oflhe Voltaic Battery. 54-1 



projected by the poles from which they issue are not at all 

 altered by the opposite poles. If this took place, would the 

 particles passing from a sphere to a plate be repelled and re- 

 jected from all sides? 



" M. De la Rive, in his memoir, professes the same opinion 

 as his predecessors, with respect to the direction of the trans- 

 port of the matter. He supposes that this transfer only takes 

 place from the positive pole to the negative pole. I have reason 

 to think that, on repeating the experiments with the precautions 

 indicated, it will be found that this opinion requires a further 

 examination. 



" All my experiments in vacuo exhibit the transfer taking 

 place from the two sides, from the positive pole to the nega- 

 tive pole, and at the same time from the negative to the posi- 

 tive. The quantity of matter transported depended on the 

 substance and on the form of the electrode. 



" With a very delicate balance I weighed the two electrodes 

 before the experiment, and I again ascertained their weight 

 with the same accuracy after it was finished. The loss of 

 weight at the negative pole often exceeded that which took 

 place at the positive pole. 



" There moreover appeared to me to be an inaccuracy in 

 saying that the matter is transported from one of the poles to 

 the other. My experiments seem to indicate, as I have just 

 said, that the particles of the electrodes are projected from 

 both sides into space: this does not prevent some of these 

 particles reaching the opposite pole and attaching themselves 

 to its surface, which is in a state of fusion. 



* f The greater part however projected into space falls, and 

 may be collected at the bottom of the vessel in which the ex- 

 periment is made. This repulsion is above all visible when a 

 sphere and a plate are employed : the surface of the plate sends 

 the matter towards the opposite pole by reflecting it ; it does 

 not retain it, as it should do, if attraction had existed. 



"The following is the detail of some of my experiments: — 



" 1. Two iron spheres terminate the electrodes; the experi- 

 ment is made in vacuo and without previous contact; the sphere 

 at the positive pole is weighed before and after the experiment. 

 It has lost by the effect of the current 309 milligrammes, 

 that of the negative pole 55 milligrammes. They are both 

 hollowed into a bowl. 



" 2. Two copper spheres terminate the electrodes ; a thick 

 lamina of iron, isolated, is interposed between the two. The 

 experiment is conducted, like the preceding one, in vacuo. The 

 communication is established, as in that one, by an electric 

 discharge. 



" The sphere at the positive pole has gained 63 milligrammes ; 



