26 GRAVITATION. 



on the point of a stick. Now you will see I 

 have only to place two sharp-pointed sticks one 

 on each side, and give it wings, thus, and you 

 will find this beautiful condition fulfilled. 



We come now to another point; All bodies, 

 whether heavy or light, fall to the earth by this 

 force which we call gravity. By observation, 

 moreover, we see that bodies do not occupy the 

 same time in falling ; I think you will be able 

 to see that this piece of paper and that ivory 

 ball fall with different velocities to the table 

 [dropping them] ; and if, again, I take a feather 

 and an ivory ball, and let them fall, you see 

 they reach the table or earth at different times ; 

 that is to say, the ball falls faster than the 

 feather. Now, that should not be so, for all 

 bodies do fall equally fast to the earth. There 

 are one or two beautiful points included in that 

 statement. First of all, it is manifest that an 

 ounce, or a pound, or a ton, or a thousand tons, 

 all fall equally fast, no one faster than another : 

 here are two balls of lead, a very light one and 

 a very heavy one, and you perceive they both 

 fall to the earth in the same time. Now if I 

 were to put into a little bag a number of these 

 balls sufficient to make up a bulk equal to the 



