Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
- FIRST PUBLISHED PAPER ON ELECTRICITY
- PART II CONTAINING A COMPARISON OF THE FOREGOING THEORY WITH EXPERIMENT
- PART: [EXPERIMENTS ON COATED PLATES.]
- WHETHER THE FORCE WITH WHICH TWO BODIES REPEL IS AS THE SQUARE OF THE REDUNDANT FLUID, TRIED BY STRAW ELECTROMETERS
- AN ACCOUNT OF SOME ATTEMPTS TO IMITATE THE EFFECTS OF THE TORPEDO BY ELECTRICITY. BY THE HON. HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S.
- EXPERIMENTS, 1771
- EXPERIMENTS WITH THE ARTIFICIAL TORPEDO
- RESISTANCE TO ELECTRICITY
- RESULT
- RESULTS [OF EXPERIMENTS ON RESISTANCE OF SOLUTIONS]
- NOTES
- ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Plate section
AN ACCOUNT OF SOME ATTEMPTS TO IMITATE THE EFFECTS OF THE TORPEDO BY ELECTRICITY. BY THE HON. HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
- FIRST PUBLISHED PAPER ON ELECTRICITY
- PART II CONTAINING A COMPARISON OF THE FOREGOING THEORY WITH EXPERIMENT
- PART: [EXPERIMENTS ON COATED PLATES.]
- WHETHER THE FORCE WITH WHICH TWO BODIES REPEL IS AS THE SQUARE OF THE REDUNDANT FLUID, TRIED BY STRAW ELECTROMETERS
- AN ACCOUNT OF SOME ATTEMPTS TO IMITATE THE EFFECTS OF THE TORPEDO BY ELECTRICITY. BY THE HON. HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S.
- EXPERIMENTS, 1771
- EXPERIMENTS WITH THE ARTIFICIAL TORPEDO
- RESISTANCE TO ELECTRICITY
- RESULT
- RESULTS [OF EXPERIMENTS ON RESISTANCE OF SOLUTIONS]
- NOTES
- ALPHABETICAL INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
395] Although the proofs brought by Mr Walsh, that the phenomena of the torpedo are produced by electricity, are such as leave little room for doubt; yet it must be confessed, that there are some circumstances, which at first sight seem scarcely to be reconciled with this supposition. I propose, therefore, to examine whether these circumstances are really incompatible with such an opinion; and to give an account of some attempts to imitate the effects of this animal by electricity.
396] It appears from Mr Walsh's experiments, that the torpedo is not constantly electrical, but hath a power of throwing at pleasure a great quantity of electric fluid from one surface of those parts which he calls the electrical organs to the other; that is, from the upper surface to the lower, or from the lower to the upper, the experiments do not determine which; by which means a shock is produced in the body of a person who makes any part of the circuit which the fluid takes in its motion to restore the equilibrium.
397] One of the principal difficulties attending the supposition, that these phenomena are produced by electricity, is, that a shock may be perceived when the fish is held under water; and in other circumstances, where the electric fluid hath a much readier passage than through the person's body.
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- Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish , pp. 194 - 215Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1879