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 battery, so that
it may pass over the board and the surface of the water, upon making
the explosion, the water will become agitated as in an earthquake, and
the board, moving up and down, will overturn the structure, while the
cause of the commotion is totally concealed.
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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... Balloon Wheels They Are Made To Turn Horizontally: They Must Be
made two feet diameter, without any spokes, and very strong, with any number of sides. On the top of a wheel range and fix in pots, three inches diameter and seven inches high each, as many of these as there are cases on the wheel: near the bottom of ... Benzoin Is Used In Fire-works More For Its Pleasant Scent Than Any
material use for the purposes of fire. It may be procured at the chemists, ready for use. The oil is also used in wet composition, for stars, &c. ... Bottles Broken By Air
Take a square bottle of thin glass, and of any size. Apply it to the hole of the air-pump, and exhaust the air. The bottle will sustain the weight of the external air as long as it is able, but at length it will suddenly burst into very small partic... Caduceous Rockets They Are Such As In Rising Form Two Spiral
lines, by reason of their being placed obliquely, one opposite to the other; and their counterpoise in the centre, which causes them to rise in a vertical direction. Rockets for this purpose must have their ends choked close, without either head or bo... Calculation Of The Mass Of Water Contained In The Sea
If we would have an idea of the enormous quantity of water which the sea contains, let us suppose a common and general depth of the ocean; by computing it at only 200 fathoms, or the tenth part of a mile, we shall see that there is sufficient water ... Candle Bombs
Procure some small glass bubbles, having a neck about an inch long, with very slender bores, by means of which a small quantity of water is to be introduced into them, and the orifice afterwards closed up. This stalk being put through the wick of a ... Chemical Illuminations
Put into a middling-sized bottle, with a short wide neck, three ounces of oil or spirit of vitriol, with twelve ounces of common water, and throw into it, at different times, an ounce or two of iron filings. A violent commotion will then take place,... Chinese Fountains
To make a Chinese fountain, you must have a perpendicular piece of wood, seven feet long, and two inches and a half square. Sixteen inches from the top, fix on the front a cross piece one inch thick, and two and a half broad, with the broad side upw...