The Electrified Cotton
Take a small lock of cotton, extended in every direction as much as
can conveniently be done, and by a linen thread about five or six
inches long, or by a thread drawn out of the same cotton, tie it to
the end of the prime conductor; then set the machine in motion, and
the lock of cotton, on being electrified, will immediately swell, by
repelling its filaments from one another, and will stretch itself
towards the neare
kept in motion, and present the end of your finger, or the knob of a
wire, towards the lock of cotton, which will then immediately move
towards the finger, and endeavour to touch it; but take with the
other hand a pointed needle, and present its point towards the cotton,
a little above the end of the finger, and the cotton will be observed
immediately to shrink upwards, and move towards the prime conductor.
Remove the needle, and the cotton will come again towards the finger.
Present the needle, and the cotton will shrink again.
More
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The Cemented Bladder
Tie the neck of the bladder to a stop-cock, which is to be screwed to the plate of the pump, and the air exhausted from the bladder; then turn the stop-cock, to prevent the re-entrance of the air, and unscrew the whole from the pump. The bladder wil... The Changeable Rose
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
On the ace of spades fix, with soap, a heart, and on the ace of hearts a spade, in such a manner that they will easily slip off. Show these two aces to the company; then, taking the ace of spades, you desire a person to put his foot upon it, and a... The Convertible Cards
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
If a person look in a concave mirror placed perpendicularly to another, (that is, supposing one mirror to be laid on the floor, and the other attached to the ceiling,) his face will appear entirely deformed. If the mirror be a little inclined, so as... The Diagonal Opera Glass
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... The Electrified Cotton
Take a small lock of cotton, extended in every direction as much as can conveniently be done, and by a linen thread about five or six inches long, or by a thread drawn out of the same cotton, tie it to the end of the prime conductor; then set the ma... The Enchanted Bottle
Fill a glass bottle with water to the beginning of the neck; leave the neck empty, and cork it. Suspend this bottle opposite a concave mirror, and beyond its focus, that it may appear reversed. Place yourself still further distant from the bottle; a... The Enchanted Palace
On the six-sided plane A B C D E F, Fig. 21, draw six semi-diameters; and on each of these place perpendicularly two plane mirrors, which must join exactly at the centre, and which, placed back to back, must be as thin as possible. Decorate the exte... The Exploded Bladder
Take a glass pipe open at both ends, to one of which tie fast a wet bladder, and let it dry. Then place it on the plate of the pump. While the air presses the bladder equally on both sides, it will lie even and straight; but as soon as the air is ex... The Exploding Bubble
If you take up a small quantity of melted glass with a tube, (the bowl of a common tobacco-pipe will do,) and let a drop fall into a vessel of water, it will chill and condense with a fine spiral tail, which being broken, the whole substance will bu... The Fiery Fountain
If twenty grains of phosphorus, cut very small, and mixed with forty grains of powder of zinc, be put into four drachms of water, and two drachms of concentrated sulphuric acid be added thereto, bubbles of inflamed phosphoretted hydrogen gas will qu... The Fiery Shower
On the plate put a number of any kind of seeds, grains of sand, or brass dust. The conductor being strongly electrified, those light particles will be attracted and repelled by the plate suspended from the conductor, with amazing rapidity, so as to ... The Floating Stone
To a piece of cork tie a small stone that will just sink it; and, putting it in a vessel of water, place it under the receiver. Then exhausting the receiver, the bubbles of air will expand from its pores, and, adhering to its surface, will render it... The Four Confederate Cards
A person draws four cards from the pack, and you tell him to remember one of them. He then returns them to the pack, and you dexterously place two under and two on the top of the pack. Under the bottom ones you place four cards of any sort, and then... The Four Inseparable Kings
Take the four kings, and behind the last of them place two other cards, so that they may not be seen. Then spread open the four kings to the company, and put the six cards at the bottom of the pack. Draw one of the kings, and put it at the top of th... The Globular Fountain
Make a hollow globe, of copper or lead, and of a size adapted to the quantity of water that comes from a pipe (hereafter mentioned) to which it is to be fixed, and which may be fastened to any kind of pump, provided it be so constructed, that the wa... The Hand Fixed By Air
If a person hold his hand on an open receiver, and the air be exhausted, it will be fixed as if pressed by a weight of sixty pounds. ... The Hour Of The Day Or Night Told By A Suspended Shilling
However improbable the following experiment may appear, it has been proved by repeated trials: Sling a shilling or sixpence at the end of a piece of thread by means of a loop. Then resting your elbow on a table, hold the other end of the thread b... The Hydraulic Dancer
Procure a little figure made of cork, which you may dress as your fancy dictates. In this figure place a small hollow cone made of thin leaf brass. When the figure is placed on a jet d'eau, that plays in a perpendicular direction, it will be susp... The Igniting Mirrors
The rays of a luminous body placed in the focus of concave mirror, being reflected in parallel lines, and a second mirror being placed diametrically opposite to the first, will set fire to a combustible body, by collecting those rays in the focus. ... The Illuminated Cylinder
Provide a glass cylinder, three feet long, and three inches diameter; near the bottom of it fix a brass plate, and have another brass plate, so contrived that you may let it down the cylinder, and bring it as near the first plate as you desire. Let ... The Illuminated Fountain That Plays When The Candles Are Lighted
and stops when they are extinguished. Provide two cylindrical vessels, A B and C D, as in Fig. 6. Connect them by four tubes open at each end, as H I, &c., so that the air may descend out of the higher into the lower vessel. To these tubes fix cand... The Illuminated Vacuum
Take a tall receiver that is very dry, and fix through the top of it, with cement, a blunt wire; then exhaust the receiver, and present the knob of the wire to the conductor, and every spark will pass through the vacuum in a broad stream of light, v... The Illuminated Water
Connect one end of a chain with the outside of a charged phial, and let the other end lie on the table. Place the end of another piece of chain at the distance of about a quarter of an inch from the former; and set a glass decanter of water on these... The Inanimate Oracle
Place a bust on a pedestal in the corner of a room, and let there be two tubes, as in the preceding article, one to go from the mouth, and the other from the ear, through the pedestal and the floor to an under apartment; there may be also wires, tha... The Inconceivable Shock
Put in a person's hand a wire that is fixed on to the hook that comes from the chain, which communicates with one side of the battery, and in his other hand put a small wire with a hook at the end of it, which you direct him to fix on to a hook whic...