New Outlines of Chemical "Philosophy . 245 



Now as these electrometers were put in motion by two dif- 

 ferent elements, which afterwards descended to the earth at each 

 end of the column, and as I have four pendulums which have 

 thus been kept in motion for more than a month ; the question 

 which remains to l)e solved is. Does the column generate the?e 

 two elements as fast as they i^sue from its ends and descend to 

 the earth, through the electrometers ? or, are they derived from 

 some other source ? i i r 



From the third experiment it appears that the pendulums ot 

 an electrometer, placed in contact with one end of a column, do 

 not vibrate until a communication be made between the other 

 end and the earth ; and hence we may infer, that the element 

 which keeps one of tlie electrometers in motion, ascends through 

 the other at tlie other end of the column, and thus a double 

 current of the elements is passing through each of the electro- 

 meters. . 



This inference is not, however, a mere conjecture ; tor when 

 the pendulum (Zz is placed without the sphere of attraction of 

 the pendulum rq, let the end p of the pendulum dp he moved 

 bv means of a glass rod, till rq attracts, charges, and repelsit. 

 When p strikes the wire at z, it discharges the element which 

 it received from q, and receives the contrary element from the 

 wire. The pendulums being now in a contrary state, attract 

 each other, and the vibrations are continued ; but let the pen- 

 dulum d z be touched with a piece of wire, to deprive it of the 

 element which it received from the wire at x, and the pendu- 

 lums will instantly cease to vibrate. 



Exp. 5. An electrometer, containing two pendulums which 

 are each about three inches in length, made as represented in 

 fig. 2, was placed in contact with the zinc (negative) extremity 

 of a series of columns; and as soon as another electrometer with 

 pendulums, each about one inch in length, was placed at the 

 other extremity, the four pendulums began to vibrate. The 

 long pendulums vibrated 140 times in a minute, and struck the 

 wire at z witli so much force as to produce a fine musical tone, 

 which was loud enough to be heard at the distance of 26 feet. 

 And these pendulums vibrated an equal number of times in a 

 minute, and produced the same strength of tone, when they 

 were removed to the copper extremity of the series : tlie short 

 ))cndulums being removed to the other extremity vibrated as be- 

 fore, about 'M)0 times in a minute. 



Lym,, Sept. 13, 1810. EzEKIEL WaLKER. 



[To be continued.] 



Q 3 LI. Letter 



