of Liquids to each other. 305 



Having found that the adhesion of the particles of 

 water to each other is so considerable, I was not slow to 

 perceive that this adhesion ought to manifest itself in a 

 very peculiar and sensible manner at the surface of the 

 liquid ; and it was then that I saw clearly that it might 

 be possible to explain in a satisfactory manner several 

 phenomena which. have always been regarded as difficult 

 of explanation ; as, for example, the suspension of heavy 

 bodies of small size which appear to float on the surface 

 of the water ; the concave form taken on by the surface 

 of water when confined in a small vessel ; the change of 

 this form into convex when, the vessel having been filled 

 to the brim, more liquid is added ; the suspension of 

 liquids in capillary tubes, etc. 



I wrote, in the winter of 1800, a memoir on this sub- 

 ject, which I afterwards showed to several persons, 

 among others to Professor Pictet, of Geneva, when he 

 was in London in 1801 ; also to Sir Charles Blagden. 

 The reason for not publishing it at that time was that I 

 needed the assistance of profound analysis in order to 

 finish it. 



When I arrived at Paris in the spring of 1802, I took 

 advantage of this occasion to consult the greatest geom- 

 eters of the century on the embarrassing question which 

 stood in my way. Four persons now present in this 

 Assembly can remember the circumstance. I desired to 

 know the form which the vertical middle section of a 

 drop of water, or other liquid substance, would take if 

 placed on a plane horizontal surface, supposing that the 

 liquid was restrained solely by the resistance of a pellicle 

 exerting a given force on its surface. 



The problem appeared very simple, but its solution 

 is extremely difficult. I did not know at that time 



VOL. II. 2O 



