ON GALYANISM. 



51; 



tV3 well as the Galvanic fluid. Then instead of letting these am- minations of 

 mal and vegetable fibres enter the water that was to be acted |;;|Jj':|^];,,'^"^^ 

 tipon, I placed two very small and short pieces of gold wire im- the wire. 

 mediately in contact with the water, and then united to them 

 the animal fibres that Avere connected with the plates of the 

 pile, but there were scarce any gases produced; but I found 

 as I lengthened these gold wires, in the same proportion, f pro- 

 duced gases. That being ascertained, f endeavoured to cJisco- The quantities 

 ver whether the silver or the zinc wires were more nd*i*sary to ^f^'at'eachtud 

 forming the gases. The silver wire was made of gold, the usual need noi be 

 length, without any animal fibre ; and the zinc wire was a very '^^'^^ ' 

 small piece of gold wire, placed in the water, united to'the 

 pile by animal fibres. Gases were equally produced, the same 

 tis if two long gold wires w^eiHj used, at both the zinc and silver 

 ends of the pilt?. 



I next endeavoured to ascertain, whether one metallic wire The most oxi- 



was better than another ; and I found that they all gave gases; dal>!e wiresgive 



' J a o . the most gas 



but the most calcinable wires in the greatest proportion. 1 and mostin- 



■also found, by examining the gases, that the easy calcinable most of ox i "en 



wires produced the greatest proportion of inflammable; gases, =^"^1 azote. 



and platina wires the most of oxigen and azote gases. I <^harooal wires 



next tried charcoal wires, and I found that they formed more tals, and the 



gases than the animal or vegetable fibres, but less than themC'^^'^^^''^ ^"^"^ 



tals, and that the silver charcoal formed by mnch a greater mosi,az itr-. 



proportion than the zinc charcoal ; and, as ^Ir. Davy also 



found, that they formed neither hydrocarbonate, nor carbonic 



gases ; but I found them gases of less inflammability than are 



produced from the metals, as well as less in quanlJty ; and also 



-a more considerable quantity of azote gas than the metallic 



wires produced, for there was a proportion of azote gas in the 



gases, whatever metallic wires were made use of; but gold and 



platina wires, yielded the most, but not equal to what was 



produced by the charcoal wires. It clearly appears, then> 



that metals, or charcoal, are necessary in foniiing the gases. 



The next consideration was to find what changes these wires ^'^^ ^^"'^ •'^"'^ 



■ fharroal were 



had undergone from producing the gases. A thin iron wire, less combusti- 



which had for a long time been used for the silver wire, the ''''^ ^'*^' ' ^*^'^ 



^ . process'. 



galvanic fluid, inconsequence, passing through it : upon ex- 



-ainination it was found to have lost its ductility, and it ap- 

 peared to shiver in pieces when stixick with the hamnj^r, somc- 

 H 2 thing 



