Vegetable Staticks. pj 



laced by imbibing the water) they lifted 

 up. The dilatation of the Peafe is always 

 equal to the quantity of water they imbibe : 

 For if a few Peafe be put into a Veffel, and 

 that Veffel be filled full of water, tho' the 

 Peafe dilate to near double their natural 

 fize $ yet the water will not flow over the 

 Veffel, or at moft very inconfiderably, on 

 account of the expanfion of little air bub- 

 bles, which are iffuing from the Peafe. Be- 

 ing defirous to try, whether they would 

 raife a much greater weight, by means of a 

 lever with weights at the end of it , I corn- 

 preffed feveral frefh parcels of Peafe in the 

 fame Pot, with a force equal to i<5oo, 800, 

 and 400 pounds 5 in which Experiments, tho 9 

 the Peafe dilated, yet they did not raife the 

 lever, becaufe what they increafed in bulk 

 was, by the great incumbent weight, preffed 

 into the interftices of the Peafe, which they 

 adequately filled up, being thereby formed 

 into pretty regular Dodecahedrons. 



We fee in this Experiment the vaft force 

 with which fwelling Peafe expand, and 'tis 

 doubtlefs a confiderable part of the fame 

 force which is exerted, not only in pufh- 

 ing the Plume upwards into the air, but 



alfo 



