HELMHOLTZ IN KONIGSBERG 



His physiological work also led Helmholtz to in- 

 vestigate the phenomena of induction currents, more 

 especially as to their duration. He also studied the 

 physiological effects, observed by Briicke, of electric 

 shocks of extremely short duration in large conductors 

 applied to the human body. These researches led to 

 the invention of the well-known pendulum myograph. 



Du Bois Reymond mentions as an amusing example 

 of Helmholtz's untiring energy that, as a recreation 

 between periods of intense mental activity, he was in 

 the habit of watching through a telescope the good 

 people of Konigsberg as they walked along the streets 

 near his laboratory. Weber had studied human loco- 

 motion, describing and drawing the movements of 

 the limbs. Helmholtz found that Weber had made 

 several mistakes, more especially as to the way of put- 

 ting down the foot, and his observations were verified 

 long afterwards by instantaneous photography and by 

 other methods devised by Marey, 1 Professor of Physi- 

 ology at the College of France. 



1 E. J. Marey, Animal Mechanism, Book II., chap. iii. London, 1874. 



