62 HISTORY OF GALVANISM. 



action of galvanism on water, in which he ob- 

 tained results analogous to those stated above. 

 He informs us that when water had been for a 

 long time subjected to the galvanic influence, and 

 had been parting with its oxygen from the ex- 

 tremity of a gold wire, the fluid was found to con- 

 tain a quantity of oxymuriatic acid. From this 

 experiment he drew the following conclusions : 

 oxymuriatic acid is an oxide of hydrogen ; it con- 

 sists of water deprived of part of its oxygen ; mu- 

 riatic acid is water in a still lower degree of oxida- 

 tion; and, of course, hydrogen is susceptible of 

 different degrees of oxidation.* 



Not con. A great degree of attention was excited by 

 e * these experiments, to which the more credit was 

 attached, because they proceeded from sources 

 entirely independent of each other. They were 

 repeated by different experimentalists in this coun- 

 try, and, in some cases, with apparent success. 

 Mr. Sylvester, in particular, obtained traces both 

 of muriatic acid and soda, where proper precautions 

 were supposed to have been taken, to exclude the 

 muriate of soda from every part of the appara- 

 tus. But from facts which have been subse- 

 quently discovered we may conclude, that the sub- 

 stances obtained in these cases were not derived 

 from the decomposition of the water. Pacchioni's 

 experiments are now universally admitted to have 

 been incorrect ; and it appears that no such indi- 



* Edin. Med. Journ. i. 393. 



