| 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 |
| 1 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 |
|
rapidly. I made, also, three important observations. The first was,
that, as a general rule, the larger the bodies were, the more rapid
their descent--the second, that, between two masses of equal extent, the
one spherical, and the other of any other shape, the superiority
in speed of descent was with the sphere--the third, that, between two
masses of equal size, the one cylindrical, and the other of any other
shape, the cylinder was absorbed the more slowly. Since my escape, I
have had several conversations on this subject with an old school-master
of the district; and it was from him that I learned the use of the words
'
cylinder' and 'sphere.' He explained to me--although I have forgotten
the explanation--how what I observed was, in fact, the natural
consequence of the forms of the floating fragments--and showed me how it
happened that a cylinder, swimming in a vortex, offered more resistance
to its suction, and was drawn in with greater difficulty than an equally
bulky body, of any form whatever. (*1)
"
There was one startling circumstance which went a great way in
enforcing these observations, and rendering me anxious to turn them to
account, and this was that, at every revolution, we passed something
like a barrel, or else the yard or the mast of a vessel, while many of
these things, which had been on our level when I first opened my eyes
upon the wonders of the whirlpool, were now high up above us, and seemed
to have moved but little from their original station.
8
3
Page
Quick Jump
|