12 



ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS. 



division or compartment of the vessel, I shall introduce 

 staam into it, through a particular tube destined for that 

 purpose, as soon as the mixture of oil and alkali which oc- 

 cupies the upper division of the vessel is become too hot for 

 condensing the steam. 



The steam which enters the water (always kept cold) that 

 fills the lower compartment of the vessel, will be condensed 

 suddenly, and the sharp strokes which result will be com- 

 municated through the thin diaphragm to the hot liquid con- 

 tained in the upper division of the vessel, and will, I ex- 

 pect, accelerate the union of the oil with the alkali. I 

 shall then shut almost entirely the cock which admits steam 

 into the upper division of the vessel, in order to prevent an 

 useless consumption of steam and heat. 



I shall not fail to give an account of the results of this 

 jiew experiment to this assembly; and I shall rejoice if by 

 any researches I shall be so happy as to contribute to the 

 improvement of an art which is undoubtedly of great im- 

 portance to society. 



IV. 



On the Habitudes of Saline Bodies with Regard to Electri- 

 city. By Mr. William Skrimshire, Jun. CommunU 

 wted by Mr. Cuthbertson, 



Dear Sir, 



JLlAVING made some further progress in my electrical 

 experiments, I take the liberty of sending you the results, 

 in order, if you think proper, for insertion in Mr. Nichol- 

 son's valuable Journal. 



Wm. SKRIMSHIRE, Jun. 

 To Mr. Cuthbertson. 



Saline Substances. 

 Causes of error ■ WIJEN the spark is taken from saline substances placed 

 in taking the th conf j uctor there is some difficulty in ascertaining, 



spark from sa- ^ 7 J " 



ljne crystals, whether the spark proceeds from the salt itself, or from the 

 conductor, through the substance, or along the surface of 

 the salt. A large crystal will sometimes appear to give a 



very 



