The Magician's Own Book, or, the Whole Art of Conjuring / Being a complete hand-book of parlor magic, and containing over one thousand optical, chemical, mechanical, magnetical, and magical experiments, amusing transmutations, astonishing sleights and subtleties, celebrated card deceptions, ingenious tricks with numbers, curious and entertaining puzzles, together with all the most noted tricks of modern performers.

by George Arnold; Frank Cahill

Make distinct solutions of common salt, niter, and alum; set them in three saucers in any warm place, and let part of the water dry away or evaporate; then remove them to a warm room. The particles of the salts in each saucer will begin to attract each other, and form crystals, but not all of the same figure: the common salt will yield crystals with six square and equal faces, or sides; the niter six-sided crystals; and the alum, eight-sided crystals; and if these crystals be dissolved over and over again, they will always appear in the same forms.

A LIQUID CHANGED TO A SOLID, AND HEAT FROM CRYSTALLIZATION.

A strong saline solution excluded from the air will frequently crystallize the instant that air is admitted. For this purpose make a solution of Glauber's salt (sulphate of soda) in boiling water (3 lbs. of the salt to 2 lbs. of water); bottle and cork quickly; also tie over the neck a piece of wet bladder. When perfectly cold, or even a few days afterwards, remove the cork, and the salt will immediately crystallize, shooting out the most beautiful crystals, at last becoming nearly solid: at the same time the whole becomes warm, in consequence of the latent heat generated by the change of the liquid to the solid state. If the liquid will not crystallize quickly on removing the cork, tie a crystal of Glauber's salt to a bit of wire, touch the surface of the liquid, and the crystallization will then generally occur.

ANOTHER EXPERIMENT.

Heat some blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) in an iron ladle till all the water contained in the crystals is driven off, and the color changes to a gray. Take the lumps out without breaking them, and lay the dried blue vitriol on a plate; if this be moistened with water, steam is produced; and if a slice of phosphorus is then laid on the sulphate of copper, it ignites, demonstrating again that the condensation of a liquid produces heat. The addition of the water restores the blue color, thus proving that water was necessary to the composition of blue vitriol.

A SOLID CHANGED TO A LIQUID, AND INTENSE COLD FROM THE LIQUEFACTION.

Mix five parts by weight of powdered muriate of ammonia, commonly termed sal ammoniac, five parts of niter in powder, and sixteen parts of water. A temperature of twenty-two degrees below the freezing point of water is produced; and if a phial of water, or any convenient metallic cylinder containing water, be surrounded with a sufficient quantity of the freezing mixture, ice is obtained. The ice clings to the interior of the tube, but may easily be removed by dipping it in tepid water.

This experiment is the reverse of the last, and proves that a sudden reduction of a solid to the liquid condition always affords cold.

An amusing combination of two experiments may be made by putting some fresh-burned lime into one tea-pot and this freezing mixture into another. When water is poured on the one containing lime, it gives out steam from the spout; while the addition of water to the other produces so much cold, that it can hardly be kept in the hand. Thus heat and cold are afforded by the same medium, water.

MAGIC OF HEAT.