Scientific Amusement.

Manawatu Herald, 30 June 1896, Page 4

Scientific Amusement.

Tho now ball flro nozzle, which is creating a sensation because the ball apparently defies tho laws of nature by remaining unmoved wheu a powerful stream of water is directed ag:iinpt it, recalls tho old and amusing cxpuvlmont of "tho obstinate cork." Take a wino bottle and a cork of a size considerably smaller than its mouth (say tho cork of a medicine vial). Place the cork just within tho neck of the bottlo, held horizontally, and invito any one to drive it into the bottle by blowing it in. Tho thing seems simple enough. Tho experimentalist blows with all the power of his lucg:^; but tho cork, instead of being driven into tho bottle, flies out in his face, and the moro smartly ho blows the more vigorous will bo its exit. The osplanation of this unlooked for phenomenon is given as follows by a French scientist: When tho experimenter blows upon tho cork, a certain quantity of air is at the same time forced into the bottle and is compressed with so much energy that it forms an elastic cushion behind the cork, which, pressing against such

ooshion, ia rapidly shot out again. There are, however, throe ways of getting the bettor of this obstinate cork: First.—Since if you blow on the cork it la driven out again by tho air which is .compressed in the bottle, try whether you do not succeed better by adopting the opposite plan—that is, by exhausting the air. By so doing you create a partial vacuum within the bottle. The moment your mouth leaves the neck, air rushes in to fill the void, and the cork, carried forward by the current thus produced, slides to the bottom of the bottle. ; Second.—A partial vacuum, or rarefaction of the air, may be produced by warmIng the bottle over a lamp or before a flre. ,Tbis done, the onrrcnt of cooler air from the mouth will drive the cork into the bottle. j Third.—Lastly, if you have at hand a 'small tube of any kind, say a strrw, i pipe stem, or a stick of macaroni, you have oniy to blow through this tube, pointing it squaroly at the baso of the cork, whicl yrill immediately enter the bottle. • Whichever be tho method you adopt, take care that the bottle used is quite drj Within, and wipe it whenever you fine that the breath has produced sufficiem moisture within its neck to prevent th< cork slipping freely through the opening. Ammonia Made From the Air. It has been announced lately that i ohemical plant was being set up In New ark, N J., for the manufacture of am xnonia from atmospheric nitrogen. Popu lar Science News says it is a well knowi fact that ammonia has been procured fron the nitrogen of the air, but hitherto thi cost of the transition has been too great t< make it practically available. i-; • ; ~ ': Orange Cake. 1 Two cups of sugar, a half cup of butter 8 eggs, half cup sweet milk, half cup of wa ter, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 8 cupso: flour. Flavor with orange. Filling—tw< eggs, piece of butter the sizo of a walnut a cup of sugar, juice of 3 oranges. Boil ii a double boiler until thick enough t< spread between the layers. Frost the to] of the cako with frosting flavored with car ange.