THE SPECIFIC HEAT OF BODIES. 563 
If the current and time are constant, we have 
I have made several series of experiments, 
using the same conducting wire as a source of 
heat, a constant interval of time, and a variable 
current of electricity. The method adopted in 
these experiments was, to try the effect of a wire 
traversed by a current of electricity,—first, when 
it was immersed in water, and afterwards when it 
was immersed in another liquid. Hence I ob- 
tained two determinations of y in equation 2, 
one of them for water, the other for the liquid. 
The relation between these two quantities gave, 
of course, the capacity of the liquid compared 
with that of the water. 
The results at which I thus arrived, showed by 
their agreement with one another, that the method 
just described was susceptible of great accuracy. 
But it will at once be seen, that it requires very 
exact determinations of the intensity of the vol- 
taic currents, and thus renders the use of a correct 
and delicate galvanometer indispensable. Such 
instruments are in the possession of very few, 
and, moreover, require many troublesome pre- 
