HOME-MADE TOYS
It may be that some of these toys would amuse only little boys, but we
have included them because our directions will enable older boys to
entertain their little sisters and brothers.
$How to Make Fire Balloons.$--You will require for materials, tissue
paper, which may be all white, or varied in colour. A balloon of white
and red gores alternately is perhaps the best, as it may be used day or
night; and as the balloon is constantly turning when it is in the air,
the stripes add to the effect. Then again there are conditions of the
clouds and atmosphere when a white balloon ascending by daylight would
be scarcely visible, and for parachute purposes a daylight ascent is
desirable. Tissue paper, then, paste, bonnet wire or cane, finer wire;
some tow, cotton wool, or common sponge, or better than all, some round
lamp-cotton, and methylated spirit or tallow, as fuel for your furnace.
The shaping of the gores which are to form your balloon must be your
first consideration. You will find it advisable not to go in for
overgrown balloons. They are far more troublesome to build, and to
manage when they are built, and are little if any more effective than
those of moderate dimensions. About four feet in height is the size
which produces the best results, and in making it one is neither
cramped for room, nor are the gores of unmanageable proportions.
Twelve or fourteen gores, if you use two colours, or thirteen if you
confine yourself to one, will be needed; and it will be wise not to
attempt to emulate the graceful pear-shape of the ordinary passenger
_gas_ balloon, but to aim at something approaching much nearer to a
ball in form. The pear-shaped balloon would take fire to a certainty.
Fig. 1 is an example of the unsafe form which is to be avoided; Fig. 2
is a perfectly safe model.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
[Illustration: FIRE BALLOONS.]
A piece of common cardboard or stout brown paper, six feet in length
and a foot in width, will serve for a pattern gore. Fold it exactly in
half lengthwise, and then mark off each foot, beginning at the bottom
(Fig. 3). At _a_ measure off horizontally 2 inches; at _b_, which is
the first foot, 3-1/2 inches; at _c_, 5 inches; at a point 4 inches
above _d_, the third foot, measure off 6 inches; at _e_ 5-1/2 inches,
marking each point. Then connect the points by as graceful a curve as
may be, and cut through the line thus obtained, unfold the pattern, and
you have your standard gore.
Sufficient tissue paper should have been pasted together by the narrow
edges from which to cut the 12, 13, or 14 lengths of 6 feet each. The
sheets should now be placed one upon the other, and the pattern being
opened out and laid upon the top, the whole of the gores may be cut at
one operation.
Fold a gore in half lengthwise and lay it upon your table or the floor,
and upon this place a second about half an inch within the margin of
the first (Fig. 4). With a stiff brush--sable is the best--paste the
protruding edge of the lower gore, turn it over the edge of the upper
and smooth it down with a duster. If you have a warm flat-iron by
your side, and laying a piece of flannel or cloth over the join, you
run the iron carefully along, the paste will dry at once and all fear
of puckering or displacement will be obviated. Fold the upper gore
lengthwise as you did the lower, and proceed in the same way with the
remainder of the gores until the whole have been pasted (Fig. 5). If
your balloon is a very big one it will be advisable to lay a string
inside each seam as you paste it, leaving the ends long enough to tie
round the hoop which is to go at the bottom or neck of your balloon.
A piece of bonnet wire or split cane 5 feet long, bent to a circle,
will form this hoop, and this must now be pasted at the bottom, and the
neck _may_ be strengthened by pasting inside a strip of stouter paper,
such as foolscap or cartridge, snicked with the scissors so that it may
take the right shape readily.
Now a circular piece of stronger paper, "curl" paper for instance,
about 9 inches or a foot across, should be pasted over the top to
cover the hole where the points of the gores approach each other, and
to this should be pasted a piece of yet stronger paper, writing paper
for instance, to form the loop by which the balloon is to be supported
during the process of inflation. The handle of a saucepan-lid should be
the model to be followed.
This is the method to be adopted if you want to produce a balloon of
a shape which will bear criticism, but if you are not particular in
this respect, a rough and ready gore may be made by a much simpler
process. You have only to take four sheets of tissue paper and paste
them together by the narrow edges. Then trim off the two outside sheets
as shown in Fig. 6, and from the pieces so trimmed off, add a small
piece at the top A, and there is your pattern gore in a little less
than no time. You can then paste several together as already directed,
arranging the number as you wish your balloon to be pudgy and safe, or
lanky and dangerous.
The next thing is to provide the means of ascension.
[Illustration: Fig. 4., Fig. 5., Fig. 3., Fig. 6., Fig. 7., Fig. 8.,
Fig. 9., Fig. 10., Fig. 11., Fig. 12., Fig. 13., Fig. 14., Fig. 15.,
Fig. 16., Fig. 17., Fig. 18., Fig. 19., Fig. 20.]
Lamp cotton is the best material for the wick, though any of the other
substances already mentioned may be used if this is not come-at-able.
It may be saturated with methylated spirit, or, if the material is
easily accessible, melted tallow. In the latter case the wick should
then be sprinkled with turpentine that it may catch fire readily. The
tallow gives the best light, and lasts the longest.
Two pieces of thin wire should be attached to the hoop as shown in Fig.
7, W W, and your ball of lamp-wick is to be placed in the centre, L W.
The placing of the wick is the last operation, but of course, it will
have been prepared beforehand. It is simply a loosely rolled ball of
lamp-cotton through which a piece of fine wire has been passed and the
ends formed into hooks (Fig. 8). The size of the ball must be governed
by the dimensions of the balloon and by your ambition as to the height
to which it is to rise. The wick may easily be made large enough to
carry the balloon out of sight altogether, especially if tallow be used.
In this case the wick should have been saturated with melted tallow
beforehand, but where methylated spirit is used the proceedings must be
delayed till the moment of ascension.
With a fan--a folded newspaper will do as well as anything--fan the
balloon full of air to start with. Then your assistant must elevate
the balloon to the right height by the aid of a smooth stick inserted
in the loop, and he must stand on something to raise him to the right
level.
Now the air in the inflated balloon must be warmed by holding beneath
it a paper torch, care being taken that no flame touches the balloon,
or it will be shrivelled up by the fire in a moment and your labour
wasted.
Another assistant meanwhile should have been looking after the
methylated spirit--if you use the tallow you can do without him. The
spirit should be kept in a closely corked bottle and as far from your
paper torch as possible. When the balloon begins to try to rise give
the word to assistant No. 2, who will pour some of the spirit into the
jam-pot in which the wick is lying, wait till it is saturated, and
then, taking it from the jam-pot, run with it to the balloon and attach
it to the cross wire by the hooks. Directly it is in position, give
the word to assistant No. 1 to let go; touch the wick with a light, and
up will sail the balloon into the air. A windy day should, naturally,
be avoided, or your balloon is not likely to proceed far on its journey
in safety.
But a good deal more is to be got out of a fire balloon than a mere
ascension, and even the mere ascension may be improved. You may, for
instance, attach a car to the balloon (Fig. 9) and a couple of figures
A A--it matters little how rough they are--will, very shortly after
the liberation of the balloon, look so natural that the balloon will
be taken for the real thing. When it has mounted but a little distance
there is nothing by which its size may be compared, and if netting is
imitated by lines drawn with a pen and ink, the illusion will be yet
more complete.
The car may be made of a square of writing paper with the four edges
folded over equally all round. The corners should then be pinched
together, folded over as in the illustration, and secured with a little
paste.
A parachute may be dropped "from the clouds." This may be simply a
square of paper with a string at each corner and a figure hanging on
at the ends (Fig. 11). The figure may be as rough as you like, detail
would be lost. Or, two squares of paper may be used, the strings being
crossed over the lower and kept in place by the upper, which should be
pasted upon it (Fig. 15).
A more elaborate parachute may be made by folding a square of paper
from corner to corner into a triangle. This should be folded again and
once again from corner to corner when it will take the shape of Fig.
12. A cut through the dotted line and a couple of holes pierced at the
dots will give, when opened out, Fig. 13; and a string passed through
each hole and made to carry a car will give the complete parachute
(Fig. 14).
A piece of cotton or twine should be passed through the parachute to
attach it to the balloon. Then a piece of wire should be twisted and
bent, as in Fig. 10, _w_. Fasten to this with thin wire a piece of
time-fuse, _t f_, turned up as shown, and to the bend _b_ attach the
cotton. At the moment of ascension, light the top end of the fuse at
_a_, and when it has burned to _b_ the parachute will be liberated.
Fireworks may be lighted in the same way. You will need time-fuse,
quickmatch, and such fireworks as you prefer. Blue lights, squibs,
and fireworks of that description should be arranged as in Fig. 20.
Here _c_ is a cork or bung with holes bored in it for the insertion
of the fireworks _f f f f_. _Q_ is the quickmatch which is to light
them simultaneously when the time-fuse, _t f_, has burnt far enough. A
catherine wheel may be pinned at the bottom of the cork and connected
with the quickmatch, or the pin may be dispensed with, when it will
whizz through the darkness in grand style.
One of the most successful effects may be obtained with the balls or
stars from Roman candles. You can, of course, pull the candles to
pieces, but a better plan is to buy the balls at 6d. a dozen.
Bend a piece of wire into a circle (Fig. 16) and take two wires across
at a right angle. Then place the balls, one by one, in pieces of tissue
paper and cover them with meal powder and tie up the ends (Fig. 17),
fastening them on the wire, as shown in Fig. 16. A piece of time-fuse,
or quickmatch, _q_, as you want the stars to drop singly or in a
shower, must next be passed through each ball packet and connected with
lighted time-fuse. Of course the fireworks should hang some distance
below the balloon. Crackers or maroons may be arranged as in Figs. 18
and 19, and many other devices invented.
Your balloon may also carry up a piece of magnesium wire with which the
country may be lighted up, or it may take up a Chinese lantern--in fact
there is no end to the fun which may be got out of it. You will find it
difficult, however, to get an effect to beat the Roman candle balls.
Quickmatch costs 2d. or 3d. a six-feet length, according to the
thickness required; time-fuse one penny an inch.
$Bubble Balloons.$--One reason for the short life of the bubble as
usually blown is the excessive evaporation which takes place from
the large surface presented to the air. As this evaporation of the
fluid goes on, the film gets thinner, the tension gets more acute,
accompanied by ever changing and brightening hues of colour, until
the thin walls can no longer bear the strain, and the bubble bursts
into fine spray. Another, perhaps, more powerful reason is the unequal
strength of the walls, due to the drainage of the moisture from the
upper parts of the bubble into the lower parts by its own weight.
This produces a weak and thin area, denoted by the refraction of the
blue rays of light in the top of the bubble, and it cannot resist the
pressure from within. There are two ways of prolonging the life of a
bubble. When the breath is first driven into the liquid, the force used
is sufficient to send the fluid surging in all directions, and the film
is fairly well nourished. Presently as the soapy water dipped out by
the bowl of the pipe gets distributed over the walls of the bubble and
it increases in size, this no longer acts, and drainage from the top
at once sets in. If the blowing is now continued, the end so much the
more quickly approaches. To enable you to continue enlarging the bubble
and lengthen its life, feed it. This may be done readily and safely,
by dipping a camel-hair brush in the soapy emulsion and, letting it
touch the bubble at the top, when the fluid will stream down over the
surface, thickening the film, and permitting you to get a bubble as big
as your hat.
This is only a temporary expedient, a flank movement, and merely defers
the end by a minute or two. To attack the difficulty with more success,
change the mixture. Shred some Castile soap, which may be purchased
by the pennyworth at the chemist's, and beat up in the usual way with
water; you will find that much more can be done with this preparation
than the usual household soap. If your aim is merely to produce an
overgrown, sagging, wobbling bubble, feed with a brush as above.
For further experiments do not blow large unmanageable ones, but an
ordinary sized bubble blown in this liquid will enable you to show its
toughness, length of life, and other qualities. If your coat is made of
a woollen fabric, release some bubbles on the shoulder; they will roll
down the sleeve and tumble off to the floor, if they do not meet with
any cotton fabric on the way; This is due to the repulsion which exists
between wool and the watery film, doubtless due to the presence of fat
in some form upon the fibres. While upon the sleeve they may be carried
about the room, or passed from one person to another. This repulsion
may be further utilized, too, and the bubble treated as a shuttlecock.
To do this, procure the ordinary wooden bat used by your sister for the
game of bat and shuttlecock. Cover it with a piece of flannel, fine
or coarse will do. Then blow a bubble not too large, so that the film
shall be robust and heavy. Such is the toughness of the skin of the
bubble, and the repulsion of the woollen surface to the soapy film,
that it may be batted nearly two hundred times before the collapse
takes place. By striking it on the side and getting some work into
the bubble, it revolves slowly and the drainage from the upper part
is counteracted. Two or more can play thus with the glittering ball,
passing it on, or a ring of players may be formed and a stream of
bubbles passed round from one member to another. Another form of the
game is the keeping up a number of bubbles by the same bat. As the
bubbles are very light they fall slowly, and six or eight may be kept
up by the player. By having two bats, one in each hand, this becomes a
game of considerable skill, and will tax the concentrated attention of
the player to the utmost.
Now cut some circular discs out of note-paper about the size of a
sixpence, larger rather than smaller. Get a reel of fine white cotton,
and pass the end of the thread through the centre of the disc. Tie a
knot in the cotton, so that it cannot readily be pulled through the
hole. Then dip the disc in the mixture till the paper is wet. Blow
your bubble, and before you release it from the pipe bowl, place the
dripping disc of paper on the side of the bubble by dangling it from
your right hand by the cotton. When it is in complete contact, a slight
turn of the wrist releases the bubble from the pipe, and you will find
that you have it attached to the paper disc, which in the meantime has
sunk to the lowest part of the bubble. It can now be carried about by
means of the disc.
There is so much carbon dioxide in the breath that bubbles blown in
this way have very little power of rising, as the difference in the
heat of the breath does not sufficiently counterbalance the heavier
weight of the expired air. By attaching a piece of india-rubber tubing
to the stem of the pipe and gas burner, you can get a supply of lighter
gas which will make the bubble into a balloon. Having effected this
arrangement, dip the pipe in the mixture and turn on the gas. Feed the
top of the bubble with more fluid, and when it has reached a size which
satisfies you, attach the paper disc as before. It will be an easy task
to detach the bubble, which will rise towards the ceiling, until the
weight of the thread counterbalances the buoyancy of the gas. It will
probably rise to the ceiling, where it is quite safe, as a cushion
of air will prevent the bubble striking the surface. Instead of the
long thread, make out of the thinnest and lightest paper you can get,
a small car, attach cotton to the corners of the car and gather the
threads together and tie them so that the car hangs level. Attach this
to the cotton which bears the paper disc, and connect the disc with
the bubble as before, wetting only the disc. You will have a miniature
gossamer balloon. Cut out two small figures of men in paper and put
inside the car. Do all this before blowing the bubble. If you have
a glass shade, a number of these bubbles balanced by threads may be
kept for hours inside. You will find it very interesting to watch the
changes of colour in the films as they get thinner through evaporation.
To check this, put under the shade a wet sponge, this will moisten the
air enclosed in the shade, and prolong the life of the bubbles.
No great skill is required in making the above experiments, and
variations of an amusing character can be made by cutting out figures
of animals and men and attaching them to the disc in place of the car.
If the figures are painted so much better will the trick look. To
make the mixture still stronger add nearly half as much again of pure
glycerine.
$Boxing by Electricity.$--A B C is a piece of iron wire inserted in
the board D E F G. Cut out the boxer H in cardboard. On one side of
this figure paste tinfoil bringing the tinfoil to the other side of
the figure just a little at the edges. You will be able to get your
tinfoil from the packages of tea, chocolate, tobacco or other source.
Fasten the boxer to the board with sealing-wax. Now make the other
boxer I in the same way and suspend him from the iron wire by means of
thread. Borrow a lamp glass or the chimney from the incandescent gas
burner and fit a cork K into the bottom. Through the cork pass a nail
L. Connect the nail with the boxer by means of the wire M. Warm and dry
the lamp chimney, and rub it with fur or silk. The boxer I will rush at
boxer H, then retreat hurriedly, and this will be repeated as long as
you rub the lamp chimney. Men, skilled in the science of electricity,
will tell you that the reason for these strange proceedings is that the
rubbing of the lamp chimney produces electricity; this passes along the
wire to boxer H who becomes charged with the mysterious property. This
electricity attracts boxer I who goes for boxer H. When he touches he
becomes charged with the same kind of electricity and is then attracted
no longer but repelled, and he continues to be repelled until his
electricity has drained away by the linen thread, wire and board to the
earth. Then he is ready for another "round."
[Illustration: BOXING BY ELECTRICITY.]
$A Prancing Horse.$--Carve the figure of a horse, and having fixed a
bent wire to the under part of its body, place a small ball of lead
upon the end of the wire. Place the hind legs of the horse upon the
table, and it will prance to and fro. Sometimes the figure of a man
is treated in the same way and in Yorkshire it used to be called a
"Saaging Tommy," to saag being an old word meaning to saw or see-saw.
[Illustration: A PRANCING HORSE.]
$Boats Made of Pasteboard.$--Pasteboard is not a very satisfactory
material of which to construct model boats, if these are wanted to
sail, but it is possible to make them. The best plan for making
pasteboard waterproof is to paint it with a solution of sealing wax.
To make this, take sealing wax of the colour you prefer, break it
into small pieces and place it in a wide-mouthed bottle. Now pour in
some methylated spirits and shake occasionally until the wax is all
dissolved. If too thick, add more spirit; if too thin, more wax. Apply
with a brush. Owing to the evaporation of the spirit, this paint dries
hard and glossy in an hour.
[Illustration: A SIMPLE TOP.]
$A Simple Top.$--Procure a piece of white cardboard, two inches square,
and cut it into a sexagon, as shown in Fig. 1. Now bore a small hole
in the middle, into which push an ordinary match. You may number the
sections of the sexagon and see who scores the highest number, counting
the figure resting against the table as it falls. Fig. 2 shows the top
complete.
[Illustration: THE APPLE OR POTATO MILL.]
$The Apple or Potato Mill.$--This is made by boring a hole in a nut,
just large enough to pass a thin skewer through; the kernel should
then be extracted, and another hole bored in the side of the nut, as
in the diagram. A skewer should next be cut large enough at the top to
form a head. A piece of string is then tied to the skewer, and passed
through the hole in the side of the nut, and an apple or potato stuck
on the end of the skewer. The mill should be twirled round in the
same way as the humming top to wind up the string, holding the nut
stationary between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand. When this
is done, the string must be pulled out rapidly, and the mill will spin.
Many other toys may be made upon the same principle, and some of these
we will now describe.
[Illustration: WHIRLING MAC.]
$Whirling Mac.$--Our illustration shows how the apple mill may be
modified for a whirling Mac. The arms and legs of the figure should
be tied loosely to the body and the skirt should be loose too. Tie the
string to the spindle inside the nut and have a button on the end of
the string so that you may have a firm hold. Now twist the figure round
until all the string is wound, then hold the nut firmly in your left
hand and draw the string out suddenly and swiftly with your right hand.
The figure will whirl round, throwing out his arms and legs. When the
string comes to an end slacken it, and the impetus of the figure will
cause it to wind the string again. Thus you may go on and on until you
are tired.
[Illustration: FIG. 1., FIG. 2., FIG. 3., FIG. 4. FLYING MACHINE.]
$A Flying Machine.$--Similar in principle is the flying machine now to
be described. In Fig. 1 _a_ is a handle cut in any hard wood four and
a half inches long. Into the top of this handle bore a hole down its
centre about one inch deep, and force into this a piece of wire so that
the wire will be quite firm. This wire should be of iron or steel, with
a diameter of one-eighth of an inch, and it should be about three and
a half inches long. It will be easier to force the wire into the wood
if it is sharpened. The hole you have bored is only an inch deep; force
the wire half an inch deeper than that. Obtain now from your mother or
sister an ordinary cotton spool about one and a quarter inches long.
This is shown at _b_ in Fig. 1. In the same figure _c_ is a kind of
wheel made as follows. If you cannot find something ready made take
a small piece of well-seasoned wood. Cut it until it is an inch in
diameter and five-eighths of an inch deep. See Fig. 2. Down the middle
bore the hole _a_ large enough that the wire you put down the handle in
Fig. 1 may turn easily in it. Mark the upper surface of the wheel into
four equal parts, and then you will be able to draw four perpendicular
lines round this wheel at equal distances. Two of these lines are shown
in Fig. 3.
Now draw the line _a b_ in Fig. 3 half way down the wheel. Follow this
line round and bore four pairs of holes as deeply as you can without
piercing the centre hole. One pair is shown in Fig. 3. Each little hole
is about a quarter of an inch from its neighbour. These pairs of holes
must be the same distance from each other; they are for the wings you
see in Fig. 1, and which we will now proceed to make. Take forty-two
inches of light brass wire. Divide this into four equal parts. You will
then have four pieces of ten and a half inches each. Bend each one into
the shape shown in Fig. 4. These wings will be about four inches long
and about two inches broad at their widest part. The ends of the wire
should be about a quarter of an inch apart. Cover these wire frames
with light tough paper, using as little paste as possible. The wings
are inserted slanting like the sails of a windmill. Now let us go back
to the spool. Upon the upper surface midway between its centre hole
and the edge of the spool insert a piece of strong wire or the end of
a broken knitting needle. The wire should be rigid, and should project
from the spool about half an inch. When you put your wheel and wings
upon the spool this wire will rest beside one of the wings and cause it
to turn when the spool turns. Now take a piece of cord and wind it away
from you with your right hand round the spool. Hold the handle firmly
in your left hand and withdraw the string rapidly. The wheel and
wings will mount rapidly in the air for about fifty feet and then come
steadily down.
[Illustration: A DANCING FIGURE.]
$A Dancing Figure.$--The illustration shows the back view of a toy
easily constructed but capable of affording much amusement to the
little ones. A is an ordinary lath glued to a cardboard figure of a
man. The arms and legs too are of cardboard fixed loosely with short
string knotted at each end. At the extremities of the arms and legs
the strings B and C are tied and connected with the string D. Pull the
string D and the figure will throw up his arms and legs wildly. Bears
and other figures may be made upon the same principle. A string F may
be put at E and then the lath is not necessary, for the performer can
then hold string F in one hand and pull string D with the other.
[Illustration: THE LIVELY DONKEY.]
$The Lively Donkey.$--On stout paper or cardboard draw upon a large
scale the illustration. Divide the drawing into three parts by cutting
out the circle. You may now pin the parts upon the wall in such
attitudes as are shown in the smaller illustration, or if you cut out
many donkeys you may have all these attitudes and more.
[Illustration: CAMERA OBSCURA.]
$A Camera Obscura.$--Obtain an oblong box, about two feet long, twelve
inches wide, and eight high. In one end of this a tube must be fitted
containing a lens. It must be possible to slide the tube backwards and
forwards so as to obtain the focus. Inside the box should be a plain
mirror reclining backwards from the tube at an angle of forty-five
degrees. See A B in the Figure. At the top of the box at C is a square
of frosted glass or a piece of tissue paper, upon which from beneath
the picture will be thrown, and may be seen by raising the lid D. To
use the camera place the tube with the lens in it opposite the object
or scene, and having adjusted the focus, the image will be thrown upon
the ground-glass or tissue paper.
$Jig Saw Puzzle.$--This old form of toy has been revived lately. It is
easily made. Glue upon a thin piece of wood a picture, a coloured one
is best. Then with a fret saw cut picture and board into all manner of
wild shapes, shake them into disorder and then try to put them back
again into their proper position. Jig saw is a piece of American slang
for fret saw.
$The Wonderful Chicken.$--With the help of the diagram it will not be
difficult to construct a chicken that will move its head and tail in
a comic manner. A B C D is a box that acts as a base and conceals the
pendulum. It will need to have a slit in the top for the strings which
hold the pendulum. The chicken is of wood and its body has two sides.
One side has been removed so that the mechanism may be seen, but when
the chicken is complete the mechanism is hidden. It will be seen that
the head and tail are attached to the body with nails, but in such a
way that they are not rigid but will move up and down. E is a pendulum
of lead or other heavy material, and as it swings to and fro the
strings cause the head and tail to bob up and down alternately. Other
moving figures may be made upon the same principle. Longer strings,
and a longer box to accommodate them, give slower and more lasting
movements.
[Illustration: THE WONDERFUL CHICKEN.]
$The Mouse in the Trap.$--Cut a piece of cardboard of the size of a
penny, and paint on one side a mouse, and on the other a trap; fasten
two pieces of thread one on each side at opposite points of the card,
so that the card can be made to revolve by twirling the threads with
the finger and thumb. While the toy is in its revolution, the mouse
will be seen inside the trap. Many others may be made upon the same
principle.
$Distorted Landscapes.$--Take a piece of smooth white pasteboard and
sketch a picture upon it. Prick the outlines in every part with a pin
or needle, then put the pricked drawing in a perpendicular position,
and place a lighted candle behind it. Stand in front of it another
piece of pasteboard, and trace with a pencil the lines given by the
light, and you will have a peculiar distorted landscape. Take away
the candle and the pricked drawing, and put your eye where the light
was, and the drawing will lose its peculiarities. To find the proper
position for your eye it will be best to cut out a piece of card,
adjust it, and look through a hole made to occupy the place where stood
the flame of the candle.
[Illustration: THE MOUSE IN THE TRAP.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1., FIG. 2., FIG. 3.]
$The Working Woodman.$--The wind, as well as a pendulum, may be used to
make wooden figures move. In Fig. 1 we have two pieces of wood, each
an inch thick, an inch and a half wide, and twelve inches long. If we
place them as in Fig. 1 we have four arms five and a quarter inches
long. Each one of these four arms has now to be cut into a shape to
adapt it as a windmill sail; that is it has to be made into a slanting
thin blade not more than an eighth of an inch thick, and all the
blades must present a similar slope to the wind. As mistakes are likely
to occur, here we will endeavour to make the point clear. Take the
arm A, Fig. 2. Suppose you have slanted this from x to y. Now imagine
that B comes round to A's position, then it, too, must be sloped in
precisely the same way, and not sloped from y to x. The same applies to
arms C and D. Imagine them coming to this upright position, and make
them all alike as they arrive there.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The method of fixing the four arms into one piece is shown in Fig. 3. A
hole should now be bored exactly in the centre at the crossing of the
arms. The platform upon which the figure of the woodman will stand,
shown in Fig. 4, consists of a piece of wood half an inch thick, six
inches wide and twelve inches long. At each end is screwed a block to
hold the shaft which communicates the movement of the sails to the
figure. This shaft is a piece of strong wire fifteen inches long, bent
into a crank, as shown in the diagram, and working round and round
in the two blocks. The end of the wire that comes through the centre
of the windmill sails should be bent up or down to prevent it from
slipping out of position. The vane, which will cause the mill to keep
in the right position whichever way the wind blows, is shown twice in
Fig. 4. It is of thin wood, and is fastened to the underside of the
platform by means of the little catch, which should be left when the
vane is made. The figures whose parts are shown should be cut out of
thin wood with a fret-saw, and put together so that the joints turn
easily on the pins that are put through them. Two bodies are needed. To
adjust the figure take off one side of the body and place the woodman
in the act of completing his stroke, with the axe touching the wood,
then put a peg or small tack or nail immediately behind the projection
on the top of the legs. This will keep his body from bending too far
forward. Now let the axe be raised to the beginning of the stroke, and
put a peg in front of the projection. The arm is connected with the
crank by a piece of wire. You may not find the right place at first,
but a few trials will put you right. Bore a hole in the arm, put the
wire through, and twist it round to keep it there.
[Illustration]
A sawyer may be made upon the same principle, as the illustrations
show, or you may have a simple windmill and no figures. Fix the
platform and its figures on the top of a pole with a pivot so that
they may turn freely in the wind. Before you bore the hole through the
platform balance the whole carefully upon the pole or you will put the
hole in the wrong place.
$The Skip-Jack.$--The skip-jack is made out of the merry-thought of
a goose. A strong doubled string must be tied at the two ends of the
bone, and a piece of wood about three inches long put between the
strings, as shown in the illustration, and twisted round until the
string has the force of a spring. A bit of shoemaker's wax should then
be put in the hollow of the bone at the place where the end of the
piece of wood touches, and when the wood is pressed slightly on the
wax the toy is set. The wood sticks only a very short time, and then
springs forcibly up. The skip-jack is placed on the ground with the
wax downwards. Upon this principle toy frogs are made sometimes.
[Illustration: THE SKIP-JACK.]
[Illustration: THE JOLLY PEA.]
$The Jolly Pea.$--Stick through a pea, or small ball of pith, two pins
at right angles, and put upon the points pieces of sealing-wax. The pea
may be kept dancing in the air at a short distance from the end of a
straight tube, by means of a current of breath from the mouth. This
imparts a rotatory motion to the pea. A piece of broken clay tobacco
pipe serves very well. Some boys prefer one pin (the vertical one) and
dispense with the cross pin.
[Illustration: REVOLVING SERPENT.]
$A Revolving Serpent.$--Draw on a piece of cardboard a spiral serpent,
as shown in the figure. Cut along the lines with a sharp knife, and
mount it on a needle fixed in a cork. The serpent will now revolve on
its own account. Its movements may be greatly accelerated by fixing it
by means of a bent wire over the flame of a lamp or candle.