FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 11, 14 March 1907, Page 38

FAMILY FUN

Weak to a proverb my first has been reckoned ; And men have agreed to make game of my second ; Yet, when both were united in beauteous alliance, Men triumphed in wounds', and set death at defiance. Answer — Waterloo .

The Mysterious Bottle.— Pierce a few holes with a glazier's diamond in a common black bottle ; place it in a vase or jug •of water, so that the neck only is alcove the surface. Then, with a funnel, fill the bottle awd cork it well,' while it -is ' ir£ the . 'jug or vase. Take it out, notwithstanding the holes in the -bottom', it will not leak ; wipe it idry, and 'give it to some person to uncork. The moment the cork is drawn, o the party's astonishment, the water will begin to run out of the bottom of the bottle.

To Put an Egg Into a Bottle.— To accomplish this seemingly iincredi'ble act requires the following preparation : You must take an egg and soak it-in "strong 1 vinegar ;. and in process of time its ; shell will become fluite. ' soft, so that it may .be extended lengthways with-, out breaking ; then insert' it' into' the' neck of a small bottle, and by pouring cold water upon it, it will -re- : assume its*former figure and hardness. This is really a complete curiosity, and baffles those who are not in the secret to find out how it is accomplished. If the vine- ' gar used to saturate the egg is not sufficiently t -strong to produce the required softness of shell,, add one teaspoonfiil of strong acetic acid to every two taJblespopnfuls of vinegar. " This will render the egg perfectly - flexible, and of easy insertion into the bottle, which must then -be filled with cold water.