40 Report on VajJ'all-Eandt, GiuVio, and RoJJi's 



and his incorreftnefs in regard to the Italian philofophers, 

 had not my Latin memoir been known to him, as it had" 

 appeared in the Tranfadions of the Academy. 



Though we made a great manv experiments before we at- 

 tempted to combat a philofopher fo juftly celebrated as Volta, 

 and to eftablilh the influence of Galvanifm on the involun- 

 tary organs; and though GrapengielTer, Humboldt, Smuch, 

 Fowler, &c. afcertained this inHuence in certain cold-blooded 

 and even warm-blooded animals; an objeA of fo much im- 

 portance to phyfiology required to be extended and confirmed, 

 efpecially in man, by new experiments. We have been the 

 more fenfible of the neceflity of eftablifliing this fact in an 

 inconteliable manner, either in regard to the involuntary or- 

 gans in general, or more particularly the heart, as the cele- 

 brated Aldini, profefTor of Bologna, in an Italian work re- 

 plete with new fadls and valuable experiments made on the 

 bodies of decapitated criminals, has been obliged to acknow- 

 ledge that he was not able to obtain any contraAion in that 

 organ by tncans of the ele6tro-motor of Volta, which is fo 

 powerful. 



We fixall give an account, in particular memoirs, of the 

 experiments we have already made, and of thofe which we 

 propofe to execute. In regard to the ftomach, the large 

 and the fmall inteftines, and the bladder, we fhall fay only, 

 in a general manner, that by armature of the different nervous 

 branches we obtained contradlions analogous to thofe de- 

 fcribcd in regard to animals. The Galvanic aftion on the 

 heart and arteries is the objeft of the prefent paper, as it is 

 of the utmoll importance to phyfiology, and deferves, under 

 every point of view, to excite our attention and opcupy our 

 refle6^ions. 



Our experiments on the different parts of the head an4 

 trunk of the decapitated criminals were begun, on the loth 

 of Aujrul}, in a hall of the large hofpital of St. John, and 

 refumed and continued yeRerdav in the anatomical theatre 

 of the univerfity, before a great number of fpeftators. 



We tried the influence of Galvanifm on the heart in three 

 different ways : 



Tft, In arming the fpinal marrow by means of a cylinder 

 of lead introduced into the canal of the cervical vertebrce, and 

 then conveying one extremity of a filver arc over the furface 

 of the heart, and the other to the arming of the fpinal mar- 

 row. The heart of the llrll individual ful:)jc(iled to our expe- 

 riments immediately exhibited very yilible and very flrong 

 coatraitions. Thefe experiments, as feen, were made with- 

 out 



