  We report the results of an experimental study of a colloid fluid confined to
a quasi-one dimensional (q1D) ribbon channel as a function of channel width and
colloid density. Our findings confirm the principal predictions of previous
theoretical studies of such systems. These are (1) that the density
distribution of the liquid transverse to the ribbon channel exhibits
stratification; (2) that even at the highest density the order along the
strata, as measured by the longitudinal pair correlation function, is
characteristic of a liquid; and (3) the q1D pair correlation functions in
different strata exhibits anisotropic behavior, resembling that found in a
Monte Carlo simulation for the in-plane pair correlation function of a hard
sphere fluid in a planar slit.
