in a Walnut-shell, without injuring the
shell._

Bend any thin coin, and put it into half a walnut-shell; place the
shell on a little sand, to keep it steady. Then fill the shell with a
mixture made of three parts of very dry pounded nitre, one part of
flowers of sulphur, and a little saw-dust well sifted. If you then set
light to the mixture, you will find, when it is melted, that the metal
will also be melted at the bottom of the shell, in form of a button,
which will become hard when the burning matter round it is consumed:
the shell will have sustained very little injury.

_A Liquid that Shines in the Dark._

Take a bit of phosphorus, about the size of a pea; break it into small
parts, which you are to put into a glass half full of very pure water,
and boil it in a small earthen vessel, over a very moderate fire. Have
in readiness a long narrow bottle, with a well-fitted glass stopper,
and immerse it, with its mouth open, into boiling water. On taking it
out, empty the water, and immediately pour in the mixture in a boiling
state; then put in the stopper, and cover it with mastich, to prevent
the entrance of the external air.

This water will shine in the dark for several months, even without
being touched; and, if it be shaken in dry warm weather, brilliant
flashes will be seen to rise through the middle of the water.

_Luminous Liquor._

Put a little phosphorus, with essence of cloves, into a bottle, which
must be kept closely stopped. Every time the bottle is unclosed, the
liquor will appear luminous. This experiment must be performed in the
dark.

_The changeable Rose._

Take a common full-blown rose, and, having thrown a little sulphur
finely pounded into a chafing-dish with coals, expose the rose to the
vapour. By this process the rose will become whitish; but if it be
afterwards held some time in water, it will resume its former colour.

_Golden Ink._

Take some white gum arabic, reduce it to an impalpable powder, in a
brass mortar; dissolve it in strong brandy, and add a little common
water to render it more liquid. Provide some gold in a shell, which
must be detached, in order to reduce it to a powder. When this is
done, moisten it with the gummy solution, and stir the whole with a
small hair-brush, or your finger; then leave it for a night, that the
gold may be better dissolved. If the composition become dry during the
night, dilute it with more gum water, in which a little saffron ha