( «» ) 



followed up the work of Nobiti and Mattoucci, and greatly extended 

 the domain of the physics of muscle and nerve. Like Biot, his work 

 was confined to the investigation of certain problems. His Unter- 

 tmchungen Uber thierische Electricitdt, Vol. I., appeared in 1841, and 

 Vol. II., dedicated to A. von Humboldt, in 1849 ; the work 

 was completed in 1860. His induction coil, key, myograph, &c, are 

 indispensable, and are to be found in every physiological laboratory 

 and are in daily use by students of physiology. This is hardly the 

 place to give a lengthy account of his work. Some of his papers on 

 animal electricity were translated in the Oxford Biographical Memoirs 

 (1887). It may be of interest to give a brief account of some of these 

 earlier pioneers in this subject. His addresses on great occasions 

 brought out the great extent of his knowledge of history, and showed 

 him a master of style and ornate expression. He, with Helmholtz, 

 Briicke. and Ludwig in Germany, Donders in Holland, and Bernard 

 in France, laid the foundations of the newer physiology. 



ALOISIO L. GALVANI. 



•737-I79 8 - 



" Who," says Helmholtz, " when Galvani touched the muscles of a frog with 

 different metals, and noticed their contraction, could have dreamt that all Europe would 

 be traversed with wires, Hashing intelligence from Madrid to St. Petersburg with the 

 speed of lightning ? In the hands of Galvani, and at first even in Volta's, electrical 

 currents were phenomena capable of exerting only the feeblest forces, and could not be 

 detected except by the most delicate apparatus. Had they been neglected on the ground 

 that the investigation of them promised no immediate result, we should now be ignorant 

 of the most important and most interesting of the limits between the various forces 

 of nature." 



BORN in Bologna, he practically spent his life there. He began 

 by studying theology, but soon turned to anatomy and 

 physiology. He became Professor of Anatomy in 1762. At 

 the same time he was engaged in the practice of surgery and 

 midwifery. His wife, Lucia Galeazzi, is intimately associated with 

 him in his epochal discovery of animal electricity. After a time the 

 Cisalpine Republic required him to take an oath that was repugnant 

 to his convictions, and he demitted office. His Chair was restored 

 to him, but he was too ill to fill it again. The following passages 

 from Du Bois-Reymond show the relations of Galvani and Volta to 

 the new discovery : — 



" No one, who has read Galvani's writings, can, without reverence, turn away from 

 the simple picture of that man, whose restless yet blind labours and naive desire for 

 knowledge were destined to bear such fruits. Every one will easily excuse his having 

 E E 



