HO THEORY OF GALVANISM. 



their equilibrium is merely disturbed in a tempo- 

 rary manner, the state of the fluid appears to be 

 affected, so as to cause a difference in its intensity. 

 The two When we employ the machine, the electricity that 



electrici- , . i 11 i , 



lies com- we procure appears to be in a highly elastic state, 

 pared. ^ s p ar t| c } es are strongly repulsive of each other, 

 and at the same time not disposed to enter into a 

 permanent union with other bodies. The galvanic 

 electricity which we procure from the pile is more 

 readily united to other bodies, and has a tendency 

 to form new combinations with them, which is so 

 powerful as to counteract some of the strongest 

 chemical affinities. At the same time, it exhibits 

 less of what may be called mechanical action : its 

 particles are less repulsive of each other ; its mo- 

 tions appear less rapid ; it causes less commotion in 

 its passage from one body to another ; and although 

 its ultimate effects are more powerful, it seems to 

 act with less violence. The one may be compared 

 to a small quantity of an agent highly concen- 

 trated ; the other to a larger quantity, but in a state 

 of greater dilution. The phenomena of electri- 

 city, as excited by the common machine, depend 

 upon the attraction and repulsion of the electric 

 fluid, and its passage from one body to another ; 

 while the most important actions of galvanic elec- 

 tricity result from the chemical changes that it 

 produces in the composition of bodies. The excita- 

 tion of common electricity is not necessarily at- 

 tended with any permanent alteration in the state 

 of the substances that are employed in producing 



