1when ſufficiently compreſſ'd, may per
chance get entrance into narrower holes
and crannies then Water; yet unleſs the
Air be forc'd in at ſuch very little holes,
it will not get in at them, though they
may be big enough to let Water paſs
through them.
chance get entrance into narrower holes
and crannies then Water; yet unleſs the
Air be forc'd in at ſuch very little holes,
it will not get in at them, though they
may be big enough to let Water paſs
through them.
The Experiment then was this: I took
a fair Glaſs Siphon, the lower end of
whoſe longeſt Leg was drawn by degrees
to ſuch a ſlenderneſs, that the Orifice, at
which the Water was to fall out, would
hardly admit a very ſmall Pin: This Si
phon being inverted, the matter was ſo
order'd, that a little Bubble of Air was
intercepted in the ſlendereſt part of the
Siphon, betwixt the little hole newly men
tion'd, and the incumbent Water, upon
which, it came to paſs, that the Air be
ing not to be forc'd through ſo narrow a
paſſage, by ſo light a Cylinder of Water,
though amounting to the length of divers
Inches, as lean'd upon it, hinder'd the
further Efflux of the Water, as long as I
pleaſ'd to let it ſtay in that narrow place:
whereas, when by blowing a little at the
wider end of the Siphon, that little par
cel of Air was forc'd out with ſome Wa
ter, the remaining Water, that before
a fair Glaſs Siphon, the lower end of
whoſe longeſt Leg was drawn by degrees
to ſuch a ſlenderneſs, that the Orifice, at
which the Water was to fall out, would
hardly admit a very ſmall Pin: This Si
phon being inverted, the matter was ſo
order'd, that a little Bubble of Air was
intercepted in the ſlendereſt part of the
Siphon, betwixt the little hole newly men
tion'd, and the incumbent Water, upon
which, it came to paſs, that the Air be
ing not to be forc'd through ſo narrow a
paſſage, by ſo light a Cylinder of Water,
though amounting to the length of divers
Inches, as lean'd upon it, hinder'd the
further Efflux of the Water, as long as I
pleaſ'd to let it ſtay in that narrow place:
whereas, when by blowing a little at the
wider end of the Siphon, that little par
cel of Air was forc'd out with ſome Wa
ter, the remaining Water, that before