A Volcano Under Water.
Take one ounce of saltpetre; three ounces of powder; of sulphurvivuix, three ounces; beat, sift, and mix them well together; fill a pasteboard, or paper mould, with the composition, and it will burn under the water till quite spent. Few persons will believe that this can be done before they have seen it tried.
The Magic Spoon.
Put four ounces of bismuth into a crucible, and when in a state of complete fusion, throw in two ounces and a half of lead, and one ounce and a half of tin; these metals will combine, and form an alloy fusible in boiling water. Mould the alloy into bars, and take them to a silversmith to be made into tea-spoons. Place one of them in a saucer, at a tea-table, and the person who uses it will not be a little astonished to find it melt away as soon as he puts it into the hot tea.
Magic Dyes.
Dissolve indigo in diluted sulphuric acid, and add to it an equal quantity of solution of carbonate of potass. If a piece of white cloth be dipped in this 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 be turned to red.
Incombustible Paper.
Dip a sheet of paper in strong alum-water, and when dry, repeat the process; it will be better still, if you dip and dry it a third time. After this, you may put it in the flame of a candle, and it will not burn.
Visible and Invisible Portraits.
These are performed with French chalk, a natural production of the earth, (sold in most oil-shops,) of a greasy, but extraordinary nature. It is made use of to draw portraits upon looking-glasses; which may be made visible and invisible, alternately, by breathing on and wiping off, and they will so continue for many months. The lines will appear very distinct where the glass is strongly breathed on, and disappear entirely when it is wiped dry again.