196 nEPORT—1890. 
TasLe I.—Conductivities of Liquids referred to that of Mercury x 10-8 at 
, OP; 
[Numbers marked with an asterisk are not to be regarded as final numerical 
results; they are introduced to indicate the order of magnitude of the quantities.] 
Conductivity re- 
Tempera- 
Liquid ferred to Mercury | ture co- Observer Remarks 
at 0° x 10-8 efficient 
PbCl, (fused) 25,000-* — F. Braun 
AgCl ia 24,000: — W. Kohlrausch | at 600°C. 
NaNO, ,, 11,500°* —_— F. Braun 
HNO, in water 7,330" “014 solution of maxi- 
mum conduc- 
tivity at 18°C. 
HCl is 7,174: 0155 a 
Beso) eu 6,914: 0162 = 
KOH RS 5,095- 0225 ” 
KI ee 4,100: 0140 From Wiede- | sp. gr. 1:70 
INTEL Clin 0, 3,980: 0155 mann sen O78 
AgNO, ,, 2,100: ‘0211 au es 
NaCl sae 2,016: 0234 a, EZOL 
KEEC OF 5; aloo: “0199 a Melb 
CuSO, ,, 440: 0241 » 1208 
CAMO s 55 94: “0192 solution of maxi- 
mum conduc- 
tivity at 18°C. 
ZnCl, fused 86-* — ¥F. Braun 
CaCl, in alcohol | 83° 0102 Fitzpatrick 
C,H,0, in water 15:2 0174 From Wiede- | solution of maxi- 
mann mum conduc- 
tivity at 18° C. 
HegCl, 5 391 0249 Grotrian 5 per cent. solu- 
tion 
HgBr,  ;, ‘24 032 £ -422 per cent. so- 
lution 
Alcohol ‘018 018 Pfeiffer 
*008* Kohlrausch 
Ether (oak ut { ic 
Water at 2°5 F. ‘0071 ” 
5, at 14°C, “0065 035 Pfeiffer 
Benzene 002* — W. i. p. 565 
SnCl, ? -0000001* — 
The electrolyte of highest conductivity is fused lead chloride, and by 
taking solutions more and more dilute, we obtain without any breach of 
continuity electrolytes of less and less conductivity down to that of pure 
water or pure alcohol, and the resistance of these is of the same order as 
that of benzene, and even for these and other nearly insulating liquids, 
as ether and oil of turpentine, evidence of polarisation has been shown.! 
It is clear, therefore, that the question of what constitutes an electro- 
lyte must be considered quite apart from the specific resistance of the 
substances. 
_ As to the physical properties of electrolytes, the majority of them are 
liquids, but there are certainly solids in which conduction is attended 
with decomposition. I may refer to a diagram by W. Kohlrausch (Wied. 
‘Ann.’ vol. 17, p. 642), showing his observations on the salts of silver, 
1 Picker quoted by Von Helmholtz, Faraday Lecture, Jour. Chem. Soc. 39, p. 291. 
o 
