32 HISTORY OF GALVANISM. 



The power of the pile in decomposing chemical 

 substances being now established, by the experi- 

 ments of Nicholson and Cruickshanks, a new field 

 of investigation was opened, which was ardently 

 entered upon by some of the most distinguished 

 Henry 'sex- among the English chemists. Dr. Henry was 

 among the first who employed the galvanic in- 

 fluence for the purpose of analysis ; he de- 

 composed the sulphuric and nitric acids, and am- 

 monia, and he reduced the oxymuriatic to the 

 Decom- state of muriatic acid ; but as gases do not 

 andlmmo! con duct the galvanic influence, its decompo- 

 nia. sm g power could not be applied to this last body. 



Davy's ex- Sir H. Davy, at an early period of the science, 

 Disengages commenced the career of discovery which he 

 from* wo afterwards brought to so brilliant a termination, 

 portions of He proposed, as a subject of experimental re- 

 search, whether the ends of the wire, in the inter- 

 rupted circuit, would- discharge the two gases, if 

 they were made to terminate in different por- 

 tions of water. They were therefore placed in 

 separate glasses, while the glasses were jnade to 

 communicate by means of the fingers, or a moist 

 substance, and it was found that the oxygen and 

 hydrogen were evolved as usual. He next inquired 

 whether it was necessary for the effect that the 

 wires should be in contact with the ends of the 

 pile; and in order to prove this point, slips of 

 muscular fibre were interposed between the wires 

 and the ends of the pile. The result of this 

 disposition was that the gases were disengaged, 



