A.D. 1798.—Berton (Henri Montan), a prominent French composer and Professor of Harmony at the Paris “Conservatoire de Musique,” also a member of the “Académie des Beaux-Arts,” devises a novel electric telegraph which is merely alluded to, under the heading of “Note historique sur le télégraphe électrique,” at p. 80 of the seventh volume of the Comptes Rendus for July 1838, as well as in Julia Fontenelle’s “Manuel de l’électricité.”
A.D. 1799.—Fabbroni—Fabroni—(Giovanni Valentino M.), Professor of Chemistry at Florence, communicates to the Journal de Physique (9th series, Tome VI, Cahier de Brumaire, An. VIII), an amplification of his able memoir, “Sur l’action chimique,” etc. (“Dell’azione chimica ...”), which was first presented by him during 1792 to the Florentine Academy and duly analyzed by Brugnatelli in his “Giornale physico-medico.” Therein is made the first known suggestion as to the chemical origin of voltaic electricity, inquiring whether the phenomenon of galvanism is not solely due to chemical affinities of which electricity may be one of the concomitant effects, and also ascribing the violent convulsions in a frog to a chemical change which is produced by the contact of one of the metals with some liquid matter on the animal’s body, the latter decomposing and allowing its oxygen to combine with the metal.
References.—“Elogio ... A. Lombardi” (“Mem. Soc. Ital.,” Vol. XX); Cornhill Magazine, Vol. II for 1860, p. 68; “Biog. Univ.,” Vol. XIII. p. 311; “Encycl. Met.,” “Galvanism,” Vol. IV. p. 215; Journal de Physique, Vol. XLIX. p. 348; “Chambers’ Ency.,” 1868, Vol. IV. p. 593; “Mem. Soc. Ital.,” Vol. XX. pp. 1 and 26; P. Sue, aîné, “Histoire du Galvanisme,” Paris, An. X-1802, Vol. I. pp. 229–232; Phil. Mag., Vol. V. p. 270; Nicholson’s Journal, quarto, Vol. IV. p. 120; Sir Humphry Davy, “Bakerian Lectures,” London, 1840, p. 49; Young’s “Lectures,” Vol. I. p. 752; W. Sturgeon, “Scientific Researches,” Bury, 1850, p. 156; “Giornale di fisica” for 1810; “Giornale dell’ Ital. Lettera ...” IX. p. 97; “Atti della Reg. Soc. Economica di Firenze,” XX. p. 26; Brugnatelli, Annali di chimica, II. p. 316 and XXI. p. 277; C. Henri Boissier, “Mémoire sur la décomp. de l’eau, etc.,” Paris, 1801 (Journal de Physique, Prairial, An. IX).
A.D. 1799.—Jadelot (J. F. N.), French physician, translates Humboldt’s work on “Galvanism,” wherein he reviews the investigations of the great German scientist and treats of the application of the Galvanic fluid in medical practice. The observations of a friend of Humboldt, Dr. C. J. C. Grapengieser, are especially detailed and a complete account is given of all the noted physicians who have recorded experiments in the same line.
References.—For the medical applications of Galvanism: Journal de Physique, Vol. LII. pp. 391, 467; Gilbert’s “Annalen,” XI. 354, 488 and XII. 230, 450; “An. of Sc. Disc.” for 1865, p. 123; Larrey, 1793, 1840; L. Desmortiers, 1801; Legrave, 1803; F. J. Double, 1803; J. Nauche, 1803; “Galv. Soc.” (Phil. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 281); Laverine, 1803; Mongiardini and Lando, 1803; F. Rossi, 1803–1827; J. Schaub, 1802–1805; B. Burkhardt, 1802; M. Butet, 1801; J. Le Roy d’Etiolle, “Sur l’emploi du Galv....”; P. L. Geiger, 1802–1803; J. D. Reuss in “De Re Electrica”; M. Buccio, 1812; La Beaume, 1820–1848; P. A. Castberg (Sue, “Hist. du Galv.,” IV. 264); Fabré-Palaprat and La Beaume, 1828; Rafn’s “Nyt. Bibl.,” IV; C. C. Person, 1830–1853; S. G. Marianini, 1841; C. Usiglio, 1844; F. Hollick, 1847; G. Stambio, 1847; Du Fresnel, 1847; H. de Lacy, 1849; M. Récamier, J. Massé, 1851; R. M. Lawrance, Robt. Barnes, and Crimotel de Tolloy, 1853; M. Middeldorpf, 1854; R. Remak, 1856, 1860, 1865; J. Seiler, 1860; V. Von Bruns, 1870.
A.D. 1799.—Humboldt (Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron Von) (1769–1859), native of Berlin, is the author of “Cosmos” so frequently alluded to in these pages, and, in the words of one of his biographers, “will be remembered in future times as perhaps, all in all, the greatest descriptive naturalist of his age, the man whose observations have been most numerous and of the widest range, and the creator of several new branches of natural sciences.”
The French translation of his work on “Galvanism” (“Expériences sur le Galvanisme ... traduit de l’allemand par J. F. N. Jadelot”) appeared in Paris during the year 1799, before which date, Noad remarks, no one had applied the galvanic arc, as he did, to so many animals in various parts of their bodies. Among other results, he discovered the action of the electric current upon the pulsation of the heart, the secretions from wounds, etc., and he proved upon himself that its action was not limited to the sole instants of the commencement and end of its passage.
In the first volume of his very interesting work on “Galvanism” (pp. 166–174, 261–310, 407–434) Wilkinson reviews the above-named publication which M. Vassalli-Eandi, in 1799, pronounced “the most complete that has hitherto appeared.” The following sectional extracts are mainly taken from Mr. Wilkinson’s book, Chap. IX. part ii. Humboldt’s first experiments were made with the aid of M. Venturi, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Modena, and they were followed quite assiduously for a while, but it was not until he learned of the important observations made by Fowler, Hunter and Pfaff on animal electricity and irritability, that he was spurred on to still further extended investigations, which were carried on more particularly in presence of Jurine, Pictet, Scarpa, Tralles and Volta. Humboldt’s work is divided into ten sections, as follows:
Sect. I treats of the relation between galvanic irritation and incitability.
Sect. II deals with the galvanic irritation produced without a coating, or metallic or charcoal substances (repeating the investigations of M. Cotugno, which led to the experiments of Vassalli during 1789).