New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1841-12-24
DR. Lardnsr's Second Lecture.
IConcluded-l
GAI.TANIsNi.
Second Series,

highly Interesting character. NJ. Arsgo whose
writings are 50 attractive and deseIvedly popular,
and whose works cannot be too strongly recon-
mended TO all the admirers of delightful ease IN
scientific writing, remarks tina, the grand discovery
of Galyanisn can be distinctly traced TO the rack
tina, Bolognese lady, having cutarrh was or
dcred by her physician frog broth as 4 aie''
GALvASI was Professor of Anatomy IN nm
sity at Bologna in 1890 Mad. 6aivan. 0NaH NM,
10 be afflicted with cold in the head 'oi ",',e"
prescribed broth prepared from .
items of frog. Her husband mad pe,'n
ing some electrical experiments. ana ',ie "'c'''0
Of the frop CHANGED 10 lie upon the table near MS
o,no,o,,s Mad Galynni was astoni'hed 10 3D.
sreye ns a pupil of her husband was performing
.o,oa .gb, experiment the limbs OF the frog start
and no conyused She called to the tact the at
,-n,ion of Galvani, who repeated the experiment
and found motion resembling that OF he IN the
Jis.ected limbs of the freq. Immediately eIalvani,
who was not an electrician, but physician, was
seized with the idea that he had made grand dis
covery; he believed that he had found some ciec-
,rcal principle in the animal economy, and having
once got this idea in his head, ne consumed years
of his life in following it out, and cndeayonns TO
make i, clear.
II is u most curious fact that the discovery OF
Galysnism owes its origin TO the ignorance OF Ual-
vani. If ne had been well instructed ne would a;
once have seen that the reason OF The convul'ivc
movement in the limbs Of tho frog was owing to
nothing else than what is called the lateral shock
which the shock produced by passing an electri-
fed conductor near Il BODY in lis natural state
When the machine was electrified a shock passed
nsar the nerves OF the frog-whch are the most
delicate clecroscopes-and caused the convulsive
movement that he observed. Had Galvani seen
this his inquiries wosld have stopped here, and he
would not have fallen upon his subsequent DIS
covery.
Some time after he had first observed this phe-
pomenon he dissected frog for the purpose OF re-
peating the experiment; and in order TO prepare
tho limbs, he found it necessary TO ha'g them up
for short time. lie took copper wire, made
book at each cpd, and passed sne hook through the
nerves OF tine frog, and hung the ether upon the
iron of the balcony. To his establishment the
nerves soon began play If alive. his attract
cd his attention. and led ultimately TO the dlscove-
~ oil Galvanlsm. He accounted for the Phenomc-
noa in this way. He looked upon the metal onl,
as conductor of tho electricity Of the nerves ana
the muscles OF organized bodies At lhe Junction
OF the nerves and the muscles he thought the cleo
tricity was evolved-the one kind passing along the
nerves, and the other along the muscles. Now, IT
YOU take wire and attach one end To the nsrye
thus opened, and the electic;ies may be united BY
passing along the wires thence, said Galyani, arr
ses the convulsive motion. his mode vi account
ing for it was for some time in fashion, and va,
generally received by scientific men.
At this time VOLTA who performed the expert
Ynent have already described, had commenced hls
observations at the University of Pavla not far
from Bologna Hearing of Galvani discovery, he
applied to Its consideration higher powers OF mind
than Gavani possessed, and proved ihat the lat
ter suppostion of the origin of electricity at the
junction of the nerves and muscles, had no ounda-
ton whatever and he proved moreover that the
evolution took place in the two metals that when
the iron and copper came together, electricity was
evolved by their mere contact. Thus Volta saw
nothing wonderful in Gslvanis experiments, except
that new sort OF electricity was discovered aud
gave variety of reasons dIsprovo Galvanl's
elaborate and wonderful conclusions. Volta soon
after followed up the inquiry and in the year 1906
year rendered further remarkable by the dlscov-
cry of the small planets Vesta and Ceres, discsv
ed OF the creates; instruments OF philosophical
inyestigaton-the VOLtaic Pie.
He first discovered the fact that by bringing to-
gether different metals. zinc and copper, electrl-
city was evolved. He soon saw that by little In
genuity these metals mg ht be multiplied to any e%-
tent and that thus he might obtain Constant
stream Of the electric fluid from sources never be-
fore suspected. He reasoned in tins way: suPpo' c
place upon plate of copper zinc plate, thelr
contact will cause continued stream OF elcctrci-
ty--the positive passing along the zinc and the ne
gative along the copper.
Now If the eXtremteS OF these two metals most
remote from their mutual contact be connected by
metallic arc the positive fluid will move from the
zinc toward the copper and the negative from the
copper toward The zinc, along this arc. And again,
If place upon this pair of plates another par,
likewise evolving electricity, and over these third
ia evident that currents of electricity will he c.
rablished At each surface Of contact oi the two
metals, the positive current running along the zinc
and the negative along the copper. There VIII
then proceed from the first surface downward
negative and an upward positive current; from the
second downward positive and an upward mega
live, &c.; the downward current being negative
and the upward positive from the upper surface OF
each copper disc and the upward negative and the
downward positive from the lower surface OF the
coppcr disc Both the downward and the upward
currents then will be alternately positive and mega
tive Some cxpedient must therefore be adopted
TO render all the currcats in the same direction OF
the same kind ; then the current issuing IRON Tie
bottom of the pile would be u negative current as
many times greater than the one from the single
pair rs there are surfaces OF contact supplying the
currents VOLTA selected discs ii moist cloth to
place between the several pairs, since these would
prevent the action OF all the surfaces in which as
cending negative or descending positive currents
could originate, and AT the same time act as free
conductor OF electricity HisapParsus thenPrescnt-
ed first copper then zinc then clcth-coPPer, zinc,
cloth and so on as far Us he chose carry II. This
he called the Volteic pile which afterwards as
sun,ed new form in the Voltaic battery.
Volta soon the importance of this discovery,
and wrote TO Sir JosEPH BANKS. then President
OF the Royal Society of London, describing his M
vention; and conscious was he of the Importance
~. IL TINT he did NOT whit unlil il wa. cnmplsLeG