Page:On the various forces of nature and their relations to each other.djvu/64

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THE VARIOUS FORCES OF NATURE.

experiment. I have here some more glass which has not been annealed [showing some thick glass vessels[1] (fig. 14)], and if I take one of Fig. 13.Fig. 14.these glass vessels and drop a piece of pounded glass into in (or I will take some of these small pieces or rock crystal—they have the advantage of being harder than glass), and so make the least scratch upon the inside, the whole bottle will break to pieces,—it cannot hold together. [The Lecturer here dropped a small fragment of rock crystal into one of the glass vessels, when the bottom immediately came out and fell upon the plate.] There! it goes through, just as it would though a sieve.

Now, I have shewn you these things for the purpose of bringing your minds to see that bodies are not merely held together by this

  1. Thick Glass Vessels.—They are called Proofs or Bologna phials.