Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

y - - X"W—j / rers* '"^--^^ On a «v^i of bristol cardboard '" (one of the menu-cards will do) draw as goqsad4jfteness of the devil as you know, leaving a band attached to hia majesty's feet, as in the illustration, about an inch wide. Fix this band, by means of a pin, sideways on the cork of a full bottle, so that the figure attached to the end of the lever is able to see-saw up and down at any angle, the diabolic end being half as long again as the other. From the dessert-tray select a large dry Malago grape, which by its stalk attach by a thread to the opposite or shorter end of the cardboard beam. Calculate the length of your thread, so that when taut the lever may be horizontal. Now, in front of the bottle that supports your "Persic apparatus," introduce a screen improvised of a couple ef empty bottles with a napkin thrown over them, which will mask your glass and grape from the spectators. The jest is not to let the public know the simplicity of your preparations. The glass must next be filled with live champagne.

Soon the bubbles of gas—carbonic acid —that disengage themselves from the sparkling wine will group themselves affectionately round the grape, which they will render more and more bouyant, until, after a few seconds' immersion, the fruit will rise to the surface of the liquid. The thread being no longer stretched, the weight of the cardboard figure will influence the lever, and cause the devil to disappear behind the napkin. As we see, the height of the figure ought to be equal to the depth of the wine in the glass, or even less. The grape once hustled to the surface, the bubbles of carbonic acid on it will burst on contact with the air, and, being no longer held up by these ephemeral wings, it plunges once more, willy nilly, in its bath of wine, and the devil reappers ! This alternating movement of the grape will go on for five or ten minutes, whether the drink we use be champage or simply Seltzer water,

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ROTWKG19111025.2.57

Bibliographic details

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 25 October 1911, Page 6

Word Count
354

Untitled Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 25 October 1911, Page 6

Untitled Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 25 October 1911, Page 6