ACTION OF INTERRQPTED AND CONTINUOUS CURRENTS. 187 



pleted the circuit. These properties of the instrument justify 

 me in calling it the divider, collector, and distributor of the 

 battery. Finally, it is placed in my room, near other batteries 

 of very small surface, and near induction instruments, in such a 

 manner that they may all be applied successively and compara- 

 tively, vs^ithout loss of time. The following is the description : — 



Fig. 47. — Divider, collector, and distributor of the battery, 

 seen in profile.'' 



Figs. 48 and 49, handles of the divide 



1. A circular platform of wood, A A, ten centimetres in diameter, supports 

 all the parts which form the mechanism of the apparatus. At the circumfer- 

 ence of this platform, pieces of copper are screwed into notches cut to receive 

 them. These pieces of copper are perforated in their longitudinal axes, and 

 are furnished with the binding screws 1, 1', 2, 2', 3, 3', 4, 4', 5, 5', 6, 6', 7, 7', 

 8, 8', by which to fix the conducting wires that communicate with the negative 

 poles N N, and with the positive poles P P, of the several sections, a, h, &c., of 

 the battery r. In this state each section of the battery is isolated. 



2. The following is the mechanism by which the isolated sections (each one 

 of which is an independent battery of ten elements) can be coupled together, 

 so as to form a single battery of high tension, or of more or less great electro- 

 motor power. The support A A is groved on its posterior surface, to receive 



'^ Coustructed, after my designs, Ijy A. Matthieu. 



