1 4S Mr. C. Binks on Electricity^ 



termined by the indications of the needle ; thus placing the 

 results of these two methods of estimating such effects com- 

 pletely at variance. 



100. On referring to the above table it will be seen that 

 no such law, nor any making the most remote approach to it, 

 can be deduced from the results obtained by the present me- 

 thod of testing such pheenomena. 



101. The difference between the degrees of voltaic action 

 obtained at the first position, and at the last, in the first co- 

 lumn of this table, amounts only to the difference between 

 5 and 1, nearly; the voltaic action yielded at the first or 

 nearest position being about five times greater than that 

 yielded at the most remote. The distance from one another 

 of the two plates at the first position is \ of an inch, and at 

 the last is 44? inches, and these distances comparatively 

 are as 1 and 44 x 4 or 176 ; the distance of the two plates 

 from one another being 176 times greater at the last than at 

 the first position. 



102. Now had the law of distance found by the method 

 here employed been the same as that determined by the mag- 

 netic galvanometer, we should have had the amount of action 

 at the first position greater than that at the last, by the square 

 root of the difference in their distances, or by the square 

 root of 176; but in actual experiment it is only 5 times 

 greater instead of about 1 3 times, in round numbers. 



103. This discrepancy in the results obtained by these two 

 methods, in neither of which there is reason to doubt the 

 correctness of the observations, leads to the suspicion that 

 either the one or the other of them is an incorrect measure 

 of comparative quantities of voltaic electricity, or that both 

 are unfit to be applied to that purpose ; or at least are im- 

 perfect in their indications; a conjecture which has given 

 rise to the inquiry contained in the second part of this paper 

 as already mentioned (13.). A comparison between these 

 two methods will then be instituted, when it will be shown 

 that there is reason to conclude that the needle does not take 

 cognizance of the 'whole effects resulting from voltaic action, 

 but only of a part of its attendant phaenomena ; and when 

 also an attempt will be made, experimentally, to distinguish 

 between the two kinds of action induced by such voltaic ar- 

 rangements, of which each method is suspected to be respect- 

 ively the measurer. But not further to anticipate that inquiry 

 at this moment, I proceed to examine some other results 

 afforded by tliis table. 



104. The difference between the amount of action obtained 

 at the first and last positions has been seen to be as 5 to 1 



