IX. The latent heat of evaporation of water

It is possible that I have in succeeding pages, when describing apparatus and methods of observation, entered unnecessarily into matters of detail. In defence, I would urge that the accuracy of determinations of physical constants depends on the amount of attention devoted to apparently trivial matters, and that in the absence of full information, it is impossible to rightly estimate the value of the results. Corrections are often rendered necessary by subsequent re-determinations of the constants involved, and the application of such corrections is only possible when the writer has given his data in full. Much valuable experimental work has with lapse of time become useless, owing to the author’s natural reluctance to overcrowd his communication with details which may at the time very possibly appear both unnecessary and trivial. Although the experiments described in this paper were not commenced until the Summer of last year (1894), the preparation of the apparatus and the standardisation of the instruments has engaged my attention for a considerable time. Nearly the whole of the Spring and Summer of 1893 were expended in fruitless efforts to render the calorimeter and its connections absolutely air-tight, and I found it impossible to secure perfection in this respect until in the Autumn of that year I succeeded in obtaining an alloy, by means of which I was able to unite glass and metal tubes in a satisfactory manner. The calorimeter and connections had then to be practically reconstructed and some improvements added, which experience had shown to be desirable.