134 Analyses of Books. [Aug. 



opinions, stripped of the slang which every where obscures them, 

 he would confer no small favour on the reputation of Ritter, and 

 even upon the philosophical reputation of Germany itself. Prof. 

 GErsted, of Copenhagen, is another writer, whose works our 

 author obviously has not seen. His theory bears a certain 

 analogy with that of Berzelius ; but it is by no means the sam* 

 with his. Berzelius has descended into much more minute par- 

 ticulars than GErsted, who has given his theory in very general 

 terms indeed. It would be easy to show that Berzelius's doctrine 

 is not consistent with the theory of electricity as it is at present 

 admitted, at least in this country ; but I am not aware that the 

 same objection lies against the theory of CErsted. Indeed the 

 present state of the doctrine of heat must, I should think, satisfy 

 every thinking person that the present theory cannot be much 

 longer defended. The connexion between electricity and heat 

 is so obvious that, I conceive, whatever overturns the theory of 

 heat to be equally fatal to that of electricity. But this is not the 

 place for such discussions. 



Our author has divided his work into two parts. In the first, 

 he gives a history of the new galvanic investigations in the order 

 of their discovery, dividing the whole history into three eras ; 

 viz. 1. The experiments made before the discovery of the pile. 

 2. The experiments from the discovery of the pile to the decom- 

 position of the alkalies. 3. The history of the decomposition of 

 the alkalies and earths. 



1. It was to an accidental observation made in Galvani's 

 dissecting room, as is universally kuown, that galvanism owes 

 its origin. These observations, however, might have been made 

 without drawing the attention which they deserved, had it not 

 been for the speculations of Galvani respecting the nervous fluid, 

 his attempt to support these speculations by his experiments on 

 frogs, and the discussion which ensued between him and Volta 

 respecting the cause of the convulsions into which in these 

 experiments the limbs of the frogs were thrown. For almost 100 

 years before, Du Verney had made the very same observation, 

 which attracted the attention of Galvani, yet it did not lead to 

 the discovery of galvanism. Du Verney's observation being 

 curious, and not generally known, I shall transcribe the account 

 of it as I find it in the Histoire de l'Academie Royal des Sciences 

 for 1700 (p. 40). " II a fait voir sur une Grenouille fraichement 

 morte, qu'en prenent dans le ventre de l'animal les norfs qui vont 

 aux cuisses etaux jambes, et en les irritant un peu avec le scalpel, 

 ces parties fremissent, et souffrent une espece de convulsion. 

 Ensuite il a coupe ces memes nerfs dans le ventre, et les tenant 

 un peu tendus avec la main, il leur a fait faire le meme effet par 

 le meme mouvement du scalpel. Si la Grenouille etoit plus 

 vieille morte, cela n'arriveroit point. Apparemment il restoit 

 encore dans ces nerfs des liqueurs, dont l'ondulation causoit le 

 fremissement des parties ou ils repondoient, et par consequent 



