Experimental investigation of the flow rates of normal paraffins in porous Vycor glass shows that there are deviations from the viscosity dependence required by Poiseuille's law. A discussion of the application of capillary models to describe flow in porous media in terms of the measured porosity and surface‐to‐volume ratio points out that such models are not generally applicable, though they give useful results for some purposes. An estimate of the permeability predicted by Poiseuille's law is made by an empirical method which uses gas flow measurements in the Knudsen flow region. The equations of slip flow as derived for gases do not explain the experimental deviations from Poiseuille flow. The concept of a slipping adsorbed layer of molecular thickness at the wall of a capillary is combined with the usual Poiseuille treatment for the interior to give a result which is compatible with experiment.