174 



VISCIDITY OF WATER. 



Alcohol. Xlic results of the experiment were not perceptibly dif- 



ferent when alcohol was substituted in the place of ether. 

 The evapora- It is known that ether evaporates very rapidly. Is not 

 tion of ether— this another proof that the particles of this liquid adhere 

 to each other with much less force than those of water ? 

 But the following experiment proves this fact in a decisive 

 manner. 



EXPERIMENT VII. 

 is incompara- Having half filled a small cylindrical glass with mer- 

 than o? water, ^wy? I placed on the mercury a stratum of ether four 

 and shews less lines in thickness, and blew upon the ether with a pair of 

 adhesion. common bellows. 



In less than one minute the ether had disappeared. 

 The same experiment being made with water, no sen- 

 sible quantity of this fluid had disappeared in one 

 minute. 

 Dust, which r^^Q objects which aw. before our eyes from the earliest 



has no adhe- . , i ,. , , , i- . 



sion, rises by periods of our lives seldom employ our meditation, and 



the wind; not often our attention. We see, without surprise, im- 



mense masses of dust raised by the winds and carried to 

 great distances ; and at the same time we know that every 

 particle of this powder is really a stone, almost three times 

 as heavy as water, and of a size so considerable, that its 

 form may be perfectly seen by means of a good micro- 

 scope. 



And we see also, without surprise, that water, which 

 is much lighter than dust, and is composed of particles in- 

 comparably smaller, is not carried oft' by the winds in the 

 same manner, 

 —but those of I" order to convince ourselves that the particles of 

 water do not. water do strongly adhere to each other, and tliat they re- 

 quire to be so in order to prevent the greatest confusion in 

 the universe, we need only figure to ourselves the inevi- 

 table consequences that would result from the want of 

 such an adhesion. 

 If they did not 'j'^g particles of water would be raised and carried off 

 wouM rise^^ ^7 ^^e winds with infinitely more facility than the finest 

 more easily and lightest dust. Every strong breeze setting in from the 

 t an ust. Ocean would bring with it a great inundation. Naviga- 

 tion would be impossible, and the banks of all the seas, 

 lakes, and large rivers wQuld b^ uninhabitable, 



T The 



