Magic Dyes.
Dissolve indigo in diluted sulphuric acid, and add to it an equal quantity of solution of carbonate of potash. If a piece of white cloth be dipped in the mixture it will be changed to blue; yellow cloth, in the same mixture, may be changed to green; red to purple; and blue litmus paper to red.
Nearly fill a wine glass with the juice of beet-root, which is of a deep red color; add a little lime water and the mixture will be colorless; dip into it a piece of white cloth, dry it rapidly, and in a few hours the cloth will become red.
Wine Changed into Water.
Mix a little solution of subacetate of lead with port wine; filter the mixture through blotting-paper, and a colorless liquid will pass through; to this add a small quantity of dry salt of tartar; distill in a retort, when a spirit will arise, which may be inflamed.
The Chemistry of Water.
More than two-thirds of the earth’s surface is water, so that in mere quantity alone it is the most important substance with which we are acquainted. Without it life would be impossible, for, owing to its quality of dissolving other bodies, it may be regarded as the great purifier, as well as the vehicle which brings nourishment to plants and animals alike.
Not only is water useful, but is among the most beautiful of Nature’s products. It has carved the valleys between mountain ranges by its slow dropping for ages, and has made the fairy glens by rushing down their sides in torrents. The stately rivers and the roaring oceans are but forms of its might.