CHAPTER X. Page [167]
Marbles--Antiquity of the game--Method of manufacturing them--Ring-taw--Mr. Seymour, the Vicar, and Tom, enter the lists--The defeat of the two former combatants; the triumph of the latter--A philosophical explanation of the several movements--The subject of reflected motion illustrated--The Vicar’s apology, of which many grave personages will approve
CHAPTER XI. Page [180]
Mr. Seymour and his family visit the Major at Osterley Park--A controversy between the Vicar and the Major--The Sucker--Cohesive attraction--Pressure of the atmosphere--Meaning of the term suction--Certain animals attach themselves to rocks by a contrivance analogous to the sucker--The Limpet--The Walrus--Locomotive organs of the house-fly--A terrible accident--A scene in the village, in which Dr. Doseall figures as a principal performer--The Vicar’s sensible remonstrance--The density of the atmosphere at different altitudes--Inelasticity of water--Bottle-imps--The Barometer--The pop-gun--The air-gun--An antiquarian discussion, in which the Vicar and Major Snapwell greatly distinguish themselves
CHAPTER XII. Page [202]
The soap-bubble--The squirt--The bellows; an explanation of their several parts--By whom the instrument was invented--The sucking and lifting, or common pump
CHAPTER XIII. Page [215]
The kite--Its construction--The tail--An author’s meditations among the catacombs of Paternoster-row--Works in their winding sheets--How Mr. Seymour strung puns as he strung the kite’s tail--The Vicar’s dismay--The weather, with the hopes and fears which it alternately inspired--Kites constructed in various shapes--The figure usually adopted to be preferred--The flight of the kite--A philosophical disquisition upon the forces by which its ascent is accomplished--The tail--A discourse on the theory of flying--The structure and action of the wings of birds--A series of kites on one string--A kite carriage--The messenger--The causes and velocity of wind explained
CHAPTER XIV. Page [247]
A short discourse--The shuttlecock--The solution of two problems connected with its flight--The windmill--The smoke-jack--A toy constructed on the same principle--The bow and arrow--Archery--The arrival of Isabella Villers