365 ®^ '^"^ DECOirOSITION OF THE EARTHS. 



1 



merely to encoxirage a waste of time and a tendency t6 

 dreaming. Mere barren hypothesis, that neither arise from 

 facts, nor lead to experiments, are zceeds in the field of 

 science which will always grow sufficiently without manure^ 

 You, as an experimental poilosophcr and a lover of 

 truth, ought to endeavour to check their growth ; and 

 should your Journal be made a hotbed for their cultiva- 

 tion, it must inevitably loose its ancient universally ac- 

 knowledged utility and importance. 



I am, Sir, 



Your obedient humble Servant, 



A. COMBES. 



',;|,,, Chelsea, 



November 17, 1808. 



VIIL 



JLlectro^Chemical He sea relics., on the Decomposition of the 

 Earths; zcith Observations on the Metals obtained from 

 the alkaline Earths, and on the Amalgam procured from 

 Ammonia. B^ Humphry Davy, Esq. Sec. R. S 

 M. R. I. A. * 



1. Introduction. 



In the Philosophical Transactions for 1807, Part I r, and 

 1808, Part I. I have detailed the general methods of decom- 

 position by electricity, and staled various new facts obtained 

 in consequence of the application of them. 

 Decomposition The results of the experiments on potash and soda, as I 



of the fixed al- grated in my last communication to the Society, afforded me 



kalis led to -^ • ' 



hopes of similar the strongest hopes of being able to effect the decomposi- 



lesulti. tion both of the alkaline and common earths; and- the phe- 



nomena obtained in the first imperfect trials madeupon these 

 bodies countenanced the ideas, that had obtained from the 



* Philosophical Transactions for 1808, Part I L, p. 333. 

 t See Journal, vol. XVHI, p. 321, and XIX, p. 37. 

 + Ibid. Vol. XX, p. 290, 321. 



earliest 



