On some Chemical Agencies of Electricity. i ig 



mei\t nf facts; and, with some extensions, it seeuas cap?ible 

 of being generally applied. 



Bodies possessing opposite electrical energies with regard 

 to one and the same bodv, we might I'airly conclude, woidd 

 likewise possess them with regard to each other, 'iliis I 

 have found, by experiment, is the case with linic and o.xaiic 

 acid. A dry piece of lime, made from a very pure compact 

 secondary limestone, and of such a form as to present a large 

 smooth surface, became positively electrical by repeated con- 

 tacts with crystals of oxalic acid ; and these crystals phced 

 upon the top of a condensing electrometer, and repeatedly 

 touched by the lime, which after each contact was freed from 

 its charge, rendered the gold leaves negatively electrical. The 

 tendency of the mere contacts of the acid and alkali with 

 the metal would be to produce opposite effects to those ex- 

 hibited, so that their mutual agency must have been very 

 energetic. 



It will not certainly be a remote analogy to consider the 

 other acid and alkaline substances generally, and oxvgen and 

 hydrogen as possessing similar electrical relations; and in 

 the decornpositions and changes presented by the effects oi" 

 electricity, the different bodies naturally possessed of che- 

 mical affinities appear incapable of combining, or of remain- 

 ing in combination, when placed in a state of electricity 

 different from their natural order. Thus, as we. have seen, 

 the acids in the positive part of the circuit separate them- 

 selves from alkalies, oxygen from hydrogen, and so on ; and 

 metals on the negative side do not unite to f)xv!!en, and 

 acids do not remain in union with their oxides; and in this 

 way the attractive and repellent agencies seem to be com- 

 municated from the metallic surfaces throughout the whole 

 of the menstruum. 



[To be continued.] 



XVI. On 



