To make a party appear ghastly.
This can only be done in a room. Take half a pint of spirits, and having warmed it, put a handful of salt with it into a bason; then set it on fire, and it will have the effect of making every person within its influence look hideous.
To fill a glass with water in such a manner, that it cannot be removed without spilling it all.
Lay a wager with any one that you so fill a glass with water that he shall not move it off the table without spilling the whole contents. Then fill a glass with water, and placing a bit of paper or thin card over the top, so as to cover the water and the edge of the glass, you dexterously turn the glass upside down on a smooth table, and then drawing away the paper gently, the water will remain suspended in the glass, and therefore it will be impossible to remove it from the table without spilling the contents.
How to make your cup draw your tea out of the saucer.
Empty the tea out of your cup into the saucer; then take a piece of paper, light it, and lay it on the surface of the tea, and instantly clap your cup over it, and it will immediately suck the tea into the cup.
To make Touch-Paper.
Dissolve in spirits of wine a little saltpetre; take and wet with the above some blue paper, and when dry it will be fit for use.
To make a Report like that of a gun with a Tobacco-Pipe.
Before performing this feat you must have a powder made of the following ingredients in your pocket:—One ounce of cream of tartar, one ounce of saltpetre, and half an ounce of sulphur, pulverized singly, and then well mixed together. Convey a single grain of this powder into a tobacco-pipe, and when it takes fire it will produce a noise like that of a gun, without breaking the pipe.