286 Mr.Gassiot on the relation of Electrical S^ Chemical Actions 



respecting the absence of any notable degree of it in the bat- 

 teries I described*; for instance, I proved that, with 320 series 

 of Prof. Daniell's constant battery, polar tension was not 

 evinced adequate to the striking distance of j~yth of an inch; 

 nor was I more successful in obtaining it with a water battery 

 of 1024 series t, constructed by the same gentleman. I also 

 stated that, according to the present theoretical views of the 

 action of the voltaic battery, with the apparatus I then used, 

 it ought to have taken place; and that, if by a still more pow- 

 erful apparatus it could not be obtained, the theory must, in 

 some way or other, be incorrect. 



2. The preceding negative facts are not without their value 

 in a scientific point of view ; they show us, at least, a certain 

 limit within which the anticipated effects could not be obtained. 

 At the same time I could not fail to admit that they were any- 

 thing but conclusive, as to the actual question of the possibility 

 of obtaining the spark before the circuit was completed. That 

 I am justified in calling the spark, under such circumstances, 

 an anticipated effect, may be fairly assumed, because every 

 electrician is aware that the terminals of a voltaic series in- 

 variably evince a certain amount of tension:}:; and as spark is 

 but a consequence of tension exalted to a maximum, it is only 

 fair to anticipate that, by increasing the tension, it would be 

 obtained. 



3. A short time after the publication of the paper to which 

 I have alluded, a communication reached me from my friend 

 Mr. Crosse, of Broomfield, Somersetshire, wherein he stated 

 that, with 1626 cells of copper and zinc, excited with river 

 water, he had succeeded in obtaining a spark between slips of 

 tinfoil pasted on sealing-wax. This communication I imme- 

 diately forwarded for publication in the Philosophical Maga- 

 zine for September 1840. 



4. I was at that time engaged in the construction of an ex- 

 tensive series of the water battery ; but, from the diflficulties 

 of insulation, which continually presented themselves, consi- 

 derable time elapsed before the battery was in a condition to 

 afford results, on which any dependence could be placed. 

 Having, at length, to a certain extent, surmounted these diffi- 

 culties, 1 have been enabled especially to study the character 

 and action of the water battery, and through it, I may hope, 

 of the voltaic battery generally. The results of my experi- 

 ments, with a description of the apparatus used, may, I think, 

 not be uninteresting to the electrician, particularly as they 



* Philosophical Transactions, 1840, p. 184, § 10. 

 t Ibid. § 15. X Ibid. § 14. 



