The zinc rods must be well amalgamated by rubbing with mercury under dilute acid until they show a uniformly bright surface. They should not produce a brisk effervescence when placed in the acid in the porous pot before coupling up.
The battery when working is apt to become dirty from the "creeping" of the copper and zinc sulphate solution. It must be kept away from the working bench, and is best kept in a box on the floor.
The connection of the battery with, and the fixing of, the electrodes may be made by any suitable arrangement, but the following is a very convenient plan. The wire from the zinc is connected by means of a binding screw with a piece of stout copper wire, which, at a distance sufficiently great to allow of easy coupling with the battery, is led along the back of a piece of hard wood. This is fixed horizontally about one foot above the working bench. The general arrangement is shown in fig. 50, in which, however, for the sake of economy of space, the battery is placed on the working bench instead of on the floor. The piece of wood is one inch square and three or four feet long. It is perforated from front to back at distances of six inches by a number of small holes, in which are inserted screws like that shown in fig. 51. These are known as "terminals," and may be obtained of any electrician. The head of each screw is soldered to the wire mentioned above as running along the back and as being connected with the zinc end of the battery. These terminals serve to fix the electrodes on which the copper is to be deposited. The wire from the copper end of the battery is similarly connected by a connecting screw (fig. 52) with another wire (H in fig. 53), which runs along the top of the rod and has soldered to it, at distances of six inches, cylindrical spirals of copper wire. These should project from the rod at points about half-way between the terminals already described. They may be made by wrapping copper wire around a black-lead pencil for a length of about three inches.
The rod is perforated from top to bottom with a series of small holes, one in advance of each terminal but as near it as possible. Into these short pieces of glass tube are inserted to ensure insulation. These receive the other electrodes, which are connected with the wire leading to the copper end of the battery, through the spirals, with the help of a binding screw. The figure will make this clear. (Fig. 53.)
The electrodes consist of a platinum spiral and cylinder. The spiral should have the shape shown in A, fig. 54. When in work it is passed through one of the holes fitted with glass tubes and connected with the copper end of the battery. The thickness of the wire of which it is made is unimportant, provided it is stout enough to keep its form and does not easily bend. The spiral will weigh about 8 grams. The cylinder (C, fig. 54) will weigh about 12 grams. It should have the shape shown in the figure. In working it is clamped to one of the terminals, and on it the copper is deposited. A cylinder will serve for the deposition of from 1 to 1.5 gram of copper. It is made by rivetting a square piece of foil on to a stiff piece of wire, and then bending into shape over a glass tube or piece of rounded wood. Each cylinder carries a distinctive number, and is marked by impressing Roman numerals on the foil with the blade of a knife. The weight of each is carefully taken and recorded. They lose slightly in weight when in use, but the loss is uniform, and averages half a milligram per month when in daily use. The cylinders are cleaned from deposited copper by dissolving off with nitric acid and washing with water; and from grease by igniting.