single glance. Nearly any one is instead of being thrown out all at able thus to count three or four, and once, are played in turn, one at a sometimes more, and the number is time, so that, if one player begins to easily extended. In practising un- draw before his neighbor, he may conscious counting, the number of break one of that neighbor's pairs dots should be gradually increased, in drawing. Sometimes, instead of and arranged at first in regular or- taking out three Queens at the beginder, the arrangement being made |ning, a card is drawn from the pack more and more irregular. at random and laid aside, and at the ODD AND EVEN, a game played end of the game one of the mates by two persons, one of whom holds of that card is left in a player's any number of small objects, while hand, the other two having been the other guesses whether that matched. This form of the game number is odd or even. If he guess is not so interesting as the other, as correctly, he wins. The objects are in it no one knows what card is Old usually such as can be held in the Maid. closed hand, such as pennies, beans, Packs of special Old Maid cards or pebbles, but fingers may be held are sold at toy stores, bearing all up instead. kinds of comic figures, including History. This amusement is very one of the Old Maid. With these old. The Romans called it Par the game is played in the same way Impar (Odd-Even) and the Greeks as with ordinary playing cards, save named it also Zuga é Azuga (Yokes that no cards are thrown out of the or no Yokes), for what reason is un- pack at first, as there is but one Old known. The name may be a cor- Maid. ruption, since the similar Sanskrit words yuj and ayuj mean odd and even. In Germany this game is called Schwarzer Peter (Black Peter), though it is not like our game of that name. Instead of a Queen, one of the Knaves is used, and the player left with it has his face blackened with soot. OLD MAID, a game played by any number of persons, usually not more than six, with a pack of cards, from which three of the Queens have been taken. The remaining Queen, usu- OLD SLEDGE. See ALL FOURS. ally the Queen of Hearts, is called OLD STAGER, THE, a SOLITAIRE the Old Maid. The cards are dealt game of CARDS played with two one by one, and then each one packs. Three rows of thirteen cards throws on the table all the matches each are first laid down. Whenever or pairs of like cards that he has in a King falls directly below a card of his hand. Each then, beginning at the same suit, it may be removed to the dealer's left, draws a card from the adjoining place and the space the hand of the player at his right. left is filled with the next card. If the card so drawn matches any The Aces, as they come, are laid in that he has, the two are thrown on a row, and families are piled on the table; otherwise the turn passes them in order, by suits, ending with to the player at his left. When all the Kings. For this purpose only, the cards have been matched ex- the lowest row of cards can be used, cepting the Old Maid, the player except when there is a free space holding that card is said also to be below some other card, when that the Old Maid. Much of the amuse- card may be taken. Cards allowable ment of the game is caused by the to play thus are called free cards. efforts of the player who finds the Any free card can also be placed on Old Maid in his hand so to place any other free card just above or her that she will be drawn by his just below it in value, following suit. neighbor. Sometimes the matches, Useless cards are laid aside to form stock, of which the top card can be to ours. In Sweden the mother is called Lady Sun. In some countries a hen and her brood are substituted for the mother and children. Sometimes the children represent pots of honey, as in the game of HONEYPOTS. OLIVE OIL, Experiment with. Pour a little oil into a glass of water. The oil will float on the surface of water. Pour some into a glass of alcohol, and the oil will sink. The object is now to make such a mixture of alcohol and water that the oil will neither rise nor sink in it, but stay wherever it is placed. This is done by trying various proportions. When the right one has been obtained the oil will sink just below the surface and form a perfect globe. By pouring more of the mixture above it, the globe of oil is made to float motionless in the centre of the fluid. The reason the oil forms a globe is that that is the natural form of any mass of liquid when there is nothing to pull it out of shape. OLD WITCH, a game played by not more than ten children, one representing a mother, one a witch, and the others daughters, of whom the eldest is often called Sue, and the others are named after the days of the week, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. The mother, going out, charges her eldest daughter to take care of the rest. The witch then calls, and steals one of the children. This is repeated till all the children are gone. The witch then names each child after some eatable (often after different kinds of pies), and offers them to the mother to eat. The latter recognizes her children one by one, and sends them home. There are many varieties of this game, some of which are played partly in verse. Instead of Sue, a servant is left in charge in some versions of the game. The witch gets the servant out of the way by telling her that the kettle is boiling over. On the mother's return, the eldest daughter, or servant, when asked where the stolen child is, offers all kinds of excuses, suggest-company and returns it to his hand. ing that he is down cellar or under the table. The methods of playing the game are many, but its main features are the same everywhere. Sometimes the witch is named "Old Mother Cripsy Crops," or "Hipplety Hop." History. The game of Old Witch, in various forms, is common in Europe, and is probably many centuries old, being a sort of drama founded on a fairy tale. There are many German forms, of which one, "Old Urschel," corresponds nearly OLIVER TWIST, a game played by any number of persons, with a pack of cards on which are pictures representing the characters in Charles Dickens's story of "Oliver Twist." Each character is on two cards, except Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger, who have but one each. All the cards are dealt to the company, one by one, and then the holder of Oliver shows it to the Each now places on the table all the matches, or duplicates, in his hand, and then each in turn, beginning at the dealer's left, draws a card from his right-hand neighbor and throws on the table the match, if any, that it makes with a card in his own hand, as in OLD MAID. When anyone draws Oliver, he shows it and calls "More," whereupon each of the others gives him a card. The holder of Öliver need not match unless he chooses. The holder of Artful Dodger is allowed to draw two cards at a time, save when he is also the holder of Oliver. The game goes on till no cards are left but Oliver and Artful Dodger, when the latter must be thrown on the table, and the holder of Oliver wins. power still more exactly, a tapemeasure should be looked at through the glass in the same way. If one foot on the magnified image is as long as two feet eight inches, for instance, on the natural image, the glass magnifies two and two-thirds brick wall may be looked at, or anything having regular divisions. ONE OLD OX. See REPEATING times. Instead of a tape-measure a GAMES. ONE, TWO, AND THREE, a game played by any number of people, OTI-DAMA. See JACK STONES. one of whom leaves the room, while OXYGEN, Experiments with. the others agree on three objects or (Names and processes merely alludpersons. These are numbered, and ed to in this article are fully exthe player outside is then called in plained in CHEMICAL EXPERIMENTS. and asked what he will do with one, Oxygen gas is described in C. C. T.) two, and three. If he decides to do To make it, equal quantities of powwhat is possible under any circum-dered chlorate of potash and black stances, another person takes his place; but if one or more of his wishes are impossible, he pays a forfeit for each and goes out again. For instance, the company may decide on the steeple of Trinity Church (one); the president of the United States (two); and a goat (three). On being called in, the player who left the room says, "I will paint One sky-blue; I will enclose Two in a dry-goods box and ship it to Australia; and I will hold a conversation in Latin with Three". The first two, though absurd, are possible, but the third is not, under any circumstances whatever, so the player pays one forfeit and leaves the room again. OPERA CLASS, Experiment with an. It is an interesting experiment to find the magnifying power of an opera-glass, which can easily be done as follows: Hold one tube of the glass in front of one eye and nothing before the other eye, so that two images of the object looked at will be seen at once, one natural size and the other magnified. It can then be easily estimated how much higher one is than the other. In ordinary opera-glasses the height is magnified from two and a half to three times. Field-glasses sometimes magnify as much as seven times. To tell the magnifying oxide of manganese are mixed, and a glass phial about two inches long is one-third filled with the mixture. The neck is closed with a cork, through which passes a tube, whose other end is arranged to collect the gas under water. The bottle is supported on its side by two blocks of wood so that it can be heated by an alcohol lamp or Bunsen burner placed under it. Heat first the part of the mixture nearest the deliverytube. If the gas is made too rapidly, remove the flame for a moment. The oxygen can be stored in a gasholder, if desired, and kept for future use. The oxygen made in this way comes from the chlorate of potash (see Potash, C. C. T.), and is separated from the other elements in that substance by the heat applied to it. The only use of the oxide of manganese is to cause the gas to escape slowly and regularly, thus preventing an explosion; but how it does this has not been satisfactorily explained. Another way of making oxygen is to heat red oxide of mercury in the apparatus just described. Óxygen is a little heavier than air, so if the jar in which it has been collected over water be turned right side up very carefully, the gas will not escape if the air is still; but it is bet ter to lay a piece of glass over the mouth of the jar. The glass may be slipped under the jar before it is removed from the water, which will prevent any loss while it is being turned over. Experiments. Light a splinter of wood, and after it has burned a few seconds, blow out the flame, so as to leave the end glowing, and then plunge it into the oxygen. It will light again with a puff, and burn brightly. This is because pure oxygen feeds flame much better than when it is diluted with nitrogen, as in ordinary air (See Air, C. C. T.). For the same reason any substance will burn more brilliantly in oxygen than in air. Substances used are best held in the oxygen in a deflagrating spoon, but may be introduced in any other way. Most substances so burned produce disagreeable fumes, which may be Deflagrating Spoon in Jar. gen); sulphur (observe the same directions); and iron. The iron should be in the form of fine wire, or a steel watch-spring may be used. Heat the end of the wire and then dip it in powdered sulphur, some of which will stick. Then light the sulphur, and thrust the iron into the oxygen. The burning sulphur will presently light the iron, which will burn, sending out brilliant sparks. Oxygen will not burn in air, as may be seen by trying to light a jet of it from a gas-holder. But it will burn in hydrogen, as can be shown thus, with a little skill. Cut the bottom from a bottle and hang it by its neck from a nail. Through the cork pass a tube from a gas-holder full of hydrogen, and regulate the flow so that when the gas is lighted at the bottom of the bottle it will burn there quietly. Do not light the gas till the air is all driven from the bottle. From another gas-holder pass a stream of oxygen through a glass jet, and raise this jet into the bottle. As the jet passes through the burning hydrogen, the oxygen issuing from it will take fire, and it will continue to burn in the hydrogen within the bottle. The reason of this is that when most things burn they unite with the oxygen of the air; but as oxygen of course cannot unite with itself, it is necessary to surround it with some other gas for which it has a liking. Instead of hydrogen, ordinary illuminating gas may be used, and instead of a bottle, a lamp chimney, or anything of glass that is open at both ends. In all cases the upper end must be tight, so that the hydrogen may not escape kept from escaping by covering the jar with a piece of pasteboard through which the handle of the spoon passes: The things that burn with the prettiest effects are: charcoal (a piece the size of a pea; light it by holding the spoon in a gasflame before putting it into the oxy-at the top. P P'S AND Q'S, a game played by the two cards by themselves, and any number of persons. Each in then takes the top shoe-card. If he turn gives the name of a historical can match nothing, he places his personage, and his left-hand neigh-card on the table with the others, bor names the place where that per- not taking a shoe-card. If a player sonage has gone to fight. The lat- have a card with a policeman on it ter must be either the native place (called a police-card) he can either of the character, or the name of take all the cards on the table, and some battle in which he took part, two shoe-cards, or lay it on the table, and must begin with no letter pre- saying" Police," when all the players ceding P and Q in the alphabet. must place their cards on the table, Each player warns the next to and the holder of the police-card "mind his P's and O's." If this may take as many matches as there rule is broken, the offender pays a are, with a shoe-card for each. But forfeit, and the next player names a if he call "Police" and any player place which does not violate the have the other police-card, the latter rule. For instance: may take the former and three shoecards. Each player keeps his shoecards by themselves, and at the chose of the hand throws out all those not in pairs. The rejected ones are used in the next hand, and so on till they are all paired, when the holder of the most pairs of shoes wins. Any hand comes to an end when the shoe-cards have been all taken, no matter whether the other cards have all been dealt or not. 1. "Julius Cæsar has gone to fight at❞— 2. "Pharsalia. Grant has gone to fight at❞— 3. "The Wilderness." "Sherman has gone to fight at”— 4. New Hope Church." This last requires a forfeit, since its first letter, 'N precedes P in the alphabet. The fifth player supplies a proper answer; for instance, “Savannah," and the game goes on till the players are tired, or a sufficient number of forfeits have been collected. PAIR OF SHOES, a game played by any number of persons with two packs of cards, one bearing pictures of men of various trades or professions, and the other pictures of shoes. In both packs each picture is borne by two cards. At the beginning of the game the shoe cards are in a pile on the table, face upward. Four of the other cards are dealt to each player, and four on the table, face upward. When any player's cards are gone, the dealer gives him four more, and so on till the pack is exhausted. Each player, in turn, takes from the table any card which he can match from his hand, places PALMISTRY. See FORTUNETELLING. PANTOGRAPH, an instrument X Pantograph. H |