134 Mr. Rennie’s account of experiments 
Experiments made on the bar oj 4 inches deep by * inch thick , 
giving it different forms , the bearings at 2 feet 8 inches, as before. 
lbs. lbs. 
1^3 Bar formed into a semi-ellipse, weighed 7 4000 
154 Ditto, parabolic on its lower edge - 3860 
Ditto, of 4 inches deep by ~ inches thick - 3979 
Experiments on the transverse strain of bars, one end made fast, 
the weight being suspended at the other, at 2 feet 8 inches from 
the bearing. 
155 An inch square bar bore - - 280 
156 A bar 2 inches deep, by i an inch thick - 539 
157 An inch bar, the ends. made fast - - 1173 
The paradoxical experiment of Emerson was tried, which 
states that by cutting off' a portion of an equilateral triangle 
(see page 114 of Emerson’s Mechanics) the bar is stronger 
than before, that is, a part stronger than the whole. The ends 
were loose at 2 feet 8 inches apart as before. The edge from 
which the part was intercepted, was lowermost, the weight 
was applied on the base above, it broke with 1129 lbs., 
whereas, in the other case it bore only 84olbs. 
Remarks on the transverse strain . 
Banks makes his bar from the cupola, when placed on 
bearings 3 feet asunder, and the ends loose, to bear 8(>4lbs 
Now all my bars were cast from the cupola, the difference 
was therefore - - 33lbs. 
I adopted a space of 2 feet 8 inches asunder, as being more 
convenient for my apparatus. The strength of the different 
bars, all cases being the same, approaches nearly to the 
