Andrew Crosse, an English electrician, born in Bromfield, Somersetshire, June 17, 1784, died July 6, 1855. He was matriculated at Brazenose college, Oxford, in 1802; but the habits of his fellow students seem to have been particularly unsuited to him, and in 1805 he returned to settle on his estate of Fyne Court, which he had five years previously inherited from his father, and where he passed the greater part of his life. Having a strong predilection for the study of electricity, he provided himself with the necessary apparatus, and pursued his experiments without regard to theories. One of his first discoveries was the production of crystals by the effect of electricity. By the action of the voltaic battery, excited by water alone, upon a tumbler of water taken from a cavern in the neighborhood lined with arago-nite crystallizations, he procured in a few days crystals of carbonate of lime. For 30 years he prosecuted these experiments, and succeeded in obtaining 41 mineral crystals, or minerals un-crystallized, in the form in which they are produced by nature, including one, subsulphate of copper, entirely new, being neither found in nature nor previously formed by art. He was of the opinion that it was possible to form diamonds in this way.

As he worked alone and never published the results of his discoveries, they were unknown to the scientific world until the meeting of the British association for the advancement of science in Bristol in 1836, when he was induced to explain them publicly. The announcement excited unusual interest, and Mr. Crosse was complimented by eminent scientific men. For many years he had been in the habit of employing the electrical fluid for ascertaining the state of the atmosphere and for other purposes, and had constructed a mile or more of insulated wire above the tree tops in the neighborhood of his house to aid his experiments. In 1816 he predicted "that by means of electrical agency we shall be able to communicate our thoughts instantaneously with the uttermost ends of the earth," although it does not appear that he ever attempted to fulfil his prediction. The discovery, however, with which his name is chiefly connected, is that of the apparent production of insects by the action of the voltaic battery upon certain chemical fluids. In 1836, while pursuing his experiments in crystallization with a highly caustic solution, out of contact with atmospheric air, he noticed the appearance of an insect of the acarus tribe, of which upward of 100 more were discovered within a few weeks.

The discovery caused a considerable sensation, and although Mr. Faraday and Mr. Weeks amply confirmed the statements of Mr. Crosse by their own experience, the latter was accused of the impiety of assuming to become a creator. Crosse was much affected by these imputations, although he could give no explanation of the manner in which the insects were produced. Subsequent experiments on the same subject by Prof. Schulze of Germany failed to obtain the appearance of insects or animal germs, thus confirming the probability, which Mr. Crosse never disputed, that the ova of the insects were derived from the atmosphere, or conveyed into the apparatus by some natural means unknown to the experimenter. Among the practical benefits of his experiments was the discovery of a process for purifying salt water by means of electricity. He also made some curious discoveries on the effects of positive and negative electricity upon vegetation. A memoir, including his original poems, was published after his death by his widow.