2101. Fire-eating Ghosts

2101.    Fire-eating Ghosts. Pour some strong warm spirits into a flat dish, sprinkle some salt into it, and set it on fire on a table in a perfectly dark room, taking care to protect the table from injury. Persons standing round the table will appear of a deathly pallor, and by eating raisins dipped in the burning spirit, will appear to eat fire. Shutting the mouth quickly on the burning raisins, extinguishes them instantly.

2102. Port Fire

2102.    Port Fire. The port fire used for cannon is composed of 3 parts nitre, 2 sulphur, and 1 gunpowder, well mixed and rammed into cases. These are also useful for igniting fireworks.

2103. Signal Lights

2103.    Signal Lights. Such lights are generally composed of sulphur and nitre, with a small quantity of metallic sulphuret. Mix 600 grains nitre, 2 sulphur, and 100 yellow sulphuret of arsenic, and. ram it into a conical paper case. "When touched with a red-hot iron it deflagrates rapidly with a brilliant white light. The sulphuret of antimony may he substituted for that of arsenic.

2104. Indian White Fire Signal

2104.      Indian White Fire Signal. Dry (see No. 2065 (Colored Fires)) nitre, 24 parts; sulphur, 7 parts; powdered charcoal, 1; or instead of the charcoal, 2 parts red sulphuret of arsenic. Mix them intimately in an iron vessel, and ram the mixture into thick paper cylinders of about 3 inches in length by 1 in diameter. These are kept in a dry place, and when one is required to be used, it is set on end, and a piece of red-hot charcoal placed upon it.

2105. Iron Sand for Fireworks

2105.      Iron Sand for Fireworks. Used to give corruscations in fireworks, is far better than iron or steel-filings. It is made by beating cast steel or iron into small pieces on an anvil. These are sifted into 4 sizes, the smallest for the smallest pieces, and vice versa. The corruscations produced by these are exceedingly brilliant. The sand should be kept in a dry place in a well-closed bottle, as any rust damages it. Fireworks containing it should not be made very long before using.

2106. Open Fires

2106. Open Fires. The following article and receipts for open fires are by Professor Ferrum, and we quote them from the "American Druggists' Circular":

Among the many receipts for open fires, but few deserve to be recommended, and these have been selected. The white and red fires only show a clear, distinct color. The green is generally pale, and shows off only when burnt after a red. A pure blue is very difficult to obtain. The following should be observed as general rules: The ingredients for the fires are dried singly at a slightly elevated temperature, finely powdered, and preserved in well-stoppered bottles, until required for use The mixing of the ingredients is best performed on a sheet of paper by means of a card, and should be done very carefully so as to ensure a complete mixture. Sifting is in most cases admissible, while triturating in a mortar is above all to bo avoided. After mixing, the powder is piled in small heaps in open vessels, for which purpose small flowerpots or flower-pot dishes are well adapted. On top of these several piles, some gunpowder is placed to facilitate the lighting. The vessels should be arranged in such a manner that the flame may illuminate the intended object without being seen by the spectators. The distribution of the material into a greater or less number of dishes is governed by circumstances. A great number of small flames from a certain quantity of mixture generally give a more intense, but so much shorter-lived light than the same quantity distributed in larger portions; beyond a certain limit, however, even that intensity is not materially heightened by a few more lights. If the fire is to continue for some time, it must further bo considered that large quantities of the mixture form a correspondingly greater amount of slags, which greatly mar the effect. It is, therefore, best in such cases to burn off a number of small charges successively.