Moisten a piece of paper, and it will appear more transparent than when in its natural state; the cause of which is as follows: a piece of dry paper has its pores obstructed with finely interwoven threads; these are broken by the liquor, which also fills the pores as so many small tubes, and permits the light to pass through it, whereas the dry threads had hitherto prevented its passage.
TRANSPARENCY OF GOLD.
All bodies are more or less transparent. Thus, though gold is one of the densest metals, yet, if a piece of the thinnest gold-leaf be held up to a candle, the light will pass through it; and, that it passes through the substance of the metal, and not through cracks or holes too small to be detected by the eye, is evident from the colour of the transmitted light, which is green.
TINT CHANGED BY THICKNESS.
Provide a piece of plain and polished smalt-blue glass, such as sugar-basins and finger glasses are made of. It should be of unequal thickness. Look through this glass at a strong light, as that from the crack of a window-shutter, in a darkened room, and, at the thinnest part, the colour will be purely blue. As the thickness increases, a purple tinge will come on, which will become more and more ruddy; and, if the glass be very thick, the colour will pass to a deep red.
SHADOWS MADE DARKER BY INCREASED LIGHT.
Hold a finger between a candle and the wall, and it will cast a shadow of a certain darkness; then place another candle in the same line with the other from the wall, and the shadow will appear doubly dark, although there will be more light in the room than before. Then separate the candles, and place them so as to produce two shadows of the finger, one partly overlapping the other, and that part will be of double darkness, as compared with the remainders.
MINIATURE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.
To imitate thunder, provide a thin sheet of iron; hold it by one corner between the finger and thumb, and allow it to hang freely by its own weight. Then shake the hand horizontally, so as to agitate the corner in a direction at right angles to the surface of the sheet. Thus you may produce a great variety of sounds, from the deep growl of distant thunder to those loud claps which rattle in rapid succession immediately over our heads. The same effect may be produced by sheets of tinned iron, or tin-plate, and by thin plates of mica; but the sound is shorter and more acute.