SCIENCE OF COMMON THINGS. 11 



Ductility. Malleability. Attraction. 



much more dense than the diamond, yet the metal is 

 soft, while the diamond is the hardest body in nature. 



56 When is a body said to be ductile ? 



When it is capable of being drawn into wire. In 

 ductile substances the atoms seem to have no more 

 fixed relation of position than in a liquid, but yet they 

 cohere very strongly. 



y 57 When is a body said to be malkabk f 



When it is capable of being hammered or rolled into 

 thin plates. Bodies that are malleable are not always 

 ductile. Lead and tin may be hammered out into 

 very thin plates, but it is 'difficult, or impossible, to 

 draw out these metals into fine wire. 



CIIAPTEE II.' 



ATTRACTION. 



58 What is attraction ? 



It is the force manifested by the mutual approach or 

 cohesion of bodies. 



59 Is all matter subject to the power of attraction ? 



All matter is under the influence of attraction in 

 some of its forms. Every particle of matter attracts 

 every other particle, and is in turn itself attracted. 



60 What is repulsion ? 



It is the force manifest in the movement of bodies 

 from each other. Thus, if a piece of glass, having 

 been briskly rubbed, with a silk handkerchief, touch 

 successively two feathers, these feathers, if brought to- 

 gether, will move asunder. 



61 What is cohesive attraction f 



It is the force which holds together the atoms of 



