Letters.

Suds sagas

Your recent article on the exact nature of bubbles in beer and other beverages ("The physics of fizz," SN: 5/6/00, p. 300) keyed an old memory. In Cleveland, during Christmas, one brewery used to bring out its holiday oddity for sale. They billed it as "the pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom ... and the top!" There really was foam on the bottom and top. Sorry, can't remember the brewery, nor can I vouch for the brewing process or the shape of the glasses. I was underage at the time.

Allan Weiser Los Angeles, Calif.

About 50 years ago, it was my job to ferret out new uses and customers for a then-new wetting agent-detergent product. I sold a Coca-Cola bottler some to use in bottle washing. He was fighting mad on my return, because all the bottles so washed would gush out the Coke. My company lab decided it cleaned too well--probably removing a microscopically thin layer of soap inside the bottles that covered the tiny irregularities in the glass, which seeded the reaction. I don't believe anyone ever pursued the cause-effect beyond that.

Harold C. Smith Van Wert, Ohio 

The story says, "the upward rush of bubbles pulls the liquid with it.... "This is incorrect. First of all, the bubbles are rising because they are being pushed upward by the greater pressure on their bottoms than on their tops. The reason the central column of liquid rises is because the column is less dense as a whole than the surrounding cylinder of liquid, since it has more bubbles in it. Therefore, it is displaced upward by the surrounding, more dense liquid (not pulled up by the rising bubbles). It rises for the same reason the bubbles rise.

George Van Vechten Waterbury Center, Vt.

The pluperfect storm

Your article "Hunting prehistoric hurricanes" (SN: 5/20/00, p. 333) reports that only two category 5 storms have hit our coastlines. We here in southern New England know that the "Hurricane of 1938" should be counted, too. The indirect evidence of the storm's power is compelling. The only wind instrument, over 50 miles from landfall, recorded a gust of 189 miles per hour before being destroyed. The storm surge recorded by camera and recollection was in excess of 20 feet. Moreover, the eye traveled straight up Narragansett Bay, and after leveling Rhode Island's South County, the storm surge flooded Providence, 30 miles away.

Charlene R. Stringham Attleboro, Mass.

The citizens of Alabama will not be happy when they realize that the caption on page 334 locates Lake Shelby in Florida instead of squarely in Alabama. In fact, Lake Shelby is completely contained within Alabama's Gulf State Park. The text of the article appears to be correct.

Samuel L. Vance Huntsville, Ala.