He bequeathed all his possessions to his nephew Vassalli, upon condition of the latter’s taking the name of Eandi.
Besides the above, he wrote: “Memorie istorische,” etc., or “Historical Memoir upon the Studies of Father Beccaria,” Turin, 1783, which is dedicated to Count Balbi and gives the new theories of electricity, also an “Essay upon the Errors of Several Physicists in Regard to Electricity,” Turin, 1788.
References.—“Notice sur la vie ... d’ Eandi par Vassalli-Eandi,” Turin, 1804; “Biographie Générale,” Vol. XV. p. 589; Larousse, “Dict. Universel,” Vol. VII. p. 5; the Turin Academy Memoirs for the years 1802–1804; Eandi e Vassalli-Eandi, “Physicæ Experimentalis,” etc., Turin, 1793–1794.
A.D. 1790.—Vassalli-Eandi (Antonio Maria), Italian savant (1761–1825), nephew of G. A. F. G. Eandi, who was, like his uncle, a pupil of Beccaria, publishes his views concerning the electricity of bodies and regarding other investigations, as well as a report upon experiments relative to the electricity of water and of ice, which appear respectively in L. V. Brugnatelli’s Annali di Chimica, Vol. I. p. 53, in the “Bibl. Fis. d’Europa,” Vol. XVII. p. 144, and in the third volume of “Mem. della Soc. Italiana.”
He was one of the most prolific of Italian writers, his more important essays, which number 160, being written in Italian, Latin and French, and covering almost every leading branch of physical science. One of his biographers tells us, Il a embrassé, pour ainsi dire, l’ensemble des connaissances humaines, and that he is one of whom his country may justly be proud.
In his investigations concerning aerolites, which appeared in 1786 (“Memoria ... sopra ... bolidi in generale”), he explains the movements of those bodies much more satisfactorily than had previously been done by any scientist. Essays published by him during the same year, as well as in 1789 and 1791, treat of the effect of electricity upon vegetables; then follow his papers relative to Bertholon’s “Electricité des Météores,” to Haüy’s theories and to the meteorological observations of Senebier, De Saussure, Toaldo and Monge, up to 1792, when Vassalli was made Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Turin University. He had also in the meantime carefully looked into the scientific knowledge possessed by the ancients, and was led to believe, as shown in his “Conghietture sopra l’arte,” etc., that they had the means of attracting and directing thunder and lightning. The latter fact has been alluded to in this “Bibliographical History,” under the B.C. 600 entry. (See J. Bouillet, “De l’état des connaissances,” etc., Saint Etienne, 1862.)
He was after this made perpetual secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin, then became Director of the Museum of Natural History, as well as of the Observatory situated in the last-named city, which position he held at the time of his death.
His other essays treat more particularly of animal electricity, the electricity of fishes, the effects of electricity upon recently decapitated bodies, the application of electricity and of galvanism to medicine, and cover very extended observations on meteorology. He was the editor of both the “Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences of Turin, from 1792 to 1809,” and of the “Annals of the Turin Observatory, from 1809 to 1818” (Larousse, “Dictionnaire Universel,” Vol. XV. p. 801); was likewise editor of the “Bibliothèque Italienne,” in conjunction with Giulio Gioberti and Francesco Rossi, and is said to have devised an electrometer superior to that of Volta.
References.—Vassalli-Eandi, Giulio (or Julio) e Rossi, “Rapport présenté,” etc., Turin, 1802, or “Transunto del Rapporto,” etc., Milano, 1803 (“Opusc. Scelti,” Vol. XXII. p. 51), translated into English, London, 1803 (Phil. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 38); also Vassalli-Eandi, F. Rossi et V. Michelotti, “Précis de nouvelles expériences galvaniques,” Turin, 1809 (“Mém. de Turin,” Années, 1805–1808, p. 160). See likewise, S. Berrutti, “Elogio,” etc., 1839; “Saggio sulla vita ... Vassalli-Eandi,” Torino, 1825; “Notizie biografiche ... Vassalli Eandi” (“Mem. di Torino,” Vol. XXX. p. 19); “Elogio, scritto dal Berrutti” (“Mem. of the Ital. Soc.,” Vol. XXII. p. liv); Phil. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 319; Journal de Physique, An. VII. p. 336 and Vols. XLIX, L; “Ital. Soc. Mem.,” Vols. VIII. p. 516; X. p. 802; XIII. p. 85; XVII. p. 230; XIX. p. 347; “Mémoires de Turin,” Vols. X-XIII; “Mem. dell’ Acad. di Torino,” Vols. VI, X, XXII, XXIV, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX; “Mem. della Soc. Agrar. di Torino,” Vol. I; “Opuscoli Scelti,” Vols. XIX. pp. 215, etc.; XXII. p. 76; “Nuova Scelta d’Opuscoli,” Vol. I. p. 167; “Opuscoli Scelti di Milano,” quarto, Vol. XIV; “Mem. Soc. Ital.,” Vols. IV. p. 263; X. p. 733; “Biblioteca Oltramontana”; Brugnatelli’s Annali di Chimica; “Giornale Scientifico ... di Torino,” Vols. I, III; “Giornale Fis. Med.,” Vol. II. p. 110; “Biblioteca Italiana”—“Bibliothèque Italienne,” Vols. I. p. 128; II. p. 25; “Recueil périodique ... de Sédillot,” Vol. II. p. 266.
A.D. 1790–1800.—Morozzo—Morotius—(Carlo Luigi, Comte de), Italian savant, who studied mathematics under Lagrange, and was President of the Turin Academy of Sciences, publishes numerous scientific memoirs in French through the reports of the last-named institution, in one of which he is said to have described an experiment suggesting the electro-magnet.