12 
THE AMEEICAN 
The next article made was a magic bottle, 
shown in section in Fig, 3. Taking a piece 
of wood, I shaved it into the form of a 
Ibottle with a very long neck, this was 
then thoroughly oiled. After which 
strips of tissue paper moistened in 
water were wrapped compactly around 
the bottle, and between each wrapping 
boiled flour paste was applied thinly. 
The neck part was formed by folding 
and i:)ressing the wet tissue about the 
neck of the wooden shape, using plenty 
i 
Fig. 3. 
of paste to fasten the folds securely to- 
gether. The paper wrapping was then 
dried and coated with black asphalt 
Tarnish. After the varnish was dry, 
the wooden shape was slipped out of its 
paper covering. A leaden button cast in 
a soap mould was closely fitted to the in- 
side of the paper wrapping and fastened 
with hot wax, so as to form the bottom of 
the bottle. 
This bottle presistently stood up, no 
matter how flatly it was laid down. 
To cause it to lie down I used a small 
piece of iron, which I palmed in my 
liand,* and whenever I wished the bottle 
to lie down, I slipped the wire into it. To 
cause it to stand up, I dropped the wire 
into my hand, and palming it, I passed 
the bottle to the children. \ They, of 
course, failed to make it lie down, so that 
they were completely mystified. Some- 
* For an explanation of the method of " palm- 
inj?" objects, see "Lessons in Magic"— Young 
Scientist, vol. i, p. iw. 
times I pretended to take a drink out of 
the bottle, and slipped the wire into my 
mouth, again passing it back when I 
wished the bottle to lie down. At last 
they gave it up, and I explained to them 
the action of gravitation, as I propose to 
do to the readers of the Young Scientist, 
in my next article. 
To Make a Magnet Out of a Poker. 
4 T first sight this seems a wonderful 
^ feat, and yet, when we consider that 
we have always at hand the most power- 
ful magnet of which we have any exact 
knowledge, it is not so surprising after 
all. The magnet to which we refer is the 
eartli. Perhaps all our readers do not 
know that the earth is a magnet, but we 
can assure them that such is the case, and 
!liat it is solely by its magnetic force 
that all the magnetic needles in the world 
are inade to point to the north. And it 
is further a fact that this great magnet, 
the earth, induces magnetism in every 
piece of iron lying on its surface. "When 
a long piece of iron is placed in such a 
position that the poles are formed very 
close together, then the magnetism that 
is manifested is very weak, but when the 
poles are formed in the extreme ends of 
a long piece of iron, the magnetism is 
sometimes so strong that good sized nails 
may be lifted. 
Now, for this purpose, the best position 
of the piece of iron is when the longest 
diameter lies i)arallel with the magnetic 
axis of the earth. The magnetic axis is 
not exactly the same as the astronomical 
axis, but it will be found that when a rod 
of iron stands so tiiat it i:)oints to the 
north pole, it always gives pretty strong- 
indications of magnetism. Even when 
held exactly perpendicular, a long iron 
rod becomes a powerful magnet, and 
hence, the iron tubes used for drive wells 
are always magnets. This is the true ex- 
planation of the notorious " magnetic 
wells." 
If a poker be held upright and tested 
with a needle (a common charm compass 
will answer,) it will be found that one end 
repels, and the other attracts, each pole 
of the needle, thus showing that it is a 
