Volta's tongue

Contrary to popular belief, the first cell by Volta was not the zinc and copper plates dipped in acid, as can be seen in the photo in the Como museum.

Following in the steps of Galvani, Volta understood that electricity is present in muscles. In 1798 Volta observed that if he placed pieces of silver and zinc on his tongue (silver a little further, and copper just on the tip of the tongue) he felt an acid-like taste. If you swap the order of metals you feel an alkaline taste.

You can repeat this experiment easily. Take a paper clip and put a coin into it. Put out your tongue as far as you can and place the clip with the coin on your tongue. Don' swallow the clip and don't bite off your tongue. Or you can as well lick a metal pencil sharpener since it is very difficult to come across a real silver or zinc coin.