hefore and after completion of the Voltaic Circuit, 301 



and that this condition being fulfilled, the most energetic che- 

 mical battery will exhibit signs of tension before the comple- 

 tion of the circuit with a smaller series than that which is 

 merely excited with rain water (44. 45.). 



Conclusion, 



The deductions which I make from the experiments de- 

 scribed in this paper are as follows : — 



1st. That the elements constituting the voltaic battery as- 

 sume polar tension before the circuit is complete (10. 11. 15.) 

 even in a single cell (45.) ; and that the existence of this polar 

 state is demonstrated by the action on the electroscope being 

 different at each terminal of the battery. 



2nd. That this tension, when exalted by a series of pairs, 

 is such, that a succession of sparks will pass between the ter- 

 minals of the battery before their actual contact (16. 32.). 



3rd. That these static effects precede, and are independent 

 of, the completion of the voltaic circuit (10. 11. 17.), as well 

 as of any ■perceptible development of chemical or dynamic 

 action (18. 19.). 



4th. That when the circuit is completed, whether by actual 

 contact of the terminals, or merely by approximating them, so 

 as to allow a succession of sparks, the dynamic effects on the 

 galvanometer are the same (30.) ; each producing a steady de- 

 flection of the needle ; consequently that the current, even when 

 the circuit is closed, may be regarded as a series of discharges 

 of electricity of tension, succeeding each other with infinite ra- 

 pidity. 



5th. That the rise of tension in a battery (the chemical af- 

 finities of its elements being feeble, as in the water battery) 

 occupies a measurable portion of time (27.)' 



6th. That to produce static effects in the voltaic battery, it 

 is indispensable that the elements should be such as can com- 

 bine by their chemical affinities (34. 35.), that the higher those 

 chemical affinities are exalted, the less is the number of ele- 

 ments required to exhibit the effects of tension (38. 39. 41. 42. 

 44 and 45.), and consequently, that the static effects elicited 

 from a voltaic series are direct evidence of the first step to- 

 wards chemical combination or dynamic action. 



The chemical effects, when obtained in the generality of the 

 experiments described in this communication, are of course 

 feeble ; but they are precisely the same in character as those 

 exhibited by the more powerful voltaic combinations ; and it 

 may fairly be concluded that the rationale of each is the same, 

 and that they only differ in the degree of action. 



