John Bostock to Faraday   17 May 1838

My dear Sir,

You are no doubt aware that Galvani in the year 1792, published his "Commentary on the powers of Electricity on muscular motion"¹, which contained the account of his original experiments. In this he maintained the doctrine, that the muscles & the nerves of the animal body compose an apparatus analogous to a Leyden jar, but that the fluid which circulates thro' it is of a specific nature, essentially different from, altho', in many of its properties, resembling common Electricity. Aldini² adopted generally the theory of his relative, in his "treatise on galvanism"³ published in 1803. His experiments, at the time when they were performed, excited a great deal of attention, principally from the large scale, & the nature of the animals on which they were exhibited; viz. the human body & many of the more bulky quadrupeds. It is now a considerable time since I perused the above works, but my impression is, that altho' the facts which they contain, especially that of Galvani, were, at the time, extremely curious & interesting, the theory of these authors has been long superseded & is now almost forgotten.

I am, my dear Sir | Most truly yours | J. Bostock

Up. Bed. Pl. | May 17th 1838

Address: Dr. Faraday | Royal Institution | Albemarle Street