t and is replaced by water. A battery which has a leaky jar will
also have a case which is rotted at the bottom and sides. A battery
with a leaky jar must, of course, be removed from the car for repairs.

"Dope" Electrolytes

From time to time within the past two years, various solutions which
are supposed to give a rundown battery a complete charge within five
or ten minutes have been offered to the public. The men selling such
"dope" sometimes give a demonstration which at first sight seems to
prove their claims. This demonstration consists of holding the
starting switch down (with the ignition off) until the battery can no
longer turn over the engine. They then pour the electrolyte out of
the battery, fill it with their "dope," crank the engine by hand, run
it for five minutes, and then get gravity readings of 1.280 or over.
The battery will also crank the engine. Such a charge is merely a
drug-store charge, and the "dope" is generally composed mainly of high
gravity acid, which seemingly puts life into a battery, but in reality
causes great damage, and shortens the life of a battery. The starting
motor test means nothing. The same demonstration could be given with
any battery. The high current drawn by the motor does not discharge
the battery, but merely dilutes the electrolyte which is in the plates
to such an extent that the voltage drops to a point at which the
battery can no longer turn over the starting motor. If any battery
were given a five minutes charge after such a test, the diluted
electrolyte in the plates would be replaced by fresh acid from the
electrolyte and the battery would then easily crank the engine again.
The five minutes of running the engine does not put much charge into
the battery but gives time for the electrolyte to diffuse into the
plates.

Chemical analysis of a number of dope electrolytes has shown that they
consist mainly of high gravity acid, and that this acid is not even
chemically pure, but contains impurities which would ruin a battery
even if the gravity were not too high. The results of some of the
analyses are as follows:

No. 1. 1.260 specific gravity sulphuric acid, 25 parts iron, 13.5
parts chlorine, 12.5, per cent sodium sulphate, 1 per cent nitric acid.

No. 2. 1.335 specific gravity sulphuric acid, large amounts of organic
matter, part of which consisted of acids which attack lead.

No. 3. 1.340 specific gravity sulphuric acid, 15.5 per cent sodium
sulphate.