Capillary

(kup-il-lā're.) [From L. capillus, a hair.] Generally, an epithet applied to things on account of their hair-like finene .-(Anat.) The capillaries, or capillary ve els, are the smallest and extreme parts of the ramifications of the veins and arteries. They vary 1 1 in size from Tư이이 to 여영이어 of an inch in diameter, being smallest in the brain brain and largest in the bones. In them occurs the carbonization of the blood, and the production of animal heat, and they also secrete the bile, sweat, and urine.-Capillary Attraction, or Capillarity. (Phy.) The name given to phenomena which are very various, but maybe all referred to the mutual attraction of the liquid molecules for each other, and to the attraction between these molecules and solid bodies. For instance, when a body is placed in a liquid which wets it, for example a gla rod in water, the liquid, as if not subject to the laws of gravitation, is raised upwards against the sides of the solid, and its surface, instead of being horizontal, becomes slightly concave. Fig.130. If, on the contrary, the solid is one which is not moistened by the liquid, as gla by mercury, the liquid is depre ed against the sides of a solid, and a umes a convex shape. These phenomena are much more apparent when a tube of small diameter is placed ina liquid. And according as the tubes are or are not moistened by the liquid, an ascent or a depre ion of the liquid is produced, which is greater in proportion as the diameter is le (Fig. 130). [s. 141] IMG:p0170_0.jpg:Gravür