The regulus of cobalt,
dissolved in spirit of niter, gives a red. These colors disappear
at longer or shorter intervals after the material written upon
cools, but again become apparent upon the reapplication of heat.
"I now scrutinized the death's head with care. Its outer edges--
the edges of the drawing nearest the edge of the vellum--were far
more DISTINCT than the others. It was clear that the action of the
caloric had been imperfect or unequal. I immediately kindled a
fire, and subjected every portion of the parchment to a glowing
heat. At first, the only effect was the strengthening of the faint
lines in the skull; but, upon persevering in the experiment, there
became visible, at the corner of the slip, diagonally opposite to
the spot in which the death's head was delineated, the figure of
what I at first supposed to be a goat. A closer scrutiny, however,
satisfied me that it was intended for a kid."
"Ha! ha!" said I, "to be sure I have no right to laugh at you--a
million and a half of money is too serious a matter for mirth--but
you are not about to establish a third link in your chain--you will
not find any especial connection between your pirates and a goat--
pirates, you know, have nothing to do with goats; they appertain to
the farming interest.
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