Flowers curiously affected by the Sun and the Weather.
The petals of many flowers expand in the sun, but contract all night, or on the approach of rain; after the seeds are fecundated the petals no longer contract. All the trefoil may serve as a barometer to the husbandman; they always contract their leaves on an impending storm.
Easy Method of obtaining Flowers of different Colours from the same Stem.
Scoop out the pith from a small twig of elder, and having split it lengthwise, fill each of the parts with small seeds that produce flowers of different colours, but that blossom nearly at the same time. Surround them with earth; and then tying together the two bits of wood, plant the whole in a pot filled with earth, properly prepared.
A Luminous Bottle, which will show the Hour on a Watch in the Dark.
Throw a bit of phosphorus, of the size of a pea, into a long glass phial, and pour boiling oil carefully over it, till the phial is one-third filled. The phial must be carefully corked, and when used should be unstopped, to admit the external air, and closed again. The empty space of the phial will then appear luminous, and give as much light as an ordinary lamp. Each time that the light disappears, on removing the stopper it will instantly re-appear. In cold weather the bottle should be warmed in the hands before the stopper is removed. A phial thus prepared may be used every night for six months.
To make Luminous Writing in the Dark.
Fix a small piece of solid phosphorus in a quill, and write with it upon paper; if the paper be carried into a dark room, the writing will appear beautifully luminous.
The Sublimated Tree.
Into a large glass jar inverted upon a flat brick tile, and containing near its top a branch of fresh rosemary, or any other such shrub, moistened with water, introduce a flat thick piece of heated iron, on which place some gum benzoin, in gross powder. The benzoin, in consequence of the heat, will be separated, and ascend in white fumes, which will at length condense, and form a most beautiful appearance upon the leaves of the vegetable.