ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY. 27 



not a mixture of the two gases, as some have sup- 

 posed. It may be said, that the positive electricity 

 which is induced upon the surface of the plate oppo- 

 site to the negative wire of the battery, gives off to 

 the water oxygen, which is aborbed by it, and 

 therefore is not apparent ; but I would infer that 

 after two years' action, or nearly so, of the battery, 

 the gas would have been visible somewhere; but 

 not the slightest trace can I find of oxygen in the 

 compartment of the vessel in which positive electri- 

 city is induced upon the plate, nor of hydrogen in the 

 other compartment, in which upon the plate negative 

 electricity is induced. It would appear that the 

 electricity is so low in intensity, and so small in 

 quantity at any one point upon the surface of the 

 plate, that the gases are not eliminated. 



32. In the compartment of the glass vessel in which 

 oxygen comes off from the positive wire of the battery, 

 there appears a growth or a green deposit in the lower 

 part of the vessel, and also in the lower part of the 

 other compartment the water has assumed somewhat 

 of a red colour. How this is to be explained, I do 

 not know. As the experiment, however, still goes 

 on and may continue for years, I have no doubt but 

 that these appearances will be accounted for. 



