its Solvent Action on Glass. 

 Table 1. — Compressibility of Watek. 



113 



L, 0, t 



p. 



£xl03. 



tfxlO 6 . 



L, 6, t 



p. 



y xl ° 3 - 



/3xl0 6 . 





Aim. 









Aim. 







28° 



20 



o-o 





185° 



20 



o-o 





18'44 cm 



100 



35 



44 



19 57 cm 



100 



93 



116 





200 



9-4 



52 





200 



20-6 



114 





300 



13-4 



48 





300 



32-7 



117 





400 



18-5 



49 





400 



42-8 



113 



185° 



20 



o-o 





185° 



20 



o-o 





2045 cm 



100 



6-7 



84 



18-92 cm 



100 



11-7 



146 





200 



14-4 



80 



ll h -05 m 



200 



259 



144 





300 



21-1 



75 





300 



39-7 



142 





400 



29-3 



77 





400 



55-5 



146 



185° 



20 



o-o 







185° 



20 



o-o 





20-10 cm 



100 



8-8 



100 



18'42 cm 



100 













200 



I'M 



95 



10 h '10 m 



200 



301 



167 





300 



27-4 



98 





300 



44-6 



159 





400 



34-7 



91 





400 



602 



158 



185° 



20 



o-o. 







185° 



20 



o-o 







1994 cm 



100 



8-1 



101 



17-78 cm 



100 



15-0 



188 





200 



18-3 



102 



llh-20 m 



200 



31-7 



176 





300 



27'9 



100 





300 



56-2 



201 





400 



38-3 



101 





400 



71-8 



189 



increment of /?, of about 50/10 6 per centimeter of decrement 

 of length of column. Toward the end of the experiment, the 

 values of /2 increase much faster ; but here they are uncertain 

 because of solidification. The total observed decrement of L 

 is therefore (201 — 17'8)/201, or more than 11 per cent. 

 Since the column at the moment when ebullition started must 

 have been longer, it follows that the volume of the system of 

 pure water and solid glass, shrinks more than 11 per cent, in 

 virtue of the solution of glass in water, up to the point of 

 solidification at 185°. By plotting length L as a function of 

 time, the data though incomplete show that volume contrac- 

 tion of the kind given took place at the rate of 3 per cent per 

 minute. The column therefore at 185° is soon shorter than 

 the original column at 28°. This is an enormously rapid rate ; 

 for were it possible for such action to be indefinitely prolonged, 

 the column would be quite swallowed up in five hours. Hence 

 it appears improbable that the action of water on glass will be 

 unaccompanied by heat phenomena. Of course the rate of 

 solution must increase, as the diameter of the capillary tube 

 decreases. 



7. From the importance of these results I resolved to repeat 

 them with greater precautions. Table 3 contains the data 

 given on the plan of table 1. The first series holds for 24° ; 

 the remaining nine series for 185°. Time is given in minutes 

 from the period when ebullition of aniline had fairly set in ; 



