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, which will not be
observed if the glass has been recently washed, and leave the third
without any preparation. If the red liquor in the bottle be poured
into the first glass, it will appear of a straw colour; if into the
second, it will pass gradually from bluish-grey to black, when stirred
with a key, or any piece of iron, which has been previously dipped in
strong vinegar. In the third glass, the red liquor will assume a
violet tint.
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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,... Of Sulphur Or Brimstone
Sulphur is by nature the food of fire, and one of the principal ingredients in gunpowder, and in almost all compositions of fire-works; therefore, great care ought to be taken of its being good, and brought to the highest perfection. Now, to know wh... Of The Method Of Mixing Compositions
The performance of the principal part of fire-works depends much on the compositions being well mixed; therefore, great care ought to be taken in this part of the work, particularly in the composition for sky-rockets. When you have four or five poun... Opaque Bodies Seemingly Transparent
Within the case A B C D, place four mirrors O P Q R, Fig. 22, so disposed, that they may each make an angle of 45 degrees, that is, that they may be half-way inclined from the perpendicular, as in the figure. In each of the two extremities A B, make...