JOURNAL 



O F 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, 



AND 



THE ARTS. 



NOVEMBER 1800. 



ARTICLE I. 



Notice of fame Obfervations on the Caufes of the Galvanic Phenomena, and on certain Modes 

 of increaftng the Pozoers of the Galvanic Pile of Volta. By Mr. Davy, Superintendant 

 of the Pneumatic Injiitution. Communicated by the Author. 



JL HE nature of this communication is incompatible with a detail of the opinions pre- 

 vailing amongfl: philofophers, refpe£ling the caufes of the galvanic phenomena : they have 

 been generally fuppofed to depend on the different powers of bodies to conduct eledlric 

 fluid ; Fabroni was the firft who fyflematically attempted to prove th^ they were chemical 

 effefts *. 



Immediately after I had perufed an intcrefting obfervation of Lieutenant-Colonel 

 Haldane f on the non-excitement of galvanifm in the vacuum of an air pump, I began an 

 inveftigation with the view of afcertaining precifely the influence of the atmofphere on the 

 phenomena. In carrying on this inveftigation, I have met with fome new fa£ls, which are 

 capable of arrangement, and which will probably lead to a complete explanation of the 

 galvanic ciFefts. 



• Phil. Journal, III. 30*. f P^il, Journal, lY. t^i. 



Vol. IV. — ^November. 1800. Xx The 



