Molecular Attraction 37 



towel absorb. You might as well try to dry yourself 

 on the glossy side of a piece of oilcloth. 



By this time you are shivering; so you probably 

 decide to light the oil stove and get warm and dry over 

 that. But the oil will not come up the wick ! As a 

 last resort you throw a dressing gown around you (it 

 does not get wet) and start a fire in the fireplace. This 

 at last warms and dries you; but as soon as you are 

 dressed the clammy feeling comes again your clothes 

 will not absorb any perspiration. While the capillary 

 attraction switch is turned off you will simply have to 

 get used to this. 



Then suppose you start to write your experience. 

 Your fountain pen will not work. Even an ordinary 

 pen does not work as well as it ought to. It makes a 

 blot on your paper. If you use the blotter you are 

 dismayed to find that the blot spreads out as flat as if 

 you were pressing a piece of glass against it. You take 

 your eraser and try to remove the blot. To your delight 

 you find that it rubs out as easily as a pencil mark. The 

 ink has not soaked into the paper at all. You begin 

 to see some of the advantages in shutting off capillary 

 attraction. 



Perhaps you are writing at the dining-room table, 

 and you overturn the inkwell on the tablecloth. Never 

 mind, it is no trouble to brush the ink off. Not a sign 

 of stain is left behind. 



By and by you look outdoors at the garden. Every- 

 thing is withering. The moisture does not move 

 through the earth to where the roots of the plants 

 can reach it. Before everything withers completely, 



