FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1908, Page 38

FAMILY FUN

Balancing an Egg. — All the world knows how Columbus on a historic occasion made an egg stand on After manylearned theories had been advanced for balancing the egg he.act the egg on end by, of coufse, mashing it down hard enough to form a base, but the problem is capable of still another solution. It is an easy matter to set an egg on a plate, for instance, : if you know how. The trick is impossible until the egg has been boiled in an upright position. The portion of the hardened yolk at the end of .the: shell lowers the centre oFgrayity until the' sphere can be spun or even balanced with ease. Chinese Shadows. — Her* is a simple way of making shadowpictures. Place a candle on the table and fix a piece of white paper on the wall at the same height from the floor as the lightis. Now place some non-transparent object, as, for instance, a large book, between the candle and the paper, and on one side of the table place a mirror, so that it will reflect the light of the candle on to the paper on the wall. If you now put little cardboard figures between the candle and the mirror a shadow will be thrown on the white paper, and you can move your figures about just as you please.