[103] As far as the principle of Voltaic protection goes, this may be very true; but it must be remembered that the acid generally present upon these occasions is acetic acid, which rises in distillation with water, so that at the boiling temperature it will be carried beyond the sphere of Voltaic influence, and may thus act upon the denuded copper as much as though tin were not present.
Whether the principle of Voltaic protection be applicable or not to the purpose of preserving copper sheathing, it is evident that it will suggest numerous other expedients of high importance in the arts, while it will explain phenomena previously unintelligible. By introducing a piece of zinc, or tin, into the iron boiler of the steam-engine, we may prevent the danger of explosion, which generally arises, especially where salt-water is used, as in those of steam-boats, from the wear of one part of the boiler. Another important application is in the prevention of the wear of the paddles, or wheels, which are rapidly dissolved by salt-water.
Mr. Pepys has also extended the principle for the preservation of steel instruments by guards of zinc: razors and lancets may be thus defended with perfect success. In the construction of monuments which are to transmit to posterity the record of important events, the artist will be careful in avoiding the contact of different metals: it is thus that the Etruscan inscriptions, engraved upon pure lead, are preserved to the present day; while medals of mixed metals of a much more recent date are corroded.
Numerous are the facts daily presented before us, which receive from this principle a satisfactory explanation. To the philosopher, the examination of its agencies will furnish a perpetual source of instruction and amusement; and I will here enumerate a few simple instances of its effects: in the first place, for the purpose of showing that, whenever a principle or discovery involves or unfolds a law of Nature, its applications are almost inexhaustible, and that, however abstracted it may appear, it is sooner or later employed for the common purposes of life; and in the next place, in the hope of convincing the reader, that there does not exist any source of pleasure so extensive and so permanent as that derived from the stores of philosophy. The saunterer stumbles over the stone that may cross his path, and vents only his vexation at the interruption; but to the philosopher there is not a body, animate or inanimate, with which he can come in contact, that does not yield its treasures at his approach, and contribute to extend the pleasures of his existence.