54 HISTORY OF GALVANISM. 



duced to make trial of it in this complaint, and 

 from the report of his first experiments, we have 

 reason to hope that it will prove a powerful remedy 

 for this untraetable disorder.* 



Hitter's Ritter published an account of a curious ap- 

 piie. ' pendage to Volta's pile, which he called the se- 

 condary pile, and which has been since named 

 the pile of Ritter. It is a kind of electric ap- 

 paratus, which may be charged by the voltaic 

 pile, or may be made to retain the electricity that 

 is perpetually flying off from this instrument. He 

 perceived that a body, which had formed part of 

 the galvanic circle in the pile of Volt a, when the 

 pile was removed, became itself electrical ; but it 

 exhibited an electricity opposite to that which it 

 had previously possessed. Thus, if two wires ter- 

 minating in water, and connected with the pile, 

 were discharging one oxygen and the other hy- 

 drogen, when they were removed from it, they 

 would still continue to discharge the gases, but 

 the operation would be reversed. These wires, 

 in this state, may be considered as charged, and if 

 a greater number of similar wires be placed be- 

 tween the ends of the pile, they will all become 

 charged. The nature of the experiment will not 

 be affected, if, instead of wires terminating in 

 water, plates of a single metal be substituted, with 

 Described, wet cards interposed. An instrument will thus be 

 formed, which of itself cannot produce any signs 



* Phil. Trans, for 1817. 



