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History of the Inductive Sciences

by William Whewell

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Book XIII

MECHANICO-CHEMICAL SCIENCES.
(CONTINUED.)

HISTORY OF GALVANISM,
OR
VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY.

Percusssæ gelido trepidant sub pectore fibræ,
Et nova desuetis subrepens vita medullis
Miscetur morti: tunc omnis palpitat artus
Tenduntur nervi; nec se tellure cadaver
Paullatim per membra levat; terrâque repulsum est
Erectumque simul.

Lucan. vi. 752.

The form which lay before inert and dead,
Sudden a piercing thrill of change o’erspread;
Returning life gleams in the stony face,
The fibres quiver and the sinews brace,
Move the stiff limbs;—nor did the body rise
With tempered strength which genial life supplies,
But upright starting, its full stature held,
As though the earth the supine corse repelled.

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