MEDICAL BATTEEIES. 



71 



trization until it Lad been rendered clear by special anatomical 

 and electro-physiological knowledge. Then, with the help of 

 induction instruments and of appropriate rheophores, it became 

 possible for me to lay down the rules by which electric excitation 

 may be limited to different depths, to each muscle, or group of 

 muscles, to each nerve, and to a great number of internal organs. 



I am indebted to the use of localized faradization, by the methods 

 which I am about to explain, for the discovery of the individual 

 actions of many of the muscles.^ This method, applied to certain 

 pathological and therapeutical investigations, has given very 

 beautiful results that have been tested and confirmed by a large 

 number of observations.^ 



II. — Choice of an induction instrument. 



The choice of a good apparatus is of such importance, in the 

 practice of localized faradization, that I shall devote a whole 

 chapter (Chap. IV.) to the question. The considerations that I 

 shall have to set forth cannot be well understood until I have 

 given the anatomical and physiological data upon which localized 

 faradization rests. 



For the present I am content to say that, without the proper 

 instruments, localized faradization could scarcely have been realized, 

 and that, without their aid, I could not have opened the way for 

 researches in electro-physiology, pathology, and therapeutics, the 

 importance of which is now well established. 



* See Duchenne, Eecherches ^lectro- 

 physiologiques sur le me'chanisme de la 

 physioaomie humaine, 1862 ; Physiologie 

 des movements de'montre'e a I'aide de 

 V experimentation e'lectrique et de Vobser- 

 vation clinique, 1866. 



^ Until now, I have been unwilling to 

 enter upon the historical question that I 

 have thus briefly set forth ; because I 

 wish to avoid the appearance of glorifying 

 my own work. It appeared more suitable 

 to leave the matter to those who were 

 disinterested with regard to it. I find it 

 necessary, however, to be more guarded, 

 since the invention of my method of 

 localized electrization has lately been 

 claimed by a physicist of merit, Masson, 

 Professor at tlie Ecole Polytechnique. 

 This pliilosoplier has acquired some fame 

 in the history of induced electricity ; but 

 attention has chiefly been drawn to his 

 name by the incessant claims of priority 

 that he has addressed to the Academy of 

 Sciences, with regard to the discovery of 

 electricity by induction. Although his 



works are certainly in no way to be 

 compared to those of the illustrious 

 Faraday, although the Academy has 

 proved that his pretensions are un- 

 founded, his claims have this much of 

 reason, that he believes himself to have 

 been the first to observe the phenomena 

 of induction. But how shall I charac- 

 terise his new pretensions, since, notwith- 

 standing his ignorance of anatomy and 

 l^hysiology, he claims priority of in- 

 vention for a method of electrization 

 that could only be created by the aid 

 of special anatomical and physiological 

 research, and which is not applicable 

 without the exact knowledge, and the 

 observation of the rules, which I have 

 deduced from my experiments? Another 

 physicist, M. Becquerel, has also sup- 

 ported the pretensions of Masson before 

 tiie Academy of Sciences. He was 

 equally incompetent with him, as regards 

 questions of anatomy antl electro-physio- 

 logv. This must be his excuse. 



