224 E. TV. Morley — Volumetric Composition of Water. 



assume such an aspect that I resorted to the use of sulphuric 

 acid. 



Decomposing cell for 25 liters an hour. — I have at com- 

 mand, through the courtesy of the East Cleveland Railroad 

 Company, by day and night an electromotive force of five 

 hundred volts. It was obviously proper to use the current 

 from this source by passing it in succession through many 

 small decomposing cells, rather than through one large cell. 

 It was convenient to have at command a current of hydrogen 

 up to twenty-five liters an hour. To obtain this from a single 

 cell would require a current of some fifty amperes ; consum- 

 ing thirty-three horse power. But if a current of one-thirtieth 

 this amount is passed through thirty cells in succession, the 

 same amount of hydrogen is obtained from one horse-power. 

 I therefore sealed thirty decomposing cells to two delivery 

 tubes, so that when the electric current is passed through 

 them, the hydrogen produced is all given off at one tube, and 

 the oxygen at the other. These cells were made by an 

 eminent firm in Germany ; twenty-six of them, on treating 

 them precisely as those of my own construction had been 

 treated, cracked at the bottom of the IT-tube, having been 

 obviously bent at too low a temperature. After this dismal 

 accident. I had myself to make the set of decomposing cells 

 shown in fig. 1 at aa. Each of the six cells shown is the 

 front one of a column of five which are fused into the trans- 

 verse delivery tubes shown in section at ho. Six such columns 

 are fused to the longitudinal delivery tubes. It is convenient 

 to immerse the cells in water to keep them cool ; it is there- 

 fore necessary to insulate each electrode in a glass tube as seen 

 in the figure. The oxygen produced was led off to the tall 

 cylinder seen to the left, containing a column of water such as 

 to make the pressure on the escaping oxygen nearly equal to 

 that on the hydrogen when it was permitted to escape at 

 the end of the purifying train. This oxygen was sometimes 

 utilized, as for oxidizing copper. The set of decomposing 

 cells was supported in a copper trough for water for cooling. 

 It was filled with distilled water containing one-sixth its 

 volume of pure sulphuric acid which I distilled just before 

 using it. The decomposing cells had a capacity of six liters; 

 a little more than five liters dilute acid was put into them. 



Purifying train. — At cc is an enlargement to prevent the 

 passage of acid over into d* when the current is rather rapid. 

 d contains a fifty per cent solution of potassium hydroxide. 

 e contains sulphuric acid for the preliminary drying of the 



* The individual parts of the apparatus are drawn accurately to scale, as noted ; 

 but the connections between parts are represented more compactly than in the 

 actual apparatus. 



