The tangent galvanometer was first described in an 1837 paper by Claude-Servais-Mathias Pouillet (1790-1868), who later employed this sensitive form of galvanometer to verify Ohm's law. To use the galvanometer, it is first set up on a level surface and the coil aligned with the magnetic north south direction. This means that the compass needle at the middle of the coil is parallel with the plane of the coil when it carries no current. The current to be measured is now sent through the coil, and produces a magnetic field, perpendicular to the plane of the coil, and directly proportional to the current
one arrives at the total current. The DC voltmeter , which can measure direct voltage, consists of a calibrated galvanometer connected in series with a high resistance. To measure the voltage between two points, one connects the voltmeter between them. The current through the galvanometer (and hence the pointer reading) is then proportional to the voltage.