WITHDRAWN FROM THE ACTION OF GRAVITY. 661 



and of spherules. This figure refers to the case of a very sHghtly 

 viscid hquid, such as water, alcohol, &c., and where the convex 

 surface of the cylinder is perfectly free ; consequently, in accord- 

 ance with the probable conclusion with which § 60 terminates, 

 the proportion of the length of the divisions to the diameter has 

 been taken as equal to 4. 



The phaenomenon of the formation of lines and their resolu- 

 tion into spherules is not confined to the case of the rupture of 

 the equilibrium of liquid cylinders ; it is always manifested when 

 one of our hquid masses, whatever may be its figure, is divided 

 into partial masses ; this is the manner in which, for instance, in 

 § 29 of the preceding memoir, the minute masses which were 

 then compared to satellites are formed*. The phaenomenon 

 under consideration is also produced when liquids are submitted 

 to the free action of gravity, although it is then less easily shown. 

 For instance, if the rounded end of a glass rod be dipped in 

 aether, and then withdrawn carefully in a perpendicular direction, 

 at the instant at which the small quantity of liquid remaining 

 adherent to the rod separates from the mass, an extremely mi- 

 nute spherule is seen to roll upon the surface of the latter. 

 Lastly, the phaenomenon in question is of the same nature as that 

 which occurs when very viscid bodies are drawn into threads, as 

 glass softened by heat ; except that in this case the great viscidity 

 of the substance, and moreover the action of cold, which soli- 

 difies the thread formed, maintains the cylindrical form of the 

 latter and allows of its acquiring an indefinite length. 



63. To complete the study of the transformation of liquid 

 cylinders into isolated spheres, it still remains for us to discover 

 the law according to which the duration of the phaenomenon 

 varies with the diameter of the cylinder, and to endeavour to 

 obtain at least some indications relative to the absolute value of 

 this duration in the case of a cylinder of a given diameter, com- 

 posed of a given liquid, and placed in given circumstances. 



We can understand a priori, that when the liquid and the ex- 

 ternal circumstances are the same, and supposing the length of 

 the cylinder to be always such that the divisions assume exactly 

 their normal length (§ 53), the duration of the phaenomenon must 

 increase with the diameter ; for the greater this is, the greater is 



• It is clear tliat this mode of formation is entirely foreign to La Place's cos- 

 mugonic hypothesis; therefore, we have had no idea of deducing from this little 

 ex|>eriiiient, which only refers to the effects of molecular attraction, and not to 

 tlio/ic of {gravitation, any ar<^umcnt in favour of the hypothesis in question ; an 

 hypothesis which, in other respects, we do not adopt. 



