"Yes."
"I believe that I have reason to question that statement, if you do not include the salt," I replied.
"Pray state your objections."
I answered: "Whether a tube be long or short, if it penetrate the bottom of a vessel of brine, and extend downward, the brine will flow into and out of it by reason of its weight."
"You mistake," he asserted; "the attraction of the sides of the capillary tube, if the tube is long enough, will eventually separate the water from the salt, and at length a downward flow of water only will result."
I again expressed my incredulity.
"More than this, by perfectly natural laws the water that is freed from the tubes might again force itself upward perfectly fresh, to the surface of the earth—yes, under proper conditions, above the surface of the ocean."
"Do you take me for a fool?" I said. "Is it not self-evident that a fountain can not rise above its source?"
"It often does," he answered.
"You trifle with me," I said, acrimoniously.