The Cup Of Tantalus
You place a cup of any sort of metal on a stool of baked wood or a
cake of wax. Fill it to the brim with any liquor; let it communicate
with the branch by a small chain; and when it is moderately
electrified, desire a person to taste the liquor, without touching the
cup with his hands, and he will instantly receive a shock on his lips.
The motion of the wheel being stopped, you taste the liquor yourself,
and desire the rest of the company to do so; you then give your
operator (who is concealed in an adjoining room) the signal, and he
again charges the cup; you desire the same person to taste the liquor
a second time, and he will receive a second shock.
More
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The Burnt Writing Restored
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You offer the long card, or any other that you know, and as the person who has drawn it holds it in his hand, you pretend to feel the pips or figure on the under side, by your fore-finger; or you sagaciously smell to it, and then pronounce what card... The Card Discovered Under The Handkerchief
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Procure an opera-glass, two inches and a half long; the tube to be made of ivory, so thin that it may appear transparent. Place it in a magnifying glass, of such a power, and at such a distance, that a card, three-quarters of an inch long, may appea... The Card In The Pocket-book
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Take a common full-blown rose, and, having thrown a little sulphur finely pounded into a chafing-dish with coals, expose the rose to the vapour. By this process the rose will become whitish; but if it be afterwards held some time in water, it will r... The Convertible Aces
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To perform this amusement you must observe, that there are several letters which may be changed into others, without any appearance of ... The Cup Of Tantalus
You place a cup of any sort of metal on a stool of baked wood or a cake of wax. Fill it to the brim with any liquor; let it communicate with the branch by a small chain; and when it is moderately electrified, desire a person to taste the liquor, wit... The Deforming Mirrors
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By the diagonal position of a plane mirror, a curious opera-glass is constructed, by which any person may be viewed in a theatre or public company without knowing it. It consists only in placing a concave glass near the plane mirror, in the end of a... The Distorting Mirror
Opticians sometimes grind a glass mirror concave in one direction only, or longitudinally; it is in fact a concave portion of a cylinder, the breadth of which may be considered that of the mirror. A person looking at his face in this mirror, in the ... The Divining Card
Provide a pack in which there is a long card; open it at that part where the long card is, and present the pack to a person in such a manner that he will naturally draw that card. You then tell him to put it into any part of the pack, and shuffle th... The Divining Perspective Glass
Procure a small perspective-glass, wide enough, where the object-glass is placed, to hold the following table: +-------+--------+--------+ 1,131 10,132 19,133 2,231 11,232 20,233 3,331 12,332 21,333 +-------+--------+-----... The Dodecahedron
So called because it nearly represents a twelve-sided figure, is made thus: First have a ball turned out of some hard wood, 14 inches diameter; divide its surface into 14 equal parts, from which bore holes one inch and a half diameter, perpendicular... The Electric Aurora Borealis
Make a Torricellian vacuum[G] in a glass tube, about three feet long, and hermetically sealed.[H] Let one end of this tube be held in the hand, and the other applied to the conductor; and immediately the whole tube will be illuminated from one end; ... The Electric Ball
Provide a ball of cork about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, hollowed out in the internal part by cutting it in two hemispheres, scooping out the inside, and then joining them together with paste. Having attached this to a silk thread between... The Electric Balloon
Two balloons, made of the allantoides of a calf, are to be filled with hydrogen gas, of which each contains about two cubic feet. To each of these is to be suspended, by a silken thread about eight feet long, such a weight as is just sufficient to p... The Electric Explosion
Take a card, a quire of paper, or the cover of a book; and keep it close to the outside coating of a charged jar: put one knob of the discharging-rod upon the card, quire of paper, &c., so that, between the knob and coating of the jar, the thickness... The Electric Kite
Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as to reach to the four corners of a large thin silk handkerchief, when extended; tie the corners of the handkerchief to the extremities of the cross; and you have the body of the kit... The Electric Sparks
When the prime conductor is situated in its proper place, and electrified by whirling the cylinder, if a metallic wire, with a ball at its extremity, or the knuckle or a finger be presented to the prime conductor, a spark will be seen to issue betwe... The Electrical Fountain
Suspend a vessel of water from the middle of the brass arch, and place in the vessel a small tube. The water will be one continued stream; and if the electrification be strong, a number of streams will issue, in form of a cone, the top of which will... The Electrical Orrery
By the motion of circulating points, we may in some measure imitate ... The Electrified Ball
Place an ivory ball on the prime conductor of the machine, and take a strong spark, or send the charge of a Leyden phial through its centre, and the ball will appear perfectly luminous; but if the charge be not sent through the centre, it will pass ... The Electrified Camphor
A beautiful experiment of the same nature is made with camphor. A spoon holding a piece of lighted camphor is made to communicate with an electrified body, as the prime conductor of a machine; while the conductor continues electrified by keeping the...