AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST 

 GERMAN EDITION. 



THE object of electrochemistry is, among others, 

 that of performing, with the aid of the electric current, 

 reactions which have up to the present been carried 

 out by the employment of other forms of energy. 

 Its very nature suggests the possibility of solving 

 synthetical and analytical problems which have as yet 

 remained unanswered. In this respect its province is 

 both that of inorganic and organic chemistry. Experi- 

 ments have recently been made for utilizing electricity 

 in the latter. Few only of the many tasks presenting 

 themselves have been undertaken. This book aims 

 to give, as briefly as possible, a review of what has 

 already been accomplished, and at the same time to 

 create an interest in the performance of experiments 

 on the electrolysis and electrosynthesis of organic 

 compounds. 



AACHEN, 



Electrotechnical Laboratory 

 of the Polytechnic Institute. 

 November. 1895. 



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