Luigi Galvani, an Italian
physician and anatomy professor in Bologna, was dissecting a
frog in his laboratory on a table near an electric machine
which was generating sparks.
He noticed that the frog leg jumped when a metal
scalpel touched a nerve.
Through many years of experimentation, he
concluded that within the frog there was electrical nerve fluid
that reacted to a completed electrical circuit and caused the
muscles of even a dead frog to contract.
His insistence on "animal electricity" and not
metallic or atmospheric electricity was that while he could
certainly make the frog legs jump when in contact with 2 metals and
also during thunderstorms, there were times when the frog legs
contracted on perfectly clear days without a complete arc of two
metals.
Galvani theorized that frogs, being plentiful,
could serve as a renewable source of electrical power. Thus was
born the concept of the frog battery.
One afternoon Galvani and his wife watched as a
frog, hopping along a gravel path, jumped onto some energized
wire.
As expected, the muscles began to contract as the
energy passed through them.
It was then that his wife inhaled the delicious
aroma arising from the now crispy frog legs.
Over the years Galvani continued his experiments
in a futile attempt to use frogs as source of
electricity.
Needing funds to continue the experiments,
Galvani's wife began selling the the by-products of his
experiments, fried frog legs, at a road side stand near their
home.
Although Galvani never succeeded in using frogs as a source of
sustained electrical power, his wife expanded the road side stand
into a chain of restaurants famous throughout Europe for their fine
cuisses de grenouille frites.
This microcache is located in Huguenot Park. You may
encounter briars depending on the approach taken. There is only
room for a log so please bring your own writing instrument.
Please be sure to carefully rehide
the container so others can enjoy the hunt.
After being taken home as a souvenir by a
geocacher on November 3, 2005 the cache was replaced using a
different "presentation" on November 5. Coordinates have been
updated.
The container is not placed in a
restricted area and there is no need look anywhere that displays a
warning such as "Caution", "Keep Out" or other such
language.
Please be sure to observe park hours.
I believe a pinnacle every geocacher
seeks to achieve is to place a cache so transparent that the seeker
will hold and fondle it, toss it away, or even keep it … oblivious
to the fact they actually possessed that which they were seeking. I
have reached that pinnacle knowing that several experienced
geocachers were absolutely fooled by “Cuisses de Grenouille
Frites”. I can now retire a Happy Geocacher!
While in
the park, take the time to visit these other fun caches
Frog in the Moss (Not Any More)
Huguenot Park
Huge-Not
Come Back To
Tadpole's Tough One Revisited