[145] IS CHEMICAL ACTION AFFECTED BY 

 MAGNETISM? 1 



THE close relationship between electricity and chemical 

 affinity on the one hand, and that between electricity and 

 magnetism on the other, have naturally raised the question 

 whether any relation can be traced between affinity and mag- 

 netism. 



This question was the subject of numerous investigations 

 during the entire first half of this century, 2 but appears to 

 have dropped out of sight, until Professor Remsen, 3 in 1882, 

 again attracted attention to it by the interesting observation 

 that, from a solution of the sulphate, copper is unequally de- 

 posited upon the armature of a horse-shoe magnet. Other 

 experiments by Messrs. Nichols and Franklin, 4 and Messrs. 

 Rowland and Bell, 5 have also borne relation to this question. 

 I have nevertheless ventured to approach the subject from a 

 new side, with the conviction that all of these investigations 

 introduce phenomena which tend to obscure the point of 

 issue, i.e., the effect of magnetism upon the chemical reaction 

 itself. This will be made clear by an analysis of the principles 

 upon which these investigations have been conducted; they 

 can be divided into four categories. 



The earliest experiments regarded the rusting of bar mag- 

 nets; and the most trustworthy observers appear to invali- 

 date the assertion of a few, that magnetized iron differs from 



Reprinted from American Chemical Journal, 13, 145 (1891). 



For full literature see E. Wartmann, Philosophical Magazine, 30, 266. 



American Chemical Journal, 3, 137. 



American Journal of Science, 34, 419; 35, 290. 



Philosophical Magazine, 34, 419; 35, 105. 



