Bifurcation of Watercourses: Flux and Reflux
Banking at a b-b c, and why the tide lags along a long body of water
In red chalk Leonardo studies a bifurcation of watercourses, using the letter-labels a, b and c. He notes that water leaving through a b banks up (ringorgazione) in b c, producing a flux and reflux. He then argues that this flux and reflux does not occur across a whole body of water at one instant: a body could be so long that the motion begun at one end would take months to reach the other. The page carries further red-chalk diagrams and letter-labels, with additional untranscribed text in Leonardo's mirror script.
On this page
Banking and reflux at the branch a b-b c
The water that exits through a b banks up in b c, and from this swelling there follow a flux and a reflux of the water at the branch. Leonardo preserves the letter-labels a, b, c to key the description to the diagram.
Flux and reflux are not simultaneous over a long body of water
Leonardo reasons that the flux and reflux of waters do not act throughout one same body of water at one same time. A body could be so long that the motion begun at its start would take months to arrive at its far end.