54 On iht Compressibilihj of Water. 



found to have been forced into it, neither was there any visible 

 change at the mouth. 



The same bottle was again sunk, and at the increased depth of 

 two hundred and twenty t'athonis : when drawn in, it was found 

 to contain about a gill of water ; but not the slightest visible 

 change had taken place in the sealing. 



The same bottle v/as now sunk, for the third time, to the still 

 greater depth of three hundred fathoms, and when drawn up, 

 only a small part of the neck was found attached to the line. Its 

 appearance was truly interesting. The bottle was not broken by 

 external pressure, but evidently by the expansion of the condensed 

 sea water, which had found its way through the sealing. Upon 

 examination, it was found that the cork had been compressed into 

 half its length, making folds of about one-eighth of an inch ; and 

 that tlie coverings, consisting of six layers of cloth and cement, 

 had been torn up on one side before the bottle burst. The effect 

 produced upon the cork cannot, we imagine, be accounted for but 

 in one way, viz. that the water, divided into very minute parti- 

 cles, must, by the surrounding pressure of water, have been forced 

 through the coverings, and filled the bottle ; that the water thus 

 forced in and condensed, to a great degree, expanded as the pres- 

 sure was removed bv drawing it towards the surface, not only so 

 as to press the cork back into the neck, and, owing to the resist- 

 ance of the coverings, to compress it half its size, but to separate 

 the neck from the body of the bottle. 



Experiment 4. An empty jiorter bottle, the strongest that 

 could be found, was stopped in the following manner. A cork 

 with a large head was firmly driven into the neck ; it was then 

 covered vvith six layers of fine linen, saturated with a composition 

 of tar and wax ; over them was applied a covering of leather, and 

 all perfectly secured by lieing well bound at the neck. The bot- 

 tle thus prepared was sunk two hundred and seventy fathoms. 

 When drawn in, il was found perfectly sound, and the sealing un- 

 changed ; but filled with water to within an inch of the cork. 

 The coverings were taken oif, layer after layer, but no signs of 

 moisture were visible. Had the bottle remained down a sufficient 

 length of time to have comi)ietely filled, it would undoubtedly 

 have been broken by the expansion of the water upon being 

 drawn towards the surface, as was the case in tiie former expe- 

 riment. It is worthy of remark, that when the water from this 

 bottle was poured into a tumbler, it effervesced like mineral 

 water. 



Experiment 5. In this experiment two strong bottles were 

 sunk to the depth of five hundred fathoms. One of them was 

 stopped with a ground glass stopper, and well cemented, then 

 placed in a strong canvass bag. When the bag was drawn in, it 



was 



