a poverty of argument on their side, especially as the
conversation began about flakes of ice, in which it would be
simple to require that the surfaces should be kept dry; not to
mention that such pieces of ice, whether wet or dry, always
float, and so my antagonists say, because of their shape.

"Some may wonder that I affirm this power to be in the air of
keeping plate of brass or silver above water, as if in a certain
sense I would attribute to the air a kind of magnetic virtue for
sustaining heavy bodies with which it is in contact. To satisfy
all these doubts I have contrived the following experiment to
demonstrate how truly the air does support these bodies; for I
have found, when one of these bodies which floats when placed
lightly on the water is thoroughly bathed and sunk to the bottom,
that by carrying down to it a little air without otherwise
touching it in the least, I am able to raise and carry it back to
the top, where it floats as before. To this effect, I take a ball
of wax, and with a little lead make it just heavy enough to sink
very slowly to the bottom, taking care that its surface be quite
smooth and even. This, if put gently into the water, submerges
almost entirely, there remaining visible only a little of the
very top, which, so long as it is joined to the air, keeps the
ball afloat; but if we take away the contact of the air by
wetting this top, the ball sinks to the bottom and remains there.
Now to make it return to the surface by virtue of the air which
before sustained it, thrust into the water a glass with the mouth
downward, which will carry with it the air it contains, and move
this down towards the ball until you see, by the transparency of
the glass, that the air has reached the top of it; then gently
draw the glass upward, and you will see the ball rise, and