uction of the
electricity and the decomposition of the water is so close, that one cannot
take place without the other. If the water is altered only in that small
degree which consists in its having the solid instead of the fluid state,
the conduction is stopped, and the decomposition is stopped with it.
Whether the conduction be considered as depending upon the decomposition,
or not (443. 703.), still the relation of the two functions is equally
intimate and inseparable.

855. Considering this close and twofold relation, namely, that without
decomposition transmission of electricity does not occur; and, that for a
given definite quantity of electricity passed, an equally definite and
constant quantity of water or other matter is decomposed; considering also
that the agent, which is electricity, is simply employed in overcoming
electrical powers in the body subjected to its action; it seems a probable,
and almost a natural consequence, that the quantity which passes is the
_equivalent_ of, and therefore equal to, that of the particles separated;
i.e. that if the electrical power which holds the elements of a grain of
water in combination, or which makes a grain of oxygen and hydrogen in the
right proportions unite into water when they are made to combine, could be
thrown into the condition of _a current_, it would exactly equal the
current required for the separation of that grain of water into its
elements again.

856. This view of the subject gives an almost overwhelming idea of the
extraordinary quantity or degree of electric power which naturally belongs
to the particles of matter; but it is not inconsistent in the slightest
degree with the facts which can be brought to bear on this point. To
illustrate this I must say a few words on the voltaic pile[A].

[A] By the term voltaic pile, I mean such apparatus or arrangement of
metals as up to this time have been called so, and which contain
water, brine, acids, or other aqueous solutions or decomposable
substances (476.), between their plates. Other kinds of electric
apparatus may be hereafter invented, and I hope to construct some not
belonging to the class of instruments discovered by Volta.

857. Intending hereafter to apply the results given in this and the
preceding series of Researches to a close investigation of the source of
electricity in the voltaic instrument, I have refrained from forming any
decided opinion on the subject; and without at all