of an Iron Pipe; and being exceeding hot, and thereby of a kind of sluggish
fluid Confidence, are suffered to drop from thence into a Bucket of cold
Water, and in it to lye till they be grown sensibly cold.

Some of these I broke in the open air, by snapping off a little of the
small stem with my fingers, others by crushing it with a small pair of
Plyers; which I had no sooner done, then the whole bulk of the drop flew
violently, with a very brisk noise, into multitudes of small pieces, some
of which were as small as dust, though in some there were remaining pieces
pretty large, without any flaw at all, and others very much flaw'd, which
by rubbing between ones fingers was easily reduced to dust; these dispersed
every way so violently, that some of them pierced my skin. I could not find
either with my naked Eye, or a _Microscope_, that any of the broken pieces
were of a regular figure, nor any one like another, but for the most part
those that flaw'd off in large pieces were prettily branched.

The ends of others of these drops I nipt off whilst all the bodies and ends
of them lay buried under the water, which, like the former, flew all to
pieces with as brisk a noise, and as strong a motion.

Others of these I tried to break, by grinding away the blunt end, and
though I took a seemingly good one, and had ground away neer two thirds of
the Ball, yet would it not fly to pieces, but now and then some small rings
of it would snap and fly off, not without a brisk noise and quick motion,
leaving the Surface of the drop whence it flew very prettily branched or
creased, which was easily discoverable by the _Microscope_. This drop,
after I had thus ground it, without at all impairing the remnant that was
not ground away, I caused to fly immediately all into sand upon the nipping
off the very tip of its slender end.