Passage of Electricity through Liquids. 



265 











Meai. 



No 



I 



g 



_ Q 













e observed. 



e calculated. 



1. 



CO 



14-82 



-1509 



14-955 





2. 



400millims. 



14-795 



-15-335 



15065 



14-955 



3. 



CO 



1458 



-14-79 



14-685 





4. 



lOlmillims. 



2-854 



- 3-47 



3-162 



3370 



5. 



101 „ 



2-90 



- 3 25 



3075 



3-370 



Temperature =:17°-5 C. 



From this we see that the observed values of e are somewhat 

 smaller than the calculated ones ; yet the differences come within 

 the errors of observation, which occur to almost the same extent 

 with observations on metallic conductors. for comparison's 

 sake I may adduce the charge of a condenser when the same 

 Grove's battery of ten cells was closed by various coils of copper 

 wire, the total resistance of which amounted to 8491 m. u. In 

 the following Table / gives in mercury units the resistance of 

 that part of the metallic conduction the ends of which were con- 

 nected with the condenser-plates, the distance of which was 1*5 

 millim. The other letters have the same meaning as before. 



No. 



I. 



e. 



— e. 



Mean. 



e observed. 



e calculated. 



1. 

 2. 

 3.' 

 4. 



00 



8491 



5987 

 3496 



11-26 

 11-26 



7-81 

 4-55 



-10-95 

 -10-93 



- 718 



- 4-82 



11-105 



11-095 



7-495 



4-685 



11-10 



7-823 

 4-568 



In all these, as in the earlier experiments, the numbers given 

 are the means of several determinations. 



I will here observe that when the two Wollaston's electrodes 

 freshly ignited in a gas-flame, while the constant current of a 

 Grove's battery traversed the column of water, were connected 

 with the ends of a very delicate reflecting galvanometer instead 

 of the condenser, so that a branch current traversed them, an 

 irregular yet gradual increase of this current was observed. In 

 this experiment the original intensity of the current, in what- 

 ever part of the section the electrodes may have been placed, may 

 be doubled and even more, while the necessarily concomitant 

 polarization of the electrodes should properly produce a diminu- 

 tion in the intensity of the current. The cause of this pheno- 

 menon is to be found either in the fact that the minute platinum 

 surfaces, in spite of the preceding ignition, are contaminated by 

 evaporated glass, and are therefore at first not completely moist- 

 ened by the water, or that glass is dissolved by the distilled water 



