<&SW*ZWW l592pWTALKS ON MEDICAL 1831 >►' CTRICITY AND BATTERIES' BIGELOW ■MWMM zmzams&zaasexa NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NLM 001Z2flD3 1 SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE A Section, JVo../33/fV-/ \ NLM001228031 4 i\ *v PLAIN TALKS ON ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. BIGELQW. TO A. S. B. and J. S. B. PLAIN TALKS ON ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES WITH THERAPEUTIC INDEX. FOR GENERAL PRACTITIONERS AND STUDENTS OF MEDICINE. HORATIO R. BIGELOW, M.D., lip -■ PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; FELLOW OF THE BRITISH GYNECOLOGICAL SOCIETY; FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN ELECTRO-THERAPEUTIC ASSOCIATION; MEMBER OF THE PHILA- DELPHIA ELECTRO-THERAPEUTIC SOCIETY; MEMBER OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES, OF WASHINGTON, D. C. Bra.*^ PHILADELPHIA: P. BLAKISTON, SON & CO., IOI2 WALNUT STREET. 189I WBE Copyright, 1891, by Horatio R. Bigelow, m.d. PRESS OF WM. F. FELL & CO. 1220-24 SAN90M STREET, PHILADELPHIA. PREFACE. My intention has been to give the general prac- titioner and student a plain, practical presentation of a difficult subject. Ethical adornment and scien- tific discussions have been avoided. Long, technical terms have not been used when possible to do without them. There may not be much of origin1 ality in the endeavor. Few books nowadays are the absolute brain outcome of the author. Works that I have drawn from largely, and which I cor- dially commend to any one who may desire to " read up," are Massey : " On Electricity in the Dis- eases of Women ; " Rohe and Liebig : " The Prac- tical Application of Electricity in Medicine and Surgery;" the writings of Dr. Wm. I. Morton; Sylvanus Thompson: " Elementary Lessons in Elec- tricity ; " Forbes : " Lectures on Electricity ; " Tri- pier's writings (French); Erb's works (German), and McClure's little book on " Static Electricity," etc. I have written a small book on " Gynaecological v VI PREFACE. Electro-therapeutics," which may be useful to those who may wish to acquaint themselves with the method of Apostoli. The Therapeutic Index is largely that given by Tripier. We have not yet a perfect faradic. battery. I give a drawing of one only, but good ones, and cheaper than the Engel- mann, are made by the Waite & Bartlett Mfg. Co. and by Flemming. The little pocket battery of Gaiffe I have found very convenient. The DuBois- Reymond coil is also valuable. Bingham House, Philadelphia. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Definitions. Electro-Motive Force — Volts — Resistance — Resistance of the Human Body—Ohm's Law—Intensity —Ampere—Tension— Potential—Current—Induction — Dielectrics— Circuit— Polariza- tion—Cataphoresis—Electrolysis—What is Electricity ?—(Ersted's Laws—Galvanometer—Physiological Action of Currents. CHAPTER II. Static Electricity. History—The Energy of the Current—How it Penetrates—Number of Oscillations— Leyden Jars— Dielectric Strain—Machines— Holtz's Influence Machine — How to Work It—Insulation— Direct and Indirect Sparks—Static Induced Current—Universal Electrode—Physical Properties of the Franklinic Interrupted Current. CHAPTER III. The Galvanic Current. Muscular Contractions—Conditions of Muscular Contraction—Ani- mal Electricity—Volta's Law of Contact—The Pile—Theoretic Conditions of a Perfect Pile—Choice of Cells—Names, Elements and Fluids of Different Batteries—Controller—Meter—Portable Batteries—How to Bring the Battery into Action—Cabinet Bat- teries—Various Electrodes. vii Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. The Faradic or Induced Current. Magnetic Induction Currents—Induction Currents Produced by Currents—The Induction Coil—Self Induction—Extra Currents —The Primary and Secondary Coil. Motor Points. Dorsal Aspect of Left Arm—Inner Aspect of Left Arm—Outer Aspect of Left Leg—Posterior Aspect of Left Leg and Thigh —Anterior Aspect of Left Thigh—Motor Points of Face and Neck—Apostoli's Bi polar Uterine Faradization—Electrode in Position. Therapeutic Index, Alphabetically Arranged, with explanations of the different forms of Galvanization and Faradization. PLAIN TALKS ON ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS. Electro-motor Force is that which sets elec- tricity in motion, or the difference of potential between two points, the transfer always taking place from the higher to the lower. This " electro-motive force," or that which tends to move electricity, must not be confounded with electric "force" or that force with which electricity tends to move matter. " Just as in water-pipes a difference of level produces a pressure, and the pressure produces a flow so soon as the tap is turned on, so difference of potential produces electro-motive force, and electro-motive force sets up a current so soon as a connection is made for the electricity to flow through." The symbol used is E. M. F. Electro-motive force is measured in Volts.—One volt will send a quantity of elec- 9 IO ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. tricity, known as a coulomb, through one ohm ol resistance. Resistance.—This is the measure of the value of the obstruction to the free transmission of elec- tricity. It is the inverse of its conductibility. In fifty healthy people Wolfenden found the resistance to be 4000 and 5000 ohms with a current of 15 volts. In eighteen cases of Grave's disease he found the resistance to vary between 500 and 1500 ohms. There is also a resistance, which is variable, but ought not to exceed 1.15 or 2. ohms, within the cell itself. Then the connecting wire and the elec- trode also offer some obstruction. The measure of resistance is the Ohm.—And Ohm's law is that the current in any conductor is equal to the electro-motive force between its ends divided by its resistance. C = -r, or 1 ■v I Volt ampere = rsw. Intensity.—The intensity of a current is the same in all points of the circuit, and is really the quantity of electricity passing any part ot the cir- cuit in a second. Its measure is the Ampere, but for medical purposes we use the thousandth part of it, which is called a milliampere. Tension.—This is the property of electricity to give effects similar to those of static electricity. It is that which gives impulse to the electric fluid. This term is so often misused that it should be DEFINITIONS. 1 I dropped altogether. It has even been confounded with potential and electric force. Potential.—This is the measure of the work done, and is expressed in centimetres, grammes. The standard of reference is the earth, whose potential is supposed to be zero. The potential characterizes the electric condition of a body, just as temper- ature does its heat. The potential at any point is the tvork that must be spent upon a unit of positive elec- tricity in bringing it up to that point from an infinite distance. Since the surface of a conductor must be everywhere at the same potential, it is on this account called an equipotential surface. Current.—The passage of electricity through a body constitutes a current. Induction.—If we rub a glass ball with silk to electrify it, and hold it near to a body that has not been electrified, the conductor itself, which has not been rubbed, will behave at its two ends as an electrified body. The end nearest the ball will be ch'arged negatively, and the farthest end will be positive. A positive charge attracts negative and repels positive, and this influence may be exerted at a distance from the body. This is induction or influence. Faraday discovered that the air plays a most important role in induction. So we may say that induction is the power of an electrified body to act through the molecules of the air on 12 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. another body decomposing its fluid and attracting its opposite electricity. Dielectrics.—The property of certain substances to permit an inductive electric influence to act across or through them, led Faraday to call such substances Dielectrics. " All dielectrics are insula- tors, but equally good insulators are not necessarily equally good dielectrics." Glass is a better dielec- tric than ebonite, or paraffin, or air. Circuit.—This is the complete path through which the current flows from its source back again. Polarization.—A battery is said to be polarized when a film of hydrogen bubbles is found sticking to the copper pole, thus destroying the effective amount of surface of the copper plate, so that the strength of the current, after a few seconds, falls off materially. The effects of polarization are : that it weakens the current by the increased resistance which it offers to its flow, and that it weakens the current by setting up an opposing electro-motive force, since hydrogen, being almost as oxidizable a substance as zinc, produces a difference of potential, which would tend to start a current in the opposite direction to the true current. Cataphoresis.—The method of introducing medicinal agents into the system by the galvanic current. Electrolysis is the action of a current when DEFINITIONS. 13 passing through a liquid of decomposing it, so that the metal will go to the negative electrode and the radical to the positive. Faraday called the positive plate the anode, and the negative plate the kathode. The solution through which the current flowed he called an electrolyte. Upon animal tissue the elec- trolytic effects are very marked. The alkalies go to the negative pole and the acids to the positive. Hence the necessity of using a platinum, gold, or carbon electrode in the positive pole when a concen- trated current is being used. Electricity.—This is a form of energy, just as heat is. When a bar of iron, one end of which is resting upon a block of ice, is heated, a change takes place; an energy is transmitted along the bar, which has no exact definition. Magnetism, which may possibly be a mere circular current of elec- tricity of the ultimate molecule, is another form of energy, and as light is also.an energy due to molec- ular change of the ether, so we may correlate all of these forms of energies. The conservation of force teaches us that these energies may appear under other correlate forms, so that a motion once originated is never lost. If we can imagine a cur- rent started in a conductor frozen to 2730 Centi- grade minus, where molecular movement is at rest, such a current would be perpetual, because there would be no resistance. Gravity is another instance, 14 ELECTRICITY AN'I) BATTERIES. and this illustrates resistance perfectly. The falling body develops an energy peculiar to itself, move- ment, which may be transformed into heat. The earth develops energy in drawing the body to itself. If the book rest on the table, the earth still endeavors to attract it, and the book also endeavors to fall to the earth, but there is an interposed resistance, the table, and as a result we have pressure. Only by the supposition of a surrounding ether can we account for induction, magnetic fields and optical phenomena. All of Oersted's laws, perfected and worked out by Faraday, out of which grew the telegraph, telephone, phonograph and dynamo machines, are based upon these questions of induc- tive currents. Oersted found that if a current ol electricity were passed over a magnetic needle, the needle was deflected in a certain direction, and if the current of electricity was passed under the needle it was deflected in another direction. He also found that a magnet could induce a current by induction in another current; that a current could induce magnetic action in a bar of iron, and that one current could influence another. This is the whole principle of dynamos, which are fash- ioned upon the knowledge we have that, when a bar of iron is wrapped about with wire and a cur- rent started through it, not only is the iron magnet- ized, but the action of the magnetized iron greatly DEFINITIONS. 15 intensifies the current. So arose Gramme's rings and the armature. Galvanometer.—When a magnetic needle is suspended in a ring through which a current flows, every part of the ring carrying the current is trying to drive the north pole of the needle through the middle of the ring in one direction, and the south pole in the other direction, so that the compass needle in the centre of the ring would have a strong tendency to set with its length along the axis of the ring. Now if we have a coil of 1000 turns of wire, the current will only require the one-thou- sandth of the strength to produce the same effect, This is the principle of the galvanometer for meas- uring small currents. "' If we give the wire a turn around the compass needle so that the current flows over the needle from south to north, and under it from north to south, the two actions rein- force each other, both turning the north end of the needle to the west. If we repeat the operation by making a number of turns of wire surround the compass needle, we multiply the effect, provided we take care that successive turns of wire are insu- lated from each other, which is done by covering the wire with cotton, or better, with silk, or even gutta percha or India rubber. By this device the current must go round each turn completely." "Physiological Actions.—Currents of elec- 16 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. tricity passed through the limbs affect the nerves with certain painful sensations, and cause the muscles to undergo involuntary contractions. The sudden rush of even a small charge of electricity from a Leyden jar charged to a high potential, or from an induction coil, gives a sharp and painful shock to the system. The current from a few strong Grove's cells, conveyed through the body by grasping the terminals with moistened hands, gives a very different kind of sensation, not at all agreeable, of a prickling in the joints of the arms and shoulders, but not producing any spas- modic contractions, except it be in nervous or weakly persons, at the sudden making or breaking of the circuit. The difference between the two cases lies in the fact that the tissues of the body offer a very considerable resistance, and that the difference of potential in the former case may be many thousands of volts; hence, though the actual quantity stored up in the Leyden jar is very small, its very high E. M.F. enables it at once to overcome the resistance. The battery, although it might, when working through a good conductor, afford in one second a thousand times as much electricity, cannot, when working through the high resistance of the body, transmit more than a small fraction, owing to its limited E. M.F. " After the discovery of the shock of the Leyden DEFINITIONS. 17 jar by Cunaeus in 1745 many experiments were tried. Louis XV of France caused an electric shock from a battery of Leyden jars to be admin- istered to 700 Carthusian monks joined hand in hand, with prodigious effect. Franklin killed a turkey by a shock from a Leyden jar. "In 1752 Sulzer remarked that 'if you join two pieces of lead and silver, and then lay them upon the tongue, you will notice a certain taste resem- bling that of green vitriol, while each piece apart produces no such sensation.' This galvanic taste, not then suspected to have any connection with electricity, may be experienced by placing a silver coin on the tongue and a steel pen under it, the edges of them being then brought into metallic contact. The same taste is noticed if the two wires from the poles of a voltaic cell are placed in con- tact with the tongue. " Ritter discovered that a feeble current trans- mitted through the eyeball produces the sensation as of a bright flash of light by its sudden stimula- ■ tion of the optic nerve. A stronger current trans- mitted by means of moistened conductors attached to the battery terminals gave a sensation of blue and green colors in flowing between the forehead and the hand. Helmholtz, repeating this experi- t ment, observed only a wild rush of color. Dr. Hunter saw flashes of light when a piece of metal 18 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. placed under the tongue was touched against another which touched the moist tissues of the eye. Volta and Ritter heard musical sounds when a current was passed through the ears; and Hum- boldt found a sensation to be produced in the organs of smell when a current was passed from the nostril to the soft palate. Each of the special- ized senses can be stimulated into activity by the current. Man possesses no specialized sense for the perception of electrical forces, as he does for light and for sound; but there is no reason for denying the possibility that some of the lower creatures may be endowed with a special electrical sense."—{Sylvanus Thompson^ CHAPTER II. STATIC ELECTRICITY. Known also as frictional or Franklinic. At least six centuries b. c, it was noticed that amber when rubbed with silk attracted light bodies. Somewhat later the same properties were found to belong to sulphur, sealing wax and glass. We have two kinds of electricity : that which is generated by rubbing glass with silk, which we call vitreous, and that from rubbing sealing wax with flannel, which is known as resinous. Bodies charged with the same electricity repel each other. For convenience alone, we regard electricity as a fluid, of which there are two kinds, positive and negative. Now when we rub the sealing wax with a bit of flannel, we do not produce negative electricity alone, since the flannel becomes positive, while the seal- ing wax is negative. All static machines have for their end the sepa- ration of these two electricities, and are composed of two parts, one for generating electricity and the other for collecting it. 19 20 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Biot, Cavendish and others showed that electricity at rest, or static electricity, resides in the surface of bodies which are charged with it, so that some authorities were led to believe that frictional elec- tricity never penetrated beneath the skin, nor pro- duced directly any effect upon the deeper tissues. We are indebted to Dr. W. J. Morton, of New York, for what seems to me to be a very thorough refu- tation of these opinions. He demonstrates that a single spark represents a muscular energy expended equal to raising I pound i foot per second, and he goes on to say: " But I can easily give, say, 5 sparks per second. The muscle therefore raises [referring to one of his experiments.—Ed.] 5 pounds per second, and to raise 550 pounds (the unit of horse-power) will require 110 seconds, or about 2 minutes. The actual work, therefore, capable of being accomplished by the muscle under the stimulus of the spark is at the rate of 1 horse-power every 2 minutes, or y2 horse- power per minute. " That frictional electricity, when static, resides upon the surface is one way of making the state- ment. To avoid argument we will admit it. We will say, then, that the person sitting upon the insu- lated stool receives the electric charge upon the sur- face. " But while bringing forward one fundamental law STATIC ELECTRICITY. 21 of electricity, Dr. Starr ignores another one equally fundamental, which is that the potential at all points of a conductor on which electricity is at rest must be uniform ; if it were not, there would be a flow between the two unequal potentials until it became uniform ; hence the potential inside a conductor has the same value as at any point on the surface. " It follows that at the moment of discharge (spark) the equalizing of the potentials proceeds from and to all parts of the conductor (human body), inside and outside, and we here have the current which produces the effects on nerve and muscle. And the conducting power of the charged conductor is proportional, not to the surface, but to the mass of the conductor, for a solid rod of a given diameter will convey a current which would melt a thin tube of the same diameter. " Given, then, a surface charge upon the body, and the first spark changes the entire situation. The spark is a current, but it is only the air part of the current—the evidence of the breaking down of the strain in the fluid dielectric; the remainingcontinuity of the current is in the patient's body, not on it (for the potential is uniform), in the chain going from the platform to the machine, and so on up to the initial electro-motive force of the Holtz machine, and around again in a closed circuit to the ball electrode which gave the spark. The conditions 22 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. do not vary essentially from those existing in a gal- vanic cell or a storage battery. When we close the circuit we get the current, and it is this current which, localized by an electrode, traverses the human body at any desired point—a current of, say, 50,000 volts as against 1 volt of a Daniell's cell—put to work to overcome the resistance of, say, 2500 ohms of the body; a resistance so trivial in comparison with the voltage or pressure that it may be dis- regarded entirely—a current oscillating (alternating) 100,000 to 1,000,000 times per second, compensat- ing, .as regards its physiological activity, for its loss in quantity, by its enormous electro-motive force and by its exceeding rapidity. The wonder would be that nerve and muscle and all tissues should not be stimulated. The fact is that they are. And Dr. Starr's entire structure, based upon static charge, falls to the ground in the light of the discharge and its accompanying current and physiological effects, and he should alter his apparently thoughtless dic- tum and write, ' frictional electricity, as commonly administered, penetrates beneath the skin and pro- duces directly effects upon the deeper tissues.' " In conclusion, to leave facts and venture a single opinion, I believe that no form of electricity ' pene- trates ' more deeply than the static; and, premising a powerful machine, a powerful spark, a conserva- tive expectation as to results, a fair comparison STATIC ELECTRICITY. 23 with galvanism and faradism, an intelligent selec- tion of cases, and a fair amount of skill in adminis- tration, I believe that no form of electricity equals it in curative effect." I give this long extract from Dr. Morton, not only because he is a recognized authority, but be- cause, too, I feel sure that static electricity in the near future will play a most important role in elec- tro-therapeutics. With static induction, which will be described farther on, we have a current of much greater value and wider scope than that of the in- duction coil, known also as Faradic, and I could wish that every reader of this book should also read a very remarkable article, published by Dr. Morton in the New York Medical Record, January 24th, 1891, on the " Franklinic Interrupted Current." Leyden Jars.—"These are condensers, consisting simply of a glass jar, covered inside and outside, except near the neck, with tin-foil. On top of the jar is a brass knob in metallic communication with the inside coating, but insulated from the outside metal by means of a wooden stopper, through which the knob passes." By condenser we understand, simply, a holder of electricity. To charge the jar, the knob is held to the prime conductor of an elec- trical machine, the outer coating being either held in the hand or connected to " earth " by wire or chain. When a -f- charge of electricity is imparted 24 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. thus to the inner coating, it acts inductively on the outer coating, attracting a — charge into the face of the outer coating nearest the glass, and repelling a + charge to the outside of the outer coating, and thence through the hand or wire to earth. After a few moments, the jar will have acquired its full charge, the outer coating being — and the inner + . Properly cared for, the jar will retain its charge for days. By establishing a circuit between the outer and the inner coating, the jar will be dis- charged, and a bright spark will pass between the conductors. Dielectric Strain.—This hypothesis, enunciated by Faraday, is, that electric force acts across space in consequence of the transmission of stresses and strains in the medium with which space is filled. All dielec- trics across which inductive actions are at work, are thereby strained; that is, there is an alteration of form or volume due to the application of a stress, and it is believed that electrical phenomena are due to stresses and strains in the so-called " ether," the thin medium pervading all matter and space, whose highly elastic constitution enables it to convey to us the vibrations of light, though it is millions of times less dense than the air. The glass between the two coatings of tin-foil in the Leyden jar is actually strained or squeezed between the attracting charges of electricity. STATIC ELECTRICITY O MACHINES. Fig. i. 26 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Holtz's Influence Machine.—The action of this machine is not altogether easy to grasp, though in reality simple enough when carefully explained. The machine in its latest form consists (Fig. 2) of two plates, one, A, fixed by its edges; the other, B, mounted on an axis, and requiring to be rotated at a high speed by a band and driving pulley. There are two holes or windows, P and P', cut at opposite points of the fixed plate. Two pieces ol varnished paper,/and/', are fastened to the plate above the window on the left and below the one on the right. These pieces of paper or armatures are upon the side of the fixed plate away from the movable disc, or, as we may say, upon the back ot the plate. They are provided with narrow tongues STATIC ELECTRICITY. 27 which project forward through the windows toward the movable disc, which they nearly touch with their protruding points. The disc must rotate in the opposite direction to that in which these tongues point. On the front side of the moving disc, and opposite the forward edges of the two armatures, stands an oblique metal conductor, D, which need not be insulated. It has metal combs or spikes projecting toward the disc. On the right and left, supported on isulating holders, are two horizontal metal combs, joined to two metal rods terminated with brass balls, m, n, which in this form of machine merely constitute a discharging apparatus, and are not concerned in the action of the machine. In some forms of Holtz machine there is no diagonal conductor, D; and as the discharging apparatus has then to serve both func- tions, the balls, m, n, must in these forms of machine touch one another before the machine will charge itself. To work the machine a small initial charge must be given by an electrophorus, or by a rubbed glass rod, to one of the two armatures. The disc is then rapidly rotated; and it is found that after a few turns the exertion required to keep up the rota- tion increases greatly; at the same moment pale- blue brushes of light are seen to issue from the points, and, on separating the brass balls, a torrent of brilliant sparks darts across the intervening space. 28 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. The action of the machine is as follows: Suppose a small -f- charge to be imparted at the outset to the right armature,/'/ this charge acts inductively across the intervening glass and air upon the comb at the lower end of the diagonal conductor D, repels electricity through D, leaving the lower points negatively electrified. These discharge negatively electrified air upon the front surface of the movable disc, while the repelled -f- charge passes up along D, and is discharged through the upper comb upon the front face of the movable disc. Here it acts inductively upon the paper armature/ causing that part which is opposite the comb to be negatively charged, and repelling a + charge into its farthest part, viz., into the tongue, which slowly discharges a -f- charge upon the back of the moving disc. If now the disc be turned around, this + charge on the back comes over, in the direction indicated by the arrow, from the left to the right side ; and, when it gets opposite the right tongue, is discharged into the armature f, increasing its charge, and thereby helps that armature to act still more strongly than before. Meantime the — charge, which we saw had been induced in the left armature/ has in turn reacted on the upper comb, causing it to emit more power- fully than before a -\- charge from its points, and drawing electricity through the diagonal rod. The STATIC ELECTRICITY. 29 combs at the two ends of this rod, therefore, both emit electrified streams of air, the upper one charg- ing the upper portion of the front of the rotating disc positively, the lower one charging the lower portion of the disc negatively. The back ot the rotating disc is at the same time similarly charged; and the charges carried round on the back surface serve to increase the charges on the two armatures. Hence a very small initial charge is speedily raised 30 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. to a maximum, the limit being reached when the electrification of the armatures is so great that the leakage of electricity at their surface equals the gain by induction and convection. The charges let off by the spikes of the diagonal conductor upon the front surface of the moving disc are carried round and discharged into the right and left conductors of the discharging apparatus, by means of the horizontal combs which collect the charges. Two small Leyden jars are usually added to increase the density of the sparks that pass between ;// and n. In some recent Holtz machines, a number of ro- tating discs fixed upon one common axis are employed, and the whole is enclosed in a glass case to prevent access of damp. A small disc ot ebonite is now usually fixed to the axis, and pro- vided with a rubber in order to keep up the initial charge. Holtz has lately constructed a machine with thirty-two plates. Mascart has shown the interesting fact that the Holtz machine is reversible in its action ; that is to say, that if a continuous supply of the two electrici- ties (furnished by another machine) be communi- cated to the armatures, the movable plate will be thereby set in rotation, and will turn in an opposite sense. Righi has shown that a Holtz machine can yield a continuous current like a voltaic battery, the STATIC ELECTRICITY. 31 strength of the current being nearly proportional to the velocity of rotation. It was found that the electro-motive force of a machine was equal to that of 52,000 Daniell's cells, or nearly 53,000 volts, at all speeds. The resistance, when the machine made 120 revolutions per minute, was 2180 million ohms; but only 646 million ohms when making 450 revolutions per minute. The machine represented in Fig. I, made by the Waite and Bartlett Manufacturing Company, is one of the very best, if not the best, that I know ot. Prior to the early winter of 1891,1 had been accus- 32 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. tomed to use a Carre machine, and a most excellent one it is too, in which the positive electricity is collected by a large cylinder collector and then utilized by the physician, the negative charge being Fig. 5. "grounded." For general use I should prefer a Holtz, however. Static Insulation.—The patient is placed upon the insulated platform, and his body, or the stool upon which he sits, connected with the machine by STATIC ELECTRICITY. 33 a chain. The chain must not touch the floor. The other pole of the machine is then grounded by attaching the chain to the gas or water fixture, or simply allowing the free end to rest upon the un- carpeted floor. The poles of the machine are now Fig. 6. 4- a — •Static Induced Current." Parts ot Static Universal Electrode Separated Person condenser, and circuit-breaker in same circuit, connecting-rod between condensers removed, and discharging-rods of machine serving as circuit-breaker- but the circuit-breaker is in the primary circuit, and the person in the secondary. The make and break in the primary is accompanied with a current in the secondary. separated and the machine put in rapid motion. The patient thus becomes charged with static elec- tricity. Indirect and Direct Sparks.—If the patient re- mains seated upon the platform, charged as before, 34 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. and a metal ball electrode, attached to a chain, is connected with the gas or Avater fixture, sparks will be drawn from the part of the body to which the ball is approached. This is termed the "indirect" spark. The " direct spark " is produced by con- necting the electrode directly to the grounding chain, so as to place the patient in a short circuit. Static Induced Current.—For this current the electrodes and conducting cords must be especially constructed: the metal within the sponge, if a plate, should be rolled back on itself at its edges so as to present a rounded peripheral contour, or, better still, it should be a ball of about one inch in diameter; the handle of the electrodes should be long, and made of ebonite; the conducting cord should consist of a thick strand of fine wire, well insulated by gutta percha. These precautions are necessary, owing to the great " tension " of the cur- rent and its consequent disposition to break down insulating barriers, which, in the case of ordinary currents, would suffice to confine them to their proper conductors. To use the current, bring the discharging rods (Fig. 5) of the Holtz machine into contact, removing the connecting rod which unites the two Leyden jars, and hook on the two conduct- ing cords and electrodes. The patient need not be insulated. If, now, the wet electrodes be grasped, the machine set in motion and the discharging rods STATIC ELECTRICITY. 35 be separated a very small fraction of an inch, the current will be felt, and may be graduated to any strength desired or bearable, and may be localized in its action internally or externally in the usual manner. By use of the insulated electrode devised by Dr. Morton, this current can be made of the greatest possible use in gynaecological work. Dr. Morton believes that this current penetrates as deeply into the human body as the galvanic cur- rent. Electrode.—The pistol electrode (shown in Fig. 7 and invented by Dr. Morton) is suitable for the application of this current, or for any static current. The physician may, by a simple motion of the finger in operating the circuit-breaker, change his treatment from sparks to current, and vice, versa, and because a great variety of terminals may be at- tached to it, adapting it to the customary forms of application desired for galvanism or Faradism. It will be recognized as a great convenience, in a single 36 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. sitting, to turn at once from the spark treatment to an agreeable, regulatable, efficient current for use about the face and neck, and wherever else desired to uncover the skin, or to introduce, by adding a suitable terminal electrode, within a canal or cavity. Physical Properties of the Franklinic Inter- rupted Current.—Dr. Morton says : " Computing the spark interruption to be, at the least, two hun- dred per second, and the oscillations of each spark to be one hundred millions per second, we have a current giving twenty billions alternations per second. Vast as such a number may seem to our minds, familiar with two hundred vibrations per second, it pales before the desideratum expressed by Professor Elihu Thompson, the great authority on the properties of alternating currents, who said, in a recent lecture, ' what is needed is a machine having an alternating current making five hundred trillions of vibrations per second, which would pro- duce many wonderful results.' If, then, I were to be asked how the Franklinic current differs from the ordinary Faradic coil, I should reply that this one difference of rate of alternations alone placed the two far apart. But it may be urged, the cur- rent of the induction coil is far greater than that of the influence machine in quantity. This is, of course, true. But at this point, in favor of the Franklinic interrupted, comes in the element of time. ' The STATIC ELECTRICITY. 37 motor nerve,' says DuBois Reymond,' is not stimu- lated by the absolute density of the current density at any given moment, but by variations from one instant to the other, and the effect produced by these rapid changes increases with their rapidity and their greatness in a given time.' Thus, in the great rapidity of the alternating (oscillating) cur- rents of the spark discharge, particularly in rapid series, as in the Franklinic interrupted, we find the reason, despite smallness in quantity, for accom- plishing work in producing nerve- and muscle- stimulation equal at least to the comparatively slow discharge of the interrupted galvanic, or the slowly oscillating induction coil. The difference may be compared to a bullet shot from a rifle, or the same bullet gently rolled across the floor." CHAPTER III. THE GALVANIC CURRENT. Muscular Contractions. — In 1678, Swammer- dam showed to the Grand Duke of Tuscany that when a portion of muscle of a frog's leg hanging by a thread of nerve bound with silver wire was held over a copper support, so that both nerve and wire touched the copper, the muscle immediately con- tracted. More than a century later, Galvani's atten- tion was drawn to the subject by his observation of spasmodic contractions in the legs of freshly-killed frogs under the influence of the " return-shock " experienced every time a neighboring electric ma- chine was discharged. Unaware of Swammerdam's experiment, he discovered in 1786 the fact that, when nerve and muscle touch two dissimilar metals in contact with one another, a contraction of the muscle takes place. After the frog has been killed the hind limbs are detached and skinned; the crural nerves and their attachments to the lumbar vertebrae remaining. For some hours after death, the limbs retain their contractile power. The frog's limbs thus prepared form an excessively delicate 38 THE GALVANIC CURRENT. 39 galvanoscope : with them, for example, the exces- sively delicate induction-currents of the telephone can be shown, though the most sensitive galvano- meters barely detect them. Galvani and Aldini proved that other creatures undergo like effects. With a pile of 100 pairs Aldini experimented on newly-killed sheep, oxen and rabbits, and found them to suffer spasmodic muscular contractions. Humboldt proved the same on fishes ; and Zanotti, by sending a current through a newly-killed grass- hopper, caused it to emit its familiar chirp. Aldini, and, later, Dr. Ure, of Glasgow, experimented on the bodies of executed criminals, with a success terrible to behold. The facial muscles underwent horrible contortions, and the chest heaved with the contraction of the diaphragm. This has suggested the employment of electric currents as an adjunct in reviving persons who have been drowned, the contraction of the muscles of the chest serving to start respiration into activity. The small muscles attached to the roots of the hairs of the head ap- pear to be markedly sensitive to electrical condi- tions from the readiness with which electrification causes the hair to stand on end. Conditions of Muscular Contraction.—To pro- duce muscular contraction the current must traverse a portion of the nerve longitudinally. In a freshly prepared frog the current causes a contraction only 40 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. momentarily when the circuit is made or broken. A rapidly interrupted, current will induce a second contraction before the first has had time to pass off, and the muscle may exhibit thus a continuous con- traction resembling tetanus. The prepared frog after a short time becomes less sensitive, and a " direct " current (that is to say, one passing along the nerve in the direction from the brain to the muscle) only produces an effect when circuit is made, while an " inverse " current only produces an effect when the circuit is broken. Matteucci, who observed this, also discovered, by experiments on living animals, that there is a distinction between the conductivity of sensory and motor nerves,—a " direct" current affecting the motor nerves on making the circuit, and the sensory nerves on break- ing it; while an " inverse " current produced in- verse results. Little is, however, yet known of the conditions of conductivity of the matter of the nerves; they conduct better than muscular tissue, cartilage or bone; but, of all substances in the body, the blood conducts best. Powerful currents, doubt- less, electrolyze the blood to some extent, coagula- ting it and the albumin it contains. The power of contracting under the influence of the current, ap- pears to be a distinguishing property of protoplasm wherever it occurs. The amoeba, the most struc- tureless of organisms, suffers contractions. Ritter THE GALVANIC CURRENT. 41 discovered that the sensitive plant shuts up when electrified, and Burdon Sanderson has shown that this property extends to other vegetables, being exhibited by the carnivorous plant, the Dionaea, or Venus's Fly-Trap. Animal Electricity.—Although, in his later writings at least, Galvani admitted that the elec- tricity thus operating arose from the metals em- ployed, he insisted on the existence of an animal electricity resident in the muscular and nervous structures. He showed that contractions could be produced without using any metals at all by merely touching a nerve at two different points along its length with a morsel of muscle cut from a living frog; and that a conductor of one metal when joining a nerve to a muscle also sufficed to cause contraction in the latter. Galvani and Aldini regarded these facts as a disproof of Volta's con- tact-theory. Volta regarded them as proving that the contact between nerve and muscle itself pro- duced (as in the case of two dissimilar metals) opposite electrical conditions. Nobili, later, showed that when the nerve and the muscle of the frog were respectively connected by a water-contact with the terminals of a delicate galvanometer, a current is produced which lasts several hours: he even arranged a number of frogs' legs in series, like the cells of a battery, and thus increased the cur- 4 42 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. rent. Matteucci showed that through the muscle alone there is an electro-motive force. Du Bois Reymond has shown that if the end of a muscle be cut across, the ends of the muscular fibres of the transverse section are negative, and the sides of the muscular fibres are positive, and that this difference of potential will produce a current even while the muscle is at rest. To demonstrate this he employed a fine astatic galvanometer with 20,000 turns of wire in its coils; and to obviate errors arising from the contact of the ends of the wires with the tissues unpolarizable electrodes were used, made by plunging terminal zinc points into a saturated solution of sulphate of zinc, contained in a fine glass tube, the end of which was stopped with a porous plug ot moistened china clay. The contraction of muscles also produces currents. These Du Bois Reymond obtained from his own muscles by dipping the tips of his fore-fingers into two cups of salt water com- municating with the galvanometer terminals. A sudden contraction of the muscles of either arm produced a current from the contracted toward the uncontracted muscles. Dewar has shown that when light falls upon the retina of the eye an electric cur- rent is set up in the optic nerve."—{Silvanus Thomp- son) Volta's Law of Contact.—" The contact of two metals and, most generally, of any two heterogene- THE GALVANIC CURRENT. 43 ous bodies, suffices to establish between these bodies a difference of potential. This difference depends upon the nature of the bodies and upon their temperature, etc." The Pile.—Take a plate of copper, and a plate of zinc. Immerse them in acidulated water, then take another vessel similar in all respects to this one, with copper and zinc plates immersed, connect the first zinc with the second copper with a copper wire, and a simple pile will be formed. The wire from the first copper will have + electricity, and the wire from the last zinc will be —. Thus may any number of cells be united, beginning with the first zinc and the second copper. Then the elec- trode which will be connected with the first copper will be positive, and that connected with the last zinc will be negative. The molecule of water being separated, the oxygen part (negative) goes to the zinc, and the hydrogen (positive) to the copper. It is impossible to state whether the chemical action is the result of electricity or vice versa, but one thing is certain, pure zinc is not acted on by the liquid unless another conductor, as copper, completes the circuit. Outside the cell the cur- rent flows from the copper to the zinc, but inside of the cell it flows from the zinc to the copper, so that here the zinc is positive and the copper nega- tive ; hence, the electro-motive force of the cell is 44 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. the difference of potential between the zinc and the copper. The electro-motive force of a battery de- pends entirely upon the nature of the metals used and their temperature, and not upon the size of the plates; it may be observed, however, that the in- ternal resistance of the cell is diminished by using large plates. In batteries composed of copper and zinc plates immersed in acidulated water, we have a counter electro-motive force between the negative copper (copper being negative inside the cell) and the positive hydrogen. The current is thus weak- ened by the two electro-motive forces in opposite directions, so various inventions have been made to overcome this, of which the best known is the porous cup, containing sulphate of copper, which absorbs the hydrogen as in the Daniell's cell. This is what is known as a constant cell. Theoretic Conditions of a Perfect Pile.— I. Great electro-motive force. 2. A feeble and constant interior resistance. 3. The electro-motive force to be constant. 4. Cheapness. 5. Practical arrangement of the cells so that they can be easily cleaned. Choice of Cells.—I consider the best cells for general use the Leclanche and the Law, with a decided preference for the former. The Leclanche cell of the Gonda pattern gives little trouble, is THE GALVANIC CURRENT. 45 constant, lasts for a long time, has a small internal resistance, does not waste, and has no local action. The distinctive features of the Leclanche pile are a zinc-carbon cell and an exciting fluid of sal am- moniac. To prevent polarization, the carbon plate is packed inside a porous pot along with fragments of carbon and powdered binoxide of manganese, which yields up oxygen and destroys the hydrogen bubbles. NAMES, ELEMENTS, AND FLUIDS OF THE DIFFERENT BATTERIES. 2 a J? Bunsen. Do. Zinc. Graphite. Grove. Lalande Chaperon. Latimer Clark. Chromic acid, single fluid. •• " Daniell. " Copper. Fuller. Graphite. Silver. Gaiffe. " Platinum. Sulphuric acid dilute 0-3 0, N J 61 "fa _Q______ Nitric acid. Sulphuric acid and chromic acid, dilute mixed. Zinc sul- phate sol. Chromic acid. None separate, Copper sul- phate sol. Copper or iron. Pure mercury. Chloride of zinc solution. Zinc chloride. Sulphuric acid dilute. Caustic pot- ash solution Sulphate of mercury. Potash bi- chromate and hydro- ;hloric acid. Silver chloride. Nitric acid. "OxidVof" copper. None separate. 1.96 0.98 1-457 - "5 u S " m U 6 ZK z C a a s - z < s o 5a S3 U iJ Xfa w Depolar-izing Fluid. z fa H ■ J Internal Resist-ance in Ohms.* Leclanche. Zinc. .-, ... Ammonium Graphite. ch]oride so, Manganese dioxide. i.6 1.13 to 1.15 Maiche. Zinc scraps, in bath of mer-cury. Platinized Common carbon. salt solution. None separate. 1-25 1. to .2 Marie Davy. Zinc. Graphite. Sulphuric acid dilute. Paste of sulphate of mercury. 1-52 • 7S to 1 Niaudet. " " Common salt solution. Chloride of lime. 1.5 to 1.6 5 to 6. Poggendorf. " Saturated sol.ofpotash, bichromate, and sul-phuric acid None separate. 1.98 .001 to .08 Schanscbieff ,, i Mercurial solution. None separate. 1.56 .05 to °-75 Skrivanow. Silver. Caustic potash. Smee. Platinized silver. Sulphuric acid dilute. Walker. " Platinized graphite. " Warren de la Rue. Silver. Sal. ammo-niac sol. Chloride of silver. None. i-5 0.47 0.66 Silver chloride. i.5 °-5 0.4 0.4 to o 6 * The resistances were measured in cells standing 6" X 4". Controller.—The instrument shown in Fig. 8, invented by Dr. Massey, is the best one for the general purposes of the practitioner, and from per- sonal acquaintance with it, I commend it highly. It consists of a porcelain plate, provided with a tapering area of soft pencil mark, broadening and thickening up to the point at which the graphite, THE GALVANIC CURRENT. 47 now covered with nickel plating, is connected with the circuit by means of a broad spring contact. This area acts as a resisting material, over which a brass contact, attached to a crank, can be made to pass. When the crank (i, Fig. 8) is placed to the Fig. 8. right of the hard-rubber bridge, 2, the contact rests entirely on the porcelain and the circuit is broken. Moving it slightly in the direction of the arrow, it soon touches the graphite mark, and permits the least amount of current to pass through. 48 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. The Meter.—Without a good instrument for measuring the strength of a current, no truly scien- tific, reliable or encouraging work can be done in electricity. Figs. 9 and 10 are about the best on the market. I confess a preference for the horizon- tal one—an instrument which is "dead beat" in Fig. 9. action (that is, in which the number of vibrations is reduced to a minimum), is very desirable in neuro- logical work especially. However, both of these instruments are reliable, and both will give satis- faction. The limits of this book do not permit me THE GALVANIC CURRENT. Fig. io. 50 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. to enter into a study of the theory of galvanometers and the steps of their manufacture. BATTERIES. Portable.—Both of the batteries made by Waite & Bartlett and by Flemming are most admirable MASSKY's COMPLETE ELECTRO-GYN portion) ) Musculo-spiral Brachialis intern. Supinator long. Ext. radialis long. Ext. rad. brevis Ext. digit, communis \ Extensor indicis Ext. oss. metac. poll. Ext. prim, intern, poll. Interossei dorsal (I and II) Triceps (cap. long.) Triceps (cap. extern.) Ext. carpi ulnaris Supinator brevis Ext. min. digit. Ext. indicis [■ Ext. sec. intern, poll. Abduct, min. digit. 1 Inteross. dorsal. (Ill } and IV) motor points of dorsal aspect of left arm. JO ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Fig. 37. Triceps (cap. long.) Triceps (cap. intern.) Ulnar { Flexor carpi ulnaris Flex. dig. com. prof. Flex. dig. (II et) III)subI. . dig. (ini min.) subl. Flex. dig. (ind. et) Ulnar Palmaris brevis Abductor dig. min. Flexor dig. min. Opponens dig. min. Lumbricales< Deltoideus (anterior portion) f Musculo- \ cutaneous Biceps ___f Brachialis \ internus > Median Supinator longus Pronator teres Flexor carpi radialis Flex, digit, sublimis Flex, pollicis longus Median Abduct, poll. Opponens pollicis Flex. poll, brevis Adductor poll- brevis motor points of inner aspect of left arm. MOTOR POINTS. 71 endorsement. The same praise may very properly be given to the chloride of silver Faradic battery, made by the Barrett Co., of Baltimore, which is Tibialis anticus Ext. digit, longus Peroneus brevis Extensor hallucis longus Interossei dorsales ■! Fig. 38. Gastrocnemius Peroneus longus > Soleus Flex, hallucis long. Ext. digit, brevis Abductor min. digit. outer aspect of left leg. small, neat and portable. Perhaps I should not be far wrong in saying that it would the best subserve the uses of the general practitioner, and is the one from which he would derive the most satisfaction. 72 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. If the physician desires a more perfect demonstra- tion of the different effects to be obtained from the Fig. 39. Sciatic ((cap long.) Biceps 1 femoris ) , (. (cap. brev.) Peroneal Gastrocnemius (cap. ext.) Soleus Flexor hallucis long. Glutaeus maximus Adductor magnus Semitendinosus Semimembranosus Post, tibial Gastrocnemius (cap. int.) Soleus Flexor digit, comm. long. Tibial motor points of posterior aspect of left thigh and leg. primary and secondary coils of the Faradic battery, he should ask the manufacturer to make at least 2000 turns of fine wire on the secondary bobbin, MOTOR POINTS. 73 which will give a most soothing and quieting current. It should be remembered that the primary coil of coarse wire of the Faradic battery is the only Fig. 40. Crural ensor vag. femoris — Sartorius Quadriceps(common point) Rectus femoris Vastus externus motor points of anterior aspect of left thigh. one that is connected with the cell originating the current, and that the current of the secondary or fine wire coil is purely a current of induction. Duchenne was the first writer to point out the dis- tinct physical and physiological differences between 6 74 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. the primary and secondary. The secondary cur- rent is a " to and fro" one, and when generated from a bobbin having a large number of turns of Frontalis Facial'(upper) Corrugator superc. Orbicularis palp. Nasal muscles j Zygomatici Orbicularis oris \ Facial (middle) Masseter Levator menti Quadratus " Triangularis " Hypoglossus Facial (lower) Hyoid muscles \ Omohyoideus Ext. anterior { thoracic (pec--/ toralis major) ( Fig. 41. I Ascending fron- tal and parie- tal convolutions (motor area) ' 3d frontalconvo- lutions and in- sula (centre of L speech) Temporalis f Facial {upper X branch) Facial (trunk). Post, auricular {Facial: (middle branch; (lower branch) Splenius —Sterno-mastoideus Spinal accessory {Levator anguli scapulae Trapezius f Dor sails scapu- | Ice (rhomboids) Circumflex (Long, thoracic < (serratus mag- ( nus) Phrenic ------, Brachial Plexus Sth and bth cervical (del- toid, biceps, brachialis, su- pin. longus) motor points of face and neck. fine wire, the sensation engendered is very similar to that produced by the Static induced current, and is entirely different from the sensation occasioned UTERINE FARADIZATION. 75 by the primary. In ovarian pain the patient can- not tolerate the primary current, but experiences immediate relief from an application of the sec- Fig. 42. apostoli's bi-polar uterine faradization. ondary. That is, the " tension" of the current, is entirely different. It is a current of magnetiza- tion and demagnetization, something akin to the 76 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. oscillations of the Static. The primary is feebly galvanic, the secondary is not at all so. The primary current is much more pronounced in producing muscular effects—the secondary is seen to best advantage in relieving pain. Engelmann's inven- Fig. 43. electrode in position. tion, a cut of which is given, has three coils, the third coil giving, of course, a current of tension more distinct than the primary or secondary. Here the current of the secondary is opposite in direction to that of the primary, while the current of the tertiary is opposite to the secondary. THERAPEUTIC INDEX. Abscess.—Faradization and galvanization hasten suppuration. Open with galvanic acupuncture. Accommodation.— Troubles of paralysis of ciliary muscle. Moist faradization of the globe of the eye, negative, close circuit in hand of same side. Primary current; 2 to 3 minutes sitting. Spasm of ciliary muscle. Positive, continuous galvanization. Posterior pole to globe of eye; circuit closed by the hand; very weak current; 10 to 15 minutes sitting. Acne.—See Skin. Adenitis (chronic).—Moist faradization; tumor held between both excitants; primary current; 5 to 10 minutes sitting. Alcoholism.—Ascending galvanization of spinal cord; 3 minutes; medium current. Amenorrhoea.—In virgins lumbar sub-pubic faradization; seance, 10 to 15 minutes; primary current. Central and sub-aural gal- vanization, and spinal galvanization, and intra-uterine negative galvanization are all useful. Amygdalitis.—Continuous galvanization, and in chronic forms -f- or — puncture of the tonsil. Analgesia.—Dry faradization, or static spark, to analgesic surface. Anaphrodisia.—Due to excessive cerebration. Ascending spinal galvanization; medium current; 3 to 5 minutes. From insufficient spinal action. Faradization or static induction, one pole in the perineum, the other in the rectum. Anaemia.—Static bath and spark. Ascending spinal galvanization. 77 78 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Aneurism, -f needle in the tumor, and a large electrode near it, protecting the parts carefully from cold. Seance 7 to 20 minutes. Angina of the chest. Energetic faradization, revulsive about the breast. Galvanization of the left cardio-cervical region ; large -\- electrode over the head; — electrode over the left pneumo- gastric at its sortie from the inferior sterno mastoid attachments. Anchylosis.—Active faradization and static current. Aphonia.—Place one electrode of the static or faradic over the crico-thyroidean space, the other at the nape of the neck; mild current; 1 to 2 minutes; also excitation of same current with wet electrodes, one electrode in the crico-thyroid space, and the other over the crico-thyroid cartilage. + galvanization with laryngeal electrode, the circuit being closed at the nape of the neck, or with the hand. 3 minutes. Arthritis.—Chronic. Faradization or static induction, with the two electrodes at the transverse diameter of the joint; low currents; 5 to 10 minutes. Strong galvanic currents may be used to cause absorption of any effusion. Electro-massage is often excellent. Ascites.—Deep — rectal faradization, the circuit being closed with a large moist abdominal electrode. 5 to 10 minutes. Asphyxia in general.—Thoracic faradization. Faradization of the diaphragm by the phrenic nerves, that are accessible, at the neck, upon the anterior face of the anterior scalenus muscle, by manipulating the clavicular border of the sterno-cleido-mas- toid, an electrode over each nerve and current rapidly inter- rupted. Primary current; static baths. Biliary Colic, mild form.—Static induction or faradization over the liver, -f- galvanization, closing circuit with the hand, or over the right pneumogastric nerve. Blepharoptosis.—Spinal. — olive faradic electrode placed in the internal part of the orbital depression of the superior eye- lid, the -(- closing the circuit at the back of the neck. 1 to 2 minutes. THERAPEUTIC INDEX. 79 Bronchitis (chronic).—Thoracic static induction. Callosities.—Painful. Static spark, or faradization, the swelling being compressed between the electrodes. Cancer.—Electrolysis. Galvano-cautery. — galvanization, inter- rupted; with large electrode, active, over the cancer, as com- mended by Parsons. Catalepsy.—Galvanization, sacro-post-cervical. Cataract.—Galvanization of the globe of the eye, circuit closed with hand of same side. Cephalalgia.—Congestive. Faradization, primary, the electrodes being placed on the temples. Medium current; 3 to 5 minutes. In dyspeptic hemicrania, galvanization, ascending, of the right pneumogastric. 3 minutes; medium current. In gouty hemicrania. -\- galvanization; large tampon over frontal region; circuit closed by the hand. Chlorosis.—Lumbar-pubic faradization or uterine faradization. Daily sittings 10 minutes at first, then 5. Chorea.—Ascending spinal galvanization; 3 minutes; mild current; increase to 5 and 15 minutes. In young girls add to this lumbar pubic faradization. Colic.—Flatulent ox dyspeptic. Moist abdominal faradization; active over iliac fossae. 3 to 5 minutes. Nervous. Revulsive skin faradization of abdominal wall. Saturnine. Same. Nephritic. Galvanization, lumbar post-cervical. During the crisis, faradization ; 10 minutes. One electrode over kidney, the other over hypogastric region. Toward the close of the crisis, the same application for 3 or 5 minutes. Hepatic. Galvanization, right precervical region. During crisis as above (faradization), one tampon over gall duct, the other over right post-thoracic region. Conjunctivitis, -f- galvanization, circuit closed on the neck. 5 to 10 minutes; feeble current. Double points of static oculo-post- cervical. 8o ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Constipation.—Lumbar post-cervical galvanization. 15 to 30 min- utes. Atonic. Abdomino-rectal faradization. 3 to 5 minutes; primary current. Recto-epigastric galvanization. 5 minutes ; medium current. Contractions.—Static spark. Galvanization +. Contusion.—Recent. Faradization. 5 to 10 minutes; primary. Convulsions.—Ataxic. These are usually symptoms of central symptomatic disorders akin to cerebral paralyses and galvaniza- tion of the nervous centres, the bulb being regarded on the common centre, may be tried. Cough.— Whooping. Epigastric-pre-cervical (right). Galvaniza- tion ; 3 minutes; twice a day after eating. Cornea.— (Ulcerations, etc.). Galvanization on globe of eye; circuit closed by the hand; yz to 2 milliamperes. 5 minutes. Coryza. • -f- Galvanization over nose; circuit closed by hand. Feeble current; 10 to 15 minutes. Cramp.— Writers'. Centripetal galvanization, -f- over dorsal aspect of finger. — over neck. 3 to 5 minutes, daily. Gal- vanization of cerebro-spinal system. Faradization; massage of muscles. Cretinism.—Static needle discharge over neck. Spinal galvaniza- tion. Cyanosis (cardiac).—General faradization; 10 minutes. Galvan- ization of the cardio-pre-cervical region of pneumogastric. Cystitis.—Acute. -\- galvanization. -\- pole at pubis or perineum ; negative pole at feet or in hand. 5 to 10 minutes. Chronic. Vesical faradization. — pole in bladder or at pubis; positive at perineum. Primary current; 3 minutes. Cystocele.—Primary faradization ; vaginal. Circuit closed at pubis; 3 minutes. Results unsatisfactory. Delirium Tremens.—Galvanization, -f- pole on sacrum ; negative at neck. 5 minutes; medium current strength. Diabetes.—Spinal galvanization, ascending, 3 to 5 minutes, to quiet symptoms. THERAPEUTIC INDEX. 8l Diarrhoea.—Accidental. Abdominal faradization, primary; 3 to 5 minutes. Chronic. Revulsive faradization, abdominal. Diphtheria.—(?) Dysmenorrhcea.—Uterine faradization, bipolar. In virgins lumbo- abdominal, primary; 3 to 5 minutes. Obstructive from stenosis. Galvanization; Fry's electrodes. Membranous. Intra-uterine -f- galvanization. Dyspepsia.— Gastric. Galvanization, right pneumogastric. Posi- tive pole over epigastrium, negative over the nerve when in front of the neck, or at the back of neck. 3 minutes; 8 to 15 milliamperes. Intestinal. Abdomino-rectal faradization. Abdominal post-cervical galvanization. Dysphagia.—Epigastro-cervical (post) galvanization ; -f- pole over epigastrium, — pole at neck. 3 minutes; 5 to 10 milliamperes. Dysuria.—Galvanization; -\- pole at perineum; circuit closed by hand, abdomen or feet. Eclampsia.—Spinal galvanization. Epilepsy.—Galvanization; — pole at neck, the -\- pole where the patient feels the aura. 5 minutes. Faradization sometimes gives great relief. Fibroma.—Galvanic puncture, according to principles laid down by Apostoli. See " Gynaecological Electro-therapeutics," Bigelow. Galactorrhea.— -+- galvanization of breasts; circuit closed by the hand. Gastralgia.—Galvanization; + pole over epigastrium ; negative pole in front of neck where the right pneumogastric enters the inferior borders of the sterno-mastoid. 3 minutes; mild current. Very useful in painful gastralgia with nausea. Supplement this with cutaneous faradization over epigastrium. Gastrorrhoea.—Same. Glaucoma.— -f- galvanization of globe of eye; circuit closed by the hand, with poles (moist) applied to eyelids, which should be closed. 82 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. Goitre.—Negative puncture. Cystic. Cauterization negative. Exophthalmic, -f- galvanization of tumor; circuit closed by hand. Gout.—Primary faradization of painful articulation. Static spark. Hemoptysis.—In women at critical period. Intrauterine faradi- zation ; primary current. In men, lumbo-abdominal faradization. Hemorrhoids.—Positive puncture. Hernia.—After reducing, replace finger with a moist, negative, olive-pointed electrode, with positive pole in rectum. Faradi- zation, primary; 3 to 5 minutes. In double inguinal hernia place electrodes in the rings. In irreducible hernia use large, flat electrode instead of the olive-pointed one. Hydrocele.—Negative galvanic puncture ; close circuit on internal part of thigh, as practiced by Walling and others. Hydronephrosis.— -|- galvanization of lumbar region as a pallia- tive ; close circuit on dorso-cervical region. Hypersemia.—Faradization. (?) Hyperesthesia.— General. Ascending spinal galvanization. Local. -\- galvanization. Hysteria.—Treat according to symptoms. Look to general health and state of uterus. Incontinence of Urine.—Faradization; negative pole on pubis, positive on perineum. Spinal galvanization. Inertia, uterine.—Faradization. If of cerebral origin, ascending spinal galvanization. Insolation.—Spinal galvanization. Insomnia.—Faradization localized. Spinal galvanization. Intestinal.— Obstruction. Deep faradization of abdominal mass by rectal electrode; circuit close by large abdominal pole. Primary current; 2 to 5 minutes; sittings frequently repeated. Interrupted galvanization ; abdomino-rectal, — pole in rectum. Invagination. Faradization as above. Irritation.—Spinal. Faradization; one pole on sacrum, the other THERAPEUTIC INDEX. 83 on the neck. Primary current; 3 to 5 minutes; one hour after faradization of skin along the spine, ascending galvanization. Ischuria.—Centripetal galvanization; -f- pole on pubis; negative pole over dorsal region. 5 to 10 minutes. Laryngitis.—Galvanization ; -f- pole over larynx ; circuit closed at neck or by the hand. Lipoma.—Negative puncture. Lumbago.—Galvanization; large -\- electrode over the loins ; the other a little higher. 3 to 5 minutes. Menorrhagia.—Galvanization; -|- intra-uterine, clay electrode on abdomen. Metritis.—Positive or negative intra-uterine galvanization, as pre- scribed by Apostoli, according to symptoms. Abdomino- uterine faradization, as prescribed by Tripier. In non-hemor- rhagic forms, negative pole in uterus when using galvanic current. Metrorrhagia.—Intra-uterine galvanization ; -|- pole in uterus. Morphinism.—Spinal galvanization. Myelitis.—Chronic. Spinal galvanization. Myodynia.—Galvanization of painful muscles. Nausea.—Galvanization of both pneumogastrics. Nymphomania.—Spinal galvanization; weak currents; vaginal faradization with primary current. GSdema.—Static frictions. Orchitis.—Acute. Galvanization; positive pole on tumor; negative pole on the track of the cord at the external opening of the inguinal canal. Chronic. Same. Ovary.— Ovaritis. Static induction ; bipolar faradization of vagina; bipolar intra-uterine faradization. Palpitations.—Ascending galvanization of the pneumogastric. Paralysis.—If due to cerebral lesion, longitudinal, transverse and diagonal brain galvanization. If the lesion is in spinal cord, spinal galvanization. In myopathic palsies galvanization; use faradization in those cases where the farado-muscular con- 84 ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES. tractility is preserved; also try static sparks in the treatment of paralyzed muscles. (Read extract from Von Ziemssen, quoted by Rohe and Liebig, pages 294-295.) Bell's Palsy. Transverse occipital brain galvanization and sub- aural galvanization; then galvanization of nerve trunk; then fara- dization of nerve, one pole over stylo-mastoid foramen, and the other successively over motor points of paralyzed muscles. Try static sparks along course of nerve. In a general way, it may be said, that galvanism is required for all paralysis, with mus- cular stimulation by the faradic or static inductive brush. Photophobia.—Galvanization; -(- of globe of the eye. Pleurisy.— Chronic. Faradization of thoracic wall. Pollutions.—Ascending spinal galvanization. Priapism.—Spinal galvanization. Prostate.—Simple Hypertrophy. Recto-urethral faradization. Retinitis.— Chronic. Negative faradization of globe of eye. Retroflexion and Retroversion of Uterus.—Vesicouterine fara- dization. Satyriasis.—Spinal galvanization. Spinal Cord.—Chronic Meningitis and Pachymeningitis. Spinal galvanization. Meningeal Hemorrhage. Same. Chronic Myelitis. Direct galvanization. Multiple and Lateral Sclerosis. Spinal and sub-aural galvaniza- tion ; peripheral faradic (skin) stimulation. Avoid faradization in lateral sclerosis. Locomotor Ataxia. Spinal galvanization; sub-aural galvanization and static electricity to spine. Use static spark for the pains. Poliomyelitis. (?) Tic Douloureux.----1- Galvanization of painful points. Torticollis.—Longitudinal galvanization of contracted muscles. Tumors, Fibroid of Uterus.—Puncture with galvanic currents of intensity, negative or positive, as directed by Apostoli; if necessary under ether, 100 to 200 milliamperes; 5 minutes. Definitions.—Longitudinal brain galvanization. Large elec- THERAPEUTIC INDEX. 85 trodes to forehead and occiput. Stabile, when electrodes are held firmly, and labile when they are moved about. Transverse brain galvanization. Electrodes on two sides of frontal bone, temporal bones, and mastoid process. Currents I milliampere. Spinal galvanization, longitudinal. Electrodes over cervical and sacral spinous processes. Transverse. One pole over the spine, and the other in median line in front. Sub-aural galvanization. One two-inch electrode at maxillary angle of neck, and pressed toward spine. Other electrode over 5th and 7th cervical vertebne on opposite side. Current of 5 milliamperes. General faradization. One pole to plate under feet or buttocks, with large sponge attached, and the other to upper extremity. Local faradization. Use metal electrodes covered with sponge or cotton. Brush electrode for skin. s NLM001228031