II. Notes on the apparent universality of a principle analogous to regelation, on the physical nature of glass, and on the probable existence of water in a state corresponding to that of glass

Abstract

1. Recent experimental investigations, and the reasoning founded upon them, have elevated the designation of an observed property of ice to the character of a principle in physics. The growth of crystals of camphor and of iodide of cyanogen, by the deposition of solid matter upon them from an atmosphere unable to deposit like solid matter upon the surrounding glass, except at a lower temperature; and that of crystals in solution, by the deposition of solid matter upon them which is not deposited elsewhere in the solution, have been adduced by Mr. Faraday to illustrate the extension of the principle of action which is manifested in regelation; and “many such like cases,” he remarks, “may be produced.” In his reasoning on the nature of that principle, he also rests on the fact, that ice has the same property as camphor, sulphur, phosphorus, metals, &c., which cause the deposition of solid particles upon them from the surrounding fluid, that would not have been so deposited without the presence of the previous solid portions. In reflecting on these indications of the universality of the cause, whatever it may intrinsically be, which is operative in the phenomena alluded to, it occurred to me that the known fact of the incorporation of two or more plates of glass into one block, presented a curious parallel to the incorporation of two or more slabs or separate portions of ice into one mass; and to determine in what manner these subjects were related to each other appeared to deserve careful investigation. Towards this the following suggestions are offered.