THEORY OF GALVANISM. 



Whatever deficiency of electricity there was in any 

 copper-plate would be instantly supplied by the 

 water communicating the superabundant electricity 

 of the opposite zinc plate, so that the effect of the 

 whole would be reduced simply to the difference 

 between the two extreme plates of copper and 

 zinc. 



The hypothesis may be thus illustrated. C 1 

 and Z 1, by their contact, produce a change in 

 their natural state of electricity; part of what 

 belonged to C 1 is transferred to Z 1, so that C 1 

 becomes negative and Z 1 becomes positive ; and 

 supposing that their natural share of electricity is 

 represented by 100, and that the copper gives T V 

 to the zinc, C 1 and Z 1 will be brought to the 

 states of 90 and 110 repectively. The same 

 alteration in their electrical states will, at the same 

 time, take place in the second pair of plates, C 2 

 and Z 2. The water, which is in contact with 

 C 1 and Z 2 will, however, from its conducting 

 power, have the effect of equalizing the electrical 

 states of these bodies, and will therefore reduce 

 the electricity of Z 1 to 100, and raise that of C 2 

 to the same degree. The electrical state of the 

 four plates will therefore be 90, 100, 100, and 

 110. The third, and every succeeding pair of 

 plates will be acted upon exactly in the same 

 manner with the second ; the electricity of the 

 copper, which was reduced to 90 by the action of 

 the zinc in contact with it, will be brought to 100 

 by sharing a part of the excess which the former 

 zinc plate had acquired. This appears to be all 



