Volta vs Galvani - The animal electricity debate
Online exhibition looking at how electricity in a medical capacity has developed from the Antiquities through to the early twentieth century. Quack treatments are examined alongside studies of anatomy and x-rays.
A prolific contributor to medical electricity, Volta in 1801 invented the voltaic pile. It revolutionised study into electricity's effect on the body by providing, for the first time, a continuous current. He also studied its effect on animals, vehemently objecting to Galvani's inference of animal electricity.
He claimed that the contractions obtained could be attributed to an excess or defect of electricity in different parts of the animal, which would have been due instead to the effect of two different metals (in the same manner as his pile). The debate raged for some years until the term galvanism was introduced, the use of which did not commit one to any particular allegiance.
