318 ELECTEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 



The use of the electric currerit has been also proposed for dissolving calculi 

 in the bladder. To judge of this method it is sufficient to recollect that the 

 calculi are formed of materials insoluble in the urine, and that the current can- 

 not decompose an insoluble compound. For the proposed purpose it Avould be 

 necessary to fill the bladder in which the calculus exists with a concentrated 

 alkaline solution, through which a very intense electric current should be made 

 to pass. 



Some cases have been cited of the cure of ancurismal sacs by the method 

 of Petrequin. I'his surgeon having introduced into the sac needles of steel, 

 brought into close proximity or nearly into contact, caused a strong electric cur- 

 rent to pass through them. Through the heat produced or other cause, coagu- 

 lated masses are formed in the sac, an inflammatory process is excited in its 

 parietal surfaces, and favorable results seem to have been realized from the prac- 

 tice, as in the case also of incipient and limited aneurisms. The employment 

 of a very fine wire of platina, rendered incandescent by the electric current, 

 has been proposed in surgery for the purpose of cauterizing and promptly sepa- 

 rating the polypus in any concealed situation. RuhmkorfP has suggested the 

 use of the electric light to render visible the morbid state of certain deeply- 

 seated parts of the body. Professor Burci, by causing a strong electric current 

 to pass through an extra-uterine foetus, destroyed its vitality, and the foetus was 

 then gradually dislodged. 



It is, however, in the cure of tetanus and paralysis that the application of 

 electricity has been most confidently and persistently relied on. These cures 

 rest upon the electro-physiological facts with which we have become acquainted. 

 The direct and continuous current destioys the excitability of the nerve — that 

 is, places the nerve in a state which may be considered analogous to that of a 

 nerve paralyzed. The inverse current, on the other hand, increases that excita- 

 bility, and within certain limits restores it Avhen it is lost. This is the case of 

 the voltaic alternatives already brought to your notice. It will be remembered 

 also that at the opening of the circuit we have seen the member which had been 

 traversed for a certain time by the inverse current attacked by a strong tetanic 

 contraction which lasted many seconds; to cause a cessation of this contraction 

 it is sufficient to re-establish the continuous passage of the current. AVe have 

 further seen, by causing to pass in the nerves of a living animal a current inter- 

 rupted by means of a wheel of interruption, or an apparatus of electromagnetic 

 induction, which has the interrupter of De la Rive in the circuii of the battery, 

 that the animal is seized with Violent tetanic convulsions which soon destroy it. 

 These strong and continued contractions naturally consume a large supply of 

 nervous power, and in so short a time that it cannot be restored by the organ- 

 ism; in this lies, perhaps, the mysterious action of certain jjoisons which operate 

 on the nervous system with so much energy. 



I will finally adduce an observation which is easily comprehended, and which 

 may assist in explaining the mode of the action of electricity in paralysis. Let 

 us suppose that Ave divide the motor nerves of the two lower members of a living 

 frog, and that, for a certain time, we every day irritate one only of these nerves. 

 If, after that time, we test with the usual stimulants the degree of muscular 

 irritability of the muscles of the tAvo members, Ave shall always find that this 

 irritability is much gieater in the muscles made to contract daily than in those 

 which have continued in repose. 



Such arc the facts and principles upon W'hich is scientifically founded the use 

 of electricity for the cure of tetanus, and especially of paralysis. With a A'iew 

 to overcome the tetanic contractions, it is necessary, upon the principles above 

 set forth, to subject the patient to a continuous current, I know of but one case 

 of an attempt of this kind. During the passage of the current the sufferings of 

 the subject Avere alleviated; but unfortunately, because perhaps in this instance 

 tetanus was the effect of an inflammation excited by the presence of extraneous 



