MATTER IN ITS ELECTRICALLY EXPLOSIVE STATE. 



By FRANCIS E. NIPHER. 



(Read Afril 19, 1913-) 



In 1815 Singer publishetl in the Philosophical Magazine^ an ac- 

 count of experiments made in Holland by De Nelis, and repeated 

 by him, which illustrated what he called the explosive effects of elec- 

 tricity. At that time the one-fluid theory was generally held by 

 those familiar with electrical phenomena. It was, however, their 

 belief that the electrical discharge came from the positive terminal. 



Singer made use of a battery of jars having an external tin-foil 

 area of 75 square feet. The positive terminal of this battery was 

 separated from a terminal leading to a wire of lead having a diaiue- 

 ter of o.oi inch. This lead wire was within a small metal cylinder 

 formed by boring a hole into a metal rod. One end of the wire 

 was in contact with the bottom of the bore, the other being attached 

 to a copper wire through which the discharge was sent to the lead 

 wire. This leading in wire was surrounded by wax, and the lead 

 wire was surrounded by oil. The lead wire was exploded by each 

 discharge. The metal cylinder was stronger than any gun-barrel. 

 It, however, was shattered by the explosive effects, the leading in 

 wire was blown out and the liquid was sometimes thrown to the 

 height of fifty feet when the metal cylinder did not burst. 



At the present time it seems evident that, in these experiments, 

 the lead wire was being suddenly drained of its negative corpuscles. 

 What may properly be called a rarefaction wave was sent along the 

 wire. When in this condition each atom of lead repels every other 

 atom. The lead becomes explosive. There are heat effects in- 

 volved also, which assist in the separation of the atoms, but which 

 alone do not seem to be capable of accounting for the results. 



It seemed to the present writer that it might be of interest to 



^Phil. Mag., Vol. 46. p. 161. 



283 



