Magic tricks -- Juvenile literature; Scientific recreations -- Juvenile literature
Have in one vessel some sulphuric acid, and in another an infusion of
nut-galls; they are both colourless and transparent; mix them, and they
will become black and opaque.
TWO COLOURLESS FLUIDS MAKE A COLOURED ONE.
Put into a wine-glass of water, a few drops of prussiate of potash; and
into a second glass of water, a little weak solution of sulphate of
iron in water: pour the colourless mixtures together into a tumbler,
and they will be immediately changed to a bright deep blue colour.
Or, mix the solution of prussiate of potash with that of nitrate of
bismuth, and a yellow will be the product.
Or, mix the solution of prussiate of potash with that of sulphate of
copper, and the mixture will be of a reddish brown colour.
CHANGE OF COLOUR BY COLOURLESS FLUIDS.
Three different colours may be produced from the same infusion, merely
by the addition of three colourless fluids. Slice a little red cabbage,
pour boiling water upon it, and when cold, decant the clear infusion,
which divide into three wine-glasses: to one, add a small quantity of
solution of alum in water; to the second, a little solution of potash
in water; and to the third, a few drops of muriatic acid. The liquor
in the first glass will assume a purple colour, the second, a bright
green, and the third a rich crimson.
Put a dram of powdered nitrate of cobalt into a phial containing an
ounce of the solution of caustic potass; cork the phial, and the liquid
will assume a blue colour, next a lilac, afterwards a peach colour, and
lastly a light red.
TO CHANGE A BLUE LIQUID TO WHITE.
Dissolve a small lump of indigo in sulphuric acid, by the aid of
moderate heat, and you will obtain an intense blue colour: add a drop
of this to half a pint of water, so as to dilute the blue; then pour
some of it into strong chloride of lime, and the blue will be bleached
with almost magical velocity.
VERITABLE “BLACK” TEA.
Make a cup of strong green tea; dissolve a little green copperas in
water, which add to the tea, and its colour will be black.
RESTORATION OF COLOUR BY WATER.
Water being a colourless fluid, ought, one would imagine, when mixed
with other substances of no decided colour, to produce a colourless
compound. Nevertheless, it is to water only that blue vitriol, or
sulphate of copper, owes its vivid blueness; as will be plainly evinced
by the following simple experiment. Heat a few crystals of the vitriol
in a fire shovel, pulverize them, and the powder will be of a dull and
dirty white appearance. Pour a little water upon this, when a slight
hissing noise will be heard, and at the same moment, the blue colour
will instantly re-appear.
Under the microscope, the beauty of this experiment will be increased,
for the instant that a drop of water is placed in contact with the
vitriol, the powder may be seen to shoot into blue prisms. If a crystal
of prussiate of potash be similarly heated, its yellow colour will
vanish, but re-appear on being dropped into water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account