The jar must be thoroughly cleaned and dried before coating. The inside
is then given a thorough brushing over with shellac or varnish. Before
it is dry, carefully insert the tin-foil and press it smoothly against
the glass. The outside of the jar is treated and coated in the same
manner. The inside and outside of the bottom are also coated by cutting
the tinfoil in circular pieces and shellacking them on.
In order to charge the Leyden jar, grasp it in the hand near the bottom
and hold the knob against the prime conductor while turning the handle
of the machine.
[Illustration: Fig. 46.—A Wooden Mortar for Igniting Gunpowder.]
*Igniting gunpowder.* Bore a hole one-half inch in diameter and one inch
deep in a block of hardwood. Pass two small brass wires through holes in
the sides, letting the ends of the wires be about one-eighth of an inch
apart. Pour a little gunpowder in loosely over the wires. Tie a piece of
thoroughly moistened cotton twine, three inches long, to one of the
wires and attach it to the outside coating of a charged Leyden jar.
Connect the knob of the jar to the other wire. The gunpowder will
immediately explode. Keep the face and hands away from the gunpowder
when performing this experiment.
[Illustration: Fig. 47.—An Electric Umbrella.]
*Electric Umbrella.* The repulsion of similarly electrified bodies which
was illustrated by the action of the pith ball electroscope may be
better illustrated by pasting some narrow streamers of tissue paper
about one-eighth of an inch wide and four inches long to a small cork
covered with tinfoil. The cork is mounted on the upper end of a stiff
copper wire supported in a bottle. When the wire is connected to the
prime conductor and the machine set in motion, the strips will spread
out like an umbrella.
*Lightning Board.* A pane of glass is thoroughly cleaned and then given
a coat of shellac or varnish. Before the varnish is dry, press on a
piece of tinfoil large enough to cover one side of the glass and rub it
down smoothly.
[Illustration: Fig. 48.—A Lightning Board.]
After the shellac or varnish is dry, cut the tinfoil up into innumerable
little squares with a sharp knife and ruler, leaving two solid strips of
tinfoil at the ends of the glass pane.
The pane is mounted by cementing it in a slot in the cork of a bottle.
Connect one of the tinfoil strips to the prime conductor and the other
to the earth or the body. When the machine is turned, innumerable little
sparks will pass between the tinfoil squares and give an appearance very
similar to that of lightning.
[Illustration: Fig. 49.—An Electric Dance.]
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