Volta’sannouncementofhispilewasscarcelytwomonthsoldwhentwoEnglishmen，Messrs。NicholsonandCarlisle，madethediscoverythatthecurrentfromthegalvanicbatteryhadadecidedeffectuponcertainchemicals，amongotherthingsdecomposingwaterintoitselements，hydrogenandoxygen。OnMay7，1800，theseinvestigatorsarrangedtheendsoftwobrasswiresconnectedwiththepolesofavoltaicpile，composedofalternatesilverandzincplates，sothatthecurrentcomingfromthepilewasdischargedthroughasmallquantityof\"NewRiverwater。\"\"A
finestreamofminutebubblesimmediatelybegantoflowfromthepointofthelowerwireinthetubewhichcommunicatedwiththesilver，\"wroteNicholson，\"andtheoppositepointoftheupperwirebecametarnished，firstdeeporangeandthenblack……\"Theproductofgasduringtwohoursandahalfwastwo-
thirtiethsofacubicinch。\"Itwasthenmixedwithanequalquantityofcommonair，\"continuesNicholson，\"andexplodedbytheapplicationofalightedwaxenthread。\"
Thisdemonstrationwasthebeginningoftheveryimportantscienceofelectro-chemistry。
TheimportanceofthisdiscoverywasatoncerecognizedbySirHumphryDavy，whobeganexperimentingimmediatelyinthisnewfield。Heconstructedaseriesofbatteriesinvariouscombinations，withwhichheattackedthe\"fixedalkalies，\"thecompositionofwhichwasthenunknown。Veryshortlyhewasabletodecomposepotashintobrightmetallicglobules，resemblingquicksilver。Thisnewsubstancehenamed\"potassium。\"Theninrapidsuccessiontheelementarysubstancessodium，calcium，strontium，andmagnesiumwereisolated。