64 



and only 4 mm. in diameter it would stand a greater strain before yielding than it 

 would were it any other shape. 



Considering it as above, the first reading would naturally be expected to be 

 a mimiraun, for as the volume of the bulb is a maximum the mercury stands lowest 

 in the stem, and the readings on subsequent observations would increase until a 

 fairly stationary point is reached, indicating that the bulb has regained its normal 

 volume. 



The first reading taken Saturday, November 16th, showed the thermometer 

 to be in error 0.1479°. The second reading taken on the following Wednesday 

 was 0.1528°. The third, taken on the following Saturday, was 0.1540°, and 

 the fourth, taken on Wednesday, November 24th, was 0.1553°. These read- 

 ings are each the mean of four and five separate observations. They show a 

 gradual increase in the length of the mercury column which is in direct accordance 

 with what was first expected, /. e., that the pressure on the bottom of the bulb 

 would increase the size of tlie same and wliich in consequence would lower the 

 mercury column. 



The part that seems strange to me, and that I can assign no direct I'eason for, 

 is the behavior of the seven subsequent readings that were taken extending over 

 a period of three and one-half weeks. The fifth reading shows a slight decrease, 

 and so also does the sixth reading show a decrease compared with the fifth, after 

 which it oscillated, as it were, about a mean of 0.1493°. The greatest deviation 

 above this mean being .0036, and the greatest below .0026 of a degree. 



It was found that the position in which the thermometer was kept had no 

 appreciable effect upon its readings. 



C4RAPHICAL Representation of the Law oe Falling Bodies. 

 By F. p. Stauffer. 



[AllSTRACT.] 



It was shown that by subdividing a right-angled triangle by lines parallel to 

 the hypotenuse and the sides into similar smaller triangles, the following could 

 be graphically represented — the distance traversed each second, the velocity at 

 the end of each second, the effect of gravity each second. 



