Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 29 



"A voltaic battery has been got up (at the expense of two of 

 our leading men, whose names I am not at liberty to mention,) 

 for the sole purpose of investigation. The battery consists of 

 one hundred and sixty porcelain pint jars, each containing a cop- 

 per and zinc cylinder ; the latter being covered with stout brown 

 paper, is introduced to the interior of the copper. The exciting 

 fluids are solutions of sulphate of copper and muriate of soda ; 

 the former applied to the copper cylinders, and the latter to the 

 zinc ones. When the jars were in series the flame was upwards 

 of an inch long, from a charcoal point, rotated on the poles of a 

 magnet, according to the principles of electro-magnetism. Davy 

 deflected the electrical flame by magnetic influence, but I am not 

 aware that he rotated it." 



" Sulphuret of lead (galena,) was decomposed, and metallic lead 

 obtained. Sulphuret of antimony was decomposed, and the li^ 

 berated metal kept in fusion for several minutes. The boiling 

 antimony was three inches long and half an inch wide between 

 the polar wires, and exhibited a beautiful spectacle, in a channel 

 of those dimensions which the action had formed in the native sul- 

 phuret. When the electric flame was directed through the air be- 

 tween stout copper polar wires, the positive wire became red hot, 

 but the negative wire could not be made red. The wires were 

 made to change poles, still the same thing occurred ; nay, even 

 two inches of the positive wire, which was completely out of 

 the circuit, was rendered hot, but no redness appeared on the 

 negative wire. How exceedingly curious and interesting is this 

 last result ! 



" When the whole battery was formed into eight groups of 

 twenty jars each, and properly connected with an electro-gasom^ 

 eter, the mixed gases were liberated from water at the rate of one 

 cubic inch per seven seconds : and this for many successive min- 

 utes, although the battery had been in action for seven previous 

 hours without interruption." 



In his letter of August 6, 1839, Mr. Sturgeon proceeds to ob- 

 serve, that a good description of the apparatus and experiments 

 will be found in the memoir above named, and of which he 

 kindly transmitted a copy. But he remarks : " there are some 

 particulars connected with the discovery of the difference of tem- 

 perature, produced in the positive and negative wires, which 

 want a clearer description than any given by Mr. Walker, or, 



