To Spin Sealing-wax Into Threads By Electricity
Stick a small piece of sealing-wax on the end of a wire, and set fire
to it. Then put an electrical machine in motion, and present the wax
just blown out at the distance of some inches from the prime
conductor. A number of extremely fine filaments will immediately dart
from the sealing-wax to the conductor, on which they will be condensed
into a kind of net-work resembling wool.
If the wire with the seali
conductor, and a piece of paper be presented at a moderate distance
from the wax, just after it has been ignited, on setting the machine
in motion, a net-work of wax will be formed on the paper. The same
effect, but in a slighter degree, will be produced, if the paper be
briskly rubbed with a piece of elastic gum, and the melting
sealing-wax be held pretty near the paper immediately after rubbing.
If the paper thus painted, as it were, with sealing-wax be gently
warmed by holding the back of it to the fire, the wax will adhere to
it, and the result of the experiment will thus be rendered permanent.
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To Observe An Eclipse Of The Sun Without Injury To The Eye
Take a burning-glass, or spectacle-glass, that magnifies very much; hold it before a book or pasteboard, twice the distance of its focus, and you will see the round body of the sun, and the manner in which the moon passes between the glass and the s... To Prepare Charcoal For Fire-works
Charcoal is a preservative, by which the saltpetre and brimstone are made into gunpowder, by preventing the sulphur from suffocating the strong and windy exhalation of the nitre. There are several sorts of wood made use of for this purpose; some pre... To Procure Hydrogen Gas
Provide a phial with a cork stopper, through which is thrust a piece of tobacco-pipe. Into the phial put a few pieces of zinc, or small iron nails; on this pour a mixture, of equal parts of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) and water, previously mixed... To Produce Beautiful Fire-works In Miniature
Put half a drachm of solid phosphorus into a large pint Florence flask; holding it slanting, that the phosphorus may not break the glass. Pour upon it a gill and a half of water, and place the whole over a tea-kettle lamp, or any common tin lamp, fi... To Produce Fire By The Mixture Of Two Cold Liquids
Take half a pound of pure dry nitrate, in powder; put it into a retort that is quite dry; add an equal quantity of highly rectified oil of vitriol, and, distilling the mixture in a moderate sand heat, it will produce a liquor like a yellowish fume; ... To Produce Fire From Cane
The Chinese rattans, which are used, when split, for making cane chairs, will, when dry, if struck against each other, give fire; and are used accordingly in some places, in lieu of flint and steel. ... To Produce Metallic Lead From The Powder
Take one ounce of red lead, and half a drachm of charcoal in powder, incorporate them well in a mortar, and then fill the bowl of a tobacco-pipe with the mixture. Submit it to an intense heat, in a common fire, and when melted, pour it out upon a sl... To Produce The Appearance Of A Flower From Its Ashes
Make a tin box, with a cover that takes off. Let this box be supported by a pedestal of the same metal, and on which there is a little door. In the front of this box is to be a glass. In a groove, at a small distance from this glass, place a doubl... To Produce The Appearance Of A Spectre On A Pedestal In The Middle Of
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Paste a piece of paper to a very smooth clear table, that the boiling water used in the operation may not require a colour which might lessen its success. Spread out the print you wish to clean upon the table, and sprinkle it with boiling water; tak... To Represent A Storm At Sea
Provide two strips of glass, whose frames are thin enough to admit both strips freely into the groove of the lantern. On one of these glasses paint the appearance of the sea from a smooth calm to a violent storm. Let these representations run gradua... To Represent Cascades Of Fire
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Stick a small piece of sealing-wax on the end of a wire, and set fire to it. Then put an electrical machine in motion, and present the wax just blown out at the distance of some inches from the prime conductor. A number of extremely fine filaments w... To Take A Plaster-of-paris Cast From A Person's Face
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