SECOND DISSERTATION _on animal electricity, read in the Institute of Bologna in the year 1794_ 155 _Conclusion_ 186 APPENDIX 189 No. I. _An account of the experiments performed, by J. Aldini, on the body of a malefactor executed at Newgate Jan. 17, 1803_ ib. No. II. _Report presented to the Class of the Exact Sciences of the Academy of Turin, 15th August 1802, in regard to the Galvanic experiments made by_ C. VASSALI-EANDI, GIULIO, _and_ ROSSI, _on the 10th and 14th of the same month, on the bodies of three men a short time after their decapitation_. _By_ C. GIULIO 204 No. III. _Account of an experiment made at Calais, on the transmission of Galvanism through an arm of the sea_ 217 AN ACCOUNT OF THE LATE IMPROVEMENTS IN GALVANISM. A just tribute of applause has been bestowed on the celebrated Professor Volta for his late discovery; and I have no desire to deprive him of any part of that honour to which he is so justly entitled; but I am far from entertaining an idea that we ought, on this account, to neglect the first labours of Galvani. Though these two philosophers pursued different routes, they concurred to throw considerable light on the same points of science; and the question now is, to determine which of them deduced the most just consequences from the facts he observed; and then to ascertain whether the facts established by Galvani lead to the theory of Volta, or whether those discovered by Volta are connected with the theory of Galvani. For my part, I am of opinion that these two theories may serve in an eminent degree to illustrate each other. Last year Professor Volta announced to the public the action of the metallic pile. I here propose to exhibit, according to the principles of Professor Galvani, the action of the animal pile. Such is the plan I have conceived in order to reconcile the systems of these two illustrious philosophers: it forms the object of the present work, which is divided into three parts. In the first I shall exhibit the action of Galvanism independently of metals, and explain some of its general properties. The second will contain experiments on the power of Galvanism to excite the vital forces. In the third I shall propose some useful applications of it to medicine, and explain the principles on which the new medical administration of Galvanism is founded. To render the work as methodical as possible, I have endeavoured to arrange the experiments in such a manner that they may serve as proofs to a series of general propositions, which, it is hoped, will be of use to physiology and to the doctrine of the animal economy. PART THE FIRST. OF THE NATURE AND GENERAL PROPERTIES OF GALVANISM.