2. On the Figures of Equilibrium of Liquid Films

Extract

This paper is a continuation of that read on 4th February 1867, and already published in the Transactions. Instead, however, of the liquid films being formed within systems of wires, hollow glass vessels are here employed. By using a single or double cone of glass open at both ends, and inserting within it small bubbles blown from a quill or tube with a small aperture, regular binary, ternary, or quaternary systems of films are produced. Thus, by first obtaining a plane film within the conical vessel, and then inserting upon it four small bubbles, a system is produced consisting of four hollow films, of curious curvature, united to one another respectively by vertical plane surfaces, and connected in their centres by a common plane film, which, by adopting certain precautions, may, with a little care, be made to assume either a horizontal or a vertical position.