3^8 Galvanic Society, Paris, 



petitors will include in it any of thofe opinions of the antient 

 or modern writers which, being founded on fiiperftition or 

 ignorance, would excite only difguft. It rather wiflies that 

 they would feleft, explain, and examine the opinions of 

 Ariftode, Thcophraltus, Pliny, Seneca and Ptolemy, among 

 the antients, and thofe of the philofophers of the i6lh and 

 i8th centuries, particularly Telefius,Patricius,Bruno,lord Ba- 

 con, Kepler, Gadendi, and Defcartes, a knowledge of which 

 may be of ufe to meteorology at prefent: it requires alfo, 

 that the manner in which the obfervations were made, and 

 the inllruments employed, may be briefly defcribed, marking 

 at the fame time the climate. An inquiry may alfo be made 

 refpeiling the origin of that opinion, which became fo pre- 

 \'alent, in regard to the influence of the planet's on meteors : 

 and, in the laft place, the author may briefly and generally 

 determine how far we can approach nearer to the truth by 

 improving phyfical aflronomy and meteorology. 



The prize for each of thefe quellions is fifty ducats, and 

 the memoirs muft be tranfmitted to the fociety before the 

 month of September each year. 



GALVANIC SOCIETY, PAPvIS. 



Galvanic fafts, in proportion as they are accumulated, 

 afford a hope of the happieft refults being foon obtained from 

 the application of this ftimulus. Thole which we are here 

 about to detail relate partly to theory and partly to the me- 

 dical employment of this fluid. 



In a late fitting of the Galvanic Society, C. Gautherot 

 mentioned on obfervatinn made by him anterior lo that pe- 

 riod, which was both curious in ilfelf, and of importance, on 

 account of the induftions that may be drawn from it. As it 

 is necefTary to be known before a proper opinion can be 

 formed of thofe bv which it was accompanied, we think it 

 proper to lay before the reader the two following experiments: 

 Experiment I. 



The perfon who performs this experiment places in his 

 mouth the upper ends of two wires of platina, or of any other 

 metal not oxidablc, and immediately brings the other two 

 ends into conta6t with the two extremities of a weak Gal- 

 vanic a[)paratus, to afcertain thedegree of its influence. When 

 this arrangement lias been made, the perfon will experience 

 an efietSl more or Icfs remarkable, according as the tongue is 

 more or Icfs exercifcd in perceiving the peculiar favour of the 

 Galvanic fluid. But if he places thefe two ends of the pla- 

 tina wires one upon the other without deranging thofe placed 

 in the mouth, he will again experience, though in a weaker 

 degree, the fenfatioa of the favour. 



Experiment 



