From a screw-tap in my little
Alpine kitchen I permitted, an hour ago, a vein of water to descend into
a trough, so arranging the flow that the jet was steady and continuous
from top to bottom. A slight diminution of the orifice caused the
continuous portion of the vein to shorten, the part further down
resolving itself into drops. In my experiment, however, the vein, before
it broke, was intersected by the bottom of the trough. Shouting near the
descending jet produced no sensible effect upon it. The higher notes of
the voice, however powerful, were also ineffectual. But when the voice
was lowered to about 130 vibrations a second, the feeblest utterance of
this note sufficed to shorten, by one half, the continuous portion of
the jet. The responsive drops ran along the vein, pattered against the
trough, and scattered a copious spray round their place of impact. When
the note ceased, the continuity and steadiness of the vein were
immediately restored. The formation of the drops was here periodic; and
when the vibrations of the note accurately synchronized with the periods
of the drops, the waves of sound aided what Plateau has proved to be the
natural tendency of the liquid cylinder to resolve itself into
spherules, and virtually decomposed the vein.
I have stated, without proof, that where absorption occurs, the motion
of the ether-waves is taken up by the constituent atoms of molecules.
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