Credit: © The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.9194
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    Experiments on galvanism with frogs

    Date
    1804
    Object type
    Library reference
    R68357
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 110mm
    width (print): 195mm
    Subject
    Content object
    nature
       > animal
          > frog
    Description
    "A B is a plate electrical machine; C the prime conductor; D a brass ball held at a distance of two or three inches from the prime conductor by an assistant; W the experimenter [possibly Wilkinson], with a prepared frog, E, on a plate, and touching the muscles with a dissecting knife. As often as a spark passes from C to D, the muscles of the frog are thrown into action, even at a distance of two or three feet from the machine, with which it is perfectly disconnected." Illustration from Elements of galvanism, in theory and practice, by Charles Henry Wilkinson (London, 1804) the 'Lecturer on Galvanism in Soho-square'.

    Elements of was an early history of galvanism and Galvani's experiments in the 1780s and 1790s, and a practical manual showing how to perform experiments in 'animal electricity'.
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Europe
          > United Kingdom
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