The physics and chemistry of nervous conduction: Tercentenary Lecture delivered by Professor L. Hodgkin, F. R. S., at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday 20 July i960 at the Royal College of Surgeons

The study of animal electricity is often said to begin with the experiments carried out by Galvani in the latter part of the eighteenth century. But there is little doubt that it started much earlier with observations of electric fish such as Torpedo, Malapterurus and Electrophorus. An Egyptian mura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Notes and records of the Royal Society of London 1961-04, Vol.16 (1), p.57-59
Main Author: Hodgkin, Alan Lloyd
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The study of animal electricity is often said to begin with the experiments carried out by Galvani in the latter part of the eighteenth century. But there is little doubt that it started much earlier with observations of electric fish such as Torpedo, Malapterurus and Electrophorus. An Egyptian mural (circa 2600 B.C.) shows a fish that can plainly be identified as Malapterurus and, in the first century A.D., Scribonius anticipated modern shock therapy by recommending the shock of a Torpedo as a cure for headaches and epilepsy. In more modern times John Walsh, who was awarded the Copley medal for his work, was one of the first to recognize the electrical nature of the Torpedo (Phil. Trans. 1773).
ISSN:0035-9149
1743-0178
DOI:10.1098/rsnr.1961.0010