OF ASTHMA AND DYSPEPSIA. 



the putient snid that his breathing was 

 easy, has varied from five minutes to a 

 quarter of an hour. I speak oi" ilsappHca- 

 tiou in as i^reat a dej^ree as the patient 

 coukl bear without complaint. For this, 

 effjct I generally found from eiglit to six- 

 teen four-inch plates of zinc and copj)er, 

 the fiuid cn)ph)yed being one part of mu- 

 riatic acid, and twenty of vvater sufTieient. 



Some re(}uire more than sixteen phites, 

 and a few cannot bear so many as eight ; 

 for the sensibility of different individuals 

 to galvanism, is very different. It is curi- 

 ous, and not easily accounted for, that a 

 considerable power, that perhaps of tvven- 

 ty-tive or thirty plates, is often necessary 

 on first applying the galvanism, in order 

 to excite any sensation; yet, after the sen- 

 sation is once excited, the patient shall 

 not perhaps, particularly at first, be able 

 to bear more than six or eight plates. The 

 stronger the sensation excited, the more 

 speedily in general is the relief. I have 

 known the breathing instantly relieved by 

 very strong power. 



1 have generally made it a rule, to be- 

 gin with a ver}' weak one, increasing it 

 gradually at the patient's request, by mov- 

 ing one pf the wires from one division of 

 the trough to another, and moving it back 

 again when he complained of the sensa- 

 tion being too strong. It is convenient 

 for this purpose to chai'ge with the fiuid 

 about thirty plates. 



The galvanism was applied in the fol- 

 lowing manner: — Two thin plates of me- 

 tal, about Ivvo or three inches in diameter, 

 dipped in water, were applied, one to the 

 nape of the neck, and the other to the pit 

 of the stomach, or rather lower. The 

 wires froni the different ends of the 

 trough* were brought into contact with 

 these plates, and as observed above, as 

 great a galvanic power maintained, as the 

 patient could bear without complaint. 



In this way the galvanic influence was 

 sent through the lungs as much as possible 

 in the direction of their nerves. It is 

 proper, constantly to move the wires upon 

 the metal plates, particularly the negative 

 wire, otherwise the cuticle is injured in 

 the place on which they rest. The relief 

 seemed much the same, whether the posi- 



* I Found a troii"!) of the old construction belter tlian 

 tlie improved pile, wliiclj is niucl» superior for most 

 puiposes. 



live wire was applied to the nape of the 

 neck, or the pit of the stomach. The ne- 

 gative wire gene: ally excites the strongest 

 sensation. Some patients thought that the 

 relief was most speedy when it was ap- 

 plied near the pit of the stomach. 



The galvanism was discontinued as soon 

 as the jjatient said that his breathing was 

 easy. 



In the first cases in which I used it, 1 

 sometimes prolonged its application for a 

 quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes, 

 after the patient said he was perfectly re- 

 lieved, in the hope of preventing the early 

 recurrence of the dyspnoea; but I did not 

 find tbat it had this effect. It is remarka- 

 ble, that in several who had laboured un- 

 der asthmatic breathing for from ten to 

 twenty years, it gave relief quite as readi- 

 ly as in more recent cases; which proves, 

 that the habitual difficulty of breathing, 

 even in the most protracted cases, is not 

 to be ascribed to any permanent change 

 having taken place in the lungs. 



With regard to that form of asthma 

 which returns in violent paroxysms, with 

 intervals of perfectly free breathing, I 

 should expect little advantage from gal- 

 vanism in it, because as I have just ob- 

 served, I found that the peculiar difiiculty 

 of breathing which occur in this species 

 of asthma, cannot be induced in animals 

 except by means of lessening the aperture 

 of the glotis. 



It is probable, that in the human sub- 

 ject, the cause producing this effect is 

 spasm, from which indeed the disease 

 takes its name, and we have no reason to 

 believe, from what we know of the na- 

 ture of galvanism, that it will be found the 

 means of relaxing spasm. The spasmodic 

 asthma is fortunately a very rare disease; 

 so much so, tliat but one case has occurred 

 to me, since 1 have employed galvanism 

 in asthma, while I have had an opportu- 

 nity of employing this remedy in about 

 forty cases of the habitual form of the dis- 

 ease. I cannot therefore, from experience, 

 speak^with certainty of the eflects.of gal- 

 vanism in the former. In the above case 

 it was twice employed in the paroxysm, 

 andfl could observe no^relief from it. In 

 botfi instances the patient said that, had it 

 not been used, the symptoms would have 

 been more severe. 



In this patient, the spasmodic paroxysm 



