ON THE MODE OF ACTION OF THE GALVANIC PILE. 71 



papers at present, had directed that they be deposited in the 

 Archives of the Society. And at the same time I was in- 

 formed, thai this had been decided from the minutes only 

 of the Secretary Dr. Wollaston, -which certainly could not 

 give a sufficient knowledge of papers consisting of descriptions 

 of experiments and of immediate results. Therefore, at the 

 next meeting of the Royal Society, I sent to the President a 

 petition to the Committee, dated the 5th of Nov. 1 809, in 

 which, founded on the above circumstance, 1 claimed arevisal 

 of their decision, by judging of the papers themselves. But 

 soon after this petition was sent* I was assured, that, what- 

 ever might be my reasons for the claim of a revisal, I should 

 not obtain it, the Committee never changing their first reso- 

 lution ; and this proved to be the case, as I was informed on 

 the 25th of December. I wrote the 28th, begging that the 

 drawings annexed to these papers should be lent me, in or- 

 der to have them engraven, as I meant to publish my papers 

 myself; but to this day I remain without an answer. 



In the mean time I had made no secret of my discoveries. Electric co- 

 I had communicated the electric column and its construction lumn. 

 to many experienced philosophers, and in particular, being 

 in London in July 1 808, I showed it to Mr. Davy. From 

 this, and the reading the minutes both in the Royal Society 

 and in the Committee, the construction and phenomena of 

 the electric co/uwm are much known, and it has been execut- 

 ed by many experienced philosophers. Thus, a publication 

 of this instrument by me wilt at present be deprived of the 

 merit of novelty ; but onjy with respect to its immediate 

 and surprising phenomena : for the chief importance of the 

 electric column is its connection with the galvanic pile, 

 hitherto consigned only to my detained papers and to the 

 memory of thpse of my friends, to whom I have explain- 

 ed it. 



In proposing to you, Sir, to be the channel through The subject 

 which natural philosophers at large may be informed f promised in a 

 , , , «* 11. more minute 



these discoveries, 1 do not intend to otter you the publica- state. 



tjon of these papers, as they were sent to the Royal Society ; 

 for they had been composed during the progress of my ex- 

 periments, which produced a form at present not so conve- 

 nient. The progress of discoveries is always interesting in 



the 



