To Melt A Piece Of Money In A Walnut-shell Without Injuring The
shell.
Bend any thin coin, and put it into half a walnut-shell; place the
shell on a little sand, to keep it steady. Then fill the shell with a
mixture made of three parts of very dry pounded nitre, one part of
flowers of sulphur, and a little saw-dust well sifted. If you then set
light to the mixture, you will find, when it is melted, that the metal
will also be melted at the bottom of the shell, in form of a button,
which will become hard when the burning matter round it is consumed:
the shell will have sustained very little injury.