Among animal bodies, the torpedo is one of those which produce the most powerful Galvanic action. In the autumn of 1801, I made some experiments on this animal at Genoa, in conjunction with Professor Mojon and his brother, who gave me every assistance in their power. When I touched the torpedo, under water, at the moment when it gave the shock, it contracted itself, and two jets of water proceeded from the two holes in its head. To obtain the shock, it was not necessary to touch two distinct parts of its body: in many cases, the application of the hand to the electric organ was sufficient. PROPOSITION XI. _Mere electrization, by means of the common kinds of apparatus, does not increase the action of Galvanism._ EXPERIMENT I. Artificial electricity was communicated to an apparatus, composed of a hundred cups, care being first taken to insulate the table and the persons who were afterwards to receive the action of it. If we suppose that the heterogeneous arcs were charged with different kinds of electricity, it would seem that, by communicating to them any electricity, the electricity of the whole apparatus ought to have been reduced to the same kind; consequently that no shock ought to have been produced. The contrary, however, was the case. We experienced very strong shocks, very little different from those which would have been obtained without artificial electricity. I observed the same result with the pile. EXPERIMENT II. An insulated torpedo being electrified, the shocks it gave were not increased. The torpedo was killed, and then armed, according to the method of Galvani, for the purpose of trying whether metallic electricity, in this case, would have any influence over it. After this arrangement was made, every time that the conducting arc was applied to it strong contractions were produced; but very little different from those remarked in other animals. This observation is agreeable to those made at Naples by the celebrated Abilgaard, who, having subjected the torpedo to the Galvanic processes, found no extraordinary contractions. PROPOSITION XII. _The Galvanic action is increased by employing as part of the arc the apparatus of Volta, or the electrified Leyden flask._ EXPERIMENT I. In the hall of the Institute, I placed on a large table a hundred glass cups, and arranged them in such a manner as to form two rectangles, each composed of fifty. I established a communication between the first of these cups and the apparatus of Volta, by means of a metallic wire, which proceeded from one of the interior chambers of the _Cabinet de Physique_, and terminated at the place where the experiment was performed. I then tried this arrangement several times; and, however different opinions might be in regard to the precise increase of the action of the Galvanism, all constantly agreed in considering the shock as stronger. Some even went so far as to assert that it was increased a third.