68 Mr. Binks on the Laws of Action of Voltaic Electricity, 



On the subject of the distinction between the Babel of the 

 book of Genesis and the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, I have, 

 in conclusion, to adduce the authority of Diodorus Siculus, 

 who informs us that, at the time of the conquest of Babylonia 

 by the Assyrians under Ninus, Babylon itself was not in exist- 

 ence, although the country contained several other cities of 

 importance*. This statement is entirely corroborative of the 

 conclusion drawn from the various other authorities already 

 cited by me, namely, that the Babylon which was known to 

 the prophets, and which existed in the times of the writers of 

 profane history, was a totally distinct city from, and one of a far 

 more recent date than the Babel which was erected in the 

 plain of Shinar previously to the dispersion of mankind. 

 I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant, 



Leipzig, March 23rd, 1837. Charles T. Beke. 



XIV. On some of the Phcenomena and Laws of Action of Vol- 

 taic Electricity i and on the Construction of Voltaic Batteries. 

 By Christopher Binks. Addressed to J. Frederic Daniell, 

 Esq., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in King's College, 

 London. f 

 Dear Sir, 



IN your letter addressed to Dr. FaradayJ, describing your 

 constant voltaic battery, you speak of seeking to reduce 

 thezincto a minimum comparatively with the surface of copper 

 employed in the same mass of electrolyte ; but it does not seem 

 to have been your intention to determine precisely what was 

 the proper relative proportion of the two metals. Subse- 

 quently to this remark in your letter, Mr. Mullins § has ex- 

 pressed his belief that the surface of zinc ordinarily brought 

 into action in such combinations is much greater than is 

 needed : but neither has he stated the precise results of ex- 

 periment upon this point. 



In the same communication, and in allusion to his new bat- 

 tery, Mr. Mullins speaks of his having discovered the exist- 

 ence of a new principle of action in voltaic combinations. He 

 remarks, " In this battery the power is immense in proportion 



u Admodum tamen probabile videri, continentem quondam magis versus 

 austrum procurrisse, partemqueejus non exiguam procedente tempore aquis 

 esse submersam, non dissimulaverim." Comment. Socict. Beg. Scient. Got- 

 t'mg. toni. xiii. CI. Hist. p. 138. See also an abstract of the treatise 

 printed in his Historische Werke, vol iii. p. 337, Gottingen, 1821. 



• Kcct SKituovi Oi row; ^qvovc, i} fttv uvu ovaot. BoiQv'Aeov ovk tKTiop.ii/ri, 

 Kxra. Of t/)v Botfiv'hcii'Jtxv vtm^op u.^'koti "xcihfts ot^tciKuyoi. Lib. 11, c. i. 



f Communicated by Professor Drniell. 



X Philosophical Transactions, 1836. § Phil. Mag. for Oct. ,1836. p.285. 



