414 Mr. STOKES'S SUPPLEMENT TO A MEMOIR, ETC. 



These experiments are sufficient to show that in the case of a vessel of about the size and shape 

 of the one I used, filled with water, and performing small oscillations of the duration of about 

 one second, (as was the case in my experiments,) tlie time of oscillation is not much increased by 

 friction ; at least, if we suppose, as there is reason for supposing, that the effect of friction does 

 not depend on the nature of the surface of the box. They are not however sufKciently exact to 

 allow us to place any reliance on the accuracy of the small differences between the results of 

 experiment, and of the common theory of fluid motion, and consequently they are useless as tests 

 of any theory of friction. 



G. G. STOKES. 



