Volta on Animal EleSrlcity , ^o 



dtns. I Inquired whether this flake had, at any tim^ 

 .formed part of a building, or been near one ; but I was af- 

 fured by a peafant that he had cut it down not far from the 

 {pot, and that it had never been employed for any other pur- 

 pofe. As this flake was not hollow, and could afford no 

 flielter to bats, it does not appear how thefe bugs could bft 

 conveyed to it from a houfe. There is reafon to conjefture, 

 rather, that thefe infcAs live and propagate even in timber. 

 That they are able to endure the v.ii,ter cold is beyond aU 

 doubt. I expofed a piece of furniture to the open air for 

 three years, and e\ery fummer bu^s were obferved upon it 

 in great abundance. 



IX. Obferi'atmis on Anhnal Elc£irtcitj 3 being the Subjiance 

 of two Letters from A. VoLTA to FrofefJ'or Grex *- 



I 



F a tin bafon be filled with foap-fuds, lime-water, or 

 a ftrong ley, which is flill better, and if you then lay hol4 

 of the bafon wi h both your hands, having firfl moilkned 

 them with pure water, and apply the tip of your tongue to 

 the fluid in the bafon, you will immediately be fcnfible of aji 

 acid tafte upon your tongue, which is in contaj^ with the 

 alkaline liquor. This talie is ver\- perceptible, and, for lh« 

 moment, pretty flrong ; but it is changed afterwards into a 

 different one, lefs acid but more faline and pungent, until ii 

 at lad becomes {dkaline and iharp in proportion as the fluid 

 a£ts more upon the tongue, and as the activity of its peculiar 

 tafte and its chemical power, more called forth, produce a 

 greater effei'^l iu regard to the fenfation of acidity occafioned 

 by the flrcam of the elc<flric fluid, which, by a continued 

 circulation, paffes from the tin to the alkaline liquor, thence 

 to the tongue, then through the perfon to the water, and 

 thence to the tin again. I explain the phenomenon in this 



• FroiD Utuei "Jourrnd dir Pbjfik, vol. iii. p. 4, and vol. v*. p- \ . 



manner. 



