DISCOURSE OF W. B. TAYLOR. 235 



" Before having any knowledge of the method given in the above 

 account, I had succeeded in producing electrical effects in the fol- 

 lowing manner, which differs from that employed by Mr. Faraday, 

 and which appears to me to develop some new and interesting facts. 

 A piece of copper wire about thirty feet long and covered with 

 elastic varnish, was closely coiled around the middle of the soft iron 

 armature of the galvanic magnet described in vol. xix of the Ameri- 

 can Journal of Science, and which when excited will readily sustain 

 between six hundred and seven hundred pounds. The wire was 

 wound upon itself so as to occupy only about one inch of the length 

 of the armature, which is seven inches in all. The armature thus 

 furnished with the wire, was placed in its proper position across 

 the ends of the galvanic magnet, and there fastened so that no 

 motion could take place. The two projecting ends of the helix 

 were dipped into two cups of mercury, and these connected with a 

 distant galvanometer by means of two copper wires each about forty 

 feet long. This arrangement being completed, I stationed myself 

 near the galvanometer and directed an assistant at a given word to 

 immerse suddenly in a vessel of dilute acid, the galvanic battery 

 attached to the magnet. At the instant of immersion the north end 

 of the needle was deflected 30 to the west, indicating a current of 

 electricity from the helix surrounding the armature. The effect 

 however, appeared only as a single impulse, for the needle after a 

 few oscillations resumed its former undisturbed position in the mag- 

 netic meridian, although the galvanic action of the battery, and 

 consequently the magnetic power still continued. I was however 

 much surprised to see the needle suddenly deflected from a state of 

 rest to about 20 to the east, or in a. contrary direction, when the 

 battery was withdrawn from the acid, and again deflected to the 

 west when it was re-immersed. This operation was repeated many 

 times in succession, and uniformly with the same result, the arma- 

 ture the whole time remaining immovably attached to the poles of 

 the magnet, no motion being required to produce the effect, as it ap- 

 peared to take place only in consequence of the instantaneous devel- 



actions for 1832, containing this memoir, did not reach this country till more than a 

 year later: so that the meager abstract of the Royal Institution Proceedings above 

 given, was the only notice of this important discovery, here accessible for many 

 months.] 



