"Upon the contrary," he said; "connect them, as innumerable cavities in the earth are joined, and the water will flow into the brine."
"The assertion is opposed to applied philosophy and common sense," I said.
"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise, you know to be a maxim with mortals," he replied; "but I must pardon you; your dogmatic education narrows your judgment. I now will prove you in error."
He took from his pocket two slender glass tubes, about an eighth of an inch in bore and four inches in length, each closed at one end, and stood them in a perforated cork that he placed upon the table.
Fig. 15.
A A, glass tubes.
F, brine surface.
E, water surface.
Into one tube he poured water, and then dissolving some salt in a cup, poured brine into the other, filling both nearly to the top (Figure 15). Next he produced a short curved glass tube, to each end of which was attached a strip of flexible rubber tubing. Then, from a piece of blotting paper such as is used to blot ink, he cut a narrow strip and passed it through the arrangement, forming the apparatus represented by Figure 16.
Fig. 16.
B, curved glass tube.
C C, rubber tubes.
D D D, bibulous paper.