Figure 2 1 . — Grove battery as used in American telegraphy. From G. B. 

 Prescott, History, Theory, and Practice oj the Electric Telegraph, Boston, i860, 

 p. 68, fig. 7. 



Plante was able to turn the disadvantage of polariza- 

 tion into an advantage, and, using solid electrodes — 

 Grove's 1839 cell had gas electrodes — he created the 

 first "storage" (secondary) cell.^° By electrolyzing 

 dilute sulfuric acid with lead electrodes, Plante 

 formed a layer of lead oxide on lead. The charging 

 batteries were then removed, and the secoadary cell 

 could return the stored energy. If not too much 

 current was required, Plante' s cell gave a somewhat 

 constant potential of 1.5 volts. (Figs. 27-31). 



Camille Faure modified the secondary cell by 

 applying a paste of the red oxide of lead directly to 

 the plates.*" The cell was charged by electrolyzing 

 dilute sulfuric acid with these preformed electrodes. 

 This process converted the red oxide to lead dioxide, 

 and the cell was ready for use (fig. 32). The Faure 

 cell gave two volts and had a more stable operation 

 than did the Plante cell. It appeared at a very 

 opportune time, for it found immediate application 

 in telegraphy; later it was particularly important in 

 the production of electrical power. Use of the 

 secondary battery to store electricity when the load 

 was light and to deliver it to the system when the load 

 was heavy resulted in a one-third reduction in the 

 cost of electrical power. 



Since secondary cells using acid electrolytes were 



3° Gaston Plante, "Nouvelle Pile secondaire d'une grande 

 puissance," Academic des Sciences, Paris, Comptes renins, 1860, 

 vol. 50, pp. 640-642; "Recherches sur les courants secondaires 

 et leurs applications," AnnaUs de chimie el de physique, 1868, 

 vol. 15, pp. 5-30; Recherches sur I'electricite, Paris, 1879. 



<" C. A. Faure, "Sur La Pile secondaire de M. C. Faure," 

 Academic des Sciences, Paris, Comptes rendus, 1881, vol. 92, 

 pp. 951-953. 



difficult to work with, some inventors turned to alka- 

 line electrolytes. Felix de Lalande and G. Chaperon 

 invented a cell that used iron or copper for one elec- 

 trode and zinc for the other, copper oxide as a depo- 

 larizer, and a caustic soda or potash solution for the 

 electrolyte.*' The potential was only about one volt, 

 but the low internal resistance of this cell enabled it to 

 produce high currents. 



■" Felix de Lalande and G. Chaperon, "Nouvelle Pile k oxyde 

 de cuivre," Academic des Sciences, Paris, Comptes rendus, 1883, 

 vol. 97, pp. 164-166. 



Figure 22. — Bunsen cell. From R. Wormell, 

 Electricity in the Service of Man, London and 

 New York, 1886, p. 404. 



246 



BULLETIN 228 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



