To make a sound similar to St. Paul’s Bell.
Tie a poker, or any other piece of metal, on to the middle of a strip of flannel about a yard long; then press with your thumbs or fingers the end of the flannel into your ears, while you swing the poker against any obstacle, as an iron fender, and you will hear a sound similar to that of a large church bell.
How to restore a dead fly to life.
Take a fly that has been drowned in water or spirits, place it in the sun, and cover it with pounded chalk or salt; in a few minutes it will revive and fly away. It is necessary that the fly be not squeezed when taken from the water.
To melt a piece of steel as if it was lead, without requiring a large fire.
Make a piece of steel quite red in the fire; then holding it with a pair of pincers or tongs, take in the other hand a stick of brimstone, and touch the piece of steel with it; immediately after their contact, you will see the steel melt and drop like a liquid.
How to procure laughter.
Take a ball in one hand and another in the other, then stretch your hands as far as you can one from the other; and if any one will lay a wager that you will not withdraw your hands, and yet will make both of them come into either hand, which they please, it is no more to do, than to lay one down upon a table, and turn yourself round, and take it up with your other hand, then your wager is won; and it will move no small laughter to see a fool so lose his money.
To tell any number thought of by another person.
Desire the person who has thought of a number to multiply it by itself; then desire him to add unity to the number thought of, and to multiply that sum also by itself; in the last place, ask him to tell the difference of these two products, which will certainly be an odd number, and the least half of it will be the number required.