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Inscribedstamped with old Harvard number: 7-45
FunctionThe cell was devised by Poggendorff in 1842 and established in the above form by Grenet in 1856. It was very popular with experimenters for many years because it gave off no fumes. It consists of carbon(+) and zinc(-) electrodes in a dilute solution of sulphuric acid saturated with potash bichromate. The bottle would be half-filled with the acid solution and one would activate the battery by lowering the zinc into the solution.
Primary SourcesJ. E. H. Gordon, A Physical Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 2nd ed. (London, 1883), pp. 207-208.
Donato Tommasi, Traité des piles électriques (Paris, 1889), p. 124.
ProvenanceFrom the Department of Physics, Harvard University.