Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do

by Unknown

Answers to Puzzles.

Dead Dogs Made Living.

The Springs Puzzle.

Three-Square Puzzle.—Take away the pieces numbered 8, 10, 1, 3, 13, and three squares only will remain.

Six and Five Make.

A Slit Puzzle.—Arrange the pieces side by side in the short arms of the cross, draw out the centre piece, and the rest will follow easily. The same process reversed will put them back again.

Slit Puzzle.

Creeping Through a Small Space.

Creeping Through a Small Space.—Double the cardboard or leather lengthways down the middle, and then cut first to the right, nearly to the end, and then to the left and so on to the end of the card; then open it and cut down the middle, except the two ends. By opening the card or leather, a person may pass through it. A tough leaf may be treated in this way.

Circle Puzzle.

The Cabinet-Maker’s Problem.—The cabinet-maker must find the centre of the circle, and strike another circle, half the diameter of the first, and having the same centre. Then cut the whole into four parts, by means of two lines drawn at right angles to each other, then cut along the inner circle, and put the pieces together as in the following diagram.

Cabinet-Maker’s Problem.

The Nuns.

More Cross Cutting.

Button Puzzle.—Pull the narrow slip of the leather through the hole, and the string and buttons may be released.

Cross Cutting.

Cross Puzzle.

Cross Cutting.—Take a piece of writing paper about three times as long as it is broad, say six inches long and two wide. Fold the upper corner down, as shown in Fig. 1; then fold the other upper corner over the first, and it will appear as in Fig. 2; you next fold the paper in half lengthwise, and it will appear as in Fig. 3. Then the last fold is made lengthwise also, in the middle of the paper, and it will exhibit the form of Fig. 4, which, when cut through with the scissors in the direction of the dotted line, will give all the forms mentioned.

Cylinder Puzzle.

Cylinder Puzzle.—Take a round cylinder of the diameter of the circular hole, and of the height of the square hole. Having drawn a straight line across the end, dividing it into two equal parts, cut an equal section from either side to the edge of the circular base, a figure like that represented by the woodcut in the margin would then be produced, which would fulfil the required conditions.

Halfpence Puzzle.—Place the fourth on the first, seventh on the third, fifth upon the ninth, the second upon the sixth, and the eighth upon the tenth.

Puzzling Advice.—

If your grate be (great B) empty, put coal on.

When your grate is (great IS) full, stop putting coal on.

The Miser’s Ruse.—The counting, which stopped at every seventh man, was made to begin at the sixth from the landlord, who sat at the end of the table.

Wolf, Goat, and Cabbages.—First he takes over the goat; he then returns and takes the wolf; he leaves the wolf on the other side, and brings back the goat; he now takes over the cabbages, and comes back once more to fetch the goat. Thus the wolf will never be left with the goat, nor the goat with the cabbages.

A Problem for Surveyors.

Another Problem for Surveyors.

The Double Handcuffs.—This is the way to do it. C must gather up into a loop the string which binds his hands, pass it under the string fastened round either of B’s wrists, and slip it over B’s hands. This done, both will be set free. To replace the strings, reverse the process.

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CHAPTER XXI.
WORK AND PLAY AT THE BENCH

Wood Carving.—The best kinds of wood include white holly, walnut and sycamore, and pieces of empty cigar boxes, often Spanish cedar, are not to be despised. A pocket-knife, some bradawls, a few files, flat, round and triangular, a fine saw and some coarse sandpaper complete the tools needed for most of the work.

Draw very carefully upon paper the design with which you wish to ornament some article you may have made with wood. When you have at last drawn the design quite accurately there are many ways in which you may transfer the drawing to the wood. It may be pasted upon the wood so that paper and wood will be cut away together in those parts that are to fall below the general surface of the wood and at the end the paper that remains may be washed away. Another way is to cut out the design with scissors, lay it upon the wood and go carefully round the edges with a lead pencil; or you may without cutting it out place it upon the wood and prick through the design or at any rate the principal points with a pin. If you were to scribble with crayon, coloured chalk or pencil upon the back of the paper and were then to lay the paper upon the wood and go over the design with a hard point, using some pressure, the design would be transferred to the wood, or still another way would be to use carbon paper (see Chap. XXIV.) between the paper and the wood instead of scribbling upon the back of the paper.

However, we will suppose the design in some way or another has been placed in pencil upon the wood. Now with regard to every part in which the intention is to take out the wood completely from front to back bore a hole. Then take your fret-cutter’s saw or dentist’s saw and unfastening one end put this end through the hole and fasten it again. Saw perpendicularly.

At this stage the young carver will need to decide whether he will follow the pencil lines exactly. If he is a very expert sawyer he may, but it is much safer to leave a little wood to be removed by pocket-knife, chisel, or file. It is easy to do this; but if he saws out a little too much wood, if he transgresses the pencil line, he cannot put back the wood he has wrongfully cut away. After the filing a little rubbing with sandpaper will complete the work. Sometimes it is an advantage to adjust the saw in its frame with the teeth inside or sideways.

How to make a Schooner.—Take a block of wood two feet four inches long, eight inches wide, and eight inches deep. We name this as a convenient size; but a boy may if he likes make his boat twice this size, or half this size, and so long as he makes his alterations in proportion it will not matter. Try to get the wood without knots or other faults. White pine or deal with a straight grain is the best, for this wood is easy to cut into shape, and it is light.

Fig. 1.

Before the schooner is shaped it should be hollowed. Draw a straight line with pencil along the centre of the upper surface of the block A B (Fig. 1). If the breadth of the block is eight inches then the centre will be four inches from each edge. Next, in a similar way divide the length of the block into two equal parts with a pencil line C D. If the length is two feet four inches then this line will be one foot two from each end of the block. Now divide the length into three equal parts by the lines E F and G H. One third of two feet four inches is nine inches and one third of an inch, so that each of the three parts will have this measurement. Draw now the line I J C B and when this line is of the right shape make a tracing of it, and from the tracing a cardboard model. By placing this model upon the other side of the line A B and drawing round its edge you will get the line B D K I and it will be exactly like I J C B, a very important matter. With a knife, gouge, and chisel the boat may now be hollowed with care, and we may repeat that it is easier to hollow the block before its outside has been shaped than afterwards, because it stands now more firmly upon the table or bench.

The shape of the outside is shown in Fig. 2, and it should be noticed that the line L M N is not straight but curves so that M is the lowest point and L and N the highest. Upon the counter at O a hole must be bored for the stern-post, which will come through at P in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

It is well from time to time to try the boat in water to see if it floats evenly, or if more has been taken from one side than the other. These little matters should be corrected, and a number of little touches will be needed here and there with tools or sandpaper before the vessel is right inside and out. Then put a deck of thin wood over the hollowed part. This should be fitted very carefully so that no water can pass into the hold of the ship. If bulwarks are desired the deck may be half an inch or an inch below the edge of the vessel, but if the deck is flush with the sides of the hull there will be no place for water to lodge.

We now come to the masts, of which there will be two. For the foremast make a hole through the deck at Q on Fig. 1. It is about an inch from the line G H. At R two inches from the line E F a similar hole should penetrate the deck for the main mast. The circumference of the lower masts should be one inch and three quarters, but an inch will serve for the topmasts. The bowsprit and the booms should measure one inch and a quarter round, and the gaffs an inch.

A Schooner.

1. Bobstay.
2. Bowsprit.
3. Forestay.
4. Stay Foresail.
5. Foremast.
6. Gaff Foresail.
7. Fore Gaff.
8. Fore Boom.
9. Mainmast.
10. Mainsail.
11. Main Boom.
12. Main Gaff.
13. Main Topmast.
14. Gaff Topsail.
15. Main Topmast Stay.
16. Fore Peak Haulyards.
17. Fore Throat Haulyards.
18. Main Peak Haulyards.
19. Main Throat Haulyards.
20. Mainsheet.
21. Foresheet.
22. Stay Foresheet.
23. Rudder.
24. Lead Ballast.
25. Forecap and Cross Trees.
26. Maincap and Cross Trees.

Linen will serve for the sails, and odds and ends of fishing lines for the ropes and rigging, with stouter cord like whipcord for the shrouds. The caps, deadeyes, blocks and such things may be made, but the process is wearisome and difficult and perhaps the better way is to buy them. The following measurements will be useful:—

	inches
Bowsprit	3½
Foremast	15
Mainmast	16
Topmast	6
Fore boom	8½
Fore gaff	8
Main boom	12
Main gaff	8

The sails should be made to fit these. If the schooner has been properly made she will sail well with the rudder but slightly turned to one side. If it is necessary to turn her rudder much she will lose speed and will not rank in the first class. To steady the schooner it is necessary to nail or screw along her keel, a strip of lead as ballast. Err upon the side of making this too heavy, because it is easier to cut and file away than it is to add.

The making of a Cutter.—Having made a schooner it will not be difficult to make a cutter from the appended diagrams with a few particulars regarding the measurements.

The cutter has but one mast reaching about fifteen inches above the deck. This is surmounted by a seven-inch top-mast, so that the complete height above the deck is twenty-two inches. Here are the other measurements.

Bowsprit, 9 inches from the stem of the vessel to the end.

Main gaff, 9 inches long.

Main boom, 15 inches.

A Cutter.

1. Bobstay.
2. Bowsprit.
3. Forestay.
4. Foresail.
5. Jib.
6. Topmost Stay.
7. Mast.
8. Topmast.
9. Mainsail.
10. Main Boom.
11. Main Gaff.
12. Gaff Topsail.
13. Peak Haulyards.
14. Throat Haulyards.
15. Mainsheet.
16. Rudder.
17. Lead Ballast.
18. Jib Sheets.
19. The Cap.
20. Cross Trees.

Fig. 1.

A Sleigh that can be Steered.—With the sketches we shall give, a boy unaided, or with a little assistance from a carpenter, will be able to make a sleigh that he can steer. Take a piece of board 9½ feet long, six inches wide and 7/8 of an inch thick. Ash is excellent. Avoid large knots. Let Fig. 1 represent the face of the board. From B measure three inches to C. Connect A C. From A measure two feet, four times. These measurements will give you D E F G. From C repeat this process and you will have H I J and K. Saw from A to C; from D to H; from E to I; F to J, and from G to K. You will have now four pieces of wood like the piece in Fig. 2 and some wood to spare for a purpose that will be explained soon. With regard to your four pieces of wood which are to serve for runners remember that two will be right-hand runners and two left-hand runners, because the treatment of each kind varies a little.

Fig. 2.

With regard to Fig. 2 draw the curved line A E. No rule can be given for this except that B E represents eight inches. Cut the curve from A to E, round off the angle C D B a little, and you will have a runner from which the three remaining runners may be made. This runner however is not yet finished. From C in Fig. 2 measure 2½ inches to F, then another 2½ inches to G. Make F H one inch deep and G I. Then connect H I. Measure 8 inches from G to J and then mark off J K L M making it like H G F I. Now direct your attention to the upper edge of the runner represented in Fig. 3. Two points will have been fixed already. M J, G F. To find the remaining points N O, P Q draw the lines M N; J O; G P and F Q making the angles N M J; O J M; P G F and Q F G the same as the angle B D C in Fig. 2. Now saw and chisel out carefully N O M J L K and P Q G F I H making what joiners call mortices. In repeating this process upon the other runners remember to have the narrower end of these dovetails inside the sledge. The arrangement will be as in Fig. 4.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

The next thing is to connect your four runners with cross bars (Fig. 5) which are each fourteen inches long, two and a half inches broad, and one inch thick. Of these cross bars there are four. The distance from A to B and from C to D is one inch in each case. These ends are shaped to form what joiners call dovetails, and they should fit exactly into the mortices upon the upper edges of the runners. The black dots represent screws. One of the cross bars does not appear in Fig. 13. The runners should be shod with iron by the blacksmith.

Fig. 6.

He will need eleven-and-a-half feet of half round 5/8 inch rolled iron, divided into four, a piece for each runner. Each piece will be 34 inches long pierced for screws as in Fig. 6. A and B are an inch from centre to centre. C is eight inches from the end, D another ten inches; E a further ten inches. F G are like A and B.

Fig. 7.

Take now a piece of board one foot wide, fifteen inches long and one inch thick (Fig. 7). Find the centre by connecting B and C and A and D by straight lines. The place where they cross, E, will be the centre. This board should be placed lengthways upon the cross bars of the front portion of your sleigh and should be fixed very securely in position with long screws. It should be at A in the completed sleigh, Fig. 13. Now for the long board upon which you sit, the board that connects the two pairs of runners, the board marked B in the completed sleigh, Fig. 13. Its width is sixteen inches, its length 7½ feet, its thickness 1½ inches. It is known as the reach board and should be of seasoned pine. This board is represented in Fig. 8. Fix your compass at A and describe a semi-circle, and then at B. A and B are each seven inches from the end of the board and seven inches from the sides. By the aid of these lines you will be able to give your board rounded ends as in Fig. 9.

Fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11

Having decided which end of this board you will have forward measure underneath 8 inches from the front extremity and at that point draw the line A B (Fig. 10). Now take the piece of wood you spared from your runners and saw it lengthwise into two equal parts. Make each part precisely as long as your reach board is wide. Screw one at C D in Fig. 10 so that its outer edge is close to the line A B. The screws go through the reach board into the cross piece. In the centre of the cross piece bore a hole with a half inch bit right through cross piece and reach board, this is for the bolt. Now take that other piece of runner wood and fix hinges upon it as shown in Fig. 11. The hinges should be 4×4 hinges, and should move round to their full extent each way. Leaving the reach board for a few minutes we go to the pair of runners that will be at the back of the sleigh. It will be seen that we connected these with two cross pieces. It is upon the back cross piece that we have to place our piece of wood that has the hinges upon it. Lay it upon the cross piece and when the two are even all round fasten the remaining flap of the hinges with screws upon this cross piece of the runners. These two cross pieces of wood will be separated only by the thickness of the hinges if the work has been deftly done. Place the reach board so that the outer edge of the cross piece shall come exactly to a line we may draw now upon the under-side of the reach board five inches from its backward end as in Fig. 12.

Fig. 12

Fasten there the reach board to the cross piece with screws. The front pair of runners is fastened by passing a half inch bolt through the half inch hole we bored in the reach board and in the top of the front pair of runners. Here you will need a few washers and a nut. Each back runner should be fastened to the reach board by a loose chain as shown in the completed sleigh. Foot rests of bent iron or of wood are a great advantage. Place these where you need them. The sleigh is steered by means of two strong cords. Fig. 13 is merely general. Some of the details do not appear there.

Fig. 13.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Baby’s Sleigh.—In Fig. 1 we have the sleigh as it looks when it is finished. To upholster it would add to our difficulties, so we will depend upon an abundance of cushions for baby’s comfort. In Fig 2 we have a piece of strong board A B C D 3/8 of an inch thick, two feet long and one foot wide. From C to E is three inches, from C to G seven inches and from D to F three inches. The curve from A to G must be drawn according to the taste of the young joiner. When this side has been cut out it is easy to make the other from it.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Now for the backboard. In Fig. 3 A B C D we have a piece of wood fifteen inches square. The inside lines at the bottom are one and a half inches from D and C. E and F are three inches from A and B. Put your compasses at I for a centre and draw the curve E F. If your compasses are not large enough a piece of pencil tied to a string will serve. The front board may be made like the lower half of the back board. Nail or screw the parts together and put on a bottom that fits. Inside, the seat rests on two strips, one screwed upon each side. These strips are of wood three eighths of an inch thick, an inch wide and eight inches long. The seat may be about a foot wide. The runners come next. In Fig. 4 A B C D, we have a board three quarters of an inch thick, three feet long and seven inches wide. The distance from D to E is eight inches. From A measure eight inches along the upper edge to G, then two inches to H and from H draw the line H F. Draw the curve A H. F should be three inches from the line B C.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

From F draw a straight line to C. Cut out the runner and use it as a pattern for the making of another. To connect the two runners use a couple of cross bars of hard wood each an inch and a half wide, one inch thick and a foot long. Cut the ends as shown in Fig. 5, the cuts being three quarters of an inch deep. Carpenters call an arrangement of this kind a tenon. The front cross bar will connect the two runners fifteen inches from the front and the back cross bar will be fifteen inches further back than that. The method of fixing them is shown in Fig. 6. The cuts A and B—mortices, joiners call them—are half an inch deep. Having placed the tenons in the mortices fasten them there with screws. Now get a board ten inches wide, half an inch thick and two feet long and screw this to the bars. If you want the runners shod with iron the blacksmith will do this for you. Place now the car in position upon the runners, and bore two quarter-inch holes in the centre of the bottom, one under the seat and the other in front. Make two corresponding holes in the board of the sleigh and so with two bolts and nuts secure the car to the runners.

Hammock from a Barrel.

A Hammock from a Barrel.—Look round for a clean barrel. Perhaps an apple barrel will be as easy to find as any. Strip off the hoops and draw all the nails. Measure three inches from the top, and three inches from the bottom of the barrel, and draw thence a line round the top and a line round the bottom of the barrel, keeping it three inches from top or bottom all the way round. Upon these lines, and upon each stave, bore two holes with a brace and bit. Place the holes so that they are about the same distance from each other and from the edges of the staves. If some of the staves are wider than others, each will need slightly different treatment. A stout rope should be threaded through these holes in the manner shown in the diagram. About twenty feet of rope will be sufficient. An inch or thereabouts should be left between each stave. Cushions add to the comfort of this simple hammock.

Hammock from a Barrel.

Æolian Harp.

An Æolian Harp.—Make a shallow box of thin dry pine. The top piece should be free from knots and three-sixteenths of an inch thick. This is the sounding board. The sides and bottom of the box may be of wood one quarter of an inch in thickness. The harp should be two inches shorter than the width of the window in which you are going to place it. The width of the box itself may be ten inches, its depth two and a half inches. The ends should be of hard wood, for they have to bear the strain of the strings. In one end put studs or rings or eyes to which are fastened the wires or catgut strings. At the other end should be a corresponding row of violin pegs if you use catgut, or iron piano pins if you use wire. If you do use wire it should be of steel. In the diagram you will see the two bridges of hard wood glued diagonally across each end for the strings to rest upon. If steel wire is employed a piece of wire should run along the top of each bridge to prevent the other wires from cutting into the wood. Four holes, each an inch in diameter, in the sounding board improves the harp. The tuning may be harmonics, thirds, fifths, and octaves. Raise the sash of the window, and place the harp so that the wind blows across the strings.

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CHAPTER XXII.
SCIENCE FOR THE PLAY-HOUR

A Home-Made Electrical Machine.—To make a really first-class machine of the modern type would require a good deal of mechanical skill, even supposing my readers to be the happy possessors of the necessary tools and materials; but the older type of machine—though of course not so powerful—will probably do quite well enough for most of their purposes.

I will, therefore, describe one of the simplest forms of these machines, such as any one, with a little care and patience, can make for himself.

The first thing to do is to get a general idea of what you are going to construct, which may be had from the illustration, and from the actual machines you may sometimes see in a shop window or in a scientific collection, like the Science Departments of the South Kensington Museum. It is the making of the cylinder machine we are going to work out, and, therefore, to begin with, the glass cylinder must be procured. This can be had from a dealer in chemical apparatus and costs only a few pence for the smaller size—about 3 inches by 6 inches. At the same time purchase a round glass rod, 3/8 inch diameter by 5 inches long; a sheet or two of tinfoil, and sixpennyworth of amalgam. From a carpenter or timber-merchant you will require a base-board for the machine, say 13 inches by 8 inches, by 1 inch thick, and of heavy wood; also two uprights, which are to stand on the base-board to support the cylinder. These may be 6 inches tall, by 2 inches by ¾ inch.

Having now the principal parts of the frame, the work of fitting together can be begun by making a circular hole (centre about 1¼ inches from the end) in one wooden upright, to take easily one of the projecting glass pieces, or pivots, at the ends of the cylinder—probably ¾ inch diameter will do. This hole may be made with a brace and suitable bit, or failing that, with a round chisel—taking care not to split the wood. In one end of the other upright cut a slot of same width as the hole, the bottoms of both being on the same level. Then rest the two glass pivots in the hole and slot, holding the uprights vertically on the base-board, when the cylinder should be quite horizontal. If it is not so, deepen the slot, or shorten either upright, as required. Drill a hole through the two sides of the slot at the top, and insert a round nail to keep the pivot from having too much play.

It will next be necessary to secure these supports to the board, which may be done by driving stout screws from below, together with the aid of some strong glue. If you have the skill it will be better to sink the supports ½ inch into the surface.

The position should be such, that the cylinder is not quite over the middle of the board. (See illustrations.) Next remove the cylinder by a little side working, and screw a piece of wood, 1½ inches by ¼ inch by about 7 inches, to the supports and base. This is to act as a brace to the supports, and also for holding tightening screws for the rubber.

We now come to the preparation of the rubber, which is an important detail. Get a wooden block 1¼ inches by ½ inch and 1 inch shorter than the cylinder. Smoothe off all the corners, and glue on one long edge, a piece of thin leather (chamois will do); fold over the flat side, and then glue it again at the other long edge; double it back loosely, and glue again in original place. This should make a sort of bag on one side of the block, which should now be stuffed with dry wool or hemp, and the two ends fastened down. A piece of black silk, about 5 inches by 9 inches, must be attached to the bottom edge.

Front View, Showing Rubber Seen Through Cylinder; Conductor Removed. A A Supports; R Rubber; B Brace Board; C C Adjusting Screws; F Rubber Stand.

End View. H Handle; D Conductor; E Glass Support. Rubber, Silk Flap and Support. A HOME-MADE ELECTRICAL MACHINE.

Now place the cylinder on its bearings, and press the rubber against the middle of one side, which will show what length to make the rubber stand. The thickness may be ¼ inch, and the breadth 2 inches; one end being screwed to the rubber block at the back, and the other resting on the base-board, but attached to the brace piece by two bolts with adjustable nuts. These you can get at an ironmonger’s—thumb nuts are preferable, as they can be tightened up without pliers.

As this board will be on a slope, the cushion block must be bevelled off with a chisel, so that it may rest “squarely” against the glass. The adjusting screws will enable the pressure on the glass to be regulated. Be careful to see that the silk flap (attached to the bottom edge of the rubber) comes between the leather and the cylinder, and then folds over the cylinder to about the middle of the opposite side.

We next come to the “prime conductor,” which is a piece of rounded wood, 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch less than the length of the cylinder. The end corners must be made round with a knife and sandpaper, so the whole surface may be quite smooth. Then lay on evenly with paste, a sheet of tinfoil, notching it so that it may fold nicely over the spherical ends, and take out any ridges by rubbing with the knife handle.

An insulating support must be given to the conductor, as it is to hold the accumulated electric energy, and for this the glass rod above mentioned is required. Make a suitable hole in one side of the conductor, and in it fix one end of the rod with cement. The other end can be fixed to the base-board in the same way; or a separate stand may be used; but before doing this, drive a horizontal row of strong pins along a side of the conductor, at right angles with the rod. These should be ¼ inch apart, starting and finishing ¼ inch from where the surface becomes spherical at the two ends; the heads should be cut off previously with pliers, and the external length, when driven into the wood, should not exceed ½ inch. Now erect the conductor, and see that the rod brings it level or thereabouts with the centre line of the cylinder-side. The points should not quite touch the latter; and the silk flap must not hang down far enough to come between.

There remains now but one piece of mechanism to construct—the handle. This is apt to give trouble at first, but with care may be successfully completed. A short piece of hard wood (say 2½ inches long), half of circular and half of square section, must be procured, and the rounded half cemented into one of the glass pivots. This must be done with good cement and both the glass and wood warmed, and cleaned first of all. Be careful not to crack the glass by too rapid heating. A thin layer of cement is best, while, of course, the wooden rod ought to fit closely. The square end now projecting must be provided with a handle, the making of which will serve to pass the time during which the cement is drying. Cut a square hole to fit the end in a piece of wood say ¼ inch by 2½ inches by 1 inch, which is the handle shaft. Pass a bolt through the lower part and secure the handle-bobbin itself by a nut. If nothing else can be got, a cotton-reel makes a fair handle when the flanges are cut off. If the nut works loose, pinch the threads at the end of the screw, or add a “lock nut”—i.e. an extra nut. Dry the cylinder and put a wooden stopper in the other glass pivot to keep out damp.

Take care to have the handle on the right-hand end of the machine when the rubber is closest to you and the conductor opposite; notice also that of the supports the slotted one should now be on the left-hand side.

All the woodwork, as well as the ends and pivots of the cylinder, and the glass rod should be painted with shellac varnish, which may generally be had ready mixed from paint merchants, or may be made at home by dissolving shellac in methylated spirits. A stick of red sealing-wax gives a more pleasing colour for the glass work if added to the shellac solution.

All through the construction of the machine must be borne in mind the fact that rough edges or points “attract” away the electricity, and, therefore, all the edges and corners must be well rounded off and smoothed with sandpaper, and everything must be kept clean and free from dust.

When the shellac is dry, let all the parts, especially the rubber, cylinder, and rod, have a good warming before the fire. Then fixing the cylinder in its place, press the rubber firmly against it by means of the adjusting screws. After turning for a few minutes, the handle should become stiffer, and a small spark be obtained on touching the conductor. If not, tighten up the screws a little more. It is also advisable to lay a little amalgam with tallow on the rubber, between the silk and the leather: a piece of tinfoil is also said to be of advantage when amalgam is not handy. Sometimes, too, a wire connection from the back of the cushion to a neighbouring gas or water pipe helps the success of the machine, but if proper attention be paid to warming and cleaning and the avoiding of edges and corners, success is almost certain after a short time. A delicate test is to observe whether a thread is attracted by the conductor, and if so, a spark may be soon looked for.

An iron clamp or two will be found of great assistance for holding down the base-board to the corner of a table.

The Indestructible Candles.—When a candle burns, the matter of which the candle is composed, is not lost nor destroyed. It is simply changing its form, and every part of it may be accounted for.

Fig. 1.

If we take a cold clean tumbler and hold it over the flame of the candle (Fig. 1) we shall see that the inside becomes moist with water, and on touching it our fingers are made wet. On the tumbler becoming warm, this moisture disappears. If we could surround the tumbler with an ice jacket, we should see the water from the flame of the candle dripping down, and if this were caught in a vessel we could obtain from an ordinary candle about a wine-glassful of water. We may therefore produce water from a burning candle. The cause of the water being formed is that there is in the fat of the candle, as one of its constituents, hydrogen, and as the candle burns, this unites with the oxygen of the air to form water. Wherever water is found it always consists of hydrogen and oxygen in combination, and of nothing else.

Presence of Hydrogen Proved.—We may prove the presence of hydrogen gas by bringing a lighted taper within two or three inches of the wick of a candle just after it has been extinguished. On holding the lighted taper in the stream of smoke coming from the wick, we shall see a tiny flame run down the smoke and re-light the candle. The hydrogen gas coming from the hot fat is being carried off in the smoke. It is very inflammable, and the flame from the taper ignites it, and in turn rekindles the candle. When the stream of smoke has ceased, it does not matter how near we hold the taper to the wick without actually touching, it will not be re-lighted. (See Fig. 2.)

Fig. 2.

The Hydrogen Located.—A still better way of showing the presence of this gas is by bending a piece of glass tubing of small-bore, into the shape shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

Glass tubing may be bent easily to any shape by holding it in the flame of an ordinary gas burner. The tube becomes covered with soot, and this prevents its getting hot too rapidly, and so enables the tube to bend easily and evenly. The bending must never be forced, but very gently done as the glass softens. (See Fig. 3.) A little practice will enable any boy to make a first-rate bend.

Fig. 3.

On carefully observing the flame of the candle we shall see that it really consists of three distinct parts. Round the wick it looks black, this is really a hollow chamber filled with unconsumed hydrogen. Next to this is a bright luminous cone, and outside of that is an almost invisible covering of blue flame. In the black space gas is unconsumed, in the luminous part the combustion is only partial, but outside of all, where there is most oxygen, the combustion is complete, and the flame can hardly be discovered. Now when the flame is quite steady the tube must be gently inserted at an angle into the black cone; after a few minutes, on applying a light at the end of the tube, although the candle is still burning, we shall see that this free hydrogen will burn there too with a small bluish flame.

The Candle’s Carbon.—As the candle burns, another part of its constituents is passing off into the air as soot or carbon, and this can be shown by holding a sheet of white paper or cardboard in the top of the flame, or better still, a cold saucer, on which there will be a copious deposit of black soot. This is another proof that as a candle burns it is not destroying matter, but only changing its form; from the white fat of the candle, black sooty carbon is liberated by the process of incomplete combustion that is going on. (See Fig. 5.)

Fig. 5.

Carbonic Acid Gas.—When substances containing carbon are burnt, one of the products is an invisible gas, commonly called carbonic acid gas. After an explosion in a mine, all the workings are filled with a deadly gas, which often kills more men than the explosion. This is called choke damp, and is the same as carbonic acid gas. Whenever a fire burns—gas, lamp, coal fire, or candle, this gas is one of the products. Let us fasten a piece of wire round our candle, and, after lighting it, lower it down into a glass bottle with a wide mouth. At first the candle burns dimly, and then, when a current of air is established, brightens. Now cover the mouth of the jar with a piece of card or the hand, and we shall see that the candle again burns dimly and quickly goes out. The jar now contains a considerable quantity of this carbonic acid gas. We may prove its presence by pouring into the jar a little clear lime-water and shaking it up. The carbonic acid gas will turn the lime-water milky. (See Fig. 6.)

Fig. 6.

Lime-water can be purchased at any chemist’s very cheaply, or it can be made by pouring water on a piece of quicklime, well shaking it, and then allowing it to settle. The clear lime-water may then be poured off. The lime may be used again and again until it is all dissolved.

Our Use of Oxygen.—We are breathing out carbonic acid gas; and on breathing through a piece of glass tubing into some of the clear lime-water we shall see that it will be turned milky in just the same way as when the candle burned. We are using up oxygen to support life, the candle uses up oxygen to support life, and in both cases the product is carbonic acid gas, as we have proved by means of the lime-water test. (See Fig. 7.)

Fig. 7.

Convincing Proof.—All that we have done up to the present supports our statement that the matter of the candle is not destroyed. In fact we have accounted for all its parts excepting that of a little mineral ash which will be left after the candle has burned away. We may, however, show in a very convincing way that our contention is true. An ordinary gas chimney is obtained, and at about three inches from one end a piece of wire gauze is placed, and the open end filled up with quicklime, at the lower end a cork is fixed upon which a short piece of candle is placed. There must also be a hole in the cork for the admission of air; when all is ready, carefully counterpoise the scales. Then remove the cork and light the candle and quickly replace. After burning a short time it will be found that the chimney glass bears down the beam because of increased weight. The products of the burning candle have united with the oxygen of the air, and these products, consisting chiefly of carbonic acid gas and water, have been caught by the quicklime. Because of the added oxygen they are heavier than the original candle. (See Fig. 8.)

Fig. 8.

Capillary Attraction.—There is still one interesting thing to illustrate about the burning candle, and that is the way in which the particles of fat ascend the wick to reach the flame. This is accomplished by what is known as capillary attraction. A very good illustration of this is afforded by a piece of salt standing upon a plate, on which is poured some salt water coloured blue with indigo or ink. The liquid will rise up the pillar of salt, and eventually reach the top. It rises by the force of capillary attraction. Let the pillar of salt represent the wick of the candle, and the coloured water, the fat, and the illustration is complete.

Fig. 9.

Analysis of Candle Flame.—Our candle can still give us some useful and suggestive illustrations of flame and combustion. We have seen that unconsumed gaseous vapours can be obtained from the flame by means of a bent glass tube. In the candle flame (Fig. 9) we see that this is because of the way the flame is built. The part marked o is the gaseous chamber, i is the luminous part, and e is where combustion is complete. On taking a sheet of clean white paper and pressing it down on the candle flame for a moment or two we shall get the fact of this hollow chamber demonstrated by the smoke ring upon the paper, which will appear thus—

Fig. 10.

The paper is left clean at the hollow chamber, but marked with smoke at the luminous part of the flame. (See Fig. 10.)

Now we must find the differences between the non-luminous outer flame and the luminous inner flame. To do this thoroughly we must have a Bunsen burner to afford the best illustration. This is not an expensive item. A cheap and simple form of it can be obtained for 1s. 3d. To understand the nature of the flame we must first understand the principles of the Bunsen. It is a burner in which a mixture of air and gas is consumed. A is a brass tube, mounted on a solid foot K, with a small tube C to admit the gas. There are two holes at the bottom of the brass tube to admit air in the direction of the arrows, and a movable brass collar fits over these holes, so that the air can be admitted or excluded at will. On igniting the gas, with the holes of the Bunsen open, we shall see that it burns with a non-luminous but exceedingly hot flame. On closing the holes we shall notice that the flame becomes luminous, much more languid, and does not give off nearly so much heat. (See Fig. 11.)

Fig. 11.

We must ask ourselves the question, What is the cause of this difference? The answer is a simple but very instructive one. Coal-gas, like the fat of the candle, contains carbon, and in the luminous flame, owing to the limited supply of oxygen, these particles of carbon are made white hot, and so emit light, but are not entirely consumed till they reach the outer edge of the flame, where combustion is more complete, owing to the contact of the flame with the air, and even then many of them escape; and so where gas is burnt the ceilings after a time become blackened.

In the non-luminous flame, owing to the air being admitted and mixed with the gas, the increased supply of oxygen renders combustion more complete, greatly increases the heat of the flame, but renders it incapable of giving light. Now, the reasons for the differences of the two flames are made clear.

A very clever modification of this principle has been utilised in what is known as the Argand burner, in which the gas and air are not mixed as in a Bunsen, but the burner is made circular, and the air is made to pass up the centre of the flame, so that it gets its supply of oxygen, burns steadily, and presents a very large surface of luminous flame. (See Fig. 12.)

Fig. 12.

A Pretty Experiment.—Let us now go back to our candle flame. We see that it gives light, emits smoke, and does not yield a very large amount of heat. We have learnt that it gives light because the particles of carbon are heated to a white heat, but not entirely consumed. These particles in the flame are held very closely together, and so present a continuous surface. If we could get inside the flame and scatter them we should have a pretty shower of glowing sparks.

We can illustrate this by the following experiment. Take as much gunpowder as will rest on a sixpence, and a like quantity of iron filings, mix them together on a small tin dish. (See Fig. 13.)

Fig. 13.

This must be done carefully and without friction. Then ignite with a taper. The gunpowder burns, makes the particles of iron red hot, and scatters them in a beautiful shower of glowing sparks. This is a fair representation of pulling a candle flame to pieces, the only difference is that the glowing particles are of iron instead of carbon.

Artificial Lightning.—This may be further illustrated by putting a flame together. We may accomplish this by passing any very fine particles of carbonaceous matter through a non-luminous flame, and we shall see that whilst these particles pass through the flame it will give light owing to their presence.

We require a little lycopodium, a piece of glass tubing one foot long, and about a quarter-inch bore, and the non-luminous flame of the Bunsen burner or a spirit lamp. Insert into one end of the tube a little of the lycopodium powder, and then, pea-shooter fashion, apply the mouth to the other end of the tube, and blow the contents into the flame. There will be a great flash of light whilst these infinitely small particles are passing through the flame, thus establishing the fact that luminosity is due to the presence of unconsumed solid matter in the flame. This experiment is sometimes called “making artificial lightning,” and in a dark room it is very effective. (See Fig. 14.)

Fig. 14.

Flames that Laugh.—What makes the candle flame burn steadily is the next problem before us, and we shall see that it is very simple and at the same time most philosophical. It tells us the reason why candles are made round, and not square. The section of a candle being circular, with the wick in the centre, it can, as it burns, get its supply of oxygen from all directions at an equal distance; thus it burns regularly and steadily. If the candle were square, the four corners being at a greater distance from the wick than the sides, we should have four columns of fat standing up at the corners, and as the air rushed in to feed the flame it would come into contact with these, and so the current would be broken and the flame would become unsteady. We can show this by placing some cotton wool on tin dishes, and saturating it with methylated spirits and igniting it. This will give us what are known as laughing flames, because they burn so unsteadily. The air rushing in to feed the flame comes into contact with the wool, which impedes it, and so the flame has a dancing or laughing appearance. This experiment may be made very pretty by rendering the flames coloured. To do this add to the cotton wool, before pouring on the methylated spirit, chloride of copper; this will give a green flame; to another, chloride of strontium; this will colour the flame red; to another, common salt; this will give a yellow coloration. All these should be shown in a dark room.

Fig. 15.

The Importance of Oxygen.—By previous experiment we have seen that oxygen is necessary to a flame, and our ingenious readers may now make a piece of apparatus to prove this. (See Fig. 15.) It consists of two pieces of glass tube standing upright near the two ends of a board, in which there is a covered channel communicating with the two. A small candle is lighted and placed in one of the tubes. The air heated by the flame rises in the tube and causes a corresponding descent of cold air down the other tube. This gives us a good illustration of ventilation produced by artificial heat. So great is the down draught, that if we hold a lighted taper over the mouth of the cold tube the smoke and the flame will be carried down, with the result that the candle is soon extinguished. The reason for this is that the smoke and burnt air from the taper contain insufficient oxygen to feed the candle flame, and it dies. To make this apparatus, obtain a piece of deal board about ten inches long and four inches wide, cut along the middle a groove about three quarters of an inch deep, and about the same width, leaving about half an inch at each end uncut. Cover this groove with a tightly-fitting slip. Over the two ends of the groove are fastened two small blocks of cork pierced with apertures, into which fit the vertical glass tubes; these should be about ten inches high and about three-quarters of an inch bore. Fig. 16, which is a section of one end of the apparatus, shows how a small candle like those used on Christmas trees is held erect by a wooden socket at the end of the groove so as not to impede the current of fresh air.

Fig. 16.

Rates of Combustion.—We must remember that all things do not burn at the same rate. Iron rust is a product of very slow combustion. In using up food to maintain the heat of the body, combustion goes on more quickly than in rusting iron, the candle burns more quickly still, gas still faster, the Bunsen burner faster still. We may get an idea of the different rates of combustion by the two following experiments. On a tin dish place half a thimbleful of gunpowder and lay on it a tiny piece of gun-cotton. Ignite the gun-cotton; it burns so fast that it has no time to set fire to the gunpowder, which may now be ignited in its turn by the taper. Another example is the laying of two long trains of gunpowder, one fine grain and the other coarse. It will be found that the two flames travel at very different rates along the same path.

The Egg and Bottle Trick.—An ordinary water-bottle, a hard-boiled egg, divested of its shell, and a piece of thin paper are all that is requisite. How can we make this egg get inside the bottle? Light the paper, quickly thrust it into the bottle, and immediately place the egg over the mouth of the bottle, gently pressing it closely down to the glass. The burning paper consumes some of the air, a partial vacuum is formed, and air pressure will force the egg into the bottle with a loud detonation. (See Fig. 17.)

Fig. 17.

Making Water Boil by Means of Coldness.—Heat some water to boiling in a glass flask over a spirit lamp. After the water has boiled for a minute or two, quickly insert a well-fitting cork, and remove the flask from the flame. Wrap a duster or towel round the neck of the flask, and, holding it over a basin (in case of breakage), pour gently a stream of cold water on to the flask. The steam inside is condensed, a partial vacuum is formed, and as long as any heat remains in the water, it will boil, whilst the stream of cold water is continued on the outside. When ebullition no longer occurs, it will be found that the cork is held in so tightly by air pressure that it is very difficult to draw it. (See Fig. 18.)

Fig. 18.

Fire Designs.—This is very simple, amusing, and effective. Make a saturated solution of nitrate of potash (common nitre or saltpetre), by dissolving the substance in warm water, until no more will dissolve; then draw with a smooth stick of wood any design or wording on sheets of white tissue paper, let it thoroughly dry, and the drawing will become invisible. By means of a spark from a smouldering match ignite the potassium nitrate at any part of the drawing, first laying the paper on a plate or tray in a darkened room. The fire will smoulder along the line of the invisible drawing until the design is complete. (See Fig. 19.)

Fig. 19.

The Magic Wine Glass.—The holding of a wine-glass to a substance mouth upwards without its falling off, may be accomplished thus. Obtain a wine-glass with a very even edge (this may be done by grinding on a flat stone), a square of blotting-paper, and a piece of glass. About half fill the glass with water, place upon its rim the blotting paper, and then the piece of glass. Whilst pressing them closely down invert the glass. The blotting-paper absorbs some of the water, a partial vacuum is formed, and on holding the sheet of glass, the wine-glass will remain suspended, being held on by atmospheric pressure. (See Fig. 20.)

Fig. 20.

The Floating Needle.—The idea of making a needle float upon water at first sight seems an impossibility but it can be done, and that with comparative ease. Take a fine needle, and rub the fingers over it gently to grease it. Now lay it very carefully on a piece of thin tissue paper on the surface of the water, as shown. Presently the paper will sink, and leave the needle floating on the water. The thin coating of grease serves to protect the needle from actual contact with the water, and thus enables it to float. (See Fig. 21.)

Fig. 21.

A Glass of Water Turned Upside Down.—A tumbler is filled with water, a piece of paper laid on, and the surface and the tumbler deftly inverted, the atmospheric pressure being unable to enter the glass, the water is kept in, so long as the paper holds. The effect of the experiment is very greatly increased, if, instead of using paper, a piece of thin mica, cut to the size of the glass, is used. The audience cannot then discover what prevents the water from running out. Any gasfitter will supply a piece of mica.

The Inexhaustible Bottle.—This wonderful bottle, from which five separate liquids can be poured, owes its marvellous qualities to the application of the simple law of atmospheric pressure. It is made of tin, and encloses five internal cylinders, each of which has a tube from the upper end running into the neck of the bottle, and another tube from the lower end opening into the side. The cylinders are filled with different liquids—water, milk, tea, coffee, lemonade. Whilst the fingers are kept over the holes the bottle may be inverted, and nothing will run out. On opening the holes one by one the liquid may be poured out, according to the wishes of the audience, and greatly to their astonishment. (See Fig. 22.)

Fig. 22.

The Magic Writing.—Fill a deep tumbler with water, and add a few crystals of iodide of potassium and a few drops of sulphuric acid. The liquid will remain perfectly clear like water. On some strips of white cardboard write various names with starch paste; when dry these will be invisible. On dipping the cardboard into the liquid the name will appear in blue writing, owing to the formation of starch iodide, which is blue. By previously preparing the names of those present at the experiment, by a little manipulation you can, to the astonishment of the audience, produce any name called for.

Producing Smoke at Will.—Two glass cylinders are the best for this, but ordinary tumblers will do. With a separate feather make the inside of each tumbler quite wet, one with hydrochloric acid, and the other with liquid ammonia. Both glasses appear to be quite empty, and nothing occurs. But on bringing the mouths of the two vessels together, a thick white smoke is at once developed. The hydrochloric acid gas and the ammonia gas unite chemically, and form the solid white powder known as sal-ammoniac. (See Fig. 23.)

Fig. 23.

A Novel Fountain.—This is a pretty experiment, and owes its action to the fact that ammonia gas is very soluble in water. In a basin place some water. Fit up a flask with a small-bore glass tube, about eighteen inches long, as shown. The end entering the flask should be drawn out so that there is only a small opening. In the flask place about a teaspoonful of liquid ammonia, and heat it over a spirit lamp. As soon as the liquid boils a large amount of ammonia gas is disengaged, and fills the flask and the tube. Now close the tube by means of the finger, and invert the flask over the basin of water. When the end of the tube is under the water remove your finger, and then, as the water dissolves the gas, it will rise in the tube, and will presently play into the flask like a fountain until the flask is full. (See Fig. 24.)

Fig. 24.

To Boil Water in a Paper Bag.—“Here is a sheet of note-paper; can you boil me a little water in it?” This would appear to be a thorough puzzler, yet it is exceedingly easy to do. Fold a piece of paper so that it will hold water, now suspend it above the flame of a lamp. The water will so readily take up all the heat that there is none left with which to burn the paper, and presently it will bubble and give off steam. (See Fig. 25.)

Fig. 25.

Illuminated Water.—Wet a lump of loaf sugar with phosphorized ether, and throw it into a basin of water in a dark room. The surface of the water will become luminous. Blow on the water, and you will have phosphorescent waves, and the air, too, will be illuminated. In winter the water should be warmed a little. If the phosphorized ether be applied to the hand or to other warm bodies these will become luminous. The ether will not injure the hand.

Brilliant Crystals.—Spread upon a plate of glass or upon a smooth slate, a few drops of nitrate of silver, previously diluted with double its quantity of soft water. Place at the bottom of it, flat upon the glass, and in contact with the fluid, a copper or zinc wire, bent to any figure, and let the whole remain undisturbed in a horizontal position. In a few hours a brilliant crystallization of metallic silver will make its appearance around the wire upon the glass, and this arrangement of crystals will extend gradually till the whole quantity of fluid has been acted on by the wire.

A Well of Fire.—Add gradually one ounce, by measure, of sulphuric acid, to five or six ounces of water 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 will 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.

The Writing on the Wall.—Take a piece of phosphorus from the bottle in which it is kept, and, while the room is lighted write upon a whitewashed wall any word or sentence, or draw any object. Now put out the light, and the writing will appear in illuminated letters. Care must be taken to dip the pencil of phosphorus in cold water frequently while you are using it. Otherwise it will burn.

To Make a Ghost.—Put one part of phosphorus into six of olive oil, and let it dissolve in a slightly warm place. Shut your eyes tightly and rub the mixture upon your face. In the dark your face will be luminous, your eyes and mouth like dark spots. Altogether you will have a very ghastly appearance. There is no danger in the experiment, and the effect might be useful in charades or home theatricals.

A Seeming Conflagration.—Take half an ounce of sal-ammoniac, one ounce of camphor, and two ounces of aqua vitae. Put them into an earthen vessel that is small at the top. Set fire to the contents, and the room will seem to be on fire.

Three Haloes.—One of the pleasing experiments of Dr. Brewster was to take a saturated solution of alum, and having spread a few drops of it over a plate of glass, it will crystallize rapidly though the crystals are so small you may scarcely see them. When this plate of glass is held between you and the sun or artificial light, with the eyes very near to the smooth side of the glass, there will be seen three beautiful haloes of light.

Beautiful Crystals.—Pour three ounces of diluted nitric acid into a glass vessel, and add gradually to it two ounces of bismuth, broken by a hammer into small pieces. The metal will be attacked with great energy, and nitrate of bismuth will be formed. Crystallize the solution by a gentle heat, and preserve the crystals, which possess great beauty, under a glass.

The Centre of Gravity.—A shilling may be made to balance on the point of a needle with very simple apparatus. Put a bottle on the table with a cork in its neck; into the cork stick a middle-sized needle in an upright position. In another cork cut a slit, and insert the shilling, then into this cork stick a couple of forks, one on each side, with the handles inclining outwards. Now poise the rim of the shilling upon the point of the needle, and it will rotate without falling. So long as the centre of gravity is kept within the points of support of a body it cannot fall. The balancing shilling may be transposed to the edge of a bottle, and it will still perform, even as the bottle is being tilted.

What a Vacuum Can Do.—Take a new or nearly new penny and rub it briskly upon your coat sleeve until it is warm. Then slide it up and down upon a door panel, pressing it closely to the wood. Now hold it in one place for a few seconds and you will find it will stick there, because between the penny and the surface of the door there is a layer of air which was slightly heated. As it became cool a partial vacuum was formed, and the pressure of the outer air held the penny to the door.

An Experiment in Leverage.—It would seem almost impossible that a column of iron or a plank or a spar of any kind could be so placed that one end of the spar needs support only, whilst the other end would extend from, say the edge of a precipice, horizontally into space; but that such can be done is very easily demonstrated, by very simple materials almost always at hand. By adopting the principle we may easily perform an interesting scientific parlour experiment, which always causes difficulty to the non-studious section of humanity, until the apparent mystery is explained.

In illustrating this experiment the prongs of two ordinary table forks are fastened together, one over the other—net fashion—thus causing the handles of the forks to form the termini of an angle of about 45 degrees. Now take an ordinary lucifer match and place one end between the network of the prongs firmly. Then place the other end of the match upon the edge of an elevation, such as a tumbler or cup, when the match, acting as a lever, with the forks giving a hundred or a thousand times additional weight to the lever, will rest (or apparently float in the air) without further support.

Ask your friends to try the experiment, after placing the materials before them, and find how many can perform it without guidance.

Coloured Fires.—It is perilous to make some coloured fires, especially those in which there is sulphur, and even if they do not explode their fumes are harmful, so that their use in the house for charades or other home purposes is objectionable and at times positively dangerous. We give, however, a number of coloured fires that are free from these drawbacks, though all the same it is wiser to reduce the ingredients to powder quite separately before they are mixed, and if a pestle and mortar are used all traces of one powder should be removed before another is introduced. Each ingredient should be reduced to a fine powder.

Red Fire.
	Parts.
Strontia	18
Shellac	4
Chlorate of Potash	5
Charcoal	4
Green Fire.
Nitrate of Barytes	18
Shellac	4
Calomel (Chloride of Mercury)	4
Chlorate of Potash	2
Green Fire.
Nitrate of Barytes	9
Shellac	3
Chlorate of Potash	12
Charcoal	4
Blue Fire.
Chlorate of Potash	14
Salpetre	6
Ammonia Sulphate of Copper	6
Arsenite of Copper	6
Shellac	2
Blue Fire.
Ammonia Sulphate of Copper	8
Chlorate of Potash	6
Shellac	1
Charcoal	2
Red Fire.
Nitrate of Strontia	9
Shellac	3
Chlorate of Potash	1½
Charcoal	4

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CHAPTER XXIII.
HOME-MADE TOYS

It may be that some of these toys would amuse only little boys, but we have included them because our directions will enable older boys to entertain their little sisters and brothers.

How to Make Fire Balloons.—You will require for materials, tissue paper, which may be all white, or varied in colour. A balloon of white and red gores alternately is perhaps the best, as it may be used day or night; and as the balloon is constantly turning when it is in the air, the stripes add to the effect. Then again there are conditions of the clouds and atmosphere when a white balloon ascending by daylight would be scarcely visible, and for parachute purposes a daylight ascent is desirable. Tissue paper, then, paste, bonnet wire or cane, finer wire; some tow, cotton wool, or common sponge, or better than all, some round lamp-cotton, and methylated spirit or tallow, as fuel for your furnace.

The shaping of the gores which are to form your balloon must be your first consideration. You will find it advisable not to go in for overgrown balloons. They are far more troublesome to build, and to manage when they are built, and are little if any more effective than those of moderate dimensions. About four feet in height is the size which produces the best results, and in making it one is neither cramped for room, nor are the gores of unmanageable proportions.

Twelve or fourteen gores, if you use two colours, or thirteen if you confine yourself to one, will be needed; and it will be wise not to attempt to emulate the graceful pear-shape of the ordinary passenger gas balloon, but to aim at something approaching much nearer to a ball in form. The pear-shaped balloon would take fire to a certainty. Fig. 1 is an example of the unsafe form which is to be avoided; Fig. 2 is a perfectly safe model.

Fire Balloons.

A piece of common cardboard or stout brown paper, six feet in length and a foot in width, will serve for a pattern gore. Fold it exactly in half lengthwise, and then mark off each foot, beginning at the bottom (Fig. 3). At a measure off horizontally 2 inches; at b, which is the first foot, 3½ inches; at c, 5 inches; at a point 4 inches above d, the third foot, measure off 6 inches; at e 5½ inches, marking each point. Then connect the points by as graceful a curve as may be, and cut through the line thus obtained, unfold the pattern, and you have your standard gore.

Sufficient tissue paper should have been pasted together by the narrow edges from which to cut the 12, 13, or 14 lengths of 6 feet each. The sheets should now be placed one upon the other, and the pattern being opened out and laid upon the top, the whole of the gores may be cut at one operation.

Fold a gore in half lengthwise and lay it upon your table or the floor, and upon this place a second about half an inch within the margin of the first (Fig. 4). With a stiff brush—sable is the best—paste the protruding edge of the lower gore, turn it over the edge of the upper and smooth it down with a duster. If you have a warm flat-iron by your side, and laying a piece of flannel or cloth over the join, you run the iron carefully along, the paste will dry at once and all fear of puckering or displacement will be obviated. Fold the upper gore lengthwise as you did the lower, and proceed in the same way with the remainder of the gores until the whole have been pasted (Fig. 5). If your balloon is a very big one it will be advisable to lay a string inside each seam as you paste it, leaving the ends long enough to tie round the hoop which is to go at the bottom or neck of your balloon.

A piece of bonnet wire or split cane 5 feet long, bent to a circle, will form this hoop, and this must now be pasted at the bottom, and the neck may be strengthened by pasting inside a strip of stouter paper, such as foolscap or cartridge, snicked with the scissors so that it may take the right shape readily.

Now a circular piece of stronger paper, “curl” paper for instance, about 9 inches or a foot across, should be pasted over the top to cover the hole where the points of the gores approach each other, and to this should be pasted a piece of yet stronger paper, writing paper for instance, to form the loop by which the balloon is to be supported during the process of inflation. The handle of a saucepan-lid should be the model to be followed.

This is the method to be adopted if you want to produce a balloon of a shape which will bear criticism, but if you are not particular in this respect, a rough and ready gore may be made by a much simpler process. You have only to take four sheets of tissue paper and paste them together by the narrow edges. Then trim off the two outside sheets as shown in Fig. 6, and from the pieces so trimmed off, add a small piece at the top A, and there is your pattern gore in a little less than no time. You can then paste several together as already directed, arranging the number as you wish your balloon to be pudgy and safe, or lanky and dangerous.

The next thing is to provide the means of ascension.

Figs. 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., and 9.

Figs. 10., 11., 12., 13., 14., 15., 16., 17., 18., 19., and 20.

Lamp cotton is the best material for the wick, though any of the other substances already mentioned may be used if this is not come-at-able. It may be saturated with methylated spirit, or, if the material is easily accessible, melted tallow. In the latter case the wick should then be sprinkled with turpentine that it may catch fire readily. The tallow gives the best light, and lasts the longest.

Two pieces of thin wire should be attached to the hoop as shown in Fig. 7, W W, and your ball of lamp-wick is to be placed in the centre, L W. The placing of the wick is the last operation, but of course, it will have been prepared beforehand. It is simply a loosely rolled ball of lamp-cotton through which a piece of fine wire has been passed and the ends formed into hooks (Fig. 8). The size of the ball must be governed by the dimensions of the balloon and by your ambition as to the height to which it is to rise. The wick may easily be made large enough to carry the balloon out of sight altogether, especially if tallow be used.

In this case the wick should have been saturated with melted tallow beforehand, but where methylated spirit is used the proceedings must be delayed till the moment of ascension.

With a fan—a folded newspaper will do as well as anything—fan the balloon full of air to start with. Then your assistant must elevate the balloon to the right height by the aid of a smooth stick inserted in the loop, and he must stand on something to raise him to the right level.

Now the air in the inflated balloon must be warmed by holding beneath it a paper torch, care being taken that no flame touches the balloon, or it will be shrivelled up by the fire in a moment and your labour wasted.

Another assistant meanwhile should have been looking after the methylated spirit—if you use the tallow you can do without him. The spirit should be kept in a closely corked bottle and as far from your paper torch as possible. When the balloon begins to try to rise give the word to assistant No. 2, who will pour some of the spirit into the jam-pot in which the wick is lying, wait till it is saturated, and then, taking it from the jam-pot, run with it to the balloon and attach it to the cross wire by the hooks. Directly it is in position, give the word to assistant No. 1 to let go; touch the wick with a light, and up will sail the balloon into the air. A windy day should, naturally, be avoided, or your balloon is not likely to proceed far on its journey in safety.

But a good deal more is to be got out of a fire balloon than a mere ascension, and even the mere ascension may be improved. You may, for instance, attach a car to the balloon (Fig. 9) and a couple of figures A A—it matters little how rough they are—will, very shortly after the liberation of the balloon, look so natural that the balloon will be taken for the real thing. When it has mounted but a little distance there is nothing by which its size may be compared, and if netting is imitated by lines drawn with a pen and ink, the illusion will be yet more complete.

The car may be made of a square of writing paper with the four edges folded over equally all round. The corners should then be pinched together, folded over as in the illustration, and secured with a little paste.

A parachute may be dropped “from the clouds.” This may be simply a square of paper with a string at each corner and a figure hanging on at the ends (Fig. 11). The figure may be as rough as you like, detail would be lost. Or, two squares of paper may be used, the strings being crossed over the lower and kept in place by the upper, which should be pasted upon it (Fig. 15).

A more elaborate parachute may be made by folding a square of paper from corner to corner into a triangle. This should be folded again and once again from corner to corner when it will take the shape of Fig. 12. A cut through the dotted line and a couple of holes pierced at the dots will give, when opened out, Fig. 13; and a string passed through each hole and made to carry a car will give the complete parachute (Fig. 14).

A piece of cotton or twine should be passed through the parachute to attach it to the balloon. Then a piece of wire should be twisted and bent, as in Fig. 10, w. Fasten to this with thin wire a piece of time-fuse, t f, turned up as shown, and to the bend b attach the cotton. At the moment of ascension, light the top end of the fuse at a, and when it has burned to b the parachute will be liberated.

Fireworks may be lighted in the same way. You will need time-fuse, quickmatch, and such fireworks as you prefer. Blue lights, squibs, and fireworks of that description should be arranged as in Fig. 20. Here c is a cork or bung with holes bored in it for the insertion of the fireworks f f f f. Q is the quickmatch which is to light them simultaneously when the time-fuse, t f, has burnt far enough. A catherine wheel may be pinned at the bottom of the cork and connected with the quickmatch, or the pin may be dispensed with, when it will whizz through the darkness in grand style.

One of the most successful effects may be obtained with the balls or stars from Roman candles. You can, of course, pull the candles to pieces, but a better plan is to buy the balls at 6d. a dozen.

Bend a piece of wire into a circle (Fig. 16) and take two wires across at a right angle. Then place the balls, one by one, in pieces of tissue paper and cover them with meal powder and tie up the ends (Fig. 17), fastening them on the wire, as shown in Fig. 16. A piece of time-fuse, or quickmatch, q, as you want the stars to drop singly or in a shower, must next be passed through each ball packet and connected with lighted time-fuse. Of course the fireworks should hang some distance below the balloon. Crackers or maroons may be arranged as in Figs. 18 and 19, and many other devices invented.

Your balloon may also carry up a piece of magnesium wire with which the country may be lighted up, or it may take up a Chinese lantern—in fact there is no end to the fun which may be got out of it. You will find it difficult, however, to get an effect to beat the Roman candle balls.

Quickmatch costs 2d. or 3d. a six-feet length, according to the thickness required; time-fuse one penny an inch.

Bubble Balloons.—One reason for the short life of the bubble as usually blown is the excessive evaporation which takes place from the large surface presented to the air. As this evaporation of the fluid goes on, the film gets thinner, the tension gets more acute, accompanied by ever changing and brightening hues of colour, until the thin walls can no longer bear the strain, and the bubble bursts into fine spray. Another, perhaps, more powerful reason is the unequal strength of the walls, due to the drainage of the moisture from the upper parts of the bubble into the lower parts by its own weight. This produces a weak and thin area, denoted by the refraction of the blue rays of light in the top of the bubble, and it cannot resist the pressure from within. There are two ways of prolonging the life of a bubble. When the breath is first driven into the liquid, the force used is sufficient to send the fluid surging in all directions, and the film is fairly well nourished. Presently as the soapy water dipped out by the bowl of the pipe gets distributed over the walls of the bubble and it increases in size, this no longer acts, and drainage from the top at once sets in. If the blowing is now continued, the end so much the more quickly approaches. To enable you to continue enlarging the bubble and lengthen its life, feed it. This may be done readily and safely, by dipping a camel-hair brush in the soapy emulsion and, letting it touch the bubble at the top, when the fluid will stream down over the surface, thickening the film, and permitting you to get a bubble as big as your hat.

This is only a temporary expedient, a flank movement, and merely defers the end by a minute or two. To attack the difficulty with more success, change the mixture. Shred some Castile soap, which may be purchased by the pennyworth at the chemist’s, and beat up in the usual way with water; you will find that much more can be done with this preparation than the usual household soap. If your aim is merely to produce an overgrown, sagging, wobbling bubble, feed with a brush as above. For further experiments do not blow large unmanageable ones, but an ordinary sized bubble blown in this liquid will enable you to show its toughness, length of life, and other qualities. If your coat is made of a woollen fabric, release some bubbles on the shoulder; they will roll down the sleeve and tumble off to the floor, if they do not meet with any cotton fabric on the way; This is due to the repulsion which exists between wool and the watery film, doubtless due to the presence of fat in some form upon the fibres. While upon the sleeve they may be carried about the room, or passed from one person to another. This repulsion may be further utilized, too, and the bubble treated as a shuttlecock.

To do this, procure the ordinary wooden bat used by your sister for the game of bat and shuttlecock. Cover it with a piece of flannel, fine or coarse will do. Then blow a bubble not too large, so that the film shall be robust and heavy. Such is the toughness of the skin of the bubble, and the repulsion of the woollen surface to the soapy film, that it may be batted nearly two hundred times before the collapse takes place. By striking it on the side and getting some work into the bubble, it revolves slowly and the drainage from the upper part is counteracted. Two or more can play thus with the glittering ball, passing it on, or a ring of players may be formed and a stream of bubbles passed round from one member to another. Another form of the game is the keeping up a number of bubbles by the same bat. As the bubbles are very light they fall slowly, and six or eight may be kept up by the player. By having two bats, one in each hand, this becomes a game of considerable skill, and will tax the concentrated attention of the player to the utmost.

Now cut some circular discs out of note-paper about the size of a sixpence, larger rather than smaller. Get a reel of fine white cotton, and pass the end of the thread through the centre of the disc. Tie a knot in the cotton, so that it cannot readily be pulled through the hole. Then dip the disc in the mixture till the paper is wet. Blow your bubble, and before you release it from the pipe bowl, place the dripping disc of paper on the side of the bubble by dangling it from your right hand by the cotton. When it is in complete contact, a slight turn of the wrist releases the bubble from the pipe, and you will find that you have it attached to the paper disc, which in the meantime has sunk to the lowest part of the bubble. It can now be carried about by means of the disc.

There is so much carbon dioxide in the breath that bubbles blown in this way have very little power of rising, as the difference in the heat of the breath does not sufficiently counterbalance the heavier weight of the expired air. By attaching a piece of india-rubber tubing to the stem of the pipe and gas burner, you can get a supply of lighter gas which will make the bubble into a balloon. Having effected this arrangement, dip the pipe in the mixture and turn on the gas. Feed the top of the bubble with more fluid, and when it has reached a size which satisfies you, attach the paper disc as before. It will be an easy task to detach the bubble, which will rise towards the ceiling, until the weight of the thread counterbalances the buoyancy of the gas. It will probably rise to the ceiling, where it is quite safe, as a cushion of air will prevent the bubble striking the surface. Instead of the long thread, make out of the thinnest and lightest paper you can get, a small car, attach cotton to the corners of the car and gather the threads together and tie them so that the car hangs level. Attach this to the cotton which bears the paper disc, and connect the disc with the bubble as before, wetting only the disc. You will have a miniature gossamer balloon. Cut out two small figures of men in paper and put inside the car. Do all this before blowing the bubble. If you have a glass shade, a number of these bubbles balanced by threads may be kept for hours inside. You will find it very interesting to watch the changes of colour in the films as they get thinner through evaporation. To check this, put under the shade a wet sponge, this will moisten the air enclosed in the shade, and prolong the life of the bubbles.

No great skill is required in making the above experiments, and variations of an amusing character can be made by cutting out figures of animals and men and attaching them to the disc in place of the car. If the figures are painted so much better will the trick look. To make the mixture still stronger add nearly half as much again of pure glycerine.

Boxing by Electricity.

Boxing by Electricity.—A B C is a piece of iron wire inserted in the board D E F G. Cut out the boxer H in cardboard. On one side of this figure paste tinfoil bringing the tinfoil to the other side of the figure just a little at the edges. You will be able to get your tinfoil from the packages of tea, chocolate, tobacco or other source. Fasten the boxer to the board with sealing-wax. Now make the other boxer I in the same way and suspend him from the iron wire by means of thread. Borrow a lamp glass or the chimney from the incandescent gas burner and fit a cork K into the bottom. Through the cork pass a nail L. Connect the nail with the boxer by means of the wire M. Warm and dry the lamp chimney, and rub it with fur or silk. The boxer I will rush at boxer H, then retreat hurriedly, and this will be repeated as long as you rub the lamp chimney. Men, skilled in the science of electricity, will tell you that the reason for these strange proceedings is that the rubbing of the lamp chimney produces electricity; this passes along the wire to boxer H who becomes charged with the mysterious property. This electricity attracts boxer I who goes for boxer H. When he touches he becomes charged with the same kind of electricity and is then attracted no longer but repelled, and he continues to be repelled until his electricity has drained away by the linen thread, wire and board to the earth. Then he is ready for another “round.”

A Prancing Horse.

A Prancing Horse.—Carve the figure of a horse, and having fixed a bent wire to the under part of its body, place a small ball of lead upon the end of the wire. Place the hind legs of the horse upon the table, and it will prance to and fro. Sometimes the figure of a man is treated in the same way and in Yorkshire it used to be called a “Saaging Tommy,” to saag being an old word meaning to saw or see-saw.

Boats Made of Pasteboard.—Pasteboard is not a very satisfactory material of which to construct model boats, if these are wanted to sail, but it is possible to make them. The best plan for making pasteboard waterproof is to paint it with a solution of sealing wax. To make this, take sealing wax of the colour you prefer, break it into small pieces and place it in a wide-mouthed bottle. Now pour in some methylated spirits and shake occasionally until the wax is all dissolved. If too thick, add more spirit; if too thin, more wax. Apply with a brush. Owing to the evaporation of the spirit, this paint dries hard and glossy in an hour.

A Simple Top.

A Simple Top.—Procure a piece of white cardboard, two inches square, and cut it into a sexagon, as shown in Fig. 1. Now bore a small hole in the middle, into which push an ordinary match. You may number the sections of the sexagon and see who scores the highest number, counting the figure resting against the table as it falls. Fig. 2 shows the top complete.

The Apple or Potato Mill

The Apple or Potato Mill.—This is made by boring a hole in a nut, just large enough to pass a thin skewer through; the kernel should then be extracted, and another hole bored in the side of the nut, as in the diagram. A skewer should next be cut large enough at the top to form a head. A piece of string is then tied to the skewer, and passed through the hole in the side of the nut, and an apple or potato stuck on the end of the skewer. The mill should be twirled round in the same way as the humming top to wind up the string, holding the nut stationary between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand. When this is done, the string must be pulled out rapidly, and the mill will spin. Many other toys may be made upon the same principle, and some of these we will now describe.

Whirling Mac.

Whirling Mac.—Our illustration shows how the apple mill may be modified for a whirling Mac. The arms and legs of the figure should be tied loosely to the body and the skirt should be loose too. Tie the string to the spindle inside the nut and have a button on the end of the string so that you may have a firm hold. Now twist the figure round until all the string is wound, then hold the nut firmly in your left hand and draw the string out suddenly and swiftly with your right hand. The figure will whirl round, throwing out his arms and legs. When the string comes to an end slacken it, and the impetus of the figure will cause it to wind the string again. Thus you may go on and on until you are tired.

Figs. 1., 2., 3., and 4.
Flying Machine.

A Flying Machine.—Similar in principle is the flying machine now to be described. In Fig. 1 a is a handle cut in any hard wood four and a half inches long. Into the top of this handle bore a hole down its centre about one inch deep, and force into this a piece of wire so that the wire will be quite firm. This wire should be of iron or steel, with a diameter of one-eighth of an inch, and it should be about three and a half inches long. It will be easier to force the wire into the wood if it is sharpened. The hole you have bored is only an inch deep; force the wire half an inch deeper than that. Obtain now from your mother or sister an ordinary cotton spool about one and a quarter inches long. This is shown at b in Fig. 1. In the same figure c is a kind of wheel made as follows. If you cannot find something ready made take a small piece of well-seasoned wood. Cut it until it is an inch in diameter and five-eighths of an inch deep. See Fig. 2. Down the middle bore the hole a large enough that the wire you put down the handle in Fig. 1 may turn easily in it. Mark the upper surface of the wheel into four equal parts, and then you will be able to draw four perpendicular lines round this wheel at equal distances. Two of these lines are shown in Fig. 3.

Now draw the line a b in Fig. 3 half way down the wheel. Follow this line round and bore four pairs of holes as deeply as you can without piercing the centre hole. One pair is shown in Fig. 3. Each little hole is about a quarter of an inch from its neighbour. These pairs of holes must be the same distance from each other; they are for the wings you see in Fig. 1, and which we will now proceed to make. Take forty-two inches of light brass wire. Divide this into four equal parts. You will then have four pieces of ten and a half inches each. Bend each one into the shape shown in Fig. 4. These wings will be about four inches long and about two inches broad at their widest part. The ends of the wire should be about a quarter of an inch apart. Cover these wire frames with light tough paper, using as little paste as possible. The wings are inserted slanting like the sails of a windmill. Now let us go back to the spool. Upon the upper surface midway between its centre hole and the edge of the spool insert a piece of strong wire or the end of a broken knitting needle. The wire should be rigid, and should project from the spool about half an inch. When you put your wheel and wings upon the spool this wire will rest beside one of the wings and cause it to turn when the spool turns. Now take a piece of cord and wind it away from you with your right hand round the spool. Hold the handle firmly in your left hand and withdraw the string rapidly. The wheel and wings will mount rapidly in the air for about fifty feet and then come steadily down.

A Dancing Figure.

A Dancing Figure.—The illustration shows the back view of a toy easily constructed but capable of affording much amusement to the little ones. A is an ordinary lath glued to a cardboard figure of a man. The arms and legs too are of cardboard fixed loosely with short string knotted at each end. At the extremities of the arms and legs the strings B and C are tied and connected with the string D. Pull the string D and the figure will throw up his arms and legs wildly. Bears and other figures may be made upon the same principle. A string F may be put at E and then the lath is not necessary, for the performer can then hold string F in one hand and pull string D with the other.

The Lively Donkey.

The Lively Donkey.—On stout paper or cardboard draw upon a large scale the illustration. Divide the drawing into three parts by cutting out the circle. You may now pin the parts upon the wall in such attitudes as are shown in the smaller illustration, or if you cut out many donkeys you may have all these attitudes and more.

Camera Obscura.

A Camera Obscura.—Obtain an oblong box, about two feet long, twelve inches wide, and eight high. In one end of this a tube must be fitted containing a lens. It must be possible to slide the tube backwards and forwards so as to obtain the focus. Inside the box should be a plain mirror reclining backwards from the tube at an angle of forty-five degrees. See A B in the Figure. At the top of the box at C is a square of frosted glass or a piece of tissue paper, upon which from beneath the picture will be thrown, and may be seen by raising the lid D. To use the camera place the tube with the lens in it opposite the object or scene, and having adjusted the focus, the image will be thrown upon the ground-glass or tissue paper.

Jig Saw Puzzle.—This old form of toy has been revived lately. It is easily made. Glue upon a thin piece of wood a picture, a coloured one is best. Then with a fret saw cut picture and board into all manner of wild shapes, shake them into disorder and then try to put them back again into their proper position. Jig saw is a piece of American slang for fret saw.

The Wonderful Chicken.

The Wonderful Chicken.—With the help of the diagram it will not be difficult to construct a chicken that will move its head and tail in a comic manner. A B C D is a box that acts as a base and conceals the pendulum. It will need to have a slit in the top for the strings which hold the pendulum. The chicken is of wood and its body has two sides. One side has been removed so that the mechanism may be seen, but when the chicken is complete the mechanism is hidden. It will be seen that the head and tail are attached to the body with nails, but in such a way that they are not rigid but will move up and down. E is a pendulum of lead or other heavy material, and as it swings to and fro the strings cause the head and tail to bob up and down alternately. Other moving figures may be made upon the same principle. Longer strings, and a longer box to accommodate them, give slower and more lasting movements.

The Mouse in the Trap.

The Mouse in the Trap.—Cut a piece of cardboard of the size of a penny, and paint on one side a mouse, and on the other a trap; fasten two pieces of thread one on each side at opposite points of the card, so that the card can be made to revolve by twirling the threads with the finger and thumb. While the toy is in its revolution, the mouse will be seen inside the trap. Many others may be made upon the same principle.

Distorted Landscapes.—Take a piece of smooth white pasteboard and sketch a picture upon it. Prick the outlines in every part with a pin or needle, then put the pricked drawing in a perpendicular position, and place a lighted candle behind it. Stand in front of it another piece of pasteboard, and trace with a pencil the lines given by the light, and you will have a peculiar distorted landscape. Take away the candle and the pricked drawing, and put your eye where the light was, and the drawing will lose its peculiarities. To find the proper position for your eye it will be best to cut out a piece of card, adjust it, and look through a hole made to occupy the place where stood the flame of the candle.

Fig. 1., Fig. 2., and Fig. 3.

The Working Woodman.—The wind, as well as a pendulum, may be used to make wooden figures move. In Fig. 1 we have two pieces of wood, each an inch thick, an inch and a half wide, and twelve inches long. If we place them as in Fig. 1 we have four arms five and a quarter inches long. Each one of these four arms has now to be cut into a shape to adapt it as a windmill sail; that is it has to be made into a slanting thin blade not more than an eighth of an inch thick, and all the blades must present a similar slope to the wind. As mistakes are likely to occur, here we will endeavour to make the point clear. Take the arm A, Fig. 2. Suppose you have slanted this from x to y. Now imagine that B comes round to A’s position, then it, too, must be sloped in precisely the same way, and not sloped from y to x. The same applies to arms C and D. Imagine them coming to this upright position, and make them all alike as they arrive there.

Fig. 4.

The method of fixing the four arms into one piece is shown in Fig. 3. A hole should now be bored exactly in the centre at the crossing of the arms. The platform upon which the figure of the woodman will stand, shown in Fig. 4, consists of a piece of wood half an inch thick, six inches wide and twelve inches long. At each end is screwed a block to hold the shaft which communicates the movement of the sails to the figure. This shaft is a piece of strong wire fifteen inches long, bent into a crank, as shown in the diagram, and working round and round in the two blocks. The end of the wire that comes through the centre of the windmill sails should be bent up or down to prevent it from slipping out of position. The vane, which will cause the mill to keep in the right position whichever way the wind blows, is shown twice in Fig. 4. It is of thin wood, and is fastened to the underside of the platform by means of the little catch, which should be left when the vane is made. The figures whose parts are shown should be cut out of thin wood with a fret-saw, and put together so that the joints turn easily on the pins that are put through them. Two bodies are needed. To adjust the figure take off one side of the body and place the woodman in the act of completing his stroke, with the axe touching the wood, then put a peg or small tack or nail immediately behind the projection on the top of the legs. This will keep his body from bending too far forward. Now let the axe be raised to the beginning of the stroke, and put a peg in front of the projection. The arm is connected with the crank by a piece of wire. You may not find the right place at first, but a few trials will put you right. Bore a hole in the arm, put the wire through, and twist it round to keep it there.

A sawyer may be made upon the same principle, as the illustrations show, or you may have a simple windmill and no figures. Fix the platform and its figures on the top of a pole with a pivot so that they may turn freely in the wind. Before you bore the hole through the platform balance the whole carefully upon the pole or you will put the hole in the wrong place.

The Skip-Jack.

The Skip-Jack.—The skip-jack is made out of the merry-thought of a goose. A strong doubled string must be tied at the two ends of the bone, and a piece of wood about three inches long put between the strings, as shown in the illustration, and twisted round until the string has the force of a spring. A bit of shoemaker’s wax should then be put in the hollow of the bone at the place where the end of the piece of wood touches, and when the wood is pressed slightly on the wax the toy is set. The wood sticks only a very short time, and then springs forcibly up. The skip-jack is placed on the ground with the wax downwards. Upon this principle toy frogs are made sometimes.

The Jolly Pea.

The Jolly Pea.—Stick through a pea, or small ball of pith, two pins at right angles, and put upon the points pieces of sealing-wax. The pea may be kept dancing in the air at a short distance from the end of a straight tube, by means of a current of breath from the mouth. This imparts a rotatory motion to the pea. A piece of broken clay tobacco pipe serves very well. Some boys prefer one pin (the vertical one) and dispense with the cross pin.

Revolving Serpent.

A Revolving Serpent.—Draw on a piece of cardboard a spiral serpent, as shown in the figure. Cut along the lines with a sharp knife, and mount it on a needle fixed in a cork. The serpent will now revolve on its own account. Its movements may be greatly accelerated by fixing it by means of a bent wire over the flame of a lamp or candle.

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CHAPTER XXIV.
CONCERNING MANY THINGS

A Simple Shelter.

A Simple Shelter.—A very easy way to rig up a shelter from sun or rain is given in the accompanying sketch. Two poles with a deep notch in the top of each, a rope, two pegs, a sheet, and a few large stones complete the shelter. An ingenious boy could arrange an end, or two if he needs them.

A Calendar on Your Fingers.—This is the way that an old-timer manages to keep account of the days of the week that months open with. It will be found correct and interesting to people who have a memory for such things:

“What day of the week did January come in on?” asked Grandfather Martin. “If you can tell that, I can tell you the day that any month will come in on, by help of a little lingo I learned from my father when I was a boy. Friday, did you say?” and he held up his hand preparatory to counting his fingers. "Now, April is the fourth month; let us see—‘At Dover dwelt George Brown, Esq., good Christopher Finch, and David Frier.’ We go by the first letters of these words—1, 2, 3, 4: ‘At Dover dwelt George’—G is the letter, and it is the seventh in the alphabet. January came in on Friday you say, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday—seven; April comes in on Thursday. Take February—second month: ‘At Dover.’ D is the letter, and fourth in the alphabet. Friday, one; Saturday, two; Sunday, three; Monday, four; February comes in on Monday.

“If you make no mistake in using the rule, it will give you the answer every time.”

“But it did not give the answer for April,” said Harry, who had been referring to an almanac. “April began on Friday.”

“To be sure, boy! This is Leap Year, is it not?” Leap year requires the addition of one day for the last ten months, to allow for the 29th of February. So All Fools’ Day came on Friday this year.

“I never knew anybody outside of my father’s family,” continued the old gentleman, “who knew this little lingo and how to use it. He taught it to his children, and I have tried to teach it to mine, but they seem to forget it, and I am afraid it will get lost. When father used to go to Presbytery, fifty years ago, it often happened that a question of dates and their relation to days would come up, and no almanac at hand; in fact, the question might be as to some day of the next year; but almanac or not, my father could always find the fact wanted with just the little key of the first day of the year.”

Leap Year.—Divide the year by 4. If nothing remains it is leap year. For instance 1876 / 4 = 469 so that 1876 is leap year. If 1, 2 or 3 remain these figures give the years after leap year. Remember, leap year lapses once a century.

Spiders and the Weather.—If the weather is likely to become rainy, windy, or anything but fine, spiders fix the terminating filaments, on which the whole web is suspended, unusually short. If these filaments are made unusually long we may expect a spell of fine weather. In proportion to their length is the fineness of the weather. Spiders are generally indolent in rainy weather. If they are active in rain the rain will not long continue.

A Barometer.—Put two drams of pure nitre and half a dram of chloride of ammonia, reduced to powder, into two ounces of spirits of wine, or pure alcohol, and place this mixture in a glass tube, ten inches long and about an inch in diameter, the upper extremity of which must be covered with a piece of skin or bladder, pierced with small holes. If the weather is to be fine, the solid matters remain at the bottom of the tube, and the alcohol is transparent. If rain is to fall in a short time, some of the solid particles rise and fall in the alcohol, which becomes somewhat thick. When a storm or even a squall is about to come on all the solid matters rise from the bottom of the tube and form a crust on the surface of the alcohol, which appears in a state of fermentation. These appearances take place twenty-four hours before the storm comes, and the point of the horizon from which it is to blow is indicated by the particles gathering most on the side of the tube opposite to that part whence the wind is to come.

Another Simple Barometer.—Take a common phial bottle, and cut off the rim and part of the neck. This may be done by means of a piece of string, or better still, whipcord, twisted round it, and pulled strongly in a sawing position by two persons, one of whom holds the bottle firmly in his left hand. Heated in a few minutes by the friction of the string, and then dipped suddenly into cold water, the bottle will be beheaded easily. Let the bottle be filled now with water, and applying the finger to its mouth, turn it quickly upside down. When you remove your finger it will be found that only a few drops will escape. Without cork or stopper of any kind, the water will be retained within the bottle by the pressure of the external air. Now let a bit of tape be tied round the middle of the bottle to which the two ends of a string may be attached so as to form a loop to hang on a nail. Let it be thus suspended in a perpendicular manner, with the mouth downwards. When the weather is fair, and inclined to remain fair, the water will be level with the section of the neck, or perhaps elevated above it, and forming a concave surface. When the weather is disposed to be wet a drop will appear at the mouth, which will enlarge till it falls, and then another drop so long as the humidity of the air continues.

How to go to Sea.—Decide first whether you will go by wind or steam, as steamboat seamen and sailing-ship sailors are distinct, the former having little to do with actual seamanship, the latter everything. Consequently, most parents are well advised to send their boys on sailing ships only. Parents generally are at their wits’ end to know what to do with boys with the sea “craze.” Therefore they are, as a general rule, “rushed” into paying exorbitant sums for apprenticing fees, only to find, after a voyage, their sons refuse to go again, having had enough to tire them of it. Now, the best and safest way to get boys comfortably berthed as apprentices is to see by the daily papers, or the Shipping Gazette, the names of the largest firms advertising Australian voyages, or voyages to the East Indies, and write them particulars briefly, enclosing a stamped envelope for reply.

The large firms keep a book or register, where boys’ names are entered, so that when an apprentice is required the first on the page has the preference. This is the simplest and safest way, for there are always plenty of sharpers advertising for boys in the London and Liverpool journals, offering midship berths and other “baits” at the moderate sum of from £10 to £50. This is by no means a high estimate, for by some of the gentry larger sums are asked, and these reap golden harvests. These sharpers act as intermediates between the office people and themselves, sharing the bounty. Now, few are aware that when apprenticing boys to the sea a trial voyage is necessary. A number of lads after one voyage prefer shore. Therefore, before any binding moneys are paid, be careful to see that the indentures are made out clearly, as often they are carefully worded, or “blinded,” as it is called at sea; so that if by chance money were paid down the difficulty would be to get it refunded, for if this is not stipulated, and a wish is afterwards expressed to cancel agreements, the purchase-money is forfeited.

An excellent plan is to have a paper drawn up and signed by both parties, witnessed, and the indentures made up after the first trial trip; but it must be understood that the time of the first voyage, if it be a long one, makes a difference, as unless lads are apprenticed off-hand the “time” is counted as nothing.

There is a pamphlet sold by mercantile stationers at one shilling containing much information, showing parts, and describing the various builds of sea-going craft. The contents of this should be completely mastered before any boy joins a ship, as it will help him to know part of his duties in addition to the nautical language, thereby showing to his officers that he is not a “know-nothing” lad. It will also help him in a variety of ways, it being in point of fact the A B C of ship life. “Do as you are told with a will” is an expression often made use of, and in fact it must be practised by all contemplating sea life. “Ship shape” is another saying suggested by the rigid discipline exercised by mariners.

On one large vessel the following maxim was painted on the walls of the midship quarters: “There is a place for everything; put everything in its place.” One of the things a captain or the mates dislike to see is a boy clambering over the rigging in port; time and circumstance will soon teach him that part of his duties, so that while he is in port a lad should busy himself in tidying up the deck, or by doing the work allotted to him.

A boy does well to be on board his ship a day or two before departing, so as to get acquainted with the various parts, also to get himself known, and somewhat used to the deck.

Apprentices are expected to have a stout chest made for the purpose of storing clothes and sundries. Some companies provide the articles necessary for the mess-room use, but it is well to inquire of berth-mates, or the steward, and arrange accordingly.

A stout tin box, capable of holding linen is necessary, and the following articles must be procured:—

White shirt, collars, and a uniform suit for shore wear. This must be made in accordance with the rules of the company, the coat and waistcoat brass-buttoned, and the cap embellished with the house flag design and gold cordage.

For ship wear no complete list can be given, the principal articles being the following: oilskin suit, one pair of sea boots, one or two pairs of half Wellingtons; flannel shirts, and as many pairs of trousers and shoes as can be procured, the limit of these being at least three pairs. The numerous small articles may be left to discretion.

Another word of warning—do not deal with slop-shop outfitters advertising “rig outs” at low figures, but rather go to respectable tailors and traders, and purchase, or have made, the articles separately.

With strict obedience, promptitude, and a cheerful disposition a lad can hardly fail to get promoted.

To Make Your Own Toffee.—To one pound of the best Demerara sugar add about a quarter of a pint of cold water and a pinch of cream of tartar. Go on boiling it until when you drop a little into cold water it goes hard. You may look for this stage in about ten minutes. Next take it off and add three ounces of butter cut into small pieces. Boil again and test in the same way for hardness. At this stage put in lemon juice to flavour it and then pour the mixture into oiled tins. When it is nearly cold mark it into squares, and when it is quite cold divide it according to these marks.

Steam Rings.—When the kettle is boiling and sending steam from its spout gently raise the lid and then shut it down again deftly. This will force the steam rapidly from the spout in the shape of very pretty rings which will rise in the air, growing larger and larger.

Skeleton Leaves.—Leaves from which the reader intends to derive the skeleton should be gathered fresh from tree or shrub, and put in an earthen pan filled with rain water and placed in the sunshine. When the substance of the leaf becomes soft and easily detached, they should be removed to another pan, containing clean water, in which they must be shaken about until the soft tissue breaks away from the skeleton. Wash again in fresh water, and so continue until only the ribs and nervures remain. A soft tooth-brush, carefully used, will assist in the final part of this operation, the leaf being held in the palm of the hand during the process. Now for the bleaching. Purchase two pennyworth of purified chloride of lime, and dissolve it in a pint of water. In this solution put your skeleton leaves, and keep them under observation. As soon as one has become quite white it should be taken out and rinsed in clear water, then carefully dried. The softening process will take weeks, in some tougher species of leaf it may take months. This period may be lessened by using a small quantity of either muriatic acid or chloride of lime, but with either of these agents there is danger of rotting the skeleton. The rain-water process is the safest and most permanent.

To Imitate a Nightingale.—Many years ago a clever Frenchman analysed the song of the nightingale and made out that it consists of the following sounds:—

Temee temee temee tan
Spretu zqua
Querree pee pee
Teeo teeo teeo tix
Quteeo quteeo quteeo
Zquo zquo zquo zquo
Zee zee zee zee zee zee zee
Querrer teeu zqula peepee quee.

Pith Beads.—A little boy we know amuses himself by threading pieces of pith and then painting the pith with water colours. When his mother wears the necklace he has made in this way people are very curious to know what the beads are, and fancy they must have been made by the natives of foreign parts, probably of the South Sea Islands.

Hints on Handwriting.—Although typewriters are excellent things, they are comparatively useless just in those particular cases where distinct handwriting is of the greatest importance, and where it is so very rarely met with. By some strange process of reasoning, it has come about that almost any sort of writing is thought good enough for a postcard, telegram, or medical prescription. The same man who would make a very fair performance when engaged on a long communication, in which the context would be almost certain to help the reader to decipher a queer word here and there, will dash off the most puzzling penmanship when writing a short but urgent note or postcard. The very brevity of the communication adds to the difficulty of understanding it. When the present writer was at school, it was impressed upon us that, whatever else might be faulty, the addressing of the envelope should be as near perfection as we could make it. The postman of the present day will tell you that this arrangement is now reversed, and, with the exception of letters sent out by business firms, the addresses he has to grapple with are very badly and incompletely written.

Here are a few short hints, the acting upon which will vastly improve the most slovenly handwriting in a week, if persevered in. In the first place, reduce the slope of your handwriting until it is almost, if not quite vertical. Then break yourself of the habit of crowding your letters too closely together, on the one hand, and sprawling them out unduly, on the other. Instead of sprawling the letters out so, write each character compactly, but join it to the following one by a distinct link-stroke, as it were. This is the sort of writing approved of by the Civil Service Commissioners. At one time much stress was laid upon the importance of thick and thin strokes, hair strokes, and so on. Excepting in the case of professional engravers, and for artistic purposes, all these refinements are out of date. What is of vastly more importance is the making of a careful distinction between the letters m, n, and u, and again between the letters e and i. Good test-words to practice with are these: union, commence, ounce, suit, sweet, manumotive, immense, unite, untie. Characters which extend above or below the line should not do so more than is sufficient to prevent their being mistaken for other letters. All the i’s should be dotted and the t’s crossed. Finally, the last letter of every word should be written distinctly, no matter in what hurry you may be, for it is wonderful what an aid to legibility the observance of this simple rule will afford. Those who follow these hints may never write a pretty hand, but they can scarcely fail to write a legible one, no small accomplishment in these days, when so many of us can do almost any out-of-the-way thing, but find it difficult to sign our names distinctly.

Secret Writing.—Mix well some lard with a little Venice turpentine, and rub a small part of it equally on very thin paper by means of a piece of fine sponge, or in some other way. Lay this with the greasy side downwards upon a sheet of note-paper, and write your message upon the plain side of the greasy paper with a style or the thin end of your pen-holder, using a little pressure. Nothing will be seen on the note-paper; but what you have written may be made visible there by dusting upon it some pounded charcoal or other coloured dust. Shake or blow this dust away and there will remain as much of it as has fallen upon the parts where your style pressed the lard upon the note-paper.

Resin Bubbles.—If the end of a copper tube or of a tobacco pipe be dipped in melted resin at a temperature a little above that of boiling water, taken out and held nearly in a vertical position, and blown through, bubbles will be formed of all possible sizes, from that of a hen’s egg down to sizes which can hardly be seen. These bubbles have a very pleasing appearance and are permanent.

Etching on Glass.—Cover the glass with a thin coat of beeswax, and draw your design with a needle cutting down through the wax to the surface of the glass. Place the glass in a shallow bath, and cover it evenly with fluor-spar to the depth of an eight of an inch. Now pour sulphuric acid diluted with three times its weight of water upon the spar. Let this remain three or four hours. Pour away the acid, remove the spar, and clean the glass with turpentine, and your design will be found upon the glass.

How to make Carbon Paper.—Carbonic paper for use with order books, and for other purposes, is made as follows: Cold lard well mixed with lamp-black is well rubbed into the paper with a soft piece of cotton rag. When evenly and thoroughly done, wipe the surface gently with flannel until the colour ceases to come off; it is then ready for use. To obtain similar papers but of other colours, substitute ordinary paint powders for the lamp-black. The most suitable colours will be found to be Venetian red, Prussian blue, chrome green.

The Making of Paste.—There are so many occupations with which boys amuse themselves that need paste that we have included a few recipes.

A Simple Paste.—For a breakfast cup full of a simple paste, needed for use at the moment, and not required to be kept for many days, take a heaped tablespoonful of flour. Mix it thoroughly with cold water as though you were mixing mustard, then fill the cup with boiling water, pour the whole into a saucepan, and let it boil gently for a few minutes. It is then ready for use. You may use starch instead of flour.

A Large Quantity that will Last.—In a quart of water dissolve a teaspoonful of pure powdered alum. Into this stir as much flour as will make a thick cream, and keep on stirring until the mixture is smooth and until every lump has been removed. Thoroughly mix with this a teaspoonful of powdered resin, and into this mixture pour a cup of boiling water. Keep on stirring, and if the mixture does not thicken from the action of the boiling water assist it to thicken by placing it upon the fire for a minute or two. Afterwards add a few drops of oil of cloves to preserve it from going sour. Pour the paste into some vessel that has a cover, and keep it covered and in a cool place. In this form it will be thicker and stronger than is necessary for general use, but take a little as you need it and reduce it to its right consistency with warm water.

Rice Glue.—Mix rice flour well with cold water, then simmer it gently over the fire. This makes a fine kind of paste, durable and effective. Mixed thickly it may be used as a modelling clay, and when it is dry it takes a high polish.

Dressing the Skins of Small Animals.—Different dressings have been recommended, most of which contain arsenic or corrosive sublimate, which are deadly poisons; but really all that is necessary is simple alum, a pound of which can be bought for three-halfpence. Stretch the skin fur downwards on a board, and fasten it with tacks. Put powdered alum over it, and rub it in well. Continue to do this every two or three days for a fortnight. Then remove the alum, and with a knife scrape carefully off any bits of flesh or fat that may be left on the skin. When dried, to render it soft, rub a little yolk of egg or oil into it, and draw it backwards and forwards across the edge of a blunt knife, fixed for the purpose. Drawing through a ring, or well rubbing between the hands will also serve to soften it.

Casts of Medals and Coins.—Cut a strip of brown paper about six inches long by one inch deep. Rub a little oil or grease all over that side of the coin you wish to reproduce, cleaning off all superfluous grease with a little cotton wool, but still leaving the surface greased. Then roll the paper round the edge of the coin so that it resembles a pill-box with a metal bottom, and fix the loose end with a dab of sealing wax. Into this pour a mixture of plaster of Paris and water made to the consistence of cream, tapping the box lightly on the table to cause the plaster to settle down free from bubbles. When the plaster is set quite hard, strip off the paper, and you have your plaster mould. By soaking this with oil and fastening a strip of paper round it as round the coin, you have a complete mould into which you can pour plaster and so take a cast exactly like the original except in colour, which however may be imitated with water colours. Another plan is to make the mould of a different substance, such as isinglass; thoroughly dissolve isinglass in spirits of wine, then pour upon the coin as before, and set aside for a day or two. When quite hard it will separate easily and be found as clear as a bit of glass.

Removal of Ink Blots.—Ink-blots can be removed from paper by painting over with a camel-hair brush dipped in a solution of 2 drachms muriate of tin in 4 drachms of water. When the ink has quite disappeared, rinse the paper in clean water; then dry it.

Grease removed from Paper.—To remove grease spots from paper, gently warm the greasy part and press it, under and over, with blotting-paper. Repeatedly change the blotting-paper until most of the grease has disappeared. Then heat a very little oil of turpentine until nearly boiling, again warm the paper, and apply the turpentine to the grease spot by means of a camel’s hair brush, on both sides of the paper. Repeat this process until the grease has quite disappeared. Finally, with a clean brush, dipped in spirits of wine, again brush over the spot, and as the spirit evaporates the paper will be left free from grease or stain. Remember that oil of turpentine is very inflammable. It would be safer to heat it in the oven.

Invisible Ink.—Take an ounce of oil of vitriol, and mix with a pint of rain water, and when cool write with a clean pen. When it is cold it will disappear. Heat it and it will appear in black ink. Here are some other inks which appear and disappear at the writer’s will:—

Solution of nitro-muriate of cobalt, when heated turns green; solution of acetate of cobalt, with a little nitre becomes rose-colour when warm. Inks which remain visible when heated, but do not disappear when cooled include, onion-juice, yellow; equal parts of copper and sal-ammoniac in water, yellow; aquafortis, spirits of salt, oil of vitriol, and salt and water, yellow or brown. Inks which appear when exposed to light may be made with diluted solution of nitrate of silver, or with diluted solution of terchloride of gold.

How Leaves Keep Clean.—While leaf shapes have formed a subject of study ever since botanical science has existed, it is only recently that one of the most remarkable purposes which the points of leaves serve has been clearly brought out.

It has been shown, as the result of some special investigations made in Germany, that the long points quickly drain off the excess of moisture deposited upon the foliage in heavy rains.

This ready method of disposing of a surplus of moisture is important to some plants. It also serves as a means of cleaning the surface of the leaves.

Round leaves do not so easily get rid of the rain water, and it has been noticed that they remain dusty and dirty after a shower, the escape of the water by evaporation not tending to cleanse them, while long, narrow, pointed leaves are washed clean and bright.

Deaf and Dumb Alphabet

Deaf and Dumb Alphabet

Deaf and Dumb Alphabet Single Hand

Deaf and Dumb Alphabet Single Hand.

How to Tie Knots.

THE END

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