284 M. De la Rive's Researches 



Faraday has remarked that they are also possessed by amal- 

 gamated zinc : it appears from the observations of Professor 

 Daniel that the amalgamated zinc is considerably attacked the 

 moment it is immersed in acidulated water, but that the hy- 

 drogen which results from this action prevents the continu- 

 ation of it, by remaining strongly attached to the mercury of 

 the amalgam ; but that if a communication be established be- 

 tween the amalgamated zinc and a plate of platina or copper 

 immersed in the same liquid, the current which results from 

 the action upon the zinc removes the hydrogen to the platina 

 instead of leaving it upon the mercury, and the surface of the 

 zinc being no longer defended can be oxidated in the same 

 manner as if it were not amalgamated. 



The principle of the immediate recomposition of the two 

 electricities which has just been explained so far as it is con- 

 nected with the production of electricity by chemical action, 

 applies to every other mode of developing that agent, such as 

 heat, friction, or pressure. In every case the total quantity, 

 not of electricity produced, but the quantity perceived, or what 

 maybe called the tension of the source, essentially depends upon 

 the greater or less degree of facility with which the two elec- 

 tricities can be immediately recomposed at the same points at 

 which they are separated ; this facility varying according to 

 the nature of the substances employed. 



Thus, according to what precedes, the quantity of electri- 

 city produced in a chemical action will depend solely upon 

 the number of the atomic combinations which take place 

 during the continuance of that action, as has been so well 

 shown by Mr. Faraday ; but the intensity of the current will 

 depend upon the proportion of the two electricities produced 

 which passes, in order to its neutralization, through the con- 

 ductor where this intensity is measured ; so also the energy of 

 the tension will depend upon the degree of difficulty expe- 

 rienced by the two electricities, separated by chemical action, 

 in reuniting immediately. However, it is not probable that 

 this is the only circumstance having an influence upon the in- 

 tensity of the current and the tension. Some experiments 

 incline me to think that the very nature of chemical action 

 exerts an influence in this respect : we will suppose, for ex- 

 ample, that all the electricity produced by the oxidation of a 

 certain number of atoms of zinc, and all that resulting from the 

 oxidation of the same number of atoms of copper, pass, in the 

 same time, through the same conductor ; the first would pro- 

 duce much more intense dynamic effects than the second. It 

 would appear, indeed, according to some researches which I 

 published in the Annates de Chimie et de Physique, in January 



