£8<> IRON CYLINDER BURST BY ELECTRICITY. 



trie battery and the bottom of the cylinder, and between 

 Explosions. |] ie th er an( j the leaden rod. The explosions were very 

 strong; the water being frequently ejected with violence, 

 and the leaden rod thrown to a distance. After several ex- 

 plosions the cylinder was more or less torn. 

 Application to Reading in your Journal for January, 1 809, the reflections, 



natural ^heno- witl) wmch conclude the article of earthquakes, and 



jnena. J , 



the influence that water penetrating through the clefts ot 



the mountains must have on them, I considered the electric 

 action of our apparatuses as an imitation of what passes in 

 the mountains where these phenomena take place. The 

 electric fluid acts in its usual manner on the inflammable sub- 

 stances contained in them, and produces on them consider- 

 able effects. My preceding experiments had shown, that 

 this fluid could burst metallic cylinders of considerable 

 strength; and I was willing to try, whether it could not pro- 

 Experiment jduce still greater effects. Accordingly I made a cylinder of 

 ■with an iron i ron fir* \ twenty-seven lines high*, and eighteen in diame- 

 cylinder, n-ar .,,,., ,. . ?• 



three quarters ter; with a hole in the centre, w, 1£ line in diameter, and 18 



of an inch deep. It was subjected to the same experiments as the for- 

 mer cylinders, and was burst by seventy explosions. 

 Battery •{ The battery I employed had 100 feet of metallic coating. 



100 f«et At every discharge the opening was well cleaned with an 



iron wire and water, let fall into it drop by drop, to remove 

 all the oxide of lead and iron, which was separated at each 

 discharge in half fused and oxided grains. Then, having 

 emptied out the water by shaking the cylinder, and filling 

 it with fresh water, the wires ready prepared being placed in 

 the opening, the little apparatus was placed in a box, and, 

 Henley's electrometer indicating an intensity of 60° or 65°, 

 burst it in 70 the discharge was made. Seventy discharges produced the rent 

 disckarges, a ^ g^ ^ j t required about a quarter of an hour to charge 

 , ' the battery; so that two intelligent workmen could obtain 



about twenty discharges a day, even in my absence. 



I beg you to get the cylinder sawn in a direction opposite 

 to the rent o, till you come to the hole n, in order to observe 



the effects of this rupture withinf. 



In 



* French measure. The dimensions are the same in the plate. C. 

 Appearance of *t 1 requested Mr. Dumoutiez, wh,o is well experienced in the con- 

 struction 



