Page:Hamel Telegraph history England 1859.pdf/41

37 when placed in the voltaic circuit, in the open air, and also in a vacuum, I was, much against my wish, detained on Mont Blanc, at the Grands Mulets, the whole clay, as well as the preceding and following flight, in clouds discharging flashes of lightning.

I cannot forego stating my belief that Oersted knew of Romagnosi's discovery, announced in 1802, which was eighteen years before the publication of his own observations. It was mentioned in Giovanni Aldini's (the nephew of Galvani's) book: " Essai théorique et expérimental sur le Galvanisme," printed at Paris in 1804, and dedicated to Bonaparte, to whom, in Italy, he had had the honour to explain experiments relating to his uncle's great discovery.

He says, at page 191: "M. Romanesi, physicien de Trente, a reconnu que le galvanisme faisit decliner l'aiguille aimantée."

Oersted was in Paris in 1802 and 1803, and it appears