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AMUSEMENTS FOR EVERYBODY 79
coin comes to where it lies. You can then easily pick the coin up, and both will be in one hand, while your arms are still widely extended.
To Light a Snowball with a Match
Roll a snowball and put it on a plate. While rolling, contrive to slip a piece of camphor into the top of it. The camphor must be about the size and shape of a chestnut, and it must be pushed into the soft snow so as to be invisible—the smaller end uppermost, to which the match should be applied.
The Mysterious Ball
This seems to be a plain wooden ball with a hole bored in its center, through which a string is passed. The ball will move lightly up and down this cord, but let some one who knows the trick take the string in his hands, and it becomes quite a different matter; the ball will move quickly, or slowly, at command, and, if told to do so, will stand still until ordered to move on again.
The reason for this peculiar behavior is that inside the ball there are two holes, one of which is quite straight, while the other is curved, and turns out of the straight hole.
It is through this curved passage that the cord is passed, and you can easily see that to regulate the movements of the ball, it is only necessary to hold the string more or less tightly. If you hold the cord perfectly tight, the ball will not be able to move at all. The ball can be purchased at any toy-store.
The Wonderful Pendulum
If you fill a wine-glass with water and place a thick piece of paper over it so that no air can get in, you will find that you can turn the glass upside down without spilling a drop of water, because the pressure of the air on the outside will keep the paper from falling off. It is on this principle that the present pendulum is to be made. |
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