KETTLE HOLDERS. 167 



A. By touching the metal collar into 

 which the wooden handle is fixed : 

 though the wooden handle is quite cold, 

 this metal collar is intensely hot. 



Q. Wliy do persons use paper or WOOLLEN 

 KETTLE-HOLDERS to take hold of a kettle with ? 



A. Paper and woollen are both very 

 bad conductors of heat ; and, therefore, 

 the heat of the kettle does not readily 

 pass through them to the hand. 



Q. Does the heat of the boiling kettle NEVER 

 get through the woollen or paper kettle-holder ? 



A. Yes; but though the kettle-holder 

 became as hot as the kettle itself, it 

 would never feel so hot. 



Q. Why would not the kettle-holder FEEL so 

 hot as the kettle, when it really is of the same 

 temperature ? 



A. Because (being a very bad con- 

 ductor) it disposes of its heat so slowly, 

 that it is scarcely perceptible; but 

 metal (being an excellent conductor) 

 disposes of its heat so quickly, that the 

 sudden influx is painful. 



Q. Why then does HOT METAL FEEL so much 

 MORE intensely WARM than HOT WOOL ? 



