2C0 THE FIGURES OF EQUILIBRIUM Q¥ A LIQUID MASS 



A f;ict which I described in paragraph 20 of the preceding memoir, and which 

 I shall now describe more in detail, aflords us the means of obtaining a cylinder 

 of this kind, and of observing its spontaneous destruction. Wheii some oil is 

 introduced by means of a small funnel into an alcoholic mixture containing a 

 slight excess of alcohol, and the oil is poured in sufficiently quick to keep the 

 funnel full, the liquid forms, between thi; point of the funnel and the bottom of 

 the vessel where the mass collects, a long train, the diameter of which continues 

 tO|increase slightly from the upper to the lower part, so as to form a kind of 

 very elongated cone, which does not differ much from a cylinder* This nearly 

 cylindrical figure, the heightof which is considerable in proportion to the diameter, 

 remains without undergoing any perceptible alteration so long as the oil of which 

 it consists has sufficient rajjidity of transference ; but when the oil is no longer 

 poured into the funnel, and consequently the motion of transference is retarded, 

 the cylinder is soon seen to resolve itself rapidly into a series of spheres, which 

 are perfectly equal in diameter, equally distributed, and with their centres 

 arranged upon the right Hue forming the axis of the cylinder. 



To obtain perfect success, the elements of the experiment should be in certain 

 proportions. The orifice of the funnel which 1 used was about 3 millimeters in 

 diameter, and 11 centimeters in height. It rested upon the neck of a largo 

 bottle containing the alcoholic mixture, and its orifice was plunged a few milli- 

 meters only beneath the surface of the liquid. Lastly, the length of the cylinder 

 of oil, or the distance between the orifice and the lower mass, was nearly 20 

 centimeters. Under these circumstances, three spheres were constantly formed, 

 the upper of which remained adherent to the point of the funnel; the latter was 

 therefore incomplete. We may add, that the excess of alcohol contained in the 

 mixture should neither be too great nor too small ; the proper quantity is found 

 by means of a few preliminary trials. 



48. The constancy and regularity of the result of this experiment complete 

 then the proof that the phenomena to which the spontaneous rupture of equilib- 

 rium of an luistable liquid cylinder gives rise are governed by determinate laws. 



In this same experiment, the transformation ensues too rapidly to allow of its 

 phases being well observed ; but the phenomena presented to us by larger and 

 less elongated cylinders, i. e., the formation of a dilatation and constriction in 

 juxtaposition, and equal or nearly so in length, the gradual increase in thickness 

 of the dilated portion and the simultaneous narrowing of the constricted portion, 

 &c., authorize us to conclude that in the case of a cylinder the length of which 

 is considerable in proportion to the diameter, the following order of things takes 

 place : the figure becomes at first so modified as to present a regular and uniform 

 succession of dilated portions, separated by constricted portions of the same 

 length as the former, or nearly so. This alteration, the indications of which 

 are very slight, gradually becomes more and more marked, the constricted por- 

 tions gradually becoming narrower, whilst the dilated portions increase in thick- 

 ness, the figure remaining a figure of revolution ; at last the constrictions break, 

 and each of the various parts of the figure, which are thus completely isolated 

 from each other, acquire the spherical form. We must add, that the termination 

 of the phenomenon is accompanied by a remarkable peculiarity, of which we 

 have not yet spoken ; but as it only constitutes, so to speak, an accessory por- 

 tion of the general phenomenon, we shall transfer the description of it to a 

 subsequent part of this memoir, (see § 62.) 



41). It might be asked why, in the experiment which we have last described, 

 the cylinder is only resolved into spheres when the rapidity of the transference 

 of liquid of which it is composed is diminished. In fact, we cannot understand 

 how a motion of transference could give stability to a liquid figure which in a 



* Tlic slight increase in diameter depends upon the retardation which the resistance of the 

 surrounding liquid occasions in the movemcut of the oil. 





