Celine Cherici - From Clouds to the Brain

7 7Aware of the ambiguities of the state of proven death, Aldini underlined the fact that an individual can be paralyzed and alive or, on the contrary, moving and dead: “[…] that a man whose paralyzed limb refuses to undergo muscular contractions can very well be alive; whereas muscular contractions can easily be obtained by galvanism, or any other stimulant, in a subject who is truly deprived of life.” [ALD 04, pp. 222-226, author’s translation].

8 8These preoccupations to differentiate between the state of life and that of death were developed during the 19th Century [DES 51; CAR 15].

9 9“Execution of Weems”, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, August 13, 1819.

10 10William Sturgeon is known to have introduced the first electromagnet in 1825. In 1832, he introduced the first electric motor. In 1836, he published the journal Les Annales de l’Électricité and invented the galvanometer.

11 11In his film Frankenstein (1994), the director Coppola shows the doctor plunging the patched body into a tank filled with electric fish. This other interpretation of the novel refers to the work on these animals, and also to a natural electricity, here organic.

12 12To give just a few examples of French language references of articles on Thomas Courant’s therapies: Le Siècle from September 18, 1821, article by M. Pecatier; La France Musicale from January 25, 1852, article “Castil-Blaze”; Le Constitutionnel from June 20, 1852; L’Assemblée Nationale de juin 1853, article by Doctor Aussandon; Le Siècle from October 19, 1853, article by Doctor Aussandon; Les Débats from September 10, 1854, article by M. F. Barrière; Le Siècle from July 13 and January 25, 1855, articles by Léon Plée; Le Pays from September 16, 1855, article by M. Lecouturier; Le Courrier médical from April 30 and July 23, 1861, Le Mouvement médical from August 20, 1805 (Scientific observations); Le Temps from October 14, 1865, les ceintures du docteur Courant sont recommandées contre le choléra, by Doctor O. de Langenhagen, Le Pays from January 10, 1866, article by M. J.-F. Gall; finally, the English language Daily Post, London, August 2, 1864.

13 13Andrew Crosse is known for his research on electrocrystallization.

14 14Excerpt from the newspaper Le monde illustré, dated August 14, 1887.

15 15Aldini also experimented with human conduction chains: “Let four or more people, holding hands moistened with a solution of muriate of soda, form a long animal chain; let the first person hold in his hand the muscles of a prepared frog; if the last person, placed at the opposite end of the room, touches the spinal cord or the crural nerves, the contractions take place; if the animal chain is interrupted, the contractions cease at that instant” [ALD 04, p. 10, author’s translation].

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