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Istituto Lombardo
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Notes II (A) (a) Lecture given in Pavia Lecture Theatre at a Promotion ceremony, 5 May 1792 (b) Aloysii Galvani de Viribus Electricitais in Motu Muscolari Commentarius. Bonoiae 1791, in 4°, p. 58, with four big tables of drawings (c) Apart from the Torpedo fish, which belongs to the Raja (translator’s note:Ray, in English, etymologically connected with the Hindi “raja” meaning “emperor”) species, and the Electric eel from Surinam, which is strictly a Gymnotus, there are two other fish nowadays which give electric shocks. One has already been described by ADANSON and called by him the Trembler, then described by FORSKAL and more accurately by BROUSSONNET (Mém. de l’Acad. des Sc. a. 1782, and Journ. de Phys. Aug. 1785) complete with drawing, belonging to the Siluri species and living in African rivers; the other is described in Transazioni Anglicane (1786, Vol 76, p.11), also with drawing, and belongs to the Tetrodon species, to be found in Indian and American seas. (d) I described such machines made with dried wood and cardboard in a Dissertation pub. end of 1771, entitled De Corporibus Eteroelectricis, quae fiunt idioelectrica, Experimenta atque Observationes. (e) This is the main argument of my quoted Dissertation. (f) Memorie Fisiche, Turin 1789. Experiments on the electricity of domestic mice and cats (g) Teses Philos. ecc. Derthonae, 1790. (h) Letter 7, Vol IX and X of the Biblioteca Fisica d’Europa (European Physics Library), 1789. (i) A clear fluid stimulated NEWTON himself, Inves, opt. V HALLER Elem. Physiol. Pub. Lausan, Vol. 4, book 378, referring to many writers’ similar opinions. Translator’s note: footnotes j and k are non-existent. (l) V. HALLER, op.cit. & Collect. Vol. I, p.1925. Many authors could be quoted here, DU FAY, LE CAT, LE CAMUS, KESSLER, HUBER, BESECKE, DES HAIS, and others, apart from GARDINI, BERTHOLON, etc. already praised, many Dissertations and Theses on this subject. A quite recent book, collecting many authorities and succinctly presenting what has been said and thought till now, developing some new ideas, is the following: Dissertatio Philosophica inauguralis sistens examen deElectricitate Corporum Organicorum. Author Edmundus Josephus SCHMUCK, Hedelberg 1791. (m) The situation is this: Such animal electricity shows no exterior signs. The signs obtained by Physicists in all the experiments mentioned above are indeed signs of real electricity but do not prove any properly animal electricity, in the sense required, as has been explained. Instead of intrinsic electricity coming from the organs of the animal itself, they do prove, however, there is extrinsic electricity coming from friction, etc, in short artificial electricity. Saying all experiments, I have probably exaggerated. One or two, notably with electric urine, do seem to indicate something about real animal electricity, though they do not prove it conclusively, as I have already remarked. (§ 15) (n) HALLER, Op. cit. (o) Mém. de l’Acad des Sc. de Paris, A. 1752, p. 240, 24.
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