Electro-physiology and electro-therapeutics : showing the best methods for the medical uses of electricity / By Alfred C. Garratt.

St. Thomas's Hospitals, who were present to witness the proceed- ings. His next statement was, — 2. " That the proper electric current of the frog is competent of itself to produce muscular contractions." For the purpose of showing this, he prepared the posterior extremities of the recently killed frog that had been vigorous, and by bending up the leg, he brought the muscles of the thigh in contact with the lumbar nerves, when contractions instantly resulted. Next Aldini took the prepared and separated frog thighs with their long ischiac nerves intact, and placed a ligature loosely around the middle of one of the nerves, which was then applied to a corresponding muscle ; contractions ensued ; but on tight- ening the ligature convulsions ceased. This statement, as re- marked by Golding Bird, is highly important, for upon its accuracy or error hinges and depends what has been regarded as one of the tests of the identity or diversity of the electric and nervo-electric agencies. As soon as this phenomenon was an- nounced, Dr. Valli repeated and entirely corroborated the result, with some modification; for he says, " I found that when the moist, tight ligature was applied lower down and near the muscle, it prevented the contraction ; but if it is placed farther up, that is, near the spine, it will not prevent it." These same results were soon after corroborated by Von Humboldt, and still later by Professor Matteucci, who says, " If care is taken to insulate the nerve, a tight ligature does arrest the contrac- tions." Before leaving the subject of Galvani's discovery, it is but justice to state that since Professor Matteucci, Golding Bird, and other writers have given currency to the statement that the curious phenomenon observed by Galvani was not origi- nal with him, (but that it had been made some time before by the celebrated Swammerdam, and that the experiment was ex- hibited by the latter in the presence of the Grand Duke of Tus- cany,) this is not found to be so. The experiment referred to, says Dr. Althaus, of London, was for demonstrating nervous irrita- bility from mere nerve irritation by mechanical means. Galvani's discovery was original. As to the contention between the two