Volume 1

William Whewell, D.D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge : an account of his writings with selections from his literary and scientific correspondence / by I. Todhunter.

  • Isaac Todhunter
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: William Whewell, D.D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge : an account of his writings with selections from his literary and scientific correspondence / by I. Todhunter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    masses were ejected, it would be carried away by tlie eruption, and if a rope were attached to it, might be made the means of catching the ejected mass; and if materials and powers sufficiently strong could be devised, of drawing it back. As to the materials the difficulty was overcome. Our invaluable aid the asbestos, capable as it is of resisting fire, was found to be applicable also to this purpose. Another sort than the spongy kind which was the vehicle of our breathing air, and which I have called vital asbestos—a fibrous asbestos—was found capable of being spun and then woven into sheets of vast extent and stiength. It was a memorable day when one of these sheets was laid across the orifice of the volcano a little before the time when, as we knew, the ejection of a large solid mass might be confidently expected. A rope of many miles in length was laid on the ground, attached to this sheet, and coiled so as readily to uncoil when the pro- jectile flew upwards, after the manner of the ropes which are thrown over a wreck by a gun, in the apparatus often used on your coasts. I was present at this memorable experiment; and well do I remember the event. When the time came the well known thunder of the volcano was heard rumbling deep m the heart of the mountain. The explosion took place, the sheet rushed into the air [but by supposition there was no air on this side of the moon] so rapidly that it was soon scarcely visible, and the rope was uncoiled with a mad impetuosity. The end of the rope had been loaded with heavy weights; and it was thought possible that these might be sufficient to retard and finally to draw back the projected mass. Our philosophers and chemists wished greatly to have such an opportunity of examining it. But the experiment, so far as this purpose went, was utterly defeated. As soon as the rope was uncoiled so far by the upward flight of the projectile that there came to be a strain upon the weights with which it was loaded, it snapt in an instant, the weights which it had scarcely raised falling back to the ground, and the projectile enveloped in its sheet soaring instantly out of sight. This experiment was several times repeated but always with the same want of success for the principal purpose. But though we could not pull the volcanic projectile back