Intelligence and Miscellanies. 195 



bottles by the pressure of the water in some instances, and 

 from the permeability of most corks if not all of them, to 

 water when so greatly compressed in others ; I was determi- 

 ned before I went to sea, to prepare a bottle which would 

 prove the correctness of the opinion just stated. 



I had the top of the mouth of a strong porter bottle ground, 

 so as to fit a thick piece of glass equally well ground ; the 

 two surfaces being made as parallel to each other as could 

 be obtained by grinding, as well as by rubbing the one upon 

 the other. (The surfaces were not polished as ought to have 

 been done, to produce the most perfect contact possible.) A 

 cork was first put into the bottle, using great force, and the 

 top then covered with tallow, likewise the ground part of the 

 bottle ; and upon the two, the piece of glass was placed, 

 then closely pressed to the bottle, and there properly secured 

 by strong strings ; grooves having been cut into the piece of 

 glass, so as to secure it to the neck of the bottle. 



The bottle was then fixed securely to a sounding line, to 

 which also a second bottle, prepared in the ordinary manner, 

 was attached. This bottle was provided with a good cork, 

 much larger than the mouth of the bottle, for it projected 

 considerably over it ; great force having been used, to make 

 it enter. 



The log with its bottles, was then cast into the sea, (there 

 being a calm,) and one hundred and ten fathoms of line let 

 out. After being down a few minutes, the line was drawn in, 

 and the bottles examined. The bottle secured in the com- 

 mon way was full of water, the cork having been driven in, 

 being in the lower part of the neck of the bottle. The other 

 bottle exhibited no visible change, all things remaining as 

 they were before being put into the ocean, with the excep- 

 tion of about a dozen drops of water, which must have passed, 

 from the circumstances related, between the piece of glass, 

 and the mouth of the bottle, penetrating the tallow and 

 the cork. 



That water should find its way through cork, when sub- 

 jected to a pressure of six hundred and sixty perpendicular 

 feet of water, does not appear extraordinary, when we reflect 

 that many kinds of wood are permeable to mercury, when 

 acted upon by a pressure, not so great as that of our atmos- 

 phere, as in the common experiment of the air pump ; mer- 

 cury being placed on a piece of wood, (its fibres being ver- 

 tical,) covering the top of the receiver. 



