Parts, are sustain'd in Liquors that are of less specifick Gravity than those Bodies are, hath been pointed at by a late ingenious Member of this Society[7]. He is indeed far from having adjusted all the Momenta of this Affair; however it must be admitted, that, in the dividing or solution of Bodies, their Surfaces do not decrease in the same Proportion that their Bulk does. Now the Gravity of a Body, which is the Cause of its sinking or tendency downwards, is commensurate to its Bulk; but the resistance that the Liquor makes, is proportion'd, not to the Bulk, but to the Extent of the Surface of the Body immersed in it. Whence 'tis plain, a Body may be so far divided, that its Parts may be sustain'd in a Fluid, whose specifick Gravity is less than that of the said Body. Nay, 'tis Matter of Fact, that they frequently are so; and we daily see Menstrua supporting the Parts of Metals, and other Bodies, that are of six, ten, nay, almost twenty times the specifick Gravity of those Menstrua. And as the Parts of Bodies when divided, are thus supported in a Fluid; so when they occur and unite again, they must sink of course, and fall to the Bottom.
Upon the whole, 'tis palpable and beyond reasonable Contest, that Water contains in it a very considerable Quantity of terrestrial Matter. Now the Question is, to which of these, the Water, or the Earthly Matter sustain'd in it, Vegetables owe their Growth and Augment: For deciding of which, I conceive the following Experiments may afford some Light; and I can safely say, they were made with due Care and Exactness.
Anno 1691.
I chose several Glass Vials , that were all, as near as possible, of the same shape and bigness. After I had put what Water I thought fit into every one of them, and taken an Account of the weight of it, I strain'd and ty'd over the Orifice of each Vial, a Piece of