



 ON GALVANISM, 



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xjfALYANISM is a branch of natural philoso- 

 phy, entirely of modern origin, which derives its 

 name from Galvani, Professor of Anatomy at Bo- 

 logna. He had the good fortune to make some 

 observations on the electricity of the muscles of 

 frogs, that appeared to him to depend upon a new 

 power in the animal body ; and although it is now 

 generally admitted that he drew an erroneous 

 inference from his observations, yet they led to a 

 train of experiments, which have associated his 

 name with some of the most brilliant discove- 

 ries of modern science. To the supposed new 

 power he gave the name of animal electricity, 

 conceiving it to depend upon something inherent 

 in the animal body itself; but we now regard 

 these effects as produced by minute quantities of 

 the electric fluid, set at liberty by a certain agency 

 of substances upon each other. 



Galvanism may be defined, a series of electrical Definition 

 phenomena, in which the electricity is developed 



