FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, 8 July 1909, Page 36

FAMILY FUN

To Light a Snowball with a Match.—Provide yourself with a piece of camphor gum, and manage to turn the conversation to some of the wonderful discoveries of recent times, such as the properties of radium, or even of X-rays. Then say that even freshly fallen snow has strange properties and will burn freely if properly lighted. Have some snow brought in on a plate, take the piece of gum camphor in the hand, and, when making up the snow into a ball, slip the camphor into the end of the ball, leaving the point protruding. Light a match, hold it to the ball of snow where the camphor is concealed. -The camphor will take fire, and, to the surprise of the beholders, the snow is evidently burning. An Amusing Trick.—Say to a person, 'If you will stand on a chair in this room I can make you come down the very first time I tell you.' The person will probably say you can do nothing of the sort. However, he wiil get on the chair just to show you that he doesn't mean to come down directly he's told. As soon as he is up on the chair say, ' Come down.' He will, of course, say, ' I shan't do anything of the sort.' Then you answer, ' Very well, then; unless you wish to remain there for the rest of your life you will have to come down off that chair the first time I tell you, because I do not intend to tell you a second time.' > Interesting Experiments with Candle Smoke.—For your first experiment let the candle burn until the wick is quite long, having placed it where there is no draught. Now blow the candle out, and a stream of smoke will rise from it. This smoke is the gas, the burning of which makes the flame. To show that it is gas put a lighted match to it immediately after blowing out the candle, and it will ignite and run down and relight the candle. The match should be held about half an inch above the wick. Again letting the candle burn until the wick is long and quickly blowing out the flame as before, hold a piece of wire gauze, such as is used for window screens, down over the wick so that the smoke will rise through the meshes. Apply a lighted match to the smoke half an inch above the gauze, and the gas of which the smoke is composed will at once ignite, but the flame will not go below the gauze, for the reason that has already been given.