EXPERIMENTS WITH FIRE.
To produce a Carmine Red Flame.
The flame of spirit of wine may be coloured by the addition of various bodies which the spirit holds in solution, or which are mixed with it.
The flame of alcohol, or spirit of wine, is tinged red in the following manner: put into a small iron ladle, one part of muriate of strontia, and pour over it three or four of alcohol; then set it on fire with a candle, or a piece of burning paper; it will burn with a bright red carmine flame, especially if the mixture be heated, by holding the ladle over a candle or lamp, to cause the alcohol to boil rapidly.
The muriate of strontia left behind, after being again thoroughly dried, may be used again for the same purpose repeatedly.
An Orange-coloured Flame.
Put muriate of lime deprived of the water of crystallization, into an iron ladle, cover it with spirit of wine, and it will then burn in the manner stated.
To prepare the muriate of lime, dissolve common marble in muriatic acid, and evaporate the solution to perfect dryness.
To make Balloons with Soap and Water that catch Fire and detonate.
Fill with hydrogen gas a bladder with a cock fixed to it; to which adapt a copper tobacco pipe: dip the bowl, of the pipe into soap-lather; press gently on the bladder filled with inflammable air, and a small soap bubble will issue, which, instead of falling to the ground, will rise most rapidly.
Instead of pure hydrogen gas only, fill the bladder with a mixture of one third of atmospheric air and two thirds of hydrogen gas: and, when they arise in the air, hold a candle to them, and the report will be like that of a pistol.
A Brilliant Blue Flame.
Mix boracic acid in spirits of wine, set the solution on fire, and the above effect will ensue.
An Emerald Green Flame.
Prepare nitrate of copper, thus:—let copper clippings or filings be dissolved in a sufficient quantity of nitric acid, of a moderate strength; when no further effervescence ensues, boil the acid gently upon the copper, until a pellicle appears; decant the solution, evaporate it slowly, and, when a very strong pellicle or skin appears, suffer it to crystallize. The salt is of a fine blue colour. Then cause the alcohol (spirit of wine) to burn upon this nitrate of copper, and it will exhibit a beautiful emerald green colour.
Loud Detonations, like the Discharge of Artillery.
Put into a bottle, not quite transparent, half an ounce of iron filings, over which pour four ounces of pure water; add one ounce of sulphuric acid, and shake the mixture.
If you apply a lighted paper tied to the end of a stick, near the top of the bottle, an instantaneous vivid flame will suddenly dart from the bottom, accompanied by a tolerably loud detonation.
Fifteen or twenty successive loud reports may likewise be obtained, by touching the aperture of the bottle with a lighted wax taper, fastened to a stick.
Though this experiment offers no very evident danger to the operator, it would be as well to envelop the bottle in a cloth, to guard against accidents.
A Well of Fire.
Add gradually one ounce, by measure, of sulphuric acid, to five or six ounces of water, contained in an earthenware basin, and add to it also, gradually, about three quarters of an ounce of granulated zinc. A rapid production of hydrogen gas will instantly take place. Then add, from time to time, a few pieces of phosphorus of the size of a pea. A multitude of gas-bubbles will be produced, which take fire on the surface of the effervescing liquid; the whole surface of the liquid will become luminous, and fire-balls, with jets of fire, will dart from the bottom, through the fluid, with great rapidity, and a hissing noise.
To make a Room seem all on Fire.
Take sal ammoniac half an ounce, camphor one ounce, aquæ vitæ two ounces; put them into an earthen pot in the fashion of a chamber-pot, but narrow something upon the top; then set fire to it, and the room will seem, to them that are in it, to be all on fire.
To walk on a hot Iron Bar, without Danger of Burning.
Take half an ounce of camphor, dissolve it in two ounces of aquæ vitæ, add to it one ounce of quicksilver, one ounce of liquid storax, which hinders the camphor from firing; take also two ounces of hematitis, a red stone, to be had at the druggist’s; and when you buy it, let them beat it to powder in their great mortar, for it is so very hard that it cannot be done in a small one; put this to the above-mentioned composition, and, when you intend to walk on the bar, you must anoint your feet well therewith, and you may walk over without danger. By this you may wash your hands in boiling lead.
To Eat Fire, and blow it up in your Mouth with a Pair of Bellows.
Anoint your tongue with liquid storax, and you may put a pair of tongs into your mouth, red hot, without hurting yourself, and lick them till they are cold. By the help of this ointment, and by preparing your mouth thus,
you may take wood-coals out of the fire, and chew them as you would bread; dip them into brimstone powder, and the fire will seem more strange. The sulphur puts out the coal, and shutting your mouth close puts out the sulphur. You may then chump the coals and swallow them, which you may do without offence to the body. In the same way, if you put a piece of lighted charcoal into your mouth, you may suffer a pair of bellows to be blowing in your mouth continually, and receive no hurt; but your mouth must be quickly cleaned, otherwise it will cause a salivation. It is a very dangerous thing to be done; and although those that practise it use all the means they can to prevent danger, yet I never saw any of those fire-eaters that had a good complexion. Some put bole ammoniac into this recipe, a thing which spoils the whole composition, and so leave out hematitis and liquid storax; but let them beware how they use it.
To Light a Candle by a Glass of Water.
Take a little piece of phosphorus of the size of a pinhead, and with a piece of tallow stick it on the edge of a drinking-glass. Then take a lighted candle, and, having blown it out, apply it to the glass, when it will immediately be lighted. You may likewise write with a bit of phosphorus on paper some horrible words, which will appear awful when the candle is withdrawn from the room.
Fulminating Powder.
Take three parts of saltpetre, two parts of salt of tartar, and one part of sulphur pounded and mixed together; heat sixty grains of this composition in a spoon, and it will fly away with a fearful noise, like thunder. A grain by weight of this powder, put into a tobacco-pipe, will cause a loud report and much merriment, particularly if the smoaker is not aware of the trick put upon him.
To set fire to a Combustible Body by the Reflection of two concave Mirrors.
The rays of a luminous body, placed in the focus of a concave mirror, being reflected in parallel lines, if a second mirror be placed diametrically opposite the first, it will, by collecting those rays in its focus, set fire to a combustible body.
Place two concave mirrors at about twelve or fifteen feet distance from each other, and let the axis of each of them lie in the same line. In the focus of one of them place a live coal, and in the focus of the other some gunpowder. With a pair of double bellows, which make a continual blast, keep constantly blowing the coal, and, notwithstanding the distance between them, the powder will presently take fire.
It is not necessary that these mirrors be of metal or glass; those made of wood or pasteboard, gilded, will produce the explosion, which has sometimes taken effect at the distance of fifty feet, when mirrors of eighteen inches or two feet diameter have been used.
To give the Faces of the Company the Appearance of Death.
Dissolve some common salt in spirits of wine, and pour the whole on some saffron in a saucer. Take away the candle from the room, and set fire to the spirit with a little burning tow. The countenances of every person in the room will, by this light, put on a cadaverous, deadly appearance, the fairest complexion appearing green, whilst the red of the lips and cheeks will be of an olive hue.
To dispose two little Figures, so that one shall light a Candle, and the other put it out.
Take two little figures of wood or clay, or any other materials you please, only taking care there is a little hole at the mouth of each. Put in the mouth of one a few grains of bruised gunpowder, and a little bit of phosphorus in the other, taking care that these preparations are made beforehand; then take a lighted wax candle, and present it to the mouth of the figure with the gunpowder, which, taking fire, will put the candle out; then present your candle, having the snuff quite hot, to the other figure; it will light again immediately by means of the phosphorus. You may propose the same effect to be produced by two figures, drawn on a wall with a pencil or a coal, by applying, with starch or a wafer, a few grains of bruised gunpowder to the mouth of one, and a bit of phosphorus to the mouth of the other.
To construct a Lantern which will enable a Person to read by Night, at a great Distance.
Make a lantern of a cylindric form, or shaped like a small cask placed lengthways, so that its axis may be horizontal, and fix in one end of it a parabolic or spheric mirror, so that its focus may fall about the middle of the axis of the cylinder. If a small lamp or taper be placed in this focus, the light, passing through the other end, will be reflected to a great distance, and will be so bright, that very small letters on a remote object may be read, by looking at them with a good telescope. Those who see this light, if they be in the direction of the axis of the lantern, will think they see a large fire.
TRICKS WITH STRINGS, KNOTS, &c.
To cut a Lace asunder in the Middle, and to make it whole again.
Provide a piece of the lace which you mean to cut, or at least a pattern like the same, one inch and a half long, and keep it double privately in your left hand, between some of your fingers, near to the tips thereof; take the other lace which you mean to cut, still hanging about your neck, and draw down your said left hand to the bout thereof, and, putting your own piece a little before the other, the end, or rather middle, whereof you must hide betwixt your fore-finger and thumb, make the eye or bout which shall be seen of your own pattern; let a bystander cut the same asunder, and it will be surely thought that the other lace is cut; which, with words and fretting, you shall seem to renew, and make whole again. This, if it be well handled, will seem very wonderful.
To burn a Thread and make it Whole again with the Ashes.
Take two pieces of thread of one foot in length each: roll one of them round like a small pea, which put between your left fore-finger and thumb. Now, hold the other out at length, between the fore-finger and thumb of each hand, holding all your fore-fingers daintily; then let one cut the same asunder in the middle; when that is done, put the tops of your two thumbs together, and so shall you with less suspicion receive the thread which you hold in your right hand into your left, without opening your left finger and thumb. Then holding these two pieces as you did before it was cut, let these two be cut also asunder in the middle, and they conveyed again as before, until they be very short; then roll all these ends together, and keep that ball of thread before the other in the left hand, and, with a knife, thrust the same into a candle, where you may hold it until the said ball of thread be burnt to ashes; then pull back the knife with your right hand, and leave the ashes, with the other ball betwixt your fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, and, with the two thumbs and two fore-fingers together, take pains to rub the ashes till your thread be renewed, and draw out that thread at length, which you lay all this while betwixt your fore-finger and thumb. This is not inferior to any juggler’s trick, if it be well handled; for if you are so perfect in legerdemain as to bestow the same ball of thread, and to change it from place to place, betwixt your other fingers, as may be easily done, then it will seem very strange.
To pull many Yards of Ribbon out of the Mouth.
Jugglers get money from maids, by selling laces by the yard, putting into their mouths one round bottom, as fast as they pull out another, and, at the exact end of every yard, they tie a knot, so as the same rests upon their teeth; then they cut off the same, and so the beholders are doubly and trebly deceived, seeing as much lace as will fill a hat, and the same of what colour they like, to be drawn out of the mouth; and yet the juggler talks as though there was nothing in his mouth.
To cut a Piece of Tape into four Parts, and make it Whole again with Words.
Take a piece of narrow white tape, about two or three yards long. First present it to view to any that may desire it; then tie both the ends of it together, and take one side of it into one hand, so that the knot may be about the middle of one side, and, using some circumstantial words to beguile the spectators, turn one hand about toward yourself, and the other from you; so shall you twist the tape once, then clap the ends together, and then, if you slip your finger and thumb of each hand between the tape, almost as one would hold a skein of thread to be wound, this will make one fold or twist, as thus appears, where A signifieth the twist or fold—B the knot. Then
in like manner make a second fold, about the line D C, as you may see by the second figure, where B signifieth the knot, C the first fold, and A the second fold; then hold the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand upon the second twist, and upon the knot also, and the fore-finger and thumb of your right hand upon the first fold C, and desire some one of your spectators to cut all asunder with a sharp knife at the cross line E D; when it is cut, hold still your left hand, and let all the ends fall that you hold in your right hand, for there will be a show of eight ends, four above and four below, and so the strings will be thought to be cut into four parts, as may be seen by the third figure; then gather up the ends that you let fall into your left hand, and deliver two of the ends (seeming to take them at random) unto two several persons, bidding them hold them fast, still keeping your left-hand fingers upon the twists or folds; then with both your hands seem to tumble all the ends together that you had in your left hand, twist out the slips and pieces, which are three, as you may see at A and B in the third figure,—twist them all, I say, into a little ball, and conceal it between some of your fingers of your left hand, and crumble thereon another confused heap, and, after some words said, with your right hand deliver this confused heap unto any of the company, bidding them hold it fast, saying, “Hulla passa;” then bid them look on it, and while they are greedily looking after the event, you may with ease convey the ball or roll of ends into your pocket; so it will be thought that you have made it whole by virtue of your words. This is an excellent trick, if it be gracefully handled: it cost me a great deal of trouble and time to find it out.
To unloose a Knot upon a Handkerchief by Words.
Make a plain loose knot with two ends of a handkerchief, seeming to draw the same very hard. Hold fast the body of the handkerchief near to the knot, with your right hand, pulling the contrary end with your left. Then close up handsomely the knot, which will be somewhat loose, and pull the handkerchief so with your right hand, that the left hand may be near the knot; then will it seem to be a true and firm knot; and to make it appear more assuredly to be so indeed, let a stranger pull at the end which you hold in your left hand, while you hold fast the other in your right hand, and then holding the knot with your fore-finger and thumb, and the lower part of your handkerchief with your other finger, as you hold a bridle when you would with one hand slip up the knot and lengthen the reins. This done, turn your handkerchief over the knot with your left hand; in doing whereof you must suddenly slip out the end or corner, putting up the knot of your handkerchief with your fore-finger and thumb, as you would put the aforesaid knot of your bridle. Then deliver the same, covered and wrapped within the midst of the handkerchief, to one to hold fast, and, after the pronunciation of some words of art, take the handkerchief and shake it, and it will be loose.
To draw a Cord through the Nose.
This trick is called the bridle, being made of two alder sticks—
Through the hollowness thereof is placed a cord, the same being put upon the nose, like a pair of pincers or tongs; the cord which goeth round the same being drawn to and fro, the beholders will think the cord goes through your nose very dangerously; the knots at the end of the cord, which stay the same from being drawn out of the stick, must not be put at the very top, for that must be stopped up, but half an inch beneath each end; and so, when it is pulled, it will seem to pass through the nose. Then you may take a knife and seem to cut the cord asunder, and pull the bridle from your nose.
To take three Button-Moulds off a String.
Take two little whipcords, of two feet long each, double them equally, so as there may appear four ends; then take three button-moulds (the hole of one of them must be bigger than the rest), and put one button-mould upon the eye or bout of one cord, and another on the other cord; then take the button-mould with the greatest hole, and let both the bouts be hidden therein, which may be the better done if you put the eye, or bout, of the one
into the eye or bout of the other; then put the middle button upon the same, being doubled over his fellow: so will the heads seem to be put over the two cords. You may loose them as you like, and make it seem manifest to the beholders, who may not see how they are done; but that the buttons are put upon the two cords, without any fraud. Then must you seem to add a more effectual binding of those buttons to the strings, and make one half of a knot with one of the ends of each side, which is for no other purpose, but that, when the buttons are taken away, the cords may be seen in the case which the beholders suppose to be in before; for when you have made your half knots, which in any wise you must not double to make a perfect knot, you must deliver into the hands of some bystanders these two cords—namely, two cords evenly set to one hand, and two in the other, and then with a wager begin to pull off the buttons, which, if you handle nimbly, and in the end cause him to pull his two ends, the two cords will show to be placed plainly, and the buttons to have come through the cords.