has been completed. The above is not recommended if you have not a four penny piece to spare! TO MAKE FIRE BURN UNDER WATER. Take three ounces of gunpowder, one ounce of saltpetre, three ounces of sulphur vivum, beat and mix well together; then fill a pasteboard or paper mould with the composition, and it will burn until entirely consumed under the water. THAMES ON FIRE. SETTING THE As an example of what may be done in this way, pour a little turpentine in a basin of water, and set fire to it-it will blaze until the turps are exhausted. THE SALAMANDER. Salamanders, everybody knows, could stand-or it was said they couldany amount of fire: they rather liked it! A curious experiment may be performed in the Salamander line without any danger of burning your fingers; you may, if you will, place a tea-kettle full of boiling water upon the naked hand without injury. And this is the secret. Whilst a tea-kettle is boiling upon the fire, and for a few seconds after its removal, a layer of steam exists between the bottom of the tea-kettle and the water which it contains. Now, the layer of steam in question is a bad conductor of heat; wherefore the teakettle may be taken direct from the fire and laid flat upon the hand without giving rise to any disagreeable perception of heat. We have heard the success of this experiment attributed to a deposition of soot upon the outside of the tea-kettle. This is an error: a perfectly clean tea-kettle, heated over a charcoal fire, which deposits no soot, may be handled as described above. THE FOUR ELEMENTS. The four elements, according to the ancients, were fire, water, earth, and air. Chemists now-a-day tell us of sixty-three, or more; but, sticking to the old rule, we may produce all the elements in one phial. The phial should be seven inches long, and about an inch in diameter. Into this phial put, first, glass coarsely powdered; secondly, oil of tartar per deliquium; thirdly, tincture of salt of tartar; and lastly, distilled rock oil. The glass and the various liquors being of different densities, if you shake the phial, and then let it rest a few moments, the three liquors will entirely separate, and each assume its place; thus forming no indifferent resemblance of the four elements, earth, fire, water, and air: the powdered glass (which should be of some dark colour) representing the earth; the oil of tartar, water; the tincture, air; and the rock oil, fire. TO REDUCE TIN TO WHITE POWDER. We imagine some wag among our readers will be suggesting laying out your "tin" (vulgar boy !) on powdered white sugar, or carbonate of soda, or any other white powder; but this is not the way. Pull a long face, and let us be scientific. Take a piece of tin foil-not tin plate, which is merely iron plate covered with tin-lay the foil in a saucer or upon a plate, and pour upon it strong aquafortis. Violent chemical action will at once ensue, ruddy vapours will be evolved, and the tin foil will crumble to white powder. Only one metal besides tin (antimony) gives rise to a similar result when similarly treated. Hence an action like that described points to either tin or antimony. But tin is a tough, and antimony is a brittle metal; therefore the discrimination between them, even by the agency of this one test, is complete. OPTICAL DELUSION. A coin, placed in a teacup so as to be concealed from the eye, will rise into full view if the cup be filled with water. The rays, proceeding to the eye from the surface of the metal, render the coin visible. The eye is then removed further back, so that the edge of the basin obstructs the direct rays, and, of course, the coin is no longer seen. If an attendant carefully pour water into the basin, so that the object is not moved, it will presently, as the water rises in the basin, again become visible. This arises from the refraction of the rays by the water, the image thereby appearing at a point differing from that which it naturally occupies. This may be very fairly.called seeing round a corner! THE ATTRACTED SHILLING. Ask your mother or your sister to give you one of her long hairs; then to one end of it fasten a piece of white wax, attach the other to a pin; stick this in the bottom of your waistcoat, letting the piece of wax dangle about at the full length of the hair. Thus provided, if you wish to produce astonishment, ask some one to lend you a shilling, and while the person is taking it out of some pocket or purse, endeavour to put the wax between the finger and thumb. As you look at the shilling, of course only to see if it be a good one, stick the wax to it, but mind that it is placed on the under side of the shilling, so that it may not be visible, then throw it carelessly on the table, and, as you move, it will follow you at your pleasure. At the close of your performance, if you wish to conceal the mode you have adopted, it will be necessary carefully to remove the wax before the shilling is returned. WHERE ARE THEY ? This question may be fairly asked about some bits of cedar, if the following trick is well worked out. The apparatus consists of five bits of cedar and two hats. Take one of these pieces, and put it on the right hand of the table, by itself, and cover it with a hat. Place the second hat on its brim, on the left hand of the table. Taking a second piece, lift off the left hand hat by the crown, when, lo! there is a piece already underneath it. Now replace the hat on the one piece just shown, take a third piece, lift off the hat again by the crown, and now there are two pieces, seeming to have passed through the crown into the inside. And so go on until you see the four pieces under the left hand hat. You are observed at the outset to place one piece under the right hand hat, and now, when you suddenly remove both the hats, by the exercise of magical art, all five pieces appear under the left. The way in which this illusion is practised is as follows:-To perform it, as you take one of the little pieces of wood, and cover it with a hat, on your right hand, hold the hat by the brim, as you put it down, and catching hold of the piece between the first and second fingers of your right hand, move it quickly to the other hat, which raise by the brim, and then drop the piece under it as gently as possible. The company suppose that you still have the piece under the right hand hat, whereas you have dextrously removed it to the left. Take now another piece between your first and second fingers, and catching hold of the left hand hat at the top, lift it briskly off, when the company will see there is a peg there already, while you will appear to have put it from the top. As you replace the hat on one piece, put the second with the first, and then catching hold of another piece, treat it in the same way as before. Continue the process till the five pieces are under the left hand hat, when the feat is accomplished. THE MAGIC BLOW. Take a light stick, taper it off at the ends, and permit the ends so tapered to rest on two wine-glasses; strike it a good smart blow in the centre, and it will break in two without damaging the glasses. The cause of this involves a curious principle of the laws of force, of which there are many illustrations well known to every one. The blow being given very quickly and evenly, and the substance which strikes having a rapid motion, it is suddenly arrested in its downward course by the stick across the wine-glasses, and it passes through it, or breaks it, because there is not time enough for the momentum of the blow to spread along the stick and break the glasses. Another illustration is firing a candle through an inch board. If a gun be loaded with powder, and a candle just fitting the barrel is inserted in place of a bullet, and the gun fired against a door or other piece of wood, the candle will pass through, leaving a clean, smooth hole, because, when the candle comes to the door, it is evident something must give way, and as the candle is moving so fast, it actually has not time to break, and the wood is perforated. In many countries of Europe, where liberty has no existence, except in name, letters are opened by the Post-office, an impression of the seal being first taken by striking a piece of lead sharply on it, when the lead receives the impression without breaking the seal. The letter is then opened and read, and re-sealed with the lead reverse, so that the recipient little suspects that his letter has been unfairly opened. THE RING, THE SHILLING, AND THE GLOVE. We appropriate the following curious trick from the ingenious works of the famous wizard, Matthew Marvel; and he is quite welcome to have it back -when we have done with it. Here, you observe, are three articles—a ring, a shilling, and a glove; and I shall presently ask each of the three ladies who are sitting in the first row to take one of these articles, but so secretly that I may not have the slightest knowledge of the selection that is made. I have here, you also perceive, twenty-four round cards; one of which I shall give to one of the ladies, whom we will call Lady Unit, two to the second, whom we will style Lady Duo, and three to Lady C.; leaving the eighteen by themselves on the table. I will now retire for a few moments, that the ladies may, entirely without my knowledge, make their choice. I have only to request, as another favour, that the lady who selects the ring will take from the cards on the table as many as she already possesses; the lady who selects the shilling, twice as many; and the lady who has the glove, four times as many as have been now received. (The lecturer retires, and soon re-appears.) And now, having returned, I beg to say that Lady Unit has the ring, Lady Duo the shilling, and Lady C. the glove, as you will now see by their kindly handing them to me. Ladies, accept my thanks. But I have engaged that my magic shall be placed at your disposal; I proceed, therefore, to fulfil my promise. The rule to be observed is as follows: -Call the ring A, the shilling E, and the glove I, and distinguish the persons as I have recently done, or by calling them first, second, and third; then let the persons take the cards from the heap as our friends did this evening, and on returning after a short absence, you may discover the article each person has taken from the cards that remain on the table, and the following Latin words :6 7. 2 3 5 1 Salve cesta animæ semita vita quies. The following French words, reckoned as six in number, will answer the same purpose:7. 1 2 3 5 6 Par fer Cesar jadis devint si grand prince. In making use of these words, whether the Latin or the French, it must be remembered that there can never be 4 cards, but that there can only remain 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 7 cards. It must likewise be noticed that each syllable contains one of the vowels which we have made to represent the articles proposed, and that the first syllable of each word must be considered as representing the first person, and the second syllable the second. This being comprehended, should there remain only one counter, then taking the Latin line, you must employ the first two syllables, sal-ve, the first of which, that containing A, shows that the first person has the ring represented by A; and the second syllable, that containing E, shows that the second person has the shilling represented by E; from which it is clear that the third person has the glove. If two cards should remain, you must take the second word cesta, the first syllable of which, containing E, will show that the first person has the shilling represented by E; and the second syllable, containing A, will show that the second person has the ring represented by A. In general, whatever number of cards remain, that word of the line which is pointed out by the same number must be employed. TO PASS A SHILLING INTO A BALL OF WORSTED. Like all the best magical tricks, this is one of the most simple. A marked shilling is borrowed, and a large ball of worsted is brought. Presto! the worsted is unwound, and out falls the money, that a minute before was in its owner's pocket. Here is the solution :-First, procure a few skeins of thick worsted, next a piece of tin in the shape of a flat tube, large enough for the shilling to pass through, and about four inches long. Now wind the worsted on one end of the tube, to a good-sized ball, having a shilling of your own in your right hand. You may now show the trick. Place the worsted anywhere out of sight, borrow a marked shilling, then taking it in your left hand, looking at it and saying, "It is good," place the one in your right hand on the end of the table farthest from the company; then fetch the worsted. While so doing, drop the marked shilling through the tube, pull it out and wind the worsted a little to conceal the hole, then put the ball into a tumbler, and taking the shilling you left on the table, show it to the company (who will imagine it to be the borrowed shilling), say "Presto!" or any other bosh. Give the end of the ball to one of the audience, request them to unwind it, which being done, the money will fall out, to the astonishment of all who see this trick of legerdemain. A boy who can do these tricks well, deserves to be called 1. It is a curious feat to balance three penknives on the point of a needle. But it is readily effected if they are fastened together, so that one shall be at top, having its point stuck into another at right angles, while into its end is stuck the point of a third, which hangs parallel with the latter, and a needle is placed at the centre of gravity in the first. The three knives being thus arranged, and placed in equilibrio on the point of a needle held in the hand, they cannot fall, because their common centre of gravity is far below the point of the needle, which is above the point of support. 2. Take a stick a foot long (a little more or less), and two penknives of equal weight; stick them by the point on a level on each side of the stick, parallel, at the distance of about three inches from the end you place on a glass, and be careful that the curves in the handles are turned towards the glass. You may then drink off the wine, and the stick will still continue its extended position, and not fall off. Great care should be taken to have the knives equally balanced, or the experiment will not be successful. NEWLY-INVENTED PICCOLO. (Not yet Registered at the Patent Office.) Take a good sound cork, with as few holes or cracks in it as possible. By placing this against the teeth, holding it tightly between the lips, and playing upon it with the bowl ends of two tea-spoons, a very singular imitation of a piccolo or small flute will be produced. The tune should be fancied by the player, and a quick air will be found most effective. It may be played in connection with some one of the party pretending to be ill, when the charms of music are recommended, tried, and found to be A PERFECT CURE. WHAT TIME DO YOU DINE? If a person will tell you the hour he means to dine, you can tell him the hour he intends to get up that morning. First ask a person to think of the hour he intends rising on the following morning; when he has done so, bid him place his finger on any hour he pleases on the dial of your watch, and to remember the hour he first thought of. To the hour his finger is on you now mentally add 12, and request him to retrograde, counting the number of hours you mention, whatever that may be, but that he is to commence counting with the hour he thought of from the hour he points at. For example, suppose he thought of rising at 8, and places his finger on 12 as the hour of dinner, you desire him to count backwards 24 hours; 12 he calls 8 (that being the hour he thought of rising), 11 he calls 9, 10 he calls 10, and so on (mentally, but not |