ON WAVES. 



327 



History of a solitary Wave of the First Order. — In the accompanying table 

 is given a historj- of the progress of a wave from its genesis tln'ough a range 

 of 1160 feet, and during a period of 302 seconds, this wave was generated 

 in the manner ah-eady described, by tlie addition of a volume of 44-5 cubic 

 inches to the fluid at one extremity of the channel. The fluid in repose 

 had a depth of 5-1 inches, and the wave generated had a height of I'S* 

 inch above the plane of repose, thus making the whole depth reckoned from 

 the crest of the wave to the bottom of the channel =5*1 + l-34-=6-44 inches 

 as the depth total. This, as successively observed, forms column A, and 

 the simple height of the wave above the plane of repose forms column B. 

 The height of the wave is recorded at successive distances of 40 feet, as re- 

 corded in column D, reckoning from the first observation, and the correspond- 

 ing time of transit past the station of observation is given in column C. The 

 column E gives the velocity between two successive stations as resulting from 

 the observations C and D. In order to compare tliese observations with the 

 formula v= \^g{h + k), g is taken at the value 32-1 90S feet, being the velo- 

 city required in one second by a body falling freely in vacuo in the latitude 

 of Greenwich at the level of the sea, and {h + k) is the number of inches in 

 column A, reduced to decimals of a foot. The number resulting from these 



