Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/452

448 Farther along he says:

In a postscript to this letter published the next year (1797 or 98) Volta says:

Some new facts, lately discovered, seem to shew that the immediate cause which excites the electric fluid, and puts it in motion, whether it be an attraction or a repulsive power, is to be ascribed much rather to the mutual contact of two different metals, than to their contact with moist conductors. But though it can not be denied that in the latter case there exists an action, it is proved that it exerts itself in a far more considerable degree when two metals mutually touch each other. There arises by the mutual contact, for example, of silver and tin, an action or power by which the former communicates the electric fluid, and the latter receives it; or the silver suffers it to escape and the tin attracts it. This produces, when the circle is rendered complete by moist conductors, a stream, or continual circulation of the fluid. When the circle is complete, there is an accumulation in the tin at the expense of the silver; which indeed is very small, and far under the point necessary to enable it to announce itself by the most delicate electrometer. I have however been able, by the assistance of my condenser, constructed on a new plan, and still better by Nicholson's doubler, to render it very perceptible: I shall here communicate the result obtained by my experiments, which I made some time ago with great satisfaction.

Exper. I. The three plates of the doubler are of brass. I took two strong wires, one of silver and the other of tin, and brought the former into contact with the movable plate, and the other with one of the fixed plates; while they both rested on the table, or, what is better, on moist pasteboard, or any other moist conductor, so as to be in communication by the intervention of one or more conductors of the second class. I suffered the apparatus to remain some hours in this state, then removed the two wires and put the machine in motion. After 20, 30 or 40 revolutions (or more when the atmosphere was not dry, or the insulation imperfect) I brought one of my straw electrometers into contact with the movable plate, and observed indications of positive electricity (+ E) which arose to 4, 6, 10 degrees, and more. If I suffered it to touch the fixed plates, I had the corresponding indications of the opposite kind of electricity (—E).

The silver, therefore, poured the elastic fluid into the brass plate when it had been some time in contact with it; and the tin attracted it from the other plate, which was also of brass, while in contact with it. This was confirmed by the following experiment, which is a real experimentum crucis.

II. I reversed the experiment, so that the silver was in contact with one of the fixed plates, and the tin with the moveable one. The electricity which I obtained from the latter, after the apparatus had remained a sufficient time in that position, was negative $$(-E)$$; while that of the fixed plate was positive $$(+E)$$.

III. This is the reverse of the former. The piece of tin was applied to one of the fixed plates, and the moveable one was insulated from all metallic