The New Student's Reference Work/Battery (electric)

Bat′tery (electric), any combination of voltaic cells, whether used for the purpose of furnishing an electric current or merely to produce electrical pressure. For most purposes, the cells of a battery are joined up in series, that is, the positive pole of one cell is connected with the negative pole of the next cell, and so on (as shown in abovebelow cut). But if the object be to make a battery of the least possible resistance, the cells are joined in parallel, that is, all the positive poles are connected together and all the negative poles connected together, thus forming one large cell. If the object be to obtain the largest possible current, then the cells are so arranged as to make the internal and external resistances of the circuit equal.

SIMPLE GALVANIC BATTERY