriol, and twelve ounces of water, then warming t... Another Method
Put a small quantity of phosphorus and some potash, dissolved in water, into a retort; apply the flame of a candle or lamp to the bottom of the retort, until the contents boil. The phosphuretted hydrogen gas will then rise, and may be collected in r... Another Way
Mix three ounces of saltpetre, two ounces of salt of tartar, and two ounces of sulphur; roll the mixture up into a ball, of which take a quantity, about the size of a hazel-nut, and, placing it in a ladle or shovel over the fire, the explosion will ... Another Way
Take two pieces of card, pasteboard, or stiff paper, through which you cut long squares at different distances. One of these you keep yourself, and the other you give to your correspondent. You lay the pasteboard on a paper, and, in the spaces cut o... Another Way
Reduce gum ammoniac into powder, and dissolve it in gum arabic water, to which a little garlic juice has been added. This water will not dissolve the ammonia so as to form a transparent liquid; for the result will be a milky liquor. With the liquor ... Another Way
Take hepatic aloes, nitre, and Roman vitriol, of each equal quantities; and distil them with water, in an alembic, till all the spirits are extracted; it will at last yield a yellowish water, which will tinge any sort of metal of a gold colour. ... Arithmetical Squares
An arithmetical magical square consists of numbers so disposed in parallel and equal lines, that the sum of each, taken any way of the square, amounts to the same. Any five of these sums taken in a right line make 65. You will observe that five n... Artificial Earthquake
In the middle of a large basin of water, lay a round wet board. On the board place any kind of building, made of pasteboard, of separate pieces, and not fastened together. Then, fixing a wire that communicates with the two chains of the electrifying... Artificial Earthquake And Volcano
Grind an equal quantity of fresh iron filings with pure sulphur, till the whole be reduced to a fine powder. Be careful not to let any wet come near it. Then bury about thirty pounds of it a foot deep in the earth, and in about six or eight hours th... Artificial Illuminations
A very pleasing exhibition may be made with very little trouble or expense, in the following manner: Provide a box, which you fit up with architectural designs cut out on pasteboard; prick small holes in those parts of the building where you wish th... Artificial Lightning
Provide a tin tube that is larger at one end than it is at the other, and in which there are several holes. Fill this tube with powdered resin; and when it is shook over the flame of a torch, the reflection will produce the exact appearance of light... Artificial Memory
In travelling along a road, the sight of the more remarkable scenes we meet with, frequently puts us in mind of the subjects we were thinking or talking of when we last saw them. Such facts, which were perfectly familiar, even to the vulgar, might v... Artificial Rain And Hail
Make a hollow cylinder of wood; let it be very thin at the sides, about eight or ten inches wide, and two or three feet diameter. Divide its inside into five equal parts, by boards of five or six inches wide, and let there be between them and the wo... Artificial Thunder
Mix two drachms of the filings of iron, with one ounce of concentrated spirit of vitriol, in a strong bottle that holds about a quarter of a pint; stop it close, and in a few minutes shake the bottle; then taking out the cork, put a lighted candle n... Astonishing Power Of Steam
If you put a small quantity of water into a tea-kettle, and place it on the fire, it will disappear in a short time, having escaped in the steam. But if its escape be prevented by stopping up the spout and crevices, it will force its way by bursting...