THE ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER. QI 
to effect electrolysis were chosen; and having 
reduced the current observed when using the 
fewest number of cells, on account of the absence 
in that case of the resistance to conduction of one 
cell of the battery ; the resistance to electrolysis 
is found by the equation z=E =f “ 
is the first number of cells which can effect de- 
composition, e is the corrected current observed 
, where E 
with it, and fis the current passed when one cell 
more is added to the battery. 
The appended Table contains the particulars of 
some experiments on Electrolysis in which vari- 
ous electrodes and solutions were used. Each of 
them is a double experiment, or, in other words, is 
the mean of two experiments, in one of which the 
needle was deflected towards the right, and in 
the other towards the left hand of the magentic 
meridian, so as to neutralize any slight inaccu- 
racy in the position of the galvanometer. The 
first three numbers of the table, giving the heat- 
ing power of wire, were obtained, not in immedi- 
ate succession, but at considerable intervals of 
time, during which other experiments were tried. 
By this means I assured myself that the impor- 
tant condition of uniform conductibility of the 
standard coil had not suffered by its repeated use. 
