ELECTEIZATION BY EEFLEX ACTION. 133 



cases, as I shall shew hereafter, to either faradization, or galvani- 

 zation by the method of Leroy (d'Etiolles) ; and in the applica- 

 tion of cutaneous faradization as a stimulant of the respiration 

 and of the cardiac functions by reflex action, in the treatment of 

 asphyxia or of syncope. I shall have to treat hereafter of this 

 last method of reflex stimulation of the cord. 



It is not well, however, to be exclusive ; and in circumstances 

 where danger is urgent and has been unforeseen, the practitioner 

 who is hastily called to a case of asphyxia or of syncope should 

 know how to avail himself of any means that comes to his hand, 

 of any battery or induction apparatus whatever. Let us see, then, 

 how the surgeon should in such cases act ; and how I have many 

 times been called upon to act myself. 



I. If we have command of an induction apparatus, whether 

 graduated or not, and of whatever power, its current may be 

 diminished and controlled in the following manner : — The water 

 moderator, which I habitually place in the circuit when I v.'sh to 

 reduce the tension to a degree infinitely small, may be replaced 

 by a wetted band of any kind of linen or cotton cloth, made from 

 pocket-handkerchiefs, sheets, &c., and from one to several yards 

 in length, according to the power of the apparatus. This band 

 should be laid out on a table, and one of its extremities should be 

 connected with one of the electrodes of the instrument, the other 

 with the conductor to the rbeophore that is put into the mouth of 

 the patient; the second rheophore, which is introduced into the 

 anus, communicating by its conductor with the other electrode. 

 Under such conditions, the tension of the current will be reduced 

 to extreme weakness. Then, in order to obtain the necessary 

 power, the length of the moist band must be gradually diminished 

 by placing the conductor of the rheophore nearer and nearer to 

 the electrode, until, using intermissions about one second apart, 

 the commencement of reflex muscular contraction of the limbs is 

 observed. It is necessary to operate with a degree of tension just 

 below this, too weak to produce muscular contraction, and by 

 passing from the anus to the mouth a current of rapid intermis- 

 sions, until the respiration and the heart's action are re-established. 



In case the surgeon has at his disposal a constant battery, 

 combining all the desirable conditions (such, for example, as the 

 large battery of Siemens, or the new small portable battery of 

 Gaiffe, already described, but which are only to be found in the 

 hands of a limited number of persons), a continuous current 

 should be passed between the mouth and the rectum, without 

 heed to its direction, which, according to my own experiments, 

 has no influence upon the therapeutic result. 



