GALVANI Luigi Memorie sulla elettricita animale. Aggiunte alcune elettriche esperienze di Gio. Aldini P. Prof. di Fisica.

DSB V, 267–269; Wheeler-Gift, 606; Wheatland, 94; Wellcome, III, 86. Not in Gartrell.

First edition of one of the seminal texts of electrophysiology. A moving copy that documents the personal circulation of Galvani’s work within the Bolognese scientific community on the eve of the author’s death, as evidenced by this ex-dono inscription on the first endpaper: “1798. Dono del Chiarissimo Autore Sign. Dottor Luigi Galvani a Gregorio Fil[ippo]. M[aria]. Casali Bentivoglio Paleotti“

This study follows Galvani’s early experiments on the effects of electricity applied to frog muscles.

“Galvani’s frog preparations consisted of the spinal cords, crural nerves, and lower limbs dissected as a unit. Using these preparations, he initially touched the conductor of a static electrical machine directly to the spinal cord (resting on a glass plate) and observed the convulsive contractions of the muscles in the lower limbs” (DSB).

Around 1792–1793, Alessandro Volta voiced his doubts about animal electricity, as described in Galvani’s research. Galvani attempted to refute Volta’s criticisms and published new studies in 1794 and 1797, conducted with his nephew Giovanni Aldini, to confirm his findings.

Gregorio Casali Paleotti, for his part, was a senator of Bologna, a professor of mechanics and physics, a leading member of Bologna’s scientific institutions, and also the author of works on sensitivity and irritability. In fact, in 1759, his Lettera sopra la sensibilità, e l’irritabilità halleriana was published in Bologna (in the Supplimento agli opuscoli di vari autori sulla sensibilità ed irritabilità halleriana).

The work is illustrated with 8 figures on 2 fold-out copperplate engravings. They illustrate the new experiments conducted on frogs to confirm the theory that contractions are produced by the circulation of an electrical current specific to the animal, without the need to use metals as conductors—which was Volta’s theory.

Other provenance: A. Denier (bookplate).

Scattered foxing.