You may contrive this fountain of what figure you will.
Take a vessel A. B. which has two bottoms, this is close on all sides like a drum; through the middle of it run a long pipe, C. D. sodered to the lower bottom at F, with its two ends open, C. D. the first of which C. must not quite touch the uppermost bottom, but leave passage for the water; when one has a mind to fill the vessel A. B. which is done by turning up the vessel A. B. with its pipe C. D. so that the hole D. will then be the uppermost, and pouring in the water at D. this done, stop up the pipe C. D. with another, and a very little smaller pipe E. D. that can just enter it, and is fixed in the bottom of a case or cistern that is a little longer than one of the two bottoms of the vessel A. B. the two pipes C. D. ought to have at an equal height, two appertures or holes I. I. and the smallest D. E. ought to be movable within the greater, C. D. that so you may turn the smaller with its case G. H. when you will, fill the two holes I. I. meet farther the vessel A. B. ought to have several little holes in its lower bottom, as K. L. for giving egress to the water, and the case or receptacle G. H. ought likewise to have smaller vent, M. N. for the water to run out. Now the vessel A. B. being filled with water as we directed but now, and the pipe C. D. being stopt by the pipe D. E. which is supposed so thin, that it could just fill it without any necessity of the extremity E. it reaching to the end C. provided the other two ends D. D. do but fit: is it done, I say, turning the vessel again to its first position, in which it will stand as in the figure, the case G. H. being its base, and being turned together with its pipe E. till the two vents I. I. meet and make but one orafice, for then the water contained in the vessel A. B. will run out at the vents K. L. as long as the air can pass through the apperture I. to supply the room of the water that runs A. B. into the case G. H. but when the water in the receptacle G. H. rises above the vent I. which will infallibly happen, since more water runs at the vents K. L. than at M. N. the former being supposed to be larger than the latter, the air not finding access at I. the water in the vessel A. B. will give over running through the vents K. L. but the water in the receptacle G. H. will continue to run at the vents M. N. so that this water will grow lower by degrees, till the vent I. is uncovered again, and then the air having access at I. will renew the flux of the water thro’ K. L. which in a small time will raise the water in the case G. H. so as to recover the vent I. again, upon which the stream A. B. will stop, and so on alternately, till there is no water in the vessel A. B.
This is called the fountain of command, because it runs at a word, when the water is near the renewal of its flux, thro’ the vents K. L. which is easily known; for when the vent I. begins to get clear of water in G. A. the air struggling for access at the vent makes a little noise, and so gives notice that the fountain is about to run. This is a merry device.
To seem to kill a horse, and to cure him again.
Take the seed of henbane, and give it the horse in his provender, and it will cast him into such a deep sleep, that he will seem dead; and if you will recover him again, rub his nostrils with vinegar, and he will be revived again.
A very strange trick, whereby you may seem to cut a piece of tape into four parts, and make it whole again with words.
Take a piece of narrow white tape, about two or three yards long, first present it to view to any that may desire it; then tie both the ends of it together, and take one side of it in one hand, and the other in the other hand, so that the knot may be about the midst of one side, and using some circumstantial words to beguile your spectators, turn one hand about towards yourself, and the other from you, so shall you twist the tape once; then clap the ends together, and then if you slip your fore-finger and thumb of each hand between the tape, almost as one would hold a skane of thread to be wound, this will make one fold or twist, as appears where A signifieth the twist or fold; B the knot; then in like manner make a second fold, about the line D. C. as you may see by the second figure, where B. signifieth the knot, C. the first fold, A. the second fold: hold then the fore finger and thumb of your left hand upon the second twist and upon the knot also, and the fore-finger and thumb of your right hand upon the first fold C. and desire some one of your spectators to cut all asunder with a sharp knife, at the cross line E. D. when it is cut, hold still your left hand, and let all your ends fall, that you hold in your right hand, for there will be a shew of eight ends, four above and four below, and so the strings will be thought to be cut into four parts, as may be seen by the third figure; then gather up the ends that you let fall into your left hand, and deliver two of the ends, (seeming to take them at random) unto two several persons, binding them to hold them fast, still keeping your left hand fingers upon the twists or folds; then with your right and left hands seem to tumble all the ends together that you had in your left-hand, twist out the slips or pieces, which are three, as you may see at A. and B. in the third figure, twist them all I say, into a little ball, and conceal it between some of your fingers of your left hand, and crumble thereon another confused heap, and after some words said, with your right-hand deliver this confused heap unto any one of the company, biding him hold it fast, Hulla, Passa, then bid them look on it, who while they are greedily looking after the event, you with ease convey the ball or roll of ends into your pocket; so it will be thought that you have made it whole by virtue of your words. An excellent trick if it be gracefully handled; and a trick that cost me trouble to find.
A device to multiply one face, and make it seem to be a hundred or a thousand.
