Prof. Loomis on Bodies falling through the Atmosphere. 67 
Arr. X.—On the Resistance experienced by Bodies falling 
through the Atmosphere; by Extas Looms, Professor of Math- 
ematics and Natural Philosophy in New York University. 
a whirling machine. Since the case of a body revolving about a 
fixed axis is different from that of a body descending freely 
through the atmosphere under the action of gravity, [ have en- 
deavored to test these results by experiments upon the direct fall 
of bodies. For this purpose I have performed various experi- 
ments upon the velocity acguired by falling drops of water; also 
by small spheres made of cork; and have experimented with 
lumps of ice varying from the size of a pigeon’s egg up to masses 
weighing*more than two pounds. These results coincided tol- 
erably well with those obtained by computation from Hutton’s 
data, but I refrain from publishing them at present in the hope of 
being able to repeat them with greater care and with the advan- 
tage of a greater elevation. 
In the mean time I have sought for experiments of a similar 
kind made by other individuals. The experiments made at the 
request of Newton in St. Paul’s Cathedral at London, seemed 
better suited to my purpose than any others I have found. There 
were two series of these experiments. In the first series, made 
in the year 1710, several hollow glass globes of about five inches 
in diameter were let fall from an elevation of 220 English feet, 
and the times of descent carefully measured. In the second se- 
ties of experiments made in the year 1719, several bladders 
formed into spheres about five inches in diameter, were let fall 
from a height of 272 feet, and the times of descent carefully 
observed, j 
For the purpose of deducing from these experiments the coef- 
ficient of resistance, I proceeded in the following manner. It is 
evident that the resistance to a falling body beginning from zero, 
continually increases with the increasing velocity of the body; 
i i ce is constantly the same, while the 
