326 Mr Conne tu on the Action of 
fifty pairs, and in another of 100 pairs of two-inch plates. The 
gas arising from the positive wire was observed to consist partly 
of a very fine stream of gas coming from the upper part of the 
wire, and partly of rather larger bubbles originating at the bot- 
tom of the wire, and increasing a little in size as they ascended, 
by running together. The fine stream never reached the top of 
the tube, being gradually absorbed by the liquid. The larger 
bubbles collected by degrees ; but although the action was con- 
tinued for above an hour, the quantity of permanent gas which was 
obtained was only .01 of a cubic inch, and, on examination, proved 
to be azote. Its origin is very manifest. The minute quantity 
of oxygen evolved at the positive pole, liberated along with it, as 
usual, some of the common air held dissolved in the liquid ; and 
in ascending, and partly also probably after gaining the top, the 
oxygen was absorbed by the liquid, the azote only remaining. I 
tried also to separate the positive gas from solutions of chloride 
of calcium and of boracic acid in alcohol of .838, thinking that 
such solutions would exercise a less powerful absorptive ac- 
tion on oxygen; but the whole agency in such cases was so 
much diminished, that, in the case of chloride of calcium, 
amounting in different experiments to ;'; and 75, a very feeble 
stream only appeared from the positive wire, and in the case of 
boracic acid amounting to ;',, no positive gas was evolved at 
all. 
The evidence, however, from the whole phenomena of the 
various experiments which have been detailed, appears to me to 
be quite sufficient to shew, that the action consists essentially in 
the decomposition of water by the immediate electric agency, 
and I had fully made up my mind that such was the nature of 
the action before the appearance of Mr Farapay’s paper describ- 
ing the voltaic arrangement, to which he has given the name of 
the Volta-electrometer. It then, of course, immediately occurred 
to me, that that arrangement afforded the means of bringing 
additional evidence in support of the view which I have taken. 
