THE 
MEDICAL USE OF ELECTRICITY, 
IN THE FORM OF GENERAL ELECTRIZATION. 
BEING A PAPER READ BEFORE THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, 
JULY 8, 1867, 
J i*r/ 
K 
GEORGE M. BEARD, A.M., M.l>. 
3&*printffc from tfre Bullttiir of lijt gta&mj; 
NEWYORK: 
PEINTEH BY THE NEW YORK PRINTING COMPANY, 
81, 83, and 85 Centre Street. 
18G8. THE MEDICAL USE OF ELECTRICITY. 
Dr. Geo. M. Beard, by invitation, said: 
Mr. President: The attitude in which the profession of 
America now stand in regard to electro-therapeutics is, to say the 
least, unfavorable. While there are very few who have practised 
“ localized electrization ” with something of the zeal that it is now 
being investigated in Europe, the vast majority of our educated 
and reliable physicians have resigned this department entirely to 
the tender mercies of ignorant and oftentimes unprincipled out- 
siders. By this Ido not mean that very many in the profession 
have not essayed and do not occasionally recommend the employ- 
ment of electi’icity. There are indeed very few who have not at 
one time or another had opportunities for testing the power of some 
form of electricity in the treatment of disease. But if such were 
asked what kind of apparatus they had recommended, or seen 
used, they would point to some rusty magneto-electric machine, 
where the electricity is generated by turning a crank (the ends of 
a wire being successively and rapidly brought near the poles of a 
magnet), or to some inconvenient and uncertain electro-magnetic 
apparatus. 
If they were asked in what kind of diseases they regarded 
electricity as indicated, and for which they had advised its use, 
they would mention, first of all, long-standing paralysis that had 
proved rebellious both to time and to all internal medication, and 
the worst stages of constitutional rheumatism. 
If, again, they were asked to describe their method of using 
electricity, they would confess that in the majority of instances the 
applications were left to the patients themselves, or more likely to 
some friend or servant who happened to be nearest; nay more, 
that the patients were often allowed to hold the positive pole in 
one hand and the negative in the other, without regard to the 
locality of the disease. 
And finally, if they were asked to give the course and results 
of this treatment, they would probably reply that after a few 
applications, made with a weak and uncertain current in the man- 
ner above described, the apparatus was laid aside, and as the 
patient was not cured, or in any way benefited, electricity was 
afterward declared a humbug by all the parties concerned. You 
will, I think, agree that this picture of the experience of the 
majority of those among us who have used electricity is not 
overdrawn. 4 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
There are, it is true, a limited number to whom these criticisms 
will not apply, at least in their entirety, who have used electricity 
in some form or other, with a measure of skill and perseverance, 
though probably not with the success they desired and perhaps 
hoped for. But in what I say to-night, I shall go upon the sup- 
position that none of you have given this subject any systematic 
attention, and accordingly, so far as the limited time will permit, 
I shall enter into the explanations that to an expert would appear 
very elementary ; and inasmuch as the method of general electri- 
zation with the Faradaic current, that is to be the leading idea 
in this presentation, was, so far as I know, first formally introduced 
to the profession of this city by my associate, Dr. Rockwell, 
and myself, my remarks will necessarily be more or less per- 
sonal. 
The first recorded experiments with electricity on the human 
body date back over a century. In 1745 a Mr. Von Kleest first 
received a shock through the system from a Leyden jar. In 1748 
a small treatise on the “Effects of Electricity on the Living 
Human Body ” was published by Mr. Jallabert. 
The physiological and therapeutical uses of electricity were 
subsequently investigated by Abbe Sans, Galvani, Grapengiesser, 
Alexander Von Humboldt, Aldini, Volta, Magendie, Marianini, 
Matteucci, Du Bois Reymond, Sarlandiere, and Golding Bird. 
The discovery of the induction current by the great Faraday in 
1831 gave a new impulse to investigations in this department, and 
in 1855 Duchenne, of Boulogne, published a work on “ Electrisation 
localises.” Duchenne may be justly regarded as the father of the 
modern school in electro-therapeutics, for it was by his writings 
that the late lamented Remak, of Berlin, was inspired to give 
this subject special attention. In regard to the currents employed, 
Duchenne and Remak were diametrically opposed the former 
advocating the almost exclusive use of Faradaization, while the 
latter contended for the use of the galvanic or primary stream 
from a large number of batteries. 
The contention waxed warm between them, and they became 
the leaders of opposite schools. Moreover, Remak and his follow- 
ers made their applications chiefly over the motor nerves, at the 
border points where they entered the muscles, while Duchenne 
placed the electrodes over the bellies of the muscles in which he 
desired to produce contraction. 
Within the past ten years the cause of electro-therapeutics has 
enlisted the services of some of the ablest minds in Europe, 
among wdiora may be mentioned Becquerel, Rosenthal, Benedict 
Meyer, Althaus, and Ziemssen, and it also received the very 
hearty cooperation of the late Prof. Trousseau. In Germany 
especially, electro-therapeutics has elicited very general attention, 
and has been made the subject of a variety of publications. 
BRIEF SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS. The Medical Use of Electricity. 
5 
MY OWN EXPERIENCE. 
About ten years ago, while pursuing my studies, I began to 
experiment with the Faradaic current, at first on ray own person, 
and afterward on my acquaintances. The electro-magnetic 
machine that I employed was to the last degree uncertain and 
inconvenient. The electricity was generated in an ordinary zinc 
and copper battery, but the current was at one time quite pow- 
erful, at another very weak, and sometimes it would not run 
at all. My method, as subsequently ascertained, was very similar 
to that practised by Duchenne and the other European electri- 
cians, namely, “ localized electrization,” the electrodes being 
placed near to each other, over the parts desired to be affected. 
During my college course, and afterward while serving as acting 
medical cadet in the military hospital in New Haven, 1 continued 
to experiment with my apparatus in the same irregular manner in 
cases of indigestion, nervousness, and rheumatism. Sometimes I 
placed the negative pole at the tip of the coccyx, and applied the 
positive over the stomach and liver. The results were pleasing, but 
not entirely satisfactory, ' Thus applied, the Faradaic current had 
a temporarily soothing and strengthening effect, but no very 
decided or permanent tonic influence. 
Rheumatism of the sub-acute and chronic variety, when treated 
with a mild current through the affected joints, was temporarily 
benefited, but relapsed so early that there was little encourage- 
ment to persevere. 
In 1866, Dr. A. D. Rockwell and myself associated ourselves 
together for the purpose of giving special attention to electro-ther-, 
apeutics, and we soon began to meet with results which before 
neither of us had even anticipated, for the reason that we used 
better instruments and a different mode of application. 
In the first place we secured a neat, convenient, and reliable 
electro-magnetic machine, such as I now show you. It is manu- 
factured by Jerome Kidder, and is decidedly superior for medical 
use to any other form of electro-magnetic apparatus that I have 
ever seen. For office use it leaves nothing to be desired. It is 
run by the ordinary Smee’s battery (zinc and platina), or by 
Farmer’s thermo-electric battery, and has a powerful helix, as well 
as a readily-adjusted armature. 
In the brief space allowed me to-night there would not be time 
to enter into detailed explanation of the various parts of this 
beautiful machine, but I shall confine my remarks, as far as possi- 
ble, to what is of direct practical import. 
In the treatises devoted to this subject you will read of “ Gal- 
vanization ” and “Faradaization,” “quantity” and “intensity,” 
“ direct ” and “ inverse ” currents, and other equally arbitrary 
terms that can but bewilder those who have not given the subject 
particular attention. 6 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
EXPLANATION OP TERMS.* 
It should be remarked that among medical writers in general, 
much confusion still continues to exist in the use of these terras. 
“ Battery ” and “ electro-magnetic machine,” “ Galvanism ” and 
“Faradaization,” “primary” and “secondary,” are often con- 
founded, even by those who in nearly every other department of 
medical science are well informed. 
GALVANIC BATTERY ELECTRO-MAGNETIC MACHINE. 
A galvanic battery is usually formed of three substances, two 
of which are metal, and the other some dilute acid that generates 
electricity by its action on one of the metals. It is also called an 
“ element ” or “ cell.” 
The compound galvanic battery consists of a number of simple 
batteries connected in a series. Thus we have the voltaic pile, 
and Grove’s, Bunsen’s, or Smee’s compound battery, composed 
of more or less simple batteries of their respective varieties. 
Farmer's thermo electric battery, composed of bars of German 
silver, and an alloy of zinc and antimony, arranged in a Y shape, 
so as to be heated (by gas or an alcohol lamp) at their point of 
union, has recently come into use. 
An electro-magnetic machine is composed of a helix and vibrat- 
ing armature, connected with some form of battery. It may be 
used with Bunsen’s, Smee’s, or Grove’s battery, or with any mod- 
ification of them, or with Farmer’s thermo-electric battery. 
In magneto-electric machines a soft iron armature is made to 
pass rapidly the poles of a magnet by turning a crank. They are 
very inconvenient, and must soon give way to electro-magnetic 
machines. • 
QUANTITY INTENSITY, OR TENSION. 
The quantity of electricity generated by any apparatus is pro- 
portioned to the amount of chemical action that takes place in the 
battery. Intensity is that power that enables it to overcome 
resistances that may impede the progress of the current. 
The electricity of an ordinary thunder-storm is great in inten- 
sity, but exceedingly small in quantity. On the other hand, that 
which is generated by any ordinary form of battery has compar- 
atively a great deal of quantity, but little intensity. The quantity 
supplied by any battery may be increased by increasing the chem- 
ical action that takes place in it, either by making it larger, or by 
strengthening the acid solution. 
In a compound battery the intensity is increased in proportion 
to the number of batteries, but, as they are ordinarily united, the 
quantity is no greater than in the single battery of which it is com- 
posed. 
* This Explanation of Terms is mainly taken from our recently published work 
on the Medical Use of Electricity, The Medical Use of Electricity. 
The relative meaning of these terms may be best understood 
by an illustration. A gallon of water heated to 100° has a much 
greater quantity of heat than a pint heated to 500° ; but the heat 
of the latter is much more intense. 
GALVANIZATION FARAD AIZATION.* 
The current that proceeds from any simple or compound bat- 
tery is called the “ primary current,” sometimes also the “ contin- 
uous,” “ constant,” or u uninterrupted ” stream. Its use in 
medicine is called galvanization, from Galvani. 
When the current from any simple or compound battery passes 
through a helix and induces another current that is interrupted by 
a vibrating armature, such a current is called the “induced,” 
“ secondary,” “ interrupted,” or “faradaic,” from Faraday, and 
the entire apparatus is called an electro-magnetic machine ; its use 
in medicine is called faradaization. This is the current that we 
usually employ in general electrization. In Germany, the current 
from a voltaic pile is called “ continuous,” that from all other 
batteries “ constant; ” with us this distinction is not ordinarily 
observed. 
ASCENDING DESCENDING. 
The course of an electric current is always from the positive to 
the negative pole. When, therefore, the current runs from the 
periphery toward the centre, against the course of the nerves, or 
of any single nerve, it is called ascending, or “reverse ;” when it 
runs from the centre toward the periphexy, with the course of the 
nerves, or of any single nerve, it is called the descending or 
“ direct ” current. 
The ascending current in its immediate effects is painful and 
irritating; the descending is calmative and exhilarating. 
In general electrization wre use mainly the descending current; 
in localized electrization either the ascending or descending may 
be used, according as exciting or soothing effects are indicated. 
GENERAL ELECTRIZATION LOCALIZED ELECTRIZATION. 
In general electrization one of the electrodes is placed at the 
feet, while the other is applied over the entire surface of the body, 
and the whole system is affected by the current. 
In localized electrization the electrodes are applied near to each 
other, and the effects of the current are supposed to be mainly 
confined to the tissues lying between them. 
The method of applying electricity which we have chiefly 
* We have adopted the orthography faradaization in preference to faradisation, 
introduced by Duchenne, for the reason that, while both are equally legitimate, 
the former has the additional advantage of more directly suggesting the name 
Faraday, from whom it was derived. 8 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
adopted I have denominated general electrization, in distinction 
from the localized electrization of Duchenne. 
The modus operandi of general electrization is as follows: 
Male patients remove their stockings, and all their outer and 
under clothing from the upper part of the body, and place their 
feet on the piece of copper to which the negative pole is attached, 
while the operator applies the positive, either a wet sponge or the 
moistened hand (when the current passes through his own person), 
down the spine and over the vital organs. Ladies remove their 
dress and loosen their under garments, and throw over their 
shoulders a shawl, or sheet, to prevent exposure. The most thor- 
ough form of application demands that the entire surface of the 
body should be gone over, with some regard to order. 
It is manifest that when electricity is applied in this manner, 
the currents must traverse the whole system, and consequently 
all the vital organs as well as the various muscles and nerves of 
the extremities are directly acted upon. From the astonishing 
residts of this method of treatment also it would seem that the 
great sympathetic were poicerfully affected. 
The immediate effects of general electrization, when carefully, 
skilfully, and thoroughly applied, are a feeling of exhilaration, 
very much as is experienced after taking a bath, or after a brisk 
walk in the open air. If there be any distress in the head, or 
neuralgia or rheumatism in any part of the body, or severe pain 
.from any form of inflammation, acute, sub-acute, or chronic, it is 
not unfrequently entirely dissipated, and sometimes there may be 
a grateful somnolence. The secondary effects, that do not usually 
appear until the following day, vary in different individuals, and in 
different states of the system, and also according to the condition 
of the atmosphere. At the outset of a course of treatment, 
patients sometimes complain of a feeling of depression, and of 
soreness in the muscles, especially if the applications have been 
too powerful, or too long continued. But these unpleasant sensa- 
tions are exceptional, rather than the rule, and thc permanent con- 
stitutional tonic effects begin to manifest themselves, progressing 
sometimes with wonderful rapidity, and in other cases with slow 
and steady improvement. Tim capricious appetite becomes keen- 
er and stronger, the consti]oated bowels grow more regular, and 
the sleep is easier and more refreshing. The muscles increase in 
size and hardness, and there is greater capacity of endurance. 
The spirits rise as always with the general condition, and the 
hypochondriac forgets his imagined woes. As would be expected, 
various special diseases, that depend on, or are associated with 
constitutional debility, are very often relieved, and in many cases 
are approximately or absolutely cured by continuous treatment. 
We have employed general electrization in cases of neuralgia,% 
the various forms and complications of indigestion, rheumatism 
of the acute, sub-acute, and chronic types, paralysis of the func- 
tional, rheumatic, traumatic, hysterical varieties, and in many The Medical Use of Electricity. 
9 
other cases not dependent on a persistent, active, and incurable 
central lesion, chorea, hysteria, anajmia, dysmenorrhoea, amenor- 
rhoea, and, indeed, .in nearly every shape of disease associated 
with constitutional feebleness, except pulmonary tuberculosis. 
I lay especial stress on the use of the hand as an electrode, 
because I was long since abundantly satisfied that it was more 
easily controlled, more effective, and far more agreeable to the 
patient, than any metal, or even the softest sponge. Applications 
to the head, or over any particularly sensitive organ, should 
always be made with the hand. Those who attempt to apply 
electricity in this way will find it necessary to practise extensively, 
in order that they may get so accustomed to the passage of a 
powerful current through their own persons, that they can ma- 
nipulate without difficulty all the parts desired to be affected. 
The question at 'once arises, what effects must the operator 
experience who thus allows a strong current to pass through his 
own body to the patient? To this interrogatory only experience 
can reply. Theoretically it would seem that an agent which we 
have proved to be so powerful to cure and to save, must also, 
when used in excess, be equally mighty to destroy. 
Duchenne nor Kernak did not advise this method, although 
they suggested its possibility; nor have any of their disciples, at 
least those who are numbered in the ranks of the profession. 
Garratt earnestly advises against it, declaring that it could but be 
injurious. But dismissing theories, let us consult the facts. Wm. 
Miller of this city, known to many of you as a man of large 
experience in the application of electricity, and whose practical 
suggestions have been to us of immense service during all our 
investigations on the subject of general electrization, has thus 
allowed an induced current of electricity to pass through his 
person, on the average, several hours a day for thirty-six years, 
and has suffered from no affection that could be in any way 
referred to this cause. When he commenced this practice he was 
slender and feeble; but under this mighty stimulus he has become 
quite firrq and sturdy, and he can now operate with perfect ease, 
while there is rushing through him a current that would tempo- 
rarily paralyze any one not to it. 
My own general health has improved since I began to make 
applications through ray own person; indeed it was the calming 
and invigorating effects experienced by myself that first called 
my attention to the tonic powers of electricity. My associate, 
Dr. Rockwell, has also grown somewhat stronger under the same 
influence, and there has been a very perceptible increase in the 
size of the muscles of the arms of both of us. 
In order to illustrate more specifically the indications for, and 
the results of general electrization, I will sketch a few cases in as 
much detail as the time will allow. 
Case I.—Neuralgia, Menorrhagia, with Ancemia.—Mrs. 5.,, 
a married lady, aged thirty-five, had for several years suffered. 10 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
from periodical attacks of severe pain in the stomach and head, 
attended with great prostration. The paroxysms occurred regu- 
larly every month during the catamenial flow, and sometimes at 
intervening periods, though with less severity. To the other dis- 
tressing symptoms was sometimes added obstinate and persistent 
vomiting. The stomach was so weak that at times she was 
obliged to keep her clothing loosened, and the slightest pres- 
sure over the epigastric region caused excessive pain. Her men- 
strual flow was usually quite protracted—from five to seven days 
in duration—and the quantity of flow lost was very great. Imme- 
diately after her courses she would present, for a number of days, 
a strikingly anaemic appearance. The opinion of her previous 
medical adviser, that the menorrhagia was a consequence of 
general debility rather than of any organic uterine disease, was 
confirmed by our own examination, and accordingly we decided 
to employ general applications of the Faradaic current. She had 
been using internal medication so long, and with such unsatisfac- 
tory results, that we yielded to her express desire and gave her 
no drugs whatever. 
The treatment by electrization was commenced December first, 
1866, and continued two or three times a week, for two months, 
with the most unexpected and pleasing results. 
She was of a frail, delicate build, and in all parts of the body so 
susceptible to electrical influence that only the mildest current 
could be used, and, what is contrary to our usual experience, she 
could bear no more at the close than at the outset of the treat- 
ment. 
The first s'eance w7as followed the next day by considerable 
nervousness and by soreness of the muscles that very soon passed 
away. 
After twm weeks of treatment her courses came on, and 
were as long continued and attended with as much loss of blood 
as before. One night, while she was suffering from a paroxysm of 
neuralgia in the stomach of unusual severity, we applied a mild 
current over her head and vital organs for about ten minutes, with 
the effect of entirely relieving her pain, and she soon passed into 
a quiet and refreshing sleep. . On the following day the pain 
returned, but with much less severity. 
Four weeks from that date her courses again appeared, but 
they were attended with comparatively little pain. Their dura- 
tion was but four days, and but a little more than the normal 
quantity of blood was discharged. 
The improvement in her general condition during the entire 
progress of the treatment was very decided; her appetite became 
keener, her digestion easier, her sleep more refreshing, and her 
spirits more buoyant. After twenty-four applications, distributed 
over a period of two months, all her distressing symptoms, the 
neuralgic attacks in the head and stomach, the menorrhagia, and 
consequent anaemia, entirely disappeared, and from that time to the The Medical Use of Electricity. 
11 
present (for we see her frequently) her health has been excel- 
lent. 
Case II.—Neuralgia, Leucorrhcea, Chronic Diarrhoea with 
General Debility.—Mrs. P., a married lady, thirty-five years of 
age, of a tall, spare form, first applied to us for electrization in 
May, 1867. She stated that a protracted and fearful labor, three 
years before, had so reduced her that she had never been able to 
regain her strength. She complained of general weakness, poor 
appetite, and inability to make any exertion. She suffered almost 
constantly from pain in the back, and from acute neuralgic attacks 
in the top of the head. 
There was a continual bearing down sensation, and a frequent 
desire to pass water. She had all along suffered more or less from 
a leucorrhoeal discharge, and for about six months before Ave saw 
her, she had been growing weaker and weaker from a persistent 
diarrhoea. On examination per vaginam, we found an indurated 
os, the result of chronic inflammation, and slight prolapsus. She 
was, in a word, a typical case of special and constitutional weak- 
ness that we so often meet with among ladies in the better walks 
of society. 
' In this, as in the previous case, internal medication in the shape 
of iron, quinine, strychnine, had been tried by her skilful medi- 
cal adviser so frequently, and so uselessly, that we resolved to 
discontinue it altogether. 
Even at the first sitting she was able to bear a good strength 
of the current, except on the top of the head, and over the trans- 
verse colon. There were no unpleasant secondary symptoms, and 
she slowly but steadily improved in her general condition and in 
her special symptoms. The diarrhoea was checked, and the stools 
gradually assumed a more healthy appearance; and with this 
improvement in the condition of the bowels, the tender spots over 
the transverse colon became less sensitive to the current. On 
account of the diarrhoea she had been forced to be very scrupu- 
lous in her diet, but she could now eat all the ordinary articles of 
food Avith impunity. She could sleep freer and longer than before, 
and had gained very perceptibly in strength and color. Her 
headaches Avere the last symptoms to yield, but they diminished 
in their violence and frequency. The treatment was extended 
over a period of two months. 
Case lll.—Neuralgia, Dysmenorrhoea, and Eunctional Pa- 
ralysis.—Mrs. M., a married lady of twenty-seven years of age, re- 
ported that in January, 1867, she was prostrated with an attack of 
intermittent fever that left her in a very Aveak, anaemic, and neu- 
ralgic condition, from which no combination of internal tonics 
seemed to enable her to rally. Her symptoms Avere intense neu- 
ralgic pain in the fore and back part of the head, over the ribs, 
on both sides, and in the left arm. As she complained of some 
leucorrhcea, and had suffered in times previous from prolapsus, we 
examined her with the speculum. There was congestion of the 12 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
cervix, but the uterus was in its normal position. She was thin and 
very pale, and was unable to attend to her daily tasks. Whole 
nights she had passed without sleep, and, as a natural and inevita- 
ble consequence, her appetite was very weak and capricious, and 
her bowels, were irregular. Her left arm was not only exceedingly 
painful, but it was also so much affected with functional or reflex 
paralysis that she could not raise it from her side. 
She experienced temporary relief immediately after the first 
seance, but the pain returned on the following day. After the 
fifth application there began to be evidences of improvement in 
her general condition, although her neuralgic symptoms were but 
temporarily abated, and her left arm seemed to be more power- 
less than before. After she had been under treatment about 
three weeks, she was attacked in the night with such severe par- 
oxysms of neuralgia in the uterus that her friends became greatly 
alarmed. Treatment by general electrization was resumed, and 
her improvement was very rapid. Her appetite became almost 
ravenous, and her rest at night was very comfortable, and some- 
times unbroken. Her face was fuller, and she increased in weight. 
There was more expression in her countenance, and her spirits, 
that had so long been depressed, were again buoyant. The par- 
alyzed arm was entirely restored. The treatment was extended 
over a period of seven weeks. Her menses appeared twice 
during that time, and were comparatively painless. 
In regard to the above and a number of very similar cases 
treated by general electrization, it should be remarked: 
1. The special symptoms, neuralgia, headache, constipation, etc., 
were dependent on general feebleness. 
2. These special symptoms did not ameliorate or depart until 
the general system began to be strengthened. In a word, the 
affections were cured by the tonic effects of general electrization. 
3. The temporary relief of severe neuralgia and inflammatory 
pain, effected by general electrization (and also, when the symptom 
is confined to a single part, by localized electrization), is oftentimes 
as speedy and even more absolute than that produced by hypo- 
dermic injections. More than that, the former is a permanent 
tonic, while the latter method is apt to be followed by a depress- 
ing reaction, and when too often repeated, may work injuriously 
on the constitution. 
RHEUMATISM. 
This disease in all its stages is treated by general electrization, 
and almost uniformly with more or less permanent benefit. 
Mr, H., aged forty-five, was sent to us by Dr. Austin Flint, to 
be treated for intercostal rheumatism on both sides, that had 
annoyed him for many months. He had been under Dr. Flint’s 
observation for about a year, during which time he had been tak- 
ing the iodide and bromide of potassium, with very slow but quite The Medical Use of Electricity. 
13 
perceptible improvement for his general rheumatic affection, but 
the difficulty in the side was not disposed to yield. 
He was at no time free from a considerable sense of annoyance, 
and the constant aching often rendered his nights sleepless. 
Mr. H. was a stalwart, hearty man, but had suffered at times 
from rheumatism all his life, and when he came to us seemed to be 
almost discouraged for fear lest he might be obliged to give up his 
business. He received general applications with considerable reg- 
ularity, two or three times a week, for two months, with the 
result of entirely removing the intercostal soreness, stiffness, and 
pain. The disease is, of course, still in his system, manifesting 
itself chiefly in the hips; but general electrization seems to have 
done more than internal medication. A peculiarity of his case is 
that he has usually suffered most in warm weather; his improve- 
ment under general electrization took place as the summer was 
coming on. 
I cite the above because it is typical of one of the most obsti- 
nate cases of rheumatism that we have met with. In a great 
number of cases that we have treated during the past year, per- 
manent benefit or absolute dissipation of the symptoms has 
resulted from a short course of treatment, without the aid of 
internal remedies. A few of these have already been reported in 
our work on the Medical Use of Electricity. 
DYSPEPSIA. 
This malady, with its various symptoms and complications, 
receives from general electrization a benefit proportioned to the 
severity of the disease and the perseverance of the treatment. 
Most of the dyspeptics consult us for other and more directly 
fearful or alarming affections, but often the dyspepsia must first 
be remedied, before the accompanying maladies show any evi- 
dence of yielding. 
Where emaciation has resulted from long standing dyspepsia, 
general electrization may cause the patient to increase in flesh, 
sometimes quite rapidly, though more commonly after the 
treatment has been somewhat protracted, or has been suspended. 
If general electrization were only useful in cases of neuralgia, 
rheumatism, and dyspepsia, it would be worthy of the most care- 
ful study on the part of all who desire to do the best possible for 
their suffering patients. 
But there are a number of other affections in which general 
electrization will succeed when internal medication foils, though 
the results are not as brilliant nor as uniform as in the diseases of 
which I have just spoken. I refer to paralysis, chorea, andamen- 
orrhcea. 
The cases of paralysis that are sent to us for treatment may be 
arranged under three classes. 
1. Those that are absolutely incurable. The Medical Use of Electricity. 
2. Those that can be greatly or appreciably relieved. 
3. Those that can be entirely cured. 
The fact of the existence of a central lesion is no ground for dis- 
couragement, if it be neither persistent nor progressive. It is often- 
times impossible to determine in regard to the curability of any case 
of paralysis without actual trial. We are often disappointed, both 
favorably and the reverse. As a rule, the improvement, even in 
the fortunate cases, is far from being rapid. The movement cure 
and general electrization may be advantageously combined in the 
treatment of the various forms of paralysis in children and in 
adults. Our experience with paralysis is more fully detailed in 
our series of articles on the subject in the Medical Record. 
In infantile paralysis we have achieved pleasing results. Indeed 
I am quite confident that in this, as in various other paralytic 
affections, general electrization with the Faradaic current will 
accomplish much that has been claimed for localized electrization 
with the primary current. My reasons for this opinion are based 
on our experience on the history of cases that have already been 
published, and to these I refer. 
Chorea, as is well known, will often recover of itself, or under 
the administration of iron. But sometimes a case defies all inter- 
nal medication, and even time itself. We have cured a few such, 
but only after very protracted treatment. 
In amenorrhcea the effects of general electrization are as 
uncertain as the causes are vague. The menses are sometimes 
brought on after a single application, more frequently after a 
course of treatment. In the case of a married lady who has been 
under our care for a number of weeks, the courses have just 
reappeared at the eleventh hour, after more than a year’s 
absence. 
Amenorrhcea, chorea, and paralysis are usually associated with 
general debility, and they do not ordinarily yield to general 
electrization until the system is first invigorated in all its functions. 
In local palsies occurring in those otherwise healthy, I use only 
local applications, and usually with the ascending current. 
But although general electrization is a tonic, and fulfils a large 
variety of indications, it is very far from being a cure-all. It is 
subject to limitations, as are all other tonic influences, but in many 
phases of disease it is far more speedily and permanently beneficial 
than any system of internal medication. The truth of this some 
what bold statement is forced upon us in our daily experience. To 
tone it down would be to misrepresent. 
But in epilepsy, taking the cases as we find them, in very obsti- 
nate life-long rheumatism in the aged, in paralysis dependent on 
persistent central lesions, and in pulmonary tuberculosis, general 
electrization is generally as powerless as are all the tinctures and 
powders of the shops. 
But these (excepting phthisis) are the very diseases for which 
electricity is ordinarily advised. The Medical Use of Electricity. 
15 
In obscure cases we sometimes feel justified in using electricity 
empirically, since we are confident that in practised hands it can 
rarely be harmful, even though it does no good. 
In the case of a gentleman affected with facial paralysis, and ab- 
solute deafness, brought to ns by Dr. Corkroft, we employed local 
and general electrization for over a month without any benefit. The 
question whether the affected nerves were yet alive seemed to be 
answered in the negative, and the treatment was suspended. 
By suggestion of Dr. George T. Elliot, I tested the power of 
general electrization on a young woman in Bellevue Hospital, who 
had long been suffering from menstrual epilepsy. For a time she 
seemed to be slightly improved, but after eighteen applications 
she was not enough better to encourage me to continue the treat- 
ment. It should be stated that, before I saw her, she had been 
previously treated in various ways, and even by electrization 
through the uterus. 
In the employment of general electrization, as in all other 
mechanical procedures, there are certain rules and various minor 
details, on the observance of which the success of the treatment 
very materially depends. 
1. Instead of the ordinary metallic electrodes that accompany 
Kidder’s machine, we always use a hollow brass ball covered with 
sponge. This sponge should always be wet, and the hand making 
the application should be repeatedly moistened. 
2. In the case of very aged, or very weakly patients, the first 
application should be very mild and of short duration, in order 
that there may be no unpleasant secondary effects. A very old 
and infirm lady, sent to us by my friend Dr. Roosa, expressively 
summed up her experience, after the first application, by declaring 
that “ she felt all the horrors of the damned.” 
3. The amount of electricity one can bear depends on the age, 
health, temperament, habits, and even on the state of the atmos- 
phere. After we have, by experience, ascertained the degree of 
susceptibility of any patient, we should make the applications as 
strong as they can well be borne. 
4. The duration of the applications should be from five to twen- 
ty-five minutes, according to the constitution of the patient, and 
the nature of the disease; and they should not be repeated oftener 
than every other day, or two or three times a week. Very old 
and nervous patients demand longer intervals in the treatment. 
5. The applications should be so thorough that every part of 
the body is traversed by the current. Special pains should be 
taken to avoid the bony prominences, or, when they are touched, 
to carefully graduate the current according to their sensitiveness. 
Careless or slipshod applications will bring uncertain results. 
In the majority of chronic affections the treatment should be 
persistent. Certain acute attacks may be sometimes dispelled by 
one application, but long-standing cases of any form of disease, 
demand perseverance with general electrization as with any other 16 
The Medical Use of Electricity. 
form of treatment. The cures are achieved by general electriza- 
tion co-operating with nature and time. 
Considered even as a sketch of the medical uses of electricity, 
this presentation to-night has been exceedingly imperfect. Of 
the Voltaic pile and the various compound batteries for the pri- 
mary current, or of Farmer’s neat and convenient thermo-electric 
apparatus, I shall not have time to speak, 2STor can I allude to 
very many special types and phases of disease in which electriza- 
tion is found to be of service, either alone, or as an adjuvant to 
other remedies. 
But my object will have been gained if I have succeeded in 
calling your attention to what I regard as the corner-stone of 
electro-therapeutics, viz.: that general electrization with, the Fara- 
daic current, as I have described it, is a toxic oftentimes more 
rapidly and surely effective than any internal medication, and 
therefore indicated in a large variety of diseases; that it is to be 
used prior to, or in conjunction with, quinine, strychnine, iron, 
exercise, bathing, and all other tonic influences whatsoever. 
It is too much to expect that the stone that has so long been 
rejected will at once become the head of the corner; but without 
regard to the special method of application that has been the sub- 
ject of this paper to-night, I think that any one who considers 
with attention the history of the medical use of electricity in 
Europe for the past ten years, will become convinced that the 
cause of electro-therapeutics is too rich in promise for the future 
to be any longer resigned to the hands of the Philistines, wrho 
have thus far snatched from it whatever of glory or of dignity it 
ought long since to have acquired under the patronage of our 
leaders in science.