The experiments made at the Lake of Geneva by Mr. de Luc and his brother, and those made in England on the banks of the Thames, by which it has been proved that common electricity is susceptible of transmission through a considerable space of water, induced me to try some analogous experiments in regard to Galvanism by endeavouring to make it traverse a certain extent of sea.
Some philosophers, to whom I communicated this project, seemed to entertain doubts on the subject, as they conceived that a considerable extent of sea water might perhaps destroy or impede the action of the Galvanic fluid. My late passage at Calais afforded me an opportunity of removing all these doubts by an experiment which was attended with complete success.
M. Sept-Fontaines, distinguished by his philosophical knowledge, was desirous of assisting me in my proposed researches; M. Cheely, chemist of the military hospital, prepared the necessary instruments; and M. Debaudre, the port engineer, conducted the arrangement of the Galvanic arcs.
On the 27th of February, the sky being serene, and the sea calm, every thing seemed to be favourable for the experiment. A gentle south-west wind prevailed at the time; the temperature of the water of the sea was 47·4° of Fahrenheit, that of the atmosphere 49·4°, and the barometer stood at 30·37 inches.
Fort Rouge and the West Mole afforded me two fixed points proper for my purpose. A Galvanic pile consisting of eighty plates of silver and zinc was constructed on the West Mole on an insulated stool, and the animals destined to be exposed to the Galvanic action were placed at Fort Rouge. The Galvanic chain was composed of the arm of the sea which separates Fort Rouge from the Western Mole, and of three wires disposed in the following manner.
The first wire proceeded from the base of the pile, and, being supported by an insulator, fell vertically into the sea to the depth of about three fathoms.
The second wire, insulated in the same manner, proceeded from the summit of the pile, and was conveyed in a horizontal
direction at the height of from six to nine feet above the surface of the sea, as far as the platform of Fort Rouge.
A third wire, also insulated, and placed at one corner of the platform, descended perpendicularly into the sea in the same manner as the first.