IN VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. 
283 
the other molecules, till the whole chain of aqueous particles be arranged in 
this definite order. The component parts of the electric fluid naturally belong- 
ing to the oxygen and hydrogen will also assume a definite arrangement. The 
component parts of the' electric fluid, thus arranged, will act by induction on 
the neutral electricity belonging to the metallic plates and connecting wire, 
and thus produce a definite arrangement of the molecules of the electric fluid 
along the whole metallic circuit *. 
If the attraction of the oxygen for the hydrogen be stronger than the attrac- 
tion of one of the metals for the oxygen, the water cannot be decomposed; 
and yet this definite arrangement may take place, and consequently there may 
be decided electro- magnetic effects without chemical decomposition. Hence 
diluted alcohol when placed between the copper and zinc plates, develops 
voltaic electricity without the slightest trace of decomposition. 
If the attraction of the zinc for the oxygen be greater than that of the 
oxygen for the hydrogen, the oxygen will combine with the zinc, and the 
hydrogen will be set at liberty. This hydrogen must therefore either be trans- 
ported through the liquid to the copper, or attach itself to the oxygen of the 
next molecule of water, and set its hydrogen at liberty ; and so on, till the last 
atom of hydrogen in contact with the copper plate, having nothing to com- 
bine with, escapes in its gaseous state. It is difficult to conceive how hydrogen 
could be dragged through the intervening mass of liquid with equal facility in 
every direction, and even when the plates are separated by a moistened dia- 
phragm of bladder. The view we have taken of voltaic action, without any 
actual transfer of hydrogen, appears the most simple and natural; and striking 
illustrations of its truth will be given in future experiments. 
When an atom of oxygen is separated from the hydrogen at the surface of 
* Since this paper was written, these views have received a striking confirmation from the splendid 
discoveries of Mr. Faraday. That ingenious philosopher has proved, by the clearest evidence, that 
the neutral electric fluid, essentially belonging to a metallic wire, may be decomposed by the induc- 
tive power of a common magnet, and has even obtained an electric spark from a temporary magnet, 
the only magnet from which a spark has been obtained ; for, in the experiments of Nobili, in which a 
common magnet is used, it is still from a temporary magnet that the spark is ultimately obtained. To 
render the analogy more striking, I have succeeded in exploding a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen 
gases by the spark obtained from the induction of a common magnet, without any actual transfer of 
electricity from the magnet to the conductor. 
