The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1889-05-07
INTERESTING DELUSIONS.
a Few Choice Tricks Performed
With Chemicals.
Curious Sympathetic Ink-Making Two
Coins out of One-Changing the Color
of Bird or FIower-Melting
Spoons.

Some pleasing delusions can be pro-
duced by the aid of chemicals. BY
wetting piece of fine loaf sugar with
phosphorized ether, and throwing it
into basin OF water, the surface of
the water will become luminous in the
dark, and by gently blowing upon it
phosphorescent undulations will be
formed which illuminate the air above
the fluid to a considerable distance.
In winter the water must be rendered
blood warm. If the phosphorized
ether be applied TO the hand or other
warm objects il renders them luminous
in the dark
The most curious of all kinds of
sympathetic ink is that from cobalt.
1t is a very singular phenomenon that
the characters of figures traced out
with this ink may be made to disap-
pear or reappear at pleasure. This
property is peculiar TO ink made from
cobalt: for all other kinds are at first
invisible until some substance has
been applied to make them appear,
but when once they appear they re-
main. To prepare this ink take zaffre
and dissolve it in nitrO-muriatic acid
until the acid extracts the metallic
part of the cobalt, which communi-
Gates TO the zaffre in blue colors; then
dilute the solution with common water.
If you write with this liquor on paper
81 h. 1,,4
when exposed to heat they will be-
come green.
Add gradually one ounce, by meas
urc, of sulphuric acid to five ounces of
water in an earthenware dish. and
then add, also gradually. three
quarters of an ounce of granulated
zinc. A rapid production of hydrogen
gas will instantly take place. Then
add from time to time a few pieces of
phosphorus of the size of a pea.
Hundreds of gas bubbles will be pro-
duded. which will take fire on the sur
face of the effervescing liquid. The
whole surface of the liquid will become
luminous, and fire balls, with jets of
the liquid with kissing noise. 1t
makes beautiful effect.
Fix three pins in the table and lay a
piece of money upon them; then place
a heap of flour of sulphur below the
piece of money; add another above it
and set fire TO them. When the flame
is extinct you will find that thin plate
of metal has become detached from the
coin, thus making two out of one.
Dissolve camphor in spirits of wine
and deposit the vessel containing the
solution in "a close room where the
spirits of wine will evaporate. If any
one enters the room with q candle the
air will inilame, making an effect as
bright and sudden as lightning. but
there is no danger whatever from this
sparkling effect.
To melt iron in a moment and make
it run into drops, follow this rule:
Bring a bar of iron 10 a white heat and
then apply TO it a roll of sulphur The
iron will Immediately melt.
Take piece of looking glass. rest it
on a table in any angle in front Ofthe
object to be copied, then. having a
piece OF paper placed behind the mir
ror, by looking into it from the upper
part of the glass with one eye, so to
speak. and with the other make the
axis of vision meet in the focus point
of both, any object may be seen and
sketched with singular beauty and ac-
.curacy. This will be found of great
benefit TO beginners in the art of paint
ing.
A powder which catches fire when
exposed to air can be prepared in this
way. Put three ounces of rock alum
and one ounce of honey or sugar into
an earthern dish, keep the mixture
over the fire until it becomes dry and
hard. then pound it to coarse pow
der. Put this into bottle. leaving
part empty. and having placed it in
crucible. fill up the crucible with fine
sand and surround with burning Goals.
When the bottle has been kept at
red heat for some eight minutes re-
move; then stop it with piece OF cork.
and, leaving it to cool, preserve the
mixture in small bottles well closed.
If you unclose a bottle and let fall a
few grains of the powder on a bit of
paper or any other dry substance it
will first become blue, then a pretty
brown, and Will. finally, burn the SUBJ
stance on which ii has fallen.
To melt lead in "a piece of paper wrap
up smooth ball OF lead IN paper. tax
ing care that there be no wrinkles in it
and that it be everywhere in contact