BAT 



a^fain for fiich fum of money as fhal! he ajjrcjd on for lalirg 

 ej^the penance enjoined ; it being iifualin tlicfc courts to ex- 

 change their fpiritual cenfures for a round compcnfation in 

 money (2 Roll. Rep. 384.); perhaps, fays judge Blackftone, 

 beeaufc poverty is >reneraliy edeemed by the moralifts the bell 

 medicine " pro I'alute aninii." Bl. Com. vol. iii. and vol. iv. 



Battery is fometimcs ufcd in fpeakinjr of the fabric of 

 metalline utenfils. In this fcnfe, battcry-woiks include pots, 

 fauccpans, kettles, and the like veffels, which though caft 

 at firft, are to be afterwards hammered or beaten into 

 form. 



Some make battery for the kitchen, bnlUr'te Je cu'ifmc, 

 comprehend all utenfils for the fervice of the kitchen, whe- 

 ther of iron, brafs, copper, or otl'.cr matters. Others take 

 the term in a narrower fcnfe, and rellrain it to ntcnfils of 

 brafs or copper. 



A fociety for the mineral and battery work of England 

 \va<! incorporated by queen Elizabeth. 



Battery, in EUclrldly, is a combination of coated fur- 

 facts of glafs, fo conneded together, that they may be 

 charged at once, and difchargtd by a common conductor. 

 Mr. Gralath, a German eleftrician, was the firll who con- 

 trived to incrcafc the (hock, by charging feveral phials at 

 the fame time. Dr. Franklin, after he had analyzed the 

 JLeydeii phial, and found that it loll at one fmfaee the elec- 

 tric fire which it received at theother, conllrufted a battery, 

 confiilinjj of eleven panes of large fadi-glafs, coated on each 

 fide, and connected in fuch a manner that the whole might 

 be charged together, and with the fame labour as one fmgle 

 pane; and by bringing all the giving fides into contaftwith one 

 wire, and all the receiving fides with another, he contrived 

 to unite the.force of all the plates, and to difcharge theni at 

 onpe. SK. more complete battery is defcribed by Ur. Pricft- 

 ley, of which he fays, that after long ufe he fees no reafon 

 for wifhing the lead alteration in any part of it. This bat- 

 tery (fee PlateY. Ehdr'ulty, fg. l.) confills of 64 jars, each 

 ten inches long, and 2\ inches in diameter, coated within i J 

 inch of the top ; and contains in the whole 32 fquare feet. 

 The wire of each jar has a piece of very fmall wire twiftcd 

 about the lower end of it, to touch the infide coating in fe- 

 veral places ; and it is put through a pretty large piece of 

 cork, within the jar, to prevent any part of it from touch- 

 ing the fide, which would tend to promote a fpontancous 

 difcharge. Each wire is turned round, fo as to make a 

 hole at the upper end ; and "through thcfe holes a pretty 

 thick brafs rod with knobs paffes, one rod ftrving for one 

 row of the jars. The communication between thcfe rods is 

 made by laying over them all a thick chain. When part 

 only of the battery is ufed, the chain is laid over as many 

 rods as will furnidi the required number cf rows of jars. 

 The bpttom of the box, in which the jars ftand, is covered 

 with a plate of tin, and a bent wire touching the plate 

 pufles through the box, and appears on the oulfide. To 

 this wire any conduflor dcfigned to communicate with the 

 outfide of the battery is faltened, as the fmall wire in the 

 figure, and the difcharge is made by bringing the brafs 

 knob to any of the knobs of the battery. When a very 

 great force is required, th« quantity of coated lurface may 

 be increafed, or two or more batteries mav be ufed. Frank- 

 lin's Exp. and Obf. ed. 1769. p. 28. Prieltley's Jlill. &c. 

 of Elcftricity, ed. 1775. vol. ii. p. 99. 



However complete the battery above defcribed appeared 

 to be at the time of its conftruftion, later ele£lricians have 

 difcovcrcd many imperfeiftions to which it was fubjcdt ; of 

 which the principal are thofe that rcfult From the form and 

 fi/.e of the jars, the fnbftance of the glafs, the height of 

 the coating, and the connexions within the battery. la 



BAT 



confcqiicnce of thefe imperfedlions in its ilruc^ure and con- 

 trivance, it is preventtd from receiving more than about 

 half the charrrt which it ouijht to receive in proportion to 

 the qiiantity of its coated furface. 



The moft perfect batteries of modern conflruftion, fince 

 that of Dr. Prielliey, have been made in Holland for 1 ey- 

 Itr's mufeum at Hacrlcm, by Mr. Cut! bertfon of Polard- 

 ilreet, London, then rcfiding at Amfteiriam. Of thefe bat- 

 teries there are two, dillering in their magnitude and mode 

 of conftruflion. but allowed to be equally perfect. The 

 firft was completed in the year 1784, ard is compofed of 

 135 jars in 9 boxes, each containing"i5, which may be ufed 

 feparately or combined, as the nature of the experiment ic- 

 q'.iircs. Each box is a fepaiate battery of itfelf ; ai d the de- 

 fcription of one box with a view of the figure, will l-c fuf- 

 ficient fcr explaining its conllruflion and vSe. In Plale 1. 

 EieHlr'tcily, f.g. 2. is exhibited a pcrfpeiSne view of Teyllr'.j 

 firft battery, with its parts arranged in proper order for re- 

 ceiving a charge from the cleftrical machine. Each box, as 

 we have already obferved, contains ijjiirs; each jar is 11 

 inches high, and 6 ii;ches in diameter, contiafted at the 

 mouth to 4 inches, and coated fo as to contain about l^jo 

 fquare inches ; and thus the whole battery will contain 

 about 132 fquare feet of coated furface. Each box is di- 

 vided into 15 partitions, 5 of which are in the length and 

 3 in the breadth ; the height of the fides of the box being 

 fomewhat lower than the coating of the jars, as ai'c alio 

 the partitions in which they lland. The lid of the box is 

 made without hinge?, foi' t'le convenience of releafing it 

 from the box, that it may be removed while experiments are 

 performed. It is taken off by lifting it upwaitls. The out- 

 fide coatings of the jars are connefled by means of crof« 

 wires palling under the bottom of each jar ; and thofc on 

 the infide by means of a br-afs tramc, bearing 15 brafs balls, 

 fixed upon the frame above the centre of each jar. All- 

 thefe balls, excepting the four at the corners, have wires 

 fcrewcd to them and hanging downwards into the infide of 

 each jar ; but the wires of the four corner jars are fcrcwe J 

 to a foot, which is cemented to the bottom of each in the 

 infide. Upon thefe wires the whole frame reds, and is kept 

 in its proper pofition. The four corner balls have holes, 

 which receive the ends of the wii-cs, and terminate at a 

 proper height from the jars. By this contrivance the 

 infide connefting frame m.ay at any time be cafiiy removed; 

 and as this part of the machine is important, the conftruc- 

 tion of the faid frame is fhewn feparattd from the batteiy in 

 ^g. 3.- It is according to the above conllruclion that Mr. 

 Cuthbcrtfcn forms his prefent batteries, excepting that he 

 has increafed the fize of the jars, fo as to make one bat- 

 tery contain about 17 fquare feet ; and he engages to prove 

 by experiment, that the batteries of his condrudtion are far 

 fuperior to any others. Teyler's fecond grand battery was 

 finiflied by Mr. Cuihbertfon in 1789. This is the largeft 

 and moft complete batteij that was ever made. The whole 

 battery, ftandkig in proper order for receiving a charge, 

 is exhibited injff. 4. It confifts of 100 jars of the fame 

 diape with that of thofe already defcribed, only that they 

 are fo enlarged in fize, that each of them contains 55 fquare 

 feet of coated furface, indcad of 140 inches, and the whole 

 battery contains 550 fciuaie feet of coating ; and for conve- 

 niency, it is put into four feparatc cafes, each containing 25. 

 jars in the form of a fquare, 5 on each fide. The boxes 

 are lined with lead on the infide for forming the outfide 

 communication ; each jar hasaperpendiculardandrcfting upon 

 its bottom, and fupported from falling fideways by three days 

 on the infide. Upon the top is fcrevved a three inch brafs 

 globe, from which proceeds a brafs tube about one inch in 



diameter, 



