** Old-Time Magic — The Growing Flower [244]

This trick is performed with a wide-mouthed jar which is about 10 in. high.  If an earthern jar of this kind is not at hand, use a glass fruit jar and cover it with black cloth or paper, so the contents cannot be seen.

[Illustration:  Flower Grows Instantly]

Two pieces of wire are bent as shown in Fig. 1 and put together as in Fig. 2.  These wires are put in the jar, about one-third the way down from the top, with the circle centrally located.  The wires can be held in place by carefully bending the ends, or using small wedges of wood.

Cut a wire shorter in length than the height of the jar and tie a rose or several flowers on one end.  Put a cork in the bottom of the jar and stick the opposite end of the wire from where the flowers are tied through the circle of the two wires and into the cork.  The dotted lines in Fig. 3 show the position of the wires and flowers.

To make the flowers grow in an instant, pour water into the jar at one side of the wide mouth.  The cork will float and carry the wire with the flowers attached upward, causing the flowers to grow, apparently, in a few seconds’ time.  Do not pour in too much water to raise the flowers so far that the wire will be seen.  —­Contributed by A. S. Macdonald, Oakland, Calif.

** Water and Wine Trick [244]

This is an interesting trick based on the chemical properties of acids and alkalies.  The materials needed are:  One glass pitcher, filled with water, four glass tumblers, an acid, an alkali and some phenolphthalein solution which can be obtained from your local druggist.  Before the performance, add a few drops of the phenolphthalein to the water in the pitcher and rub a small quantity of the alkali solution on the sides of two of the tumblers and repeat, only using as large a quantity of the acid as will escape notice on the remaining tumblers.  Set the tumblers so you will know which is which and proceed as follows:  Take hold of a prepared tumbler with the left hand and pour from the pitcher, held in the right hand, some of the liquid.  The liquid turned into the glass will become red like wine.  Set this full tumbler aside and take the pitcher in the left hand and pour some of the liquid in one of the tumblers containing the acid as it is held in the right hand.  There will be no change in color.  Repeat both parts in the same order then begin to pour the liquids contained in the tumblers back into the pitcher in the order reversed and the excess of acid will neutralize the alkali and cause it to lose its color and in the end the pitcher will contain a colorless liquid.  —­Contributed by Kenneth Weeks, Bridgeton, N.J.

** Cheap Nails are Expensive [244]

The life of iron shingle nails is about 6 years.  An iron nail cannot be used again in putting on a new roof.  Solid zinc nails last forever and can be used as often as necessary.  As zinc is much lighter than iron, the cost of zinc nails is only about 2-1/2 times that of iron nails.