62 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



whilst the other end is left open. Within this is placed a small cy- 

 linder of zinc, having a copper wire soldered to the lower end. "The 

 wire, being covered with a thread and passed through the tube, is 

 firmly cemented with electric cement, metallic contact being carefully 

 avoided. Another end having a strong brass tube witii an internal 

 screw is now soldered in the top of the copper cylinder. The inte- 

 rior surface of the cylinder of zinc is covered with electric cement to 

 prevent the acid acting upon it. The whole is now nearly filled with 

 water, and a little sulphuric acid is introduced into the zinc cylinder 

 by means of a very slender glass funnel. The whole is now com- 

 pletely filled with water ; and a solid screw dipped in electric cement, 

 and screwed into the top of the brass tube, whilst it is heated, renders 

 the whole completely air-tight. The acid is now to be mixed with the 

 water by frequently inverting and shaking the cylinder. If the cop- 

 per and zinc cylinders be connected with the galvanometer, the bat- 

 tery will continue to act for a day or two with the same energy as if 

 the whole had been left exposed to the air. As there is no room for 

 the disengagement of hydrogen, the oxygen of the water cannot 

 combine with the z.inc to convert it into an oxide ; nevertheless che- 

 mical action goes on, and the zinc is dissolved in the acid. From 

 this experiment it is obvious that the oxidation of the zinc and the 

 combination of nascent hydrogen with the electric fluid, as Dr. Bos- 

 tock supposes, has nothing to do with the production or transfer of 

 the electricity which appears at the surface of the zinc The metal 

 is still, however, dissolved or reduced from a solid to a fluid state ; 

 and as its capacity for caloric has undergone a change, may not its 

 capacity for the electric fluid have also undergone a certain change ? 

 Hence it is possible that the true theory of galvanism may be more 

 intimately connected with that of latent heat than has yet been 

 supposed. Since the zinc is dissolved without the assistance of oxy- 

 gen from the water, it appears that the atoms of the Gcid have com- 

 bined with the pure brilliant atoms of the metal, without the neces- 

 sity of the metal being first converted to an oxide." 



It will probably be considered by philosophers, however, that be- 

 fore conclusions of such importance as those which Mr. Ritchie has 

 arrived at, can be drawn from any experiment, that experiment 

 must be performed in an unexceptionable manner; with every atten- 

 tion to the condition and quantities of the substances made use of, 

 to the phaenomena manifested during its progress, and to the results 

 in the production of which the action terminates. Whether such at- 

 tention was bestowed upon the experiment in question, does not 

 appear from the preceding account, as given in the Philosophical 

 Transactions ; but we are bound to believe that the author would not 

 have impugned the theories on galvanism of Dr. Wollaston and Dr. 

 Bostock, nor any of " the generally received notions of chemists," 

 except upon what he deemed satisfactory grounds. 



Mr. Ritchie's first inference is, that " as there is no room for the 

 disengagement of hydrogen, the oxygen of the water cannot combine 

 with ihe zinc to convert it into an oxide," while " nevertheless che- 

 mical action goes on, and the zinc is dissolved in the acid." 



Now, 



