Capillarity of Molten Bodies. 



97 



From the foregoing Table the remarkable result follows, that 

 the values of the constant a 1 arrange themselves for the metals, and 

 partly also for the other substances, in groups in which they are 

 nearly equal, and which are separated from each other by the fact 

 that it is a different whole multiple of 4*3 in each. 



Table II. 



I. 



a 2 = 4-3. 



II. 



a 2 = 8-6. 



III. 

 02=12-9. 



Selenium 3-42 



Bromine 3-90 



Sulphur 4-28 



Phosphorus ... 4-58 



Mercury 8*65 



Lead 8-34 



Silver 855 



Gold 11-71 



Chloride of lithium ... 12-10 

 Chloride of sodium ... 11 40 

 Boracic acid 1222 ! 



Bismuth 802 



Antimony ... 7 63 

 Wax....." 706 



IV. 



VI. 



XII. 



XX. 



« 2 =172. 



a- =25 -8. 



a 2 =5 1-6. 



a 2 = 86. 



Platinum 1786 



Palladium. 2526 



Sodium. 52-97 Potassium 85-74 



Cadmium 1684 



Zinc 25-41 







Tin 16-75 



Borax 1728 









Carbonate of soda... 17*11 







Microcosmic salt ... 1679 









Glass 15-51 









Carbonate of potash 1482 









Chloride of calcium. 14-24 









Water 1758 











In the foregoing tabular comparison all the substances of the 

 first Table appear except chloride of potassium, nitrate of potash, 

 and chloride of silver, which perhaps ought to be reckoned in 

 group II., — since these salts, like the other chlorides, have un- 

 dergone decomposition in melting ; and the amount of carbonate 

 may have produced an alteration in the value of a 2 , as the sur- 

 face-layer, which determines the magnitude of the drop, must 

 be the first which is altered. More accurate determinations on 

 the point require more experimental facilities and more compli- 

 cated apparatus than I at present possess. 



Since the volume of the drops which fall from a tube of 2 mil- 

 lims. circumference is a 2 , the following law would result from 

 the Tables: — "The volumes of drops of different substances in a 

 state of fusion, at a temperature near that of fusion, falling from 

 tubes of the same diameter, stand to one another in the propor- 

 tions of 1, 2, 3, &c. ;; 



This law is, as might be expected, only approximate, like 

 many physical laws. It we reflect, however, what are the difti- 



Phil. Mag. S. 4. Vol. 38. No. 253. Aug. 186 ( J. 11 



