SCIENCE. 



59 



At a lower degree of attenuation, the stream of elec- 

 trode matter pushes back the attenuated gas, and this 

 explains the dark space which appears in the tube. This 

 dark space is analogous to the datk space in a gas flame, 

 which is to be seen near the mouth of the gas tube, and 

 is produced because the outstreaming gas pushes back 

 the particles of air which, coming from an opposite direc- 

 tion, try to enter the tube. 



Another observation of Mr. Puluj also contradicts the 

 conclusions of W. Crookes. Puluj has observed that, at 

 a higher attenuation, the electrode is moving towards the 

 aluminium side, i. e., in opposite direction from that ob- 

 served by W. Crookes. According to Mr. Crookes the 

 cause of motion is a double one, the higher temperature 

 of the electrode at the metallic side and the emission of 

 electrode particles. 



Both effects are opposite. At a lower attenuation the 

 effect of the heat is greater, and the electrode moves in 

 the direction of the wings of the radiometer, with the 

 colder side ahead, at a higher attenuation, the effect of 

 the emission of electrode particles is predominant. Ra- 

 diant electrode matter and the electrode itself move in 

 the same direction. 



This remarkable discovery proves not only the incor- 

 rectness of Mr. Cro jkes' explanation, but is also in direct 

 opposition to the principle of the preservation of the cen- 

 tre of gravity, which is made by Mr. Crookes the basis 

 of his arguments. 



The Vienna scientist draws from his observations the 

 conclusion that the forces by which the electrode particles 

 are torn off are not interior but exterior forces. When 

 the electric current passes through the electrode, there 

 is, according to his opinion, really a stream of extremely 

 fine matter (ether) flowing, which not only tears off par- 

 ticles of the electrode, but also sets the whole electrode 

 into motion. 



This view seems to be a new proof of the unitarian 

 hypothesis, which maintains that an electric current is 

 nothing else but a current of ether. 



Even if the number of scientists who follow the dual- 

 istic hypothesis of electricity is by far greater than that 

 of the Unitarians, the view of the latter deserves at least 

 our attention, especially when such men as Franklin, 

 Secchi and Edlund approved it. 



THE MAGNET IN MEDICINE 

 Translated for " Science " by Thos. B. Columbia. 



Some recent researches made under the direction of 

 Prof. Charot in his laboratory at the Salpetriere have 

 drawn attention anew to a therapeutic agent known for 

 a long time, but to-day almost abandoned. We find, in 

 fact, even in the works of the oldest authors, traces of 

 attempts made by physicians to apply the magnet in the 

 treatment of disease. 1 But the want of precise rules in 

 its application and the appearance of mystery and of 

 fancy which is attached to this kind of research ex- 

 plain the discredit into which this means of treatment 

 has fallen. 



We are indebted to Prof. Maggiorani for having under, 

 taken, in about 1869, the restoration of magnetic thera- 

 peutics, by seeking to establish it upon rational and truly 

 scientific principles. 



It was in the train of the experiments undertaken by 



1 Among the authors who have given attention to the action of the mag- 

 net in medicine, we may cite: Pliny the Younger, Paracelsus, Albert the 

 Great, the older Hell (1770), Mesmer (1779), Andry and Thouret (1780). 

 Becker (1829). 



the Commission appointed by the Biological Society, 

 of Paris, with the object of verifying the facts collected 

 by M. Burq under the generic title of Metallotherapy, 2 

 that the first attempts toward the application of the mag- 

 net were made at the Salpetriere. After the results ob- 

 tained by the application rf metals, it was natural to 

 seek to clear up the singular phenomena by varying as 

 much as possible the conditions of the experiment. In 

 this way it was shown that the plates of the differ- 

 ent metals were not the only agents capable of acting 

 upon a certain class of diseases (neuroses, and particu- 

 larly hysteria, organic affections of the cerebral nervous 

 system). Similar results were attained with many physi- 

 cal agents : feeble currents, statical electricity, vibrations 

 of sonorous bodies, differences of temperature, magne- 

 tized bars, electro-magnets, solenoids, etc. Very soon 

 the magnetic bars were noticeable for the constancy of 

 their action and facility of their use. 



Magnets are, therefore, not endowed, from this point of 

 view, with specific properties ; they form part of a group of 

 physical agents which, to different degrees, possess the 

 same power of impressing the nervous system and of giv- 

 ing rise to biological phenomena ; and although magnets 

 are here particularly spoken of, it must not be forgotten 

 that they are not the only ones concerned. 



The status of the question has been clearly exposed by 

 Dr. Vigoroux in the Medical Annual (1879). To this 

 article I must refer those who wish to become acquainted 

 with the ensemble of phenomena, which are included un- 

 der the name metalloscopic. These studies, begun at 

 the Salpetriere, have given rise to active discussions. The 

 facts announced have been confirmed, wholly or in part, 

 in Germany by Miiller of Gratz, Westphal, Vierordt, 

 Schiff, Adamkiewicz of Benin ; Benedick of Vienna, 

 Rumpf of Dusseldorf ; in Italy, by Seppilli, Maragliani, 

 and especially Maggiorani ; in England, by Gamgee, 

 Sigerson, H. Tuke ; in France, outside of the work of 

 the Commission, I will mention only the thesis of M. 

 Aigre and the observations of MM. Dumontpallier, 

 Vigouroux, Landouzy and Debove, who have verified 

 the therapeutical action of the magnet. But the results 

 obtained were sharply attacked on the other side of the 

 Channel by Hughes, Carpenter and Noble, who at- 

 tempted to explain them by "expectant attention." In a 

 thesis read before the Faculty of Medicine of Paris in 

 1878, Mr. Oscar Jennings made himself the champion of 

 the ideas expressed by these English writers. 



As to what relates to the magnet itself we are going 

 to show, summarily, the arguments upon which are based 

 its physiological action and its therapeutical use. 



The action of the magnet, among effects produced by 

 other physical agents of which we have spoken (plates 

 of different metals, electricity, vibrations of the diapason), 

 presents itself in a more surprising way, and, indeed, in 

 a way a priori prone to excite incredulity. The applica- 

 tion is not direct. The magnet is not placed in contact 

 with the skin of the subject upon whom the experiment 

 is tried, as it is necessary to do with other metalic 

 plates, its action being exerted at a distance. It is 

 sufficient to influence the organism, and produce the 

 same effects as other metals, to place the magnetized 

 bar at a distance of one to two centimetres from the 

 portion of the body upon which we wish to make an 

 impression. All the experiments at the Salpetriere have 

 been made with these conditions. The effects produced 

 in these cases were not attributed to the action of the 

 metal, and belong properly to magnetism itself. 



The magnet, let us say, acts in some way on the 

 organism when in these special morbid conditions. Before 

 speaking of the facts which prove peremptorily that this 

 action exists, can we not, if not explain it, at least con- 

 ceive of the possibility of such an effect. The action of 



2 See La Nature, Feb. 17, 1877. 



