L 
220 Mr. cavendish on the Torpedo. 
than the reft, and weighed about eight grains. If I nfed 
a chain of the fame kind, the wire of which, though 
pretty clean, was grown brown by being expofed to the 
air, the lhock would not pafs through a ftngle interval, 
with the battery charged to about one-third or one-half 
its ufual ftrength. 
It appears, that in this refpeCt the artificial torpedo 
does not completely imitate the effects of the real one, 
though it approaches near to it; for the ftiock of the for- 
mer, when not ftronger than that of the latter frequently 
is, will pafs through four or five intervals of the links of 
a chain; whereas the real torpedo was never known to 
force his through a fingle interval. But, I think, this by 
no means Ihews, that the phenomena of the torpedo are 
not produced by electricity ; but only that the battery I 
ufed is not large enough. For we may fafely conclude, 
from the experiments mentioned in p. 200. and 202. 
that the greater the battery is, the lefs fpace of air, or 
the fewer links of a chain, will a fhockof agiven ftrength 
pafs acrofs. For greater certainty* however, I tried, whe- 
ther if the whole battery and a fingle row of it were fuc- 
ceflively charged to iuch a degree, that the fhock of each 
fhould be of the fame ftrength when received through 
the torpedo in the ufual manner, that of the whole bat- 
tery would be unable to pafs through fo many links of a 
Chain as that of a fingle rowr*;. In order to which I made 
the following machine. 
( b ) The battery, as was before fait!, was divided into feven rows, each of 
which tould be ufed feparately. 
GM, 
