Courteous Reader, forasmuch as there were divers experiments that I could not conveniently, or rather my occasions would not permit me to dispose in such order as I would have done; I thought it would not bee amisse to call them by the names of Extravagants, and so to set them downe as I found them, eyther inserted amongst other my notes, as I put them in practise, or as they came into remembrance.
How to make a light burne under the water, being a very pretty conceypt to take fish.
Let there be a glasse, as A, having a hole at the bottome, to put a candle in with a screwed socket. The socket must have a loope at the bottome, whereunto you must hang a weight of such heavinesse, that it may draw the body of the glasse under water. The necke of this glasse must bee open, and stand above the water; also about the necke must bee fastened a good broad peece of wood; round about which (but on that side of it that is next unto the water) must be placed divers peeces of looking glasses; so the light of the candle in the glasse body will bee multiplied according unto the number of them. All the fishes neere unto it will resort about it, as amazed at so glorious a sight, and so you may take them with a cast net or other.
How to make an image hang in the middle of a glasse.
Make the lower part of the image of hard wax, and the upper part of wood, and overlay it with oyle colours; then put it into a globe glasse filled with fayre water, and which way soever you turne the glasse, the image will still hang in the middle, and stand as it were upright; which, to my knowledge, hath been a thing causing no small admiration among divers that have not understood the cause of it.
How to make five or six dice of the ordinary bignesse of dice, such as you may game withall, and such as would be taken by their lookes to bee ordinary dice, and yet all of them to weigh not above one grain.
Take a peece of Elder, and pith it, lay the pith to dry, and then make thereof with a sharp knife five or six dice, and you shall finde it true that I haue sayd.