Magic tricks -- Juvenile literature; Scientific recreations -- Juvenile literature
For example, reduce a small piece of the metal antimony to a very fine
power in a mortar; place some of this on a bent card, then loosen the
stopper of the bottle of chlorine, and throw in the antimony, it will
take fire spontaneously, and burn with much splendour; thus exhibiting
a cold metal spontaneously bursting into flame.
If, however, a _lump_ of antimony be dropped into the chlorine, there
will be no spontaneous combustion, nor immediate change: but, in the
course of time, the antimony will become incrusted with a white
powder, and no chlorine will be found in the bottle.
Or, provide copper in fine leaves, known as “Dutch metal;” slightly
breathe on one end of a glass rod, about ten inches long, and cause
one or two leaves of the metal to adhere to the damp end; then open
a bottle of chlorine, quickly plunge in the leaves, when they will
instantly take fire, and burn with a fine red light, leaving in the
bottle a greenish-yellow solid substance.
A small _lump_ of copper, or “Dutch metal,” will not burn as above, but
will be slowly acted upon, like the antimony.
Immerse gold leaf in a jar of chlorine gas, and combustion with a
beautiful green flame will take place.
PHOSPHORUS IN CHLORINE.
Put into a deflagrating spoon about four grains of phosphorus, and let
it down into a bottle of chlorine, when the phosphorus will ignite
instantaneously.
Or, fold a slip of blotting-paper into a match five inches long; dip
it into oil of turpentine, drain it an instant, drop it into another
bottle of chlorine, when it will burst into a flame, and deposit much
carbon.
CAOUTCHOUC BALLOONS.
Put a little ether into a bottle of caoutchouc, close it tightly, soak
it in hot water, and it will become inflated to a considerable size.
These globes may be made so thin as to be transparent.
A piece of caoutchouc, the size of a walnut, has thus been extended to
a ball fifteen inches in diameter; and a few years since, a caoutchouc
balloon, thus made, escaped from Philadelphia, and was found 130 miles
from that city.
TO INCREASE THE LIGHT OF COAL GAS.
Lay a piece of wire-gauze upon the glass chimney of a common argand gas
burner, when the flame will be enlarged to twice its former dimensions,
and its light fully doubled. If the experiment be made with a common
argand oil-lamp, the flame will be often enlarged, but so discoloured
as to yield less light.
GAS FROM INDIAN RUBBER.
Put caoutchoucine, or the spirit distilled from caoutchouc, or Indian
rubber, into a phial, little more than sufficient to cover the bottom,
and the remainder of the phial will be filled with a heavy vapour; pour
this off the spirit into another phial, apply to it a piece of lighted
paper, and the vapour will burn with a brilliant flame.
ETHER GAS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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