Hanky Panky

by Wiljalba Frikell

TO BURN THE POKER IN THE CANDLE.

File off an ounce from the fire-end of a poker. The iron filings produced are perfectly combustible, as may be proved by sprinkling them over the flame of a candle. As they descend into the flame they take fire, each particle burning like a star—producing, in fact, miniature fireworks. Any iron filings will burn in the same way; but a poker is the handiest means to prove that while iron, in a solid mass, will not burn, in small atoms it takes fire readily. It is just for the same reason that a fire is better lighted with chips than with a log of wood.