J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. 67 
of a moving mirror, an indication that the flame became discon- 
tinuous, precisely as the continuous part of a jet of water becomes 
shoriened, and resolved into isolated drops, under the influence of 
Sonorous pulsations? But I forbear enlarging on this very in- 
teresting subject, inasmuch as the accomplished physicist last 
named, has promised to examine it at a future period. In the 
hands of so sagacious a philosopher, we may anticipate a most 
searching investigation of the phenomena in all their relations. 
In the mean time, I wish to call the attention of men of science 
to the view presented in this article, in so far as it groups to- 
gether several classes of phenomena under one head, and may 
be considered a partial generalization. 
Columbia, South Carolina, Oct., 1857. 
ART. X.—On the Motion of the Gyroscope as modified by the 
retarding forces of friction and the resistance of the air: with a 
brief analysis of the “ Top;” by Maj. J. G. Barnarp, A. M., 
Corps of Engineers, U.S. A. 
the direction and velocity of this gyration are determined by the 
direction and velocity of axial rotation and the distance of the 
Center of gravity of the figure from the point of support, and 
that the remarkable phenomenon exhibited by the gyroscope is 
but a particular case dae to a very high velocity of axial rotation, 
ch general laws of motion of such a body as describ 
‘that of the gyroscope in the other, and that intermediate between 
