THEORIES OF ELECTROLYSIS. 



297 



ing actions between acids and bases ; (II.) by allowing the 

 acids to act on calcium oxalate, and determining the amount 

 dissolved ; (III.) by comparing the quickening influence of 

 the acids on the decomposition of methyl acetate into 

 alcohol and acid. Finally, in column IV, the relative 

 electrical conductivities of normal solutions of the acids 

 have been tabulated. 



The striking general agreement of these numbers is 

 enough to show that an intimate relation exists between 

 chemical activity and electrical conductivity. 



It is found that the osmotic pressures of solutions of 

 electrolytes are abnormally great when compared with those 

 of solutions of non-conductors. By thermodynamic reason- 

 ing it can be shown that there must be a connection between 

 the osmotic pressure and the depression of the freezing point, 

 and the exact relation can be deduced. As more investiga- 

 tions have been made on the freezing points of solutions than 

 on their osmotic pressures, it will be convenient to use the 

 freezing points as the bases of comparison. In the case ot 

 solutions of non-electrolytes, it is found that the depression 

 of the freezing point is the same for solutions of chemically 

 equivalent strength, so that the effect must be proportional 

 to the number of molecules, and independent of their nature. 

 In solutions of electrolytes the depression of the freezing 

 point is abnormally great, and it is found that the facts 

 agree with the supposition that each electrolytically active 

 molecule produces an osmotic pressure proportional to the 



