In Room XIV, we can admire some of the most important examples of electrostatic and electromagnetic instruments used in the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. The outstanding series of eighteenth-century electrostatic machines—many of English manufacture—is unique in the world. Of later construction but no less spectacular is the plate electrical machine by Winter, with a large Leyden jar, at the center of the room.

Electrostatics is also illustrated by a series of devices for curious and amusing experiments, such as electrical bells, the thunder house, and the Voltaic pistol. Compasses and magnets illustrate the first applications and experiments on magnetism, while two "magnetic ducks" (or "sagacious swans") bear witness to the eighteenth-century vogue for scientific toys.

The beginnings of electromagnetism are represented by the collection of instruments invented by the Italian physicist Leopoldo Nobili. Particularly significant are the first astatic galvanometers, the thermopiles, and a curious box containing miniature instruments with which all the then-known phenomena regarding interactions between electricity and magnetism could be studied. Other displays include the Pixii machine (one of the earliest magneto-electric current generators) telegraph machines, and an unusual magneto-electric "locomotive."