Further, the external surface of the candle, kept cool by the surrounding liquid, melts much more slowly than it would in the open air, so that the flame hollows out for itself a sort of little well, as represented in the right-hand corner of our illustration.
This hollowing process further lightens the candle, and the wick will, as you have stated, burn to the very end.
To Weigh a Letter with a Broomstick.
For the purpose of weighing light objects as, for instance, a letter, a very delicate balance is required; and as such we recommend to our readers our new broomstick letter-weighing machine. Cut off the end of an ordinary broom-handle, to a length of about ten inches, and plunge it into a tall glass jar full of water—first, however, weighting it at bottom in such manner that about seven inches of its length shall be under water. Attach to the upper end, by means of a tack, an ordinary visiting card. This will form the tray or scale of the apparatus—and behold your weighing-machine, complete. All that remains to be done is to graduate it. Place on the scale a one-ounce weight, note how far the stick sinks, and mark thereon, with a very black pencil, the point where it meets the surface of the water.
The apparatus being so far graduated, take off the weight, and lay on the card, in its stead, the letter you desire to weigh. If the pencil mark remains above the surface of the water, your letter weighs less than an ounce, and two cents will pay the postage; if, on the contrary, the mark sinks below the surface, your letter is over-weight, and you must pay accordingly.
The Tailless Donkey.
An amusing game at which any size of party may play and enjoy it for hours. Cut a large figure of a donkey, minus a tail, from dark paper or cloth, and pin it upon a sheet stretched tightly across a door-way. Each player is given a piece of paper, which would fit the donkey for a tail, if applied. On each tail is written the name of the person holding it. When all is ready, the players are blindfolded in turn—placed facing the donkey a few steps back in the room—then turned around rapidly two or three times and told to advance with the tail held at arm’s length, and with a pin previously inserted in the end, attach it to the figure of the donkey wherever they first touch it. When the whole curtain is adorned with tails—(not to mention all the furniture, family portraits, etc., in the vicinity)—and there are no more to pin on, the person who has succeeded in fastening the appendage the nearest to its natural dwelling place, receives a prize, and the player who has given the most eccentric position to the tail entrusted to his care, receives the “booby” prize, generally some gift of a nature to cause a good-humored laugh.