THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF LOCALIZED FARADIZATION. 147 



when the patient's mind was occupied about himself, and his attention was 

 directed to his breathing. The sighs then succeeded each other almost 

 without cessation.- This condition had continued for six weeks, without 

 affecting the general health, when the patient was sent to me by my friend, 

 M. Barthez. I considered that I had to deal with a neurosis that consisted of 

 a temporary aboUtion of the instinctive craving to breathe. According to 

 this hypothesis, the sighs that followed the period of apnoea would be only 

 the satisfying of that craving, which remained unfelt until the deficiency of 

 hsematosine amounted almost to cyanosis. Together with this, there was a 

 spasm of the diaphragm, produced by the sighs and by the elevation of the 

 epigastrium and hypochondria which followed them, or occurred when the 

 patient thought about them. It seemed that each of these singular attacks 

 presented two well-marked periods ; one characterized by apnoea and cyanosis, 

 the other by convulsive contraction of the insi^iratory muscles and dia- 

 phragm. 



Excitation of the diaphragm by faradization, practised every day for five 

 or ten minutes, and with slow intermissions, had for its immediate effect to 

 increase the functional disorder ; but some time afterwards the sighs became 

 less frequent. The appUcation producing only a small degree of improve- 

 ment, I employed also cutaneous faradization of the precordial region. From 

 this time the disorder rapidly diminished ; and, at the end of a month, the 

 patient was comj^letely cured. 



The kind of weakening of the inspiratory nervous excitability, 

 by which this case was characterised, alarmed M. Barthez and 

 myself. It seemed to us to be symptomatic of a morbid condition 

 of an important central point of the medulla. We felt that, if 

 this condition increased, asphyxia must be the result. Influenced 

 by this belief, and not thinking that the functional derangement 

 was produced by any organic lesion, I had recourse to faradization 

 of the precordial cutaneous zone that is in reflex relation \\'ith the 

 pneumogastric, and, as has been said, was rewarded by complete 

 success. 



I have also employed the same mode of electro -cutaneous 

 excitation whenever I have been called to patients in whom the 

 respiratory nervous excitability had been weakened or paralysed, 

 by whatever influences, to the approach of apnoea; that is to 

 say, so as to slacken considerably, or temporarily to abolish, the 

 respiratory movements, and in this way to lead to asphyxia. 



Part the Thikd. 



ON THE THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF LOCALIZED FARADIZATION. 



§ I. Brief exposition of clinical facts which establish that localized 

 faradization is of great value in the treatment of atrophic 

 paralysis. 



Wishing to bring about the prevalence of tlie therapeutic 

 employment of continuous constant currents, Remak has charged 



L 2 



