chemical Agencies of Electricity. 13 
decomposition of the muriate of soda attached to the paste- 
board ; and to many facts which have been since observed on 
the separation of the constituent parts of neutrosaline and 
metallic solutions, particularly those detailed by M. M. Hi- 
singer and Berzelius.* 
The first experiments that I made immediately with 
respect to this subject were on the decomposition of solid 
bodies, insoluble, or difficultly soluble in water. From the 
effects of the electrical agency on glass, I expected that various 
earthy compounds would undergo change under similar cir- 
cumstances ; and the results of the trials were decided and 
satisfactory. 
Two cups made of compact sulphate of lime, containing 
about grain-measures of water each, were connected to- 
gether by fibrous sulphate of lime, which was moistened by 
pure water : the cups were filled with this fluid; platina wires 
from the Voltaic battery of 100 pairs of plates of six inches 
were introduced into them, so that the circuit of electricity was 
through the fibrous sulphate of lime. In five minutes the 
water in the cup connected with the positive wire became 
acid ; that in the opposite cup strongly tinged turmeric. 
After an hour the fluids were accurately examined ; when it 
was found that a pure and saturated solution of lime had been 
produced in the cup containing the negative wire, which was 
partially covered with a crust of lime ; and that the other cup 
was filled with a moderately strong solution of sulphuric acid. 
I procured two cubical pieces of crystallized sulphate of 
strontites, of about an inch ; a hole was drilled in each capable 
of containing about 8 grains of water: the cubes were 
<^b 
* Annales de Cbimie, Tom. LI. p. 167. 
