Unpublished letter, 'Explanation of the so-called "mysterious circles"' from Robert H Atherton to the President of the Royal Society

Description

Atherton refers to explanations which have been given of a card trick, of which he proposes to give a new one, and points out various courses which the propelled air may be supposed to to take with reference to the cards. He then offers what he considers to be the true explanation of the phenomenon. He considers that no sooner has the air struck upon the loose card, than it is reflected, spreading partly, if not entirely, over its surface, and then ascends, carrying with it the interposing atmosphere, and excluding the surrounding air. This, he submits, is analogous to ordinary suction, and by this means the loose card is at once drawn up and fixed. He considers that the reflected air, thus rising and driven out by the descending current, will have additional power when the fixed card is considerably larger than the other.

Subject: Pneumatics

Received 28 November 1850 / 2 February 1851. Read 6 March 1851. Communicated by the Earl of Rosse.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 6 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'On the explanation of the so-called "mysterious circles"'.

Reference number

AP/33/1

Earliest possible date

24 April 1850

Physical description

Ink on paper

Page extent

12 pages

Format

Manuscript