110 Dr. Harems Dejlagrator and Calorimotof. 



The charcoal of the negative pole, in the meantime, under' 

 goes a change precisely the reverse. Its point instantly disap- 

 pears, and a crater-shaped cavity appears in its place; it suf- 

 fers a rapid diminution in the direction of its length, and im- 

 mediately under the piojecting and increasing point of the 

 positive pole ; but it is not diminished, or very little, on the 

 parts laterally contiguous. If the point of the positive pole 

 be moved over various parts of the contiguous negative 

 charcoal, it produces a crater-shaped cavity over every place 

 where it rests, for an instant. In every repetition of the 

 experiment, (and the repetitions have been numerous,) this 

 result has invariably occurred. It appears as -if the matter 

 at the point of the negative pole was actually transferred 

 to the positive, and that the accumulation there, is produced 

 by a current flowing from the negative to the positive, or at 

 least by an attraction exerted in that direction, and not in the 

 other. It does not appear easy to reconcile this fact with 

 any electrical or igneous theory. 



In order to ascertain whether the projection of the char- 

 coal at the positive pole was caused by an actual transfer of 

 carbon fron"; the negative, a piece of metal was substituted 

 for the charcoal at the negative pole, and when the two were 

 brought into contact, the charcoal point of the positive pole 

 remained unaltered in form, although a little shortened by 

 the combustion. The experiments with the two charcoal 

 points were varied by transferring, that at the positive end, 

 (and on which a projection was already formed) to the op- 

 posite pole, and that at the negative, and in which a corres- 

 poinding cavity appeared, to the positive. 



The result was, that the cavity now placed at the positive 

 pole, disappeared, and was immediately seen at the negative; 

 while the projection, now placed at the negative pole, was 

 transferred to the positive. These experiments were seve- 

 ral times repeated, and uniformly with the same result. 

 They seem to leave no doubt, that there is a current from 

 the negative to the positive pole, and that carbon is actually 

 transferred by it in that direction ;* if transferred, it must 

 probably be in the state of vapour, since it passes through 



* Those who would contend for a current in the opposite direction, would 

 probably say, that the projecting point of the positive pole, is formed troili 

 the carbon, contiguous on the sides, and that the stream of heat burns the 

 cavity in the opposite pole ; in either imi/ a current is proved. 



