Cells may be of two types, primary and secondary.

Primary cells are those consisting of electrodes of dissimilar
elements which, when placed in an electrolyte, become immediately
ready for action.

Secondary cells, commonly called _storage cells_ and _accumulators_,
consist always of two inert plates of metal, or metallic oxide,
immersed in an electrolyte which is incapable of acting on either of
them until a current has first been passed through the electrolyte
from one plate to the other. On the passage of a current in this way,
the decomposition of the electrolyte is effected and the composition
of the plates is so changed that one of them becomes electro-positive
and the other electro-negative. The cell is then, when the _charging_
current ceases, capable of acting as a voltaic cell.

This chapter is devoted to the primary cell or battery alone.

Types of Primary Cells. Primary cells may be divided into two
general classes: first, those adapted to furnish constant current; and
second, those adapted to furnish only intermittent currents. The
difference between cells in this respect rests largely in the means
employed for preventing or lessening polarization. Obviously in a cell
in which polarization is entirely prevented the current may be allowed
to flow constantly until the cell is completely exhausted; that is,
until the zinc is all eaten up or until the hydrogen is exhausted from
the electrolyte or both. On the other hand some cells are so
constituted that polarization takes place faster than the means
intended to prevent it can act. In other words, the polarization
gradually gains on the preventive means and so gradually reduces the