268 



ELECTRICITY. 



was opened on the 1st of February. By order 

 of the Khedive, the Minister of Finance pre- 

 sented to the assembly the results of the last 

 budget, which comprises the period between 

 the llth of April, 1869, and the 1st of April, 

 1870. The receipts are stated by the report to 

 have amounted to 190,460,142 francs, and the 

 expenditures to 152,665,068 francs, so that a 

 balance of 37,795,074 francs would remain in 

 the Treasury. 



In July, the Khedive paid a visit to the 

 Sultan, by whom he was received with great 

 honors. He returned on August 2<1, and ex- 

 pressed himself highly gratified with his recep- 

 tion by the Sultan. 



ELECTRICITY. Electricity and Molecular 

 Motion.' In studying the molecular motion of 

 microscopic particles, Prof. Stanley Jevons 

 soon became convinced that it was due to elec- 

 trical action, by the close analogy with the 

 circumstances in which electricity is produced 

 by the hydro-electric machine, pure water 

 alone developing much electricity ; while al- 

 most any salt, acid, or alkali, prevented the 

 action by rendering the water a conductor. 

 The most active substances in this respect are 

 the silicates, pure quartz crystal in fine pow- 

 der maintaining a rapid oscillation ; but char- 

 coal, red phosphorus, antimony, and sulphur, 

 are also very active; metallic oxides and 

 earthy salts less so. But it cannot be said that 

 any substance is entirely free from molecular 

 motion. The motion appears to be closely 

 connected with the suspension of fine powders 

 in water. All oxides, alkalies, and salts, which 

 check it, were found to facilitate the subsi- 

 dence of suspended material. Gum-arabic, 

 on the contrary, prevents subsidence, and 

 greatly excites molecular motion. Ammonia 

 and boracic acid have no effect either to stop 

 motion or to facilitate subsidence. Acetic acid 

 has the latter effect. Prof. Jevons is of opin- 

 ion that the motion of suspended particles is 

 related to the phenomena of osmose as a case 

 of action and reaction ; for, if a liquid is capa- 

 ble of impeding a particle in a given direction, 

 the particle, if fixed, would be capable of im- 

 pelling the liquid in an opposite direction with 

 an equal force. The fact that osmose is chiefly 

 an affair of very dilute solutions accords with 

 the electric origin of the molecular motion. 

 The author thinks it not unlikely that, when 

 these phenomena are fully investigated, they 

 will give strong support to Becquerel's theory 

 that the movements of liquids in animals and 

 plants are really due to electric action. In 

 reference to Prof. Jevons's views, Mr. Dancer 

 remarks that particles approaching to a spheri- 

 cal form show the greatest activity, with some 

 few exceptions, as in the case of sublimed mer- 

 cury and sulphur. He did not regard electric 

 action as a satisfactory explanation of the phe- 

 nomena, but thought the results of many ex- 

 periments pointed to heat as a probable cause. 



New Electro-Dynamic Law. Mr. H. High- 

 ton announces in the Mechanics'' Magazine, for 



November, the discovery of a new electro- 

 dynamic law, which in brief may be thus 

 stated : First, in every galvanic circuit the net 

 heat produced by the chemical decompositions 

 is divided into three parts : that due to any 

 local action arising from impurities in the 

 positive metal, or to reformation of water from 

 the nascent hydrogen, etc. ; that which circu- 

 lates through the battery and all other parts of 

 the circuit, and which varies as the electro- 

 motive power of the negative element in relation 

 to the electro-positive ; and, lastly, the residue 

 which remains in the battery. Second, the 

 part which circulates through the whole cir- 

 cuit is distributed in each part of the circuit, 

 including the battery, in simple proportion to 

 the resistance of each part. To these propo- 

 sitions the author adds that the amount of net 

 heat evolved depends principally on the posi- 

 tive element, and the proportion of it trans- 

 mitted through the circuit chiefly depends on 

 the negative element. 



Duration of the Electric Spark. During the 

 early part of the year, MM. Lucas and Cazin 

 conducted experiments to ascertain the dura- 

 tion of the electric spark, at the Imperial Ob- 

 servatory in Paris. The chronoscope which 

 they employed was constructed byM. Dubosoq, 

 and recalled the apparatus devised by M. E. 

 Becquerel for his important investigations on 

 the phosphorescence of bodies. The sparks 

 passed between two metal knobs, 11 millims. 

 in diameter and 2,292 millims. apart. The ex- 

 perimenters announce that, other things being 

 equal, the duration of the electric spark is a 

 fraction of the surface of the Leyden battery ; 

 or, in other words, of the number of jars 

 which compose it. Each additional jar adds 

 to the duration. One jar gave a shock lasting 

 between seven and eight millionths of a 

 second; two jars one of nearly twelve mill- 

 ionths of a second, and so on, until the spark 

 from nine jars were found to last about twenty- 

 eight and a half millionths of a second. In no 

 case did the difference cf the duration, as me- 

 chanically observed, and the duration as theo- 

 retically calculated, reach the millionth of a 

 second. 



Sub-permanent Magnetism. Mr. E. Keraan 

 sends to the Chemical News the following ac- 

 count of experiments by which what Prof. 

 Tyndall calls sub-permanent magnetism may 

 be easily produced thus showing to a class 

 quickly that which is effected by the earth 

 slowly in soft iron lying in the magnetic me- 

 ridian, and subject to molecular disturbance 

 from percussion or other causes : 



The requisites for the experiments are a 

 block of cast-iron (wrought-iron might, per- 

 haps, do), slightly magnetized, a bit of soft 

 iron wire, a hammer, and a magnetic needle 

 for testing the wire. 



Expt. 1. Lay the iron wire on the block, 

 and hammer it lightly from end to end, for a 

 few seconds. Presented to the needle, the 

 wire will be found magnetized, showing dis- 



