An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London — John Shaqi
An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of LondonAldini, Giovanni
Science
An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London
Aldini, Giovanni
Electricity -- Early works to 1850
The first of these decapitated criminals being conveyed to the
apartment provided for my experiments, in the neighbourhood of the
place of execution, the head was first subjected to the Galvanic
action. For this purpose I had constructed a pile consisting of a
hundred pieces of silver and zinc. Having moistened the inside of the
ears with salt water, I formed an arc with two metallic wires, which,
proceeding from the two ears, were applied, one to the summit and the
other to the bottom of the pile. When this communication was
established, I observed strong contractions in all the muscles of the
face, which were contorted in so irregular a manner that they
exhibited the appearance of the most horrid grimaces. The action of
the eye-lids was exceedingly striking, though less sensible in the
human head than in that of the ox.
EXPERIMENT XXIII.
Having established an arc from the top of the left ear, and then from
the bottom of that ear to the tongue, drawn about an inch without the
mouth, contractions were observed in the face, and the tongue sensibly
returned into the mouth. I then touched the upper or lower lips, and
obtained contractions, which were remarkable chiefly in all the
muscles of the left part of the face; so that the mouth appeared as if
distorted by a partial kind of palsy. On the first application of the
arc, a small quantity of saliva was discharged from the mouth.
EXPERIMENT XXIV.
I caused the head to be shaved exactly above the parietal protuberance
on the right side; and having moistened the integuments, armed with
silver and zinc, I established a communication by means of the pile
between the parietal bone and one of the ears. I obtained
contractions, but weaker than those observed when the arcs were formed
according to the different methods already described.
EXPERIMENT XXV.
Having formed an arc from the ears to different parts of the face,
moistened with a solution of muriate of soda, such for example as the
nose and forehead, I always observed violent contractions. But the
contractions were stronger when, instead of the first-mentioned pile,
I employed another consisting of fifty plates of copper and zinc. I
even still decreased the number of plates, in order that I might try,
in the course of these experiments, the different degrees of activity
which the pile would exhibit.
EXPERIMENT XXVI.
The head of the other criminal being brought to me after I had
employed about half an hour in these experiments, I repeated them on
this second head, and found the results to be analogous to those
before obtained. But the contractions produced in the second head were
stronger in consequence of its greater vitality: the vitality of the
first seemed to have been nearly exhausted.
EXPERIMENT XXVII.
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