Part 2

Let the person who has thrown the dice double the number of that next to his left hand, and add five to that sum; then multiply the amount by five and to the product add the number of the middle dice, then let the whole be multiplied by ten, and to that product add the number of the third dice. From the total let there be substracted 250, and the figures of the number that remains will answer to the points of the three dice, as they stand on the table.

_Example._

Suppose the points of the three dice thrown on the table to be 4, 6, and 2.

Then the double of the first die will be 8 To which add 5 ——— 13 5 ———

That sum multiplied by 5 will be 65 65 To which add the number of the middle dice 6 ——— 71 And multiply the sum by 10 10 ——— 710 To that product add the number of the third dice 2 ——— 712 Substract 250 ——— 462

The numbers of the dice and the order in which they stand.

_Easy method of Constructing paper Balloons._

Take several sheets of silk paper, cut them like the covering of the sections of an orange, join these pieces together into a globular body, and border the opening with a ribbon, leaving the ends that you may suspend the following lamp: make a small basket of very fine wire, if the balloon is small, and suspend it from the following opening, so that the smoke from the flames of a few sheets of paper wrapped together and dipped in oil, may heat the inside of it, before you light this paper, suspend the balloon so that it may, in a great measure, be exhausted of air, and, as soon as it has been dilated, let it go, together with the basket, which will serve as ballast.

_A Lead Tree._

To a piece of zinc fasten a wire twisted in the form of the worm of a still, introduce it into the bottle suspended to the cork. Let the bottle be filled with spring water, with a small quantity of sugar of lead added. In a few days the tree will begin to grow, and produce a most beautiful effect.

_To place a Lighted Candle under Water without extinguishing it._

Take a glass, and fastening a small bit of wood across the mouth, stick on it a lighted piece of candle, and, with a steady hand, convey the glass to the surface of the water, then push it gently down, and the candle may be seen burning under the water.

_To make Detonating Balls._

Half a grain of fulminating silver, is to be wrapped up with a hard pea in a piece of tissue paper, this, when thrown smartly on the ground or when trod upon, explodes with a loud report.

_Invisible Ink._

Mix alum with lemon juice, the letters and characters written with this mixture are invisible till dipped in water. If a little aqua-fortis be mixed with the water, the writing will dry well and not run out of its form when the paper is wetted.

_Blue Ink._

Dissolve a small quantity in a little oil of vitriol, and add a sufficient quantity of water, in which is dissolved some gum arabic.

_Scarlet Ink._

Dissolve vermillion in gum water.

_A pair of Dice being thrown, to find the number of points on each Dice, without seeing them._

Tell the person who casts the dice to double the number of points upon one of them, and to add five to it, then to multiply the product by five, and add to sum produced the number of points upon the other die. This being done, desire him to tell you the amount, and having thrown out of it twenty-five, the remainder will be a number consisting of two figures, the first of which, to the left, is the number of points on the first die, and the second figure, to the right, the number on the other.

_For Example._

Suppose the number of points of the first die which is turned up, to be 3 and that of the other 4, then if to 6, the double of the points of the first, there be added 5, and the sum produced, 11, be multiplied by 5, the product will be 55, to which if 4, the number of points on the other die, be added, 59 will be produced from which if 25 be substracted, 34 will remain; the first figure of which is 3, the number of points on the first die, and the second figure 4, the number of the other.

_To make any number divisible by Nine by adding a figure to it._

If, for example, the number named be 72.857, you tell the person who names it, to place the number 7 between any two figures of that sum, and it will be divisible by 9, for if any number be multiplied by 9, the sum of the figures of the product will be either 9 or a number divisible by 9.

_To extract Silver out of a Ring, that is thick Gilded, so that the gold may remain entire._

Make a little hole through the gold into the silver, then put the ring into aqua-fortis, in a warm place, it will dissolve the silver, and the gold will remain entire.

_Light produced by Sugar._

If two pieces of loaf sugar (about a pound each) are struck against each other in the dark, a light blue flame, like lightning, will be produced. The same effect is produced when a loaf of sugar is struck with an iron instrument.

_Singular Experiment with the Snuff of a Candle._

When a candle is burned so low as to leave a tolerably large wick, blow it out, a dense smoke will arise, if another candle be applied to the utmost verge of this smoke, a very strange phenomena will take place; the flame of the lighted candle will be carried to the one just blown out, as if it were borne on a cloud; or, more properly speaking, like a flash of lightning, proceeding at a slow rate. The experiment may be performed by blowing out the candle as often as it is lighted.

_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.

_To cause a brilliant explosion under water._

Drop a piece of phosphorus, the size of a pea, into a tumbler of hot water; and, from a bladder, furnished with a stop-cock, force a stream of oxygen directly upon it. This will afford a most brilliant combustion under water.

_The Fiery Flash._

Pour iron filings upon the flame of a candle, from a sheet of paper, about eight or ten inches above it, as they descend in the flame, they will enter into a very vivid scintillating combustion.

_To split a piece of money into two parts._

Fix three pins in the table, and lay the piece of money upon them; then place a heap of the flowers of sulphur below the piece of money, and another above it, and set fire to them. When the flame is extinct, you will find on the upper part of the piece a thin plate of metal, which has been detached from it.

_Sympathetic Ink._

Write with the nitro-muriate of gold, and brush the letters over with muriate of tin in a diluted state. The writing, before invisible, will now appear of an exquisitely beautiful purple colour.

_A very easy method of gilding ivory._

Place the figure you mean to gild into a solution of nitro-muriate of gold. On taking out from the latter, it will be covered with metallic gold.

_How to make the Constable catch the Knave._

Take a pack of cards and look out the four knaves, lay one of them privately on the top of the pack, and the other three on the table, saying, here you see, are three knaves got together, about no good you may be sure, then lay down a king by the side of them saying, but here comes the constable and catches them together. Oh, oh, says he, have I caught you then together? Well the next time I catch you together I’ll punish you severely for your rogueries. Oh, but, says they, you shan’t catch us together in haste; so they determine to go three different ways. I’ll go here, says one, (so take one of the knaves and put him at the top of the cards.) I’ll go here, says another, (so put him at the bottom.) And I’ll go here, says a third, (so put him exactly in the middle.) “Nay,” says the constable, “if you run I’ll make sure of one, so I’ll follow the first, then take the king and put him at the top of the pack, and let any one cut the cards three or four times, and then deal; cut the cards one by one, and you will find three together, and the constable with them.”

_To tell the amount of the Numbers of any two Cards drawn from a common Pack._

Let the person who has drawn the two cards deduct the number of each of them from twenty-six, which is half the number of the pack, and after adding the remainder together, let him tell you the total, which you privately deduct from fifty-two, the number of cards in a perfect pack, and the remainder will be the amount of the two cards.

_Example._

Suppose the two cards drawn are 5 and 8; then the person deducting 5 from 26, there remain 21; then 8 from 26 there remain 18; these two remainders added together make 39, which you substract from 52, and there remain 13 the number of the two cards when added together.

_To tell the number of Cards by their weight._

Take a parcel of cards, suppose forty, among which insert two long cards, let the first be, for example, the tenth, and the other the fourteenth from the top; seem to shuffle the cards, and then cutting them at the first long card, poise those you have cut off in your left hand, “there should be here ten cards.” Cut them again, at the second long card, and say, “there are only four cards.” Then weighing the remainder, you say, “here are only twenty-eight cards.”

_To hold four Knaves, or four Kings, in your hand, and to change them suddenly into Blank Cards, and then into four Aces._

You must have cards made for the purpose of this feat, half cards, as they may be properly termed, that is, one half kings or knaves and the other half aces. When you lay the aces one over the other, nothing but the kings or knaves will be seen. Then turning the kings or knaves downwards, the four aces will be seen. You must have two perfect cards, one a king or knave to cover one of the aces, or else it will be seen; and the other an ace to lay over the kings or knaves. When you wish to make them all blank cards, lay the cards a little lower, and by hiding the aces they will all appear white on both sides. You may then ask the company which they choose, and exhibit kings, aces, or blanks, as required.

_Cards in couples._

Select any twenty cards, and having them shuffled by any person that pleases, lay them in pairs upon the table, then desire several persons (as many as there are pairs on the table) to look at different pairs, and remember what cards compose them. You then take up the cards in the order in which they have been placed, and replace them with their faces uppermost upon the table, according to the situation of the letters in the following word.

M U T U S 1 2 3 4 5 D E D I T 6 7 8 9 10 N O M E N 11 12 13 14 15 C O C I S 16 17 18 19 20

These words, which have no particular meaning, contain ten letters repeated, or two of each sort. You, therefore, ask each person which row or rows the cards he looked at are in; if he says the first, they must be the second and fourth in that row; these being the only duplicates in them, if he says the second and fourth, they must be the ninth and nineteenth, and so of all the rest. This amusement, which is very simple, and requires very little practice, will excite considerable astonishment in the uninformed.

_Method of receiving the Electric Shock from a Cat._

Put the left hand under the throat, with the middle finger and thumb slightly pressing the bones of the animal’s shoulders, then gently passing the right hand along the back, sensible electrical shock will be felt in the left hand, and very distinct discharges may be obtained by touching the tips of the ears, after applying friction to the back; the same may be obtained from the foot.

_A Brilliant Combustion._

If a piece of inflated phosphorus be plunged in a jar of nitrous acid gas, a very beautiful and brilliant combustion will take place.

_To Tell the Number thought of by a person._

Desire the person to take one from the number thought of, and to double the remainder, then bid him take one from this double, and add to it the number thought of; in the last place, ask him to tell you the number arising from this addition, add three to it, and the third of the sum will be the number required.

_For Example._

Let the number thought of be 6, if 1 be taken from it, there will remain 5, the double of which 10, being diminished by 1, and the remainder 9 being increased by 6, the number thought of, the result will be 15, if to this we add 3, we shall have 18, the third part of which, 6, will be the number required.

_How to lift up a Flint Glass Bottle with a Straw._

Take a straw, which is not broken or bruised, and having bent one end of it into a sharp angle, put this curved end into the bottle, so that the bent part may rest against its side, and you may take the other end in your hand, and lift up the bottle by it, without breaking the straw, and this will be more readily accomplished, as the angular part of the straw approaches nearer to that which comes out of the bottle.

_How to produce Flashes of Light resembling the Will O’ Wisp._

Take a small quantity of water in a glass tumbler, and add to it two or three small lumps of phosphoret of lime, shortly will arise little flashes of light, darting out like petty lightning and ascending subsequently into curling clouds, the appearances continue for some time, and constitute a lively illustration of the formation of a light proceeding out of shallow pools of water.

_Imitative Medallions._

Medallions, after the antique, cameos and intaglios are made by fusing the iron with a small quantity of antimony, performing the operation in a very small furnace. When finished from the mould, rub them over with burnt porcelain earth, from which they will receive the rich hue of jet, rendering them fit to be set, even in gold.

_Method of cleaning Playing Cards._

Nothing soils sooner than playing cards. The following method will be found to remove every thing from them but a stain, and will give the dirtiest pack possible the appearance of being new. Rub the soiled card with a piece of flannel and some good fresh butter, until the butter shall have cleaned off all the dirt. So soon as the dirt is removed, wipe off the butter with a clean rag, and to restore the cards to its former gloss, rub the surface sharply with a piece of flannel and some flour, cut the edges neatly with a pair of scissars, and the operation is completed.

_To Detonate Fulminating Copper by Friction._

Put a grain of fulminating copper on a hearth-stone, rub it with the end of a poker, and a loud explosion will immediately follow.

_To make a Stone Float._

To a piece of cork tie a small stone that will just sink it, and putting it into a vessel of water, place it under the receiver; then exhausting the receiver, the bubbles of air will expand from its pores, and adhering to its surface, will render it, together with the stone, lighter than water, and consequently both will rise to the surface and float upon it.

_The Fiery Fountain._

If twenty grains of phosphorus, cut very small and mixed with forty grains of powder of zinc, be put into four drams of water, and two drams of concentrated sulphuric acid be added thereto, bubbles of inflamed phosphorated hydrogen gas will quickly cover the whole surface of the fluid in successions forming a real fountain of fire.

_To make an 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 to him who breaks it; but if the thick end be struck, even with a hammer, it will not break.

_The Changeable Rose._

Take a common full blown rose, and having thrown a little sulphur, finely pounded, into a chafing dish with coals, expose the rose to the vapour; by this process the rose will become whitish; but if it be afterwards held some time in water, it will resume its former colour.

_To Write upon Glass by the rays of the Sun._

Dissolve chalk in aqua-fortis to the consistence of milk, and add to it a solution of silver. Keep this liquor in a glass decanter, well stopped. Then cut out from a paper the letters you would have appear, and paste the paper upon the decanter, which is to be placed in the sun, in such a manner that its rays may pass through the spaces cut out of the paper, and fall on the surface of the liquor. The part of the glass through which the rays pass will turn black, and that under the paper will remain white. You must observe not to move the bottles during the time of the operation.

_To take a Shilling out of a Handkerchief._

You must have a curtain ring about the size of a shilling, at first you put the shilling into the handkerchief, but when you take it out again, to convince the company that there is no deception, you slip the curtain ring in its stead, and while the person is eagerly holding the handkerchief, and the company’s eyes are fixed upon the form of the shilling, you seize this opportunity of putting it into a hat or basket; when you get possession of the handkerchief again you slip away the curtain ring.

_To prepare Gold Powder for Gilding._

Put into an earthen mortar some leaf gold, with thick gum water, and grind the mixture till the gold is reduced to small particles. Having done this, a little warm water will wash out the gum, leaving the gold in a pulverized state.

_To melt Lead in a piece of Paper._

Wrap up a very smooth ball of lead in a piece of paper, taking care that there be no wrinkles in it, and that it be every where in contact with the ball, if it be held, in this state, over the flame of a taper, the lead will be melted without the paper being burnt. The lead, indeed, when once fused, will not fail in a short time to pierce the paper, and run through.

_To make a Room seem on Fire._

Take half an ounce of sal ammoniac, one ounce of camphor, and two ounces of aqua-vitæ, put them into an earthen pot, narrowing towards the top, and set fire to it. The effect will be so alarming, that persons in the room will fancy their garments are on fire.

_To make Artificial Fire Balls._

Put thirty grains of phosphorus into a florence flask, with three or four ounces of water; place the vessel over a lamp, and give it a boiling heat. Balls of fire will soon be seen to issue from the water, after the manner of an artificial firework, attended with the most beautiful vibrations of light.

_To break a Staff placed upon two Glass Goblets full of water, without Injuring the Glasses or Spilling the Water._

Place the glasses (being full of water) upon two joint stools, equally distant from the ground, and from one another the length of the staff, then place the ends of the staff upon the edges of the two glasses, so that they be sharp, this being done, strike the staff in the middle, with all the force you can, with another staff, and it will break without injuring the goblets, or spilling the water.

_To observe an Eclipse of the Sun without injury to the Eye._

Take a spectacle glass that magnifies very much, hold it before a book, twice the distance of its focus, and you will see the round body of the sun, and the manner in which the moon passes between the glass and the sun, during the whole eclipse.

_Invisible Ink._

Take zaffer, and dissolve it in nitro-muriatic acid, till the acid extracts all the metallic part, then dilute the solution with common water, if you write with this liquid on paper, the writing will appear of a beautiful green, upon being partially warmed before the fire.

_Bronze for casting Busts, &c._

Melt in a crucible, seven ounces of pure copper, when fused throw into it three ounces of zinc, and two ounces of tin. These metals will combine forming bronze, an alloy, which, from the exactness of the impression which it takes from a mould, has, in ancient and modern times, been generally used in the formation of busts, medals, and statues.

_To put a Ring through your Cheek and then to bring it on a Stick._

You must have two rings exactly alike, one of which has a notch which admits your cheek. When you have exhibited the perfect ring, you change it for the other, and privately slip the notch over one side of your mouth, in the meantime you slip the whole ring on your stick, hiding it with your hand, then desire some one to hold the end of the stick, whip the ring out of your cheek, and smite with it instantly upon the stick, concealing it, and whirling the other ring, which you hold your hand over round about the stick.

_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 twelve 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 you 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 20. B then tells A to count 20 on the dial, beginning at the next hour to that at which he proposes to rise, which will be 7, and counting backwards, reckoning each hour as 1, and including in his addition the number of the hour 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 7, which counts for 8 1

Count back the hours from 6, and reckon them 1 each, there will be 11 hours, viz. 4, 3, 2, 1, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 7, 6, 11 —— Making 20

H. HETHERINGTON, Printer, 13, Kingsgate Street, Holborn.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.