*J 1 2 ELECTRIC POWER. 



as weil as in the pile of Volta. This subject must naturally 

 create a lively interest among the learned of Europe, who are 

 » occupied on the discovery of the celebrated Volta j and I trust 



that my zeal for the progress of science, will receive confirma- 

 tion from my attention to this object. The extent of my re- 

 searches will not allow of their being read within the time 

 usually allotted for that purpose. I shall, therefore, place my 

 memoir on the table, and confine myself to indicate its prin- 

 cipal results. 

 Order of ex- My enquiries are divided into four sections ; 1 . I examine 



perimonts. the electricity of idio-electric bodies by friction, in mercury or 

 Electricity by , , r , .,-.•, • , 



friction by upon wool j 2. and of the same bodies by simple contact with 



contact— -and mercury ; 3. and of metals by friction ; and 4, that electricity 



contact. which is produced by the contact of heterogeneous metals, or 



the pile of volta. 



Three appli- Every one knows that idio-electric bodies plunged in mercury, 



curv^i^ick become electric ; but it has been hitherto unknown that there 



immersion ; g. are circumstances under which they come out of the mercury 



slow immer- w j tn out any electric virtue. I shall show those circumstances : 

 sion ; b. emer- ' ' 



sion. ' but it will be useful in the first place to distinguish three kinds 



of immersion in mercury. 1. A brisk immersion in the manner 



of a blow; 2. slow immersion; 3. emersion, which consists 



in plunging a body in mercury, leaving it there for a longer or 



shorter time, and afterwards withdrawing it from the fluid. 



In the two first actions, the entrance and the taking out of the 



body from the mercury, are successive, and without any interval 



of repose. 1 must also observe, that in order to remove all 



suspicion of humidity, I have always kept those bodies upon 



which I operated, in a bottle of caustic lime, out of which I 



took them for each experiment. With these precautions I 



obtained the following results : 



Glass,sulphur, I. In the most favourable times for electricity, glass, sulphur, 



sealing wax araDer * anc ^ sealing wax, at the temperature of 109. care not 



immmersed in electric in mercury at 10° c. by any of the three immersions ; 



rither dectri- neitner are tne y electric in any of the lower temperatures from 



fjedomot, 10°. c. to — 18°. c. provided they be constantly at the same 



according to temperature as the mercury. Amber begins to be electric by 



tares of the the blow, and even by immersion, at 10°. c. ; sulphur and 



bodies and sealing wax at 15°. c. ; and glass at 20. c. but none of them 

 the mercury. , , , . . *-„ 



become so by slow immersion at any degree of temperature. 



Care 



