4 LOCALIZED ELECTRIZATION. 



in practice. It would be wrong, however, to suppose that the 

 therapeutical action of electricity is always the same, whatever its 

 source. I make no claim to have entirely solved this difficult 

 question ; but I hope to establish that friction electricity, contact 

 electricity, and induced electricity possess special physiological 

 and therapeutical properties, and that each of them will fulfil 

 particular indications. 



Part I. 



STATIC ELECTKTCITY. 



§ I. — FhysioJogical Properties. 



The principal methods employed for the application of static 

 electricity are, as is well known, electrization by simple contact, 

 called the electric bath ; electrization by sparks ; and, lastly, elec- 

 trization by the Ijcyden jar. The other methods do not appear to 

 me sufficiently important to require discussion. 



A. — Electro-positive and Negative Baths. 



The electric bath has long been ranked among the most valuable 

 therapeutical agents. According to Giacomini,^ the positive form 

 is applied and acts in the following manner : — " The patient, being 

 insulated, is placed in contact with the conductor of the electrical 

 machine. The whole surface of the body is thus electrified, while 

 the air which surrounds the body is rendered electro-negative. 

 The positive electricity by which the organism is charged is confined 

 to the surface, and probably accumulates in the skin, by virtue of 

 the law above-mentioned, for it has no effect upon any internal 

 organs. Neither the pulse, nor the secretions, nor the intellectual 

 functions, nor the respiration, undergo any particular change ; and 

 the accumulated electricity which constitutes the bath, escapes from 

 all points of the epidermis, from the hair, beard, and nails," &c. 



Giacomini attributes a hyposthenic influence to the electro- 

 negative bath, which withdraws from the body a greater or 

 smaller quantity of its natural electricity. This is done by in- 

 sulating the patient, and by placing his body, and especially 

 the diseased part, in connection with the cushion or rubber of the 

 machine. The plate, being then turned, discharges vitreous 

 electricity in proportion as it has accumulated. It is evident, 

 according to Giacomini, that the electricity yielded by the cushion 

 is derived from the nerves of the patient, instead of from the 

 ground, as in the case of the positive bath. 



- Cited in La Bihliotheque du M^decin Fraeticien. Paris, 1850. Vol. xiv. p. 90. 



