"The muslin simply prevents the tube from filling with sand," he explained. Then he poured sand into the cylinder until it reached the surface of the water. (See [Figure 23.])
"Your apparatus is simple enough," I remarked, I am afraid with some sarcasm.
"Nature works with exceeding simplicity," he replied; "there is no complex apparatus in her laboratory, and I copy after nature."
Then he dissolved the salt in a portion of water that he drew from the hydrant into my wash bowl, making a strong brine, and stirred sand into the brine to make a thick mush. This mixture of sand and brine he then poured into the cylinder, filling it nearly to the top. (See Figure 23, B. The sand settling soon left a layer of brine above it, as shown by A.) I had previously noticed that the upper end of the glass tube was curved, and my surprise can be imagined when I saw that at once water began to flow through the tube, dropping quite rapidly into the cylinder. The lower end of the curve of the glass tube was fully half an inch above the surface of the liquid in the cylinder.
I here present a figure of the apparatus. (Figure 23.)
The strange man, or man image, I do not know which, sat before me, and in silence we watched the steady flow of water, water rising above its surface and flowing into the reservoir from which it was being continually derived.
"Do you give up?" he asked.
"Let me think," I said.
"As you please," he replied.
"How long will this continue?" I inquired.