Chemistry and Chemical Magic

8/12/2019 Chemistry and Chemical Magic

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n i f o r m W i t h t h i s V o l u m e

M E C H A N I C S A N D S O M E O F I TSMYS TE R IE S .

F L Y I N G A N D S O M E O F I T SMYS TE R IE S .


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P L A Y B O O K S O F S C I E N C E

CHEMISTRYN D CH EM IC L M GI C

BY

V . E . J O H N S O N , M . A .A U T H O R O F E G Y P T I A N S C I E N C E

T H E T H E O R Y A N D P R A C T I C E O P M O D E L A E R O P L A N I N GE T C .

OVEFC ONE HU ND RE D AN D FIFTY EXPE RIME NTSA N D N U M E R O U S I L L U S T R A T I O N S

L O N D O NH E N R Y F R O W D E

H O D D E R A N D S T O U G H T O N1 9 1 2

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P R E F A C ETHIS is one of a series of l ittle volumes dealing with thelighter and more amusing sides of science, and thereforeproperly termed "p la yb oo ks ." In each the author's aimhas been the same: to provide boys with material forintelligent a mu sement, in the cour se of w hich they willbring into play qualities that will serve them well inmatters o f greater importan ce. E ve ry end eavo ur has beenm ade to render the volum es up -to-da te. O f the variousexperiments described a large number are original ; andwhere selected they have generally been presented in anovel form . The y have almost w ithou t exce ption beenpersonally performed by the author, and every one is quitepracticable if due care and a little patience be exercised.

Different volumes will naturally appeal to differentreaders. Th e ama teur con jure r w ill naturally find m ostto interest him in the volume on Chemistry and ChemicalM a g ic ; the bu ddin g airmail wil l turn with more zest tothe volume on Aeronautics; the future engineer to thaton M echan ics and Mechan ical Appl iances . W ha t isimp ortan t is that each b oy shou ld be encou rag ed in hisprop er bent. Every boy , l ike my U nc le To by , shouldride a hobby-horse o f some kind; and an acquaintance

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6 P R E F A C Ewith some branch of science, even if sought at first withn o othe r end than recreation, w ill be a delight in itself,and may prove a stepping-stone to higher things.

In conclusion, i f a word of advice may be addresseddirectly to the bo y reader, it is th is : N ev er be conte nt ,merely to read about an experiment; that is, to see itonly through the mind of the writer and the artist.Always perform it yourself, even if at first in a mannermore or less crude: th t is to see it with your ownmindthe only real way to see it at al l ; you have madeit your experiment and your knowledg e. N o man cantake it from y o u ; it is you rs for all time.


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C O N T E N T S

I N T R O D U C T O R YP A G E

9

C H A P T E R IG E N E R A L P R E C A U T I O N S A N D S U G G E S T I O N S . . 1 1

C H A P T E R I I

L I Q U I D C O L O U R E FF EC TS . . . . . 1 4

C H A P T E R I I I

S P I R I T P I C T U R E S A N D S Y M P A T H E T I C W R I T I N G . 3 4

C H A P T E R I Y

M Y S T E R I E S ' O F E I R E A N D W A T E R . . . . 4 5

C H A P T E R Y

S P O N T A N E O U S C O M B U S T I O N A N D M A G I C A L E X P ^ ^ S I V E S . 5 2

C H A P T E R V IC H E M I C A L P Y R O T E C H N I C S A N D P A R L O U R F I R E W O R K S . 5 9C H A P T E R Y I I

S T R A N G E A C T I N G A L L O Y S . . . . . 6 6C H A P T E R V I I I Q U I C K B L E A C H I N G A G E N T S T H E I R A C T I O N S A N D R E -S T O R E R S . . . . . . FI

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I N T R O D U C T O R YFROM the earliest times the science of chemistry has notfailed to exercise a pow erf ul attraction and influence onthe min ds of men . It has also nev er ceased to b e averitable storehouse of wonder and mystery, which hasincreased rather than diminished as more and more of itsmysteries have been exp lored and made kn ow n. M uchhas been d isco ver ed ; much is no w clear that was onc eobscu re or un kn ow n ; but stil l m ore remains hidden. Inthese pages we propose to peep into some of its mysteries.W e h al l not deal w ith chemistry as a science, but ratheras a past ime and an amusementan amusement which,if used properly, cannot fail to be one of a profitablecharacter.

N or are w e concern ed so m uch with the cause of suchand such extraordinary effects, as with the effects them-selves ; althou gh the form er is a matter wh ich has no tbeen altogether neglected. H int s and suggestions aregiven from time to t ime wh ich, i f f ol lo w ed up by refer-ence to standard text-books on chemistry, wil l supply thegreatest of al l desiderata" The reason why."

Probably no science lends itself so readily to producingso-called magical effects as chemistry, yet (save in a verylimited sense) its use for such purposes is of quite recentelate. N e w chem ical effects are constantly being dis -covered which are startl ing and unexpected in theirresults even to the initiated, and much more so to thosewho have made no special study of the subject.

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10 CH EM I STRY AN D CHE MI CA L MA GI C .W e have stated that w e are not directly conce rned withthe scientific explanation of cause snd effect ; but the

expe rime nts herein de tailed m ust be carried out w ith acarefulness and a precision absolutely scientific if they areto succ eed. Ha phaza rd m eth ods are useless and successby such m eans can only be in the character of a " fluke."The reason why chemical tricks are not so popularas they should be is because they have been too oftenprepared by unscientific people and treated in anun scientific manner. N o illusion is m ore startling orpuzzling than a chemical effect properly manipulated andpr ese nt ed ; none a bigger fai lure or more biting frost thansuch an experim ent per form ed in a careless, slSvenlymanner.


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C H A P T E R ^G E N E R A L P R E C A U T I O N S A N D S U G 7 5 I E N H

IN order that success may attend the fol low ing exp eri-ments, none but pure chem icals sh ould b e used this isabso lutely essential. A ll chem icals sh ould be kept inbottles (stoppered for preference) and properly and clearlylabelled. If solutions or acids b ec om e at all disco lour ed,thr ow them aw ay at once. U se distil led water no t onlywhen absolutely necessary but whenever advisable.

Clear glass jug s a nd decan ters shou ld be used w he n-ever possible. Everyth ing must be kept scrupulouslyclean, and thoroughly wash ed and carefully dried befo reusing agaiffl.

N ev er present a new experim ent to you r friends or inpu blic until yo u have tho rou gh ly m astered it in priva tein every detail. Careful atten tion to small points willsave endless troublethe writer speaks from experience.H ow ev er go od an experiment may appear to you to be ,alwa ys try to improv e it . N oth ing is perfect . A lw ay spresent the experiment in your own wayit has thusbecome yours and you have set your mark upon it .

In chemical magic all changes must be sudden, startling,con fou n din g th e less t ime given your audience to think,the less ch an ce o f your secret bein g discov ered or you r

j modus operandi grasped and un ders tood. Fo r exam ple,if a colou red liquid is to be de colo ur ized , the bleac hingIX

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12 CHE MI STRY A N D CH EM I CAL MAG I C .or reagent must be instantaneousin tl ie twinkling of aneye. Yo ur agen ts 1and reagents must, the refo re, be delicateand ofahighly sensitive nature to che m ical influences. A ls oall quantities and proportions must be exact, for haphazardmixing and preparing can uot possibly lead to succes sfulresults. Th e actual app aratu s required is, gen erallyspeaking, neither expen sive no r difficult to m a k e ; bu tin studying and preparing the experiments a fairlyg oo d pair of ordinary scaled such as are used byamateur photog raph ers and a graduated measure areessential.

Carefully note in writing the effect of varying therelative proportions of the chemicals used in anyexperiment.

D o not begin by using large quantities. Co m nje nc ewith ordinary test-tubes or half-fil led wine-glasses, and y oucan alw ays increase the am oun t i f you use your bala nceand graduated measure.

H av ing ascertained by experimen t the exact pro por -tions and quantities required to pr odu ce the best effect ,make a careful note of the particulars and keep it forfuture reference.

The exact amount of the ingredients to be used in thefol low ing experiments is not always s ta te d : this variessl ightly with the nature and manufacture of the chemicalsused, and much more with their purity and the carew ith wh ich they have been kept. On chan ging the

1 A ch emi ca l agent is one of the s ubsta nces used in co m po un din g tw oor m ore, in order to produ ce a desired result . A rcarjcnt is a substantew h i c h reacts upon a com pou nd , revers ing or upsett ing the form er resul t ,th ereby f orm i n g a n ew ch em i ca l com pou n d . An indicator is a substanceem plo yed in chem istry to show th e termina t ion of a che m ical .react ion .


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G EN ER A L PREC AUT IONS & SUGGESTIONS 13o

chemist from whom you purchase drugs, or on repeat-ing an experiment after an interval, say, of severalmo nths, it is advisab le to m ake a preliminar y trial befo recom m enc ing a ptibl ic exhibition, as otherw ise you mayhave a surprise as well as your audience.


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C H A P T E R I IL I Q U I D C O L O U R E F F E C T S

THE startl ing and instantaneous changing of l iquidssu ch as ink to w ater , wat er t o beer , beer to m ilk,etc., is a favourite trick with magicians, and formore than tw o thousan d years the apparent turningof water into wine and vice versd has been oneof their chief accom plishmen ts. Th e m ethod s of theancients , w ho em ployed opa qu e vessels capable o f . co n -cealing hidden partitions, may be left out of consideration,their results being due to mechanical and not to chemicalagency.

E X P E R I M E N T 1Wine and Water

Apparatus.Two claret (or w ine ) glasses and tw oper fectly transparent decan ters, one containing red w in ethe other water.

Chemicals.Permanganate o f pota sh, pure sulphuricacid, hyposulphite of soda.

If one gramme of perma ngan ate of potash an d tw ogram mes of sulphuric acid be dissolved in a qua rt of(distilled) water a red liquid resembling wine is produced.Th is liquid can be instantaneously decolou rized bypour ing it into a glass contain ing a few d rops of a -

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LIQUID COLOUR EFFECTS . 15rcon centr ated solution of hyp osulp hite of soda. A l itt le

pin ch of aniline dye , m ixe d into a paste w ith glycer ine,and stuck to the bo ttom of a se con d glass (this dev iceperm its of the gljiss b eing inv erted or acciden tally upse tw itho ut the contents being los t) is sufficient to chan gewater to the colour of wine.

De can ter N o. 1 contains clear water, decanter N o. 2 theperm anga nate and acid solution. On e glass is un prepa redand one prepared as stated with the d ye. Th e actua lpresentation of any experiment will in general be leftto the taste of the reader. Th e usual m eth od of p ro -ced ur e in such cases as the ab ov e is as follow s. On eof the guests or audience is asked to join the per-form er in som e refreshment. T he gues t is asked to selectone of the two decanters, and he will generally take theon e (n tain ing w ine. On his pou ring the contents intothe tumbler containing the hyposulphite of soda, it in-stantly becomes colourless, and the water in the otherdeca nter is apparently turned into red win e on beingpoured inte the second glass prepared with the anilinedye. Th e glasses etc. should be imm ediately rem ove don the conclusion of the experiment, owing to the turbidappeara nce that the red liquid w il l assume after a fe wminutes.

The mixtures are poisonous and must not on anyaccount be drunk.

E X P E R I M E N T 2Claret and TVater {non-poisonous

Apparatus.C lear glass deca nter and tw o clear glasstumblers.


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LIQU ID CO LO UR EFFECT S . 17E X P E R I M E N T 3

Water to Sherry and Sherry to WaterApparatus.Same as in Ex perim ent 2.Chemicals.Tincture of iodin e and potassium cya nid e

or sodium sulphite.Alternative Method.M ethyl oran ge, chlorine wa ter.1No detailed account of this experiment is necessary.T h e colourizer is the iod ine or m ethyl orang e the

decolourizer the potassium cyanide (poisonous) or sodiumsulph ite ; and in the alternative m eth od the chlo rinewater.

E X P E R I M E N T 4Water to Sherry, Sherry to Port, Port to Water

Apparatus. Decanter an d thre e glasses.Chemicals.M ethyl oran ge, tartaric acid, chlorin e

water.Th e deca nter contain s clear wa ter, glass N o. 1 a little

methyl orange, glass No. 2 a few drops of strong tartaricacid , glass N o. 3 a little chlorine water. Th e onlydifficulty likely to be experienced is in the bleachingaction of the chlorine water, owing to the smallqua ntity permissible if it is to esca pe ob servation. Thismay, however, be overcome by using two decanters(similar in app eara nce) and t w o glasses, the seco nddecanter containing a glass less of chlorine water than thefirst. The modus operandi shou ld be such that theaud ience are unaw are of the existence of tw o decanters,and are led to think, when the contents of the secondglass is being em ptied ba ck into the decan ter, that this

1 For method of preparing chlorine water, see Experiment 62.B


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18 CH EM ISTRY AN D CH EM ICAL MA GIC .is the original one. P ou r from the first deca nter intoglass one, empty glass one into glass two, and glass twointo glass three, or glass two into the chlorine waterdecanter.

Water to Ink, Ink to Port, Port to WaterApparatus.A deca nter of ab ou t a pint cap acity fil led

(as before) with disti l led water; seven wine-glasses al ikein shape.

Chemicals.Tannin, per chlo ride of iron, ox alic acid.About as much tannin as will l ie on a sixpence is

disso lved in the distilled wa ter in the decan ter. O fthe glasses, numbers one and three are unprepared;num bers tw o and four contain t w o drop s of perch lorideof iron; number five about ten drops of a saturatedsolution of oxalic acid ; number six the same quantityl iquid am m on ia; and num ber seven a small tea-spo onfu lof sulphuric acid. On po ur ing from the decan ter, thefirst glass (unprepared) gives clear water, the second

E X P E R I M E N T 5

F IG . 1 .


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20 CHE M I STRY AN D CHE M I CAL MA GI C .corrosive, easy to handle, and portable in a crystallineform.

If w e use a salicylate, such as sod ium salicyla te, inplace of a tannate, a beautiful purple colour is the result,which can be reacted upon or cleared as before.

E X P E R I M E N T 0Water to Ink, Ink to Port, Port to Sherry, Sherry

to Water (many gradations)Apparatus.Large deca nter of distilled wa ter in

which a small quantity of tannin has been dissolved as inExperiment 5, and a number of similar glasses.

Chemicals.Tannin, per chlo ride of iron, bich loride o fmercury, oxalic acid, sulphocyanide of potassium.The exact number of glasses used and modus operandiare left to the taste of the op era tor. It w ill be suffi-cient to state here the effects of the new chemicalsintroduced. .

The effects of tannin, perchloride of iron and oxalic acidhave been already discussed in Experiment 5.

The order in which the chemicals are used is asfo l l o w s : tannin, perch loride o f iron, oxa lic acid,sulphocyanide of potassium, bichloride of mercury,and more bichloride of mercury.

Th e oxalic acid cha nges the ink to water. Th esulphocyanide of potassium changes the latter to port;the bic hlo rid e of m ercury giv es us sherry ; an d still m orebich loride of mercury , clear wa ter. Th e exper imen t- isoriginal.


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LIQU ID COL OU R EFFE CTS . 21E X P E R I M E N T 7

To stir a glass of water first to yellow, then (bygradations) Jo scarlet, and finally to clear wateragain

Apparatus. Sp ecially m ad e tum bler, glass rod.Chemicals. Bic hlor ide of mercury, iodide of

potassium.

FIG. 2 .

The old way of performing this experiment wasby means of a hollow glass rod used as the stirrer;and it wag very difficult to accomplish and often wentwrong. The fol low ing wa y (the invention of the wr iter)is absolutely to be relied on if ordinary care be used.The glass rod is solid and genuine, and can be passedrou nd for exa m ination a procee din g that quite nonplusses


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22 CHEM I STRY AN D CHE MI CA L MA GI C .anyone kn ow ing the ordinary manner o f performing theexpei'iment.

The glass previously inverted and shown empty isfilled from a decan ter or j u g of clear water. This dec an teror ju g con tains a solution of bichloride of mercury, w hic h,as it is highly poisono us, mu st on no acco un t be tastedor be left standing about.

N o w , when a strong solution of iodide of potassium ismixed with it l ittle by little, it gradu-ally turns it yellow, brownish-red, red,scarlet, and finally, when still more isadded, colourless.

This experiment i f properly showncan be made a very effective one.The manner in which the iodide ofpotassium is introduced by the writeris by means of a specially preparedtumbler, shown in Fig. 3. G is anordinary glass, through the centr eof the bo tto m of - which a smallhole has been drilled. Th is can bedone at a china shop or whereverchina is rivetted. B is a smallindiarubb er ba ll ab ou t an inch in diameter, and 0 T a

piec e o f fine stiff rub ber or g lass tubin g with a piec e ofva lve tub ing ove r it to m ake it wa tertight w here it passesthrou gh the bo ttom of the glass. Th e tube and ball canb e obta ined in one at any chemist's. It is necessary tha tthere shou ld be a hole in th e table or b o x on w h ich thetum bler stands in order to a llow the ballB to pass through,and a little care and practice are necessary in picking upthe glass to hide the b a ll ; but a fe w trials soon sh ow th e,best wa y to do this. On no acc ou nt squeeze the ball


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LIQUID COLOUR EFFECTS . 23wh en inverting the glass. It is hardly necessary to ad dthat the glass mu st J)e pi ck ed up a nd held with the ba ckof the hand towards the audience and the ball in the palmo f the han d. Th glass is gra sped close to the bo tto m b ythe thumb and first finger (or first or second fingers) withthe ball B resting against the ball of the thumb, as shownin Fig. 4.

The ball is squeezed by pressing on it with the secondor third finger. A n y m ov em en t o f the fingers of the on ehand is sufficiently masked by thestirring of the liquid with the glassrod held in the other hand not tobe observed by the audience.1

As more liquid is pressed upfrom the ball into the glass, thelatter naturally gets fu ll e r; andto avoid any too apparent increase,a quantity should from time totime be spilt or poured out onthe excuse* of showing that it isthe liquid that is really changingcolour. FIG. 4.

A no the r very interesting experim ent with the samechemicals can be performed in the fol lowing manner.W h e n the l iquid has' be com e scarlet , i t is col lected on afilter, and wa shed and drain ed. Th e residue (io di deof mercury) is of a beautiful scarlet colour, and whensom e of thi$ substance is ru bb ed across a sheet of p ape r,a br igh t scarlet effect is pr od u ce d, which may be rapidlycha nged to a lem on-v ellow by w arm ing the paper, andJbrought back to scarlet by rubbing down the crystals

' Fo r m eth od of f ill ing ba l l see Ex pe rim en t 15.


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24 CHE MI STRY AN D CHE MI CAL MA GI C .with the finger. Th e exp erim en t can be repea ted overand ove r again with like result. If some of the scarletiodide of mercury is sublimed from one bit of glass toano ther, it form s crystals (rh om bic pris?m for m ). W h e nthese are scratched with a pin they change again to thescarlet state, the latter when crystallized being of squarebase octoh edr on form. In these experiments the solutiono f chlo ride o f mercury is carefully pre cipita ted with on eof iodide of pota ssiu m jus t enough of the latter beingadded to precipitate the metal, for if more than this isused the iodide of mercury is redissolved in excess of theprecipitant.

E X P E R I M E N T 8To produce five or six differently coloured solutions froma glass jug full of clear water; to pour them all

back into the jug and have still a clear solution ;the original water to be drunk . More familiarlyknown as Rainbow or Cham eleon Water,

The fol lowing original and very effective method ofperforming this experiment is accomplished by usingveg etable dyes and sensitive indicators. U se tw oexa ctly similar glass ju g s and secretly subs titute these co n d ju g for the first after filling the glasses. T h esecon d ju g contains chlorine water equal in am oun t tothe wa ter left in the first j u g after all the glasses ha vebeen filled.

An iline d yes may be used, care bein g taken to intro -du ce only ju st su fficient for the d esired colora tion ; butthese arc not bleached so quickly and easily, and requirea stronger solution of the chlorine water ; and the strongerthe solution the more it becomes tinged.


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LIQUID COLOUR EFFECTS . 25

The water in the original jug may be slightly alkaline ;then for the red use phenolphthalein ; for yellow, methylorange ; for blue, l itmus solution ; for green, chlorophyll;for violet , a dy e. ' Pu t only ju st sufficient of ea ch forthe desired effect in the bottom of the respective glasses.

E X P E R I M E N T 9Cham eleon or Rainbow Water another method)

Apparatus.Tw o decan ters (clear glass) and tray, an dhalf a dozen wine-glasses.

Chemicals.Six aniline dyres (say) scarlet, blue, violet,oran ge, green , and purp le. Gly cerine .

The following is the original method of presenting thisexperimen t. Th e ma gical idea conta ined in it is (1 ) thata chameleon has been dissolved or spiritualized in theoriginal solution in the decanter, and that on pouring itout into separate glasses different colours can be producedat w il l ; or ^ 2 ) that the decan ter contains a piece brok enoff a rain bow and disso lved in the wa ter. If the latteridea be made use of, the dyes employed must be red,orange, yel low, green, blue and violet , to correspond to thecolours of the rainbow . In the old way of perform ingthe experiment, the different glasses were fil led up withliquids of different colours and there was the end.

T o make the experim ent com plet e, the contents of theglasses should evidently be poured back again into thedecan ter aiyl turned to clear water. This can be acc om -plished by using two similar decanters as described inExperiment i .

M ix a little glycerine and w ate r in e qua l pro po rtion s.Procure six little pots (such as chemists use for cold


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26 CHE MI STRY A N D CHEM I CAL MA GI C .cream ), and mix each dye po w de r with the glycerineand wa ter until it attains the consisten cy of a paste orcream, and place in its respective pot.

The great feature of this experiment, considered as amagical illusion, lies in the fact that one of the decantersand som e of the glasses are prepa red. Ca lling thedecan ters A and B and the glasses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, thebo tto m s of glasses 1, 2, 3 have each a tiny d ab of thedye paste, red, blue, and oran ge respectively. Th e lip

b o f deca nter A has three littlei da bs on it as sh ow n (F ig. 5),

say yellow at a, green at b,violet at c. Th e dab s maybe placed a l itt le low er do w nin the n eck o f the dec an terif pre ferred. In filling glasses1, 2, 3, the decanter mustbe held so that the water(this is all the decantercontain s) s ha ll ' run overthe place marked d. The

three glasses are filled in this ma nner. H a vi n g arrive dthus far, the performer pretends he has forgottensomething and made a mistake in not asking his audiencein wh at order they w ou ld l ike to have the colours, andalso in not handing the glasses round for examination.Th is is d o n e ; and the three rema ining colo ur s arepoured out to orderby holding the decanter in theproper position so that the w ater runs over , the correc tdye. Deca nter B contains a strong solution ofchlorine water equal in amount to the water left indecanter A . Decanter B should be subst ituted f o rdecanter A whilst the performer pretends to search

F IG . 5 .


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LIQU ID COL OU R EFFEC TS . 27for a funnel with which to p ou r the l iquids b ac kagain.

Some colours and (fyes bleach more quickly and easilyin chlorine wa ter ih a n others. I f they d o not chang einstantaneously it does no t greatly ma tter. It is naturallymore difficult to make a broken or disintegrated thingw h ole than to break it. In a ro om chlorine w ater , ifvery stro ng , can b e sm elt, an d in such a case its smellmust be overpowered by a stronger scent of a morepleasant kind.

E X P E R I M E N T 1 0To hare tw o glass/ ids of liquid, one yellow and one blue;

to mix them by pouring them into a third glass andobtain clear icaterApparatus.Three tumblers.

Chemicals.M ethyl oran ge, l itmus solution , chlorin ewater or tincture of iodine, sulphate of indigo, causticsoda.

In the one case methyl orange and litmus are cleared(ble ac he d) by chlorine water. In the other a spo on ful ofconcentrated solution of caustic soda is the clearer.Methyl orange and l itmus mixed do not give a green,bu t in dig o instead of l itmu s solution does. Tinc ture ofiodin e and indigo m ixed in the pro port ion of tw o ind igoto one iodine give a green if the colours are not too deep,weak solutions being the best.

A s a che m jcal trick its entire success dep end s on themann er in wh ich it is pres ente d. It should be pr ece de dby the mixture of blue and yellow pigments and blue andyellow dyes, and the fact that a mixture of blue and yellowproduces green should be duly accentuated.


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28 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHE MICAL M AG IC .E X P E R I M E N T 1 1

To separate two wines that tavebeen mixedApparatus.Three decanters, tw o'tum blers .Chemicals.Sulphocyanide of potassium , su lph o-

cya nide o f mercury, bich lorid e o f m ercury.In decanter one is a solution of sulphocyanide of

potassium (port ) ; in decanter two, sulphocyanide o fmercury, turned to sherry by bichloride of mercury.The se are m ixed in dec an ter three. In glass one is alittle bichloride of mercury to turn the mixture to sherry,and in glass two is a dab of red dye to turn it to port.

O f ove r fifty exp erim en ts tried by the wr iter withvarious chem icals the a bo ve was fou nd to g ive the bestresult.Th e ingredients, bein g very p oisonou s, m ust on noaccount be tasted or left standing about.

E X P E R I M E N T 1 2To turn Water to Milk and back again

White fluids representing milk, etc. , may be formed bymixing soluble salts (in solution) with suitable agents, sothat the final result shall give a white precipitate insuspension ; bu t the results differ much in app eara nceand only a fe w salts are suitable. So lub le calcium salts,as calcium chloride , are rend ered insoluble, form ing w hit edeposits with sulphates or carbonates, as sodium carb onateor so dium sulpha te. So lu ble silver salts act in the sam eway with chlorides, such as sodium ch lor ide ; as do alsothe solu ble salts of lead. M ercu ry salts and amm on iagive like results, and magnesium hydrate and sodium orpotassium hydroxide give heavv curdy precipitates.


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LIQU ID COL OU R EFFEC TS . 29To take one or two of the best :(1 ) T o form a fluid resem bling milk, m ix strong

solut ions o f calcium carbonate and sodium car bon ate ;to clear it, use hydrochloric acid.

(2) Use nitrate of silver and a saturated solution ofpure chloride of so d iu m ; this is cleared by am mon ia.A v o id shaking, or the m ilk go es into curds at on ce.The chloride o f sodium must be purecommon salt is nogood .

(3 ) Sulph urou s acid and a cetate of lead, wh ich iscleared by strong nitric acid.

E X P E R I M E N T 1 3To turn Milk into Wine

T o d o this, it is only nece ssary to clear th e m ilk an dadd a little red dye.

E X P E R I M E N T 1 4To turn Wine into Milk

This is achieved by clearing the wine and adding amilk producer. The wine is cleared by phenolphthaleinplus an alkali (sodium carbonate) in excess; to turn tomilk, add calcium chloride plus acid (tartaric).

E X P E R I M E N T 1 5Tojuru a glass of water any primary colour asked for

red, green, or blue violetApparatus. Specially pr ep ar ed glass.Chemicals.The three required colou rs in dyes.In this experim ent, whicfr is m ore me chan ical than


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30 CH EM I STRY AN D CHEM I CAL MA GI C .chem ical , everything d epen ds on a special ly constru ctedglass similar to that described in Experiment 7, but withthree small indiarubber balls or bulbs instead of one, forthe three separate dyes or colo ur produ cers. Th is can bem ade in a cheap form by using a short inca ndescen tlamp glass and closing one end with a bun g. T h e rubber

balls or receptacles are fil led as follows.The glass is filled to a depth say of aquarter or half an inch with fluid of onecolou r ; on e ball is squeezed and allow edto expand and the process repeated unti lthe ball is nearly full . W ash and dry theglass ca refu lly, an d p ro ce ed to fill ballnumber tw o by the same me thod. Ag ainwash and dry the glass before fil l ing thethird ba ll, an d again after all three ba lls arefull.

When presenting the experiment a circl ingmovement must be given to the arm andglass, and thereby to the water in the glass,

F g and the rubb er bu lbs shou ld be pressed fairlyhard to con cea l the m odus operandi. Th eglass can be safely inverted.

E X P E R I M E N T 1 0The Obedient Colours: four different coloured liquids

each of which changes to any colour ashed forApparatus. F ou r glass tumblers and decanter.Chemicals. F ou r aniline dyes not easily blea ch ed, and

four other colours easy to bleach (sensitive indicators) oreasily bleached vegetable dyes.

Let the four tumblers (not more than two-thirds full )


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LIQUID COLOUR EFFECTS . 31contain say, the fo l lo w ing colo ure d l iquids : ye l low , red,blue, green or violet. m Th e colou rs can be cha nge d asdesired from say ye l lo w to b lue , red to viole t , vio let togreen , blue to red. *The ch an ge is br ou gh t abou t by usinga decanter containing a not too strong solution of chlorinew ate r wit h its l ip pre pare d as in Ex pe rim en t 9. Th echlor ine w at er in the de can ter is po ure d ove r the dab o fdye of the desired colour.

T he chlorine bleac hes the co lou re d l iquid in the glassbu t the dy e g ives i t the colo ur dem an de d. I t is advisableto re m ov e the glasses, etc . as soon as the e xpe rim ent isended.

A li tt le a lcohol or ea u-d e-c olo gn e shou ld be a dd ed tothe chlorine water in the decanter as anil ine dyes are verysoluble in it .

Fu rthe r exa mp les o f liquid colo ur ef fects m ight begiven, but enough should have been said to convey an ideah ow such changes are pro du ced . Other experimen ts , asw ell as variations of those de scrib ed , w il l no do ub t read ilyoc cu r to many readers ; and the fo l lo w in g are a fe w not esand suggestions which may be useful to those desiring todevise further original experiments for themselves.

N O T E S O N C H A P T E E IWhen an oxide of manganese is fused in air with a causticalkali, a brigh t green m ass is form ed which yields a darkgreen solution c ontaining potassium manganate. If thisgreen solution be allowed to stand it slowly changes to abright purple colour.Cop per sulphate and amm onium hydrate produce a bluesolution ; also potassium fer roc yan ide and weak solution ofiron su lp ha te ; also ferro cya nid e of potassium and ferroussulphate (protosulphate of iron)the last named being adeep blue.


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32 CH EM ISTRY AN D CH EM ICAL M AG IC .Iron perchloride and potassium sulphocyanide give a blood-

red, decolourized b y m ercuric chloride ; potassium sulph o-cyan ide and sulphuric acid a f ine old port colour, cleared bythe same agent. Litm us solution and an acid pro du ce red,also permanganate of potash and sulpfiuric acid, cleared byhyp osu lphite of soda. Potassium ferrocy anid e and the doublesulphate of uranium and potassium give an old port-likecolourwashing soda clears it .

Mercury perchloride and sodium hydrate give a yel lowsolution, also lead acetate and potassium iodide ; or better stillpotassium chromate.

Iron sulphate and pyrogallic , tannic or gallic acids produceblack ( ink); also tannin, and perchloride of iron ; cleared byoxalic acid.

A solution of gold chloride added to a dilute solution of t in(stannous) chloride produ ces purple. M adder r oot and ferricoxide produce a very deep purple.

Fo r colour Change effects in green the w riter uses chlo rop hy ll it being very easily bleached. Ch loroph yll is the gre encolouring matter of plants.

A strong solution of indigo sulphate mixed with an equalqu an tity of pota ssium car bon ate solution is *>aid to ma ke apiece of white cloth dipped into it blue ; a piece of red, violet;a piece of yellow, green ; and a piece of vegetable, yellow.If boiling water be poured on a few slices of purple cabbage,

thereby making a solution of the same, then an alum solutionturns this green ; a potash, purp le ; and hyd roch loric acid,crimson.

To prod uce ink from sherry, coffee from ink, and turn thecoffee back again to sherry, use fresh made tea, perchloride ofiron, oxalic acid, and ammonia.

T o pro duce fo am ing beer from sherry use tea and lith iatablet. Cov er them fo r a time . * .

To pour milk, sherry, port , champagne, and blue ink fromone bo tt l e : in the bott lea pint one put tw o teaspoonfulsof a stron g solu tion of p erch lorid e of iron and o ne of o il ofvitr iol (sulphu ric acid). In the first glass, for sh erry , p u t on e


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LIQUID COLOUR EFFECTS . 33dro p of a strong solution of sulphocy anid e of potassium. Inthe second glass, for port, three or four drops of the same ; inthe third glass, for blue ink, put two drops of a ferro-prussiatesolution ; in the fou rth glass, for cham pagne, a few crystalsof bica rbona te of so&a ; in the fifth glass, fo r milk, a fewdrops of a strong solution of acetate of lead.

Aniline Dyes are gene rally on ly used in m agic w hen asingle liqu id colou r ch an ge is desired or for a final effe ct insolutions where other agen ts or re-agents have pre viou slybeen used. The reason is that the prod ucts sold under thename aniline (the aniline by-p rod uct s) are so num erous andvaried that years of experiment would be necessary beforedeterm ining the exact re-agent to use in each case. Th e useof stron g chlorine wa ter fo r the purpose has already beendealt with.

A solution of tartaric acid adde d to one of syru p of violetsturn s the b lue colour of th e latter to red ; a solution of causticsoda turns it green ; and a solution of alum turns it purple.Take a few chips of logwood and boil in a little water,the reby mak ing a red solution. If this solution be poure dintoa,glass wh ich has been rinsed w ith vineg ar the resu ltingliquid will be straw coloure d ; and if it be poured int o onewhich has beeh rinsed with a solution of alum the liquid isbluish black.


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S P I R I T P I C T U R E S A N D S Y M P A T H E T I C W R I T I N G

E X P E R I M E N T 1 7A Colour Developer

Apparatus. A wo od en frame (such as a slate orpicture frame ) on w hi ch is t ightly stretched a piece of" un bleach ed " m uslin.

Chemicals. Su lph ate of iron, nitrate of bism uth ,sulphate of copper, prussiate of potash.

Dis solve a small qu an tity of each of the che m icals inwa rm water. Th e first three nam ed are you r paintingsolutions, the last yo ur " de ve lop er," as it w ere . U sin ga separate brush fo r each co lou r, pain t 0K1 the mu slinsom e (outl ine d) picture or design. It is not adv isable toattem pt mu ch detail . A ll ow each colour to dry befo repaintin g the ne xt. W h e n dry all are qu ite invisible.To develop or bring out the picture all that is necessaryis to spray on t o the mu slin a solution o f prussiate ofpotash; the effect is hastened if the muslin is veryslightly dam p. W h en sprayed on with this chem ical thesulphate o f iron com es up blue, the nitrate of bismu thyellow, and the sulphate of copper brown. .

I f the prepa red fram e be hun g in such a man ner thatthe developer can be sprayed on from behind without thekn ow ledg e of the aud ience the effect in a m agical senseis much heightened.

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SPIRIT PICTURES & SY M PA TH ET IC WR ITIN G 35A n ordinary scent spray or atom izer can be us ed, the

sound being hidden by a l itt le music.

' E X P E R I M E N T 1 8The Shifty Photograph

Print a ph otog rap h on chloride o f silver p a p e r; and,w ith ou t tonin g, fix the print in a 9 per cent, s olu tionof hy po (sodium hyposu lphite) . W ash thorough ly toeliminate all trace of th e salt. N o w take the p rint a ndfloat it on a 5 per cent, bath o f ch lorid e of mercury. Th eimage rapidly fades and finally disappears altogether.Th oro ug hly wash in wa ter and a llow to dry. Th e latentimage can be caused to reappear by immersing the printin a 5 per cent, solution o f h y p o ; or a w ea k solutionof ammonia might be tried, it having the property ofcolouring black the chloride of mercury.

% E X P E R I M E N T 1 9The Magical Drawing

It is a w ell -k no w n scientific fact that the vap our sof mercury are veryd iffu se in their a ction , / ^ ' I f P f - ' ^ f H a

and pal ladium being _ A mstr on gly affe&ted by jfmercurial vapours.Su ppo se for in- p IG . 7stance a design (seeFig . 7) be drawn on w hite pape r with platinum chlorid e,


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36 CHE M ISTRY AN D CHEM ICAL M AGIC .such a draw ing w ou ld be quite invisible. I f , how ever ,the sheet of paper be held over some m ercury containedin a dish, the metal will be brought out on the paperin dark tints. I f the draw ing be n ow p lace d in c on -tac t with a sheet of pape r previou sly sensitised w ith asolution of platinum chlorid e the draw ing wil l be repro -du ced l ine by l ine on the pape r. Dra wing s m ade inthis wa y are very distin ct a nd clear and the half to nesvery soft.

Numerous chemical reactions give results such as thoseindicated abov e, the experim ent being to wr ite a letter,or execu te a draw ing or picture, with som e chem ical wh ichwill leave 110apparent trace, and then de ve lop the char-acters or design b y m ean s of a suitable re-agent. H er eare a num ber of such experim ents. A clean qu ill penshould be used.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 0W rite or draw with a solut ion of coba lt p hlo ride ; the

writing or drawing (green in colour) disappears wh enbreathed upon, to reappear when heated.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 1For a Blue use potassium ferrocyanide, and spo ng e or

spray with a di lute solut ion of i ron sulphate ; 1 or usecopper sulphate, and sponge with ammonium hydrate.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 2For a Brown use co p p ir sulphate and dev elop w ith

potassium ferrocyanide.21 Acetate of cobalt , or muriate of cobalt , heated, give a similar result .8 Or m ilk , and heat.


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SPIRIT PICTURES & SYM PA TH ET IC WR ITIN G 37E X P E R I M E N T 2 3

For a Red use chloride of mercury and develop withpotass ium iod ide . ,

E X P E R I M E N T 2 4Fluorescent Writing

If a design be written or drawn on white paper, using asolution of sulphate of quinine as the ink, such designor wr iting wh en dry w ill b e qu ite invisible. B u t if it b eexposed in a darkroom to the l ight ofan ordinary Geisslertubeor similar electriclight the wr iting ordesign will appear inblue (Fig. 8).

Similarly, i f tung-state of calcium wereus ed on a" br ow nish TIG. 8.or darkish paper, andthe design ex po sed to the action of the X R ay s (theX R ay bu lb could itse lf be wrap ped in black paper orplaced in a cardboa rd or even a wo ode n bo x) , i t w ou ldappear in phosphorescent white.

If the (m uch deare r) chem ical , barium platinocya nidebe used, tne p hos ph oresc enc e is m uch stronger and of agreenish tinge. It is w ith this che m ical tha t X R a yscreens a re . coate d. A no th er chem ical almost equallybril liant (phos pho rescing b lue) is potassium platin o-cyanide; it is also equally dear.

For a further development of experiments of this naturesee Chapter X V .

5ulgh3LteQuinine


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38 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHE MICA L M AG IC .E X P E R I M E N T 2 5

For a Yellow use (1 ) chloride of mercury, and de ve lopwith sodium hydrate or caustic s o d a j or (2 ) acetate oflead, and dev elop with potassium chr om ate ; or (3 )dissolve equal parts of sulphate of copper and chloride ofam mon ia in wa ter and deve lop by heat. Th e imag edisappears on cooling.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 6F o r IIlack use (1) a solution of iron sulphate, and

de ve lop with py roga ll ic , tannic or gall ic ac id s; or (2 ) avery dilute solution of sulphuric a cid, and de velo p withheat.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 7For apale Rose colour dissolve a little ox ide of cob altin acetic acid and a little potassium nitrate ; de ve lop w ithheat. Th e image disappears on cooling.{

E X P E R I M E N T 2 8

A Zoological TransformationHydrogen sulphide i f al lowed to act upon a surfacepainted with chloride of antimony (itself invisible) hasthe effec t of giv ing it an orange tint, and of imp artingto a surface co ate d w ith a basic acetate of lea d so lution(also invisible) a black tint.

If w e take a w hite ca rdb oard mod el , say of a cat,and treat it with these solutions in the .for m of anantimony chloride groundwork, crossed by transversestripes of acetate of lead, then, on subjecting it to thefum es of h ydrogen sulphide, our cat be co m es a tiger(Fig. 9).


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SPIRIT PICTURES & SYM PA TH ET IC W RIT IN G 39Th e cat is best en clos ed in a glass ja r iii wh ich the g as

can be secretly generated.A little pulverised iron sulphide should be folded in

a piece of b lotting or filtering pa pe rand placed beh ind the cat. A littledilute sulphuric acid is placed on theother side of the ja r, w h ich is slightlydep resse d 011 this side . O n pu sh ingthe jar forwa rd and m ov in g it insuch a way that the fron t be com eselevated, the sulphuric acid at oncecomes in contact with the iron sul-p h id e th e gas is ge ne ra ted and the FIG. 9.required transformation takes place.

E X P E R I M E N T 2 9Flo w ers , figures, or other designs, may be dra wn upon

silk with a solu tion o f nitrate of silver, wh en they areinvisible. I f they are mo istened and exp ose d to th eaction of hydrogen gas, the latter removes the oxygenfrom the silver and reduces it to the metallic (visible)state. Designs draw n w ith a solution of chloride o fgold may be similarly reduced; other chlorides, aschorides of tin, etc., can also be dealt with, due carebeing taken to keep the material damp whilst exposed tothe hydrogen.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 0 Cham eleon Pictures

On a piece of drawing paper sketch a scene witha solution of co pp er bro m ide. Pa int in the trees, grass,etc. (in fact anything w hic h it is desired sho uld be co m e


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40 CHE MISTRY AN D CHEM ICAL M AG IC .green ), with a solution of coba lt chloride. Th e sky andany water effects should be painted with a solution ofcobalt acetate.

If the p icture be he ate d the scene( wi l l be dev elope din its natural colou rs. Th e sketches should be pre pa redbeforehand and al lowed to dry.

In conn ection w ith this sub ject of cham eleon pictures,it may be useful to note (1) that a solution of sulphate ofcop pe r and chloride of am mo nia (blu e) turns green w henheated. (2 ) O xide of coba lt dissolved in acetic acidand a little potassium nitrate added, under the actionof heat, dev elops a pale rose. (3 ) Th e original colou rof tourmeric paper is affected by ammonia and restoredon the application of heat.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 1The Blushing Picture

If any plain print or drawin g be take n prefe rab ly ofa youn g lady an d the face , hands and neck be paintedwith a solution o f eq ual parts of w ater an d me thylatedspirits to which a fe w grains of ph enolph thalein hav ebeen added, on subjecting the picture to the influence ofam m onia vap our it w ill " blush " m ost vividly, esp eciallyif it be da m p. U se a cam el's hair brush. T o da m p it,ho ld it ove r steam and all ow it to cool, or use cleanwater and a scent spray. A small spon ge dip pe d instrong "aimonia solution and concealed in the hand actsadm irably as a blush prod uce r. Th e picture resumesits original colour when withdrawn from the influenceof the ammonia vapour.


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SPIRIT PICTURES & SY M PA TH ET IC WR ITI N G 41

E X P E R I M E N T 3 2 > #Magical Portraits on Glass

This most effeetive experiment consists in showinga square of plain transparent glass in or on whichnothing can be seen even on the closest inspection, butif the glass be brea thed up on so as to c ove r its surfacewith moisture, aportrait at oncemakes its appear-ance. A s soonas the moistureleaves the glassthe image dis-appears (Fig. 10).

T o p r o d u c ethis novel eifecta piece of mirror(plate) glass isp r o c u r e d . Asmall quantityof fluorspar ispla ce d on a tiny leaden dish and a little sulphuric ac idadd ed. Th e resulting che m ical is hydrofluoric acid, w ithwh ich too mu ch care can not be exercised. On no accou ntshould it be allowed to come in contact with the fingers,and it is best throw n aw ay d ow n the sink as soon as used.W it h this liquid an d a quill pen th e desired w riting ordraw ing is execu ted on the glass, wh ich must previouslyha ve been most carefully cleaned. In abo ut five minu tes,or ten at the most, the glass must be well washed inrunn ing water and carefu lly dried with a cloth. It isthen ready for use, and it is only necessary to breathe


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42 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHEM ICAL M AGIC .up on it to bring ou t the design. A little exp erim entin gis necessary to find out exactly hpw long to leave theacid on. T oo I o n s ; a bitina; of the acid w ou ld leave ao operceptible dra win g w he n dry, wh ich, is jus t w ha t is notrequired.

T he ab ove interesting result is ow in g to the fac t thatfluorine possesses the remarkable property of attackingglass and other si licious bod ies. Con sequ ently hy dr o-fluoric acid has to be ke pt in an india rub ber bott le. Th eabove experiment is really one in glass etching.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 3Another Experiment in Glass Etching

The glass plate is first coated with wax and the portrait,design, or dra win g traced up on it. Th e plate is then sub-jected to the fumes

of hydrofluoric acidas shown in Fig. 11.The wax plate mustnot remain too longover the leaden tray,as the heat is apt tomelt the wax, whenthe acid not only

attacks those parts of the glass from which the waxhas been rem ov ed by th e .etching needle, but also thesurface generally, thereby spoiling the clearness of theresulting image. T o coat the plate with _wax, heat itbe fore the fire, and a sufficient quan tity of w a x is soonm elted on to it by merely ru bbin g the w a x against theplate. A ny excess m ust be carefully av oide d if a w ell-executed drawing is to be etched.


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SPIRIT PICTURES & SY M PA TH ET IC WR ITIN G 43A fte r exposure, the. w a x is quick ly rem oved b y rub bing

and w ashing with oi l o f turpentine, and the design ( w hi chsh ou ld be beau tifully etc he d into the glass) is thenapparent.

A solution of hydrofluoric acid in water is also used forthe purpose of etching glass.

On no accou nt mu st the fum es o f the gas be inhaledand the experimen t shou ld be perform ed in the open airor in an airy placenot in a small shut-up room.

F I G 1 2


The Magic RosebushAn iline possesses the proper ty of being extrem elysoluable in alcoho l or eau -de-c olog ne . This is usuallysh ow n in the laboratory by dusting some of the dye over


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C H A P T E R I VM Y S T E R I E S O F E I R E A N D W A T E R

E X P E R I M E N T 3 5Fire Burning under Water 1

A MIXTURE of nitrate of potas h, po w de re d cha rcoal,sulphur, and strontium nitrate driven into a stron gpaper case about tw o incheslong, well closed at the end andvarnished so as to be quite water-pr oof, m ay be set on fire and willcontinue to burn under water unti lthe whole is consumed, providedthat the cartridge be burnt mouthdow nw ard s (Fig. 13). Th e besteffect is produced when burnt in adeep glass jar.

Th e com bus tible (red fire) ismade by mixing by w eig h t :strontium nitrate 40 parts, flowerof sulphur 13 parts, chlora te of, _ . , , , A , Ca se ; B , Leaden w ei gh t :potash 5 parts, sulphu ret of an tl- c , Jar con tain ing water.mo ny 4 parts . P ow d e r the in-gredients separately, an d then mix carefully on a sheetof paper with a paper knife. On no account must sulphurand chlorate of potash be rubbed together in a mortar,

1 See also Ex per im ent 54.A o 4 5

F I G . 1 3 .

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46 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHEM ICAL MA GIC .being very liable to explode. The com posit ion should notbe kept for any length of time bef ore using, as is liableto spontaneous combustion.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 6Burning Water

Apparatus. A brass bo w l, a clear glass dec an ter anda tumbler.

Chemicals. Eth er (pure). Potassium (the me tal) .In the decanter is clean water, wh ich may be pou red

into the tum bler and drunk. On pou rin g this sam e wa terinto the bowl (of brass or iron) it at once catches fireand burns, producing a flame a foot or so in height.

This effect is pr od uc ed as fol lows . Th e bo w l containsa l it tle eth er tw o or three teas poon fuls on wh ich isplac ed a small piec e of potas sium no t larger than a pea.If the ether be pure there wil l be no a ct io n ; b ut wh enwa ter is pou red into the b ow l the potassium at on ce setsfree the hydrogen contained in the water ; and the actionis so vigo rou s that th e hy dro gen is ignited and therebythe ether as wellit being of course the ether thatburns and not the water.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 7A Piece of Ice used as a Match

Th is is noth ing bu t an extension or m odifica tion of thelast experiment depending on the watery character of thesurface of the ice, w hic h instantly ignites a piec e o fpotassium w he n th e latter is bro ug ht into co nt ac t with it.The writer has often amused himself by lighting acigarette in this way.


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MY STERIES OF FIRE AN D W A T E R 47Certain precautions mu st ho w eve r b e taken to insure

success. .The sub stan ces toba cco , candle wick , et c .in which the potassium is concealed (a t iny piece onlyproject ing) must be absolutely dry : it sh ou ld eve n bedried in the oven if necessa ry. A n d the piec e of potass iumshould partake of the nature of a stick, as thick as adarning needle and about one quarter of an incli long.The exact amount can only bedetermined by experiment.

If the substance w hic h it isdesired to ignite be moistened(at the spot where the potassiumis placed) with mineral naphtha,success is more certain.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 8Fire Stars Burning in Water

Apparatus. Tal l g lass j a r ; AW olfe ' s bo t t le ; some b locks o f ^w o o d ; g lass s iphon.

Chemicals. P h o s p h o r u s , F i gchlorate of potash , sulphuric ^ G U A 9 J AR / B , W o l f e ' s b o t tl e ,acid (oil of vitriol).Pho sphoru s burns and emits beau tiful f lashes of l ightin the presence of a gas called chlorine pe ro xid e. Th isgas has to be very carefu lly genera ted under the surfaceof water by first plac ing some cut p hosph orus andchlor ate of pptash at the bot to m of a long an d stout glassjar*nearly full of w a te r; sulphuric acid is then con ve ye dto the chlorate of pota sh by m eans of the siphon B AA ., assh ow n in Fig. 14. Th e bo ttom end of this glass tubemu st be dra wn ou t to a small ope nin g or else the


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48 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHE MICAL M AGIC .sulphuric acid will de sce nd to o rapidly and th e glassmay h e cra cke d w ith the h eat. A s soon as , the ironperoxide comes in contact with the phosphorus it explodesand passes again to its original elements, ox yg en andchlorine. Th ese bu bb les de ve lop minute particles ofphosphorus, which rapidly ascend l ike water-spiders tothe surface, and burn as they pass upwards, producing acontinua l series of sparks of fire, the effect bein g extrem elypre tty. T he siph on is first filled w ith w at er, wh ich isgradually displaced by the sulphuric acid.

E X P E R I M E N T 3 9Naked Fire Burning under Water

Phosphorus wil l burn under boil ing water i f oxygengas play up on it. Ta ke a piece of ordin ary stick

D D phosphorus (thekind that has to

to prevent spon- ji taneous com bu s-

tion in air), place^ 5 5 5 s a s a S i iS B S S^ it in a littleF i g - 15- m etallic cu p (seeA A , Glass b o w l ; D D , W ire gauze ; F ; 1 5 ) a n dC, Jet of hyd roge n. ' '

plunge it rapidlyunder the surface of the boil ing water contained in afinger bo w l of hardened glass. I f a je t of ox yg en gasbe directed on the now l iquid phosphorus, it wil l burnw ith great brilliancy. If the oxy gen escape to o rapidlyfrom the je t som e small particles may be thro wn out ofthe wa ter, conse quen tly it is advisable to pro tect the


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M Y S T E R I E S OF F I R E A N D W A T E R 49face with a sheet of wire gauze held a fe w inches abo vethe glass .b ow l whilstthe experim ent is being con du cted .T h e effect is m uch heigh tened if a hole be drilled in thebot tom of the b ow l an d the oxyg en be introduced in asuitable jet through this in a secret manner.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 0Witt-o -the-Wisp (1st method)1

If some phos phor us be placed in a retort with a fairly

FIG. 16.A , Re to rt ; B , Nec k dippin g into bas in o f water ;0 , Gas burn ing and producing sm oke r ings .

ov er a lam p, a very cons idera ble amou nt o f a gns Calledphosp hu retted hyd rogen can be prod uce d. 'his gastakes fire spontaneously on being exposed toJ the air.Th e n eck of the retort mu st dip into a basin of wa ter.Th e ob jec t of the ether is to prevent the com bu stionof the first bu bb les inside th e retort, w h ioh by theirexplosion would probably break the glass.

1 Th at curious appearance of l ight , called ' ( wil l -q / ' - the -wisp , " a f te rwhich these experiments are named, is supposed to b/ 3 due to the escapefrom decomposing matter of bubbles of certain gi/.ses, through whichphosphuretted hyd rogen is di f fused.


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SO CH EM ISTRY AND CH EM ICAL M AG IC .It is best to disso lve som e potas h in the w ate r in thebasin. On em ergin g fr om the vtater the gas at on ce

burns , producing beauti ful r ings of smoke (Fig . 16) .r

E X P E R I M E N T 4 1Will-o -the- Wisp (2nd method)

I f a few dro ps of phosp horized ether be po ur ed on toa piec e of lum p sugar and the sugar be dro pp ed intoa glass of w ar m wate r, the surface of the w ate r w il lbec om e lu m in ou s ; and, i f it be b lo w n upon , beauti fu land bri l l iant surface undulations wil l be produced.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 2Will-o -the- Wisp (3rd method)

I f phos ph ide of ca lc ium b e dr op pe d in to a g lass jartw o thirds ful l o f water , pho sphu retted hyd roge n wi l l bejTod uced , w hi ch wi l l r ise in b ubbles thro ugh the wa teranil, beh ave as in E xp er im en t 40.

N O T E S ON C H A P T E R I VPhosphide of calcium is obtained by heating togethe r limeand phos Miorus in a closed crucible.In Experiment 40 a solution of caustic soda and coal-gascan be used instead of potash and ether, the coal-gas previousto heatingVbeing made to displace the air in the flask.Phosphuretted hydrogen has an unpleasant odour, is

poisonous, amd must not be inhaled.If a jar o f\ ox yg en be held over the neck of the retortdescribed in E xp er im en t 40, a brigh t flash of light and anexplosion occur\; and if the experiment be performed in adarkened room tiie effect is similar to that of a sudden flashof lightn ing. A p o tt le of chlorine gas held over the neck of


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M Y S T E R I E S OF F I R E A N D W A T E R 51the retort, and dipping of course into the water in the basin,producesa green flamt every time a bubble passes through it .

Phosphuretted hydrogen or phosphine is best prepared asfollow s : F it to an< oz. flask a cork and rather large deliverytube, with its end leading into a pneumatic trough nearly fullof w a te r; and arran ge on a retort stand. Place in the f laska few pieces of caustic potash , toge ther with some small piecesof phosphoru s and a little wa ter. Pass coal-gas int o the uppe rpart of the f lask so as completely to displace the whole of theair ; then cor k tig ht ly and seal. G en tly heat th e flask ; andbub bles of gas arise and displace the coal-gas. Soon eachbubble as it rises to the surface of the water in the pneumatictrough bursts into f lame and generates a beautiful vortexsmoke ring.Lime water may be used instead of potash water if desired.Th e odou r of pho sph ine is tha t of putr id f ish. Th e gas onstanding in the light loses its will-o'-the-wisp properties.Instead of coal-gas to displace the air in the flask carbondioxide may be used, and in the hands of the inexperienced thelatter is easier to exp erim en t with than the form er. A lightedtaper plunged in car bo n diox ide at once goes out, thus sh ow ingwhen the flask is full and ready. When the ex pe rim en t is at anend, allow the liquid in the flask to cool until water is drawnup into it from the trough ; and finally remove the cork fromthe flaskwith the flash under water. If these direc tion s arefol lowed the expe rime nt is a perfect ly safe one.The experimen t with phosp huretted hyd rogen and the jar ofoxygen is one which should not be attempted by the inexperi -enced.Stick phosphorus must always be kept and cut under water.O n n o a ccou nt pick a p iece u p in the fingers, as the heat ofthe hands is almost sure to ignite it and the result will be anasty burn.


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SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION 53con vey ed wh ilst stil l da m p to the article on wh ich it isproposed to use it.

It is a po w er fu l fulminate and exp lode s spontan eouslyif dried in t oo w&rm a p lace. E ve n a pelle t the size ofa small pin's head wil l produce a quite audible explosion ;but if used in minute quantities there is absolutely nodanger.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 5To set Fire to a Newspaper by Breathing on it

Apparatus. A n ordinary new sp ap er ; a china plate ;some perchlorate o f potash and sugar (m ix ed ) ; sulphuricacid.

Th e n ews pap er (o r any jp si ly inflamm able article) isqu ite unp repared . On on e side of the plate is pla ced alittle of the chlorate of potash and sugar (one part ofloaf sugar to two of potassium chlorate), and on theother side a little sulphu ric acid . Th e plate rests on atable or suitable stand in such a manner that the sulphuricacid side is slightly low er than the other. Th e new sp ap er,being more or less crumpled up, is placed lightly 011 theplate, and the latter lifted off the table still fu its inclinedposition. So m eo n e is invited (with suitable remark s) toco m e and b lo w up on it. W hen the time is thou gh t ripethe plate is slightly tilted over to the other side, thesulphuric acid and sugared chlorate are thus brought intocontact, and the fiery deed is done.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 6A Fulminating Powder an Experiment in Fusion

Take three parts by weight of nitre, two of drycarbonate of potash, and one# of sulphur. D ry carefully


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54 CH EM ISTRY AN D CHEM ICAL MA GIC .and grind them separately to a fine po w de r, then mixcarefully wit h a bo n e spatula. Ta ke a pinch- of thispowder , but no more, place in a small iron dish or ladle,and ap ply a ge nt le hea t. T he mixture? at first fuses andbecomes brown, and then explodes with a deafeningreport. Th e face shou ld not be held near the substancewh en being heated. In a sol id or po w de re d state thismixed powder keeps indefinite ly, but combustion immedi-ately fol lows fusion.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 7Instantaneous Flame

Po tass ium and sulphur if "heated to geth er on a m etalplate or in a ladle burst instanteously into flame and burnvividly.

A little potassium nitrate and a little sulphur sprinkled011 it will also p ro du ce instantan eou s fire.

Iron fi l ings thrown upon potassium nitrate (heated)will detonate and burn.

Another fire-producing combination consists of a fewgrains of suga red ch lorate of potash pla ced in a table-spoonful of spirit , and a drop of sulphuric acid added.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 8The Spontaneous Combustion of Three Metals

In a perfectly dry ladle place a small p iec e of sod iumw ith an equ al qua ntity of potassium . If a little mercu rybe added, and the whole well shaken, it will take fire andburn vividly.


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SPON TAN EOU S COMBUSTION 55Th e ladle or con cairn rig vesse l mu st be qu ite dry , as

any dam pness mighS fi re the potassium.

E X P E R I M E N T 4 9 1

Greek FireIt is related as a matt er of history that the Saracens, by

the introduction of a terrible qnd then diabolically regardedliquid known as Greek] fire, spread terror amongst theirfoes. Th e co m po sit ion o f this l iqu id has given rise tomuch discussion amongst learned men of many countries.On e of the latest su pp osit ion s is that it cons iste d of"sa ltp etr e, sulphur, anal petroleum or pitc h." W h at ev erGreek fire wa s, it cer tain ly w as not this. Th e nearestapp roach to it tha t the writer kn ow s of is m ade by-dissolving p hosp horu s sin carbo n dis ulp hid e; the carbondisu lphid e w ill dissolve^ from nine to ten p arts of ph os -phorus. If a little of t.his liquid be pou red on to blott ingor filtering pa per the ca rbon disulphide rapid ly evap oratesand the phosp horu s takejs fire. It d oes not fol low , ho w -ever, that it will ignite the substance on which it is poured,for the fol lo w ing reason. Ph osp hor us in burning formsphosphoric acid, a non'-combustible substance, whichcoats the surface of the p^aper round the spot where thecomb ustion occurs , and bein g a non -con du ctor o f heat ,preven ts the fire spreading* If, ho we ver , w a x be dissolvedwith the ph osp ho rus , the a the case is entirely differentand a very dangerou s fluid is prod uce d, wh ich w il l igniteanything com bu stible on \vhich it may be pou red . Ev enw itho ut the add ition of th e w ax , of cou rse, the burning

1 Th is exper imen t should on ly mad e by those wh o are experiencedin the us3 of ch em ical s, .


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56 CH EM ISTRY AN D CH EM ICA L MA GIC .phosphorus is quite capable of fen tins; anything com-bustible just above it .


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