summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authornfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-02-12 02:26:30 -0800
committernfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-02-12 02:26:30 -0800
commit075950f00e03f9c730038134368eee0bf94e48bb (patch)
tree80d4c98bf3cd38072a35956a92ae257859d22057
parent4b3e21531bfcfe2975edc8afca39cc0656f6184b (diff)
NormalizeHEADmain
-rw-r--r--.gitattributes4
-rw-r--r--LICENSE.txt11
-rw-r--r--README.md2
-rw-r--r--old/50100-0.txt3090
-rw-r--r--old/50100-0.zipbin48288 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h.zipbin554300 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/50100-h.htm3692
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_001.jpgbin67700 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_002.jpgbin17164 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_004.jpgbin1338 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_014.jpgbin2970 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_016a.jpgbin9969 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_016b.jpgbin12425 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_017a.jpgbin4324 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_017b.jpgbin5760 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_018.jpgbin45904 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_019.jpgbin21351 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_020.jpgbin19513 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_021.jpgbin20388 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_022.jpgbin17475 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_023.jpgbin15110 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_024.jpgbin57764 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_025.jpgbin8868 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_028.jpgbin29516 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_029.jpgbin22627 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_030a.jpgbin15186 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_030b.jpgbin14267 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_031.jpgbin29703 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_032.jpgbin7589 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_057.jpgbin42614 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_058.jpgbin19358 -> 0 bytes
-rw-r--r--old/50100-h/images/i_065.jpgbin7518 -> 0 bytes
32 files changed, 17 insertions, 6782 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7b82bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+*.txt text eol=lf
+*.htm text eol=lf
+*.html text eol=lf
+*.md text eol=lf
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4fca14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #50100 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50100)
diff --git a/old/50100-0.txt b/old/50100-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 40e7567..0000000
--- a/old/50100-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3090 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Do Chemical Tricks, by A. Anderson
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: How to Do Chemical Tricks
- Containing Over One Hundred Highly Amusing and Instructive
- Tricks With Chemicals
-
-Author: A. Anderson
-
-Release Date: September 30, 2015 [EBook #50100]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
-courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
-(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Notes:
-
-Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), and text
-enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=).
-
-Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end, including some
-corrections to the text.
-
- * * * * *
-
-[Illustration: HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS]
-
-
-
-
-HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS.
-
-
- Containing Over One Hundred Highly
- Amusing and Instructive Tricks
- With Chemicals.
-
- By A. ANDERSON.
-
- HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED.
-
- NEW YORK:
- FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,
- 24 UNION SQUARE.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by
-
-FRANK TOUSEY,
-
-in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.
-
- * * * * *
-
-HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS.
-
-From the remotest ages chemistry has exercised the strongest
-fascination on the minds of the curious, nor is it a matter of surprise
-that boys should feel themselves drawn strongly by its mystery and
-seeming magic. This attraction is undoubtedly caused by what the
-ancients called the elements, earth, air, fire and water. There is
-something so weird about the manifestation of air and fire, that it
-is not difficult to understand how the alchemists believed them to be
-forces able to be used at the bidding of spirits, who might be conjured
-up by incantations and spells.
-
-Now it is known that these uncanny beings existed only in the
-imagination of the forerunners of modern chemists. Yet what boy can
-look on the brilliantly colored fires of a Fourth of July display, or
-the burnished gold of the setting sun, or the fantastic pictures in the
-glowing coals in a grate, and not feel that there is still something
-of magic and mystery in fire still? What the boy feels, the scientist
-cannot explain. Nobody knows actually what fire is. All that can be
-said is that fire is produced by certain substances, such as coals,
-wood, or paper, that give out heat, while passing from one state to
-another.
-
-Now the word “element” was and is used to mean that simplest form of
-matter, which, with other simplest forms goes to make up the whole
-world of everything in it. The earth, animals, plants, the sea, the
-atmosphere, are all made up of one or more of some seventy substances
-called elements. Hence it is clear that the earth, air and water are
-not, as the ancients thought, elements at all. As will be seen in this
-little book, both air and water consist of mixtures of elements. In
-chemistry such mixtures are called compounds. This word occurs again
-and again, so its explanation should be remembered.
-
-One great fact must be remembered, which is at the very root of
-chemistry. Nothing is really lost, however much its form may be
-changed, or however many changes it may pass through. For instance, it
-may seem that when a block of wood be burned that a very large amount
-of it is lost. If, however, the ashes, the smoke, and the carbon that
-is burned by the air be all weighed, the result would be exactly the
-same as the weight of the original block of wood.
-
-Again take an instance of a different nature. A lump of sugar is placed
-in a small glass of water. Gradually the solid is dissolved, and in
-time disappears. It is not lost, however. By boiling the mixture until
-all the water has evaporated the sugar will be found adhering as
-crystals on the sides of the glass. If these be carefully collected,
-they will be found to weigh precisely as much as the original lump of
-sugar.
-
-Once more, take a block of ice weighing an ounce. Having removed
-it into a room, the solid will in an hour or two have disappeared
-entirely, but the water that has replaced the block of ice will weigh
-neither more nor less than an ounce. If again heat be applied to the
-water it will all disappear, but if weighed in a jam jar, the steam,
-although invisible to the eye, will still weigh one ounce exactly.
-
-From the above-given experiments it may be seen that, however matter
-may change its form it cannot really be destroyed. This truth will
-appear in every experiment that can be performed, whether those given
-in this little book or in the most learned treatise on chemistry.
-
-
-
-
-Chemical Affinity.
-
-
-This high-sounding term means that substances have a power of uniting
-together that can be better explained by an experiment. Allow a few
-drops of water to fall on a perfectly clean piece of iron. In a short
-time a reddish-brown substance will appear on the iron that in ordinary
-language is called rust. What does this mean? Water is a compound
-substance composed of oxygen and hydrogen, but when brought into
-contact with iron the oxygen prefers to unite with the iron and sets
-the hydrogen free. Hence, would the chemist say, oxygen has a “stronger
-affinity” for iron than for hydrogen. In this case the rust is composed
-of rust, a combination of iron and oxygen called oxide of iron. What
-has taken place may be shown by the following, which will be easily
-understood:
-
- Oxygen } Water + Iron = Oxide
- Hydrogen } of Iron + Hydrogen.
-
-So all that the chemical combination in the above means is that the
-iron has taken the place of the hydrogen in the water used for the
-experiment. If weighed it would be found as always, that the water
-and the iron weighed precisely the same as the oxide of iron and the
-hydrogen.
-
-It is to this same principle of chemical affinity that the curious
-experiments of magic writing with sympathetic inks are possible.
-
-
-
-
-Sympathetic Inks.
-
-
-By means of these may be carried on a correspondence which is beyond
-the discovery of all not in the secret. With one class of these inks
-the writing becomes visible only when moistened with a particular
-solution. Thus, if we write to you with a solution of sulphate of iron
-the letters are invisible. On the receipt of our letter, you rub over
-the sheet a feather or sponge, wet with a solution of nut-galls, and
-the letters burst forth into sensible being at once, and are permanent.
-
-2. If we write with a solution of sugar of lead and you moisten with
-a sponge or pencil dipped in water impregnated with sulphuretted
-hydrogen, the letters will appear with metallic brilliancy.
-
-3. If we write with a weak solution of sulphate of copper, and you
-apply ammonia, the letters assume a beautiful blue. When the ammonia
-evaporates as it does on exposure to the sun or fire, the writing
-disappears, but may be revived again as before.
-
-4. If you write with oil of vitriol very much diluted, so as to prevent
-its destroying the paper, the manuscript will be invisible except when
-held to the fire, when the letters will appear black.
-
-5. Write with cobalt dissolved in diluted muriatic acid; the letters
-will be invisible when cold, but when warmed they will appear a bluish
-green.
-
-Secrets thus written will not be brought to the knowledge of a
-stranger, because he does not know the solution which was used in
-writing, and therefore knows not what to apply to bring out the letters.
-
-Other forms of elective affinity produce equally novel results. Thus,
-two invisible gases, when combined, form sometimes a _visible solid_.
-Muriatic acid and ammonia are examples, also ammonia and carbonic acid.
-
-On the other hand, if a solution of sulphate of soda be mixed with a
-solution of muriate of lime the whole becomes solid.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Some gases when united form liquids, as oxygen and hydrogen, which
-unite and form water. Some solids when combined form liquids.
-
-Chemical affinity is sometimes called _elective_, or the effect of
-_choice_, as if one substance exerted a kind of _preference_ for
-another, and chose to be united to it rather than to that with which
-it was previously combined; thus, if you pour some vinegar, which is
-a weak acetic acid, upon some pearlash (a combination of potash and
-carbonic acid), or some carbonate of soda (a combination of the same
-acid with soda), a violent effervescence will take place, occasioned by
-the escape of the carbonic acid, displaced in consequence of the potash
-or soda preferring the acetic acid, and forming a compound called an
-acetate.
-
-Then, if some sulphuric acid be poured on this new compound, the acetic
-acid will, in its turn, be displaced by the greater attachment of
-either of the bases, as they are termed, for the sulphuric acid. Again,
-if into a solution of blue vitriol (a combination of sulphuric acid
-with copper), the bright blade of a knife be introduced, the knife will
-speedily be covered with a coat of copper, deposited in consequence of
-the acid _preferring_ the iron of which the knife is made, a quantity
-of it being dissolved in exact proportion to the quantity of copper
-deposited.
-
-It is on the same principle that a very beautiful preparation called a
-silver-tree, or a lead-tree, may be formed, thus: Fill a wide bottle,
-capable of holding from half a pint to a pint, with a tolerably strong
-solution of nitrate of silver (lunar caustic), or acetate of lead, in
-pure distilled water. Then attach a small piece of zinc by a string
-to the cork or stopper of the bottle, so that the zinc shall hang
-about the middle of the bottle, and set it by where it may be quite
-undisturbed. In a short time brilliant plates of silver or lead, as the
-case may be, will be seen to collect around the piece of zinc, assuming
-more or less of the crystalline form. This is a case of elective
-affinity; the acid with which the silver or lead was united _prefers_
-the zinc to either of those metals, and in consequence discards them
-in order to attach the zinc to itself; and this process will continue
-until the whole of the zinc is taken up, or the whole of the silver or
-lead deposited.
-
-
-
-
-Alum Baskets.
-
-
-Form a small basket about the size of the hand, of iron wire or split
-willow; then take some cotton, such as ladies use for running into
-flounces; untwist it and wind it round every limb of the basket. Boil
-eighteen ounces of alum in a quart of water, or quantities in that
-proportion; stir the mixture while boiling until the alum is completely
-dissolved. Pour the solution into a deep pan, or other convenient
-vessel, and suspend the basket in the liquor, so that no part of the
-basket shall touch the vessel, or be exposed to the air. Let the whole
-remain perfectly at rest for twenty-four hours. When you then remove
-the basket the alum will be found very prettily crystallized over all
-the limbs of the cottoned frame.
-
-
-
-
-Easy Crystallizations.
-
-
-Saturate water _kept boiling_ with alum; then set the solution in a
-cool place, suspending in it, by a hair, or fine silk thread, a cinder,
-a sprig of a plant, or any other trifle. As the solution cools, a
-beautiful crystallization of the salt takes place upon the cinders,
-etc., which are made to resemble specimens of mineralogical spars.
-
-
-
-
-To Make a Piece of Charcoal Appear as Though it were Coated with Gold.
-
-
-Dilute a saturated solution of chloride of gold with five times its
-bulk of water; place a thin strip of fresh burned charcoal into it, and
-apply heat, gradually increasing it until the solution gently boils.
-The heat will make the charcoal precipitate the metal on the charcoal,
-in the form of brilliant spangles.
-
-
-
-
-To Give a Piece of Charcoal a Rich Coat of Silver.
-
-
-Lay a crystal of nitrate of silver upon a piece of burning charcoal;
-the metallic salt will catch fire, and throw out the most beautiful
-scintillations that can be imagined. The silver is reduced, and, in the
-end, produces upon the charcoal a very brilliant appearance.
-
-Many animal and vegetable substances, consist, for the most part, of
-carbon, or charcoal, united with oxygen and hydrogen, which remember,
-together combined, form water. Now oil of vitriol or strong sulphuric
-acid, has so powerful an affinity or so great a thirst for water, that
-it will abstract it from almost any body in which it exists. If you
-pour some of this acid on a lump of sugar, or place a chip of wood in a
-small quantity of it, the sugar or wood will become speedily blackened,
-that is charred, in consequence of the oxygen and hydrogen being
-removed by the sulphuric acid, and only the carbon or charcoal left.
-
-When Cleopatra dissolved pearls of wondrous value in vinegar, she was
-unwittingly giving an example of chemical affinity. The pearl is simply
-carbonate of lime stored up by the oyster in layers. Consequently the
-precious jewels were decomposed by the greater affinity or fondness
-of lime for the acetic acid in the vinegar, than for the carbonic
-acid with which it had been before united. This was an example of
-inconstancy in strong contrast with the conduct of their owner, who
-chose death rather than become the wife of her lover’s conqueror.
-
-
-
-
-Combustion.
-
-
-It is necessary to distinguish between burning and the mere appearance
-of it. A gas flame is gas in a state of combustion, whereas the
-electric light is no example of it, although the wire within the
-glassen cylinder is red hot, and to all appearance burning. Combustion
-generally takes place through the strong affinity of some element, such
-as carbon in a substance for the oxygen in the atmosphere. In coal gas,
-for instance, the carbon contained in it unites with the oxygen in the
-air to form a colorless substance called carbonic acid gas. The latter
-is unable to support life, and may be called, therefore, poisonous. It
-is the presence of this gas which makes it unhealthy to burn many jets
-without proper ventilation.
-
-Also, carbonic acid gas is given off by the lungs. It may seem
-curious, but it is none the less true, that breathing is a process of
-combustion. The blood brings to the surface of the lungs the carbon,
-which has resulted from the waste of the internal organs of the body.
-When drawing in a breath the oxygen present in the atmosphere meets the
-impure blood at the surface of the lungs, and purifies it by uniting
-with the carbon in it. Then, though oxygen has been breathed in,
-carbonic acid gas has been breathed out.
-
-To prove this will be interesting: Obtain from a chemist a little lime
-water--two cents worth will do. It looks like ordinary water, being
-perfectly transparent and colorless. Pour some into a clean glass, and
-through a glass tube blow steadily into the water. In half a minute the
-hitherto colorless liquid will become milky and opaque. If allowed to
-stand there will fall down at the bottom of the glass a white powder.
-
-What has happened in this case? The carbonic acid gas from the lungs
-has formed with the lime in the lime water a substance called carbonate
-of lime, which, being insoluble in water, falls to the bottom of the
-glass as a white powder.
-
-If carbonic acid gas were not present in the air blown from the lungs,
-this milkiness would not appear, for no other gas, except this, would
-alter the lime water’s clearness.
-
-
-
-
-Chemistry of The Air.
-
-
-Before proceeding further, it will be well to perform one or two
-experiments, to prove that the air we breathe is by no means the simple
-substance it is generally supposed to be. Although it is invisible, it
-must be remembered that it presses with a force of over fifteen pounds
-to the square inch, over the whole surface of the earth. It extends,
-too, to a height of some forty miles above the earth, and though it
-cannot be seen, it can be felt in the rush of the hurricane, and heard
-in the roar of the tempest. It is chiefly composed of a mixture of two
-gases, oxygen and nitrogen.
-
-Did the air consist entirely of the former, people would breathe too
-quickly, and die in a very short time in a high fever, burned up, in
-fact. If only consisting of nitrogen, the human race would also die,
-because this element is incapable of supporting life; people would be
-suffocated, in fact.
-
-Therefore, a judicious mixture of the two is essential to the life
-of animals. Generally, in a hundred parts of air by weight there are
-seventy-six parts of nitrogen to twenty-three of oxygen.
-
-Besides these two gases, there is also a quantity of carbonic acid gas
-in the air, given off by all the fires and animals in the world. Of
-course, its amount is much greater in the great towns and manufacturing
-centers than in country districts.
-
-Now herein must be recorded one of these charming arrangements which
-Nature has designed for the benefit of her children. Carbonic acid gas
-is much heavier than the air, and, therefore, sinks towards the ground,
-where, if allowed to accumulate, would cause the death of every animal.
-Fortunately, however, plants breathe in through their leaves carbonic
-acid gas during sunshine, and break it up into carbon and oxygen. The
-former, they use for building up their trunks, leaves, and flowers,
-while during the night they give off oxygen into the air.
-
-This is the reason why plants and trees planted in the streets so
-largely help to sweeten and purify the foul air of a great city.
-
- * * * * *
-
-An experiment to prove that the atmosphere does consist of nitrogen
-and oxygen, may be prettily proved in the following simple manner: A
-glass marmalade jar, or a soup-plate filled with water, and a piece of
-phosphorus as large as a pea, are the only things necessary. Take very
-great care not to touch the phosphorus, for the heat of the hand is
-sufficient to set it on fire, and a terrible wound would be caused.
-
-Place the phosphorus in a match-box on the surface of the water, touch
-it with a lighted match, and put the jar-mouth downwards over it to the
-bottom of the plate. The phosphorus burns with a dazzling brilliancy,
-and gives off dense white fumes. At the same time the water rises a
-third of the way up the jar, but not to the top, thus showing that all
-the invisible matter has not been consumed. The white soon settles into
-the water and is dissolved. The phosphorus has combined with the oxygen
-in the jar and forms phosphoric oxide, which dissolves in water. There
-is then only the nitrogen left. The disappearance of the oxygen allows
-the water to fill up the space it formerly occupied.
-
-This may be followed by another experiment.
-
-To show that oxygen is necessary for the support of combustion, fix
-two or three pieces of wax taper on flat pieces of cork, and set them
-floating on water in a soup-plate, light them, and invert over them a
-glass jar.
-
-As they burn, the heat produced may perhaps at first expand the air, so
-as to force a small quantity out of the jar, but the water will soon
-rise in the jar, and continue to do so until the tapers expire, when
-you will find that a considerable portion of the air has disappeared,
-and what remains will no longer support flame.
-
-The oxygen has been converted partly into water, and partly into
-carbonic acid gas, by uniting with the carbon and hydrogen of which
-the taper consists, and the remaining air is principally nitrogen,
-with some carbonic acid. The presence of the latter may be proved by
-decanting some of the remaining air into a bottle, and then shaking
-some lime water with it, which will absorb the carbonic acid and form
-chalk.
-
-Into an ale glass, two thirds full of water at about 140 degrees,
-drop one or two pieces of phosphorus about the size of peas, and they
-will remain unaltered. Then take a bladder containing oxygen gas, to
-which is attached a stop cock and a long fine tube. Pass the end of
-the tube to the bottom of the water, turn the stop cock, and press the
-bladder gently. As the gas reaches the phosphorus it will take fire,
-and burn under the water with a brilliant flame, filling the glass with
-brilliant flashes of light dashing through the water.
-
-Into another glass put some cold water; introduce carefully some of the
-salt called chlorate of potash; upon that drop a piece of phosphorus;
-then let some strong sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) trickle slowly
-down the side of the glass, or introduce it by means of a dropping
-bottle.
-
-As soon as the acid touches the salt the latter is decomposed, and
-liberates a gas which ignites the phosphorus, producing much the same
-appearance as in the last experiment.
-
-Into the half of a broken phial put some chlorate of potash, and pour
-in some oil of vitriol. The phial will soon be filled with a heavy gas
-of a deep yellow color. Tie a small test tube at right angles to the
-end of a stick not less than a yard long, put a little ether into the
-tube, and pour it gently into the phial of gas, when an instantaneous
-explosion will take place, and the ether will be set on fire. This
-experiment should be performed in a place where there are no articles
-of furniture to be damaged, as the ingredients are often scattered by
-the explosion, and the oil of vitriol destroys all animal and vegetable
-substances.
-
-Into a jar containing oxygen gas introduce a coil of soft iron wire,
-suspended to a cork that fits the neck of the jar and having attached
-a small piece of charcoal to the lower part of the wire, ignite the
-charcoal. The iron will take fire and burn with a brilliant light,
-throwing out bright scintillations, which are oxide of iron, formed by
-the union of the gas with the iron; and they are so intensely hot that
-some of them will probably _melt_ their way into the sides of the jar,
-if not through them.
-
-But by far the most intense heat, and most brilliant light, may be
-produced by introducing a piece of phosphorus into a jar of oxygen.
-The phosphorus may be placed in a small copper cup, with a long handle
-of thick wire passing through a hole in a cork that fits the jar. The
-phosphorus must first be ignited; and as soon as it is introduced into
-the oxygen, it gives out a light so brilliant that no eye can bear it,
-and the whole jar appears filled with an intensely luminous atmosphere.
-It is well to dilute the oxygen with about one-fourth part of common
-air, to moderate the intense heat, which is nearly certain to break the
-jar if pure oxygen is used.
-
-The following experiment shows the production of heat by chemical
-action alone: Bruise some fresh-prepared crystals of nitrate of copper,
-spread them over a piece of tin foil, sprinkle them with a little
-water; then fold up the foil tightly, as rapidly as possible, and in a
-minute or two it will become red hot, the tin apparently burning away.
-This heat is produced by the energetic action of the tin on the nitrate
-of copper, taking away its oxygen in order to unite with the nitric
-acid, for which, as well as for the oxygen the tin has a much greater
-affinity than the copper has.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Combustion without flame may be shown in a very elegant and agreeable
-manner, by taking a coil of platinum wire and twisting it round the
-stem of a tobacco pipe, or any cylindrical body for a dozen times or
-so, leaving about an inch straight, which should be inserted into the
-wick of a spirit lamp. Light the lamp, and after it has burned for a
-minute or two, extinguish the flame quickly; the wire will soon become
-red hot, and, if kept from draughts of air, will continue to burn
-until all the spirit is consumed.
-
-Spongy platinum, as it is called, answers rather better than wire, and
-has been employed in the formation of fumigators for the drawing-room,
-in which, instead of pure spirit, some perfume, such as lavender water,
-is used; by its combustion an agreeable odor is diffused through the
-apartment. These little lamps were much in vogue a few years ago, but
-are now nearly out of fashion. Finally, all the readers of this little
-book should be very careful in performing all experiments. If possible,
-he should use a room with a stone floor and no curtains, while an
-outhouse with an earthen floor is still less dangerous.
-
-
-
-
-Amateur Air Pump.
-
-
-A most interesting class of experiments can be made with an air pump, a
-piece of apparatus unfortunately beyond the pocket-money supply of the
-average boy. Nevertheless, if the following instructions are exactly
-followed and carefully carried out, a very excellent air pump can be
-made at a comparatively small cost. Some pretty, as well as interesting
-results will amply repay you for the trouble you take to make the pump.
-Although the air seems so light in comparison with water or a heavy
-metal like iron, you must remember that it really presses upon every
-square inch of the earth’s surface, aye, on every square inch of your
-own bodies, with a force of fourteen and a half pounds. In other words,
-the weight of the air at the sea level resting on each square inch of
-surface weighs fourteen and a half pounds.
-
-Don’t be frightened, boys, at the explanation of one word that must
-be used in connection with air experiments. The word is vacuum.
-Vacuum really means an empty space, devoid of all matter, even of
-air. Although it seems easy to think of an empty space, it is quite
-impossible to exhaust a space of all matter, even of air. For this
-reason, the alchemists of the middle ages used to say: “Nature abhors
-a vacuum.” This was only their way of saying how impossible it was to
-make a space, such as the inside of a vessel, quite empty. Yet it is
-possible to reduce the amount of air in a vessel almost to nothing.
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
-
-Now for the pump. In the first place obtain three pieces of
-gutta-percha tubing of the following lengths:
-
-No. 1.--A tube twelve and a half inches long, measuring outside two and
-a half, inside one and a half inches in circumference.
-
-No. 2.--This must be seven and a half inches long, one and a half
-inches outside, and an inch inside.
-
-No. 3.--This is a length of tubing about sixty inches long, two and a
-half inches in outside circumference, and at least an inch thick. If an
-inch and a half thick all the better, as it will be more air-tight.
-
-Divide tube No. 2 into two equal parts, cutting from right to left at
-an angle of 45 degrees. Into one of the parts fit a plug of hard wood
-pierced lengthwise by a red hot wire (fig. 1); the figure shows the
-shape of it sufficiently. In the hollow side cut a small opening, and
-over this tie very tightly a band of flexible india-rubber (fig. 3).
-This band will serve as the valve of the piston of the pump. Figs. 3
-and 4 give a side and front view of this valve. Great care must be
-taken neither to split the plug in boring the hole nor to cut the tube.
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
-
-This valve must now be inserted in the large tube No. 1, as seen in
-fig. 2.
-
-At the other end of the large tube, which will serve as the body of
-the pump, at B fig. 2, fix a similar valve to the above, but the
-india-rubber band must be fixed on the other side of the valve as at B
-fig. 2. The fitting A will serve for escape, the second for withdrawing
-the air from the space to be exhausted. Finally fix tube No. 3 on
-valves A or B, fig. 2, according to your wish to produce a vacuum or to
-compress the air.
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
-
-By means of a pedal made simply with two boards put together on hinges
-(fig. 5), one pressed with the foot, the air contained in the body of
-the pump (fig. 2) tends to escape. It therefore lifts the valve of the
-fitting fixed at A, and escapes through the flexible elastic band tied
-over the hole in the hollow side of tube No. 2. If the pressure ceases
-the big tube, on account of its own elasticity, takes its former form
-and sucks in the air. This time it is the valve at B which is lifted
-and lets pass the air which fills the body of the pump. If one has
-fixed on to the fitting at B, the long india-rubber tube No. 3, which
-is plunged in a receiver--a receiver is any vessel in which the air is
-exhausted, or into which it is forced--it is easily understood that
-after a few moves of the pedal, the air is drawn out, and a vacuum is
-obtained.
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
-
-If one wishes to have a force-pump one has only to modify slightly the
-construction of the valve. Instead of a band of india-rubber fixed as
-shown in fig. 3, it is altered as in fig. 4, that is to say the valve
-is formed by a band of supple india-rubber fastened by two tacks only
-on one side of the opening in the side of the plug. For this object it
-is also necessary to take stronger tubes.
-
-Let us now review the few experiments that can be made with this
-machine.
-
-In order to conduct experiments a receiver must be obtained. The best
-vessel for your purpose is a large bell-jar with a ground glass stopper
-and neck to insure absolute tightness. Such a jar may be cheaply
-obtained at a scientific instrument maker’s for about seventy-five
-cents. If you cannot get a bell-jar procure a 4-lb. jam pot and a
-tightly-fitting bung. In the middle of the latter bore a hole to admit
-a glass tube, some six inches long and an inch in diameter, and then
-sealing-wax the whole of the upper surface of the bung so that air
-cannot enter. Over the projecting end of the glass tube, bind very
-tightly the free end of the long tubing affixed to the pump. To ensure
-tight binding, waxed thread should be used.
-
-
-
-
-Asphyxia.
-
-
-Put a mouse--it is necessary to catch him first--into the receiver, and
-work the pump. Soon the animal will show all the signs of being choked,
-and eventually will die. This is proof sufficient that animals cannot
-live without air.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-Balloon in Vacuum.
-
-
-Place in the receiver a small bladder, such as are sold in the streets
-for a few cents. Wet it a little to make it more supple. Now, in the
-ordinary way the air inside the bladder exerts the same pressure on
-the skin of the bladder as does the air on the outside. Now work the
-pedal so that the air in the receiver is gradually exhausted. The
-bladder will be seen to gradually swell and finally burst. It bursts
-because as the air in the receiver is exhausted by the pump, the air
-outside the bladder exerts a less force than the air inside. But the
-air inside is confined by the bladder skin, a not very strong material,
-as you know, so as soon as the difference between the inside and
-outside pressures is greater than the strength of the bladder, the
-latter bursts. This experiment also shows the expansible power of air.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-Boiling Cold Water.
-
-
-Place in the receiver a tumbler of cold water and work the pump as
-before. In a few minutes, as soon as the air is sufficiently exhausted,
-the water will apparently boil. Yet you know the water does not boil
-in a kettle unless heated to 212 degrees. This phenomenon is thus
-explained: The vacuum causes the air-bubbles contained in the water to
-escape. They easily do so, because there is scarcely any reserve on the
-surface of the liquid (see fig.).
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-A Sucking Tube.
-
-
-This force, the pressure of the air which you have just ascertained,
-supplies various experiments in its illustration.
-
-Take a tin tube, for example, the tin holder of a penny pen, which you
-may procure at any stationer’s. Put a little water in it and make it
-boil so that the steam takes the place of the air.
-
-When steaming furiously stop the mouth of the tube with a small cork,
-sealing the opening hermetically. Oil it a little, so it may glide with
-ease. If you cool the tube by plunging it in a basin of cold water,
-for example, the steam is condensed, forming a vacuum in the interior,
-and under the atmospheric pressure the cork will glide down. Fasten
-a string to the cork and you can withdraw it and begin the operation
-again. As the water gets hot, steam is reformed; you will see the cork
-come up again.
-
-A capital way of making this cork is to stick the tube in a piece of
-potato, cutting out of the latter a perfectly-fitting cork.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-Cupping.
-
-
-Instead of a jar-receiver, take a long-necked bottle open at both ends.
-If you place the hand on one of the open ends and exhaust the air, by
-attaching the long tube of the pump to the other you cannot remove the
-hand easily. Do not try to pump the air out entirely, as the suction
-may be too strong and draw blood. It is by the rarefaction of the air
-that the cupping-glass is applied to people who require bleeding. In
-the antiquated surgical operation of cupping, the doctor burned a few
-pieces of paper in small glass cups, which are then applied to the
-skin; the air, in getting cold, contracted and produced a partial
-vacuum, thus acting as the bottle did in the above experiment.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-The Barometer.
-
-
-Now you shall learn something about the pressure exercised by the
-atmospheric layer which surrounds the earth to the height of about
-forty miles. This is done with the aid of a very well-known instrument
-called the barometer.
-
-You may construct one yourselves. Procure a glass tube closed at one
-end, about a yard long and one tenth of an inch in diameter. Fill it
-with mercury, then turn it upside down into a bowl filled with the same
-metal, taking care that the air does not enter the tube. The column
-will stop at a height between 29 and 30 inches.
-
-This, therefore is the measure of the force of the air’s pressure, for
-in the upper part of the tube there is an absolute vacuum and nothing
-would prevent the mercury from going higher up. The weight of the
-air layer corresponds, therefore, to a height of nearly 30 inches of
-mercury.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-This weight has been before stated, viz., fourteen and a half pounds,
-such a weight being supported by every single square inch of the
-globe’s surface. A marvelous pressure is thus exerted on the whole
-earth. In other words, the weight of the air that surrounds the
-earth on all sides is no less than the following enormous number of
-5,184,740,000,000,000 tons.
-
-A man of average height, himself supports the enormous pressure of
-34,171 pounds, or over 15 tons, and yet does not feel the least
-inconvenience in his movements. It is because this pressure is
-exercised in all directions, and a human body carries within it elastic
-fluids that counterbalance that tremendous weight.
-
-So accustomed do people become to this weight that when the weather is
-stormy, a feeling of heaviness comes on.
-
-However, it is just the contrary which takes place when the barometer
-is lower; that is to say, the atmospheric pressure has diminished.
-Consequently there is less weight to be carried.
-
-You would experience the same sensation when going up in a balloon. As
-you rise higher and higher the weight of the air is less felt, and this
-makes people so uncomfortable that at a height of about 9,000 or 10,000
-yards the liquids in our body--the blood, the water, the bile--tend to
-escape outwards. Why? Because they are no longer balanced by an outside
-pressure equal in force to them. In fact, if you continued to ascend,
-your fate would be that of the bladder in the first experiment--you
-would burst. Thus are you and all creatures attached to the face of the
-earth, and it seems as if great heights were forbidden to our curiosity.
-
-
-
-
-A Novel Barometer.
-
-
-Construct a toy house of cardboard, painted, and let there be two
-open doorways in the front, and let it stand on a wooden platform to
-represent the ground. The two sides and back may come right down to the
-ground, but there must be a slight space between the front of the house
-and the ground upon which it stands.
-
-Next make a flat wheel or disc of wood about the thickness of a penny,
-its diameter or measurement across the center to measure the same as
-the distance between the two doorways of the house. The wheel disc or
-turn-table must have a shaft or spindle in the middle, so that it will
-revolve easily in a hole made for it in the floor or ground which your
-cardboard house stands on; this pivot-hole should be just within the
-house and exactly half way between the two doors.
-
-In the next place get two small dolls of such size that they will pass
-easily through the doorways, or you may cut them out of cork or some
-light substance. Dress one to represent an old man and the other as his
-wife, and fix them opposite each other at the edge of the disc or wheel
-in such a manner, that when it turns on its axle, the figures move in
-and out of the two doorways provided for their accommodation, for it
-appears that, although residing in the same house, they are not on very
-good terms. When the husband goes out the wife remains at home, and as
-she only ventures abroad in fine weather, her spouse is obliged to look
-out when rain may be expected.
-
-The motive power has now to be provided and this takes the form of
-a piece of catgut, such as violin strings are made of; this is a
-substance very susceptible of atmospheric influences, for dry weather
-contracts or tightens it, while a damp atmosphere causes it to relax.
-Double your catgut and twist it, fasten one end of the rope so formed
-near the back of the house inside and fasten the other to the pivot
-or axle, with two or three turns round it. As the weather changes the
-tightening or relaxing of the rope will cause the figures to move in
-and out of the house. Of course, the figures must be arranged so that
-the lady comes out when the rope is tightened by the dryness of the
-atmosphere.
-
-
-
-
-Compressed Air.
-
-
-To make experiments with compressed air, you must put your wits
-together to make a reservoir. Air, you know, is a gas consisting of
-particles called atoms. These atoms are at a certain distance from one
-another. They can be pushed further from one another as when you heat
-them, or closer together by cold and compression. So compressed air
-only means air whose atoms are pressed more closely together than as
-the case with the air around us.
-
-Now you have heard that a column of air on a square inch weighs
-fourteen and a half pounds. Also, you know that air in a receiver or
-any other vessel presses on the vessel inside and out with a force (or
-weight) of fourteen and a half pounds.
-
-If now into the vessel you push another quantity of air, equal to the
-vessel’s capacity, you simply push the atoms of air closer together.
-In fact, they are now only half as far apart as the atoms of an open
-vessel. But the pressure is doubled and the compressed air, therefore,
-will press on the inside of the vessel with a force of twenty-nine
-pounds.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Now to make the reservoir. Get a tin tube about 40 inches long and
-four in diameter, closed at both ends. Take care that the soldering
-is well done. Two openings must be made, and a small tube inserted in
-each. To each of these attach an indiarubber tube, one four feet long,
-and the other six. (See fig.).
-
-To fill this reservoir with compressed air, apply the air-pump fitted
-with the valve shown in fig. 4, in the description of an air-pump.
-Squeeze tightly the upper tube of the reservoir before beginning to
-pump, and then it will be easy to judge the amount of compression of
-the air. For the first experiment place a light ball or sheet of paper
-over the mouth of the tube, and loosen your hold on it. The object will
-immediately be blown away with considerable force.
-
-
-
-
-Noiseless Bell.
-
-
-We know that sound is a succession of vibrations which must be
-transmitted in a medium with weight, as air or water; in other words,
-in a vacuum there can be no sound at all. To prove this, introduce
-into the receiver a small bell, and as the air is extracted the sounds
-become weaker and weaker, and cease altogether when the air is
-completely rarified.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-The Bursting Bladder.
-
-
-Tie a thin piece of light indiarubber round the top of the bottle, and
-you will notice that as the air is withdrawn, the indiarubber will
-stretch, and at length form a round small balloon in the interior of
-the bottle. (Fig. 1).
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
-
-[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
-
-If a piece of bladder is tightly stretched and tied round the vessel
-(fig. 2.) it will burst under the force of the atmospheric pressure
-which acts upon it, through a vacuum having been made underneath. This
-is another case of the first experiment with the air pump described
-above.
-
-
-
-
-Weight of the Air.
-
-
-Another experiment will still better make you appreciate the value of
-this factor: the weight of the air.
-
-Put a piece of supple leather in which a ring is attached under the
-bottle; pump the air out of the latter and you will be astonished at
-the weight you may hang on this leather without dragging it off.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Should you not have at hand a glass receiver, a wooden reel may serve
-instead (see fig.). On one of its faces place a piece of strong
-cardboard, in the middle of which a hook has been fastened; when the
-rarefaction is made, rather heavy weights must be hooked on before the
-cardboard is detached from the face of the rest.
-
-
-
-
-Spoons which will Melt in Hot Water.
-
-
-Fuse together in a crucible, eight parts of bismuth, five of lead and
-three of tin; these metals will combine and form an alloy, of which
-spoons may be made, possessed of the remarkable property of melting in
-boiled water.
-
-
-
-
-Effect of Compression.
-
-
-Take a wooden reel and hollow out either the top or bottom, beginning
-at the hole in the center and working towards the edge. In the hollow
-place a ball. Apply to the other end the indiarubber tube which
-conducts the forced air, and the ball will be lifted up (see fig.).
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-To Cover Iron with Copper.
-
-
-If you are about to perform a conjuring trick, you will, of course take
-great care that your apparatus is ready. Therefore, clean your piece
-of iron or steel from dirt. Dip a piece of polished iron--the blade
-of your knife, for instance--into a solution, either of nitrate or
-sulphate of copper, when it will assume the appearance of a piece of
-pure copper.
-
-
-
-
-The Elements.
-
-
-Before entering into the next series of experiments the young chemist
-must know that all the substances of which the world and everything in
-it are made up--_i.e._, the elements are arranged in two classes, the
-metals and the non-metals. The former are by far the more numerous,
-altogether numbering more than fifty. Among the better known are
-such well known substances as iron, mercury, copper, tin, potassium,
-antimony, strontium, and nickel. The non-metals are more widely
-distributed and together made up of the bulk of the universe.
-
-They comprise the gases--oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine,
-and such substances as sulphur, carbon, phosphorus and iodine. To the
-latter class also belongs a peculiar element called fluorine, which,
-when combined with hydrogen, destroys glass. It is the only liquid
-known which cannot be contained in a glassen or earthenware vessel, and
-when used for experimental purposes must be kept in a leaden bottle.
-
-Of course it will be understood that the above is not a complete
-list by any means, but is sufficient to give a clear idea of the
-difference between the two classes. The metals generally speaking are
-of a more or less sparkling, lustrous appearance. The metals, too, are
-good conductors of heat and electricity, and generally heavy. These
-characteristics are almost entirely wanting in the non-metals. We shall
-now give some tricks with the metals.
-
-
-
-
-Potassium.
-
-
-Potassium was discovered by Sir H. Davy, in the beginning of the
-present century, while acting upon potash with the enormous galvanic
-battery of the Royal Institution, consisting of two thousand pairs of
-four inch plates. It is a brilliant metal, so soft as to be easily cut
-with a penknife, and so light as to swim upon water, on which it acts
-with great energy, uniting with the oxygen and liberating the hydrogen,
-which takes fire as it escapes.
-
-Trace some continuous lines on paper with a camel’s-hair brush dipped
-in water, and place a piece of potassium about the size of a pea on one
-of the lines, and it will follow the course of the pencil, taking fire
-as it runs, and burning with a purplish light.
-
-The paper will be found covered with a solution of ordinary potash. If
-turmeric paper be used, the course of the potassium will be marked with
-a deep brown color. Hence if you touch potassium with wet fingers you
-will burn them.
-
-If a small piece of the metal be placed on a piece of ice, it will
-instantly take fire, and form a deep hole which will be found to
-contain a solution of potash.
-
-In consequence of its great affinity for oxygen, potassium must be kept
-in some fluid destitute of it, such as naphtha acid, which has been
-displaced by the great affinity or liking of the oxygen and acid for
-the copper.
-
-2. When the copper is no longer coated, but remains clean and bright
-when immersed in the fluid, all the silver has been deposited, and the
-glass now contains a solution of copper.
-
-Nearly all the colors used in the arts are produced by metals and
-their combinations; indeed, one is named chromium, from a Greek word
-signifying color, on account of the beautiful tints obtained from its
-various combinations with oxygen and the other metals. All the various
-tints, of green, orange, yellow and red are obtained from this metal.
-
-Solutions of most of the metallic salts give precipitates with
-solutions of alkalies and their salts, as well as with many other
-substances, such as what are usually called prussiate of potash,
-hydrosulphret of ammonia, etc. The colors differ according to the metal
-employed; and so small a quantity is required to produce the color,
-that the solutions before mixing may be nearly colorless.
-
-
-
-
-Metallic Colors.
-
-
-To a solution of sulphate of iron add a drop or two of a solution of
-prussiate of potash, and a blue color will be produced.
-
-2. Substitute sulphate of copper for iron, and the color will be a rich
-brown.
-
-3. Another blue, of quite a different tint, may be produced by letting
-a few drops of a solution of ammonia fall into one of sulphate of
-copper, when a precipitate of a light blue falls down, which is
-dissolved by an additional quantity of the ammonia, and forms a
-transparent solution of the most splendid rich blue color.
-
-4. Into a solution of sulphate of iron, drop a few drops of strong
-infusion of galls, and the color will become a bluish black--in fact
-ink. A little tea will answer as well as the infusion of galls.
-This is the reason why certain stuffs formerly in general use for
-dressing-gowns for gentlemen were so objectionable; for as they were
-indebted to a salt of iron for their color, buff as it was called, a
-drop of tea accidentally spilled produced all the effect of a drop of
-ink.
-
-5. Put into a largish test tube two or three small pieces of granulated
-zinc, fill it about one-third full of water, put in a few grains of
-iodine, and boil the water, which will at first acquire a dark purple
-color, gradually fading as the iodine combines with the zinc. Add a
-little more iodine from time to time, until the zinc is nearly all
-dissolved. If a few drops of this solution be added to an equally
-colorless solution of corrosive sublimate (a salt of mercury), a
-precipitate will take place of a splendid scarlet color, brighter, if
-possible, than vermilion, which is also a preparation of mercury.
-
-
-
-
-Crystallization of Metals.
-
-
-Some of the metals assume certain definite forms in return from the
-fluid to the solid state. Bismuth shows this property more readily than
-most others.
-
-
-EXPERIMENT.
-
-Melt a pound or two of bismuth in an iron ladle over the fire; remove
-it as soon as the whole is fluid; and when the surface has become
-solid break a hole in it and pour out the still fluid metal from the
-interior; what remains will exhibit beautifully formed crystals of a
-cubic shape.
-
-Sulphur may be crystallized in the same manner, but its fumes, when
-heated, are so very unpleasant that few would wish to encounter them.
-
-One of the most remarkable facts in chemistry--a science abounding in
-wonders--is the circumstance that the mere contact of hydrogen, the
-lightest body known, with the metal platinum, the heaviest when in a
-state of minute division called spongy platinum, produces an intense
-heat sufficient to inflame the hydrogen; of course this experiment must
-be made in the presence of atmospheric air or oxygen. If a small piece
-of the metal in the state above named be introduced into a mixture
-of oxygen and hydrogen, it will cause them to explode. A very small
-quantity of gas should be employed and placed in a jar lightly covered
-with a card, or the explosion would be dangerous.
-
-
-
-
-Crystallization.
-
-
-Nearly all the metals are characterized by the crystals, which
-are formed as they pass from a state of intense heat to that of
-comparative coldness. It is by this process they have been formed when
-in the mine or vein in the rocks. The earth was once a fiery mass
-of molten matter, as seen even now when a volcano is in a state of
-eruption. And it was only by the cooling of the outside shell of the
-earth, or crust, as it is called, that it became habitable.
-
-When the crust was cooling down the metals crystallized among the
-cooling rocks and gradually formed the crude arts. You may represent by
-a very pretty experiment the manner in which this cooling off of the
-earth took place. Obtain a little flour of sulphur and put it in a red
-earthenware unglazed jar. Thrust it well into the fire and watch the
-rust. As soon as the heat has penetrated the vessel the yellow powdery
-sulphur becomes first of all brown, and then assumes the consistency
-of thick birdlime. Take out a little of this on the end of a stick and
-plunge it into cold water. It can then be pulled backwards and forwards
-like cobblers’ wax. This well represents the state of the half-cooled
-crust of the earth.
-
-Meanwhile the sulphur on the fire begins to boil, and looks very much
-like bubbling treacle. Remove it from the fire and allow it to cool.
-When quite cool the surface will be a flat, yellow mass, like ordinary
-roll sulphur, which, when ground, give the ordinary flour of sulphur.
-
-With a sharp knife separate the mass from the vessel and look at the
-under-surface. There it will be found to have assumed a very different
-form, owing to the exclusion of the air, and consequent slower cooling.
-Large six-sided crystals, transparent, and of a most exquisitely
-delicate yellow, will be seen, piled on one another as appear the
-masses of ore in rocks.
-
-Nature always works in such cases on such a gigantic scale that it
-seems at first difficult to believe that such huge piles as the Giant’s
-Causeway in Ireland, or Fingals in Scotland, or the lodes of tin ore in
-Cornwall, worked by the Phœnicians three thousand years ago, and still
-being worked, were all formed by the same process.
-
-The time that the earth must have taken to cool fairly staggers the
-imagination, yet it is only from guessing, by means of such a study as
-this, that geologists are able to form any idea of how long ago it was
-that the earth’s crust became cool enough to allow animal and plant
-life to exist upon it.
-
-The most beautiful crystalline form is perhaps the diamond, and yet
-this precious gem is but the same thing, chemically, as charcoal.
-Charcoal is pure carbon in the uncrystallized state, which the magic
-of crystallization has transformed into the symbol of all that is
-brilliant and beautiful.
-
-
-
-
-Beauties of Crystallization.
-
-
-Dissolve alum in hot water until no more can be dissolved in it; place
-in it a smooth glass rod and a stick of the same size. Next day the
-stick will be found covered with crystals, but the glass rod will be
-free from them. In this case the crystals cling to the rough surface of
-the stick, but have no hold upon the smooth surface of the glass rod.
-
-But if the rod be roughened with a file at certain intervals, and then
-placed in the alum and water, the crystals will adhere to the rough
-surfaces, and leave the smooth bright and clear.
-
-Tie some threads of lamp-cotton irregularly around a copper wire or
-glass rod. Place it in a hot solution of blue vitriol, strong as above,
-and the threads will be covered with beautiful blue crystals, while the
-glass rod will be bare.
-
-Bore a hole through a piece of coke, and suspend it by a string from a
-stick placed across a hot solution of alum. It will float. But as it
-becomes loaded with crystals it will sink in the solution according to
-the length of the string. Gas-coke has mostly a smooth, shining, and
-almost metallic surface, which the crystals will avoid, while they will
-cling only to the most irregular and porous parts.
-
-If powdered turmeric be added to the hot solution of alum the crystals
-will be of a bright yellow. Litmus will cause them to be of a bright
-red. Logwood will yield purple; and common writing ink, black. And the
-more muddy the solution the finer will be the crystals.
-
-To keep colored alum crystals from breaking or losing their color,
-place them under a glass shade with a saucer of water.
-
-This will preserve the atmosphere moist, and prevent the crystals
-getting too dry.
-
-If crystals be formed on wire they will be liable to break off, from
-the expansion and contraction of the wire by changes of temperature.
-
-
-
-
-To Crystallize Camphor.
-
-
-Dissolve camphor in spirit of wine, moderately heated, until the
-spirit will not dissolve any more; pour some of the solution into a
-cold glass, and the camphor will instantly crystallize in beautiful
-tree-like forms, such as we see in the show-glasses of camphor in
-druggists’ windows.
-
-
-ANOTHER EXPERIMENT.
-
-Heat some blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) in an iron ladle till
-all the water contained in the crystals is driven off, and the color
-changes to a gray. Take the lumps out without breaking them, and
-lay the dried blue vitriol on a plate. If this be moistened with
-water steam is produced; and if a slice of phosphorus is then laid
-on the sulphate of copper it ignites, demonstrating again that the
-condensation of a liquid produces heat. The addition of the water
-restores the blue color, thus proving that water was necessary to the
-composition of blue vitriol.
-
-
-
-
-A Solid Changed to a Liquid.
-
-
-Mix five parts by weight of powdered sal ammoniac, five parts of nitre
-in powder, and sixteen parts of water. A temperature of twenty-two
-degrees below the freezing point of water is produced; and if a phial
-of water, or any convenient metallic cylinder containing water, be
-surrounded with a sufficient quantity of the freezing mixture, ice is
-formed. The ice clings to the interior of the tube, but may easily be
-removed by dipping it in tepid water.
-
-This experiment is the reverse of the last and proves that the sudden
-reduction of a solid to the liquid condition always affords cold.
-
-An amusing combination of two experiments may be made by putting some
-fresh-burned lime into one tea pot and this freezing mixture into
-another. When water is poured on the one containing lime, it gives
-out steam from the spout, while the addition of water to the other
-produces so much cold that it can hardly be kept in the hand. Thus heat
-and cold are afforded through the same medium, water.
-
-
-
-
-Magic of Heat.
-
-
-Melt a small quantity of the sulphate of potash and copper in a spoon
-over a spirit lamp. It will be fused at a heat just below redness,
-and produce a liquid of a dark-green color. Remove the spoon from the
-flame, when the liquid will become a solid of a brilliant emerald green
-color, and so remain until its heat sinks nearly to that of boiling
-water, when suddenly a commotion will take place throughout the mass,
-beginning from the surface, and each atom, as if animated, will start
-up and separate itself from the rest, till in a few moments the whole
-will become a heap of powder.
-
-
-
-
-Sublimation by Heat.
-
-
-Provide two small pieces of glass; sprinkle a minute portion of
-sulphur upon one piece, lay thin slips of wood around it, and place
-upon it the other piece of glass. Move them slowly over the flame of a
-lamp or candle, and the sulphur will become sublimed, and form gray,
-nebulous patches, which are very curious microscopic objects. Each
-cluster consists of thousands of transparent globules, imitating in
-miniature the nebulæ which we see figured in treatises on astronomy.
-By observing the largest particles we shall find them to be flattened
-on one side. Being very transparent, each of them acts the part of
-a little lens, and forms in its focus the image of a distant light,
-which can be perceived even in the smaller globules, until it vanishes
-from minuteness. If they are examined again after a certain number of
-hours, the smaller globules will generally be found to have retained
-their transparency, while the larger ones will have become opaque, in
-consequence of the sulphur having undergone some internal spontaneous
-change. But the most remarkable circumstance attending this experiment
-is that the globules are found adhering to the upper glass only;
-the reason of which is that the upper glass is somewhat cooler than
-the lower one, by which means we see that the vapor of sulphur is
-very powerfully repelled by heated glass. The flattened form of the
-particles is owing to the force with which they endeavor to recede from
-the lower glass, and their consequent pressure against the surface of
-the upper one. This experiment is considered by its originator, Mr.
-H. F. Talbot, to be a satisfactory argument in favor of the repulsive
-power of heat.
-
-
-
-
-Heat Passing Through Glass.
-
-
-Although glass is a bad conductor it yet allows heat to pass through
-it, and the purer the glass the more easy is this done. Heat a poker
-red hot, and having opened a window, apply the poker very near to
-the outside of the pane, and the hand to the inside. A strong heat
-will be felt at the instant, which will cease as soon as the poker is
-withdrawn, and may be again renewed and made to cease as quickly as
-before. It is well known that if a piece of glass be so much warmed as
-to convey the impression of heat to the hand, it will retain some part
-of that heat for a minute or more; but in this experiment the heat will
-vanish in a moment. It will not, therefore, be the heated pane of glass
-that we shall feel, but heat which has come through the glass in a free
-or radiant state.
-
-
-
-
-Metals Unequally Influenced by Heat.
-
-
-All metals do not conduct heat at the same rate as may be proved by
-holding in the flame of a candle at the same time a piece of silver
-wire and a piece of platina wire, when the silver wire will become too
-hot to hold, much sooner than the platina. Or cut a cone of each wire,
-tip it with wax, and place it upon a heated plate (as a fire-shovel),
-when the wax will melt at different periods.
-
-
-
-
-Spontaneous Combustion.
-
-
-Mix a small quantity of chlorate of potash with spirit of wine in a
-strong saucer; add a little sulphuric acid, and an orange vapor will
-arise and burst into flame with a loud crackling sound.
-
-
-
-
-Inequality of Heat in Fire-Irons.
-
-
-Place before a fire a set of polished fire-irons, and beside them a
-rough, unpolished poker, such as is used in the kitchen, instead
-of a bright poker. The polished irons will remain for a long time
-without becoming warmer than the temperature of the room, because
-the heat radiated from the fire is all reflected, or thrown off, by
-the polished surface of the irons, and none of it is absorbed. The
-rough poker will, however, become speedily hot, so as not to be used
-without inconvenience. Hence, the polish of fire-irons is not merely
-ornamental, but useful.
-
-
-
-
-Expansion of Metal by Heat.
-
-
-Provide an iron rod, and fit it exactly into a metal ring; heat the rod
-red hot, and it will no longer enter the ring.
-
-Observe an iron gate on a warm day, when it will shut with difficulty;
-whereas it will shut loosely and easily on a cold day.
-
-
-
-
-The Alchemist’s Ink.
-
-
-Dissolve in water a small quantity, about as much as will lay on a
-ten-cent piece, of chloride of cobalt, which is of a bluish-green
-color, and the solution will be pink; write with it and the characters
-will scarcely be visible; but if gently heated they will appear in
-brilliant green, which will disappear as the paper cools.
-
-Dissolve in water a few grains of prussiate of potash; write with this
-liquid, which is invisible when dry; wash over with a dilute solution
-of iron, made by dissolving a nail in a little aqua fortis; a blue and
-legible writing is immediately apparent.
-
-
-
-
-Chameleon Liquids.
-
-
-Put a small portion of the compound called mineral chameleon into
-several glasses. Pour upon each water at different temperatures and
-the contents of each glass will exhibit a different shade of color. A
-very hot solution will be of a beautiful green color; a cold one a deep
-purple.
-
-Make a colorless solution of sulphate of copper; add to it a little
-ammonia equally colorless, and the mixture will be of an intense blue
-color; add to it a little sulphuric acid, and the blue color will
-disappear; pour in a little solution of caustic ammonia, and the blue
-color will be restored. Thus may the liquor be changed at pleasure.
-
-
-
-
-Magic Dyes.
-
-
-Dissolve indigo in diluted sulphuric acid, and add to it an equal
-quantity of solution of carbonate of potash. If a piece of white cloth
-be dipped in the mixture it will be changed to blue; yellow cloth, in
-the same mixture, may be changed to green; red to purple; and blue
-litmus paper to red.
-
-Nearly fill a wine glass with the juice of beet-root, which is of
-a deep red color; add a little lime water and the mixture will be
-colorless; dip into it a piece of white cloth, dry it rapidly, and in a
-few hours the cloth will become red.
-
-
-
-
-Wine Changed into Water.
-
-
-Mix a little solution of subacetate of lead with port wine; filter
-the mixture through blotting-paper, and a colorless liquid will pass
-through; to this add a small quantity of dry salt of tartar; distill in
-a retort, when a spirit will arise, which may be inflamed.
-
-
-
-
-The Chemistry of Water.
-
-
-More than two-thirds of the earth’s surface is water, so that in mere
-quantity alone it is the most important substance with which we are
-acquainted. Without it life would be impossible, for, owing to its
-quality of dissolving other bodies, it may be regarded as the great
-purifier, as well as the vehicle which brings nourishment to plants and
-animals alike.
-
-Not only is water useful, but is among the most beautiful of Nature’s
-products. It has carved the valleys between mountain ranges by its slow
-dropping for ages, and has made the fairy glens by rushing down their
-sides in torrents. The stately rivers and the roaring oceans are but
-forms of its might.
-
-In another state it works out those fantastic grottoes, mountains and
-fields of glittering white, that make the Polar seas the very head
-center of dreamland.
-
-In still another form it paints the rainbow in the sky, and hangs like
-a veil over the landscape, passing from the most delicate blue over the
-plain to the deep purple clinging to distant hills.
-
-To it the golden and red hues of sunrise and sunset are due. The light
-fleecy clouds that speak the beauty of spring, and the great thunder
-stocks that gleam, with lightning flashes are all composed of water,
-and water alone.
-
-It drives our engines and machinery, and speeds our ships across the
-sea. Neither is it confined to this earth alone, for astronomers tell
-us that vast seas and even clouds can be seen on the next great planet
-to the earth, Mars.
-
-Surely, then, as this wondrous substance is examined, the ancients can
-be excused for worshiping the ocean as a god, and the old alchemists
-for believing it to be an element.
-
-Nevertheless, water is not a simple substance. It is composed of two
-gases, which must be combined before water is produced. These gases are
-oxygen and hydrogen. Every atom of water consists of one part of the
-former gas and two parts by volume of the latter. This you may prove in
-the following way:
-
-Buy a piece of sodium, a metal that must not be touched with the
-fingers, and thrust it into a small one-ounce jar half full of water;
-cork the jar tightly.
-
-Through a hole in the cork pass a glass tube, the outer end being drawn
-in a flame to a fine point. Apply a light at the end of the tube. The
-escaping gas will catch fire and burn with a light blue flame. This gas
-is hydrogen.
-
-Next empty the jar and fill with warm water, and place by means of
-another cork a small glass jar on to the tube. Into the lower jar drop
-a piece of blazing hot platinum. Repeat this again and again with the
-same piece of platinum, being careful not to uncork the upper jar, so
-that every time the metal is dropped into the lower jar, you remove
-the upper jar with the tube and two corks. After doing this a dozen
-times or more take a match that is still glowing after having been
-extinguished, and plunge it into the upper jar. It will burst into
-flame immediately, and the gas in the upper jar is oxygen.
-
-
-
-
-Two Bitters Make a Sweet.
-
-
-It has been discovered that a mixture of nitrate of silver with
-hyposulphite of soda, both of which are remarkably bitter, will produce
-the sweetest known substance.
-
-
-
-
-Visible and Invisible.
-
-
-Write with French chalk on a looking-glass; wipe it with a handkerchief
-and the lines will disappear; breathe on it and they will reappear.
-This alteration will take place for a great number of times, and after
-the lapse of a considerable period.
-
-
-
-
-To Form a Liquid from Two Solids.
-
-
-Rub together in a mortar a small quantity of sulphate of soda and
-acetate of lead, and as they mix they will become liquid.
-
-Carbonate of ammonia and sulphate of copper, previously reduced to
-powder separately, will also, when mixed, become liquid, and acquire a
-most splendid blue color.
-
-The greater number of salts have a tendency to assume regular forms, or
-become _crystallized_, when passing from the fluid to the solid state;
-and the size and regularity of the crystals depends in a great measure
-on the slow or rapid escape of the fluid in which they were dissolved.
-
-Sugar is a capital example of this property; the ordinary loaf-sugar
-being rapidly boiled down, as it is called; while to make rock-candy,
-which is nothing but sugar in a crystallized form, the solution is
-allowed to evaporate slowly, and as it cools it forms into those
-beautiful crystals termed rock-candy. The threads found in the center
-of some of the crystals are merely placed for the purpose of hastening
-the formation of the crystals.
-
-
-
-
-Restoration of Color by Water.
-
-
-Water being a colorous fluid ought, one would imagine when mixed with
-other substances of no decided color, to produce a colorless compound.
-Nevertheless, it is to water only that blue vitriol or sulphate of
-copper owes its vivid blueness, as will be plainly evinced by the
-following simple experiment. Heat a few crystals of the vitriol in
-a fire-shovel, pulverize them, and the powder will be of a dull and
-dirty white appearance. Pour a little water upon this when a slight
-hissing noise will be heard, and at the same moment the blue color will
-instantly reappear.
-
-Under the microscope the beauty of this experiment will be increased,
-for the instant that a drop of water is placed in contact with the
-vitriol, the powder may be seen to shoot into blue prisms. If a crystal
-of prussiate of potash be similarly heated its yellow color will
-vanish, but reappear on being dropped into water.
-
-
-
-
-Two Liquids Make a Solid.
-
-
-Dissolve chloride of lime in water until it will dissolve no more;
-measure out an equal quantity of oil of vitriol; both will be
-transparent fluids; but if equal quantities of each be slowly mixed and
-stirred together, they will become a solid mass, with the evolution of
-smoke or fumes.
-
-
-
-
-Two Solids Make a Liquid.
-
-
-Rub together in a mortar equal quantities of the crystals of Glauber
-salts and nitrate of ammonia, and the two salts will slowly become a
-liquid.
-
-
-
-
-A Solid Opaque Mass Makes a Transparent Liquid.
-
-
-Take the solid mixture of the solutions of muriate of lime and
-carbonate of potash, pour upon it a very little nitric acid, and the
-solid opaque mass will be changed to a transparent liquid.
-
-
-
-
-Two Cold Liquids Make a Hot One.
-
-
-Mix four drams of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) with one dram of cold
-water, suddenly, in a cup, and the mixture will be nearly half as hot
-again as boiling water.
-
-
-
-
-To Make Ice.
-
-
-Although this trick is performed by means of chemicals, yet its product
-is obtained really by the use of mechanical laws. We must remember that
-ice is exactly the same thing as water so far as its composition is
-concerned, differing only in its state of density.
-
-Ice, water, and steam differ in density through the possession of a
-greater or less quantity of heat. Hence, the turning of water into ice
-really is a case of the operation of mechanical laws.
-
-Now for the experiment. Put into a wide-mouthed jam-jar a smaller
-glass vessel containing the water to be frozen. Around the latter put
-a mixture of sulphate of soda (Glauber’s salt) and hydrochloric acid
-(spirits of salts). The proportions must be eight parts of the former
-to five of the latter.
-
-The action of these two chemicals on one another is to cause a cold of
-fifteen to seventeen degrees below zero, or forty-seven degrees below
-freezing point.
-
-The same result may be obtained by mixing equal parts of nitrate of
-ammonia and water. In winter-time when the snow is on the ground, with
-a mixture of one part snow and one part common table salt an intense
-cold of twenty degrees below zero is obtained.
-
-From this last fact we see how stupid are those people who sprinkle the
-salt on the pavements to get rid of the snow. True, the latter melts,
-but only after the production of intense cold, which is the cause of
-many diseases, not only slight ones like colds and chilblains, but too
-often the forerunners of consumption and other lung troubles.
-
-
-
-
-Curious Change of Colors.
-
-
-Let there be no other light than a taper in the room; then put on a
-pair of dark-green spectacles, and having closed one eye view the taper
-with the other. Suddenly remove the spectacles and the taper will
-assume a bright red appearance; but if the spectacles be instantly
-replaced, the eye will be unable to distinguish anything for a second
-or two. The order of colors will therefore be as follows: green, red,
-green, black.
-
-
-
-
-The Protean Light.
-
-
-Soak a cotton wick in a strong solution of salt and water, dry it,
-place it in a spirit lamp, and when lit it will give a bright yellow
-light for a long time. If you look through a piece of blue glass at the
-flame, it will lose all its yellow light and you will only perceive
-feeble violet rays. If before the blue glass you place a pale yellow
-glass, the lamp will be absolutely invisible, though a candle may be
-distinctly seen through the same glasses.
-
-
-
-
-To Change the Colors of Flowers.
-
-
-Hold over a lighted match a purple columbine or a blue larkspur, and
-it will change first to pink and then to black. The yellow of other
-flowers held as above will continue unchanged.
-
-Thus, the purple tint will instantly disappear from a heart’s-ease, but
-the yellow will remain; and the yellow of a wall-flower will continue
-the same, though the brown streak will be discharged. If a scarlet,
-crimson, or maroon dahlia be tried, the color will change to yellow,
-a fact known to gardeners, who by this mode variegate their growing
-dahlias.
-
-
-
-
-Changes of the Poppy.
-
-
-Some flowers which are red, become blue by merely bruising them. Thus,
-if the petals of the common corn-poppy be rubbed upon white paper, they
-will stain it purple, which may be made green by washing it over with a
-strong solution of potash in water. Put poppy petals into very dilute
-muriatic acid, and the infusion will be of a florid red color; by
-adding a little chalk, it will become the color of port wine; and this
-tint, by the addition of potash may be changed to green or yellow.
-
-
-
-
-Changes of the Rose.
-
-
-Hold a red rose over the blue flame of a common match and the color
-will be discharged wherever the fume touches the leaves of the flower,
-so as to render it beautifully variegated, or entirely white. If it be
-then dipped into water, the redness, after a time, will be restored.
-
-
-
-
-Marking Indelibly.
-
-
-Write upon linen with permanent ink (which is a strong solution of
-nitrate of silver), and the characters will be scarcely visible; remove
-the linen to a dark room, and they will not change; but expose them to
-a strong light, and they will be of an indelible black.
-
-
-
-
-Visible Growth.
-
-
-Cut a circular piece of card to fit the top of a hyacinth glass, so as
-to rest upon the ledge, and exclude the air. Pierce a hole through the
-center of the card, and pass through it a strong thread, having a small
-piece of wood tied to one end, which, resting transversely on the card,
-prevents it being drawn through. To the other end of the thread attach
-an acorn; and having half filled the glass with water, suspend the
-acorn at a short distance from the surface.
-
-The glass must be kept in a warm room, and in a few days the steam will
-hang from the acorn in a drop, the skin will burst, and the root will
-protrude and thrust itself in the water, and in a few days more a stem
-will shoot out at the other end, and rising upwards, will press against
-the card, in which an orifice must be made to allow it to pass through.
-From this stem small leaves will soon be observed to sprout; and in
-the course of a few weeks you will have a handsome oak plant, several
-inches in height.
-
-
-
-
-Colored Flames.
-
-
-A variety of rays of light are exhibited by colored flames, which are
-not to be seen in white light. Thus pure hydrogen gas will burn with a
-blue flame, in which many of the rays of light are wanting.
-
-The flame of an oil lamp contains most of the rays which are wanting in
-the sunlight. Alcohol mixed with water, when heated or burned, affords
-a flame with no other rays but yellow. The following salts, if finely
-powdered, and introduced into the exterior flame of a candle, or into
-the wick of a spirit lamp, will communicate to the flame their peculiar
-colors:
-
- Chloride of Soda (common salt) Yellow.
- “ of Potash Pale violet.
- “ of Lime Brick red.
- “ of Strontia Bright crimson.
- “ of Lithia Red.
- “ of Baryta Apple green.
- “ of Copper Bluish green.
- Borax Yellow.
-
-Or either of the above salts may be mixed with spirit of wine, as
-directed, for Red Fire.
-
-
-ORANGE COLORED FLAME.
-
-Burn spirit of wine on chloride of calcium, a substance obtained by
-evaporating muriate of lime to dryness.
-
-
-EMERALD GREEN FLAME.
-
-Burn spirit of wine on a little powdered nitrate of silver.
-
-
-INSTANTANEOUS FLAME.
-
-Heat together potassium and sulphur, and they will instantly burn very
-vividly.
-
-Heat a little nitre on a fire-shovel, sprinkle on it flour of sulphur,
-and it will instantly burn. If iron filings be thrown upon red hot
-nitre, they will detonate and burn.
-
-
-
-
-Water of Different Temperatures in the Same Vessel.
-
-
-Of heat and cold, as of wit and madness, it may be said that “thin
-partitions do their bounds divide.” Thus, paint one half of the surface
-of a tin pot with a mixture of lamp black and size, and leave the other
-half or side bright; fill the vessel with boiling water, and by dipping
-a thermometer, or even the finger, into it shortly after, it will be
-found to cool much more rapidly upon the blackened than the bright side
-of the pot.
-
-
-
-
-Warmth of Different Colors.
-
-
-Place upon the surface of snow, as upon the window-sill, in bright
-daylight or sunshine, pieces of cloth of the same size and quality, but
-of different colors, black, blue, green, yellow and white; the black
-cloth will soon melt the snow beneath it, and sink downwards; next the
-blue, and then the green; the yellow but slightly; but the snow beneath
-the white cloth will be as firm as at first.
-
-
-
-
-Laughing Gas.
-
-
-The above fanciful appellation has been given to nitrous oxide, from
-the very agreeable sensations excited by inhaling it. In its pure state
-it destroys animal life, but loses this noxious quality when inhaled,
-because it becomes blended with the atmospheric air which it meets in
-the lungs. This gas is made by putting three or four drams of nitrate
-of ammonia in crystals into a small glass retort, which being held
-over a spirit lamp, the crystals will melt, and the gas be evolved.
-
-Having thus produced the gas, it is to be passed into a large bladder
-having a stop-cock; and when you are desirous of exhibiting its effects
-you cause the person who wishes to experience them to first exhale
-the atmospheric air from the lungs, and then quickly placing the cock
-in his mouth you turn it, and bid him inhale the gas. Immediately a
-sense of extraordinary cheerfulness, fanciful flights of imagination,
-an uncontrollable propensity to laughter, and a consciousness of being
-capable of great muscular exertion, supervene. It does not operate
-in exactly the same manner on all persons; but in most cases the
-sensations are agreeable, and have this important difference from those
-produced by wine or spirituous liquors, that they are not succeeded by
-any depression of mind.
-
-
-
-
-Magic Vapor.
-
-
-Provide a glass tube about three feet long and half an inch in
-diameter; nearly fill it with water, upon the surface of which pour a
-little colored ether; then close the open end of the tube carefully
-with the palm of the hand, invert it in a basin of water, and rest the
-tube against the wall. The ether will rise through the water to the
-upper end of the tube; pour a little hot water over the tube, and it
-will soon cause the ether to boil within, and its vapor may thus be
-made to drive nearly all of the water out of the tube into the basin.
-If, however, you then cool the tube by pouring cold water over it, the
-vaporized ether will again become a liquid, and float upon the water as
-before.
-
-
-
-
-Gas from the Union of Metals.
-
-
-Nearly fill a wine glass with diluted sulphuric acid, and place in it a
-wire of silver and another of zinc, taking care that they do not touch
-each other, when the zinc will be changed by the acid, but the silver
-will remain inert. But cause the upper ends of the wires to touch each
-other, and a stream of gas will issue from them.
-
-
-
-
-Green Fire.
-
-
-A beautiful green fire may be thus made: Take of flour of sulphur
-thirteen parts, nitrate of baryta seventy-seven, chlorate of potash
-five, metallic arsenic two, and charcoal three. Let the nitrate
-of baryta be well dried and powdered; then add to it the other
-ingredients, all finely pulverized, and exceedingly well mixed and
-rubbed together. Place a portion of the composition in a small tin
-pan, having a polished reflector fitted to one side, and set light to
-it, when a splendid green illumination will be the result. By adding a
-little calamine it will burn more slowly.
-
-
-
-
-Combustion of Three Metals.
-
-
-Mix a grain or two of potassium with an equal quantity of sodium; add
-a globule of quicksilver, and the three metals, when shaken, will take
-fire and burn vividly.
-
-
-
-
-To Make Paper Apparently Incombustible.
-
-
-Take a smooth cylindrical piece of metal, about one inch and a half in
-diameter, and eight inches long. Wrap very closely round it a piece of
-clean writing paper, then hold the paper in the flame of a spirit lamp,
-and it will not take fire. But it may be held there for a considerable
-time without being in the least affected by the flame. If the paper be
-strained over a cylinder of wood it is quickly scorched.
-
-
-
-
-Heat Not to be Estimated by Touch.
-
-
-Hold both hands in water which causes the thermometer to rise to ninety
-degrees, and when the liquid has become still, you will be insensible
-to the heat, and that the hand is touching anybody. Then remove one
-hand to water that causes the thermometer to rise to two hundred
-degrees, and the other in water at thirty-two degrees.
-
-After holding the hands thus for some time remove them, and again
-immerse them in the water at ninety degrees. Then you will find warmth
-in one hand and cold in the other. To the hand which had been immersed
-in the water at thirty-two degrees, the water at ninety degrees will
-feel hot; and to the hand which had been immersed in the water at two
-hundred degrees, the water at ninety degrees will feel cool. If,
-therefore, the touch in this case be trusted, the same water will be
-judged to be hot and cold at the same time.
-
-
-
-
-Flame Upon Water.
-
-
-Fill a wine glass with cold water, pour lightly upon its surface a
-little ether; light it by a slip of paper, and it will burn for some
-time.
-
-
-
-
-Rose-colored Flame Upon Water.
-
-
-Drop a globule of potassium, about the size of a large pea, into a
-small cup nearly full of water containing a drop or two of strong
-nitric acid; the moment that the metal touches the liquid it will float
-upon its surface, enveloped with a beautiful rose-colored flame, and
-entirely dissolve.
-
-
-
-
-Currents in Boiling Water.
-
-
-Fill a large glass tube with water, and throw into it a few particles
-of bruised amber or shreds of litmus; then hold the tube by a handle
-for the purpose, upright in the flame of a lamp, and as the water
-becomes warm it will be seen that currents, carrying with them the
-pieces of amber will begin to ascend in the center, and to descend
-towards the circumference of the tube. These currents will soon become
-rapid in their motions, and continue till the water boils.
-
-
-
-
-Hot Water Lighter than Cold.
-
-
-Pour into a glass tube, about ten inches long and one inch in diameter,
-a little water colored with pink or other dye; then fill it up
-gradually and carefully with colorless water, so as not to mix them;
-apply heat at the bottom of the tube, and the colored water will ascend
-and be diffused throughout the whole.
-
-
-
-
-Expansion of Water by Cold.
-
-
-All fluids except water diminish in bulk till they freeze. Thus, fill
-a large thermometer tube with water, say of the temperature of eighty
-degrees, and then plunge the bulb into pounded ice and salt, or any
-other freezing mixture; the water will go on shrinking in the tube
-till it has attained the temperature of about forty degrees, and
-then, instead of continuing to contract till it freezes, it will be
-seen slowly to expand, and consequently to rise in the tube until it
-congeals.
-
-In this case the expansion below forty degrees and above forty degrees
-seem to be equal, so that the water will be of the same bulk at
-thirty-two degrees as at forty-eight degrees, that is, at eight degrees
-above or below forty degrees.
-
-
-
-
-The Cup of Tantalus.
-
-
-This pretty toy may be purchased at any optician’s for seventy-five
-cents. It consists of a cup in which is placed a human standing figure
-concealing a syphon or bent tube, with one end longer than the other.
-This rises in one leg of the figure to reach the chin, and descends
-through the other leg, through the bottom of the cup to a reservoir
-beneath. If you pour water in the cup it will rise in the shorter leg
-by its upward pressure, driving out the air before it through the
-longer leg; and when the cup is filled above the bend of the syphon,
-that is, level with the chin of the figure, the pressure of the water
-will force it over into the longer leg of the syphon, and the cup
-will be emptied, the toy thus imitating Tantalus, of mythology, who
-is represented by the poets as punished in Erebus with an insatiable
-thirst, and placed up to the chin in a pool of water, which, however,
-flowed away as soon as he attempted to taste it.
-
-
-
-
-The Magic Whirlpool.
-
-
-Fill a glass tumbler with water, throw upon its surface a few fragments
-or thin shavings of camphor, and they will instantly begin to move, and
-acquire a motion both progressive and rotary, which will continue for
-a considerable time. During these rotations if the water be touched
-by any substance which is at all greasy, the floating particles will
-quickly dart back, and, as if by a stroke of magic, be instantly
-deprived of their motion and vivacity.
-
-In like manner, if thin slices of cork be steeped in sulphuric ether in
-a closed bottle for two or three days, and then placed upon the water,
-they will rotate for several minutes, like the camphor, until the
-slices of cork, having discharged all their ether, and become soaked
-with water, they will keep at rest.
-
-If the water be made hot the motion of the camphor will be more
-rapid than in cold water, but it will cease in proportionately less
-time. Thus, provide two glasses, one containing water at fifty-eight
-degrees, and the other at two hundred and ten degrees; place raspings
-of camphor upon each at the same time; the camphor in the first glass
-will rotate for about five hours, until all but a very minute portion
-has evaporated, while the rotation of the camphor in the hot water
-will last only nineteen minutes. About half the camphor will pass off
-and the remaining pieces, instead of being dull, white and opaque,
-will be vitreous and transparent, and evidently soaked with water.
-The gyrations, too, which at first will be very rapid, will gradually
-decline in velocity until they become quite sluggish.
-
-The stilling influence of oil upon waves has become proverbial. The
-extraordinary manner in which a small quantity of oil instantly spreads
-over a very large surface of troubled water, and the stealthy manner in
-which even a rough wind glides over it must have excited the admiration
-of all who have witnessed it.
-
-By the same principle a drop of oil may be made to stop the motion of
-the camphor, as follows: Throw some camphor, both in slices and in
-small particles, upon the surface of water, and while they are rotating
-dip a glass rod into oil of turpentine. Then allow a single drop
-thereof to trickle down the inner side of the glass to the surface of
-the water. The camphor will instantly dart to the opposite point of the
-liquid surface, and cease to rotate.
-
-If a few drops of sulphuric or muriatic acid be let fall into the
-water, they will gradually stop the motion of the camphor, but if
-camphor be dropped into nitric acid, diluted with its own bulk of
-water, it will rotate rapidly for a few seconds and then stop.
-
-If a piece of the rotating camphor be attentively examined with a lens,
-the currents of the water can be well distinguished, jetting out,
-chiefly from the corners of the camphor, and bearing it round with
-irregular force.
-
-The currents, as given out by the camphor, may also be seen by means of
-the microscope; a drop or two of pure water being placed upon a slip
-of glass, with a particle of camphor floating upon it. By this means
-the current may be detected, and it will be seen that they cause the
-rotations.
-
-A flat watch-glass may be employed, raised a few inches and supported
-on a wire ring, kept steady by thrusting one end into an upright piece
-of wood like a retort stand. Then put the camphor and water in the
-watch-glass, and place under the frame a sheet of white paper, so that
-it may receive the shadow of the glass, camphor, etc., to be cast by a
-steady light, placed above, and somewhat on one side of the watch-glass.
-
-On observing the shadow, which may be considered a magnified
-representation of the object itself, the rotations and currents can be
-distinguished.
-
-
-
-
-Fire Under Water.
-
-
-Put thirty grains of phosphorus into a bottle which contains three
-or four ounces of water. Place the vessel over a lamp and give it a
-boiling heat. Balls of fire will soon be seen to issue from the water
-after the manner of an artificial firework, attended with the most
-beautiful coruscations.
-
-
-
-
-To Light Steel.
-
-
-Make a piece of steel red in the fire, then hold it with a pair of
-pincers or tongs; take in the other hand a stick of brimstone and touch
-the piece of steel with it. Immediately after their contact you will
-see the steel melt and drop like a liquid.
-
-
-
-
-A Test of Love.
-
-
-Put into a phial some sulphuric ether, color it red with alkanet, then
-saturate the tincture with spermaceti. This preparation is solid ten
-degrees above freezing point, and melts and boils at twenty degrees.
-Place the phial which contains it in a lady’s hand and tell her that if
-in love, the solid mass will dissolve. In a few minutes the substance
-will become fluid.
-
-
-
-
-An Egg Pushed Into a Wine Bottle.
-
-
-To accomplish this seemingly incredible act requires the following
-preparation: You must take an egg and soak it in strong vinegar, and
-in process of time its shell will become quite soft so that it may
-be extended lengthways without breaking; then insert it into the
-neck of a small bottle, and by pouring cold water upon it, it will
-reassume its former figure and hardness. This is really a complete
-curiosity, and baffles those who are not in the secret to find out
-how it is accomplished. If the vinegar used to saturate the egg is
-not sufficiently strong to produce the required softness of shell,
-add one teaspoonful of strong acetic acid to every two tablespoonfuls
-of vinegar. This will render the egg perfectly flexible, and of easy
-insertion into the bottle, which must then be filled with cold water.
-
-
-
-
-A Chemical Fountain.
-
-
-Take two small glass jars and close them with corks. In each of these
-pierce two holes and introduce a glass tube curved in the form of a
-lengthened V. The two extremities of this tube must not reach further
-than just a little below the inner surface of the corks. In one jar
-pour water until it is three-quarters full, and pass through the second
-hole of the cork a straight glass tube, open at both ends and reaching
-nearly the bottom. This jar must be hermetically corked. (If necessary,
-seal the top.) In the other jar put some chalk, and in the second hole
-of the cork, left free, pass the extremity of a paper funnel in which
-you place a pellet of wax or putty.
-
-Your apparatus thus being ready, through the funnel pour some vinegar,
-or better still, some sulphuric acid. The latter ingredient coming in
-contact with the chalk, forms carbonic acid, which, not being able to
-escape through the funnel closed by the pellet, passes through the
-curved tube into the other jar and is dissolved in the water.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-After some time a strong pressure will be exercised on the liquid, and
-the water rising rapidly up through the vertical tube, will spout out
-as from a fountain.
-
-This experiment may be varied and reduced to a simpler one. Take one
-jar, fill it up two-thirds with water, and fit it with a cork with two
-holes, through which pass two tubes; the one going to the bottom, the
-other resting just over the surface of the liquid. The latter should be
-fitted with a receiver.
-
-Seal the cork so as to render it air-tight. In the top receiver pour
-water, which will go down into the jar and raise the level of the water
-already contained in it.
-
-The air, being compressed, will act upon the liquid mass in the lower
-jar, and the water will escape through the free tube in a jet with more
-or less force according to the pressure exercised.
-
-
-
-
-Weighing Gases.
-
-
-Do not be cast down because you see another term to be explained. A
-gas is, you may have already guessed, simply a fluid. Matter exists in
-three states, solid, liquid and gaseous. Everything can exist in these
-three states under different conditions of heat and pressure.
-
-For instance, ice, water, and steam are precisely the same thing, a
-mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, though in different states. Hence steam
-is simply the gaseous form of ice or water. Now some gases are heavier
-than air, and among them is carbonic acid, a gas given off from the
-lungs in breathing.
-
-By means of a very simply-constructed balance, you can prove this gas
-to be heavier than air. Sounds queer, doesn’t it? to talk of weighing
-something that you cannot handle or see.
-
-It is not difficult to do. Bend some wire, minding that the beams of
-the balance are curved as in the figure.
-
-For one side of the scales a strong cardboard box will answer
-admirably; for the other the lid of a round box will serve. Hang the
-whole on a string and adjust it by putting some grains of sand in the
-round scale on which the weights are placed, to make each side balance
-one another and the scales are ready for use.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The production of carbonic acid is easy. Pour a little sulphuric acid
-and water over some chalk. Collect the gas given off in a bottle or
-jar. In doing so you need not be afraid that it will escape, since it
-is heavier than the air.
-
-In pouring it in the box of the scale, you will see the box sink down,
-which is clearly an indication that the gas, which has just been poured
-into the scale is heavier than the air, whose place it has taken. This
-experiment may be tried in other curious ways.
-
-
-
-
-In Water but not Wet.
-
-
-With some lycopodium, powder the surface of a large or small vessel of
-water; you may then challenge any one to drop a piece of money into
-the water, and that you will get it with the hand without wetting your
-skin. The lycopodium adheres to the hand, and prevents its contact
-with the water. A little shake of the hand after the feat is over will
-dislodge the powder.
-
-
-
-
-Image of a Volcano.
-
-
-This is another experiment on the density of liquids. In a small jar
-put some wine or colored alcohol, and close it with a cork, through
-which you have passed a small tube, a quill or a hollow straw. In
-lowering this jar gently in a pail full of water, you will soon see the
-liquid escape and rise to the surface of the water, describing spirals
-which resemble smoke, and give a pretty good image, considerably
-diminished, of a volcano.
-
-
-
-
-Reciprocal Images.
-
-
-Make two holes in the wainscot of a room, each a foot high and ten
-inches wide, and about a foot distant from each other. Let these
-apertures be about the height of a man’s head, and in each of them
-place a transparent glass in a frame like a common mirror.
-
-Behind the partition, and directly facing each aperture, place two
-mirrors inclosed in the wainscot, in an angle of forty-five degrees.
-These mirrors are each to be eighteen inches square, and all the space
-between must be inclosed with pasteboard painted black, and well closed
-that no light can enter; let there be also two curtains to cover them,
-which you may draw aside at pleasure.
-
-When a person looks into one of these fictitious mirrors, instead
-of seeing his own face, he will see the object that is in front of
-the other; thus, if two persons stand at the same time before these
-mirrors, instead of each seeing himself, they will reciprocally see
-each other.
-
-There should be a sconce with a lighted candle placed on each side of
-the two glasses in the wainscot, to enlighten the faces of the persons
-who look in them, or the experiment will not have so remarkable an
-effect.
-
-
-
-
-Imitation of Animal Tints.
-
-
-To accomplish this metamorphosis, it is necessary to have earthen
-vases which have little edges or rims near their mouths, and should
-be of a size sufficiently large to hold suspended the bird or flower
-which you intend placing in them. You should likewise be provided
-with stoppers of cork, of a diameter equal to that of their mouths.
-To make an experiment upon some bird, it is necessary to commence by
-making a hole in the stopper, sufficiently large to contain the neck
-of the bird without strangling it. This done, you divide the diameter
-of the stopper into two equal parts so as to facilitate the placing
-of it around the neck without doing injury to the bird. The two parts
-being brought together, you place at the bottom of the vase an ounce
-of quicklime, and beneath that a quarter of an ounce of sal ammoniac.
-When you perceive the effervescence commence to take place, you
-promptly insert the stopper, to which the bird is attached, leaving the
-neck outside. The plumage of the body, exposed to this effervescent
-vapor, will become impregnated with the various colors produced by this
-chemical combination.
-
-
-
-
-Melting a Coin.
-
-
-Fix three pins in the table and lay the piece of money upon them; then
-place a heap of the flour of sulphur below the piece of money, and
-another above it, and set fire to them. When the flame is extinct, you
-will find on the upper part of the piece a thin plate of metal, which
-has been detached from it.
-
-
-
-
-Explosive Gas.
-
-
-Mix two drachms of the filings of iron with one ounce of concentrated
-spirit of vitriol in a strong bottle that holds about a quarter of a
-pint; stop it close, and in a few moments shake the bottle; then taking
-out the cork, put a lighted candle near its mouth which should be a
-little inclined, and you will soon observe an inflammation arise from
-the bottle, attended with a loud explosion.
-
-To guard against the danger of the bottle bursting, the best way would
-be to bury it in the ground and apply the light to the mouth by means
-of a taper fastened to the end of a long stick.
-
-
-
-
-Cold from Evaporation.
-
-
-Ether poured upon a glass tube in a thin stream will evaporate and cool
-it to such a degree that water contained in it may be frozen.
-
-
-
-
-Self-Dancing Egg.
-
-
-Fill a quill with quicksilver; seal it at both ends with good hard wax;
-then have an egg boiled; take a small piece of the shell off the small
-end and thrust in the quill with the quicksilver; lay it on the ground
-and it will not cease tumbling about as long as any heat remains in it;
-or if you put quicksilver into a small bladder and blow it up, then
-warm the bladder, it will skip about as long as heat remains in it.
-
-
-
-
-Flash of Fire in a Room.
-
-
-Dissolve camphor in spirits of wine and deposit the vessel containing
-the solution in a very close room, where the spirits of wine must
-be made to evaporate by strong and speedy boiling. If any one then
-enters the room with a lighted candle the air will inflame, while the
-combustion will be so sudden and of so short a duration as to occasion
-no danger.
-
-
-
-
-Cast Iron Drops.
-
-
-Bring a bar of iron to a white heat and then apply to it a roll of
-sulphur. The iron will immediately melt and run into drops.
-
-The experiment should be performed over a basin of water, in which
-the drops that fall down will be quenched. These drops will be found
-reduced into a sort of cast iron.
-
-
-
-
-Explosion without Heat.
-
-
-Take a crystal or two of the nitrate of copper and bruise them; then
-moisten them with water and roll them up quickly in a piece of tinfoil,
-and in half a minute or little more, the tinfoil will begin to smoke
-and soon after take fire and explode with a slight noise. Unless the
-crystals of the nitrate of copper are moistened, no heat will be
-produced.
-
-
-
-
-Fiery Powder.
-
-
-Put three ounces of rock alum and one ounce of honey or sugar into a
-new earthen dish, glazed, and which is capable of standing a strong
-heat; keep the mixture over the fire, stirring it continually until it
-becomes very dry and hard; then remove it from the fire and pound it
-to a coarse powder. Put this powder into a long-necked bottle, leaving
-a part of the vessel empty; and having placed it in the crucible, fill
-up the crucible with fine sand and surround it with burning coals.
-When the bottle has been kept at a red heat for about seven or eight
-minutes, and no more vapor issues from it, remove it from the fire,
-then stop it with a piece of cork; and, having suffered it to cool,
-preserve the mixture in small bottles, well closed.
-
-If you unclose one of these bottles and let fall a few grains of this
-powder on a bit of paper, or any other very dry substance it will first
-become blue, then brown, and will at last burn the paper or other
-substance on which it has fallen.
-
-
-
-
-Illumination.
-
-
-A very pleasing exhibition may be made, with very little trouble or
-expense, in the following manner: Provide a box, which you can fit up
-with architectural designs cut on pasteboard; prick small holes into
-those parts of the building where you wish the illuminations to appear,
-observing that, in proportion to the perspective, the holes are to be
-made smaller, and on the near objects the holes are to be made larger.
-Behind these designs thus perforated you fix a lamp or candle, but in
-such a manner that the reflection of the light shall only shine through
-the hole: then placing a light of just sufficient brilliancy to show
-the design of the buildings before it, and making a hole for the sight
-at the front end of the box, you will have a tolerable representation
-of illuminated buildings.
-
-The best way of throwing the light in front is to place an oiled
-paper before it, which will cast a mellow gleam over the scenery, and
-not diminish the effect of the illumination. This can be very easily
-planned, both not to obstruct the sight, nor be seen to disadvantage.
-The lights behind the picture should be very strong, and if a
-magnifying glass were placed in the sight hole it would tend greatly to
-increase the effect. The box must be covered in, leaving an aperture
-for the smoke of the lights to pass through.
-
-The above exhibition can only be shown at candle light; but there is
-another way, by fixing small pieces of gold on the building, instead
-of drilling the holes, which gives something like the appearance of
-illumination, but by no means equal to the foregoing experiment.
-
-N. B.--It would be an improvement if paper of various colors, rendered
-transparent by oil, were placed between the lights behind the aperture
-in the buildings, as they would then resemble lamps of different
-colors.
-
-
-
-
-Sun and Spirit.
-
-
-Put a small quantity of spirits of wine into a glass, and put a cent or
-coin in with it; then direct the rays of the sun by means of a burning
-glass upon the coin, and in a short time it will become so hot as to
-inflame the spirits.
-
-
-
-
-Stars in Water.
-
-
-Put half a drachm of solid phosphorus into a large pint 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 filled with spirits of wine. Light the
-wick which should be almost half an inch from the flask; and as soon
-as the water is heated, streams of fire will issue from the water by
-starts, resembling sky-rockets; some particles will adhere to the
-sides of the glass, representing stars, and will frequently display
-brilliant rays. These appearances will continue at times till the water
-begins to simmer, when immediately a curious aurora borealis begins,
-and gradually ascends till it collects to a pointed flame; when it has
-continued half a minute, blow out the flame of the lamp and the point
-that was formed will rush down, forming beautiful illuminated clouds
-of fire, rolling over each other for some time, which, disappearing, a
-splendid hemisphere of stars presents itself; after waiting a minute
-or two, light the lamp again, and nearly the same phenomenon will be
-displayed as from the beginning. Let the repetition of lighting and
-blowing out the lamp be made for three or four times at least, that
-the stars may be increased. After the third or fourth time of blowing
-out the lamp, in a few minutes after the internal surface of the flask
-is dry, many of the stars will shoot with great splendor from side
-to side, and some of them will fire off with brilliant rays; these
-appearances will continue several minutes. What remains in the flask
-will serve for the same experiment several times, and without adding
-any more water. Care should be taken after the operation is over, to
-lay the flask and water in a cool, secure place.
-
-
-
-
-Parlor Ballooning.
-
-
-It is an interesting and amusing experiment to inflate a balloon made
-of gold-beater’s skin (using a little gum arabic to close any holes or
-fissures), filling it from a bladder or jar, and tying a thread around
-the mouth of it, to prevent the escape of the gas. When fully blown,
-attach a fanciful car of colored paper, or very thin pasteboard, to it,
-and let it float in a large room; it will soon gain the ceiling, where
-it will remain for any length of time; if it be let off in the open
-air it will soon ascend out of sight. This experiment may be varied by
-putting small grains of shot into the car, in order to ascertain the
-difference between the weight of hydrogen gas and atmospheric air.
-
-
-
-
-Marvelous.
-
-
-Wrap up a very smooth ball of lead in a piece of paper, taking care
-that there be no wrinkles in it, and that it be everywhere in contact
-with the ball; if it be held in this state over the flame of a taper,
-the lead will be melted without the paper being burnt. The lead,
-indeed, when once fused will not fail in a short time to pierce the
-paper, and run through.
-
-
-
-
-Mutability.
-
-
-Infuse a few shavings of logwood in common water, and when the liquid
-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 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 color; if the second it will pass gradually from a
-bluish gray 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.
-
-[Illustration: THE END.]
-
- * * * * *
-
-OUR TEN CENT HAND BOOKS.
-
-USEFUL, INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING.
-
-Containing valuable information on almost every subject, such as
-=Writing=, =Speaking=, =Dancing=, =Cooking=; also =Rules of Etiquette=,
-=The Art of Ventriloquism=, =Gymnastic Exercises=, and =The Science of
-Self-Defense=, =etc.=, =etc.=
-
- 1 Napoleon’s Oraculum and Dream Book.
- 2 How to Do Tricks.
- 3 How to Flirt.
- 4 How to Dance.
- 5 How to Make Love.
- 6 How to Become an Athlete.
- 7 How to Keep Birds.
- 8 How to Become a Scientist.
- 9 How to Become a Ventriloquist.
- 10 How to Box.
- 11 How to Write Love Letters.
- 12 How to Write Letters to Ladies.
- 13 How to Do It; or, Book of Etiquette.
- 14 How to Make Candy.
- 15 How to Become Rich.
- 16 How to Keep a Window Garden.
- 17 How to Dress.
- 18 How to Become Beautiful.
- 19 Frank Tousey’s U. S. Distance Tables, Pocket Companion and Guide.
- 20 How to Entertain an Evening Party.
- 21 How to Hunt and Fish.
- 22 How to Do Second Sight.
- 23 How to Explain Dreams.
- 24 How to Write Letters to Gentlemen.
- 25 How to Become a Gymnast.
- 26 How to Row, Sail and Build a Boat.
- 27 How to Recite and Book of Recitations.
- 28 How to Tell Fortunes.
- 29 How to Become an Inventor.
- 30 How to Cook.
- 31 How to Become a Speaker.
- 32 How to Ride a Bicycle.
- 33 How to Behave.
- 34 How to Fence.
- 35 How to Play Games.
- 36 How to Solve Conundrums.
- 37 How to Keep House.
- 38 How to Become Your Own Doctor.
- 39 How to Raise Dogs, Poultry, Pigeons and Rabbits.
- 40 How to Make and Set Traps.
- 41 The Boys of New York End Men’s Joke Book.
- 42 The Boys of New York Stump Speaker.
- 43 How to Become a Magician.
- 44 How to Write in an Album.
- 45 The Boys of New York Minstrel Guide and Joke Book.
- 46 How to Make and Use Electricity.
- 47 How to Break, Ride and Drive a Horse.
- 48 How to Build and Sail Canoes.
- 49 How to Debate.
- 50 How to Stuff Birds and Animals.
- 51 How to Do Tricks with Cards.
- 52 How to Play Cards.
- 53 How to Write Letters.
- 54 How to Keep and Manage Pets.
- 55 How to Collect Stamps and Coins.
- 56 How to Become an Engineer.
- 57 How to Make Musical Instruments.
- 58 How to Become a Detective.
- 59 How to Make a Magic Lantern.
- 60 How to Become a Photographer.
- 61 How to Become a Bowler.
- 62 How to Become a West Point Military Cadet.
- 63 How to Become a Naval Cadet.
- 64 How to Make Electrical Machines.
- 65 Muldoon’s Jokes.
- 66 How to Do Puzzles.
- 67 How to Do Electrical Tricks.
- 68 How to Do Chemical Tricks.
- 69 How to Do Sleight of Hand.
- 70 How to Make Magic Toys.
- 71 How to Do Mechanical Tricks.
- 72 How to Do Sixty Tricks with Cards.
- 73 How to Do Tricks with Numbers.
- 74 How to Write Letters Correctly.
- 75 How to Become a Conjuror.
- 76 How to Tell Fortunes by the Hand.
- 77 How to Do Forty Tricks with Cards.
- 78 How to Do the Black Art.
- 79 How to Become an Actor.
- 80 Gus Williams’ Joke Book.
-
-All the above books are for sale by newsdealers throughout the United
-States and Canada, or they will be sent, post-paid, to your address, on
-receipt of 10c. each.
-
-_Send Your Name and Address for Our Latest Illustrated Catalogue._
-
-FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,
-
-24 UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Transcriber’s Notes:
-
-Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are
-mentioned.
-
-Punctuation has been made consistent.
-
-Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
-the original publication, except that obvious typos have been corrected.
-
-Additional notes:
-
-p. 3: Inserted “that” (paper, that give)
-
-p. 6: “choose” changed to “chose” (and chose to)
-
-p. 11: “jar, or a soup-plate” should be “jar, and a soup-plate”
-
-p. 18: “altered as in fig. 4” should be “altered as in fig. 6”
-
-p. 18: “lightness” changed to “tightness” (absolute tightness. Such)
-
-p. 22: “entirely. As” changed to “entirely, as” (out entirely, as)
-
-p. 28: “valve shown in fig. 4” should be “valve shown in fig. 6”
-
-p. 45: “with” inserted (ground, with a)
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's How to Do Chemical Tricks, by A. Anderson
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS ***
-
-***** This file should be named 50100-0.txt or 50100-0.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
- http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/1/0/50100/
-
-Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
-courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
-(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
- most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
- restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
- under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
- eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
- United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
- are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
- works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
- Dr. Gregory B. Newby
- Chief Executive and Director
- gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
diff --git a/old/50100-0.zip b/old/50100-0.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d4f46b..0000000
--- a/old/50100-0.zip
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h.zip b/old/50100-h.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index f528442..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h.zip
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/50100-h.htm b/old/50100-h/50100-h.htm
deleted file mode 100644
index e28d9eb..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/50100-h.htm
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3692 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
- "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
- <head>
- <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
- <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
- <title>
- The Project Gutenberg eBook of How to do Chemical Tricks, by A. Anderson.
- </title>
- <style type="text/css">
-
-body {
- margin-left: 10%;
- margin-right: 10%;
-}
-
- h1,h2,h3 {
- text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
- clear: both;
-}
-
-p {
- margin-top: .51em;
- text-align: justify;
- margin-bottom: .49em;
-}
-
-.topmargin2{margin-top:2em}
-
-/*Modified horizontal rules to fix ePub display issue*/
-hr {
- width: 33%;
- margin-top: 2em;
- margin-bottom: 2em;
- margin-left: 33.5%;
- margin-right: 33.5%;
- clear: both;
-}
-
-hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;}
-hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}
-/*End modified horizontal rule CSS*/
-
-table {
- margin-left: auto;
- margin-right: auto;
-}
-
-.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
- /* visibility: hidden; */
- position: absolute;
- left: 92%;
- font-size: smaller;
- text-align: right;
-} /* page numbers */
-
-.center {text-align: center;}
-
-.caption {font-weight: bold;}
-
-/* Images */
-.figcenter {
- margin: auto;
- text-align: center;
-}
-
-/* Transcriber's notes */
-.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA;
- color: black;
- font-size:smaller;
- padding:0.5em;
- margin-bottom:5em;
- font-family:sans-serif, serif; }
-
-/*CSS to set font sizes*/
-/*font sizes for non-header font changes*/
-.xxlargefont{font-size: xx-large}
-.xlargefont{font-size: x-large}
-.largefont{font-size: large}
-.sansseriffont{font-family:sans-serif}
-.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;}
-
-.spacequote{padding-left:1.9em; padding-right:1.22em}
-
-.displayinline{display:inline-block}
-
-/*Formatting for ordered list*/
-p.listhang1{
- text-align: left;
- text-indent: -1em;
- margin-left: 2.25em;
- margin-top: 0em;
- margin-bottom: 0em}
-
-p.listhang2{
- text-align: left;
- text-indent: -1.5em;
- margin-left: 2.25em;
- margin-top: 0em;
- margin-bottom: 0em}
-
-.boxcenter{
- max-width: 38em;
- padding: 1em;
- border: 0.15em solid black;
- margin: 0 auto; }
-
-/*CSS to force a page break in ePub*/
-div.chapter {page-break-before: always;}
-
-/*illustrated drop cap CSS*/
-img.drop-capi {
- float: left;
- margin: 0 0.5em 0 0;
- position: relative;
- z-index: 1;
-}
-
-p.drop-capi {
- text-indent: 0em;
-}
-
-p.drop-capi:first-letter {
- padding-right: .2em;
-}
-
-p.drop-capi:first-letter {
- margin-left: -1.3em;
-}
-
-/*CSS markup for handhelds -- put at end of CSS*/
-@media handheld
-{
- img {max-width: 100%; height: auto;} /*Limit width to display*/
-
- img.drop-capi {
- display: none;
- visibility: hidden;
- }
- p.drop-capi:first-letter {
- padding-right: 0em;
- margin-left: 0em;
- }
-}
-
-/*End CSS for handhelds*/
-
- </style>
- </head>
-<body>
-
-
-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Do Chemical Tricks, by A. Anderson
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: How to Do Chemical Tricks
- Containing Over One Hundred Highly Amusing and Instructive
- Tricks With Chemicals
-
-Author: A. Anderson
-
-Release Date: September 30, 2015 [EBook #50100]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
-courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
-(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 534px;">
-<img id="coverpage" src="images/i_001.jpg" width="534" height="850" alt="HOW TO DO Chemical TRICKS" />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 383px;">
-<img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="383" height="650" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub-->
-
-<h1>HOW TO DO<br />
-<span class="smcap">Chemical Tricks</span>.</h1>
-
-
-<p class="center topmargin2">Containing Over One Hundred Highly<br />
-Amusing and Instructive Tricks<br />
-With Chemicals.</p>
-
-<p class="center topmargin2 xlargefont">By A. ANDERSON.</p>
-
-<p class="center topmargin2 largefont">HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED.</p>
-
-<p class="center topmargin2"><span class="smcap">New York</span>:<br />
-FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,<br />
-24 <span class="smcap">Union Square</span>.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub-->
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="center">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by</p>
-
-<p class="center">FRANK TOUSEY,</p>
-
-<p class="center">in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub-->
-<p class="center xlargefont"><b>HOW TO DO<br />
-<span class="xxlargefont">CHEMICAL TRICKS.</span></b></p>
-
-
-<div><img class="drop-capi" src="images/i_004.jpg" width="54" height="58" alt="" /></div>
-<p class="drop-capi">From the remotest ages chemistry has exercised the
-strongest fascination on the minds of the curious,
-nor is it a matter of surprise that boys should feel
-themselves drawn strongly by its mystery and
-seeming magic. This attraction is undoubtedly caused by
-what the ancients called the elements, earth, air, fire and
-water. There is something so weird about the manifestation
-of air and fire, that it is not difficult to understand
-how the alchemists believed them to be forces able to be
-used at the bidding of spirits, who might be conjured up
-by incantations and spells.</p>
-
-<p>Now it is known that these uncanny beings existed only
-in the imagination of the forerunners of modern chemists.
-Yet what boy can look on the brilliantly colored fires of a
-Fourth of July display, or the burnished gold of the setting
-sun, or the fantastic pictures in the glowing coals in
-a grate, and not feel that there is still something of magic
-and mystery in fire still? What the boy feels, the scientist
-cannot explain. Nobody knows actually what fire is. All
-that can be said is that fire is produced by certain substances,
-such as coals, wood, or paper, <span id="TN_3">that</span> give out heat, while
-passing from one state to another.</p>
-
-<p>Now the word “element” was and is used to mean that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
-simplest form of matter, which, with other simplest forms
-goes to make up the whole world of everything in it. The
-earth, animals, plants, the sea, the atmosphere, are all
-made up of one or more of some seventy substances called
-elements. Hence it is clear that the earth, air and water
-are not, as the ancients thought, elements at all. As will
-be seen in this little book, both air and water consist of
-mixtures of elements. In chemistry such mixtures are
-called compounds. This word occurs again and again, so
-its explanation should be remembered.</p>
-
-<p>One great fact must be remembered, which is at the very
-root of chemistry. Nothing is really lost, however much
-its form may be changed, or however many changes it may
-pass through. For instance, it may seem that when a
-block of wood be burned that a very large amount of it is
-lost. If, however, the ashes, the smoke, and the carbon
-that is burned by the air be all weighed, the result would
-be exactly the same as the weight of the original block of
-wood.</p>
-
-<p>Again take an instance of a different nature. A lump of
-sugar is placed in a small glass of water. Gradually the solid
-is dissolved, and in time disappears. It is not lost, however.
-By boiling the mixture until all the water has
-evaporated the sugar will be found adhering as crystals on
-the sides of the glass. If these be carefully collected, they
-will be found to weigh precisely as much as the original
-lump of sugar.</p>
-
-<p>Once more, take a block of ice weighing an ounce. Having
-removed it into a room, the solid will in an hour or two
-have disappeared entirely, but the water that has replaced
-the block of ice will weigh neither more nor less than an
-ounce. If again heat be applied to the water it will all disappear,
-but if weighed in a jam jar, the steam, although
-invisible to the eye, will still weigh one ounce exactly.</p>
-
-<p>From the above-given experiments it may be seen that,
-however matter may change its form it cannot really be
-destroyed. This truth will appear in every experiment that
-can be performed, whether those given in this little book or
-in the most learned treatise on chemistry.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Chemical Affinity.</h2>
-
-
-<p>This high-sounding term means that substances have a
-power of uniting together that can be better explained by
-an experiment. Allow a few drops of water to fall on a
-perfectly clean piece of iron. In a short time a reddish-brown
-substance will appear on the iron that in ordinary
-language is called rust. What does this mean? Water is
-a compound substance composed of oxygen and hydrogen,
-but when brought into contact with iron the oxygen prefers
-to unite with the iron and sets the hydrogen free.
-Hence, would the chemist say, oxygen has a “stronger affinity”
-for iron than for hydrogen. In this case the rust is
-composed of rust, a combination of iron and oxygen called
-oxide of iron. What has taken place may be shown by the
-following, which will be easily understood:</p>
-
-<div class="center">
-<p class="displayinline">
-Oxygen<br />
-Hydrogen
-</p>
-
-<p class="displayinline" style="font-size:225%; vertical-align:12%;
-margin-top:-1em; margin-bottom:-1em;">}</p>
-
-<p class="displayinline">
-Water + Iron = Oxide<br />
-of Iron + Hydrogen.
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>So all that the chemical combination in the above means is
-that the iron has taken the place of the hydrogen in the
-water used for the experiment. If weighed it would be
-found as always, that the water and the iron weighed precisely
-the same as the oxide of iron and the hydrogen.</p>
-
-<p>It is to this same principle of chemical affinity that the
-curious experiments of magic writing with sympathetic
-inks are possible.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Sympathetic Inks.</h2>
-
-
-<p>By means of these may be carried on a correspondence
-which is beyond the discovery of all not in the secret. With
-one class of these inks the writing becomes visible only
-when moistened with a particular solution. Thus, if we
-write to you with a solution of sulphate of iron the letters
-are invisible. On the receipt of our letter, you rub over the
-sheet a feather or sponge, wet with a solution of nut-galls,
-and the letters burst forth into sensible being at once, and
-are permanent.</p>
-
-<p>2. If we write with a solution of sugar of lead and you
-moisten with a sponge or pencil dipped in water impregnated
-with sulphuretted hydrogen, the letters will appear
-with metallic brilliancy.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>3. If we write with a weak solution of sulphate of copper,
-and you apply ammonia, the letters assume a beautiful
-blue. When the ammonia evaporates as it does on exposure
-to the sun or fire, the writing disappears, but may be
-revived again as before.</p>
-
-<p>4. If you write with oil of vitriol very much diluted, so
-as to prevent its destroying the paper, the manuscript will
-be invisible except when held to the fire, when the letters
-will appear black.</p>
-
-<p>5. Write with cobalt dissolved in diluted muriatic acid;
-the letters will be invisible when cold, but when warmed
-they will appear a bluish green.</p>
-
-<p>Secrets thus written will not be brought to the knowledge
-of a stranger, because he does not know the solution
-which was used in writing, and therefore knows not what
-to apply to bring out the letters.</p>
-
-<p>Other forms of elective affinity produce equally novel results.
-Thus, two invisible gases, when combined, form
-sometimes a <em>visible solid</em>. Muriatic acid and ammonia are
-examples, also ammonia and carbonic acid.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, if a solution of sulphate of soda be
-mixed with a solution of muriate of lime the whole becomes
-solid.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Some gases when united form liquids, as oxygen and hydrogen,
-which unite and form water. Some solids when
-combined form liquids.</p>
-
-<p>Chemical affinity is sometimes called <em>elective</em>, or the effect
-of <em>choice</em>, as if one substance exerted a kind of <em>preference</em>
-for another, and <span id="TN_6">chose</span> to be united to it rather than
-to that with which it was previously combined; thus, if you
-pour some vinegar, which is a weak acetic acid, upon some
-pearlash (a combination of potash and carbonic acid), or
-some carbonate of soda (a combination of the same acid
-with soda), a violent effervescence will take place, occasioned
-by the escape of the carbonic acid, displaced in
-consequence of the potash or soda preferring the acetic
-acid, and forming a compound called an acetate.</p>
-
-<p>Then, if some sulphuric acid be poured on this new compound,
-the acetic acid will, in its turn, be displaced by the
-greater attachment of either of the bases, as they are
-termed, for the sulphuric acid. Again, if into a solution<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
-of blue vitriol (a combination of sulphuric acid with copper),
-the bright blade of a knife be introduced, the knife
-will speedily be covered with a coat of copper, deposited
-in consequence of the acid <em>preferring</em> the iron of which
-the knife is made, a quantity of it being dissolved in exact
-proportion to the quantity of copper deposited.</p>
-
-<p>It is on the same principle that a very beautiful preparation
-called a silver-tree, or a lead-tree, may be formed,
-thus: Fill a wide bottle, capable of holding from half a
-pint to a pint, with a tolerably strong solution of nitrate
-of silver (lunar caustic), or acetate of lead, in pure distilled
-water. Then attach a small piece of zinc by a string to the
-cork or stopper of the bottle, so that the zinc shall hang
-about the middle of the bottle, and set it by where it may
-be quite undisturbed. In a short time brilliant plates of
-silver or lead, as the case may be, will be seen to collect
-around the piece of zinc, assuming more or less of the crystalline
-form. This is a case of elective affinity; the acid
-with which the silver or lead was united <em>prefers</em> the zinc
-to either of those metals, and in consequence discards
-them in order to attach the zinc to itself; and this process
-will continue until the whole of the zinc is taken up, or the
-whole of the silver or lead deposited.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Alum Baskets.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Form a small basket about the size of the hand, of iron
-wire or split willow; then take some cotton, such as ladies
-use for running into flounces; untwist it and wind it
-round every limb of the basket. Boil eighteen ounces of
-alum in a quart of water, or quantities in that proportion;
-stir the mixture while boiling until the alum is completely
-dissolved. Pour the solution into a deep pan, or other convenient
-vessel, and suspend the basket in the liquor, so
-that no part of the basket shall touch the vessel, or be exposed
-to the air. Let the whole remain perfectly at rest
-for twenty-four hours. When you then remove the basket
-the alum will be found very prettily crystallized over all
-the limbs of the cottoned frame.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Easy Crystallizations.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Saturate water <em>kept boiling</em> with alum; then set the
-solution in a cool place, suspending in it, by a hair, or fine
-silk thread, a cinder, a sprig of a plant, or any other trifle.
-As the solution cools, a beautiful crystallization of the salt
-takes place upon the cinders, etc., which are made to resemble
-specimens of mineralogical spars.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Make a Piece of Charcoal Appear as Though it were Coated with Gold.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dilute a saturated solution of chloride of gold with five
-times its bulk of water; place a thin strip of fresh burned
-charcoal into it, and apply heat, gradually increasing it until
-the solution gently boils. The heat will make the charcoal
-precipitate the metal on the charcoal, in the form of
-brilliant spangles.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Give a Piece of Charcoal a Rich Coat of Silver.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Lay a crystal of nitrate of silver upon a piece of burning
-charcoal; the metallic salt will catch fire, and throw out
-the most beautiful scintillations that can be imagined.
-The silver is reduced, and, in the end, produces upon the
-charcoal a very brilliant appearance.</p>
-
-<p>Many animal and vegetable substances, consist, for the
-most part, of carbon, or charcoal, united with oxygen and
-hydrogen, which remember, together combined, form
-water. Now oil of vitriol or strong sulphuric acid, has so
-powerful an affinity or so great a thirst for water, that it
-will abstract it from almost any body in which it exists.
-If you pour some of this acid on a lump of sugar, or place
-a chip of wood in a small quantity of it, the sugar or wood
-will become speedily blackened, that is charred, in consequence
-of the oxygen and hydrogen being removed by the
-sulphuric acid, and only the carbon or charcoal left.</p>
-
-<p>When Cleopatra dissolved pearls of wondrous value in
-vinegar, she was unwittingly giving an example of chemical
-affinity. The pearl is simply carbonate of lime stored up
-by the oyster in layers. Consequently the precious jewels
-were decomposed by the greater affinity or fondness of lime
-for the acetic acid in the vinegar, than for the carbonic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
-acid with which it had been before united. This was an
-example of inconstancy in strong contrast with the conduct
-of their owner, who chose death rather than become
-the wife of her lover’s conqueror.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Combustion.</h2>
-
-
-<p>It is necessary to distinguish between burning and the
-mere appearance of it. A gas flame is gas in a state of
-combustion, whereas the electric light is no example of it,
-although the wire within the glassen cylinder is red hot,
-and to all appearance burning. Combustion generally
-takes place through the strong affinity of some element,
-such as carbon in a substance for the oxygen in the atmosphere.
-In coal gas, for instance, the carbon contained in
-it unites with the oxygen in the air to form a colorless substance
-called carbonic acid gas. The latter is unable to
-support life, and may be called, therefore, poisonous. It is
-the presence of this gas which makes it unhealthy to burn
-many jets without proper ventilation.</p>
-
-<p>Also, carbonic acid gas is given off by the lungs. It may
-seem curious, but it is none the less true, that breathing is
-a process of combustion. The blood brings to the surface
-of the lungs the carbon, which has resulted from the waste
-of the internal organs of the body. When drawing in a
-breath the oxygen present in the atmosphere meets the impure
-blood at the surface of the lungs, and purifies it by
-uniting with the carbon in it. Then, though oxygen has
-been breathed in, carbonic acid gas has been breathed out.</p>
-
-<p>To prove this will be interesting: Obtain from a chemist
-a little lime water&mdash;two cents worth will do. It looks
-like ordinary water, being perfectly transparent and colorless.
-Pour some into a clean glass, and through a glass
-tube blow steadily into the water. In half a minute the
-hitherto colorless liquid will become milky and opaque.
-If allowed to stand there will fall down at the bottom of
-the glass a white powder.</p>
-
-<p>What has happened in this case? The carbonic acid gas
-from the lungs has formed with the lime in the lime water
-a substance called carbonate of lime, which, being insoluble
-in water, falls to the bottom of the glass as a white
-powder.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>If carbonic acid gas were not present in the air blown
-from the lungs, this milkiness would not appear, for no
-other gas, except this, would alter the lime water’s clearness.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Chemistry of The Air.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Before proceeding further, it will be well to perform
-one or two experiments, to prove that the air we breathe
-is by no means the simple substance it is generally supposed
-to be. Although it is invisible, it must be remembered
-that it presses with a force of over fifteen pounds
-to the square inch, over the whole surface of the earth.
-It extends, too, to a height of some forty miles above the
-earth, and though it cannot be seen, it can be felt in the
-rush of the hurricane, and heard in the roar of the tempest.
-It is chiefly composed of a mixture of two gases,
-oxygen and nitrogen.</p>
-
-<p>Did the air consist entirely of the former, people would
-breathe too quickly, and die in a very short time in a high
-fever, burned up, in fact. If only consisting of nitrogen,
-the human race would also die, because this element is incapable
-of supporting life; people would be suffocated, in
-fact.</p>
-
-<p>Therefore, a judicious mixture of the two is essential to
-the life of animals. Generally, in a hundred parts of
-air by weight there are seventy-six parts of nitrogen to
-twenty-three of oxygen.</p>
-
-<p>Besides these two gases, there is also a quantity of carbonic
-acid gas in the air, given off by all the fires and animals
-in the world. Of course, its amount is much greater
-in the great towns and manufacturing centers than in
-country districts.</p>
-
-<p>Now herein must be recorded one of these charming arrangements
-which Nature has designed for the benefit of
-her children. Carbonic acid gas is much heavier than the
-air, and, therefore, sinks towards the ground, where, if
-allowed to accumulate, would cause the death of every animal.
-Fortunately, however, plants breathe in through
-their leaves carbonic acid gas during sunshine, and break
-it up into carbon and oxygen. The former, they use for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
-building up their trunks, leaves, and flowers, while during
-the night they give off oxygen into the air.</p>
-
-<p>This is the reason why plants and trees planted in the
-streets so largely help to sweeten and purify the foul air
-of a great city.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>An experiment to prove that the atmosphere does consist
-of nitrogen and oxygen, may be prettily proved in the
-following simple manner: A glass marmalade jar, <span id="TN_11">or a
-soup-plate</span> filled with water, and a piece of phosphorus
-as large as a pea, are the only things necessary. Take
-very great care not to touch the phosphorus, for the heat
-of the hand is sufficient to set it on fire, and a terrible
-wound would be caused.</p>
-
-<p>Place the phosphorus in a match-box on the surface of
-the water, touch it with a lighted match, and put the jar-mouth
-downwards over it to the bottom of the plate. The
-phosphorus burns with a dazzling brilliancy, and gives off
-dense white fumes. At the same time the water rises a
-third of the way up the jar, but not to the top, thus showing
-that all the invisible matter has not been consumed.
-The white soon settles into the water and is dissolved.
-The phosphorus has combined with the oxygen in the jar
-and forms phosphoric oxide, which dissolves in water.
-There is then only the nitrogen left. The disappearance
-of the oxygen allows the water to fill up the space it formerly
-occupied.</p>
-
-<p>This may be followed by another experiment.</p>
-
-<p>To show that oxygen is necessary for the support of
-combustion, fix two or three pieces of wax taper on flat
-pieces of cork, and set them floating on water in a soup-plate,
-light them, and invert over them a glass jar.</p>
-
-<p>As they burn, the heat produced may perhaps at first expand
-the air, so as to force a small quantity out of the jar,
-but the water will soon rise in the jar, and continue to do
-so until the tapers expire, when you will find that a considerable
-portion of the air has disappeared, and what remains
-will no longer support flame.</p>
-
-<p>The oxygen has been converted partly into water, and
-partly into carbonic acid gas, by uniting with the carbon
-and hydrogen of which the taper consists, and the remaining
-air is principally nitrogen, with some carbonic acid.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
-The presence of the latter may be proved by decanting
-some of the remaining air into a bottle, and then shaking
-some lime water with it, which will absorb the carbonic
-acid and form chalk.</p>
-
-<p>Into an ale glass, two thirds full of water at about 140 degrees,
-drop one or two pieces of phosphorus about the size
-of peas, and they will remain unaltered. Then take a
-bladder containing oxygen gas, to which is attached a stop
-cock and a long fine tube. Pass the end of the tube to the
-bottom of the water, turn the stop cock, and press the
-bladder gently. As the gas reaches the phosphorus it
-will take fire, and burn under the water with a brilliant
-flame, filling the glass with brilliant flashes of light dashing
-through the water.</p>
-
-<p>Into another glass put some cold water; introduce carefully
-some of the salt called chlorate of potash; upon that
-drop a piece of phosphorus; then let some strong sulphuric
-acid (oil of vitriol) trickle slowly down the side of the
-glass, or introduce it by means of a dropping bottle.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as the acid touches the salt the latter is decomposed,
-and liberates a gas which ignites the phosphorus,
-producing much the same appearance as in the last experiment.</p>
-
-<p>Into the half of a broken phial put some chlorate of potash,
-and pour in some oil of vitriol. The phial will soon
-be filled with a heavy gas of a deep yellow color. Tie a
-small test tube at right angles to the end of a stick not less
-than a yard long, put a little ether into the tube, and pour
-it gently into the phial of gas, when an instantaneous explosion
-will take place, and the ether will be set on fire.
-This experiment should be performed in a place where
-there are no articles of furniture to be damaged, as the ingredients
-are often scattered by the explosion, and the oil
-of vitriol destroys all animal and vegetable substances.</p>
-
-<p>Into a jar containing oxygen gas introduce a coil of soft
-iron wire, suspended to a cork that fits the neck of the jar
-and having attached a small piece of charcoal to the lower
-part of the wire, ignite the charcoal. The iron will take
-fire and burn with a brilliant light, throwing out bright
-scintillations, which are oxide of iron, formed by the union
-of the gas with the iron; and they are so intensely hot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
-that some of them will probably <em>melt</em> their way into the
-sides of the jar, if not through them.</p>
-
-<p>But by far the most intense heat, and most brilliant light,
-may be produced by introducing a piece of phosphorus into
-a jar of oxygen. The phosphorus may be placed in a small
-copper cup, with a long handle of thick wire passing
-through a hole in a cork that fits the jar. The phosphorus
-must first be ignited; and as soon as it is introduced into
-the oxygen, it gives out a light so brilliant that no eye
-can bear it, and the whole jar appears filled with an intensely
-luminous atmosphere. It is well to dilute the
-oxygen with about one-fourth part of common air, to moderate
-the intense heat, which is nearly certain to break the
-jar if pure oxygen is used.</p>
-
-<p>The following experiment shows the production of heat
-by chemical action alone: Bruise some fresh-prepared
-crystals of nitrate of copper, spread them over a piece of
-tin foil, sprinkle them with a little water; then fold up the
-foil tightly, as rapidly as possible, and in a minute or two
-it will become red hot, the tin apparently burning away.
-This heat is produced by the energetic action of the tin on
-the nitrate of copper, taking away its oxygen in order to
-unite with the nitric acid, for which, as well as for the oxygen
-the tin has a much greater affinity than the copper has.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;">
-<img src="images/i_014.jpg" width="150" height="183" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Combustion without flame may be shown in a very
-elegant and agreeable manner, by taking a coil of platinum
-wire and twisting it round the stem of a tobacco pipe, or
-any cylindrical body for a dozen times or so, leaving about
-an inch straight, which should be inserted into the wick
-of a spirit lamp. Light the lamp, and after it has burned
-for a minute or two, extinguish the flame quickly; the
-wire will soon become red hot, and, if kept from draughts<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
-of air, will continue to burn until all the spirit is consumed.</p>
-
-<p>Spongy platinum, as it is called, answers rather better
-than wire, and has been employed in the formation of
-fumigators for the drawing-room, in which, instead of
-pure spirit, some perfume, such as lavender water, is used;
-by its combustion an agreeable odor is diffused through
-the apartment. These little lamps were much in vogue a
-few years ago, but are now nearly out of fashion. Finally,
-all the readers of this little book should be very careful in
-performing all experiments. If possible, he should use a
-room with a stone floor and no curtains, while an outhouse
-with an earthen floor is still less dangerous.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Amateur Air Pump.</h2>
-
-
-<p>A most interesting class of experiments can be made
-with an air pump, a piece of apparatus unfortunately beyond
-the pocket-money supply of the average boy. Nevertheless,
-if the following instructions are exactly followed
-and carefully carried out, a very excellent air pump can be
-made at a comparatively small cost. Some pretty, as well
-as interesting results will amply repay you for the trouble
-you take to make the pump. Although the air seems so
-light in comparison with water or a heavy metal like iron,
-you must remember that it really presses upon every
-square inch of the earth’s surface, aye, on every square
-inch of your own bodies, with a force of fourteen and a
-half pounds. In other words, the weight of the air at the
-sea level resting on each square inch of surface weighs
-fourteen and a half pounds.</p>
-
-<p>Don’t be frightened, boys, at the explanation of one word
-that must be used in connection with air experiments. The
-word is vacuum. Vacuum really means an empty space,
-devoid of all matter, even of air. Although it seems easy
-to think of an empty space, it is quite impossible to exhaust
-a space of all matter, even of air. For this reason,
-the alchemists of the middle ages used to say: “Nature abhors
-a vacuum.” This was only their way of saying how
-impossible it was to make a space, such as the inside of a
-vessel, quite empty. Yet it is possible to reduce the
-amount of air in a vessel almost to nothing.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p>
-
-<div class="center">
-<div class="figcenter displayinline" style="width: 185px;">
-<img src="images/i_016a.jpg" width="185" height="650" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="displayinline figcenter" style="width: 123px;">
-<img src="images/i_016b.jpg" width="123" height="650" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Now for the pump. In the first place obtain three pieces
-of gutta-percha tubing of the following lengths:</p>
-
-<p>No. 1.&mdash;A tube twelve and a half inches long, measuring
-outside two and a half, inside one and a half inches in circumference.</p>
-
-<p>No. 2.&mdash;This must be seven and a half inches long, one
-and a half inches outside, and an inch inside.</p>
-
-<p>No. 3.&mdash;This is a length of tubing about sixty inches long,
-two and a half inches in outside circumference, and at
-least an inch thick. If an inch and a half thick all the
-better, as it will be more air-tight.</p>
-
-<p>Divide tube No. 2 into two equal parts, cutting from right
-to left at an angle of 45 degrees. Into one of the parts fit
-a plug of hard wood pierced lengthwise by a red hot wire
-(fig. 1); the figure shows the shape of it sufficiently. In
-the hollow side cut a small opening, and over this tie very
-tightly a band of flexible india-rubber (fig. 3). This band
-will serve as the valve of the piston of the pump. Figs. 3
-and 4 give a side and front view of this valve. Great care
-must be taken neither to split the plug in boring the hole
-nor to cut the tube.</p>
-
-<div class="center">
-<div class="displayinline figcenter" style="width: 180px;">
-<img src="images/i_017a.jpg" width="180" height="126" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 3.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-
-<div id="Fig_4" class="displayinline figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
-<img src="images/i_017b.jpg" width="300" height="153" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 4.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This valve must now be inserted in the large tube No. 1,
-as seen in fig. 2.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>At the other end of the large tube, which will serve as
-the body of the pump, at B fig. 2, fix a similar valve to the
-above, but the india-rubber band must be fixed on the other
-side of the valve as at B fig. 2. The fitting A will serve
-for escape, the second for withdrawing the air from the
-space to be exhausted. Finally fix tube No. 3 on valves A
-or B, fig. 2, according to your wish to produce a vacuum or
-to compress the air.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/i_018.jpg" width="600" height="461" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 5.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>By means of a pedal made simply with two boards put
-together on hinges (fig. 5), one pressed with the foot, the
-air contained in the body of the pump (fig. 2) tends to escape.
-It therefore lifts the valve of the fitting fixed at A,
-and escapes through the flexible elastic band tied over the
-hole in the hollow side of tube No. 2. If the pressure
-ceases the big tube, on account of its own elasticity, takes
-its former form and sucks in the air. This time it is the
-valve at B which is lifted and lets pass the air which fills
-the body of the pump. If one has fixed on to the fitting at
-B, the long india-rubber tube No. 3, which is plunged in a
-receiver&mdash;a receiver is any vessel in which the air is exhausted,
-or into which it is forced&mdash;it is easily understood<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
-that after a few moves of the pedal, the air is drawn out,
-and a vacuum is obtained.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
-<img src="images/i_019.jpg" width="300" height="639" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 6.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>If one wishes to have a force-pump one has only to modify
-slightly the construction of the valve. Instead of a
-band of india-rubber fixed as shown in fig. 3, it is<span id="TN_18a"> altered
-as in fig. 4</span>, that is to say the valve is formed by a band of
-supple india-rubber fastened by two tacks only on one side
-of the opening in the side of the plug. For this object it is
-also necessary to take stronger tubes.</p>
-
-<p>Let us now review the few experiments that can be made
-with this machine.</p>
-
-<p>In order to conduct experiments a receiver must be obtained.
-The best vessel for your purpose is a large bell-jar
-with a ground glass stopper and neck to insure absolute <span id="TN_18b">tightness</span>.
-Such a jar may be cheaply obtained at a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
-scientific instrument maker’s for about seventy-five cents.
-If you cannot get a bell-jar procure a 4-lb. jam pot and a
-tightly-fitting bung. In the middle of the latter bore a hole
-to admit a glass tube, some six inches long and an inch in
-diameter, and then sealing-wax the whole of the upper surface
-of the bung so that air cannot enter. Over the projecting
-end of the glass tube, bind very tightly the free
-end of the long tubing affixed to the pump. To ensure
-tight binding, waxed thread should be used.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Asphyxia.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put a mouse&mdash;it is necessary to catch him first&mdash;into the
-receiver, and work the pump. Soon the animal will show
-all the signs of being choked, and eventually will die. This
-is proof sufficient that animals cannot live without air.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
-<img src="images/i_020.jpg" width="400" height="484" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Balloon in Vacuum.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Place in the receiver a small bladder, such as are sold in
-the streets for a few cents. Wet it a little to make it more
-supple. Now, in the ordinary way the air inside the bladder<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
-exerts the same pressure on the skin of the bladder as
-does the air on the outside. Now work the pedal so that
-the air in the receiver is gradually exhausted. The bladder
-will be seen to gradually swell and finally burst. It bursts
-because as the air in the receiver is exhausted by the pump,
-the air outside the bladder exerts a less force than the air
-inside. But the air inside is confined by the bladder skin,
-a not very strong material, as you know, so as soon as the
-difference between the inside and outside pressures is
-greater than the strength of the bladder, the latter bursts.
-This experiment also shows the expansible power of air.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
-<img src="images/i_021.jpg" width="400" height="514" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Boiling Cold Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Place in the receiver a tumbler of cold water and work
-the pump as before. In a few minutes, as soon as the air is
-sufficiently exhausted, the water will apparently boil. Yet
-you know the water does not boil in a kettle unless heated
-to 212 degrees. This phenomenon is thus explained: The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
-vacuum causes the air-bubbles contained in the water to
-escape. They easily do so, because there is scarcely any reserve
-on the surface of the liquid (see fig.).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
-<img src="images/i_022.jpg" width="400" height="466" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Sucking Tube.</h2>
-
-
-<p>This force, the pressure of the air which you have just
-ascertained, supplies various experiments in its illustration.</p>
-
-<p>Take a tin tube, for example, the tin holder of a penny
-pen, which you may procure at any stationer’s. Put a little
-water in it and make it boil so that the steam takes the
-place of the air.</p>
-
-<p>When steaming furiously stop the mouth of the tube
-with a small cork, sealing the opening hermetically. Oil
-it a little, so it may glide with ease. If you cool the tube
-by plunging it in a basin of cold water, for example, the
-steam is condensed, forming a vacuum in the interior, and
-under the atmospheric pressure the cork will glide down.
-Fasten a string to the cork and you can withdraw it and
-begin the operation again. As the water gets hot, steam is
-reformed; you will see the cork come up again.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>A capital way of making this cork is to stick the tube in
-a piece of potato, cutting out of the latter a perfectly-fitting
-cork.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 296px;">
-<img src="images/i_023.jpg" width="296" height="650" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Cupping.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Instead of a jar-receiver, take a long-necked bottle open
-at both ends. If you place the hand on one of the open
-ends and exhaust the air, by attaching the long tube of the
-pump to the other you cannot remove the hand easily. Do
-not try to pump the air out <span id="TN_22">entirely, as</span> the suction may
-be too strong and draw blood. It is by the rarefaction of
-the air that the cupping-glass is applied to people who require
-bleeding. In the antiquated surgical operation of
-cupping, the doctor burned a few pieces of paper in small<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
-glass cups, which are then applied to the skin; the air, in
-getting cold, contracted and produced a partial vacuum,
-thus acting as the bottle did in the above experiment.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/i_024.jpg" width="600" height="600" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Barometer.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Now you shall learn something about the pressure exercised
-by the atmospheric layer which surrounds the
-earth to the height of about forty miles. This is done
-with the aid of a very well-known instrument called the
-barometer.</p>
-
-<p>You may construct one yourselves. Procure a glass tube
-closed at one end, about a yard long and one tenth of an
-inch in diameter. Fill it with mercury, then turn it upside
-down into a bowl filled with the same metal, taking care
-that the air does not enter the tube. The column will stop
-at a height between 29 and 30 inches.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>This, therefore is the measure of the force of the air’s
-pressure, for in the upper part of the tube there is an absolute
-vacuum and nothing would prevent the mercury from
-going higher up. The weight of the air layer corresponds,
-therefore, to a height of nearly 30 inches of mercury.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 161px;">
-<img src="images/i_025.jpg" width="161" height="650" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>This weight has been before stated, viz., fourteen and a
-half pounds, such a weight being supported by every single
-square inch of the globe’s surface. A marvelous pressure
-is thus exerted on the whole earth. In other words, the
-weight of the air that surrounds the earth on all sides<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
-is no less than the following enormous number of 5,184,740,000,000,000
-tons.</p>
-
-<p>A man of average height, himself supports the enormous
-pressure of 34,171 pounds, or over 15 tons, and yet does not
-feel the least inconvenience in his movements. It is because
-this pressure is exercised in all directions, and a human
-body carries within it elastic fluids that counterbalance
-that tremendous weight.</p>
-
-<p>So accustomed do people become to this weight that
-when the weather is stormy, a feeling of heaviness comes
-on.</p>
-
-<p>However, it is just the contrary which takes place when
-the barometer is lower; that is to say, the atmospheric pressure
-has diminished. Consequently there is less weight to
-be carried.</p>
-
-<p>You would experience the same sensation when going
-up in a balloon. As you rise higher and higher the weight
-of the air is less felt, and this makes people so uncomfortable
-that at a height of about 9,000 or 10,000 yards the liquids
-in our body&mdash;the blood, the water, the bile&mdash;tend to escape
-outwards. Why? Because they are no longer balanced by
-an outside pressure equal in force to them. In fact, if you
-continued to ascend, your fate would be that of the bladder
-in the first experiment&mdash;you would burst. Thus are you
-and all creatures attached to the face of the earth, and it
-seems as if great heights were forbidden to our curiosity.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Novel Barometer.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Construct a toy house of cardboard, painted, and let
-there be two open doorways in the front, and let it stand
-on a wooden platform to represent the ground. The two
-sides and back may come right down to the ground, but
-there must be a slight space between the front of the house
-and the ground upon which it stands.</p>
-
-<p>Next make a flat wheel or disc of wood about the thickness
-of a penny, its diameter or measurement across the
-center to measure the same as the distance between the two
-doorways of the house. The wheel disc or turn-table must
-have a shaft or spindle in the middle, so that it will revolve
-easily in a hole made for it in the floor or ground which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
-your cardboard house stands on; this pivot-hole should be
-just within the house and exactly half way between the
-two doors.</p>
-
-<p>In the next place get two small dolls of such size that
-they will pass easily through the doorways, or you may
-cut them out of cork or some light substance. Dress one
-to represent an old man and the other as his wife, and fix
-them opposite each other at the edge of the disc or wheel
-in such a manner, that when it turns on its axle, the figures
-move in and out of the two doorways provided for
-their accommodation, for it appears that, although residing
-in the same house, they are not on very good terms. When
-the husband goes out the wife remains at home, and as she
-only ventures abroad in fine weather, her spouse is obliged
-to look out when rain may be expected.</p>
-
-<p>The motive power has now to be provided and this takes
-the form of a piece of catgut, such as violin strings are
-made of; this is a substance very susceptible of atmospheric
-influences, for dry weather contracts or tightens it, while
-a damp atmosphere causes it to relax. Double your catgut
-and twist it, fasten one end of the rope so formed near the
-back of the house inside and fasten the other to the pivot
-or axle, with two or three turns round it. As the weather
-changes the tightening or relaxing of the rope will cause
-the figures to move in and out of the house. Of course, the
-figures must be arranged so that the lady comes out when
-the rope is tightened by the dryness of the atmosphere.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Compressed Air.</h2>
-
-
-<p>To make experiments with compressed air, you must put
-your wits together to make a reservoir. Air, you know, is
-a gas consisting of particles called atoms. These atoms
-are at a certain distance from one another. They can be
-pushed further from one another as when you heat them,
-or closer together by cold and compression. So compressed
-air only means air whose atoms are pressed more closely together
-than as the case with the air around us.</p>
-
-<p>Now you have heard that a column of air on a square inch
-weighs fourteen and a half pounds. Also, you know that
-air in a receiver or any other vessel presses on the vessel<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
-inside and out with a force (or weight) of fourteen and a
-half pounds.</p>
-
-<p>If now into the vessel you push another quantity of air,
-equal to the vessel’s capacity, you simply push the atoms
-of air closer together. In fact, they are now only half as far
-apart as the atoms of an open vessel. But the pressure is
-doubled and the compressed air, therefore, will press on the
-inside of the vessel with a force of twenty-nine pounds.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/i_028.jpg" width="600" height="320" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Now to make the reservoir. Get a tin tube about 40<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
-inches long and four in diameter, closed at both ends.
-Take care that the soldering is well done. Two openings
-must be made, and a small tube inserted in each. To each
-of these attach an indiarubber tube, one four feet long, and
-the other six. (See fig.).</p>
-
-<p>To fill this reservoir with compressed air, apply the air-pump
-fitted with the <span id="TN_28">valve shown in <a href="#Fig_4">fig. 4</a></span>, in the description
-of an air-pump. Squeeze tightly the upper tube of the
-reservoir before beginning to pump, and then it will
-be easy to judge the amount of compression of the air. For
-the first experiment place a light ball or sheet of paper over
-the mouth of the tube, and loosen your hold on it. The object
-will immediately be blown away with considerable
-force.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Noiseless Bell.</h2>
-
-
-<p>We know that sound is a succession of vibrations which
-must be transmitted in a medium with weight, as air or
-water; in other words, in a vacuum there can be no sound
-at all. To prove this, introduce into the receiver a small
-bell, and as the air is extracted the sounds become weaker<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
-and weaker, and cease altogether when the air is completely
-rarified.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
-<img src="images/i_029.jpg" width="400" height="464" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Bursting Bladder.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Tie a thin piece of light indiarubber round the top of the
-bottle, and you will notice that as the air is withdrawn,
-the indiarubber will stretch, and at length form a round
-small balloon in the interior of the bottle. (Fig. 1).</p>
-
-<div class="center">
-<div class="figcenter displayinline" style="width: 240px;">
-<img src="images/i_030a.jpg" width="240" height="576" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter displayinline" style="width: 240px;">
-<img src="images/i_030b.jpg" width="240" height="526" alt="" />
-<div class="caption"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span></p></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>If a piece of bladder is tightly stretched and tied round
-the vessel (fig. 2.) it will burst under the force of the atmospheric
-pressure which acts upon it, through a vacuum having
-been made underneath. This is another case of the
-first experiment with the air pump described above.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Weight of the Air.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Another experiment will still better make you appreciate
-the value of this factor: the weight of the air.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>Put a piece of supple leather in which a ring is attached
-under the bottle; pump the air out of the latter and you
-will be astonished at the weight you may hang on this
-leather without dragging it off.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
-<img src="images/i_031.jpg" width="600" height="522" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Should you not have at hand a glass receiver, a wooden
-reel may serve instead (see fig.). On one of its faces place
-a piece of strong cardboard, in the middle of which a hook
-has been fastened; when the rarefaction is made, rather
-heavy weights must be hooked on before the cardboard is
-detached from the face of the rest.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Spoons which will Melt in Hot Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fuse together in a crucible, eight parts of bismuth, five
-of lead and three of tin; these metals will combine and
-form an alloy, of which spoons may be made, possessed of
-the remarkable property of melting in boiled water.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Effect of Compression.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Take a wooden reel and hollow out either the top or bottom,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
-beginning at the hole in the center and working towards
-the edge. In the hollow place a ball. Apply to the
-other end the indiarubber tube which conducts the forced
-air, and the ball will be lifted up (see fig.).</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 180px;">
-<img src="images/i_032.jpg" width="180" height="336" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Cover Iron with Copper.</h2>
-
-
-<p>If you are about to perform a conjuring trick, you will,
-of course take great care that your apparatus is ready.
-Therefore, clean your piece of iron or steel from dirt. Dip
-a piece of polished iron&mdash;the blade of your knife, for instance&mdash;into
-a solution, either of nitrate or sulphate of copper,
-when it will assume the appearance of a piece of pure
-copper.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Elements.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Before entering into the next series of experiments the
-young chemist must know that all the substances of which
-the world and everything in it are made up&mdash;<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">i.e.</i>, the elements
-are arranged in two classes, the metals and the non-metals.
-The former are by far the more numerous, altogether
-numbering more than fifty. Among the better
-known are such well known substances as iron, mercury,
-copper, tin, potassium, antimony, strontium, and nickel.
-The non-metals are more widely distributed and together
-made up of the bulk of the universe.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>They comprise the gases&mdash;oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
-and chlorine, and such substances as sulphur, carbon, phosphorus
-and iodine. To the latter class also belongs a peculiar
-element called fluorine, which, when combined with
-hydrogen, destroys glass. It is the only liquid known
-which cannot be contained in a glassen or earthenware
-vessel, and when used for experimental purposes must be
-kept in a leaden bottle.</p>
-
-<p>Of course it will be understood that the above is not a
-complete list by any means, but is sufficient to give a clear
-idea of the difference between the two classes. The metals
-generally speaking are of a more or less sparkling, lustrous
-appearance. The metals, too, are good conductors of
-heat and electricity, and generally heavy. These characteristics
-are almost entirely wanting in the non-metals.
-We shall now give some tricks with the metals.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Potassium.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Potassium was discovered by Sir H. Davy, in the beginning
-of the present century, while acting upon potash with
-the enormous galvanic battery of the Royal Institution,
-consisting of two thousand pairs of four inch plates. It is
-a brilliant metal, so soft as to be easily cut with a penknife,
-and so light as to swim upon water, on which it acts
-with great energy, uniting with the oxygen and liberating
-the hydrogen, which takes fire as it escapes.</p>
-
-<p>Trace some continuous lines on paper with a camel’s-hair
-brush dipped in water, and place a piece of potassium about
-the size of a pea on one of the lines, and it will follow the
-course of the pencil, taking fire as it runs, and burning
-with a purplish light.</p>
-
-<p>The paper will be found covered with a solution of ordinary
-potash. If turmeric paper be used, the course of the
-potassium will be marked with a deep brown color. Hence
-if you touch potassium with wet fingers you will burn
-them.</p>
-
-<p>If a small piece of the metal be placed on a piece of ice,
-it will instantly take fire, and form a deep hole which will
-be found to contain a solution of potash.</p>
-
-<p>In consequence of its great affinity for oxygen, potassium
-must be kept in some fluid destitute of it, such as naphtha<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
-acid, which has been displaced by the great affinity or
-liking of the oxygen and acid for the copper.</p>
-
-<p>2. When the copper is no longer coated, but remains
-clean and bright when immersed in the fluid, all the silver
-has been deposited, and the glass now contains a solution
-of copper.</p>
-
-<p>Nearly all the colors used in the arts are produced by
-metals and their combinations; indeed, one is named
-chromium, from a Greek word signifying color, on account
-of the beautiful tints obtained from its various combinations
-with oxygen and the other metals. All the various
-tints, of green, orange, yellow and red are obtained from
-this metal.</p>
-
-<p>Solutions of most of the metallic salts give precipitates
-with solutions of alkalies and their salts, as well as with
-many other substances, such as what are usually called
-prussiate of potash, hydrosulphret of ammonia, etc. The
-colors differ according to the metal employed; and so small
-a quantity is required to produce the color, that the solutions
-before mixing may be nearly colorless.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Metallic Colors.</h2>
-
-
-<p>To a solution of sulphate of iron add a drop or two of a
-solution of prussiate of potash, and a blue color will be produced.</p>
-
-<p>2. Substitute sulphate of copper for iron, and the color
-will be a rich brown.</p>
-
-<p>3. Another blue, of quite a different tint, may be produced
-by letting a few drops of a solution of ammonia fall into
-one of sulphate of copper, when a precipitate of a light
-blue falls down, which is dissolved by an additional quantity
-of the ammonia, and forms a transparent solution of
-the most splendid rich blue color.</p>
-
-<p>4. Into a solution of sulphate of iron, drop a few drops of
-strong infusion of galls, and the color will become a bluish
-black&mdash;in fact ink. A little tea will answer as well as the
-infusion of galls. This is the reason why certain stuffs
-formerly in general use for dressing-gowns for gentlemen
-were so objectionable; for as they were indebted to a salt
-of iron for their color, buff as it was called, a drop of tea
-accidentally spilled produced all the effect of a drop of ink.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>5. Put into a largish test tube two or three small pieces
-of granulated zinc, fill it about one-third full of water, put
-in a few grains of iodine, and boil the water, which will at
-first acquire a dark purple color, gradually fading as the
-iodine combines with the zinc. Add a little more iodine
-from time to time, until the zinc is nearly all dissolved.
-If a few drops of this solution be added to an equally colorless
-solution of corrosive sublimate (a salt of mercury), a
-precipitate will take place of a splendid scarlet color,
-brighter, if possible, than vermilion, which is also a preparation
-of mercury.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Crystallization of Metals.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Some of the metals assume certain definite forms in return
-from the fluid to the solid state. Bismuth shows this
-property more readily than most others.</p>
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">Experiment.</span></h3>
-
-<p>Melt a pound or two of bismuth in an iron ladle over the
-fire; remove it as soon as the whole is fluid; and when the
-surface has become solid break a hole in it and pour out
-the still fluid metal from the interior; what remains will
-exhibit beautifully formed crystals of a cubic shape.</p>
-
-<p>Sulphur may be crystallized in the same manner, but its
-fumes, when heated, are so very unpleasant that few would
-wish to encounter them.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most remarkable facts in chemistry&mdash;a science
-abounding in wonders&mdash;is the circumstance that the mere
-contact of hydrogen, the lightest body known, with the
-metal platinum, the heaviest when in a state of minute division
-called spongy platinum, produces an intense heat
-sufficient to inflame the hydrogen; of course this experiment
-must be made in the presence of atmospheric air or
-oxygen. If a small piece of the metal in the state above
-named be introduced into a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen,
-it will cause them to explode. A very small quantity
-of gas should be employed and placed in a jar lightly covered
-with a card, or the explosion would be dangerous.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Crystallization.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Nearly all the metals are characterized by the crystals,
-which are formed as they pass from a state of intense heat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
-to that of comparative coldness. It is by this process they
-have been formed when in the mine or vein in the rocks.
-The earth was once a fiery mass of molten matter, as seen
-even now when a volcano is in a state of eruption. And it
-was only by the cooling of the outside shell of the earth, or
-crust, as it is called, that it became habitable.</p>
-
-<p>When the crust was cooling down the metals crystallized
-among the cooling rocks and gradually formed the crude
-arts. You may represent by a very pretty experiment the
-manner in which this cooling off of the earth took place.
-Obtain a little flour of sulphur and put it in a red earthenware
-unglazed jar. Thrust it well into the fire and watch
-the rust. As soon as the heat has penetrated the vessel
-the yellow powdery sulphur becomes first of all brown,
-and then assumes the consistency of thick birdlime. Take
-out a little of this on the end of a stick and plunge it into
-cold water. It can then be pulled backwards and forwards
-like cobblers’ wax. This well represents the state of the
-half-cooled crust of the earth.</p>
-
-<p>Meanwhile the sulphur on the fire begins to boil, and
-looks very much like bubbling treacle. Remove it from
-the fire and allow it to cool. When quite cool the surface
-will be a flat, yellow mass, like ordinary roll sulphur,
-which, when ground, give the ordinary flour of sulphur.</p>
-
-<p>With a sharp knife separate the mass from the vessel
-and look at the under-surface. There it will be found to
-have assumed a very different form, owing to the exclusion
-of the air, and consequent slower cooling. Large six-sided
-crystals, transparent, and of a most exquisitely delicate
-yellow, will be seen, piled on one another as appear
-the masses of ore in rocks.</p>
-
-<p>Nature always works in such cases on such a gigantic
-scale that it seems at first difficult to believe that such huge
-piles as the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, or Fingals in
-Scotland, or the lodes of tin ore in Cornwall, worked by
-the Phœnicians three thousand years ago, and still being
-worked, were all formed by the same process.</p>
-
-<p>The time that the earth must have taken to cool fairly
-staggers the imagination, yet it is only from guessing, by
-means of such a study as this, that geologists are able to
-form any idea of how long ago it was that the earth’s crust<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
-became cool enough to allow animal and plant life to exist
-upon it.</p>
-
-<p>The most beautiful crystalline form is perhaps the diamond,
-and yet this precious gem is but the same thing,
-chemically, as charcoal. Charcoal is pure carbon in the
-uncrystallized state, which the magic of crystallization
-has transformed into the symbol of all that is brilliant and
-beautiful.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Beauties of Crystallization.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve alum in hot water until no more can be dissolved
-in it; place in it a smooth glass rod and a stick of
-the same size. Next day the stick will be found covered
-with crystals, but the glass rod will be free from them.
-In this case the crystals cling to the rough surface of the
-stick, but have no hold upon the smooth surface of the glass
-rod.</p>
-
-<p>But if the rod be roughened with a file at certain intervals,
-and then placed in the alum and water, the crystals
-will adhere to the rough surfaces, and leave the smooth
-bright and clear.</p>
-
-<p>Tie some threads of lamp-cotton irregularly around a
-copper wire or glass rod. Place it in a hot solution of blue
-vitriol, strong as above, and the threads will be covered
-with beautiful blue crystals, while the glass rod will be
-bare.</p>
-
-<p>Bore a hole through a piece of coke, and suspend it by a
-string from a stick placed across a hot solution of alum.
-It will float. But as it becomes loaded with crystals it will
-sink in the solution according to the length of the string.
-Gas-coke has mostly a smooth, shining, and almost metallic
-surface, which the crystals will avoid, while they will
-cling only to the most irregular and porous parts.</p>
-
-<p>If powdered turmeric be added to the hot solution of alum
-the crystals will be of a bright yellow. Litmus will cause
-them to be of a bright red. Logwood will yield purple;
-and common writing ink, black. And the more muddy
-the solution the finer will be the crystals.</p>
-
-<p>To keep colored alum crystals from breaking or losing
-their color, place them under a glass shade with a saucer
-of water.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>This will preserve the atmosphere moist, and prevent the
-crystals getting too dry.</p>
-
-<p>If crystals be formed on wire they will be liable to break
-off, from the expansion and contraction of the wire by
-changes of temperature.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Crystallize Camphor.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve camphor in spirit of wine, moderately heated,
-until the spirit will not dissolve any more; pour some of
-the solution into a cold glass, and the camphor will instantly
-crystallize in beautiful tree-like forms, such as we
-see in the show-glasses of camphor in druggists’ windows.</p>
-
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">Another Experiment.</span></h3>
-
-<p>Heat some blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) in an iron
-ladle till all the water contained in the crystals is driven
-off, and the color changes to a gray. Take the lumps out
-without breaking them, and lay the dried blue vitriol on a
-plate. If this be moistened with water steam is produced;
-and if a slice of phosphorus is then laid on the sulphate of
-copper it ignites, demonstrating again that the condensation
-of a liquid produces heat. The addition of the water
-restores the blue color, thus proving that water was necessary
-to the composition of blue vitriol.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Solid Changed to a Liquid.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix five parts by weight of powdered sal ammoniac, five
-parts of nitre in powder, and sixteen parts of water. A
-temperature of twenty-two degrees below the freezing
-point of water is produced; and if a phial of water, or any
-convenient metallic cylinder containing water, be surrounded
-with a sufficient quantity of the freezing mixture,
-ice is formed. The ice clings to the interior of the tube,
-but may easily be removed by dipping it in tepid water.</p>
-
-<p>This experiment is the reverse of the last and proves that
-the sudden reduction of a solid to the liquid condition always
-affords cold.</p>
-
-<p>An amusing combination of two experiments may be
-made by putting some fresh-burned lime into one tea pot
-and this freezing mixture into another. When water is
-poured on the one containing lime, it gives out steam<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
-from the spout, while the addition of water to the other
-produces so much cold that it can hardly be kept in the
-hand. Thus heat and cold are afforded through the same
-medium, water.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Magic of Heat.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Melt a small quantity of the sulphate of potash and copper
-in a spoon over a spirit lamp. It will be fused at a heat
-just below redness, and produce a liquid of a dark-green
-color. Remove the spoon from the flame, when the liquid
-will become a solid of a brilliant emerald green color, and
-so remain until its heat sinks nearly to that of boiling
-water, when suddenly a commotion will take place
-throughout the mass, beginning from the surface, and each
-atom, as if animated, will start up and separate itself from
-the rest, till in a few moments the whole will become a
-heap of powder.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Sublimation by Heat.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Provide two small pieces of glass; sprinkle a minute
-portion of sulphur upon one piece, lay thin slips of wood
-around it, and place upon it the other piece of glass.
-Move them slowly over the flame of a lamp or candle, and
-the sulphur will become sublimed, and form gray, nebulous
-patches, which are very curious microscopic objects.
-Each cluster consists of thousands of transparent globules,
-imitating in miniature the nebulæ which we see figured in
-treatises on astronomy. By observing the largest particles
-we shall find them to be flattened on one side. Being very
-transparent, each of them acts the part of a little lens, and
-forms in its focus the image of a distant light, which can
-be perceived even in the smaller globules, until it vanishes
-from minuteness. If they are examined again after a certain
-number of hours, the smaller globules will generally
-be found to have retained their transparency, while the
-larger ones will have become opaque, in consequence of the
-sulphur having undergone some internal spontaneous
-change. But the most remarkable circumstance attending
-this experiment is that the globules are found adhering to
-the upper glass only; the reason of which is that the upper
-glass is somewhat cooler than the lower one, by which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
-means we see that the vapor of sulphur is very powerfully
-repelled by heated glass. The flattened form of the particles
-is owing to the force with which they endeavor to recede
-from the lower glass, and their consequent pressure
-against the surface of the upper one. This experiment is
-considered by its originator, Mr. H. F. Talbot, to be a satisfactory
-argument in favor of the repulsive power of heat.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Heat Passing Through Glass.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Although glass is a bad conductor it yet allows heat to
-pass through it, and the purer the glass the more easy is
-this done. Heat a poker red hot, and having opened a
-window, apply the poker very near to the outside of the
-pane, and the hand to the inside. A strong heat will be
-felt at the instant, which will cease as soon as the poker is
-withdrawn, and may be again renewed and made to cease
-as quickly as before. It is well known that if a piece of
-glass be so much warmed as to convey the impression of
-heat to the hand, it will retain some part of that heat for
-a minute or more; but in this experiment the heat will
-vanish in a moment. It will not, therefore, be the heated
-pane of glass that we shall feel, but heat which has come
-through the glass in a free or radiant state.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Metals Unequally Influenced by Heat.</h2>
-
-
-<p>All metals do not conduct heat at the same rate as may
-be proved by holding in the flame of a candle at the same
-time a piece of silver wire and a piece of platina wire,
-when the silver wire will become too hot to hold, much
-sooner than the platina. Or cut a cone of each wire, tip it
-with wax, and place it upon a heated plate (as a fire-shovel),
-when the wax will melt at different periods.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Spontaneous Combustion.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix a small quantity of chlorate of potash with spirit of
-wine in a strong saucer; add a little sulphuric acid, and an
-orange vapor will arise and burst into flame with a loud
-crackling sound.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Inequality of Heat in Fire-Irons.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Place before a fire a set of polished fire-irons, and beside
-them a rough, unpolished poker, such as is used in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
-kitchen, instead of a bright poker. The polished irons
-will remain for a long time without becoming warmer than
-the temperature of the room, because the heat radiated
-from the fire is all reflected, or thrown off, by the polished
-surface of the irons, and none of it is absorbed. The rough
-poker will, however, become speedily hot, so as not to be
-used without inconvenience. Hence, the polish of fire-irons
-is not merely ornamental, but useful.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Expansion of Metal by Heat.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Provide an iron rod, and fit it exactly into a metal ring;
-heat the rod red hot, and it will no longer enter the ring.</p>
-
-<p>Observe an iron gate on a warm day, when it will shut
-with difficulty; whereas it will shut loosely and easily on
-a cold day.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Alchemist’s Ink.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve in water a small quantity, about as much as
-will lay on a ten-cent piece, of chloride of cobalt, which is
-of a bluish-green color, and the solution will be pink; write
-with it and the characters will scarcely be visible; but if
-gently heated they will appear in brilliant green, which
-will disappear as the paper cools.</p>
-
-<p>Dissolve in water a few grains of prussiate of potash;
-write with this liquid, which is invisible when dry; wash
-over with a dilute solution of iron, made by dissolving a
-nail in a little aqua fortis; a blue and legible writing is
-immediately apparent.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Chameleon Liquids.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put a small portion of the compound called mineral chameleon
-into several glasses. Pour upon each water at different
-temperatures and the contents of each glass will exhibit
-a different shade of color. A very hot solution will
-be of a beautiful green color; a cold one a deep purple.</p>
-
-<p>Make a colorless solution of sulphate of copper; add to
-it a little ammonia equally colorless, and the mixture will
-be of an intense blue color; add to it a little sulphuric
-acid, and the blue color will disappear; pour in a little solution
-of caustic ammonia, and the blue color will be restored.
-Thus may the liquor be changed at pleasure.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Magic Dyes.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve indigo in diluted sulphuric acid, and add to it
-an equal quantity of solution of carbonate of potash. If a
-piece of white cloth be dipped in the mixture it will be
-changed to blue; yellow cloth, in the same mixture, may
-be changed to green; red to purple; and blue litmus paper
-to red.</p>
-
-<p>Nearly fill a wine glass with the juice of beet-root, which
-is of a deep red color; add a little lime water and the mixture
-will be colorless; dip into it a piece of white cloth,
-dry it rapidly, and in a few hours the cloth will become
-red.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Wine Changed into Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix a little solution of subacetate of lead with port wine;
-filter the mixture through blotting-paper, and a colorless
-liquid will pass through; to this add a small quantity of
-dry salt of tartar; distill in a retort, when a spirit will
-arise, which may be inflamed.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Chemistry of Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>More than two-thirds of the earth’s surface is water, so
-that in mere quantity alone it is the most important substance
-with which we are acquainted. Without it life
-would be impossible, for, owing to its quality of dissolving
-other bodies, it may be regarded as the great purifier, as
-well as the vehicle which brings nourishment to plants and
-animals alike.</p>
-
-<p>Not only is water useful, but is among the most beautiful
-of Nature’s products. It has carved the valleys between
-mountain ranges by its slow dropping for ages, and
-has made the fairy glens by rushing down their sides in
-torrents. The stately rivers and the roaring oceans are
-but forms of its might.</p>
-
-<p>In another state it works out those fantastic grottoes,
-mountains and fields of glittering white, that make the
-Polar seas the very head center of dreamland.</p>
-
-<p>In still another form it paints the rainbow in the sky,
-and hangs like a veil over the landscape, passing from the
-most delicate blue over the plain to the deep purple clinging
-to distant hills.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>To it the golden and red hues of sunrise and sunset are
-due. The light fleecy clouds that speak the beauty of
-spring, and the great thunder stocks that gleam, with
-lightning flashes are all composed of water, and water
-alone.</p>
-
-<p>It drives our engines and machinery, and speeds our
-ships across the sea. Neither is it confined to this earth
-alone, for astronomers tell us that vast seas and even
-clouds can be seen on the next great planet to the earth,
-Mars.</p>
-
-<p>Surely, then, as this wondrous substance is examined,
-the ancients can be excused for worshiping the ocean as a
-god, and the old alchemists for believing it to be an element.</p>
-
-<p>Nevertheless, water is not a simple substance. It is
-composed of two gases, which must be combined before
-water is produced. These gases are oxygen and hydrogen.
-Every atom of water consists of one part of the former gas
-and two parts by volume of the latter. This you may
-prove in the following way:</p>
-
-<p>Buy a piece of sodium, a metal that must not be touched
-with the fingers, and thrust it into a small one-ounce jar
-half full of water; cork the jar tightly.</p>
-
-<p>Through a hole in the cork pass a glass tube, the outer
-end being drawn in a flame to a fine point. Apply a light
-at the end of the tube. The escaping gas will catch fire
-and burn with a light blue flame. This gas is hydrogen.</p>
-
-<p>Next empty the jar and fill with warm water, and place
-by means of another cork a small glass jar on to the tube.
-Into the lower jar drop a piece of blazing hot platinum.
-Repeat this again and again with the same piece of platinum,
-being careful not to uncork the upper jar, so that every
-time the metal is dropped into the lower jar, you remove
-the upper jar with the tube and two corks. After
-doing this a dozen times or more take a match that is still
-glowing after having been extinguished, and plunge it into
-the upper jar. It will burst into flame immediately, and
-the gas in the upper jar is oxygen.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Two Bitters Make a Sweet.</h2>
-
-
-<p>It has been discovered that a mixture of nitrate of silver<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
-with hyposulphite of soda, both of which are remarkably
-bitter, will produce the sweetest known substance.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Visible and Invisible.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Write with French chalk on a looking-glass; wipe it
-with a handkerchief and the lines will disappear; breathe
-on it and they will reappear. This alteration will take
-place for a great number of times, and after the lapse of a
-considerable period.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Form a Liquid from Two Solids.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Rub together in a mortar a small quantity of sulphate of
-soda and acetate of lead, and as they mix they will become
-liquid.</p>
-
-<p>Carbonate of ammonia and sulphate of copper, previously
-reduced to powder separately, will also, when mixed,
-become liquid, and acquire a most splendid blue color.</p>
-
-<p>The greater number of salts have a tendency to assume
-regular forms, or become <em>crystallized</em>, when passing from
-the fluid to the solid state; and the size and regularity of
-the crystals depends in a great measure on the slow or
-rapid escape of the fluid in which they were dissolved.</p>
-
-<p>Sugar is a capital example of this property; the ordinary
-loaf-sugar being rapidly boiled down, as it is called;
-while to make rock-candy, which is nothing but sugar in a
-crystallized form, the solution is allowed to evaporate
-slowly, and as it cools it forms into those beautiful crystals
-termed rock-candy. The threads found in the center of
-some of the crystals are merely placed for the purpose of
-hastening the formation of the crystals.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Restoration of Color by Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Water being a colorous fluid ought, one would imagine
-when mixed with other substances of no decided color, to
-produce a colorless compound. Nevertheless, it is to water
-only that blue vitriol or sulphate of copper owes its vivid
-blueness, as will be plainly evinced by the following simple
-experiment. Heat a few crystals of the vitriol in a fire-shovel,
-pulverize them, and the powder will be of a dull
-and dirty white appearance. Pour a little water upon this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
-when a slight hissing noise will be heard, and at the same
-moment the blue color will instantly reappear.</p>
-
-<p>Under the microscope the beauty of this experiment will
-be increased, for the instant that a drop of water is placed
-in contact with the vitriol, the powder may be seen to
-shoot into blue prisms. If a crystal of prussiate of potash
-be similarly heated its yellow color will vanish, but reappear
-on being dropped into water.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Two Liquids Make a Solid.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve chloride of lime in water until it will dissolve
-no more; measure out an equal quantity of oil of vitriol;
-both will be transparent fluids; but if equal quantities of
-each be slowly mixed and stirred together, they will become
-a solid mass, with the evolution of smoke or fumes.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Two Solids Make a Liquid.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Rub together in a mortar equal quantities of the crystals
-of Glauber salts and nitrate of ammonia, and the two
-salts will slowly become a liquid.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Solid Opaque Mass Makes a Transparent Liquid.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Take the solid mixture of the solutions of muriate of
-lime and carbonate of potash, pour upon it a very little
-nitric acid, and the solid opaque mass will be changed to a
-transparent liquid.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Two Cold Liquids Make a Hot One.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix four drams of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) with one
-dram of cold water, suddenly, in a cup, and the mixture
-will be nearly half as hot again as boiling water.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Make Ice.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Although this trick is performed by means of chemicals,
-yet its product is obtained really by the use of mechanical
-laws. We must remember that ice is exactly the same
-thing as water so far as its composition is concerned, differing
-only in its state of density.</p>
-
-<p>Ice, water, and steam differ in density through the
-possession of a greater or less quantity of heat. Hence, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
-turning of water into ice really is a case of the operation of
-mechanical laws.</p>
-
-<p>Now for the experiment. Put into a wide-mouthed jam-jar
-a smaller glass vessel containing the water to be frozen.
-Around the latter put a mixture of sulphate of soda
-(Glauber’s salt) and hydrochloric acid (spirits of salts). The
-proportions must be eight parts of the former to five of the
-latter.</p>
-
-<p>The action of these two chemicals on one another is to
-cause a cold of fifteen to seventeen degrees below zero, or
-forty-seven degrees below freezing point.</p>
-
-<p>The same result may be obtained by mixing equal parts
-of nitrate of ammonia and water. In winter-time when
-the snow is on the ground, <span id="TN_45">with</span> a mixture of one part snow and
-one part common table salt an intense cold of twenty degrees
-below zero is obtained.</p>
-
-<p>From this last fact we see how stupid are those people
-who sprinkle the salt on the pavements to get rid of the
-snow. True, the latter melts, but only after the production
-of intense cold, which is the cause of many diseases,
-not only slight ones like colds and chilblains, but too often
-the forerunners of consumption and other lung troubles.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Curious Change of Colors.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Let there be no other light than a taper in the room;
-then put on a pair of dark-green spectacles, and having
-closed one eye view the taper with the other. Suddenly remove
-the spectacles and the taper will assume a bright red
-appearance; but if the spectacles be instantly replaced, the
-eye will be unable to distinguish anything for a second or
-two. The order of colors will therefore be as follows: green,
-red, green, black.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Protean Light.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Soak a cotton wick in a strong solution of salt and
-water, dry it, place it in a spirit lamp, and when lit it will
-give a bright yellow light for a long time. If you look
-through a piece of blue glass at the flame, it will lose all its
-yellow light and you will only perceive feeble violet rays.
-If before the blue glass you place a pale yellow glass, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
-lamp will be absolutely invisible, though a candle may be
-distinctly seen through the same glasses.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Change the Colors of Flowers.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Hold over a lighted match a purple columbine or a blue
-larkspur, and it will change first to pink and then to
-black. The yellow of other flowers held as above will continue
-unchanged.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, the purple tint will instantly disappear from a
-heart’s-ease, but the yellow will remain; and the yellow of
-a wall-flower will continue the same, though the brown
-streak will be discharged. If a scarlet, crimson, or maroon
-dahlia be tried, the color will change to yellow, a fact
-known to gardeners, who by this mode variegate their
-growing dahlias.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Changes of the Poppy.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Some flowers which are red, become blue by merely
-bruising them. Thus, if the petals of the common corn-poppy
-be rubbed upon white paper, they will stain it purple,
-which may be made green by washing it over with a
-strong solution of potash in water. Put poppy petals into
-very dilute muriatic acid, and the infusion will be of a
-florid red color; by adding a little chalk, it will become
-the color of port wine; and this tint, by the addition of
-potash may be changed to green or yellow.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Changes of the Rose.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Hold a red rose over the blue flame of a common match
-and the color will be discharged wherever the fume
-touches the leaves of the flower, so as to render it beautifully
-variegated, or entirely white. If it be then dipped
-into water, the redness, after a time, will be restored.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Marking Indelibly.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Write upon linen with permanent ink (which is a
-strong solution of nitrate of silver), and the characters
-will be scarcely visible; remove the linen to a dark room,
-and they will not change; but expose them to a strong
-light, and they will be of an indelible black.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Visible Growth.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Cut a circular piece of card to fit the top of a hyacinth
-glass, so as to rest upon the ledge, and exclude the air.
-Pierce a hole through the center of the card, and pass
-through it a strong thread, having a small piece of wood
-tied to one end, which, resting transversely on the card,
-prevents it being drawn through. To the other end of the
-thread attach an acorn; and having half filled the glass
-with water, suspend the acorn at a short distance from
-the surface.</p>
-
-<p>The glass must be kept in a warm room, and in a few
-days the steam will hang from the acorn in a drop, the
-skin will burst, and the root will protrude and thrust itself
-in the water, and in a few days more a stem will shoot out
-at the other end, and rising upwards, will press against
-the card, in which an orifice must be made to allow it to
-pass through. From this stem small leaves will soon be
-observed to sprout; and in the course of a few weeks you
-will have a handsome oak plant, several inches in height.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Colored Flames.</h2>
-
-
-<p>A variety of rays of light are exhibited by colored
-flames, which are not to be seen in white light. Thus pure
-hydrogen gas will burn with a blue flame, in which many
-of the rays of light are wanting.</p>
-
-<p>The flame of an oil lamp contains most of the rays which
-are wanting in the sunlight. Alcohol mixed with water,
-when heated or burned, affords a flame with no other rays
-but yellow. The following salts, if finely powdered, and
-introduced into the exterior flame of a candle, or into the
-wick of a spirit lamp, will communicate to the flame their
-peculiar colors:</p>
-
-
-<div class="center">
-<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Colored flames">
-<tr><td align="left">Chloride of Soda (common salt)</td><td align="left">Yellow.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Potash</td><td align="left">Pale violet.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Lime</td><td align="left">Brick red.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Strontia</td><td align="left">Bright crimson.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Lithia</td><td align="left">Red.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Baryta</td><td align="left">Apple green.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left"><span class="spacequote">“</span> of Copper</td><td align="left">Bluish green.</td></tr>
-<tr><td align="left">Borax</td><td align="left">Yellow.</td></tr>
-</table></div>
-
-<p>Or either of the above salts may be mixed with spirit of
-wine, as directed, for Red Fire.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p>
-
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">Orange Colored Flame.</span></h3>
-
-<p>Burn spirit of wine on chloride of calcium, a substance
-obtained by evaporating muriate of lime to dryness.</p>
-
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">Emerald Green Flame.</span></h3>
-
-<p>Burn spirit of wine on a little powdered nitrate of silver.</p>
-
-
-<h3><span class="smcap">Instantaneous Flame.</span></h3>
-
-<p>Heat together potassium and sulphur, and they will instantly
-burn very vividly.</p>
-
-<p>Heat a little nitre on a fire-shovel, sprinkle on it flour of
-sulphur, and it will instantly burn. If iron filings be
-thrown upon red hot nitre, they will detonate and burn.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Water of Different Temperatures in the Same Vessel.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Of heat and cold, as of wit and madness, it may be said
-that “thin partitions do their bounds divide.” Thus,
-paint one half of the surface of a tin pot with a mixture of
-lamp black and size, and leave the other half or side bright;
-fill the vessel with boiling water, and by dipping a thermometer,
-or even the finger, into it shortly after, it will be
-found to cool much more rapidly upon the blackened than
-the bright side of the pot.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Warmth of Different Colors.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Place upon the surface of snow, as upon the window-sill,
-in bright daylight or sunshine, pieces of cloth of the
-same size and quality, but of different colors, black, blue,
-green, yellow and white; the black cloth will soon melt
-the snow beneath it, and sink downwards; next the blue,
-and then the green; the yellow but slightly; but the snow
-beneath the white cloth will be as firm as at first.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Laughing Gas.</h2>
-
-
-<p>The above fanciful appellation has been given to nitrous
-oxide, from the very agreeable sensations excited by inhaling
-it. In its pure state it destroys animal life, but loses
-this noxious quality when inhaled, because it becomes
-blended with the atmospheric air which it meets in the
-lungs. This gas is made by putting three or four drams
-of nitrate of ammonia in crystals into a small glass retort,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
-which being held over a spirit lamp, the crystals will
-melt, and the gas be evolved.</p>
-
-<p>Having thus produced the gas, it is to be passed into a
-large bladder having a stop-cock; and when you are desirous
-of exhibiting its effects you cause the person who
-wishes to experience them to first exhale the atmospheric
-air from the lungs, and then quickly placing the cock in
-his mouth you turn it, and bid him inhale the gas. Immediately
-a sense of extraordinary cheerfulness, fanciful
-flights of imagination, an uncontrollable propensity to
-laughter, and a consciousness of being capable of great
-muscular exertion, supervene. It does not operate in
-exactly the same manner on all persons; but in most
-cases the sensations are agreeable, and have this important
-difference from those produced by wine or spirituous
-liquors, that they are not succeeded by any depression of
-mind.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Magic Vapor.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Provide a glass tube about three feet long and half an
-inch in diameter; nearly fill it with water, upon the surface
-of which pour a little colored ether; then close the
-open end of the tube carefully with the palm of the hand,
-invert it in a basin of water, and rest the tube against the
-wall. The ether will rise through the water to the upper
-end of the tube; pour a little hot water over the tube,
-and it will soon cause the ether to boil within, and its vapor
-may thus be made to drive nearly all of the water out
-of the tube into the basin. If, however, you then cool the
-tube by pouring cold water over it, the vaporized ether will
-again become a liquid, and float upon the water as before.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Gas from the Union of Metals.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Nearly fill a wine glass with diluted sulphuric acid,
-and place in it a wire of silver and another of zinc, taking
-care that they do not touch each other, when the zinc will
-be changed by the acid, but the silver will remain inert.
-But cause the upper ends of the wires to touch each other,
-and a stream of gas will issue from them.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Green Fire.</h2>
-
-
-<p>A beautiful green fire may be thus made: Take of
-flour of sulphur thirteen parts, nitrate of baryta seventy-seven,
-chlorate of potash five, metallic arsenic two, and
-charcoal three. Let the nitrate of baryta be well dried and
-powdered; then add to it the other ingredients, all finely
-pulverized, and exceedingly well mixed and rubbed together.
-Place a portion of the composition in a small tin pan,
-having a polished reflector fitted to one side, and set light
-to it, when a splendid green illumination will be the result.
-By adding a little calamine it will burn more slowly.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Combustion of Three Metals.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix a grain or two of potassium with an equal quantity
-of sodium; add a globule of quicksilver, and the three
-metals, when shaken, will take fire and burn vividly.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Make Paper Apparently Incombustible.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Take a smooth cylindrical piece of metal, about one
-inch and a half in diameter, and eight inches long. Wrap
-very closely round it a piece of clean writing paper, then
-hold the paper in the flame of a spirit lamp, and it will
-not take fire. But it may be held there for a considerable
-time without being in the least affected by the flame. If
-the paper be strained over a cylinder of wood it is quickly
-scorched.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Heat Not to be Estimated by Touch.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Hold both hands in water which causes the thermometer
-to rise to ninety degrees, and when the liquid has become
-still, you will be insensible to the heat, and that the
-hand is touching anybody. Then remove one hand to water
-that causes the thermometer to rise to two hundred
-degrees, and the other in water at thirty-two degrees.</p>
-
-<p>After holding the hands thus for some time remove
-them, and again immerse them in the water at ninety degrees.
-Then you will find warmth in one hand and cold in
-the other. To the hand which had been immersed in the
-water at thirty-two degrees, the water at ninety degrees
-will feel hot; and to the hand which had been immersed
-in the water at two hundred degrees, the water at ninety<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
-degrees will feel cool. If, therefore, the touch in this case
-be trusted, the same water will be judged to be hot and
-cold at the same time.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Flame Upon Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fill a wine glass with cold water, pour lightly upon its
-surface a little ether; light it by a slip of paper, and it will
-burn for some time.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Rose-colored Flame Upon Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Drop a globule of potassium, about the size of a large
-pea, into a small cup nearly full of water containing a drop
-or two of strong nitric acid; the moment that the metal
-touches the liquid it will float upon its surface, enveloped
-with a beautiful rose-colored flame, and entirely dissolve.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Currents in Boiling Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fill a large glass tube with water, and throw into it a
-few particles of bruised amber or shreds of litmus; then
-hold the tube by a handle for the purpose, upright in the
-flame of a lamp, and as the water becomes warm it will be
-seen that currents, carrying with them the pieces of amber
-will begin to ascend in the center, and to descend towards
-the circumference of the tube. These currents will
-soon become rapid in their motions, and continue till the
-water boils.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Hot Water Lighter than Cold.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Pour into a glass tube, about ten inches long and one
-inch in diameter, a little water colored with pink or other
-dye; then fill it up gradually and carefully with colorless
-water, so as not to mix them; apply heat at the bottom of
-the tube, and the colored water will ascend and be diffused
-throughout the whole.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Expansion of Water by Cold.</h2>
-
-
-<p>All fluids except water diminish in bulk till they freeze.
-Thus, fill a large thermometer tube with water, say of the
-temperature of eighty degrees, and then plunge the bulb
-into pounded ice and salt, or any other freezing mixture;
-the water will go on shrinking in the tube till it has attained<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
-the temperature of about forty degrees, and then,
-instead of continuing to contract till it freezes, it will be
-seen slowly to expand, and consequently to rise in the tube
-until it congeals.</p>
-
-<p>In this case the expansion below forty degrees and above
-forty degrees seem to be equal, so that the water will be
-of the same bulk at thirty-two degrees as at forty-eight
-degrees, that is, at eight degrees above or below forty degrees.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Cup of Tantalus.</h2>
-
-
-<p>This pretty toy may be purchased at any optician’s for
-seventy-five cents. It consists of a cup in which is placed
-a human standing figure concealing a syphon or bent tube,
-with one end longer than the other. This rises in one leg
-of the figure to reach the chin, and descends through the
-other leg, through the bottom of the cup to a reservoir beneath.
-If you pour water in the cup it will rise in the
-shorter leg by its upward pressure, driving out the air before
-it through the longer leg; and when the cup is filled
-above the bend of the syphon, that is, level with the chin
-of the figure, the pressure of the water will force it over
-into the longer leg of the syphon, and the cup will be emptied,
-the toy thus imitating Tantalus, of mythology, who
-is represented by the poets as punished in Erebus with an
-insatiable thirst, and placed up to the chin in a pool of
-water, which, however, flowed away as soon as he attempted
-to taste it.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>The Magic Whirlpool.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fill a glass tumbler with water, throw upon its surface
-a few fragments or thin shavings of camphor, and they
-will instantly begin to move, and acquire a motion both
-progressive and rotary, which will continue for a considerable
-time. During these rotations if the water be touched
-by any substance which is at all greasy, the floating particles
-will quickly dart back, and, as if by a stroke of magic,
-be instantly deprived of their motion and vivacity.</p>
-
-<p>In like manner, if thin slices of cork be steeped in sulphuric
-ether in a closed bottle for two or three days, and
-then placed upon the water, they will rotate for several<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
-minutes, like the camphor, until the slices of cork, having
-discharged all their ether, and become soaked with water,
-they will keep at rest.</p>
-
-<p>If the water be made hot the motion of the camphor will
-be more rapid than in cold water, but it will cease in proportionately
-less time. Thus, provide two glasses, one
-containing water at fifty-eight degrees, and the other at
-two hundred and ten degrees; place raspings of camphor
-upon each at the same time; the camphor in the first glass
-will rotate for about five hours, until all but a very minute
-portion has evaporated, while the rotation of the camphor
-in the hot water will last only nineteen minutes.
-About half the camphor will pass off and the remaining
-pieces, instead of being dull, white and opaque, will be vitreous
-and transparent, and evidently soaked with water.
-The gyrations, too, which at first will be very rapid, will
-gradually decline in velocity until they become quite sluggish.</p>
-
-<p>The stilling influence of oil upon waves has become proverbial.
-The extraordinary manner in which a small quantity
-of oil instantly spreads over a very large surface of
-troubled water, and the stealthy manner in which even a
-rough wind glides over it must have excited the admiration
-of all who have witnessed it.</p>
-
-<p>By the same principle a drop of oil may be made to stop
-the motion of the camphor, as follows: Throw some camphor,
-both in slices and in small particles, upon the surface
-of water, and while they are rotating dip a glass rod
-into oil of turpentine. Then allow a single drop thereof to
-trickle down the inner side of the glass to the surface of
-the water. The camphor will instantly dart to the opposite
-point of the liquid surface, and cease to rotate.</p>
-
-<p>If a few drops of sulphuric or muriatic acid be let fall
-into the water, they will gradually stop the motion of the
-camphor, but if camphor be dropped into nitric acid, diluted
-with its own bulk of water, it will rotate rapidly for a
-few seconds and then stop.</p>
-
-<p>If a piece of the rotating camphor be attentively examined
-with a lens, the currents of the water can be well distinguished,
-jetting out, chiefly from the corners of the
-camphor, and bearing it round with irregular force.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>The currents, as given out by the camphor, may also be
-seen by means of the microscope; a drop or two of pure
-water being placed upon a slip of glass, with a particle of
-camphor floating upon it. By this means the current may
-be detected, and it will be seen that they cause the rotations.</p>
-
-<p>A flat watch-glass may be employed, raised a few inches
-and supported on a wire ring, kept steady by thrusting one
-end into an upright piece of wood like a retort stand. Then
-put the camphor and water in the watch-glass, and place
-under the frame a sheet of white paper, so that it may receive
-the shadow of the glass, camphor, etc., to be cast by
-a steady light, placed above, and somewhat on one side of
-the watch-glass.</p>
-
-<p>On observing the shadow, which may be considered a
-magnified representation of the object itself, the rotations
-and currents can be distinguished.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Fire Under Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put thirty grains of phosphorus into a bottle which contains
-three or four ounces of water. Place the vessel over
-a lamp and give it a boiling heat. Balls of fire will soon be
-seen to issue from the water after the manner of an artificial
-firework, attended with the most beautiful coruscations.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>To Light Steel.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Make a piece of steel red in the fire, then hold it with a
-pair of pincers or tongs; take in the other hand a stick of
-brimstone and touch the piece of steel with it. Immediately
-after their contact you will see the steel melt and drop
-like a liquid.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Test of Love.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put into a phial some sulphuric ether, color it red with
-alkanet, then saturate the tincture with spermaceti. This
-preparation is solid ten degrees above freezing point, and
-melts and boils at twenty degrees. Place the phial which
-contains it in a lady’s hand and tell her that if in love, the
-solid mass will dissolve. In a few minutes the substance
-will become fluid.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>An Egg Pushed Into a Wine Bottle.</h2>
-
-
-<p>To accomplish this seemingly incredible act requires the
-following preparation: You must take an egg and soak it
-in strong vinegar, and in process of time its shell will become
-quite soft so that it may be extended lengthways
-without breaking; then insert it into the neck of a small
-bottle, and by pouring cold water upon it, it will reassume
-its former figure and hardness. This is really a complete
-curiosity, and baffles those who are not in the secret to find
-out how it is accomplished. If the vinegar used to saturate
-the egg is not sufficiently strong to produce the required
-softness of shell, add one teaspoonful of strong acetic acid
-to every two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. This will render
-the egg perfectly flexible, and of easy insertion into the
-bottle, which must then be filled with cold water.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>A Chemical Fountain.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Take two small glass jars and close them with corks. In
-each of these pierce two holes and introduce a glass tube
-curved in the form of a lengthened V. The two extremities
-of this tube must not reach further than just a little
-below the inner surface of the corks. In one jar pour water
-until it is three-quarters full, and pass through the
-second hole of the cork a straight glass tube, open at both
-ends and reaching nearly the bottom. This jar must be
-hermetically corked. (If necessary, seal the top.) In the
-other jar put some chalk, and in the second hole of the
-cork, left free, pass the extremity of a paper funnel in which
-you place a pellet of wax or putty.</p>
-
-<p>Your apparatus thus being ready, through the funnel
-pour some vinegar, or better still, some sulphuric acid.
-The latter ingredient coming in contact with the chalk,
-forms carbonic acid, which, not being able to escape
-through the funnel closed by the pellet, passes through the
-curved tube into the other jar and is dissolved in the water.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 515px;">
-<img src="images/i_057.jpg" width="515" height="650" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>After some time a strong pressure will be exercised on
-the liquid, and the water rising rapidly up through the vertical
-tube, will spout out as from a fountain.</p>
-
-<p>This experiment may be varied and reduced to a simpler
-one. Take one jar, fill it up two-thirds with water, and fit
-it with a cork with two holes, through which pass two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
-tubes; the one going to the bottom, the other resting just
-over the surface of the liquid. The latter should be fitted
-with a receiver.</p>
-
-<p>Seal the cork so as to render it air-tight. In the top receiver
-pour water, which will go down into the jar and
-raise the level of the water already contained in it.</p>
-
-<p>The air, being compressed, will act upon the liquid mass
-in the lower jar, and the water will escape through the
-free tube in a jet with more or less force according to the
-pressure exercised.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Weighing Gases.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Do not be cast down because you see another term to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
-explained. A gas is, you may have already guessed, simply
-a fluid. Matter exists in three states, solid, liquid and
-gaseous. Everything can exist in these three states under
-different conditions of heat and pressure.</p>
-
-<p>For instance, ice, water, and steam are precisely the
-same thing, a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, though in
-different states. Hence steam is simply the gaseous form<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
-of ice or water. Now some gases are heavier than air, and
-among them is carbonic acid, a gas given off from the lungs
-in breathing.</p>
-
-<p>By means of a very simply-constructed balance, you can
-prove this gas to be heavier than air. Sounds queer,
-doesn’t it? to talk of weighing something that you cannot
-handle or see.</p>
-
-<p>It is not difficult to do. Bend some wire, minding that
-the beams of the balance are curved as in the figure.</p>
-
-<p>For one side of the scales a strong cardboard box will
-answer admirably; for the other the lid of a round box will
-serve. Hang the whole on a string and adjust it by putting
-some grains of sand in the round scale on which the
-weights are placed, to make each side balance one another
-and the scales are ready for use.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 477px;">
-<img src="images/i_058.jpg" width="477" height="650" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The production of carbonic acid is easy. Pour a little
-sulphuric acid and water over some chalk. Collect the gas
-given off in a bottle or jar. In doing so you need not be
-afraid that it will escape, since it is heavier than the air.</p>
-
-<p>In pouring it in the box of the scale, you will see the box
-sink down, which is clearly an indication that the gas,
-which has just been poured into the scale is heavier than
-the air, whose place it has taken. This experiment may
-be tried in other curious ways.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>In Water but not Wet.</h2>
-
-
-<p>With some lycopodium, powder the surface of a large or
-small vessel of water; you may then challenge any one to
-drop a piece of money into the water, and that you will get
-it with the hand without wetting your skin. The lycopodium
-adheres to the hand, and prevents its contact with
-the water. A little shake of the hand after the feat is over
-will dislodge the powder.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Image of a Volcano.</h2>
-
-
-<p>This is another experiment on the density of liquids. In
-a small jar put some wine or colored alcohol, and close it
-with a cork, through which you have passed a small tube,
-a quill or a hollow straw. In lowering this jar gently in a
-pail full of water, you will soon see the liquid escape and
-rise to the surface of the water, describing spirals which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
-resemble smoke, and give a pretty good image, considerably
-diminished, of a volcano.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Reciprocal Images.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Make two holes in the wainscot of a room, each a foot
-high and ten inches wide, and about a foot distant from
-each other. Let these apertures be about the height of a
-man’s head, and in each of them place a transparent glass
-in a frame like a common mirror.</p>
-
-<p>Behind the partition, and directly facing each aperture,
-place two mirrors inclosed in the wainscot, in an angle of
-forty-five degrees. These mirrors are each to be eighteen
-inches square, and all the space between must be inclosed
-with pasteboard painted black, and well closed that no
-light can enter; let there be also two curtains to cover
-them, which you may draw aside at pleasure.</p>
-
-<p>When a person looks into one of these fictitious mirrors,
-instead of seeing his own face, he will see the object that
-is in front of the other; thus, if two persons stand at the
-same time before these mirrors, instead of each seeing
-himself, they will reciprocally see each other.</p>
-
-<p>There should be a sconce with a lighted candle placed on
-each side of the two glasses in the wainscot, to enlighten
-the faces of the persons who look in them, or the experiment
-will not have so remarkable an effect.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Imitation of Animal Tints.</h2>
-
-
-<p>To accomplish this metamorphosis, it is necessary to have
-earthen vases which have little edges or rims near their
-mouths, and should be of a size sufficiently large to hold
-suspended the bird or flower which you intend placing in
-them. You should likewise be provided with stoppers of
-cork, of a diameter equal to that of their mouths. To make
-an experiment upon some bird, it is necessary to commence
-by making a hole in the stopper, sufficiently large to contain
-the neck of the bird without strangling it. This done,
-you divide the diameter of the stopper into two equal parts
-so as to facilitate the placing of it around the neck without
-doing injury to the bird. The two parts being brought
-together, you place at the bottom of the vase an ounce of
-quicklime, and beneath that a quarter of an ounce of sal ammoniac.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
-When you perceive the effervescence commence
-to take place, you promptly insert the stopper, to which
-the bird is attached, leaving the neck outside. The plumage
-of the body, exposed to this effervescent vapor, will become
-impregnated with the various colors produced by this
-chemical combination.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Melting a Coin.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fix three pins in the table and lay the piece of money upon
-them; then place a heap of the flour of sulphur below the
-piece of money, and another above it, and set fire to them.
-When the flame is extinct, you will find on the upper part
-of the piece a thin plate of metal, which has been detached
-from it.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Explosive Gas.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Mix two drachms of the filings of iron with one ounce of
-concentrated spirit of vitriol in a strong bottle that holds
-about a quarter of a pint; stop it close, and in a few moments
-shake the bottle; then taking out the cork, put a
-lighted candle near its mouth which should be a little inclined,
-and you will soon observe an inflammation arise
-from the bottle, attended with a loud explosion.</p>
-
-<p>To guard against the danger of the bottle bursting, the
-best way would be to bury it in the ground and apply the
-light to the mouth by means of a taper fastened to the end
-of a long stick.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Cold from Evaporation.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Ether poured upon a glass tube in a thin stream will
-evaporate and cool it to such a degree that water contained
-in it may be frozen.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Self-Dancing Egg.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Fill a quill with quicksilver; seal it at both ends with
-good hard wax; then have an egg boiled; take a small
-piece of the shell off the small end and thrust in the quill
-with the quicksilver; lay it on the ground and it will not
-cease tumbling about as long as any heat remains in it; or
-if you put quicksilver into a small bladder and blow it up,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
-then warm the bladder, it will skip about as long as heat
-remains in it.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Flash of Fire in a Room.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Dissolve camphor in spirits of wine and deposit the vessel
-containing the solution in a very close room, where the
-spirits of wine must be made to evaporate by strong and
-speedy boiling. If any one then enters the room with a
-lighted candle the air will inflame, while the combustion
-will be so sudden and of so short a duration as to occasion
-no danger.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Cast Iron Drops.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Bring a bar of iron to a white heat and then apply to it
-a roll of sulphur. The iron will immediately melt and run
-into drops.</p>
-
-<p>The experiment should be performed over a basin of
-water, in which the drops that fall down will be quenched.
-These drops will be found reduced into a sort of cast iron.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Explosion without Heat.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Take a crystal or two of the nitrate of copper and bruise
-them; then moisten them with water and roll them up
-quickly in a piece of tinfoil, and in half a minute or little
-more, the tinfoil will begin to smoke and soon after take
-fire and explode with a slight noise. Unless the crystals
-of the nitrate of copper are moistened, no heat will be produced.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Fiery Powder.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put three ounces of rock alum and one ounce of honey
-or sugar into a new earthen dish, glazed, and which is capable
-of standing a strong heat; keep the mixture over the
-fire, stirring it continually until it becomes very dry and
-hard; then remove it from the fire and pound it to a coarse
-powder. Put this powder into a long-necked bottle, leaving
-a part of the vessel empty; and having placed it in the
-crucible, fill up the crucible with fine sand and surround it
-with burning coals. When the bottle has been kept at a
-red heat for about seven or eight minutes, and no more vapor
-issues from it, remove it from the fire, then stop it with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
-a piece of cork; and, having suffered it to cool, preserve
-the mixture in small bottles, well closed.</p>
-
-<p>If you unclose one of these bottles and let fall a few grains
-of this powder on a bit of paper, or any other very dry substance
-it will first become blue, then brown, and will at
-last burn the paper or other substance on which it has
-fallen.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Illumination.</h2>
-
-
-<p>A very pleasing exhibition may be made, with very little
-trouble or expense, in the following manner: Provide
-a box, which you can fit up with architectural designs cut
-on pasteboard; prick small holes into those parts of the
-building where you wish the illuminations to appear, observing
-that, in proportion to the perspective, the holes
-are to be made smaller, and on the near objects the holes
-are to be made larger. Behind these designs thus perforated
-you fix a lamp or candle, but in such a manner that
-the reflection of the light shall only shine through the hole:
-then placing a light of just sufficient brilliancy to show the
-design of the buildings before it, and making a hole for
-the sight at the front end of the box, you will have a
-tolerable representation of illuminated buildings.</p>
-
-<p>The best way of throwing the light in front is to place an
-oiled paper before it, which will cast a mellow gleam over
-the scenery, and not diminish the effect of the illumination.
-This can be very easily planned, both not to obstruct the
-sight, nor be seen to disadvantage. The lights behind the
-picture should be very strong, and if a magnifying glass
-were placed in the sight hole it would tend greatly to increase
-the effect. The box must be covered in, leaving an
-aperture for the smoke of the lights to pass through.</p>
-
-<p>The above exhibition can only be shown at candle light;
-but there is another way, by fixing small pieces of gold on
-the building, instead of drilling the holes, which gives
-something like the appearance of illumination, but by no
-means equal to the foregoing experiment.</p>
-
-<p>N. B.&mdash;It would be an improvement if paper of various
-colors, rendered transparent by oil, were placed between
-the lights behind the aperture in the buildings, as they
-would then resemble lamps of different colors.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>Sun and Spirit.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put a small quantity of spirits of wine into a glass, and
-put a cent or coin in with it; then direct the rays of the
-sun by means of a burning glass upon the coin, and in a
-short time it will become so hot as to inflame the spirits.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Stars in Water.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Put half a drachm of solid phosphorus into a large pint
-flask&mdash;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 filled with spirits of wine. Light the wick which
-should be almost half an inch from the flask; and as soon
-as the water is heated, streams of fire will issue from the
-water by starts, resembling sky-rockets; some particles
-will adhere to the sides of the glass, representing stars,
-and will frequently display brilliant rays. These appearances
-will continue at times till the water begins to simmer,
-when immediately a curious aurora borealis begins,
-and gradually ascends till it collects to a pointed flame;
-when it has continued half a minute, blow out the flame
-of the lamp and the point that was formed will rush down,
-forming beautiful illuminated clouds of fire, rolling over
-each other for some time, which, disappearing, a splendid
-hemisphere of stars presents itself; after waiting a minute
-or two, light the lamp again, and nearly the same phenomenon
-will be displayed as from the beginning. Let the
-repetition of lighting and blowing out the lamp be made for
-three or four times at least, that the stars may be increased.
-After the third or fourth time of blowing out the lamp, in a
-few minutes after the internal surface of the flask is dry,
-many of the stars will shoot with great splendor from side
-to side, and some of them will fire off with brilliant rays;
-these appearances will continue several minutes. What
-remains in the flask will serve for the same experiment several
-times, and without adding any more water. Care
-should be taken after the operation is over, to lay the flask
-and water in a cool, secure place.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Parlor Ballooning.</h2>
-
-
-<p>It is an interesting and amusing experiment to inflate a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
-balloon made of gold-beater’s skin (using a little gum
-arabic to close any holes or fissures), filling it from a bladder
-or jar, and tying a thread around the mouth of it, to
-prevent the escape of the gas. When fully blown, attach
-a fanciful car of colored paper, or very thin pasteboard, to
-it, and let it float in a large room; it will soon gain the
-ceiling, where it will remain for any length of time; if it
-be let off in the open air it will soon ascend out of sight.
-This experiment may be varied by putting small grains of
-shot into the car, in order to ascertain the difference between
-the weight of hydrogen gas and atmospheric air.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Marvelous.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Wrap up a very smooth ball of lead in a piece of paper,
-taking care that there be no wrinkles in it, and that it be
-everywhere in contact with the ball; if it be held in this
-state over the flame of a taper, the lead will be melted
-without the paper being burnt. The lead, indeed, when
-once fused will not fail in a short time to pierce the paper,
-and run through.</p>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h2>Mutability.</h2>
-
-
-<p>Infuse a few shavings of logwood in common water,
-and when the liquid 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 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 color; if the second
-it will pass gradually from a bluish gray 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.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="width: 510px;">
-<img src="images/i_065.jpg" width="510" height="146" alt="THE END" />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub-->
-
-<div class="boxcenter">
-<p class="center xxlargefont sansseriffont"><b>OUR TEN CENT HAND BOOKS.</b></p>
-
-<p class="center largefont"><b>USEFUL, INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING.</b></p>
-
-<p>Containing valuable information on almost every subject, such as
-<b>Writing</b>, <b>Speaking</b>, <b>Dancing</b>, <b>Cooking</b>; also <b>Rules of Etiquette</b>, <b>The Art
-of Ventriloquism</b>, <b>Gymnastic Exercises</b>, and <b>The Science of Self-Defense</b>,
-<b>etc.</b>, <b>etc.</b></p>
-
-<p class="listhang1">1 Napoleon’s Oraculum and Dream Book.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">2 How to Do Tricks.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">3 How to Flirt.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">4 How to Dance.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">5 How to Make Love.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">6 How to Become an Athlete.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">7 How to Keep Birds.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">8 How to Become a Scientist.</p>
-<p class="listhang1">9 How to Become a Ventriloquist.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">10 How to Box.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">11 How to Write Love Letters.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">12 How to Write Letters to Ladies.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">13 How to Do It; or, Book of Etiquette.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">14 How to Make Candy.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">15 How to Become Rich.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">16 How to Keep a Window Garden.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">17 How to Dress.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">18 How to Become Beautiful.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">19 Frank Tousey’s U. S. Distance Tables, Pocket Companion and Guide.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">20 How to Entertain an Evening Party.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">21 How to Hunt and Fish.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">22 How to Do Second Sight.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">23 How to Explain Dreams.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">24 How to Write Letters to Gentlemen.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">25 How to Become a Gymnast.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">26 How to Row, Sail and Build a Boat.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">27 How to Recite and Book of Recitations.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">28 How to Tell Fortunes.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">29 How to Become an Inventor.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">30 How to Cook.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">31 How to Become a Speaker.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">32 How to Ride a Bicycle.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">33 How to Behave.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">34 How to Fence.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">35 How to Play Games.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">36 How to Solve Conundrums.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">37 How to Keep House.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">38 How to Become Your Own Doctor.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">39 How to Raise Dogs, Poultry, Pigeons and Rabbits.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">40 How to Make and Set Traps.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">41 The Boys of New York End Men’s Joke Book.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">42 The Boys of New York Stump Speaker.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">43 How to Become a Magician.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">44 How to Write in an Album.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">45 The Boys of New York Minstrel Guide and Joke Book.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">46 How to Make and Use Electricity.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">47 How to Break, Ride and Drive a Horse.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">48 How to Build and Sail Canoes.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">49 How to Debate.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">50 How to Stuff Birds and Animals.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">51 How to Do Tricks with Cards.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">52 How to Play Cards.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">53 How to Write Letters.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">54 How to Keep and Manage Pets.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">55 How to Collect Stamps and Coins.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">56 How to Become an Engineer.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">57 How to Make Musical Instruments.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">58 How to Become a Detective.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">59 How to Make a Magic Lantern.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">60 How to Become a Photographer.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">61 How to Become a Bowler.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">62 How to Become a West Point Military Cadet.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">63 How to Become a Naval Cadet.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">64 How to Make Electrical Machines.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">65 Muldoon’s Jokes.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">66 How to Do Puzzles.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">67 How to Do Electrical Tricks.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">68 How to Do Chemical Tricks.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">69 How to Do Sleight of Hand.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">70 How to Make Magic Toys.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">71 How to Do Mechanical Tricks.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">72 How to Do Sixty Tricks with Cards.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">73 How to Do Tricks with Numbers.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">74 How to Write Letters Correctly.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">75 How to Become a Conjuror.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">76 How to Tell Fortunes by the Hand.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">77 How to Do Forty Tricks with Cards.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">78 How to Do the Black Art.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">79 How to Become an Actor.</p>
-<p class="listhang2">80 Gus Williams’ Joke Book.</p>
-
-<p>All the above books are for sale by newsdealers throughout the
-United States and Canada, or they will be sent, post-paid, to your
-address, on receipt of 10c. each.</p>
-
-<p><em>Send Your Name and Address for Our Latest Illustrated Catalogue.</em></p>
-
-<p class="center xlargefont"><b>FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher,</b></p>
-
-<p class="center largefont sansseriffont"><b>24 UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK.</b></p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub-->
-
-<div class="transnote">
-<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2>
-
-<p>Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they
-are mentioned.</p>
-
-<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p>
-
-<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
-the original publication, except that obvious typos have been
-corrected.</p>
-
-<p>Additional notes:</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_3">p. 3</a>: Inserted “that” (paper, that give)</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_6">p. 6</a>: “choose” changed to “chose” (and chose to)</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_11">p. 11</a>: “jar, or a soup-plate” should be “jar, and a soup-plate”</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_18a">p. 18</a>: “altered as in fig. 4” should be “altered as in fig. 6”</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_18b">p. 18</a>: “lightness” changed to “tightness” (absolute tightness. Such)</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_22">p. 22</a>: “entirely. As” changed to “entirely, as” (out entirely, as)</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_28">p. 28</a>: “valve shown in fig. 4” should be “valve shown in fig. 6”</p>
-
-<p><a href="#TN_45">p. 45</a>: “with” inserted (ground, with a)</p>
-
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's How to Do Chemical Tricks, by A. Anderson
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS ***
-
-***** This file should be named 50100-h.htm or 50100-h.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
- http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/1/0/50100/
-
-Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
-courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
-(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/).)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
- most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
- restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
- under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
- eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
- United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
- are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
- works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
- Dr. Gregory B. Newby
- Chief Executive and Director
- gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-</body>
-</html>
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_001.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_001.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 6959b9e..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_001.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_002.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_002.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index f9d6cba..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_002.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_004.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_004.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 8955102..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_004.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_014.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_014.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 75ddd57..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_014.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_016a.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_016a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index a21df68..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_016a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_016b.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_016b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 7902135..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_016b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_017a.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_017a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index f01bbbc..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_017a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_017b.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_017b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index fb963c7..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_017b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_018.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_018.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 7f3d813..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_018.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_019.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_019.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 19de88f..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_019.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_020.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_020.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index a844733..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_020.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_021.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_021.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 8a651c1..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_021.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_022.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_022.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 9e48887..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_022.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_023.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_023.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 1173124..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_023.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_024.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_024.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index b7a0cb4..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_024.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_025.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_025.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 41e97da..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_025.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_028.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_028.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 1d024d6..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_028.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_029.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_029.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 29ca8d8..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_029.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_030a.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_030a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 9dc8fa4..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_030a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_030b.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_030b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 5595b92..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_030b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_031.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_031.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 2ec4bf0..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_031.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_032.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_032.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 2fc394c..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_032.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_057.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_057.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 301e18c..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_057.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_058.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_058.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 462e297..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_058.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ
diff --git a/old/50100-h/images/i_065.jpg b/old/50100-h/images/i_065.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 12d88a4..0000000
--- a/old/50100-h/images/i_065.jpg
+++ /dev/null
Binary files differ