HISTORY OF GALVANISM. 9 



Fowler afterwards enters upon an interesting Effect on 



, . ,, a* r> i ,1 the volun- 



inquiry respecting the effect of galvanism on the ta r y and in- 



different parts of the body. " What are the re- 

 lations which subsist between the influence dis- 

 covered by Galvani, and the muscles, the nervous, 

 and the vascular systems of animals ? " He found 

 that the contractions were very readily excited in 

 all the muscles which are subservient to the will, 

 but that they were with great difficulty produced 

 in the heart, while he was not able to produce any 

 effect upon the stomach and intestines. He ob- 

 served, that when a part is in a state of inflamma- 

 tion it acquires an additional sensibility to the 

 galvanic stimulus, and he made the curious dis- Effect on 

 co very of the flash of light, which is produced by tongue. *" 

 placing the two metals in contact with the ball of 

 the eye, and then causing them to communicate 

 with each other. Sultzer, a German metaphysical 

 writer, had mentioned several years before, the 

 effect produced on the organ of taste, by applying 

 two metals, one above and the other below the 

 tongue, and then bringing them into contact; 

 but the sensation was ascribed to a peculiar vibra- 

 tion excited by the metals, and conveyed to the 

 tongue. The experiments with the two metals, 

 upon the eye and the tongue, were varied in dif- 

 ferent ways by Professor Robison, an account of 

 which is published at the end of Fowler's Essay. 

 Professor Robison also mentions the sensation of 

 taste which is excited, w~hen the tongue is applied 

 to the edges of a number of plates of zinc and 



8 



