Part 4 (1/2)
Design on the sh.e.l.l any figure or ornament you please, with melted tallow, or any other fat oily substance; then immerse the egg into very strong vinegar, and let it remain till the acid has corroded that part of the sh.e.l.l which is not covered with the greasy matter: those parts will then appear in relief, exactly as you have drawn them.
_To give a ghastly Appearance to Persons in a Room._
Dissolve salt in an infusion of saffron and spirits of wine. Dip some tow in this solution, and, having set fire to it, extinguish all other lights in the room.
_To change Blue to White._
Dissolve copper filings in a phial of volatile alkali; when the phial is unstopped, the liquor will be blue; when stopped, it will be white.
_Magical Trans.m.u.tations._
Infuse a few shavings of logwood in common water, and when the liquor is sufficiently red, pour it into a bottle. Then take three drinking-gla.s.ses, and rinse one of them with strong vinegar; throw into the second a small quant.i.ty of pounded alum, which will not be observed if the gla.s.s has been recently washed, and leave the third without any preparation. If the red liquor in the bottle be poured into the first gla.s.s, it will appear of a straw colour; if into the second, it will pa.s.s gradually from bluish-grey to black, when stirred with a key, or any piece of iron, which has been previously dipped in strong vinegar. In the third gla.s.s, the red liquor will a.s.sume a violet tint.
_To make Pomatum with Water and Wax._
Water and wax are two substances that do not naturally unite together; therefore, to those who witness the following process, without knowing the cause, it will have the appearance of marvellous. Put into a new glazed earthen pot, six ounces of river water and two ounces of white wax, in which, you must previously conceal a strong dose of salt of tartar. If the whole be then exposed to a considerable degree of heat, it will a.s.sume the consistence of pomatum, and may be used as such.
_Iron transformed into Copper._
Dissolve blue vitriol in water, till the water is well impregnated with it; and immerse into the solution small plates of iron, or coa.r.s.e iron filings. These will be attacked and dissolved by the acid of the vitriol, while the copper naturally contained in the vitriol will be sunk and deposited in the place of the iron dissolved. If the piece of iron be too large for dissolving, it will be so completely covered with particles of copper, as to resemble that metal itself.
_Iron transformed into Silver._
Dissolve mercury in marine acid, and dip a piece of iron into it, or rub the solution over the iron, and it will a.s.sume a silver appearance.
It is scarcely necessary to say, that these trans.m.u.tations are only apparent, though to the credulous it would seem that they were actually transformed.
_Chemical Illuminations._
Put into a middling-sized bottle, with a short wide neck, three ounces of oil or spirit of vitriol, with twelve ounces of common water, and throw into it, at different times, an ounce or two of iron filings. A violent commotion will then take place, and white vapours will arise from the mixture. If a taper be held to the mouth of the bottle, these vapours will inflame and produce a violent explosion, which may be repeated as long as the vapours continue.
_The Philosophical Candle._
Provide a bladder, into the orifice of which is inserted a metal tube, some inches in length, that can be adapted to the neck of a bottle, containing the same mixture as in the last experiment. Having suffered the atmospheric air to be expelled from the bottle, by the elastic vapour produced by the solution, apply the orifice of the bladder to the mouth of the bottle, after carefully squeezing the common air out of it, (which you must not fail to do, or the bladder will violently explode.) The bladder will thus become filled with the inflammable air, which, when forced out against the flame of a candle, by pressing the sides of the bladder, will form a beautiful green flame.
_To make the appearance of a Flash of Lightning, when any one enters a Room with a lighted Candle._
Dissolve camphor in spirit of wine, and deposit the vessel containing the solution in a very close room, where the spirit of wine must be made to evaporate by strong and speedy boiling. If any one then enters the room with a lighted candle, the air will inflame, while the combustion will be so sudden, and of so short a duration, as to occasion no danger.
_To melt Iron in a Moment and make it run into Drops._
Bring a bar of iron to a white heat, and then apply to it a roll of sulphur. The iron will immediately melt and run into drops.