suspended in the Water of the Rhine. 103 



l>revented me from advancing beyond the first steps of my pro- 

 posed inquiry ; but having no immediate prospect of being able 

 to resume it, I venture to offer even this small contribution to 

 science, as the facts I ascertained may not be considered with- 

 out value. 



I made two sets of observations, the.one in the month of Au- 

 gust, and the other in November. The apparatus I used was 

 very simple, but answered the purpose perfectly ; as it may be 

 constructed in a very short time, and almost in any situation, 

 the facility of making the observations ought to increase the 

 chance of others of the same sort being made elsewhere. It 

 consisted of a stone bottle, capable of containing about a gallon, 

 and furnished with a cork covered with leather, and greased ; a 

 weight of about 10 lb. was attached to the bottom of the bottle 

 by a rope, of such a length, that, when the weight touched the 

 ground, the mouth of the bottle might be at the desired distance 

 from the bottom of the river. A rope was attached to the ear 

 or handle of the bottle, by which it was let down, and a string 

 was fastened to the cork. As soon as the bottle had reached its 

 destined position, the cork was withdrawn by means of the 

 string, the bottle became filled with the water at that particular 

 depth, and was then instantly drawn up. The water, as soon 

 as drawn up, was emptied into glass jars, on which I had 

 previously marked a certain measure. The quantity of water 

 on which I intended to operate, was a cubic foot, or 1000 

 ounces, and I collected it at different times ; for instance, after 

 one-third of a cubic foot had stood in the jars for some days, I 

 drew off the clear water with a syphon, and another third of 

 water, fresh taken from the river, was added to the sediment 

 left at the bottom of the jars from the first; that was allowed to 

 stand, the clear water was again drawn oflp, and the last third 

 was added in the same way. When this had stood a sufficient 

 length of time, the accumulated sediment was removed to an 

 evaporating dish, (a common saucer will do quite well), and 

 carefully dried in a gentle heat. The dried mass was the 

 amount of solid matter held in suspension in a cubic foot of wa- 

 ter, and now in the state of indurated mud. 



J'lrst Set of Observations. — The water was taken at the dis- 

 tance of 165 feet from the left bank, and at a depth of six feel 



