Three or
four important things will happen which we shall take advantage of. I
place this wetted paper upon a sheet of tinfoil, which is convenient for
keeping all clean, and also for the advantageous application of the power;
and this solution, you see, is not at all affected by being put upon the
paper or tinfoil, nor by anything else I have brought in contact with it
yet, and which, therefore, is free to us to use as regards that
instrument. But first let us see that our instrument is in order. Here are
our wires. Let us see whether it is in the state in which it was last
time. We can soon tell. As yet, when I bring them together, we have no
power, because the conveyers--what we call the electrodes--the passages or
ways for the electricity--are stopped; but now Mr. Anderson by that
[referring to a sudden flash at the ends of the wires] has given me a
telegram to say that it is ready. Before I begin our experiment I will get
Mr. Anderson to break contact again at the battery behind me, and we will
put a platinum-wire across to connect the poles, and then if I find I can
ignite a pretty good length of this wire, we shall be safe in our
experiment. Now you will see the power. [The connection was established,
and the intermediate wire became red-hot.
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