352 Mr Connell on the Action of 



by opposing less resistance to decomposing agency, and, on this 

 ground, may be explained the decomposition of fused iodic acid, 

 if that really is a case of decomposition ; and it seems not un- 

 likely that the circumstance that the oxide of antimony is easily 

 reducible, is the reason why it is subject to galvanic action, 

 although by no means a simple atomic compound. But I throw 

 out these views merely as speculations on a subject which cannot 

 be satisfactorily rested except on the sure basis of experiment. 



There still remains another part of this memoir, relating to 

 the nature of the changes produced by voltaic agency on certain 

 of the substances held in solution by alcohol, particularly in more 

 concentrated solutions. On this part of the subject I hope to be 

 able to make a communication to the Society in the course of 

 next session. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



Since the preceding paper was read, I have succeeded in ob- 

 taining alcohol of still lower specific gravity, by continuing the 

 exposure in the vacuum of an air-pump with quicklime for eight 

 weeks, and renewing the quicklime after the first week. The 

 alcohol thus obtained had the specific gravity of .7928 at 62° *-F., 

 which corresponds with .7938 at 60°F. and with .790 at 68°F., 

 or 20°C. A portion of this alcohol submitted to the action of 

 216 pairs of four-inch plates in the tube, Fig. 2, the platinum 

 foil poles being at the distance of from fa to fa of an inch from 

 one another, still yielded gas from the negative pole, although in 

 smaller quantity than the alcohol of sp. gr. .792 at 20°C. That 

 the quantity of gas was smaller, was merely owing to the circum- 

 stance that the conducting power of the former alcohol was in- 

 ferior to that of the latter ; for the addition of the most insigni- 



