i84 CLASSICS OF MODERN SCIENCE 

 and chemical changes produced in substances of known composition by 

 electricity, and I ventured to conclude from the general principles on 

 which the phenomena were capable of being explained, that the new 

 methods of investigation promised to lead to a more intimate knowl- 

 edge than had hitherto been obtained, concerning the true elements 

 of bodies. 



This conjecture, then sanctioned only by strong analogies, I am 

 now happy to be able to support by some conclusive facts. In the 

 course of a laborious experimental application of the powers of electro- 

 chemical analysis, to bodies which have appeared simple when ex- 

 amined by common chemical agents, or which at least have never 

 been decomposed, it has been my good fortune to obtain new and 

 singular results. 



Such of the series of experiments as are in a tolerably mature state, 

 and capable of being arranged in a connected order, I shall detail in 

 the following sections, particularly those which demonstrate the de- 

 composition and composition of the fixed alkalies, and the production 

 of the new and extraordinary bodies which constitute their bases. 



In speaking of novel methods of investigation, I shall not fear to 

 be minute. When the common means of chemical research have been 

 employed, I shall mention only results. A historical detail of the 

 progress of the investigation, of all the difficulties that occurred, and 

 of the manner in which they were overcome, and of all the manipula- 

 tions employed, would far exceed the limits assigned to this Lecture. 

 It is proper to state, however, that when general facts are mentioned, 

 they are such only as have been deduced from processes carefully 

 performed and often repeated. 



ON THE METHODS USED FOR THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE 



FIXED ALKALIES 



The researches I had made on the decomposition of acids, and of 

 alkaline and earthy neutral compounds, proved that the powers of 

 electrical decomposition were proportional to the strength of the op- 

 posite electricities in the circuit, and to the conducting power and de- 

 gree of concentration of the materials employed. 



In the first attempts, that I made on the decomposition of the fixed 

 alkalies, I acted upon aqueous solutions of potash and soda, satu- 



