This instrument may be made by almost any carpenter: it consists of a long narrow box of very thin deal, about five or six inches deep, with a circle in the middle of the upper sid...
Either of the following simple methods will make iron or steel as soft as lead: 1. Anoint it all over with tallow; temper it in a gentle charcoal fire, and let it cool of itself. 2...
If you wish to take the impression of any coin, medal, &c., previously anoint it with oil; then lay the horn shavings over it in its softened state. When dry, the impression will b...
In a common pack of cards let the ace of hearts and nine of spades be something larger than the rest. With the juice of lemon draw over the ace of hearts a spade, large enough to c...
of wood, a foot diameter, and make the bottom flat, so that it may stand steady: in the centre of the top of this block draw a circle two inches and a half diameter, and divide the...
You offer the long card, or any other that you know, and as the person who has drawn it holds it in his hand, you pretend to feel the pips or figure on the under side, by your fore...
Dissolve in some spirits of wine or vinegar, a little saltpetre; then take some purple or blue paper, wet it with the above liquor, and when dry it will be fit for use. When you pa...
Paste a piece of paper to a very smooth clear table, that the boiling water used in the operation may not require a colour which might lessen its success. Spread out the print you...
shell. Bend any thin coin, and put it into half a walnut-shell; place the shell on a little sand, to keep it steady. Then fill the shell with a mixture made of three parts of very...
They may be made from four ounces to two pounds. If larger, they are too heavy; so that it will be difficult to make them keep above water without a cork float, which must be tied...
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.
Construct a box of wood, of a cubical shape, A B C D, Fig. 23, of about fifteen inches every way. Let it be fixed to the pedestal P, at the usual height of a man's head. In each si...
and turned, be nicely balanced on a point; fix a small glass ball over its centre to represent the sun. At one extremity of the wire, let a small wire be soldered perpendicularly,...
--------------------+---------------------+------------------------ NEW AND FULL MOON. SUMMER. WINTER. --------------------+---------------------+------------------------ If the ne...
Provide a large tin box, of the size of a large snuff-box, and in this place eight other boxes, which will go easily into each other, and let the least of them be of a size to hold...
The pressure of water may be known to every one who will only take the trouble to look at the cock of a water-butt when turned: if the tub or cistern be full, the water runs with m...
This amusement is to be performed by confederacy. You previously agree with your confederate on certain signs, by which he is to denote the suite, and the particular card of each s...
A person draws four cards from the pack, and you tell him to remember one of them. He then returns them to the pack, and you dexterously place two under and two on the top of the p...
headed according to fancy, and tied on their sticks, get some sheet tin, and cut it into round pieces about three or four inches diameter; then on the stick of each rocket, under t...
shall draw from the Pack. After the person has drawn his three cards, draw one yourself and lay it aside, for it is necessary that the number of the remaining cards be divisible by...
common Pack. Each court card in this amusement counts for ten, and the other cards according to the number of their pips. Let the person who draws the cards add as many more cards...
sky-rockets, of any size; then cut some strong packthread into pieces of three or four yards long, and tie each end of these pieces to a rocket in this manner: Having tied one end...
Having carefully washed some egg-shells, remove the internal skin, and grind them on a piece of porphyry. Then put the powder into a small vessel of pure water, and when it has set...
into a, d, g, or q; the v into y, &c. Take a parcel of cards, suppose twenty, and on one of them write with juice of lemon or onion, or vitriol and water, the word law, (these lett...
many of the following tricks, is what is termed the Long Card; that is, a card, either a trifle longer or wider than the other cards, not perceptible to the eye of the spectator, b...
You must previously prepare the following phosphorus: Calcine common oyster-shells, by burning them in the fire for half an hour; then reduce them to powder; of the clearest of whi...
Fill a vessel of what size or shape you please, with good rich earth, which has been dried and sifted in the sun, then plant in the same a slip or branch of a plant bearing a white...
Stick a small piece of sealing-wax on the end of a wire, and set fire to it. Then put an electrical machine in motion, and present the wax just blown out at the distance of some in...
Pack. The rank of a card means whether it be an ace, king, queen, &c. You therefore first fix a certain number to each card; thus you call the king four, the queen three, the knave...
When the person has fixed on a number, bid him double it and add four to that doubling; then multiply the whole by 5; to the product let him add 12, and multiply the amount by 10....