Large Leclanché sack cell

In 1866 Georges Leclanché developed and patented the first battery, forerunner of cylindrical or stick batteries. Known as the saline or dry cell battery, its electrodes are in contact with gelled solutions that do not run, enabling its easy manipulation and innumerable applications. This battery won a prize at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867 and rapidly became the touchstone. Widely used until the interwar period, it was constantly improved by electrical engineers and manufacturers, who adapted it to domestic and industrial uses such as lighting, telegraphy, telephony and radio. It is one of a series of objects formerly in the École Supérieure des Postes et Télégraphes.