Note 20 — Chapter V · Volta the Founder of Electrical Science.

Brother Potamian has called my attention to the fact that Volta's work on the origin of electricity from two different metals when, though connected, they were yet separated by some moist medium, was curiously anticipated by an observation described by Sulzer, in a book called Nouvelle Théorie des Plaisirs, 1767. In this he states that, if a silver and a lead coin, placed one above and the other under the tongue, be brought in contact a sour taste develops, which he considers to be due to vibrations set up by the contact of the two metals. He seems also to have had a dash of light before the eyes, so that all the elements necessary for the discovery of the voltaic pile were in his hands, and indeed he was making what has since become one of the classical experiments, by which certain physiological effects of the electric current are demonstrated.