( 335 ) 



fra<3:ure, I therefore caiifed the fire to be 

 extinguiflied, and, after the matrafs had 

 cooled, examined it within and without. I 

 found, on one fide, an angular fifTure, four- 

 teen lines in length, from which hung, ex-' 

 ternally, two thin cones of glafs, which, 

 however, was the only part of the fluid that 

 had ifTued from the matrafs. Within was 

 an oval bubble, occupying two full thirds 

 of the body of the matrafs. This fad: ap- 

 peared to me of confiderable importance. 

 It is evident that this bubble was the efFe£t 

 of an aeriform fluid, w^hich by its expanfive 

 force had not only produced that vacuity, 

 but broken the matrafs by ftriking forcibly 

 againft its fides. It is likewife equally clear, 

 that this^fluid could be no other than the glafs 

 itfelf, rendered here much more gafeous 

 from the greater violence of the fire. The 

 remainder of the glafs not occupied by that 

 bubble was full of minute cavities. 



The accident of breaking, accompanied 

 v^ith a very large bubble, happened to ano- 

 ther matrafs containing an enamel of If- 



£ chia. 



