ALDINVS IMPROVEMEMTS IN GALVANISM. 
and cannot indeed be rendered very in- 
telligible, without more attention to 
figures than-will be bestowed by the ge- 
neral reader. ‘This part of the subject 
‘is therefore very properly brought into 
a narrow compass, and the volume that 
might have been employed upon light 
alone, surrenders up one half to electri- 
city, galvanism, and magnetism. 
In the fourth volume, the system of 
the world is explained in the usual man- 
ner, and the latest discoveriesare inserted. 
The addition of two new planets to the 
system and of the discoveries of Herschel 
and Schroeter, give an\additional inte- 
rest to this part of the work, and of them 
the author has very judiciously availed 
himself, Aerostation is well known; as 
to its general facts, as a science, it re- 
mains still in its infancy. The child sees 
919° 
its bubble rise with the same pleasure as 
the multitude the balloon; the direction 
of the progress of either still depends on 
the breath of the lad, or the caprice of 
the winds. It is, however, a curious. 
subject; and with that of meteors, and 
the falling of stones in different parts of 
the world, will be perused with plea- 
sure. 
On the whole, the work is admirably 
well adapted to give a general idea of a 
number of interesting topics. From its 
size, it cannot be supposed to dilate suf- 
ficiently upon" any article to ‘satisfy the 
diligent enguirer ; but as a book of refe- 
rence, and an easy explanation of philo- 
sophical subjects, it merits the attention” 
of the general reader, and does great 
credit to the author. . 
Art. II. An Account of the late Improvements in Galvanism, with a Series of curious and 
interesting Experiments, performed before the Commissioners of the. French National fusti« 
tute, and repeated lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London. 
ByJoun Axrvixt, Pro- 
fessor of experimental Philosophy in the University of Bologna, Member of the Medical and 
Galvanic Societies of Paris, of the Medical Society of London, &c, To which is added, an 
Appendix, containing the Author’s Experiments on the Body of a Malefactor executed at 
Newgate, Fe. Te. 
THE impression made by the experi- 
ments of Professor Aldini will not easily 
be effaced from the memory of those who 
were fortunate enough to be witnesses 
of them. When this ingenious foreigner 
left England, he put his manuscripts into 
the hands of the editor of this work, 
(whose name does not appear) partly in 
French, partly in Latin. They are here 
all collected and published in English, 
and, together, form a series of most cu- 
rious and interesting experiments, more 
surprising perhaps than were ever pre- 
sented in one point of view, and afford- 
ing abundant matter for present contem- 
plation ‘and future enquiry. 
The subject being as yet but new, no 
more of theoretical reasoning accompa- 
nies the recital of matter of fact, than 
necessarily attends the researches of in- 
genious men; it is therefore to the facts 
and original discoveries that the reader’s 
attention will be chiefly directed. A 
few of them we shall mention, not as an 
abstract of the whole, (which ought to 
be consulted in the work itself, and with 
the assistance of the plates) but as an in- 
ducement,to those of our readers who 
pursue the fascinating science of physi- 
ology, to attend to a subject which pro- 
mises so rich a harvest in an unexhausted 
field. 
Illustrated with Engravings. 
The first part of this volume treats of 
the nature and general properties of gal- 
vanism. The facts are reduced to a 
nuniber of general propositions, each of 
which is proved by an appropriate expe- 
riment. In all, the ultimate object is to 
produce, by various methods, muscular 
_motion in different parts of animals re- 
cently killed. 5 
Thus the first proposition is, that mus- 
cular contractions are excited by the de- 
velopment of a fluid in the animal ma- 
chine, which is conducted from the nerves 
to the museles, without the action cf me- 
tals. This is proved in the following 
experiment: 
«© Tavine provided the head of an ox 
which had been recently killed, 1 thrust afin- 
ger of one of my hands,-moistened with salt 
water, into one of the ears, at the same time 
that I held a prepared frog in the other hand, 
in such a manner, that its spinal marrow 
touched she upper part of the tongue. When 
this arrangement was made, strong conyul- 
sions were observed in the frog; but on se- 
parating the are, all the contractions ceased. 
‘This experiment will succeed still better, if 
the arc be conveyed from the tongue of 
the ox to the spinal marrow of the frog.” 
A. real attraction, never before ob- 
served, between muscle and nerve, is 
proved by the following experiment: 
SN 4 
