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[Illustration:

        _To the_
      LOVERS OF HOME
         _THIS_
      Little Manual
           OF
    AMUSING PHENOMENA
          FOR
    Family Recreation
           IS
      RESPECTFULLY
       _Dedicated_]




[Illustration: PARLOUR MAGIC]


    REVISED AND IMPROVED.

    PHILADELPHIA: H. PERKINS, 134 CHESTNUT STREET.
    MDCCCXXXVIII.




ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by HENRY
PERKINS, in the Clerk’s office of the District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.


Printed by Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell.




[Illustration: PREFACE.]


To furnish the ingenious youth with the means of relieving the
tediousness of a long winter’s or a wet summer’s evening,—to enable
him to provide for a party of juvenile friends, instructive as well
as recreative entertainment, without having recourse to any of the
vulgar modes of killing time,—to qualify the hero of his little circle
to divert and astonish his friends, and, at the same time, to improve
himself, are the principal objects of the following little Work.

The boy whose wonder and curiosity have been excited by the experiments
of the scientific lecturer, or the illusions of the ventriloquist,
will here find many of these mysteries unveiled, and plain directions
for performing them, divested, as far as possible, of scientific or
technical language. Many of the descriptions are strictly original, and
now, for the first time, appear in print; and especial care has been
taken to introduce only such Experiments as are adapted for performance
at the parlour or drawing-room table, or fire-side, and such as are
practicable without expensive chemical or mechanical apparatus, and
require no implements beyond those which any ingenious youth may
readily furnish from his own resources, or at a trifling expense.

Another object of these pages is to inform, without being dryly
scientific,—by imparting interesting facts, to stimulate the young
experimentalist to inquire into the laws that regulate them,—by aiding
him to acquire dexterity of practice, to smooth the road to the
development of principles,—and, above all, to enable him to escape
an imputation which every boy of spirit would consider the depth of
disgrace,—that of being “No Conjuror!”

[Illustration]




[Illustration: CONTENTS.]


  Transmutations.
                                                                 _Page_
  The Spectral Lamp                                                  1
  Curious Change of Colours                                          2
  The Protean Light                                                  2
  The Chameleon Flowers                                              3
  To change the Colours of Flowers                                   3
  Changes of the Poppy                                               3
  To change the Colour of a Rose                                     4
  Light changing White into Black                                    4
  The Visibly growing Acorn                                          4
  Changes in Sap-Green                                               5
  To revive apparently dead Plants                                   5
  Singular effect of Tears                                           5
  Beauties of Crystallization                                        5
  To crystallize Camphor                                             7
  Crystallized Tin                                                   7
  Crystals in hard Water                                             7
  Varieties of Crystals                                              7
  Heat from Crystallization                                          8
  Splendid Sublimation                                               8
  Artificial Ice                                                     8
  Magic Inks                                                         8
  Chameleon Liquids                                                  9
  The Magic Dyes                                                     9
  Wine changed into Water                                           10
  Two colourless transparent Liquids become black and opaque        10
  Two colourless Fluids make a coloured one                         10
  Change of colour by colourless Fluids                             10
  To change a Blue Liquid to White                                  11
  Veritable “Black” Tea                                             11
  Restoration of Colour by Water                                    11
  The Magic Writing                                                 12
  Two Liquids make a Solid                                          12
  Two Solids make a Liquid                                          12
  A solid opaque mass made a transparent Liquid                     12
  Two cold Liquids make a hot one                                   12
  Quadruple Transmutation                                           13
  Quintuple Transmutation                                           13
  Combination of Colours                                            13
  Union of two Metals without Heat                                  13
  Magic Breath                                                      13
  Two Bitters make a Sweet                                          14
  Visible and Invisible                                             14

  Sight and Sound.
  Artificial Mirage                                                 17
  Motion of the Eye                                                 18
  Single Vision with two Eyes                                       19
  Two objects seen as one                                           19
  Only one object can be seen at a time                             20
  Straight objects seen crooked                                     20