Scientific demonstration of how water boatmen walk on water.
"Walking on the Water - How it's done without getting wet feet."
We are shown a shady brook which is "the skating rink of the water striders." C/U of insects with long legs perched on the surface of some water - water boatmen? "How do they do it? The principle can be shown by stretching a rubber sheet over a frame - " C/U of a man stretching a piece of rubber. He then presents to the camera a small frame which has a piece of rubber stretched across it and secured by nails." "Six pegs in a wooden block will serve as the feet of the water-striders." A little wooden block is moved around on top of the rubber. "From the under side - the feet of the water strider are exactly similar to the impress of the pegs - they dent the surface but do not penetrate - " Shot from underneath the rubber with the pegs making an impression in the rubber.
"The pegs don't pierce the sheet because they are supported by "surface tension". So long as a drop of water is not pierced, it will support its own weight and an added load in defiance of gravity." Extreme C/U of man putting a drop of water inside the eye of a piece of metal. Extreme C/U of the water as it falls through the eye and hangs suspended. "The strider is designed to take the greatest advantage of the tensile property of water. Extreme C/U of the strider. C/U of a special tank which shows the insects skimming the top of the water. "The microscope shows how the strider makes a dent without piercing the surface, as if the water were a rubber sheet!" C/U of one of the legs of the insect pressing down on the rubber. "An underwater view shows that he makes a hole but leaves no footprint!" View from under the surface of the water.
Was an item in Pathe Pictorial issue number 657.