METHOD OF INCREASING AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE. g^g^ 



VL 



An Account of a new Method of increasing the charging Ca^ 

 pacity of coated Electrical Jars, discovered by John 

 WiNWFiELD, Esq., of Shrewsbury*, and communicated 

 to Mr» John Cuthbertson, Philosophical Instrument 

 Maker, of Poland Street, Soko; with Experiments proving 

 the above, by Mr. John Cuthbeetson. 



AN my treatise,, entitled Practical Electricity and G'afoa- Breathing inta 



nism, p. 103, I have said, that breathing into coated iais Jf V"'^'^®^'.*' 



, , . , . . ^1 . , . their capacity 



increased their charging capacity to such an astonishing for a charge. 



degree, that their discharge would fuse four times the length 

 of wire they could do in ordinary circumstances, which I 

 proved by experiment, p. 178, I94. 



Since that publication large electrical batteries are be- This inconre- 

 come more general, and the number of iars increased, so '^'"'^"t m large 

 11 • . . , . . , 11, batteries, 



that batteries containing thirty, sixty, and even a hundred 



and more jars are frequently met with. When so nume- 

 rous, breathing into each jar is very disagreeable; and not 

 only that, but, when the atmosphere is very dry, and whea 

 it is most wanted, it is even ineffectual ; because the jars, 

 which were first breathed into, lose that property which was 

 produced in them by breathing, before the last can have ob- 

 tained it ; so that a variety of other means have been tried, and moistening 



such as wetting their insides with water, and putting wet ''*3^ ^^}'^^ *^' 



, , , . 1 •,• 1 1 effectual, 



sponges into them, and also greasing and oihng the uncoated 



part in the inside, all of which gave unsatisfactory results; 



till John Wingfteld, Esq., communicated to me, that pasting Paper pasted • 



paper on the inside and outside of coated jars prevented '"^''^^ '^"'^ o"** 



them from exploding to the outside coating, and that he 



believed their charging capacity was increased thereby. 



" J embraced the first opportunity to try the effect of this Trials of this, 



discovery with single jar?;. 



Exp. 1. I took a very thick jar (which had beeli used£xp. 1, 



♦ A gentleman who has lately very muih distinguished himself, not 

 on'y in the electrical science, but in all other branchss of experimental 

 philosoph7. 



Vol. XXVII~Noy. 1810. P to 



