Fuhnlmtliig Silver. — Decompofit'ion of If'ater by EleBrkity, 2rt6 



In the Ikin of the pahn and fingers. The liquor ftained his whole drefs, and every part of 

 the Ikin that it touched. 



Thus it appeared that fuhninating filver may be made which will explode even when 

 cold and wet, by the mere difturbance of the arrangement of its parts, in the aqueous fluid. 



In fubfequent experirnents, privately and carefully condutled, it feemed that the pro- 

 perty of exploding in the cold liquor, by mere commotion, depended on the unufual quan- 

 tity or proximity of the explofive molecules in a given bulk of the liquor. And the flat 

 bottoms, as well as the fides, of the thick veflels of glafs or potters-ware, whether they 

 flood on boards or on iron plates, were always beaten to fmall fraginents. 



This aflorded a curious infl;ance of the poffible Equilibrium between the powers tending 

 to retain the caloric, and thofe which effed the expulfion of it ; and experiments and con- 

 iiderations of this kind feemed to promife a true folution of the phenomena of Rupert's 

 drops. 



SMALL charges, each confiding of a grain of oxygenated muriate of pot-afh, finely 

 powdered, and mixed with an equal quantity of flowers of fulphur, were exploded by mere 

 trituration. And Mr. Godfrey's relation of the danger of keeping fuch a mixture In a 

 tiottle was duly noticed ; for, after he had kept it thus for fome time, he found that it had 

 exploded fpontaneoufly. 



in. 



Exferlmcnts and Ohfervafwm made ivUb the View of afcerlaimng the Nature of the Gaz pro. 

 duced h-jpaffing EleBric Difcharges through Water! with a Defcriptian of the Apparatus for 

 thefe Experiment t. By GeoRGL PeaRSON, M. D. F. R. S. 

 [Commued from page 248.] 



SECTION n. 



CXPERIMENTS. 



X ROM my Journal nf the numerous experiments made during the courfe of nearly two 

 years, I (hail fele£t thofe which will ferve to explain the nature of the procefs, and fliew the 

 power of the plate elcdlrical machines ; and I (hall particularly relate thofe experiments 

 wliich afforded the mod ufcful refults concerning the nature of the gaz obtained. 



I . IVith interrupted Difcharges. 



Experiment ti. About 1600 of thcfc difcharges by means of a 34 inch finMe plate 

 electrical machine, in nearly three hours, produced, from New River water taken from the 

 ciflcrn, and which had not been freed from air by the air pump or boiling, a column of gaz, 

 two-thirds of an incli in iengtl), and i-gth of an inch wide. On palling through tiiis gaz, 

 between the two wires of tlie tube in whicli it was produced, a fingic cle£lrical fpark, its 

 bulk was inftantly dimiiiiflicd to two-thinls. In other experiments the bulk of gaz was only 

 iliniinifhcd to about one half. And the rcfult was the fame with diflillcd water. 



Qj\ 2 n. The 



