Endless Amusement A Collection of Nearly 400 Entertaining Experiments in Various Branches of Science; Including Acoustics, Electricity, Magnetism, Arithmetic — Story, Setting & Ideas

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A COLLECTION OF NEARLY 400 ENTERTAINING EXPERIMENTS

IN VARIOUS BRANCHES OF SCIENCE;

ACOUSTICS, ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, ARITHMETIC, HYDRAULICS, MECHANICS, CHEMISTRY, HYDROSTATICS, OPTICS;

WONDERS OF THE AIR-PUMP;

ALL THE POPULAR TRICKS AND CHANGES OF THE CARDS, &c., &c.

TO WHICH IS ADDED, A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF PYROTECHNY;

OR, THE ART OF MAKING FIRE-WORKS.

THE WHOLE SO CLEARLY EXPLAINED AS TO BE WITHIN THE REACH OF THE MOST LIMITED CAPACITY.

FROM THE SEVENTH LONDON EDITION.

PHILADELPHIA: LEA AND BLANCHARD. 1847.

Page Aces, the convertible 117 Æolipiles 60 Aigrettes 185 Air-pump 77 bottles broken by 77 glass broken by 77 hand fixed by 77 water boiled by 78 bubbles, vegetable 78 electrified 98 Alarum 147 Alphabet, changes of, in square Yards 59 Apparition, armed 126 Atmosphere, to show the Pressure of 137 Aurora Borealis, electric 91

Bacchus, animated 81 Ball, electrified 97 electric 99 Balloon, artificial 81 electric 96 Cases in Fire-works 184 Balloons, Paper, to construct 42 in Fire-works, to load with Stars, Serpents, &c. 184 Balls, dancing 93 Barley, the Awn of, an Hydrometer 157 Bell, magic 79 Bladder, exploded 80 cemented 81 Blue, to change to White 35 Bodies, two inodorous, become pungent by Mixture 145 Body, combustible, to ignite by reflection 57 Bottle, magic 48 enchanted 59 Bronzing, the Art of 133 Bubble, exploding 13 Bubbles, aërial 78 Burning-glasses, account of two 32 Busts, talking 61 Butterflies, to take Impressions of on Paper 134

Cameleon Spirit 23 Camera Obscura, to construct 16 Camphor, electrified 100 Candle lighted by electricity 84 Bombs 84 Card, divining 107 numerical 108 hit upon by guess 109 found by the Point of a Sword 109 changed by Word of Command 109 in the Ring 112 in the Mirror 113 in the Opera-glass 113 discovered by the throw of a Die 115 under the Handkerchief 117 to tell that a person has touched 117 in the Pocket-book 118 in the Egg 118 discovered by the Touch or Smell 119 Cards, magnetic 71 Amusements with 101 Points on three, to name, &c. 101 to tell how many taken from a Pack 102 to name several fixed on 104 to name the Rank of, drawn from a Piquet Pack 104 to tell the Numbers of any two 105 three 106 four confederate 108 to separate the two Colours of a Pack of, at one Cut 114 metamorphosed 114 Number of, told by their Weight 116 to change, that several persons have drawn from the Pack 116 inverted 119 transmutable 119 convertible 120 Cascade, magical 50 musical 148 of fire, to represent 151 Cement, never-yielding 37 Changes on twelve Bells 58 Charcoal for Fire-works 164 Chase, magic 88 Coins, to take impressions of 44 Compositions for Fire-works, method of mixing 168 Concerto, solar 62 Cork heavier than Lead 81 Correspondence, secret 18, 25 by music 20 Coruscations, artificial 136 Cotton electrified 92 Crackers, to make 169 Cylinder, illuminated 91

Dance, magic 86 Dancer, hydraulic 49 Detonating works 190 Girdle 190 Balls 191 Tape 191 Cards 191 Dial, magnetic 71 Dodecahedron in Fire-works 187 Duplicates, ten 102

Earthquake, artificial 22, 86, 187 Eclipse of the Sun, to observe 129 Egg, to form Figures on, in Relief 35 Eggs, white of, contains an Alkali 144 Electric effects of a Russian climate 30 Electricity, experiments in 83 Resin lighted by 95 Spirits ignited by 95 Eolian Harp, to make 137 Exhalations, subaqueous 137 Explosion, brilliant, under Water 54 Explosion, magical 86 electric 98

Feather, animated 83 Feathers heavier than Lead 79 Figures, two, one blows out, and the other re-lights a Candle 39 Fire produced by the mixture of two cold Liquids 13 from Cane 136 Fire-pumps in Fire-works 186 Fire-works in miniature 27 imitative 149 Art of making 163 aquatic 192 Flash of Lightning, to resemble on entering a Room 37 Flower, to produce the Appearance of, from its Ashes 149 Flowers, restored 26 to diversify the Colours of 141 Fountain, fiery 44 globular 48 illuminated 51 which acts by the Heat of the Sun 52 magic 80 electrical 87 Fountains, Chinese, in Fire-works 187 Fruit, withered, restored 78 Fulminating Powders 33 more powerful 34 Gold 40 Mercury 54

Gas Bubbles, exploding 160 Ghastly Appearance, to give to Persons in a Room 35 Glass, so to fill with Water that it cannot be removed without spilling the whole 38 Gold Chain, old, to make look like new 43 to give Silver the Colour of 43 Guinea, penetrative 132 Gunpowder 165 exploded by reflection 125 Brimstone and Charcoal, to meal for Fire-works 165

Halo, artificial 80 Horn, to make Moulds of 134 to soften 134 Hour of the Day or Night told by a suspended Shilling 152 Hydrogen Gas, to procure 159 to fill a Bladder with 159

Illuminations, artificial 22 chemical 36 Illusion, alternate 146 Incendiary, unconscious 88 Indromacus 103 Ink, invisible 23 Gold, Silver, Yellow, Red, Green, Violet, and Grey 24, 25 secret Correspondence by Means of 25 golden 41 white 42 Iron, transformed into Copper 36 Silver 36 melted in a Moment and run into Drops 37 or Steel, to soften 135 Ivory, to cast Figures in Imitation of 134

Kings, the four inseparable 116 Kite, electric 87

Lamp to burn twelve Months without replenishing 29 Chronometer 46 Landscape, artificial 66 to draw correctly 67 Lead, metallic, produced from the Powder 141 Leech, a Prognosticator of Weather 157 Leyden Phial 94 Light, rays of 143 refraction of 144 travelling of 145 Lightning, artificial 14 its wonderful Nature 144 to guard against 153 Liquor that shines in the Dark 40 luminous 41 Luminaries, miraculous 89

Magic Lantern, Experiment with the 62 Glasses to paint 63 solar 60 Magnetism, Experiments in 70 Memory, artificial 158 Microscope, Experiment for the 145 Mirror, Magician's 124 perspective 124 distorting 126 oracular 152 Mirrors, magical 53 deforming 123 igniting 125 Money augmented by optical Illusion 15 melted in a Walnut-shell 40 Mortars, in Fire-works 184

Neptune in his Chariot 198 Number, to tell any, privately fixed on 45 without asking questions 45 divisible by 9, &c. 55 Numbers, to find the difference of two, &c. 56

Objects, three, discernible only with both Eyes 15 Oil upon Water, and Water upon Oil, curious Effects of 161 and Water, Experiments with 161 Opaque Bodies, seemingly transparent 121 Box made transparent 130 Opera-glass, diagonal 129 Oracle, inanimate 61 Orrery, magnetic 72 electrical 92, 99

Palace, enchanted 120 Parties, three magical 110 Paradox, dioptrical 127 Pass, how to make the 107 Perspective-glass, divining 111 Phantom 126 Phial of the four Elements 48 Philosophical Candle 37 Phosphorus Match Bottles 34 inflammable 53 Phosphorus, illuminated 97 Picture, magic 13 Pictures of Birds, to make, with their natural Feathers 132 Pieces, transposable 131 Plants, remarkable Properties in 138 Plaster of Paris cast, to take from a Person's Face 135 Pomatum, to make, with Wax and Water 36 Portrait, miraculous 85 Powder, which catches Fire when exposed to the Air 39 Prints, to remove Stains from 38 Prospect, boundless 57 Prospects, illuminated 68 Pyrotechny, a complete system of 163

Rain and Hail, artificial 28 Gauge, to make 142 Rainbow, artificial 60 Reflector, magnifying 16 Ring, to suspend by a Thread after the Thread has been burnt 35 on the Finger, to name, &c. 49 Roman Candles, in Fire-works 186 Rocket Stars 173 to fix one on the Top of another 174 Rockets 170 Method of rolling 170 Composition for 171 to drive 171 Decorations for 172 Caduceous 175 Honorary 175 which form an arch in rising 176 to make several rise together 176 to fix several on the same Stick 177 to fire without Sticks 178 Scrolls for 179 Stands for 179 Table 179 Water 192 Rose, changeable 41 Resin lighted by Electricity 95

Salt, exploding 127 Saltpetre for Fire-works 164 Saltpetre, to pulverize for Fire-works 164 Sealing-wax spun into Threads by Electricity 100 Sea-fight, &c. in Aquatic Fire-works 196 Serpents, for Fire-works, to make 169 Shillings, a Person having an even number of in one Hand, and an odd Number in the other, to tell in which Hand the odd or even Number is 17 Shock, inconceivable 88 Shower, mercurial 80 fiery 90 Silver-plate, to give a Lustre to 44 extracted from a gilded Ring 135 Sky-rockets 170 to fire under Water 198 Sound, travelling of 141, 142 Sparks, electric 93 in choked Cases 167 Sparrows, Experiments with 82 Spectre on the Table 64 Spider, artificial 84 Spirit, Cameleon 23 Spots in the Sun's Disk, to show 128 Spur-fire 166 Square Yards, to contain the Changes of the Alphabet 59 Squares, Magic 55 Squibs, to make 169 Stars, with Points, in Fire-works 188 Steam, Power of 31 Steel or Iron, to soften 135 Stone, floating 78 Storm at Sea, to represent by the Magic Lantern 63 Sulphur for Fire-works 163 Sun, fixed, with a transparent Face 189 Sun's Rays, Effects of, on different coloured Cloths 146 Swans and Ducks in Aquatic Fire-works 199

Tantalus, Cup of 85 Thunder, artificial 14, 15 Touch-paper, to make 167 Transcolorations, curious 29, 30 Transmutations, magical 35 Travelling of Sound 141, 142 Light 145 Tree, Silver 27 Tree, Lead 27 Iron 55 sublimated 139 Tube, Magic 123 Tulip, Experiment with 140

Vacuum, illuminated 90 Vase, Magic 110 Vessel, Magic 21 that lets Water out of the Bottom as soon as the Mouth is uncorked 39 Verse, Magic 74 Viper, Experiment with 82 Visual Nerves, singular Impression on, by a luminous Object 160 by looking through differently-coloured Glasses 161 Volcano, artificial 22

Wand, magnetic 70 mercurial 79 Watch Dial, to tell by one the Hour when a Person intends to rise 17 mysterious 70 Lamp 140 Water gilding on Silver 43 which gives Silver a Gold Colour 43 to give any Metal a Gold Colour 43, 44 Sun 50 illuminated 96 colder than Ice 127 Experiment with a Glass of 135 beautifully transparent 142 Power of 143 in Steam 158 Pressure of 143 Mass of, contained in the Sea 145 Rockets 192 Wheels, horizontal 193 Pipes in Fire-works 193 Mines 194 Fire Globes 194 Balloons, odoriferous 195 Fire Fountains 200 Weather, to foretel 140 Table 162 Wheels, self-moving 79, 94 in Fire-works 180 single vertical 180 horizontal 181 plural 182 spiral 182 Balloon 183 double spiral 183 illuminated spiral 183 Winter, changed to Spring 26 Writing, mysterious 26 illuminated 28 burnt, restored 129 in the Dark, to make luminous 139 on Glass by the Rays of the Sun 148

_To produce Fire by the Mixture of two cold Liquids._

Take half a pound of pure dry nitrate, in powder; put it into a retort that is quite dry; add an equal quantity of highly rectified oil of vitriol, and, distilling the mixture in a moderate sand heat, it will produce a liquor like a yellowish fume; this, when caught in a dry receiver, is _Glauber's Spirits of Nitre_; probably the preparation, under that name, may be obtained of the chemists, which will of course save much time and trouble.

You then put a drachm of distilled oil of cloves, turpentine, or carraways, in a glass vessel; and if you add an equal quantity, or rather more, of the above spirit, though both are in themselves perfectly cold, yet, on mixing them together, a great flame will arise and destroy them both, leaving only a little resinous matter at the bottom.

_The Exploding Bubble._

If you take up a small quantity of melted glass with a tube, (the bowl of a common tobacco-pipe will do,) and let a drop fall into a vessel of water, it will chill and condense with a fine spiral tail, which being broken, the whole substance will burst with a loud explosion, without injury either to the party that holds it, or him that breaks it; but if the _thick_ end be struck, even with a hammer, it will not break.

Take two level pieces of glass, (plate glass is the best,) about three inches long and four wide, exactly of the same size; lay one on the other, and leave a space between them by pasting a piece of card, or two or three small pieces of thick paper, at each corner.

Join these glasses together at the edges by a composition of lime slaked by exposure to the air, and white of an egg. Cover all the edges of these glasses with parchment or bladder, except at one end, which is to be left open to admit the following composition.

Dissolve, by a slow fire, six ounces of hogs'-lard, with half an ounce of white wax; to which you may add an ounce of clear linseed oil.

This must be poured in a liquid state, and before a fire, between the glasses, by the space left in the sides, and which you are then to close up. Wipe the glasses clean, and hold them before the fire, to see that the composition will not run out at any part.

Then fasten with gum a picture or print, painted on very thin paper, with its face to one of the glasses, and, if you like, you may fix the whole in a frame.

While the mixture between the glasses is cold, the picture will be quite concealed, but become transparent when held to the fire; and, as the composition cools, it will gradually disappear.

_Artificial Lightning._

Provide a tin tube that is larger at one end than it is at the other, and in which there are several holes. Fill this tube with powdered resin; and when it is shook over the flame of a torch, the reflection will produce the exact appearance of lightning.

_Artificial Thunder._

Mix two drachms of the filings of iron, with one ounce of concentrated spirit of vitriol, in a strong bottle that holds about a quarter of a pint; stop it close, and in a few minutes shake the bottle; then taking out the cork, put a lighted candle near its mouth, which should be a little inclined, and you will soon observe an inflammation arise from the bottle, attended with a loud explosion.

To guard against the danger of the bottle bursting, the best way would be to bury it in the ground, and apply the light to the mouth by means of a taper fastened to the end of a long stick.

Mix three ounces of saltpetre, two ounces of salt of tartar, and two ounces of sulphur; roll the mixture up into a ball, of which take a quantity, about the size of a hazel-nut, and, placing it in a ladle or shovel over the fire, the explosion will resemble a loud clap of thunder.

You will produce a much more violent commotion if you double or treble the quantity of the last experiment; suppose you put two or three ounces of the mixture into the shovel. For fear of accidents, it should not be done in the house, but by placing the shovel over a chafing-dish of very hot coals, in the open air, standing a great distance off.

Common prudence will dictate the necessity of using great care in the above experiments, as an accident will soon happen if a person does not get out of the way before the composition explodes.

_Money augmented by an Optical Illusion._

In a large drinking-glass of a conical shape, (small at the bottom and wide at the top,) put a shilling, and let the glass be half full of water; then place a plate on the top of it, and turn it quickly over, that the water may not escape. You will see on the plate a piece of coin of the size of half-a-crown; and a little higher up another the size of a shilling.

It will add to the amusement this experiment affords, by giving the glass to any one in company, (but who, of course, has not witnessed your operations,) and, desiring him to throw away the water, but save the pieces, he will not be a little surprised at finding only one.

_Three objects discernible only with both Eyes._

If you fix three pieces of paper against the wall of a room at equal distances, at the height of your eye, placing yourself directly before them, at a few yards' distance, and close your right eye, and look at them with your left, you will see only two of them, suppose the first and second; alter the position of your eye, and you will see the first and third: alter your position a second time, you will see the second and third, but never the whole three together; by which it appears, that a person who has only one eye can never see three objects placed in this position, nor all the parts of one object of the same extent, without altering his situation.

_To construct the Camera Obscura._

Make a circular hole in the shutter of a window, from whence there is a prospect of some distance; in this hole place a magnifying glass, either double or single, whose focus is at the distance of five or six feet; no light must enter the room but through this glass. At a distance from it, equal to its focus, place a very white pasteboard, (what is called a Bristol board, if you can procure one large enough, will answer extremely well;) this board must be two feet and a half long, and eighteen or twenty inches high, with a black border round it: bend the length of it inward to the form of part of a circle, whose diameter is equal to double the focal distance of the glass. Fix it on a frame of the same figure, and put it on a moveable foot, that it may be easily placed at that distance from the glass, where the objects appear to the greatest perfection. When it is thus placed, all the objects in front of the window will be painted on the paper in an inverted position, with the greatest regularity, and in the most natural colours. If you place a swing looking-glass outside the window, by turning it more or less, you will have on the paper all the objects on each side the window.

If, instead of placing the looking-glass outside the window, you place it in the room above the hole, (which must then be made near the top of the shutter,) you may have the representation on a paper placed horizontally on a table, and draw at your leisure all the objects reflected.

Observe, the best situation is directly north; and the best time of the day is noon.

_The Magnifying Reflector._

Let the rays of light that pass through the magnifying glass in the shutter be thrown on a large concave mirror, properly fixed in a frame. Then take a third strip of glass, and stick any small object on it; hold it in the intervening rays at a little more than the focal distance from the mirror, and you will see on the opposite wall, amidst the reflected rays, the image of that object, very large, and beautifully clear and bright.

_To tell by a Watch Dial the Hour when a Person intends to rise._

The person is told to set the hand of his watch at any hour he pleases, which hour he tells you; and you add in your mind 12 to it. You then desire him to count privately the number of that addition on the dial, commencing at the next hour to that at which he intends to rise, and including the hour at which he has placed the hand, which will give the answer: for example.

A intends to rise at 6, (this he conceals to himself;) he places the hand at 8, which he tells B, who, in his own mind, adds 12 to 8, which makes twenty. B then tells A to count twenty on the dial, beginning at the next hour to that at which he proposes to rise, which will be 5, and counting backwards, reckoning each hour as one, and including in his addition the number of the hour the hand is placed at, the addition will end at 6, which is the hour proposed; thus,

The hour the hand is placed at is 8 The next hour to that which A intends to rise at is 5, which counts for 1 Count back the hours from 5, and reckon them at 1 each, there will be 11 hours, viz., 4, 3, 2, 1, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 11 ---- Making 20

_A person having an even Number of Shillings in one Hand, and an odd Number in the other, to tell in which hand the odd or even Number is._

You desire the person to multiply the number in his right hand by an odd figure, and the number in his left by an even one; and tell you if the products, added together, be odd or even. If even, the even number is in the right hand; if odd, the even number is in the left. For instance,

I. Number in the right In the left hand _odd_ 7 hand is _even_ 18 Multiply by 2 Multiply by 3 ---- ---- Product 14 Product 54 ---- Add the Product of the left hand 14 ---- Which produces a total of 68

II. Number in the right In the left hand _even_ 18 hand is _odd_ 7 Multiply by 2 Multiply by 3 ---- ---- Product 36 Product 21 Add the Product of the left hand 36 ---- Which produces a total of 57

_Secret Correspondence._

To carry on a correspondence without the possibility of the meaning of the letter being detected, in case it should be opened by any other person, has employed the ingenuity of many. No method will be found more effectual for this purpose, or more easy, than the following.

Provide a piece of square card or pasteboard, and draw a circle on it, which circle is to be divided into 27 equal parts, in each of which parts must be written _one_ of the capital letters of the alphabet, and the &, as in the figure. Let the centre of this circle be blank. Then draw another circle, also divided into 27 equal parts, in each of which write one of the small letters of the alphabet, and the &. This circle must be cut round, and made exactly to fit the blank space in the centre of the large circle, and must run round a pivot or pin. The person with whom you correspond must have a similar dial, and at the beginning of your letter you must put the capital letter, and at the end the small letter, which answer to each other when you have fixed your dial.

Suppose what you wish to communicate is as follows:

_I am so watched I cannot see you as I promised; but I will meet you to-morrow in the park, with the letters, &c._

You begin with the letter _T_, and end with the letter _m_, which shows how you have fixed the dial, and how your correspondent must fix his, that he may decipher your letter.

Then, for _I am_, you write _b uf_, and so of the rest, as follows.