Page:Biographies of Scientific Men.djvu/215

Rh

The Wollaston battery of two hundred cells was constructed for Davy in 1807, and by it many brilliant researches were performed, which excited the rivalry of foreign savants. Among these were the investigations of Gay-Lussac and Thénard, entitled Recherches Physico-Chimiques, published in 1811, and in which are to be found many remarkable observations on the physical and chemical effects of the voltaic battery.

Davy's brilliant researches with the Wollaston battery caused Napoleon I. to have one constructed in 1813 for the École Polytechnique; and one day the Emperor, when speaking to Berthollet, said: "Pourquoi ces découvertes n'avaient pas été faites en France." "Sire," said Berthollet, "c'est que jusqu'à jour nous n'avons pas possédé de pile voltaïque assez puissante." Napoleon had one constructed with six hundred cells (with elements of