Electrology and localized electrization revisited.
The pioneers of clinical and kinesiological electromyography are known to be Galvani (1786, 1792), von Humboldt (1797) and Duchenne (de Boulogne) (1855, 1862, 1867, 1872). A bibliometric survery of historical - if possible - original manuscripts have given a lot of information on the works of different scientists related to Electrology, localized electrization which became electromyography. Part of this information has not been verified with an original source, often because the original source cannot be discovered and if found, permission is not always obtained for consulting and/or copying. Historical information is known via fragmented reference in modern literature. Again it is often incomplete and much depends on how the reference was used in the first place. Among most scientists Galvani is considered the oldest source in electromyography (muscular irritation) but many original sources and correspondence indicate that many of his peers were working on the same topic before and during the major Galvani publication (1792). In Belgium and Holland many anatomists and movement scientists know Swammerdam and Boerhaave, (e.g. Kardel, 1990), but this information has never been put into perspective with that of earlier centuries.
Clarys
J P
JP
Experimentan Anatomy, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.