V. On the formation of vortex rings by drops falling into liquids, and some allied phenomena

Abstract

When a drop of ink falls into water from not too great a height, it descends through the water as a ring, in which there is evidently considerable rotation about the circular axis passing through the centres of its cross sections; as the ring travels down through the water inequalities make their appearance : more ink seems to collect in some parts of it than in others, and as these parts of the ring descend more rapidly than the rest, it assumes some such appearance as that shown in fig. 1.