s_

If we observe the waves continually approaching the shore, we must be
convinced that this apparent motion is not one in which the water has any
share: for were it so, the waters of the sea would soon be heaped upon the
shores, and would inundate the adjacent country; but so far from the
waters partaking of the apparent motion of the waves in approaching the
shore, this motion of the waves continues, even when the waters are
retiring. If we observe a flat strand when the tide is ebbing, we shall
still find the waves moving towards the shore.

_Ornamental Fountain Clocks._

It is the same cause (that which produces the deceptive appearance of a
progressive motion in the waves of the sea) which makes a revolving
cork-screw, held in a fixed position, seem to be advancing in that
direction in which it would actually advance if the worm were passing
through a cork. That point which is nearest to the eye, and which
corresponds to the crest of the wave in the former example, continually
occupies a different point of the worm, and continually advances towards
its extremity.--This property has lately been prettily applied in
ornamental clocks. A piece of glass, twisted so that its surface acquires
a ridge in the form of a screw, is inserted in the mouth of some figure
designed to represent a fountain. One end of the glass is attached to the
axle of a wheel, which the clock-work keeps in a state of constant
rotation, and the other end is concealed in a vessel, designed to
represent a reservoir or basin. The continual rotation of the twisted
glass produces the appearance of a progressive motion, as already
explained, and a stream of water continually appears to flow from the
fountain into the basin.

_Facility of Swimming._

The lighter the body is in relation to its magnitude, the more easily will
it float, and a greater proportion of the head will remain above the
surface. As the weight of the human body does not always bear the same
proportion to its bulk, the skill of the swimmer is not always to be
estimated by his success; some of the constituent parts of the human body
are heavier, while others are lighter, bulk for bulk, than water. Those
persons in whom the quantity of the latter bear a greater proportion to
the former, will swim with a proportionate facility.

_Common Mistake in Cooling Wine._

When ice is used to cool wine, it will be ineffectual if it be applied, as
is frequently the case, only to the bottom