Soap Bubbles
and the Forces which Mould Them

THE FORCES WHICH MOULD THEM. XOJJ from the side of a fountain of water under the influence of a musical sound, after which they describe regular little curves of their own, quite distinct from the main stream. They, of course, can only get out sideways after one or two bouncings from the regular drops in front and behind. You can easily show that they are really formed below the place where they first appear, by taking a piece of electrified sealing-wax and holding it near the stream close to the nozzle and gradually raising it. When it comes opposite to the place where the little drops are really formed, it will act on them more powerfully than on the large drops, and immediately pull them out from a place where the moment before none seemed to exist. They will then circulate in perfect little orbits round the sealing-wax, just as the planets do round the sun; but in this case, being met by the resistance of the air, the orbits are spirals, and the little drops after many revolutions ultimately fall upon the wax, just as the planets would fall into the sun after many revolutions, if their motion through space were interfered with by friction of any kind. There is only one thing needed to make the