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Article ID: CBB001212031

As pesquisas de Lazzaro Spallanzani sobre o fenômeno de entorpecimento e dor causado pelos torpedos (2011)

Maísa Jensen, Gerda (Author)
Brzezinski Prestes, María Elice de (Author)

Filosofia e História da Biologia
Volume: 6, no. 2
Issue: 2
Pages: 227-250

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Explanation; hypotheses; theories Electrophysiology Fishes Electric eels 18th century Italy Adriatic sea Spallanzani, Lazzaro

This paper discusses the studies developed by the Italian naturalist Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) concerning the phenomenon of numbness and pain caused by a fish named torpedo. The context of these studies is pointed out through the contributions made by Spallanzani's predecessors and contemporaries who explained those phenomena appealing to whether mechanical or electrical causes, according to the knowledge of that time. Since electricity was subject of several studies in that century, the present article provides a brief overview of the knowledge concerning the main electrical properties known at that time. Reading the works of some contemporary authors such as Michel Adanson (1727-1806), John Walsh (1726-1795) and John Hunter (1737-1821), defenders of the electrical hypothesis, Spallanzani was led to investigate the issue during a journey to the Adriatic Sea. He had the opportunity to make their own observations and experiences with torpedoes which led him to adopt the electrical hypothesis. The article points out the difficulties in establishing the relationship between the phenomena of electricity and the fish phyisiology. Such difficulties did not allow the outcome of the issue and motivated further studies in the next 50 years.

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