Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1182

GIOVANNI ALDINI (1762-1834) An account of the late improvements in Galvanism. Printed for Cuthell and Martin, and J. Murray 1803 xi, 221 pp., 4 plates. 27.5 cm.

Electrophysiology received its impetus from the experiments of Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) on animal electricity which he first reported in 1791. Working with him was his nephew, Aldini, who carried on his work and extended his experiments to the human body. The present work resulted from a highly successful trip Aldini made to London to demonstrate Galvanic principles. This English account was translated from his original French manuscript and includes a translation of his Latin Dissertationes duae (1794). Also included are his experiments on the body of a criminal executed at Newgate and provided especially to Aldini for research purposes, his earlier experiments on the bodies of three criminals decapitated at Bologna, and experiments he performed at Calais to show that the "Galvanic fluid" could be transmitted through sea water. Aldini's experiments on the executed criminals were important in the later development of cardiac electrostimulation and his successful treatment of melancholy with electricity was a forerunner of modern shock therapy. He also believed that electrotherapy was useful for loss of hearing, blindness, asphyxia, and other human diseases.

Cited references: Cushing A115; Wellcome II, p. 27

Gift of John Martin, M.D.