iPtt^DUCTION OF ELECTRICITY BY FRICTION. 509 



volved in the deepest obscurity. All the opinions, which the galvanic 

 have been proposed to accoqnt for it, aje unavoidably hypo- battery, 

 thetical, and, indeed, very unsatisfactory: every fact, there- 

 fore^ which relates to it, deserves attention, although its 

 application may not be clearly perceived. I was induced, 

 some time ago, to try the two following experiirseiits. I 



filled one of the new porcelain troughs with an acid fluid, so Two experi 



, , ,,. , T 1 ■ • inents with it, 



that the metallic plates, and their connecting arc, were com- 

 pletely covered. In this state, a trough often pair of plates, 

 3 inches square, decomposed water very rapidly. Anxious 

 to know how far the division of the trough into cells is at all 

 requisite, I placed the metals, connected by the bar, in a 

 trough without partitions, and filled with the same kind of 

 fluid, but no action ensued. The action which took place 

 in the first experiment appears to be inconsistent with all our 

 theories ; and it seems not a little curious, since a communi- 

 cation between the cells is not an impediment to action, 

 that no action was evinced in the second experiment. 



It will afford me much pleasure, should these observations Theoretical 



call the attention of vour readers to the theory of electrical P"fsuits not 

 •^ _ . ^ 1 . , unimportant, 



excitement. I trust, that, while we are successfully employ- 

 ing the powers of electricity in chemical analysis, we shall 

 not altogether neglect to investigate the means by which 

 these powers are called forth, and the laws by which their 

 action is regulated. It has, with much injustice, been ob- 

 jected to theoretical pursuits, that they lead to none of the 

 practical advantages, which interest ine happiness of society. 

 The remark is indeed true, if applied to particular disco^ 

 veries; but these are to be considered only as the elements, 

 from which physical science first took its origin, and by 

 which it is daily nourished and supported. Let it never be 

 forgotten, that our most perfect instruments, those which 

 promote no less our comfort than they tend to advance our 

 intellectual improvement, are the invaluable fruits of philo-^ 



I am, sir, very respectfully. 



Your obedient and obliged servant, 



Bath, J. D. MAYCOCK, 



March the 5tht IBl'^. 



