26 LETTEES OF BEEZELIUS 



tion, of passing from an electro-positive to an electro- 

 negative state, and remaining in this state under 

 suitable conditions, thus changing from an oxidizable 

 to a noble metal. If we admit this, the question 

 arises, What are the means by which this new 

 electrical state is produced ? Your experiments 

 indicate two distinct methods by which it can be 

 effected : in the first place by communicating to the 

 iron the electrical condition of some other body, for 

 example platinum, gold, concentrated nitric acid, 

 possibly also ferric oxide, and in the next place by 

 means of contact electricity, whereby a body with a 

 strong positive charge, such as the positive pole of 

 a battery or a solution of an alkaline hydrate, pro- 

 duces in the iron a charge of the opposite character. 

 But of course you cannot admit the latter assumption, 

 since you accept de la Kive's view that electricity of 

 an opposite character cannot be produced by contact. 1 

 In this, however, I do not agree with you; I am 

 firmly convinced that when we understand the cause 

 of this remarkable property of iron we shall find in 

 it one more proof that Volta's conception was more 

 profound and nearer the truth than that of his 

 opponents, who, by admitting that electricity and 

 chemical affinity are different manifestations of the 

 same force, acknowledge, though without being con- 

 scious of so doing, that Volta was right. 



In the older papers 2 on the subject, ammonia also 



1 Cf. Berzelius, Jahresbericht. Translated by "Wohler. Vol. 

 xvii. (1838) pp. 32 and 116. 



2 Keir, Phil. Trans. (1790) p. 359 ; Wetzlar, Schweigger 



