Improvements in Science. 127 



copper in Wollaston's pile, and on the influence of surfaces, 

 and irregularities in the pile. 



7. Paralysis of the Tongue treated by Galvanism. — Jules 

 Roula, a patient of M. Palafrat, was seized with apoplexy, 

 and for thirteen years subsequently, that portion of the 

 nerves of the 9th pair which serve for articulation, was 

 paralysed. Palafrat began by treating him by acupunc- 

 ture in the nape of the neck, in the direction of the base of 

 the brain. The needle was made to communicate with the 

 negative pole of a strong voltaic pile ; a plate of platinum, 

 enveloped with a rag soaked in saline water, was placed on 

 the tongue, and communicated with the positive pole of 

 the pile. The currents were interrupted and regulated by 

 a watch. An insupportable metallic taste was first pro- 

 duced ; violent contractions of the tongue and stomach fol- 

 lowed ; ultimately, vomiting was almost produced ; and, 

 then he exclaimed, throwing from him the apparatus, " Je 

 parle, merci, Monsieur le medecin ; Je parle, merci." He 

 then repeated several sentences, but could not pronouucej 

 nor r. The same treatment repeated five times, rendered 

 the patient capable of articulating these letters. The treat- 

 ment was begun on the 27th of November last ; and on the 

 22nd of December, when the patient was presented to the 

 academy, he could rejDeat several sentences very intelli- 

 gibly, but had always a tendency to become confused. 



8. New method of magnetizing. — M. Aime recommends 

 the following method, which consists in tempering and 

 magnetizing a bar of iron at the same time, To effect this, 

 a bar of soft iron curved in the form of a horse-shoe, is 

 surrounded with a brass wire, covered with silk ; the two 

 extremities of this wire are made to communicate with the 

 poles of the voltaic pile ; a bar of steel equal in length to 

 the distance between the two extremities of the horse-shoe 

 is then ignited, and seized between a pair of pincers ; the 

 two poles of the horse-shoe are then applied to the bar, 

 and plunged into a bucket of water; in the course of a 

 minute or two after immersion, the bar is detached from 

 the horse-shoe, and a similar operation performed with 

 similar bars extracted from the fire. In order to prevent 

 the brass wire from softening, care must be taken in dipping 

 the apparatus in water to envelope the two extremities of the 



