'tft//f//trre< 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of California. 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Class 
 
A TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS APPLICATIONS TO THERAPEUTICAL AND 
 SURGICAL TREATMENT IX DISEASE 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT AMORT, A.M., M.D., 
 
 (HARVARD) 
 
 FELLOW OF MASS. MED. SOCIETY : AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES J AMERICAN ACADEMY OF 
 
 MEDICINE ; BOSTON SOCIETY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE 
 
 THERAPEUTICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, ETC. J FORMERLY PROFESSOR 
 
 OF PHYSIOLOGY IN THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF 
 
 BOWDOLN COLLEGE. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 WILLIAM WOOD & COMPANY 
 
 56 & 58 Lafayette Place 
 
 1886 
 
A 5 
 
 Copyright, 1886 
 WILLIAM WOOD & COMPANY 
 
 The I'rm.isHKRs 
 
 Book Composition and Ei.ectrotypino Co. 
 
 157 and 159 William Street 
 
 Nrw York 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In presenting this short treatise on Electrolysis the author is 
 well aware that the subject is by no means discussed with a 
 view to the final determination of the causes under which this 
 display of electrical energy performs its operations. Yet, he be- 
 lieves that many new facts and explanations of those previously 
 recorded are not at variance. 
 
 It is difficult to understand the action of electricity in biologi- 
 cal and physiological relations without first properly understand- 
 ing the principles of chemistry and physics, which control the 
 manifestations of this physical force. Neither can we expect to 
 grasp the great truths which underlie the action of electricity 
 upon living tissue, unless a comprehensive view be presented of 
 the natural laws which affect the construction and destruction 
 of these living tissues. 
 
 It would be presumptuous to assume that modern science has 
 yet established the natural laws of the metabolism of the tissues 
 of the animal organism, but we have every reason to believe thar. 
 many of these laws have been recognized in nature, and it be- 
 comes the duty of the student to compare and contrast these 
 recognized laws wit h the teachings of natural physics. An a I 
 tempt has been made to represent these natural laws in such a 
 manner that the medical profession may apply the results of 
 science to the conditions of diseased or hypertrophied tissues. 
 It is hoped that the limits of therapeutical application are sug- 
 gested in the following pages, so that the physician may know 
 
 225463 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 how to apply electricity to the human structures in a rational 
 way, with the. expectation that the results of this application 
 shall not be entirely empirical, and to withhold its application 
 in those cases of diseased tissue which are not amenable to its 
 favorable action. 
 
 In consequence of this view of the subject of the so-called 
 action of electrolysis upon living tissues, it has been deemed 
 wise to begin the treatment of our subject with a statement of 
 the principles of physics as applicable to electrolysis, and after- 
 wards to present these applications in the treatment of diseases. 
 On this account much elementary matter is brought forward, 
 which it is hoped will enable the reader to follow more clearly 
 the train of thought as presented by the writer. We are well 
 aware that very many of the principles of electricity have been 
 omitted, but with the more general knowledge held by phy- 
 sicians of the modern day, it would be wearisome and useless to 
 repeat those which are more clearly presented in many of the 
 well-known treatises on this subject. 
 
 '279 Beacon St., Boston, 
 May, 1886. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory .... ! 
 
 Concerning Physical Laws, and outline of the subject of the Treatise. 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 The Physical Relations of Electrolysis. Electrical Osmosis . 9 
 
 Chemical relations of Electrolysis on inorganic and organic compounds- 
 Chemical decompositions of organic compounds— The electro-chemical 
 current — Endermic absorption of medicines as affected by electrical ap- 
 plication to the human tissues—' Electro-Catalysis" and electrolysis 
 compared— Local effects of electrolysis on the living tissues — Interpolar 
 action, Ciniselli's description of the different effects from local application 
 of positive and negative electrodes— Tripier's exposition of the local ef- 
 fects of electrolysis— On Polarization and Depolarization. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Batteries for Electrolysis. Galvanic Cells, various Forms 
 
 of 
 
 On the electrical current, and the relations of its varying strength of action 
 — The Galvanic battery— The electrical current is caused by tin- disrupt ion 
 of electro-chemical combinations— Single fluid cells— Galvanic cells with 
 two fluids— The battery elements or electrodes— Chemical reactions in 
 various forms of galvanic cells— Batteries arranged for surface and for 
 tension, or in series— Tension of current— Chemical and electro-chemical 
 equivalents— The electro-chemical work effected by decomposition of a 
 chemical compound. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 On the Resistance and Difflsion ok the Electrical Current 
 The derived currents— The effects of electricity as shown by these laws upon 
 the human body— The electrical circuit— The relations of the tension of 
 the current to the resistance in circuit— On electrical conductors and con- 
 ductivity in the circuit— Schemes for the arrangement of batteries— The 
 Rheostat or current arrester— The human body as a conductor of electri- 
 city— The resistance of human tissue— The electrical disturbance com 
 pared to the flow of water— Units of electrical measurement defined— 
 
 51 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The resistance of a conductor dependent on difference in potential energy 
 — Direction of current in a conductor — On equi-potentials — Description 
 of polarization of the living tissues — Electrical density. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Theory of Destruction of Living Tissues by Electrolysis . . 105 
 Metabolism — The Proteuls — On the physical condition of various living 
 t issues — On nutrition of the tissues— The chemical relations of the tissues 
 — The life and natural death of the tissues, as illustrated by that of the 
 hair — Cell proliferation — Segmentation — Karyokinesis — The effects of 
 electricity on these functions — On the chemical basis of the tissues, and 
 the effect of electricity upon its relations — On the cataphoric action as 
 influencing cell proliferation and chemical action of the tissues. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Methods of Employing Electrolysis in the Living Tissues . . 129 
 On the prevention of cell proliferation — On the effects of osmosis as influenc- 
 ing absorption of fluids in the tissues — Application to hypertrophied and 
 morbid growths — Resolution of tumors — Non-polarizable electrodes — On 
 the use of the induction apparatus in electrolysis — Mode of measuring 
 strength of induced current — Electrolysis in aneurisms, in varicose tumors 
 — Needle electrodes. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Application of Electrolysis to the Treatment of Diseases . . 14T 
 Cases of disease treated by electrolysis — Action of different currents — Details 
 of treatments various diseases — Ovarian tumors and cysts — Cancer. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Basedow's Disease, or Goitre 194 
 
 Its pathology, pathogenesis, natural retrogression, etc. — Its treatment by 
 electrolysis. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Treatment of Exophthalmic Goitre by Electrolysis in detail with 
 illustrative cases 325 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 On i I vpertrichosis and its Treatment by Electrolysis . . . 242 
 
 I HAPTER XI. 
 
 The Methods of Measurement of Electrical Currents. The Galva- 
 nometer 258 
 
CONTENTS. VII 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PAOI 
 
 Appakatus and Instruments used an treatment for electrolysis oi 
 
 THE l.lViNri TISSUES -' ,; '-» 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 General Si mm \ky 277 
 
 A discussion of some of the causes of the resolutive action of the tissues by 
 galvanism — Surface application and electro-puncture — On electrical os- 
 mosis, cataphoric action. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The physician and surgeon arc so accustomed to the use of material 
 agents in the treatment of diseased tissues, that they can hardly be ex- 
 pected to take up the use of therapeutical agents which are apparently 
 immaterial., unless they could obtain a clear understanding of the prin- 
 ciples which govern their behavior. 
 
 Many of the books which treat of the general subject of electricity 
 are too technical for the ordinary medical practitioner to glean that 
 knowledge which may help him to apply, in a practical way, this imma- 
 terial agent to the treatment of diseases. Those treatises which are de- 
 voted to the subject of medical electricity mention the principle and 
 practice of electrolysis in such a vague manner, that it would be wise to 
 review in this introductory chapter the basis upon which electrolysis and 
 its manifestations are founded. 
 
 What is known under the name of force, kinetic energy, or whatever 
 else it may be called, is simply dependent upon properties existing in 
 nature which enable one form of matter to transfer its latent, or stored 
 up, energy to some other form of matter. 
 
 Among the bodies which exist among us, and which are recognizable 
 by our senses, are some which seem to be arranged in definite forms and of 
 definite structure, and whose particular organization has the property of 
 renewing continuously, for a longer or shorter period, the materials of 
 which they are composed; these bodies constitute what is called the Or- 
 ganic kingdom. 
 
 Other bodies which also exist about us, which are also recognizable by 
 our senses — bodies which are not possessed with particular or individual 
 properties of manufacturing the materials which constitute their form or 
 structure — are comprised under the generic name of the Inorganic king- 
 dom. It is true that some of the constituent members <>f this second 
 class can be transformed into new bodies, which differ from the original 
 form; in other words, these bodies arc endowed with chemical phe- 
 
2 '. : :' ; ■.,«. : ' • ; ; : .','. .electrolysis. 
 
 nomena. ' "While again others of this class are subject to receiving pecu- 
 liar properties which may be imparted to them, and which may be called 
 physical phenomena. 
 
 Observation shows us that every chemical phenomenon is accompanied 
 with physical effects. Observation also teaches that every organic change 
 is accompanied with physical or chemical effects. 
 
 Physical Laws. — Among the phenomena of nature which are about 
 us, we see an uniformity of behavior that proves to us that there are 
 fixed laws which govern these phenomena; an instance illustrative of the 
 truth of this statement is the falling of an apple from its tree to the 
 earth. It is well known that upon the observation of this fact Newton 
 founded the universal law of Gravitation. The establishment of these 
 laws is deduced from science, and these laws must be confirmed by the 
 fact of their general uniformity. The circumstances and basis upon 
 which a physical law is founded, will invariably reproduce the same mani- 
 festations by which this law is illustrated; for instance, when a ball rolls 
 upon an inclined plane from a higher to a lower level, its movements are 
 controlled by the attraction which the earth exercises upon it; these move- 
 ents are also influenced by the resistance which the plane itself effects 
 either hy friction, or by the resistance of the air or other medium, in which 
 the objects themselves are all immersed. 
 
 The phenomena which are regulated by physical laws may for con- 
 venience be separated into two classes, — those which transport an un- 
 changed body without alteration of its composition, and those which 
 transport the material of which the body may itself be composed. An 
 illustration of the first-named class is reiterated in the fall of a body by 
 the laws of gravitation to the earth, and an illustration of the second 
 class is seen in the magnetization of a piece of iron around which an 
 electrical current traverses in a coil of wire. 
 
 All physical phenomena being recognized as those of motion, 
 the causes of these motions should be referred to as forces. 
 
 It is necessary in the purely physical discussion to stop at this point. 
 It belongs to the domain of metaphysics to discuss the original causes, 
 or creation, of these forces. 
 
 Matter is found in different conditions; — the ponderable and impon- 
 
 1 Chemistry was originally the art of extracting juices from plants for medical 
 purposes. 
 
[NTRODTJCTORY. 6 
 
 derable materials of which it is composed being associated in their ele- 
 mentary forms to constitute the substance itself:— the solid condition 
 
 consists of a coherent form which is independent of the spare which en- 
 closes the body; in other words, so long as the solid body is not subjected 
 to any outside influence there is an equilibrium between the attracting 
 and repelling forces, mutually inter-acting, which are inherent in the 
 molecules of which the body is formed; — the fluid condition is that in 
 which the molecules may take any arrangement of position, provide! al- 
 ways that the relative distance of every two which are contiguous shall 
 remain uniform; we may suppose in this condition that the attracting and 
 repelling forces which act between the molecules of a fluid are almost in 
 a state of equilibrium. In consequence of the property which the mole- 
 cules possess, of altering their positions, the fluid will always assume the 
 shape of the vessel in which it is contained, but the fluid condition will 
 not assume any change of volume as long as the pressure upon all its 
 surfaces is equal; — in the gaseous condition the body has the tendency 
 of increasing its volume and of occupying all the space which is placed 
 at its disposal. 
 
 The gaseous condition is therefore the direct opposite of the solid 
 condition, and the power of expansion of the gaseous condition is 
 in opposition to the power of cohesion which is inherent in the solid 
 condition; consequently, the mutually attracting and repelling force of 
 the molecules is overpowered by the repelling force which each molecule 
 has upon the other. As the same body may exist in either the solid, fluid, 
 or gaseous condition, it may be easily inferred that the molecules of which 
 a body is composed will be nearest together in the solid condition and most 
 widely separated in the gaseous condition. The action of heat, or of 
 any other force, may change the solid condition to a fluid or gaseous con- 
 dition; the volume, of course, will increase in changing from the solid 
 to the fluid and gaseous condition. Upon the common theory, as above 
 advanced, the ready inference may be drawn, that the mutually attract- 
 ing forces of the ponderable atoms, which combine to form the indivi- 
 dual molecules of a body, vary in proportion to the mutual contiguity of 
 these molecules; then, when the same body becomes fluid these molecules 
 must consequently occupy more space. Again, the molecules will become 
 still more separated in the gaseous condition; moreover, when the mole- 
 cules are more wddely separated their mutual attraction will become more 
 feeble; a very slight influence from an external source may entirely over- 
 
4 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 come in their latter state the mutual attraction of the molecules, in con- 
 sequence of which they will separate or become attached to some other 
 body which is ready to receive them. 
 
 This brief and concise review of the principles and conditions under 
 which matter is found in nature, is essential to the comprehension of the 
 subject of which this work will treat. Electricity is a force of nature, 
 and its manifestation under the derived name of electrolysis in the 
 structures met with in the organic kingdom, plays an important part in 
 the decomposition and formation of these very structures. {EXsurpov 
 amber, for electricity, and \vffi>, a loosing). 
 
 Erb says, (Handbook of Electro-Therapeutics.) " Of effects of elec- 
 trolytic processes produced within the economy we possess merely sur- 
 mises. A beginning has been made by Drechsel, who succeeded in mak- 
 ing urea from solutions of carbonate of ammonia by electrolysis with chang- 
 ing currents. It is at least probable that this process occurs also within 
 the living organism." 
 
 The theory of the " Correlation of Forces" and the " Conservation of 
 Energy," as well as its dissipation in the result of work accomplished, is 
 one of the most important factors in the health and disease of the animal 
 tissues. Empirical medicine has taught us many facts, the explanation of 
 which upon scientific grounds has led modern physicians to achieve many 
 triumphs over disease which in former times were not even thought of. 
 Until the last few years electrolysis has been used in an empirical manner; 
 it is only lately that the theory of its use in the production of changes in 
 animal tissue has been studied; hence, achievements in the treatment of dis- 
 ease by this method have not formerly met with the success which it merits. 
 A careful study of the empirical use of this agent in producing changes in 
 living tissue should not be overlooked; the varying results from this ex- 
 perience should be compared with a scientific research and experiments 
 upon organic structures. The difficulties formerly met with from an 
 unstable knowledge of electrical phenomena are now replaced by more 
 exact science. Sufficient information of many of the phases under which 
 electricity is found in the organic as well as in the inorganic kingdo*m is 
 now held, from which we may form the basis of a study of electrolysis 
 in its effects on living and diseased tissue. The reader must boar patiently 
 the details of this information, in order to learn something of the princi- 
 ples which underlie the therapeutical application of electrolysis; these 
 principles are not more complicated than many others which have leni 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 assistance in the practical application of valuable drugs to the treatment 
 
 of diseases, and which are n<>\v so well known and used to good effect by 
 the general practitioner of medicine. 
 
 No one will realize bo much as the author of this treatise the difficul- 
 ties which arc encountered in unraveling the confusion and inconsistencies 
 of clinical observations of those who have attempted to apply electrolysis 
 to the cure of diseased tissue. It may he well understood that the enthu- 
 siasm of some physicians is in direct variance with the skeptical disbelief of 
 others; and this may he true, even if votaries who belong to both classes 
 have experimented with this method of treatment, and have conscienti- 
 ously reported what each believed to be the correct result of his work. 
 
 It will be seen in the pages which follow this introduction of our subject, 
 that a large amount of physical, laboratory, and clinical work of electro- 
 lysis has b.en submitted to a careful scrutiny; but that the physiolo- 
 gists have not contributed their quota. In consequence of this omission 
 of an important link, we are obliged to glean our physiological information 
 in part from the results of chemical science and in part from pathology, 
 and to make our physiological application from the general knowledge of 
 the existing laws of physiology; and also to compare the teachings which 
 are derived from these two sources with the operations of electrolysis in 
 the treatment of diseased tissues of the body. Fortunately clinical ex- 
 perience is so rich in the materials offered to our study, that there is a. 
 fruitful source for speculation as well as theory. Theory should be sup- 
 ported by the facts of experiment, if we wish the theory to be proved — 
 and herein lies the difficulty; for in chemical science we can prove a 
 theory by physical analysis and synthesis; in physiology we can bring to 
 bear the observations of the minute animal structures, whether these are 
 seen in healthy tissue or after they have been the subject of disease. For 
 our present study, on the other hand, we shall be obliged to take under 
 consideration the results of chemical research, of physical phenomena, of 
 physiological teachings, and of clinical observations as seen for the most 
 part by partisan observers. With these data we shall be obliged to obtain 
 out results by the method of deduction, and to test these by our own 
 knowledge of their truth, which is derived from personal experience. 
 
 Owing to the difficulties which have been enumerated, the purposes 
 of this treatise may pei-haps lie better understood if an attempt be made 
 to sketch in advance the method of this arrangement. 
 
 To comprehend the details of electricity as also the laws which govern 
 
6 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the various forces of nature a separate treatise would be required for 
 each division; hooks on these subjects are already so numerous and well 
 written, that the reader should consult them for the many omissions 
 which necessarily will be found in these pages. 
 
 Electrolysis is considered by the physicists to be a manifestation of 
 electricity displayed in fluid substances, so that they appear not to have 
 thought it worth while to present a separate work on this effect of physi- 
 cal energy; again the writers on medical or physiological studies of electri- 
 city have incorporated the effects of electricity on the human body in a 
 general, and not a special, view of the display of electricity in the nature 
 of electrolysis; consequently a wide range of study is required to obtain 
 a proper knowledge of special work in this line of enquiry. It will be 
 noticed by those who have examined into this subject that electrolysis has 
 been in use for a long time, and for the treatment of a large number of 
 diseases; consequently we have a long list of its applications to study, 
 if we wish to undertake this method of treatment. 
 
 The second chapter will be devoted to the physical action of electro- 
 lysis. In this portion of the study an attempt has been made to explain 
 the causes and effects of electricity as shown in the general organism of 
 nature; its relations to chemical analysis and chemical synthesis are also 
 reviewed. It will there be seen that electricity, like heat, is a form of 
 , motion which is the result of the display of 3 force generated and trans- 
 mitted by means of material substances. It is also attempted to show 
 that the laboratory has revealed the fact that organic chemical compounds 
 are endowed with those same properties of disengaging this force which 
 are seen in the inorganic chemical compounds. A number of detailed 
 chemical experiments are given, which have not to our knowledge been 
 recorded in any text book, which show the laws under which the combina- 
 tions and decompositions of several organic compounds are conducted and 
 accompanied with the discharge of electrical force. It must be quite 
 evident, if the results of these experiments are true, that similar chemical 
 actions do proceed in the organic structures of which the human body is 
 composed. If then the decompositions which take place in the inorganic 
 compounds held in solution are accompanied by the display of chemical 
 energy, it must also be true that disturbances resulting from the decompo- 
 sitions of the compounds held in solution in the human tissues will pro- 
 duce the display of some form of energy in the structures of this organism. 
 It may be that this energy is not transformed into electricity, nor is it 
 
CNTRODUOTOBY. 7 
 
 contended that sucli is fche case, but some form of energy must resuH from 
 the organic chemical decomposition, whether it is heat or cell formation 
 or cell destruction, or the transmutation into another form of energy. 
 
 The third chapter will describe the method of generating electricity 
 and delivering this force from the galvanic cell. A study of this subjed 
 will illustrate many of the principles ami behavior of electrolysis in the 
 presence of flnids and substances which are dissolved in these fluids. This 
 exposition will serve a very good purpose in the explanation of the basis 
 for the application of the use of electricity in producing decompositions 
 of substances which are in the path of the electrical circuit, 
 
 In the fourth chapter the matter of conductors, or paths along Avhich 
 the electrical force is transmitted, is discussed. Here is an important part 
 of our study, for the question of an easy or a difficult passage of electri- 
 city forms a very important matter in the application of electrolysis to 
 the structures of the human body. The diffusion of the current of 
 electricity depends upon this property of the conductivity or resistance of 
 the conducting medium. It is also shown in this same chapter that the 
 amount of electro-chemical action will depend largely upon the question 
 of the conductivity of the circuit which is outside of the battery; upon 
 this principle will depend also the character and strength of the current 
 which reaches the point of the desired application of electrolysis. It will 
 here be seen, too, that the action of the current is applicable to all parts of 
 the conducting medium, and it will be shown that the electrical force will 
 pass through the easiest channels; but that the strength of the current 
 will be equal through all parts of the circuit both within and without the 
 galvanic cell. It will also be shown that, no matter of what size may be 
 the electrodes, the same amount of the current will pass in or out of 
 the conducting medium; and, moreover, that the interpolar zone will be 
 placed in a condition of polarization. 
 
 The fifth chapter will be devoted to the explanation of the destruction 
 of the living tissues by means of electrolysis. This effect cannot he 
 definitely stated, because physiology has not yet laid down in what physi- 
 cal condition the life or death of a structure consists. It is not improba- 
 ble that at some future day the life or death of a cell may be explained 
 by the clearer interpretation of the natural forces, hut it cannot he ex- 
 pected that the student of medicine shall interpret what the physiologist 
 does not understand, and perhaps what it was not intended that he 
 should understand. 
 
8 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 In the sixth chapter will he described the method of using electrolysis 
 as a therapeutical agent. It will therein he shown that the benefit which 
 may be derived from this use is, like all other therapeutical agents, de- 
 pendent in a great measure upon the manner in which this method maybe 
 employed. As the manner of using electrolysis can be better understood 
 by a knowledge of its practical application, it has been thought advisable 
 to incorporate a practical description of the methods used by various 
 operators in the treatment of certain diseases; these are described in the 
 four following chapters. 
 
 The apparatus and the methods of measuring the strength are de- 
 scribed in the eleventh chapter. This matter of using currents of a 
 definite and measured strength has lately been considered by writers on 
 electricity as of considerable importance, because unless these currents are 
 used with a proper knowledge on the part of the operator, the results 
 which may be obtained are not necessarily such as should be hoped for. 
 It will, therefore, be of importance to clearly understand how the strength 
 of the currents may be measured. 
 
 The twelfth chapter will be occupied with a description of the appara- 
 tus and instruments which are required for treatment of diseases by 
 electrolysis. It will be noticed in this description that it is not possible 
 to arrange for every form of instrument which may serve the purpose for 
 the convenient manipulation of each form of disease; the operator will 
 have to employ his ingenuity in devising suitable instruments for a given 
 case, in the same way that surgeons practise in their applications to the 
 cases which are brought under their observation from time to time. 
 
 The thirteenth chapter will be devoted to a general summary of the 
 applications of electrolysis. It will also discuss the theory of the so-called 
 electrolytical action of the tissues. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 PHYSICS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 It will be necessary to explain something of the behavior of electricity 
 as experienced in nature before its manifestations as electrolysis can be 
 mastered. "Without undertaking to explain the details of electricity, or 
 electrical force, as it should be called, the reader should become acquainted 
 with the conditions under which electricity is recognized. Reference 
 should be made for a fuller explanation of the theories and scientific bear- 
 ings of this subject to elementary and technical treatises, such as that of 
 — "Jenkins on Electricity and Magnetism." 
 
 It will be sufficient for our purposes here to remember that electricity 
 in nature is known under two opposite conditions, that of positive and 
 of negative character. Electricity accumulating upon an object may 
 charge it with one of these characters, which will be developed by in- 
 fluence upon that part of the conducting medium which is nearest to the 
 electricized body; this accumulation of electricity will be of a kind contrary^ 
 to that of the inducing substance. When these two kinds of electricity 
 meet together in a conducting medium they will neutralize each other, 
 and the electrical condition of the body will be in equilibrium. This 
 recombination of the two opposite kinds of electrical force, when brought 
 suddenly together, combine by some manifestation of energy, which may 
 not always be apparent to sight; oftentimes this forcible union produces 
 an explosion and an electric spark. The following simple illustration is 
 familiar to many of us:— when a person walks rapidly over a dry woolen 
 carpet in dry air, and touches a stationary dry metallic object, or the dry 
 skin of another person who is at rest, a spark passes between the two 
 points of contact; the rapid motion of the walking person and the friction 
 upon the woolen surface charges his body with active electricity of one kind, 
 and which is suddenly discharged by the contact with another conduct- 
 ing media in charged with the opposite kind of electricity. If the second 
 person would also keep in motion under similar circumstances, no spark 
 will occur, because both conducting bodies are similarly charged. Again, it' 
 the surface of either body be moist, electricity, which is engendered by the 
 
10 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 moving body as the result of friction, will not accumulate, because it passes 
 off through the conducting medium furnished by moisture. The spark 
 in the above case is the dynamic result of the effort of the two forms of 
 electricity to reunite, and to restore the lack of equilibrium between the 
 bodies charged with opposite kinds of electricity. 
 
 Electricity may, on the other hand, pass continuously through appro- 
 priate conducting mediums from the .place of its generation or accumu- 
 lation, provided that the contact of the conducting medium be constant; 
 in this case its transmission, or " flow," along the conducting medium will 
 occur continuously from the point of origin, out and through them to the 
 original source of electrical disturbance. To produce or set in motion 
 this continuous flow, or transmission, we must have a generator of elec- 
 trical force in which the electrical disturbance or excitement is excited in a 
 continuous manner, and from which it can be transferred by a suitable 
 circuit in a more or less uniform way. 
 
 Volta was the first to make such a generator, which may be called a bat- 
 tery of continuous current. This generator or battery was formed by 
 making alternate layers of zinc and copper, and between them was inter- 
 posed a layer of cloth or bibulous paper moistened with acidulated Avater. 
 Any number of these layers of zinc, acidulated water, and copper may be 
 piled one upon another, always with the precaution of having these layers 
 placed in the same relative order, and to have each copper connected by 
 solder joints with the succeeding zinc; the two end metallic layers were 
 unconnected, and a copper wire was soldered to each, thus forming the 
 two terminals of the voltaic pile or battery. These terminals are called 
 Kheophores, [from pvaiv depeiv, current carriers] or Electrodes 
 [sXeuTfjov, amber — oSos; way; patb of electricity], and, when united 
 together by contact, will complete or close the electrical circuit, as it is 
 called; in this case the current will traverse from one pole to the other 
 pole, and so on, through the voltaic pile. This apparatus is illustrated 
 by Fig. 1. 
 
 This current, or flow, is set in motion from the zinc to the next copper, 
 and so on, through the pile, by reason of the difference in potential energy, 
 or that difference in electrical condition, which causes the transfer of the 
 disturbance from one point to another; this motion resulting from dis- 
 turbance is always accompanied by some form of energy, the effect of 
 which may usually be made evident or exhibited to our senses. The ex- 
 planation of this physical eifect is rendered in the following law: 
 
PHYSICS OF KLKCTKOLY8I8. 
 
 11 
 
 DIFFERENCE OF POTENTIALS tS \ DIFFERENCE OP ELECTRICAL CONDITION 
 IN VIRTUE OF WHICH WORE [S DONE BY POSITIVE ELECTRICITX IN 
 MOVING PROM I'll i: POINT AT A BIGHEE POTENTIAL TO THAT AT A LOWER 
 POTENTIAL, AND II' is MEASURED BY THE WORE DONE B"X THE DNIT 
 QUANTITY OF POSITIVE ELECTRICITX WHEN THIS TRANSFERRED. 
 
 The Voltaic pile is not a convenient form of generator of electricity for 
 continuous current, and hence may he suhstituted by a series of galvanic 
 
 Fig. l.-Z, zinc; C, copper; +, positive; — , negative elements. 
 
 cells, in which the two metallic elements, zinc and copper, are immersed 
 in a solution of acidulated water. In this form, of battery the copper in 
 one cell is connected by copper wire with the zinc in the succeeding cell, or 
 vessel; the last copper is the positive pole or terminal, and the first zinc is 
 the negative pole or terminal of the battery, as shown in the accompanying 
 illustration (Fig. 2). In the simple galvanic cell the copper metal may 
 be substituted by the carbon metal, since the difference in the potential 
 between zinc and carbon is as great, if not greater, than that between zinc 
 and copper; and this form of generator also combines other advantages 
 
 which it is unnecessary to mention in this pi; 
 
 Such is the brief outline of the physical explanation of the cause of 
 
12 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 setting in action an electrical force, kinetic energy, or electricity as it is 
 simply named and known to the general reader. It is hardly necessary to 
 make a fuller explanation, but the principle may be better understood by 
 applying the resulting laws of physics directly to the subject under discus- 
 sion. 
 
 In the instance of dynamic effect first related, we see the manifesta- 
 tion in electric spark, or light, caused by the effort to reunite the two 
 kinds of electricity which have caused molecular disturbance in matter. 
 This energy or force, by whatever name it may be called, which accom- 
 panies the passage of the current in a material substance, may also mani- 
 fest itself in chemical transformations; these may be induced by even very 
 feeble currents, and the fluids through which the electricity traverses may 
 
 ~i 
 
 
 " 
 
 
 f 
 
 H 
 
 : ~jV >ss ~~:' T\ 
 
 % 
 
 
 l • — —-. 
 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 themselves be the seat of decomposition of chemical compounds contained 
 in solution, even though these fluids themselves are non-conductors of the 
 current. 
 
 As yet scientists have not agreed upon a physical basis upon which to 
 explain the decomposition of chemical compounds by electricity. A 
 Swede, by the name of (rrotthiis, was the first to propose a theory. He 
 suggested that the constituent elements of a binary compound, or of a 
 compound acting as such, contained in its natural condition equal amounts 
 of the two kinds of electricity (positive and negative). During the con- 
 dition of combination the two atoms composing the water molecules, 
 one of which was positive and the other negative, neutralized each 
 other so as to produce a state of electrical equilibrium; for instance, 
 the electro-positive hydrogen was combined with the electro-negative 
 oxygen; but if an electrical current was excited by plunging a posi- 
 tive and negative electrode into the vessel which held the water, the 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 13 
 
 atom of hydrogen nearest to the positive electrode, a, was attracted to H 
 and became detached from its correspond i m; o r xygen atom; the Latter then 
 would seek the adjacent electro-positive hydrogen, A, and this would Bend 
 its hydrogen atom to combine with the next molecule, c, and so on; until 
 the last oxygen would seek the positive electrode. This is illustrated in 
 Fig. 3, in which the small dots marked + represent the hydrogen atom. 
 and the larger circles marked — represent the oxygen atoms, there being 
 two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom in each molecule of water which 
 is formed by their combination. 
 
 This illustrates what is known by the name of the hypothesis of Grott- 
 hus; by the establishment of this theory, electrolysis would consist of a 
 series of decompositions and recombinations, and of a direct transfer of 
 the elementary atoms from one pole to the opposite. 
 
 Grotthiis has applied this theory to the behavior of the metallic oxides, 
 to the acids, and to the salts, when in solution, and acted upon by a cur- 
 rent of electricity. Substances of a simple binary combination of atoms in 
 
 Fig. 3.— The Hypothesis of Grot thus. 
 
 solution may be thus the seat of electrolysis, in which the electro-negative 
 elements will become separated at the positive electrode, and the electro- 
 positive elements will become separated at the negative electrode. The 
 quantities of the substances, which are thus decomposed by the action of 
 electrolysis, will agree with the quantities of their chemical equivalents, 
 but not with their atomic weights; for every eighteen parts of water de- 
 composed, two parts of hydrogen will be freed, and sixteen parts of oxy- 
 gen, the combining equivalents of water molecules being in the ratio of 
 one to eight. 
 
 As in the case of simple binary combinations in water, so also is the 
 
 + 
 case of hydrate of potassa (K.,0,) K being positive, being negative, 
 
 + 
 and sodium chloride (Xa CI), etc. 
 
 An electro-negative element would also be united with a compound 
 
 radical having the function of a simple electro-positive element, as for in- 
 
 + 
 stance ammonium chloride (XI I4C1). Finally the electro-positive cle- 
 ment being simple and the electro-negative element being a compound 
 
14 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 + — 
 radicle would behave in the same manner; thus sodic sulphate, Na 2 (S0 4 ), 
 
 + - 
 and sodic nitrate Na (N03), 
 
 Berzelius has carried the theory of Grotthiis into all chemical reactions. 
 
 In fact, the chemical combinations of the atoms would be the effect of a 
 
 mutual attraction of the electricities of opposite kinds. According to 
 
 Berzelius, the order of simple bodies should be ranked in accordance with 
 
 the intensity of their chemical affinities; and these would be identical with 
 
 that of their electrical tensions; in other words, 
 
 The quantity of a body decomposed in a given time should be 
 proportional to the intensity or tension oe the electrical 
 
 CURRENT. 
 
 The hypothesis of Grotthiis will not account for the migration of IONS 
 which occurs, in a variable or unequal ratio. 
 
 Electrical Osmosis (cataphoric action, sometimes called) is another 
 physical phenomenon. This name is applied to the phenomenon by 
 which molecules are transferred through a porous medium which is in- 
 duced or influenced by the presence of an electrical current within this 
 fluid. When a porous cell separates two electrodes placed in a vessel con- 
 taining a fluid which is the subject of electrolysis, the migration of the 
 IONS is accompanied by a transfer of the fluid en masse. This effect is 
 not apparent where there is no intervening porous cell, nor where the free 
 surface of the fluid is sealed off from atmospheric pressure; because it is 
 prevented by the laws of hydrostatic pressure. Electrical osmosis is a 
 physical effect entirely distinct from electrolysis; the fluid is transferred 
 from the positive to the negative pole, and consequently the height of the 
 liquid will be increased at the negative pole and diminished at the positive 
 pole. Where the resistance of the fluid is great, and the chemical action 
 feeble, the increase in the action of electrical osmosis is proportionately 
 greater; the reverse of this is also true. 
 
 To understand clearly the physical action in a galvanic cell, we may, 
 for convenience, consider this as containing two fluids, one of which is a 
 weak solution of sulphuric acid, and the other a solution of sulphate of 
 copper; then we may consider that a strip of zinc is immersed in the for- 
 mer of these solutions, and a strip of copper in the latter; now, if we con- 
 nect these two metals by a copper wire we will understand that the strip 
 of zinc will represent the positive element, — that is, the pole by which an 
 electrical current will enter a solution, and that the strip of copper will 
 
PHYSICS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 15 
 
 represeni the negative element— that is the pole by whichacnrrenl will pi 
 out from a solution; consequently, the electrical current will go from the 
 zinc to the copper within the solution, while in order to complete the circuit 
 outside of the cell the direction of this current will be from the copper to 
 the zinc. A portion of the zinc will also lie dissolved while copper is be- 
 ing deposited upon the strip of zinc. It will be found that the weight of 
 zinc dissolved in the solution is not equal in weight to that of the copper 
 deposited upon the zinc; these two amounts will be, on the other hand, 
 in proportion to the chemical combining equivalents of these two metals, — 
 or that lor each equivalent of zinc which is dissolved from the positive 
 electrode one equivalent of copper is deposited upon the surface of the zinc. 
 Faraday established the following law in respect to electro-chemical action: 
 
 "Whem the same current acts successively upon different com- 
 pounds, THE WEIGHT OF THE ELEMENTS SEPARATED IS IX THE SAME 
 RATIO AS THEIR CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS." 
 
 By the electrolytical decomposition of water, two parts by weight 
 of hvdrogen are found at the negative terminal (kathode), while six- 
 teen parts, by w r eight, of oxygen are found at the positive terminal 
 (anode). In the electrolysis of compounds in solution, the elemen- 
 tary substances which appear at either pole, or electrodes, are not nec- 
 essarily simple chemical bodies, but may be composite or mixed ele- 
 ments. The same principle of decomposition, or separation into these 
 bodies, holds equally with that of simple elements. Moreover, it is well 
 established that, if the same electrical current be made to pass through a 
 series of different solutions, the chemical actions in each solution are in 
 the ratio of the chemical equivalents of the compounds which are dis- 
 solved. Professor Gore has illustrated this last fact by an experiment of 
 which the details are given in his Text Book of Sciences.' He caused a 
 voltaic current to pass through a solution of sulphate of copper from 
 which only pure copper was deposited, and through a second solution 
 from which pure antimony w r as deposited; he then found that the weight 
 of the copper deposited was 31.7 grains and of the antimony deposited 
 was 40.6; the latter number is equal to one atomic weight of copper, or 
 63.5 parts, which is the equivalent of 81.32 parts of antimony, or two- 
 third- of an atomic weight of that metal (121.98 being the full atomic 
 weight of antimony). 
 
 1 Electro-Metallurgy. 
 
16 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The Second or Subsidiary Effects of Electrolysis are of equal importance. 
 Many of the elementary materials which appear at the electrodes are not 
 those originally separated by the action of electricity, but some of these 
 substances may be the result of the decomposition by the secondary chem- 
 ical action of other elements; these latter are primarily set free by the 
 action of electricity upon substances which were originally present. For 
 instance biborate of soda [Na g O, 2B0 3 ] yields oxygen at the anode and 
 boron at the kathode [Faraday]; yet, fused boracic acid is not subject to 
 the action of electrolysis directly by the electrical current; the appearance 
 of boron at the electrode is an indirect result of the decomposition of the 
 solution of soda [Na 2 0]. In this case, as the oxygen will appear at the 
 positive electrode, and thus oblige the sodium to combine with the boracic 
 acid, one portion of the boron will be liberated, secondarily, which will 
 appear at the negative. In other words, electrolysis is the result of a dis- 
 charge, in a fluid, of opposite kinds of electricity between two or more 
 conductors which are at different potentials; this result is shown by the 
 amount of chemical decomposition of the compounds which are in the 
 solution, and which are the conductors of the electrical current. 
 
 Faraday considered the terminals through the union of which an elec- 
 trical current forms a circuit, [as, for instance, carbon and platinum] 
 merely the doors through which the electrical force enters and leaves the 
 fluids; he named these doors electrodes. He likened the path of electricity 
 to that of the terrestrial magnetism, namely, in the same direction with 
 that of the apparent motion of the sun; the pole from wbich the current 
 originated or left the fluid he called the anode, that is, from the carbon; 
 and where it returned, or set, the kathode or the platinum. He named 
 the decomposed substances, however complicated these might be, 
 " IONS/' those which went down, or set, in the direction towards the 
 platinum the "kations" [ Hard, down; i'oo, go], those which went 
 up against the electrical current [from west to east] and which were 
 the results of a chemical action at the anode he named " anions." ' The 
 substance which was in a state of decomposition he named an "electro- 
 lyte" and the process " electrolysis." 
 
 It has been previously mentioned that hydrogen gas will collect at the 
 negative electrode (kathode), and that oxygen will collect at the positive 
 electrode (anode); in these cases hydrogen will be the anion and oxygen 
 the kation; [these words are simply correlative to each other, and they 
 
 1 From ava, up; lu, go. 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELECTROLYSIS. IT 
 
 are Often spelt cathode and cation]. Inside of the galvanic cell the direc- 
 tion of the electro-chemical action is reversed to that outside of this cell, 
 and consequently the hydrogen will collect at the copper, or carbon, bat- 
 tery-element, and oxygen at the zinc element, or positive pole; because the 
 electrical current inside of the cell proceeds from the zinc to the copper 
 or carbon, while out of tbe cell the current flows in the circuit from the 
 copper back to the zinc. (See Fig. 4.) 
 
 A collection of either, or both, of these gases around the battery-ele- 
 ments within the solution will insulate these elements, and stop the display 
 of electrical force, and the polarization of the battery will result— or in 
 other words there will be two currents moving in the fluid in opposite di- 
 rections. The chemical decomposition by an electrical motion in a fluid, 
 or substance largely composed of a fluid, results, therefore, in electrolysis 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 of the substances in solution; there are, also, subsidiary or secondary 
 chemical decompositions which may be the result of a primary electrolysis. 
 Tli is action upon the surrounding mediums is complicated, and the limit 
 of this action depends upon the exhaustion of the original electrical force, 
 or upon the amount of interference caused by the polarization, or non-con- 
 duction, in these surrounding mediums. Thus, the ions will act upon the 
 fluids surrounding the electrodes. This phenomena will occur unless the 
 ions combine with the electrodes. Chlorides will become per-chlorides and 
 chlorates will become per-chlorales at the anode. On the other hand, sec- 
 ondary actions which occur at the kathodes are those of reduction: thus, if 
 iodide of potassium in solution be subjected to electrolysis, one equivalent 
 of iodine will be liberated at the anode and will also have one equivalent 
 of hydrate of potassium liberated at the kathode; this will show that the 
 potassium set free from its combination with the iodine has combined 
 with some of the surrounding water. Again, if chloride of ammonium in 
 solution be decomposed, the chloride which is set free will react upon 
 
18 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 some of the remaining salt, and will produce nitrogen and chloride of 
 nitrogen. A rise of temperature will favor the chemical decompositions 
 and reformations resulting from electrolysis; this will promote at the 
 same time a rapid mixture of the ions with the solutions. As the action 
 will consequently be more rapidly performed under higher temperatures, 
 the current density, or the capacity of the electrodes used, must be greater. 
 It is not an accident which makes one substance an anion and another a 
 kation. There are certain natural laws which govern this as all other 
 physical relations; an electro-chemical element is not always one or the 
 other of these, because anions and kations are merely relative to each 
 other; for instance, iodine may act as an anion in certain solutions, while 
 it may act as a kation in solutions of a different character; iodine com- 
 bined with potassium in solution will become an anion, but in a solution 
 containing iodine-bromide the iodine will become a kation. These actions, 
 however, are pretty well generalized, and appear to be dependent upon 
 the direction of the motion of the electrical current, or the path of the 
 electrical transmission; the wider apart electro-chemical substances are 
 placed in the list of chemical combining equivalence, the stronger is the 
 chemical affinity between the two. "As the chemical equivalent pro- 
 portions are either the same as their atomic weights, or are some simple 
 submultiple of them, the following table of atomic weights is inserted 
 for the purpose of reference: — 
 
 Aluminium, 
 
 27.5 
 
 Hydrogen, 
 
 1. 
 
 Rubidium, 
 
 85. 
 
 A ntimony , 
 
 122. 
 
 Indium, 
 
 113.4 
 
 Ruthenium, 
 
 104.2 
 
 Arsenic, 
 
 75. 
 
 Iodine, 
 
 127. 
 
 Selenium, 
 
 79.5 
 
 Barium, 
 
 137. 
 
 Iridium, 
 
 197. 
 
 Silicon, 
 
 28. 
 
 Bismuth, 
 
 210. 
 
 Iron, 
 
 56. 
 
 Silver, 
 
 108. 
 
 Boron, 
 
 10.9 
 
 Lanthanum, 
 
 92. 
 
 Sodium, 
 
 23. 
 
 Bromine, 
 
 80. 
 
 Lead, 
 
 207. 
 
 Strontium, 
 
 87.5 
 
 Cadmium, 
 
 112. 
 
 Lithium, 
 
 7. 
 
 Sulphur, 
 
 32. 
 
 Caesium, 
 
 133. 
 
 Magnesium, 
 
 24.3 
 
 Tantalum, 
 
 138. 
 
 Calcium, 
 
 40. 
 
 Mercury, 
 
 200. 
 
 Tellurium, 
 
 129. 
 
 Carbon, 
 
 12. 
 
 Molybdenum, 
 
 • 96. 
 
 Thallium, 
 
 204. 
 
 Cerium, 
 
 92. 
 
 Nickel, 
 
 59. 
 
 Thorinum, 
 
 119. 
 
 Chlorine, 
 
 35.5 
 
 Niobium, 
 
 97.5 
 
 Tin, 
 
 118. 
 
 Chromium, 
 
 52.5 
 
 Nitrogen, 
 
 14. 
 
 Titanium, 
 
 50. 
 
 Cobalt, 
 
 59. 
 
 Osmium, 
 
 199. 
 
 Tungsten, 
 
 184. 
 
 Copper, 
 
 63.5 
 
 Oxygen, 
 
 16. 
 
 Uranium, 
 
 120. 
 
 Didymium, 
 
 9G. 
 
 Palladium, 
 
 106.5 
 
 Vanadium, 
 
 137. 
 
 Erbium, 
 
 y 
 
 Phosphorus, 
 
 31. 
 
 Yttrium. 
 
 ? 
 
 Fluorine, 
 
 19. 
 
 Platinum, 
 
 11)7. 
 
 Zinc, 
 
 65. 
 
 Glucinum, 
 
 9.3 
 
 Potassium, 
 
 39.1 
 
 Zirconium, 
 
 89.5 
 
 Gold, 
 
 196.6 
 
 Rhodium, 
 
 104.3 
 
 
 
PHY8I08 <»l ELECTROLYSIS. L9 
 
 When it m remembered thai the union of chemical substances is u 
 combination of elements in certain definite proportions by weight, we may 
 readily understand that In the (It-composition of a chemical compound 
 into its component elements, the separation of the elements mnsl be in 
 definite proportion by weight also. In consequence of this law, when an 
 electrical current passes through a conducting fluid, which contains 
 chemical compounds in solution, the elementary substances liberated at 
 the electrodes will be set free in their chemical equivalent proportions by- 
 weight. 
 
 "The same amount of electricity which will decompose one molecule 
 or eighteen parts of water, setting free two parts by weight of hydrogen 
 and sixteen parts of oxygen in one vessel, will decompose two molecules 
 or seventy-three parts of hydrochloric acid, setting free tw r o parts of 
 hvdrogen and seventy-one parts of chlorine in another. If we cause 
 the same current to pass through a solution of cyanide of silver and 
 potassium, then through one of sulphate of copper and finally through 
 one of antimony, each solution being prepared and acted upon so as to 
 yield only pure metal, we find that for every 10S parts of silver deposited 
 in the first vessel 31.75 parts ( JL § JJ ) of copper are set free in the second 
 one; and 40.66 parts (or J | a ) of antimony in the third one." ' 
 
 The above truth was also discovered by Faraday, who first established 
 the fact of equivalent proportional separations, as well as, also, that if the 
 same current is made to traverse simultaneously various solutions in a 
 series of vessels, the chemical actions in all of them are also in equivalent 
 proportions; therefore, the resulting decomposition is produced by the same 
 amount of electricity. 
 
 According to Professor Magnus, the separation and simultaneous deposit 
 of substances, which takes place from the action of electrolysis in a mixed 
 solution, will depend upon the following circumstances: — first, on the 
 strength or density of the current; second, on the proportions in which 
 the different substaiices exist in the fluid; third, on the nature of the 
 electrodes; fourth, on the greater or less facility with which one or the 
 other substance can be carried from stratum to stratum within the fluid, 
 as well as upon the obstacles which stand in the way of this transmission, 
 either in the shape of porous walls or in any other form. 
 
 Mention has already been made of the combination of atoms (elements) 
 
 1 Gore.. <>p. 
 
20 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 to form molecules. It must not be overlooked that, according to chemical 
 science compounds are composed of atoms to form molecules, and that on 
 the other hand molecules are chemically formed by the union of atoms in 
 certain definite proportions. Now, when this union of atoms becomes 
 separated, the separated matters must have definite proportions by weight, 
 and these definite proportions are equivalent in a chemical sense: — a 
 monad is an elementary substance, one atom of which possesses one 
 equivalent of chemical power; a dyad is a substance 'which possesses two 
 of such equivalents, and so on for the tryad and the tetrad, etc. Con- 
 sequently one atomic weight of a dyad element is chemically equivalent 
 to two of a monad element, and so on. It follows, moreover, that as a 
 monad exerts one equivalent of chemical power, the elementary substances 
 set free at the two electrodes are liberated in their corresponding chemi- 
 cally equivalent proportions, and that for each atomic weight of a dyad 
 set free at one electrode two of a monad, or one of a dyad, are liberated at 
 the other. For illustration, electrolysis of the compound hydochloric acid 
 (HOI) causes one part by weight of hydrogen to be liberated at the kathode 
 and 35.5 parts at the anode, because the atomic weight of hydrogen is 1. 
 and that of chlorine is 35.5. 
 
 With these remarks upon the principles of electrolysis of inorganic 
 bodies, we will consider the electrolysis of organic and living tissues. 
 
 The mode of action of Electrolysis on living structures can, a priori, 
 be viewed as similar to its effects on saline fluids. Their power of 
 conduction is (except epidermis and bone) like that of a weak saline 
 solution. As the resistance of a saline solution is enormous compared with 
 that of metals, only currents of great strength, i.e., of many elements 
 arranged as in Volta's pile, can traverse it, a fact that therapeutists have 
 not sufficiently recognized. If a clean steel needle connected with a 
 battery be placed on a spot deprived of epidermis and a current be trans- 
 mitted through this needle, there will form around the positive pole brown- 
 ish-black scales of peroxide of iron firmly adhering to the needle and 
 fixing it in its position. The needle is oxidized by the oxygen of the 
 tissues. The surrounding parts shrivel from the action of the acid 
 developed. With strong currents bubbles of hydrogen are formed around 
 the negative electrode and small drops of water; this shows the separation 
 of hydrogen and its recombination with oxygen to form water; or else that 
 the water contained in the tissues has been transferred en masse by elec- 
 trical osmosis towards the negative electrode. The surrounding parts be- 
 
PHYSICS OF ELEOTBOLYSI8. 
 
 21 
 
 come slightly inflamed; pieces of muscle placed under the microscope Bhow 
 
 bubbles of gas between the muscle fibrilla?, paleness of the sareoleimna, 
 and partial disappearance of the stria\ together with irianular collections.' 
 
 It was formerly supposed that the positive pole alone could cause 
 coagulation of the blood (Bruns and Heidenreich); but Dittel and Bill- 
 roth deny that coagulation can be produced in this manner in aneu- 
 risms. So far it has not been possible to discover any change in the 
 tissues between the poles, unless the needles be very close together, nor 
 has the mechanical transmission of drugs through living tissues from one 
 pole to the other been proven by experiment. It is easy to understand 
 that the alteration of living tissues can with difficulty be studied on the 
 living being. Many of these organic chemical changes may be inferred 
 from the results of experiments upon organic chemical compounds which 
 may be carried on in the laboratory. We have no right, of course, to 
 assume that the same changes which are discovered from electrolysis of 
 the chemical substances of dead tissue are the same as the electrolysis of 
 living tissue. We may however assume that the truths of chemical science 
 may be equally appropriate for chemical compounds which are contained 
 in the structures of living tissues. The results of laboratory teaching in 
 this department of science, electrolysis of organic chemical compounds, 
 have been the subject of study from the time of Davy. Some of these 
 researches, which were published in 1S67 by Burgoin," have an im- 
 portant bearing upon this subject. According to this writer, the phe- 
 nomena of electrolysis are as simple, primarily, with the organic as with 
 the inorganic salts; the metal, or basic, hydrogen will go over to the 
 negative pole and the acid portion of the organic salt will appear at the 
 positive pole. The reaction from the organic salt, potassium camphorate, 
 will be the same as with the inorganic salt, potassium sulphate. These re- 
 actions are; 
 
 K 2 S 2 9 = SA+0 ; (positive) and K, (negative). 
 
 Camphoric Acid (l'„ II 14 K 2 O s =Camphor-Anhydride (C 90 H 14 O e +O s ) 
 (positive) and K, (negative). The only difference between these two re- 
 actions will happen subsequently, from the fact that the nascent oxygen 
 cannot produce further decompositions in one case, while it can in the 
 
 1 C. J. Zancopulos, of Greece. Ueber die electrolyt u. katalytschen Heihviik- 
 ungen des ualvaiiisclien Stroms. Arch. t. klin. Med., Hand. X. |>. 562, L873. 
 
 ^Comptes Rendus, 1867, pp. 987, 1144; also idem from Jour.de Pharm. e1 de 
 Chimie, 1867. 
 
22 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 other. This writer observes that the water of an electrolyte plays no part 
 in the reaction but that of a solvent, and that the water is not decomposed. 
 Burgoin presents a number of analyses which proves this fact; he then 
 gives details of the electrolysis of sulphuric, nitric, and camphoric acids, 
 and their corresponding salts. These results, as well as some other ex- 
 periments with acetic and tartaric acids, differ in no respects from the 
 foregoing analyses. This writer also states that, according to the earlier 
 received theories, the decompositions which are caused by electrolysis of 
 organic compounds varies with these compounds. These earlier authorities 
 supposed this difference to be supported by the fact that many decom- 
 positions occurred, which set free organic radicles which polymerised (that 
 is to say, form new bodies by a different arrangement of the same mole- 
 cules) immediately as aldehydes, etc., Burgoin has, however, established 
 that the same law governs both of these cases, and that the fundamental 
 action in each is the appearance of the acid at the positive and that of the 
 alkali at the negative pole. 
 
 The cause of the apparent dissimilarity is the difference in the com- 
 pounds themselves. Thus with potassium sulphate (K 2 S0 4 ) the K 2 appears 
 at the negative and the S0 3 and at the positive pole. Here the nascent 
 oxygen can produce no further oxidation. But with organic acids it can 
 oxidize and combine either with the carbon or the hydrogen or with both. 
 Now the preference is for C (carbon) and the relation is such in organic 
 acids that a very definite and easily formulated reaction takes place. This 
 normal oxidation forms what may be termed the " characteristic reaction 
 of organic acids." This, however, is a secondary action foreign to the 
 action of the current. 
 
 Thus with acetic acid, 2C 4 H,0 8 =20 a 4 -fC 4 H e (Kolb). 
 
 Succinic acid, C S II 4 6 =2C 2 4 +C 4 H 4 (Kekule). 
 
 Tartaric acid, CJI 4 O I0 = 2C 2 O 4 +C 4 H 4 O 4 (Bourgoin). 
 
 Other secondary decompositions may occur subsequently, greatly 
 complicating the reaction. The following considerations will aid in the 
 comprehension of these decompositions. 
 
 1. When an excess of alkali is present, this will act as a salt, and by its 
 decomposition will increase the amount of nascent oxygen at the positive 
 pole, and hence, the number of secondary products. The acid may be 
 entirely consumed by oxidation. 
 
 Thus with succinic acid, CJI 4 O +6O 2 =2C 2 O 4 +C 4 II 2 +II 2 O 2 . 
 
IMIVSICS OF KLKCTIIOLY8I8. 23 
 
 These decompositions may occur simultaneously; and hence ac- 
 cording to the conditions we may obtain one or another reaction. 
 1st or fundamental reaction. (Inorganic or organic salt-). 
 
 Negative Pole. Positive Pole. 
 
 Metal or basic hydrogen. Acid anhydride and oxygen of acid or 
 
 of salt. 
 2d. Organic acids and salts (secondary reaction). 
 
 Metal or basic hydrogen. (a) anhydrous acid (b) CO, aldehyde 
 
 and oxygen. acids, hydro- 
 
 carbons, etc. 
 3d. Metal or basic hydrogen. (a) anhydrous acid (b) secondary pro- 
 
 and oxygen of ducts, 
 
 acid or salt and 
 of alkali. 
 Apparatus: ' One tube was placed within the other, the inner com- 
 municating with the outer by an orifice the diameter of which was 0.4mm. 
 Both were filled with the electrolyte, potassium acetate, the solution of 
 which was concentrated and had a neutral reaction. The decomposition 
 began upon the closing of the current, and after five hours 5cc. were taken 
 from around each electrode for analysis. 
 
 Free acid, in each cc, 0.0101 
 
 Free alkali, " " 0.0093 
 
 These are in the proportion of the chemical equivalents of KHO and 
 acetic acid, and hence the fundamental action is shown. 
 
 Former analyses by Daniell and Miller show that the loss of salt is 
 greatest at the negative pole with mineral salts. Hittorf showed the con- 
 trary to be true of organic salts. 
 
 2. Gas was collected at the positive electrode to amount of O, 87.4cc, 
 CO 10.4, residue 2.2. This latter burned with a blue flame, indicating 
 presence of CO. This showed that only a very small part of the acid is 
 primarily destroyed by oxygen. 
 
 Positive Negative 
 Unaccounted for at the end of G hours, 0.008 0.004 
 
 24 " Similar results. 
 
 04 " Similar results. 
 
 " " end of operation, 0.1GG O.008 
 
 1 Idem, p. 998. 
 
24 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 [These experiments upon organic chemical compounds, which were 
 performed in the laboratory, prove conclusively that the separation of the 
 elementary substances will follow electrolysis of organic chemical com- 
 pounds which are partially or wholly in solution. We know also from 
 experiments on dead and living tissue that the decomposition of chemical 
 compounds in these structures will induce the display of electrical 
 energy. We must therefore allow that there exists in our bodies, as the 
 result of chemical formations and chemical decompositions, a continual 
 discharge as well as storage of latent energy constantly going on in human 
 tissues. 
 
 Some further experiments on organic chemical compounds have been 
 detailed by Burgoin, which show that the chemical decomposition by elec- 
 trolysis keeps on for a long time, and especially is this true of the compound 
 hydrogen radicles. ] 
 
 The result was the same with one equivalent of the acetate and one of 
 
 the alkali, but very different with two equivalents of the acetate to one of 
 
 the alkali, Kolb's reaction then preponderating. 
 
 ■ 
 Analytical Table of Gas Collected at Different Periods. 
 
 Hours. 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 30-36 
 
 48 
 
 56 
 
 60 
 
 64 
 
 72 
 
 80 
 
 96 
 
 O 
 
 15.5 
 
 6. 
 
 2.7 
 
 2.7 
 
 
 
 
 1.1 
 
 4.7 
 
 5. 
 
 8.2 
 
 c 2 o 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.1 
 
 3.2 
 
 12.8 
 
 17.3 
 
 17.6 
 
 c 2 o 2 
 
 5.3 
 
 5.1 
 
 4.3 
 
 4.3 
 
 3.7 
 
 2.4 
 
 3.8 
 
 5.1 
 
 3.6 
 
 3.4 
 
 3. 
 
 C4H6 
 
 79.2 
 
 88.9 
 
 92.2 
 
 95.5 
 
 96.3 
 
 97.6 
 
 94.1 
 
 92. 
 
 78.9 
 
 74.3 
 
 71.2 
 
 Kolb thinks ethyl acetate is produced, but Bourgoin has not confirmed 
 its production. The blue flame is due to the presence of the oxide of 
 carbon and not, as usually supposed, to the presence of hydro-carbons. 
 
 3. Free acetic acid. 
 
 This is the most difficult of all acids to electrolyse. It is impossible to 
 decompose the concentrated, and with great difficulty the dilute, acid. 
 
 Analysis of Gas Collected. 
 
 Saltinlc.c.ori-) Q 43Q9 
 ginaJ liquid. ) 
 
 Positive pole. 0.4565 
 
 Negative pole. 0.4252 
 
 The residue burns with a blue flame and a slight detonation. 1 
 
 1 Idem, p. 1144. 
 
 Gas at positive 
 O 
 
 3 days. 
 97. 
 
 3 days. 
 95.8 
 
 4 days 
 92.2 
 
 co 2 
 
 2.3 
 
 2.7 
 
 4.7 
 
 Residue. 
 
 0.7 
 
 2.5 
 
 3.1 
 
PHYSICS OK KLKt TROLY8I8. 
 
 l'.". 
 
 1. Concentrated ami neutral solution of potassium tartrate. At the 
 positive pole potassium bitartrate collected. There was no free arid, 
 the faint acidity being duo to some of the remaining bitartrate salt in 
 solution. 
 
 < J as at positive electrode. 
 
 c.o, . 
 
 
 
 c,o, • 
 
 N 
 
 1 to 20 hours. 
 61.2 
 
 7.8 
 26.3 
 
 o 7 
 
 20 to 84 hours. 
 
 80.7 
 
 7.2 
 
 11.6 
 
 0.5 
 
 ?. Analysis of liquids. At positive pole no free acid. Salt in 2 cc. 0.563, 
 negative pole, very alkaline; 2 cc. contain of salt, 0.753; of free alkali 
 0.041. Loss at negative pole, 0.013, at positive, 0.120. The tartaric an- 
 hydride and water which collected at the positive pole formed tartaric acid, 
 the result of which re-formation with the tartrate was the bitartrate, which 
 was deposited on the bottom of the vessel. Some of the anhydride, how- 
 ever, was decomposed by the oxygen forming C 2 4 , C 2 2 , and II 2 2 > accord- 
 in- to the following reaction: 8 H 6 O 12 +3O 2 =2C 2 O 4 +2CA+3H 2 O 2 . 
 
 3. Alkaline solution, containing four equivalents of the tartrate and 
 one equivalent of alkali. 
 
 Gas analysis. 
 
 in 24 hours. 
 
 in 72 hours 
 
 0,0, .• . 
 
 81.98 
 
 61.15 
 
 0,0, . . 
 
 9.60 
 
 18.47 
 
 2 . . 
 
 6.68 
 
 18.18 
 
 C 4 H 8 . . 
 
 0.61 
 
 1.20 
 
 N 
 
 1.13 
 
 1.00 
 
 The origin of the hydride of ethylene seems to come from the large 
 quantity of acetate of potassium produced. This ethylene compound was 
 first obtained by Kolb. 
 
 Free tartaric acid. 
 
 Gas analysis. 
 
 CA 
 
 CA 
 
 o, 
 
 N 
 
 1st day. 
 
 89.2 
 
 6.9 
 
 2.2 
 
 1.7 
 
 2d day. 
 
 82.0 
 
 10.6 
 
 6.6 
 
 0.9 
 
 3d day, 
 72.1 
 19.1 
 
 8.2 
 0.6 
 
 4th day. 
 
 95.4 
 
 4.1 
 
 4.1 
 
 0.5 
 
 On the 5th day C A was almost uncontaminated by C 2 2 , thus, funda- 
 
26 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 mental reaction at the positive pole, tartaric anhydride and 2 ; the sec- 
 ondary reaction, C 6 H 4 O 10 +0 9 =2C s Q 4 4-C 4 H 4 O 4 ; at the negative, H 2 . 
 
 From these laboratory experiments we pass on to the consideration of 
 the views of others in regard to the action of electrolysis upon the living 
 tissues. The preceding complicated decompositions of dead organic mat- 
 ter — that is, of organic matter without cell life — is interesting as showing 
 the restricted limits of our knowledge of the chemical reactions. 
 
 Frommhold used for the purpose of obtaining electrolytical action on 
 the living tissues a current from the coarse wire (primary) of an induc- 
 tion coil. 1 He produced the effects of electrolysis by the use of the 
 bipolar rotation of an electro -magnet, as well as by the use of the primary 
 induction apparatus. In other words, he used a dynamo machine; but 
 he considers the only form of electricity, which is practically useful in 
 electrolysis to be that of the constant current which is obtained from the 
 galvanic-cell battery. 
 
 According to this writer, the variation in the action of the galvanic 
 current will depend upon the size of the surface area of the plates, which 
 serve as metallic elements of the cells, or upon the number of the couples 
 which are connected in battery; when this area is more extensive, a great 
 heat may be obtained in a proportionally poorer conductor, as in the 
 case of the gal vano- cautery. The high degree of heat, however, in this poor 
 conductor, is due to resistance of the conducting medium, the platinum, 
 and will be in proportion to the quantity and density of the original current. 
 When the character of the original current is equalized by the resistance 
 of the conducting medium, the resulting current will be the most favor- 
 able for use in the practice of electro-therapeutics. 
 
 The electro-chemical current, or action of electrolysis, is supposed by 
 this writer to be favored by the coupling of a large number of small ele- 
 ments, because the internal resistance of the battery in such an arrange- 
 ment would be more proportional to that of the external resistance of the 
 circuit [the interpolar]. lie supposed that a consolidation of the tissues 
 would occur at the positive electrode, while their fluidization would Bake 
 place at the negative electrode. Interpolar action would only be evident 
 from the results in the treatment of a given disease. lie attributed the 
 pain caused by electrolysis to the tension of the current, and that this was 
 produced on account of the resistance offered by the contact of the surface 
 
 1 In K. Pest.Ofner Gesellch. d. Aerzie. Wien Med. Presse, XIV., 175-304. 
 
PHYSICS <>F ELECTROLYSIS. _« 
 
 Begments of the electrolytical cylinder, which was placed apon the dry 
 skin. In order to avoid this inconvenience at pain, Frommhold suggests 
 that the Form of this cylindrical segment should be changed into the linear 
 shape, by means of flat arrow-pointed platinum needles, which should be 
 inserted into the skin at intervals of two or more lines. In this way, the 
 needles would penetrate into tissues which contain more water than the 
 skin, and would produce dee}) and uniform electrolytical action, and not 
 make partial and segmentary contact. lie would restrict interpolar action 
 to its destructive effects. He considered the use of this method as produc- 
 ing evil results in aneurisms. In these cases of aneurism he advised the 
 use of one electrode, the negative, rapidly applied to the moistened surface 
 of the skin, while the positive electrode was inserted into the aneurismal 
 sac. 
 
 Frommhold supposed that there was a difference between electrolysis 
 and electro-catalysis. The latter is an artificially prolonged action of 
 the former. He attributed this to an increase of the quantity of the 
 current as compared with its intensity; but, as will be seen later on, this 
 difference is imaginary. He concluded that a current of intensity (the 
 word "intensity"' is often used for the word tension; tension is the more 
 properly applied term) has a weak catalytic action, and that, as a con- 
 siderable quantity should traverse the tissues, it was important that the 
 electrodes should be covered with wet sponges or some other moistened 
 layer. According to Frommhold, the explanation of the action of elec- 
 trocatalysis should be attributed to electro-osmosis. (See page 14.) The 
 phenomena of the latter would depend on the form, consistency and 
 volume of the tissues, and upon the forces of polar decomposition and 
 mechanical transportation. Frommhold suggested that a salt should be 
 interposed in the path of the current; but it is extremely doubtful, in 
 fact improbable, that such agents will traverse the tissue of the living 
 organism. This author supposed that when the Kilts passed through the 
 tissues they would be decomposed at the poles. 
 
 On the other hand, Dittel ' has proved by experiment the impossibility 
 of passing iodine or arsenic through the body by the action of electrolysis. 
 These experiments were conducted on the lower animals. Iodine, which 
 was applied to an electro-puncture in a pigeon, could not be found at the 
 electrode of the opposite polar action; nor could it be found in the tissues 
 
 1 Oestreich Ztsclir. f. prakt IUkuV., No. 17. 1869. 
 
28 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 under the positive electrode within the skin. He supposes that, in the 
 few instances which have been reported of its supposed transportation 
 through the tissues to the opposite pole, it was transported outside of 
 the body by means of the fiugers, or in some other accidental way; he 
 cites a case to demonstrate the truth of this supposition: — in the case of 
 a man with a cancer in the tongue, in which iodine was applied below 
 the ear at the same point where the negative electrode was in contact, the 
 current was passed during five minutes; the patient experienced a peculiar 
 taste, which waa explained by finding an iodine reaction in the saliva. As 
 this patient had not been ingesting iodine, it was naturally supposed that 
 the iodine had been absorbed by means of electrolysis; but on repeating 
 the application of the current Avith twenty couples and for fifteen minutes, 
 the same effect was reproduced, and it was then discovered that the patient's 
 fingers had touched the electrode, and had thus transferred the iodine to 
 his mouth. 
 
 Eulenberg discusses this same question of " the electrolytic conduction 
 of iodine" which was advocated by Beer at Vienna in 1869; the theory 
 was maintained of driving the iodine from the negative to the positive 
 pole by means of the surface application of the electrodes. Eulenberg 
 found in experiments, which were conducted by Brueckner, Benedikt, 
 Ultzmann, Fieber, Ossikowski and himself, that it was impossible to con- 
 duct the iodine to great depths through the complex animal tissues. 
 Eulenberg, however, states that the investigations of H. Munk on the 
 galvanic introduction of different fluids into the uninjured human and 
 animal organism deserve more serious attention. In these investigations 
 Munk relied on the cataphoric action of electricity (electrical osmosis) 
 to accomplish this absorption, which would be highly favored by the 
 narrowness of the pores of the human body. In order to procure a 
 sufficient cataphoric effect, the drug must be brought in contact with the 
 positive electrode or with both electrodes; and a tolerably strong current 
 should be employed during fifteen minutes, and alternately changing 
 the direction of the path of the electricity, by reversing the poles. In 
 this way Munk was able to produce the physiological effects of strych- 
 nine, and even death, in the rabbits submitted to the experiments, 
 though the epidermis showed no evidences of injury. After applica- 
 tion of concentrated solutions of sulphate of quinine, and of iodide 
 of potassium, the quinine could be detected in the urine within the 
 next twelve hours, and the iodine in thirty-six minutes after the begin- 
 
PHYSIOS ok ELECTROLYSIS. 29 
 
 ning of the experiment, but in the greatest quantity after the lapse of 
 
 live or six hours.' 
 
 [frommhold makes, and hardly with reason in our opinion, an un- 
 necessary distinction between the two following instances: — first, when 
 the iodide salt has been introduced by the action of the current alone; 
 and, second, when the iodide has been absorbed previously to the applica- 
 tion of the electrolysis. In his opinion the results of the treatment are 
 different in these two eases; for instance, if the solution of iodide of potas- 
 sium is placed upon the unimpaired skin at the point where the negative 
 electrode is in contact, no presence of iodine can be demonstrated at the 
 point of contact of the positive electrode, because the resistance of the skin 
 is too great to allow of the transmission by electrolysis. If, however, the 
 epidermis should be abraded at the point of application of both the drug 
 and of the electrode, the salt will then be diffused by the action of the 
 circulation, and not by the action of the electrolysis. In this latter case 
 it would appear, in view of the experiments of Munk which have just 
 been detailed, that the action of electrical osmosis would assist the usual 
 process of imbibition and consequent absorption. 
 
 Frommhold very truly remarks that decomposition of the iodide is most 
 rapidly accomplished in the case of vascular tissues. This is also true, 
 according to the experience of the author of this treatise, in the result of 
 resolution of vascular tumors when the iodide is not used; a fibroid tumor 
 will not as rapidly be decreased after treatment by electrolysis as in the case 
 of vascular enlargements, for instance, in the case of a n&^vus. Illustra- 
 tion of this view will be observed by the reader in the seventh chapter, in 
 which are presented in detail quite a number of cases of the treatment of 
 angiomata (nsBvi). 
 
 Frommhold states, moreover, that a solution of iodide of potassium 
 may be advantageously injected in cases of isolated tumors previously to 
 their treatment by electrolysis, taking the precaution to compress the veins 
 so as to prevent its absorption; in this case the eschar will form more 
 rapidly and will be larger, and the treatment will be more efficacious. 
 According to this writer, electrolysis of small lymphatic tumors, of goitre 
 and of articular inflammations, will be followed by better effects when the 
 previous administration of iodide of potassium has been given. Thia 
 
 1 Handbook of General Therapeutics, Ziemssen, Vol. ii., p. 289. "VVm. Wood 
 & Co., New York, 1885. 
 
30 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 opinion has not been borne out by the experience of other observers. 
 When it is remembered that the use of iodide of potassium in the above- 
 mentioned affections has not rarely been followed by an improvement, 
 even in those cases in which treatment by electrolysis has not been at- 
 tempted, it is reasonable to suppose that the above author may have met 
 with some cases where the potassium medication might be in part re- 
 sponsible for the effects which he is disposed to attribute to combined 
 action of electrolysis and iodide of potassium. 
 
 The action of electrolysis in its application to the cure of goitrous affec- 
 tions is more particularly discussed in a subsequent chapter, and therefore 
 we will not continue this argument in further detail in this place, — since 
 the reader can form a better judgment of the whole subject in the review 
 of the pathogenesis and natural decadence of goitrous affections; — he will 
 there see that the varieties of this disease are numerous, and that the 
 benefits of their ti'eatment will depend in great measure upon the patho- 
 logical bearings of each variety. ' 
 
 The application of electrolysis in the cure or partial relief of aneurisms 
 has occupied the careful attention of many physicians for a number of 
 years, and it would be advisable before considering the practical bearing 
 on these cases, to present some of the explanations of these observers in 
 regard to the method of action, by which electrolysis can effect its bene- 
 ficial action upon the tissues which are filled with blood or which convey 
 this circulating fluid. 
 
 We owe to a very careful manipulator, as well as a close observer of 
 this phase of our subject, some very useful hints. This authority has 
 devoted twenty years of his experience in the treatment of aneurisms, 
 and his opinions deserve a careful consideration in our discussion. 
 This writer ' states that the action of the electrical current is three- 
 fold: physiological, calorific and chemical. The two latter cannot be 
 easily separated (probably they are transmutations of the same en- 
 ergy), and hence the term chemical action has not been specially ap- 
 plied. The current in traversing the living tissues produces its local 
 effects at the points of contact of the electrodes; these will vary from that 
 of rubefaction to that of cauterization, and are comparable only to the 
 action of caustics of a chemical nature. These effects have no connection 
 
 1 De 1'actiOn chimique de l'61ectricit6. Ciniselli in Gazette des Hop., Paris, 
 1862, xxxv., p. 480. Resume par Velpeau. 
 
PHYSIOS (>F ELECTROLYSIS. 31 
 
 whatever with the physiological action; they arc supposed to be the 
 results of the chemical and calorific aotions alone. The beat effect is 
 
 obtained only by the use of a continuous metallic circuit with great re- 
 sistance. The destructive effects may be obtained by the application of I be 
 rheophores separately, but in this case they simulate the alterations in the 
 vitality of the tissues. The cauterization effected on the skin by the chem- 
 ical action is supposed to be due to the development of acidatthe positive 
 and alkali at the negative pole. The alteration in the tissues is accom- 
 panied by signs of chemical action, the development of acid and gas at the 
 positive, and of alkali at the negative pole. The application of two metal 
 surfaces connected by a wire to the tissues is capable of producing similar 
 effects, the tissues playing the part of the exciting fluid. Compared with 
 other caustics the galvano-chemical is more easy, sure and extended; 
 this is, also, (by means of electro-puncture,) more profound, and more 
 easily controlled and finally more prompt, than other caustic applications. 
 The use, however, of the galvano-eantery locally applied to the skin is 
 hardly an instance of electrolysis, but would be more appropriately com- 
 pared with the action of chemical caustics. 1 
 
 Tripier (op. cit. ) distinguishes the "chemical galvano-caustic " action 
 from the "thermo-gal vano-caustic " action. The former is due to the 
 action of the acids and alkali at the points of contact, and the latter to the 
 heat developed by a powerful, current in an imperfect conductor. Davy 
 was the first to show that electro-positive elements will collect at the neg- 
 ative pole, and vice versa; and that, if the well-Avashed fingers constitute the 
 electrodes, the electrolyte gives the same reactions around the poles as with 
 dead substances, thus showing that living acts like dead matter. A current 
 traversing the living body therefore decomposes the salts, and the acids 
 and alkalies appear at the terminal poles and will there act upon the 
 electrodes, the tissues, or both. In order to produce cauterisation, the 
 effect should not be influenced by the alterations of the electrodes, ami 
 hence these should be of platinum or other unoxidizable material. Cin- 
 iselli was the first to show (in a memoir to the Surgical Society of Paris, 
 in 1S60) and to explain fully the difference between the clots at the two 
 poles, the clot at the positive pole being firm and unalterable, resembling 
 exactly that formed by powerful acid caustics, while that at the negative 
 resembles the action produced by alkalies. The cicatrices produced by 
 
 1 De l'electrolyse. Par Dr. L. Ravacley, Thesis. Paris, 1876. 
 
32 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 two kinds of caustics also differ; that produced by acid being hard and 
 retracted, that by alkali being soft and not retracted. The microscopical 
 characters also differ: the acid cicatrix shows much fibrous tissue and 
 amorphous matter; the alkaline is soft, non-adherent to subjacent tissues, 
 and shows much less fibrous tissue. Hence the negative pole is usually 
 preferred except to close sinuses by adhesive inflammation. 
 
 Ciniselli in 1860 was the first to clearly enunciate and apply the theory 
 of the chemical action of the current, but Mongiordo and Landoin, in 1803, 
 noticed the same without applying it. Subsequently, according to the elder 
 Becquerel, 1 Fabre-Palaprat had the idea of using the chemical action of 
 electricity for its caustic effect, but he confounded this with the calorific 
 effect. Crusell, of St. Petersburg, worked perseveringly on this same sub- 
 ject for seven or eight years, and addressed a memoir to the French Acad- 
 emy of Sciences. He suggested the use of the solvent action of the alkali, 
 which would be generated, without producing eschars, in stricture of the 
 urethra, etc. In 1849 he reported cases of the cure of cancer, ulcers, 
 and two cases of cataract in which he used the galvano-puncture. The 
 committee of the Academy, to whom his paper was referred, reported 
 that the evidence presented was not sufficient to warrant the expression 
 of an opinion concerning the merits of the method. Thus discouraged, 
 Crusell subsequently limited himself to the study of the effects of the 
 calorific action. 
 
 Lerche 2 applied Crusell's method, 3 and it was approved by Graefe. 4 
 One important result attained was the treatment of atonic ulcers by 
 placing a voltaic couple on their surface. 
 
 Local Effects. After the application of a plate of copper and another 
 of zinc, which were connected by a wire, there is produced under the zinc a 
 redness of the skin and an abundant exudation of serum, while under the 
 copper the skin appeared natural and there was no pain. The zinc should 
 be placed upon the sound skin and over a wet compress. This is followed 
 by rapid healing. It will be seen from the review of the work of the 
 earlier experimenters, that the action of electricity applied locally to the 
 skin was merely obtained from the effects which were apparent to the 
 eye; it will also be seen that the electrolysis of organic compounds were 
 
 9 
 
 1 Traite tie l'electricite et du magnetisme, Tome iv. 
 
 2 Compt. Rend., xxviii.,1849. 
 
 3 Med. Ztg. des Vereins, 1841. 
 ♦Deutsche Klinik, 1852. 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELEOTBOLY8I8. 
 
 studied from a chemical point of view. In the former case, the application 
 of the negative electrode in contuct with the moistened skin is followed 
 by some of the signs <>|' local inflammation. To all appearance this inflam- 
 mation appeared like that which followed the application of ecsharotics 
 or of rubefacients, hut the chemical changes which occurred underneath 
 the skin have not yet been examined. It has also been observed that- an 
 oedema of the tissues often accompanies the inflammatory action, that 
 which is also true of the irritation produced by certain chemicals; yet, the 
 oedema which follows the local application of the electrode is somewhat 
 different, because, after the irritation produced by a chemical irritant, the 
 oedema is succeeded by vesication. In this vesication a collection of serum 
 occurs between the superficial aiid subcutaneous layers of skin; the oedema 
 which follows the application of the negative electrode is an infiltration 
 of the subcutaneous tissue; the action of a vesicant is followed by a de- 
 nudation of the external layer of the skin, which is succeeded by a sort 
 of sloughing, and the healing process is by means of a series of granula- 
 tion; the cedematous infiltrations which follow the local action of electri- 
 city upon the skin is succeeded by a dry eschar, under which the process 
 of healing proceeds without usually causing a secondary inflammation; 
 when the dry scab falls off, a slight red mark shows its previous location. 
 When an electrical current passes through the tissues between two poles 
 applied to the skin, we may readily suppose that a transfer of liquids is 
 made from cell to cell of the tissue, and this transference of liquids is 
 probably due to the law of electrical osmosis, which has before been 
 spoken of. This is, at least, the opinion of certain electrical students 
 of physiology. 1 Electrical osmosis is very marked, in the case of pure 
 water, and diminishes upon conductivity imparted to the liquid by 
 salts in solution. It is, furthermore, noticed that quite an appreciable 
 amount of water will collect about the negative electro-needle, when in- 
 serted into the skin below the superficial layer. It may be argued perhaps 
 that the accumulation of water is due entirely to the secondary formation, 
 which is caused by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, and which 
 results from the decomposition of the organic compound. If this view is 
 held, we must suppose that the destruction of organic compounds in the 
 tissues is quite active; if the other view he held, the appearance of a large 
 number of bubbles of gas will account for the chemical decompositions 
 
 1 DeWatteville. 
 
34 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of the organic compound in the tissues, while the water is transferred by 
 electrical osmosis. 
 
 In short, it will be observed by the careful reader that some of the 
 electro-chemical changes of organic compounds, which have been spoken 
 of above, are very definite in character; and that many of them are mainly 
 caused by the development of an alkaline reaction at the negative elec- 
 trode, and of an acid reaction at the positive electrode; that, in addition 
 to these specific reactions, there are many of a secondary character, which 
 are influenced by the primary chemical changes at either pole. Professor 
 "W. N. Shaw (Article, Electrolysis, in the last edition of the Encyclopedia 
 Britannica), in discussing these secondary electro-chemical decompositions, 
 states that: — " The IONS appear in an abnormal molecular state; for in- 
 stance, as before mentioned, oxygen is liberated as active or pure oxygen 
 mixed with nascent oxygen (ozone). The molecular state of the deposit 
 varies very much with the. density of the current, which increases with 
 the area of the electrodes." As a natural consequence from this mode of 
 reasoning, many of the statements of those who have made practical 
 application of electrolysis to the living tissues, which appear antagonistic, 
 may and probably are reconcilable. The antagonism can be explained 
 from the various circumstances in which the electrical current is carried 
 through the organic structure, which may itself be the seat of the sec- 
 ondary electro-chemical decompositions. 
 
 Much that has been written by medical writers on the theory and 
 application of electrolysis, and of so-called electro-catalysis, is obscure. 
 Yet many of the facts and researches which are reported by the older 
 writers are quite pertinent, and should not be overlooked. 
 
 Onimus and Blum, ' in speaking of the uses of electricity in surgery, men- 
 tion that the decomposition of living tissue is governed by the same laws of 
 electrolysis as those of dead tissues. Electrolysis of muscle results in the 
 development of sulphuric, nitric, phosphoric and hydrochloric acid at the 
 positive, or anodal, terminal; while soda, potassa and ammonia collect at 
 the negative, or kathodal, terminal from the battery. The decomposing 
 action of the electrical current upon the animal tissues has been studied 
 by Brugnatelli, Davy, Aldini, Prevost, Dumas, etc. 
 
 Blood, milk, muscles and other tissues which are largely composed of 
 watery substances contain mineral salts, and the current acts especially 
 
 1 Bull. Gen. de Therapeutique, Paris, Tonic Ixxxii., pp. 13 and 205. 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELECTROLY8I8. 35 
 
 upon those compound materials as well as upon the water contained in 
 them; acids are carried, as above mentioned, to the positive pole, and 
 alkalies to the negative pole. 11. Davy immersed the ends of a piece of 
 
 meat into vessels filled with distilled water, and connected these ends 
 with the terminals of a strong battery. He found in the vessel at the 
 negative pole potassa, soda, lime and ammonia; and in the vessel con- 
 nected with the positive pole sulphuric, hydrochloric, phosphoric and 
 nitric acids. The piece of meat subjected to this treatment for several 
 days was entirely freed from its salts. lie also immersed his fingers, as 
 previously referred to by Tripier (p. 31), after they had been carefully 
 washed, in two vessels containing distilled water, and connected them 
 with the two poles of a battery. In the positive vessel he found the acids 
 and in the negative vessel he found the alkalies, showing in this manner 
 that living as well as dead tissue could be the seat of electrolysis. The 
 resistance of the tissues to electro-chemical action is inversely to the pro- 
 portion of fluids which these tissues contain. Thus dense tissues form 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 poor or feeble conductors. If the current be applied to the denuded 
 surface of the body, its resistance is reduced one-third. Decomposition 
 in the tissues occurs only at the electrodes. These writers illustrate this 
 law by the following well-known experiment of Davy: 
 
 Fill three vessels: (A) with a solution of litmus and sulphate of soda or 
 common salt, (B) with litmus and common water, and (C) with a solution 
 of litmus, and place between the three vessels some wicking, whose ends 
 are immersed in the solution; place these all in line, or in circuit, with 
 an electric battery, as represented in Fig. 5. If the electric current be 
 then made to traverse through the completed circuit, the litmus in 
 vessel ((') will assume a red color (acid reaction at the positive electrode). 
 and remain blue in vessel (A) (alkaline reaction at the negative electrode); 
 the salt will be found to have passed from the first to the other two vessels, 
 and the litmus solution in (15) will still remain blue (neutral). If the 
 
36 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 current be continued for a sufficient time the salt will be found to have 
 been entirely decomposed, the acid being found in (C), and all the alkali 
 in (A). If on the contrary the direction of the current be reversed, the 
 alkali will be found in (C) and the acid in (A). The time requisite for the 
 complete decomposition of the saline compound, will depend upon the 
 strength of the electric current. 
 
 Onimus mentions that in dead tissue the blood will coagulate only at 
 the positive pole, while in living tissue a coagulum will be formed at 
 either electrode. 
 
 When dry electrodes are placed in contact with the skin upon the 
 surface of the human body, eschars will be formed at the place of contact. 
 These eschars partake of the acid or alkaline character (which is depend- 
 ent upon which of the two poles is used) and are probably caused by the 
 action of the escharotic upon the dry skin. This may be prevented by 
 thoroughly moistening the parts to which the electrode is applied, or by 
 the use of a weak solution of any acid, as tartaric, for instance, in the 
 moistened negative electrode, and by a solution of carbonate of soda upon 
 the positive electrode. 1 
 
 Electrolysis in the tissues is not due to cauterization or to their de- 
 struction by elevated temperature. Broca writes 2 "It is certain that 
 the portion between the poles is the seat of a molecular perturbation 
 which begins and ends with the poles " ; whereas Ciniselli states that, 
 " The effect is not limited to area of cauterization (?), but extends to the 
 interior of the tissues " ; this is shown by the fact that the reduction in 
 the size of pathological growths is out of all proportion to the local 
 effects of cauterization, the decrease being continued after separation of 
 the eschars. 
 
 [The use of the words catalysis and electrolysis occurs so frequently in 
 the French and German writers that it would be well to discuss that 
 question here. There is no occasion for the use of two different words to 
 express the same physical effect. The word " electrolysis " at the pre- 
 sent time, as may be gathered from the previous pages, is used for the 
 convenient description of an artificial use of electricity to bring about 
 certain chemical changes in fluid or semi-fluid bodies. Its effects are well 
 known to chemists as forming an important factor for the production of 
 
 1 Onimus et Legros, Traitede 1' electricity medicale, 1872, p. 148 et seq. 
 
 2 Traite de tumeurs, Paris, 18G6, p. 174. 
 
PHY8I08 OF B5LEOTKOLY8I8. 37 
 
 certain chemical reactions. The mn.-i Eamiliar illustration is known in 
 the case where sulphuric acid and water are placed together in a bottle 
 or glass generator for the decomposition of hydrogen. In this process the 
 metal zinc is immersed in the mixture to cause the movement of the 
 
 sulphur and oxygen elements towards the zinc, thus setting free the 
 hydrogen element in the form of gas. and the oxygen element combining 
 with the sulphur and zinc elements forms a salt of sulphate of zinc. The 
 disengagement of this originally formed combination of elements of 
 hydrogen and oxygen as water, causes the discharge of a force known to 
 physicists as electricity. The process of electrical discharge, or movement 
 in a fluid of products of decomposition of one body towards another, is 
 called electrolysis and represents a definite physical effect. 
 
 On the other hand, catalysis may mean anything, and generally is 
 referred to by the writer as expressing some immaterial or mysterious 
 agency which he himself cannot describe. On this account, though used 
 by many writers as expressing an agency which is familiar to the person 
 using the word, it should not be used in a common sense, because this 
 use tends to mislead the reader.] 
 
 Gruh * states that, not only will the currents produce decompo- 
 sition of the water around the electrodes in the tissues of the human 
 body, but they will also act upon the tissues in proportion to the 
 rapidity of the decomposition of the water. A weak current can pro- 
 duce extensive decomposition of tissue if continued a sufficiently long 
 time; for instance if a couple of zinc and copper plates are strapped over 
 an ulcer. Batteries which are employed for electrolysis are composed of 
 a large number of small-sized plates, and the current from these is very 
 painful. It is important that the battery should have great chemical poAver 
 and should cause but little pain. Groh thinks that a battery arranged 
 for heat would he the most suitable for electrolysis — that unless the current 
 be passed through a closed circuit, and thus be brought in contact with 
 the tissues, its thermic effects will not be developed. This heat effect will 
 not be produced unless the needles touch each other. lie calls the 
 action by the name of catalysis if the electrodes are applied to the cutan- 
 eous surface by means of moistened electrodes, as sponges dipped in salt 
 water: and electrolysis, where needles are thrust into the skin, and thus 
 carry the current into the deeper tissues. lie uses common sewing needles, 
 
 1 Groh, Die Electrolyse in der Chirurgie, Weill, 1871. 
 
38 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 which are connected by copper wire and insulated by a covering of gutta 
 perclia. Clinical experience shows that physical action, possibly even 
 absorption, can thus be effected by the surface contact by means of 
 moistened electrodes, or by what Groh calls catalysis; it would be accom- 
 plished only with currents of comparatively high tension or by currents 
 of great quantity, on account of the great resistance offered by the skin. 
 Groh states that the battery should always be tested before its use in 
 regard to its power of decomposing water. He used Frommhold's bat- 
 tery, of thirty-two cells, and when he wished a stronger action than he 
 could obtain from this, a Grove or a zinc and iron battery. He advises 
 against the use of steel needles or those made of zinc. Needles made of 
 these metals oxidize too easily. 
 
 The advantages, claimed by Groh, for the treatment of electrolysis are: 
 
 1. Diminished pain and odor of cancer. 
 
 2. In tumors no hemorrhage. 
 
 3. Size of affected glands can be reduced in cancer. 
 
 4. Very little nervous shock. 
 Its disadvantages: 
 
 1. Cost of battery. 
 
 2. Cleaning and repairs of battery. 
 
 3. Time required for treatment. 
 
 4. Non-portability of large batteries. 
 
 A review of the literature of the subject of the action of electrolysis 
 exhibits strange inconsistencies among writers of note; it will be instruc- 
 tive to present this review somewhat in detail. 
 
 Another author 1 states that Berthelet has shown experimentally, that 
 electrolysis may be possible in two ways: first, the action of electrolysis 
 will be the smallest where the heat-current has been shown to be the least; 
 and, vice versa, where the heat-current has been shown to be the strongest, 
 the amount of electrolysis will be proportionally greatest; and, again, that 
 no decomposition will be produced where the heat produced by the 
 battery is less than that absorbed by the electrolyte in its decomposition. 
 His experience shows that the most advantageous conditions are those in 
 which the internal resistance of the battery equals the resistance of the 
 electrolyte. A current passing through several conductors will be divided 
 proportionally to their several resistances. 
 
 1 E. Doumer, Do 1'emploie des courunts elect riques en chirurgie, Paris, 1883. 
 Thesis, Chapter iii., Electrolysis. 
 
tesistance. 
 
 Humidity. 
 
 1 
 
 2 to 80 
 
 18 to 25 
 
 G2 to 89 
 
 19 to 2-4 
 
 39 
 
 18 to 25 
 
 50 to 75 
 
 1G to 22 
 
 3 to 7 
 
 PHYSIOS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 39 
 
 The following table of resistances presented by the tissues of the 
 human body is taken Erom Eckhart. The resistance of the muscle is called 
 1. and the humidity is called 100. 
 
 Muscle, 
 
 Tendon, . . . 
 
 Nerves, 
 
 Cartilage, 
 
 Bone, .... 
 
 The resistance of the skin is inversely proportional to its degree of 
 moisture by imbibition, being greatest with dry skin. 
 
 Thus, it will naturally follow that the current strength should neces- 
 sarily be increased to overcome any increase in the resistance of the human 
 tissue comprised in the interpolar circuit. 
 
 All compound bodies in solution which act as conductors of electricity 
 do so as electrolytes. Doumer states that, in nearly all cases of electro- 
 lytical action there is produced, at the surface of the electrodes immersed 
 in the solution, " peculiar phenomena not completely understood," which 
 cause an enfeeblement of the strength of the current; this is known under 
 the name " polarization of the electrodes." Many writers explain this as 
 due to a partial recomposition of the products of decomposition, on account 
 of which a current is set in motion in a direction opposed to that which 
 comes from the battery, through the electrodes to the tissues, in which 
 the process of electrolysis is in operation. 
 
 The existence of this secondary or opposing current can easily be 
 demonstrated by the substitution of a galvanometer in the circuit, instead 
 of the battery circuit; by this means, it is proved that this opposing current 
 is in operation during the period of action of the primary current. 
 
 Doumer presents the following summaries of the laws which govern 
 the action of electrolysis in living tissues: 
 
 (Laws of Faraday.) 
 
 1. The decomposing force, or chemical power, will be the same in all 
 parts of the circuit. 
 
 2. The quantity of the electrolyte which is decomposed will be propor- 
 tional to the quantity of electricity passing in given time. 
 
 3. When the same current traverses successively several dissolved 
 
40 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 binary compounds of the form AM, the weights of the elements, which are 
 separated, will be to each other as their chemical equivalents. 
 
 4. The internal chemical energy of each couple in the battery will be 
 equal to the external energy. Thus, chemical action is independent of 
 the number of couples when the battery is arranged in series, [for tension,] 
 and equal to their sum when arranged for surface, [for quantity.] 
 
 5. (Becquerel). When a current traverses dissolved binary compounds, 
 which are different from AM, the electro-negative body will follow the 
 preceding third law of Faraday. For instance, we should find in the 
 electrolysis of hydrochloric acid (HC1), a result of chloride of copper 
 (CuCl) and bichloride of copper (CuClJ, dissolved in a solution, and at the 
 negative electrode twice as much copper will be deposited from the pro- 
 tochloride as from the bichloride. This law of Becquerel is only hypothe- 
 tical, and is not clearly established. 
 
 This author proves by a system of elaborate calculation that the energy 
 of chemical action is equal in all parts of the circuit. 
 
 According to another writer, Scoutetten, 1 the mode of action of 
 the current in cases such as a hydrocele with 100 grammes of fluid, 
 cannot well be explained by the amount of water decomposed; be- 
 cause each gramme which is decomposed ought to yield 200 litres 
 of gas; nor can the current in the short space of time required for 
 one sitting produce so much decomposition. The absorption of the 
 fluid must be either due to a mechanical transportation, by the theory of 
 electrical osmosis, which would occur in fluids through an animal mem- 
 brane without decomposition; or else this effect is caused by the process 
 of absorption through cell tissue from physiological stimulation; the 
 chemical effect would be due to a direct decomposition by electrolysis. 
 This last mode of action could only explain a small part of the resulting 
 decomposition. According to this same author, the escharotic action is 
 
 due: 
 
 First, to the local chemical effect, as is commonly supposed, but in his 
 opinion this is untenable; because a similar chemical action, which follows 
 the local application of potassa cum calce, requires six to ten minutes to 
 act as an escharotic; it is difficult to believe that the action of electricity is 
 so much more chemically active when small currents are employed. 
 
 Second, the unquestionable calorific action of the electrical current 
 
 1 France Med., 1865, xii., 469. De la methode elite eleotrolytique. 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELEOTROLYSI8. 41 
 
 cannot be separated from the chemical, tor if the heatcurrenl be reduced, 
 the power as well as the chemical effects of the battery is likewise dim- 
 inished. 
 
 Third, electricity by its too powerful functional stimulation, probably 
 from the very high tension of the current, may produce ecchymosis of the 
 muscle and even gangrene; in the same way that animals overdriven will 
 have the same condition of ecchymosis of their muscles. The eschars form 
 only at the point of surface contact of the electrodes with the skin, be- 
 cause these eschars themselves protect by insulation the underlying tissue. 
 
 Electricity has not only a temporary and local action, but also an action 
 upon the deeper tissues. According to this author a large number of 
 small elements having a feeble chemical action are preferable to the use of 
 three or four elements which have large surface. The coagulation of 
 blood produced by the contact of the electrodes, as well as the cauteriza- 
 tion, are the result of the chemical action; "but there is more than 
 this." 1 
 
 Yon Beetz * states that conduction may take place for the passage of 
 electricity with or without decomposition; it may occur in fluids without 
 decomposition, e.g. mercury, but usually fluids undergo a decomposition. 
 Again bromine, which is not decomposable, will not conduct at all: the 
 same is true with pure water. By way of explanation it should not be over- 
 looked that where conductors, whether liquid or solid, offer very slight re- 
 sistances, it is generally known that the constitution of these conductors is 
 not subject to alteration, so far as their cbemical composition is concerned. 
 
 Tripier 3 contends that interpolar action will depend upon which of the 
 poles are used, i.e. there is one polarization at the positive electrode, aud 
 also there is another at the negative. There are some cases of diseased tis- 
 sue in which one should be used in preference to the other. His expe- 
 rience up to the present time has not been sufficient to guide his selection. 
 In " tubular" cauterizations he prefers the negative electrode. It is not 
 however, in his opinion, correct to conclude that a special " resolutive " 
 action resides in the negative electrode, since the positive also has sonic 
 such action. Tripier, in support of his opinion, reports a case where an 
 orchitis was cured by the positive electrode applied to the surface of the 
 scrotum, and the negative electrode applied to the perineum, or was held 
 
 1 Idem, xxiv., 769. Onimus. 
 
 9 Von Beetz, Grundzttg-e der Elektricitatslehre. Stuttgart, 1878. 
 
 3 Tripier, Arch. Gen. de Med., vii, 48, 1881. 
 
42 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 in the patient's hand. He also reports a case of ulceration on the anterior 
 surface of the tibial region, which had been unsuccessfully treated in 
 hospital during several months, to which he applied the positive electrode; 
 improvement commenced after the first application and complete cicatriza- 
 tion after the ninth sitting, as well as disappearance of the oedematous 
 infiltration of the tissue. The introduction of a catheter may be managed 
 without pain, if passed during the state of negative polarization of the 
 urethra, which is independent of any appreciable cauterization; dilatation 
 also of an urethral stricture by the local action of the negative electrode 
 used as a catheter may be painlessly performed, and this will persist longer 
 than when mere mechanical dilatation has been employed. 
 
 Sometimes, where there is an ulceration of the mucous surface at the 
 stricture, it is more advisable to use the positive electrode, after which a 
 healing of the ulcer as well as a permanent cure of the stricture will 
 follow. These therapeutical applications tend to show that polarization 
 will destroy the sensation of tissues in the interpolar circuit. This 
 therapeutical application will be described more at length in another 
 chapter; it is here mentioned simply to show an illustration of the local 
 action of the chemical current upon the living tissue. 
 
 Neftel ' states that Bruns obtained only negative effects by the use of 
 electrolysis, while G-roh showed that the action was simply that of a 
 caustic. These writers, however, seem to have used batteries arranged for 
 high tension on the supposed principle that, as the current was to pass 
 through the high resistance of the human body, this would be the most 
 serviceable current for application in the treatment of tumors. 
 
 Ciniselli, 2 seems to have devoted his attention to the practical applica- 
 tion of the electrical current, to its local action in the blood and other 
 tissues of the living organism; he does not seem to have concerned himself 
 as much with a study of the various forms of electrical current, and appar- 
 ently prefers only the current which can be derived from the arrangement 
 in Volta'spile, that is, to couple the discs of the Voltaic pile in simple series 
 for tension. According to this writer a battery to produce sufficient chemi- 
 cal power should be composed of several small elements (arranged as above 
 described). He also preferred to use for an electrode a metal which was 
 
 1 Neftel, Die elektrolytischen Behandlung Boesartiger geschwuelste. Repr. 
 from Vircl iow*s Arch., lxxv. 
 
 2 Ciniselli, De Taction eliimique de r61ectrieite\ Gaz. des Hop., Paris, 1862, 
 xxxv., p. 486, Resum6 par Velpeau. Also idem 688, xxi., p. 206. 
 
PHY8I08 <»F ELEOTBOLY8I8. 43 
 
 capable of being attaoked by tin- products of decomposition; these should 
 be directly inserted, one at each of two points, and the surface of bissne 
 to which the opposite pole ia applied should be sufficiently moistened to 
 favor the conduction of the current. 11' electro-puncture he employed 
 with iron needles there will be seen an inflamed red border of the elevated 
 epidermis around the needle of the negative electrode, and serum (water?) 
 will escape from the needle puncture; the needles can be easily removed, 
 and their extraction is accompanied by the expulsion of the decomposed 
 gases with crepitation. In his later operations Giniselli preferred the em- 
 ployment of zinc electrodes, because this metal is acted upon by the pro- 
 ducts of decomposition. When it is remembered, however, that the zinc 
 pole of a chemical battery even in a solution of inorganic salts will be 
 surrounded with gas, and become insulated, it is difficult to understand 
 why the same insulation will not take place around the zinc electrode when 
 thrust into the living tissues; these tissues must be the seat of organic 
 chemical decomposition of a very complicated character. The point of 
 insertion, as is remarked with truth by Giniselli, presents an eschar which 
 resembles that produced by a caustic alkali, especially ammonia; but it 
 should be stated furthermore that this author makes mention that the 
 eschar produced from a caustic alkali involves deeper tissues than that 
 which follows the local application of the electrode. If the track of the 
 electrodal eschar be laid open it is found to extend to the depth of inser- 
 tion of the needle, and is in the shape of a cone the base of which is at 
 the skin. The author refers only to the effect of the negative electrode. 
 
 He describes the effect of contact of the positive electrode with the 
 skin as somewhat different; after weak currents there is a small black 
 point, not an eschar, but which is due to the oxygenation of the blood; 
 this detaches itself without ulceration of the Burrounding tissues after 
 stronger currents; in addition, there is formed a dry yellow areola, which 
 is deep and depressed without the development of gas or liquid; the iron 
 needle can be withdrawn with slight difficulty, and will afterwards he 
 found rusty with a dull point, and the open puncture will appear like a 
 little round hole; the tract will be limited to the immediate vicinity of the 
 needle, and a superficial ulceration will remain. 
 
 The writer of this treatise differs from this opinion of Ciniselli: the 
 insertion of an annealed electro-positive needle made of iron is followed 
 by the appearance of a small red point, which is a little larger than the 
 needle which has been used, and is accompanied by a much smaller 
 
44 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 amount of water than would appear at the needle of the negative electrode, 
 and also, with less gas: but, though there is rarely any oedematous in- 
 filtration near the puncture, the areola is at first red, and afterwards 
 becomes bluish red. This last color will persist for several' days or even 
 weeks. It is quite true that no dry scab will result, for the exudation is 
 too scanty to form an eschar; when Ciniselli used gold or platinum needles 
 he reports that the destroying action went deeper into the tissues. In these 
 cases the local destructive action takes place rapidly with the develop- 
 ment of considerable gas and accumulation of water, and the appearance 
 of a frothy foam; the eschar was, also, conical, larger, softer and deeper. 
 
 Ciniselli speaks of the importance, especially in the treatment of an- 
 eurisms, of a clear understanding that the oxidation of an iron needle 
 makes a protecting layer around the needle; there will be more protec- 
 tion afforded by the positive, on account of the larger amount of oxygen 
 which collects at that electrode, than at the negative electrode to which 
 the hydrogen primarily is attached. The inflammatory action is usu- 
 ally slight, unless erysipelas be present, especially when important organs 
 are involved; probably because in our opinion these latter tissues offer 
 a better conducting medium from the fact that they are more fully 
 supplied with blood. Suppuration, according to Ciniselli, may occur 
 around eschars: at the negative electrode on the fifteenth to the six- 
 teenth day, and on the sixteenth to the eighteenth (rarely the thirteenth 
 to the sixteenth) for the positive, at which time a separation of the 
 eschar will take place. The period required for the separation of these 
 eschars will vary, somewhat with the individual case, but the formation 
 of eschar will always separate in the same individual at the seat of the 
 positive electrode, sooner than at that of the negative electrode. The 
 scab at the positive electrode is hard and dry from the first; that at the 
 negative at first is soft and moist, and becomes still more so from subse- 
 quent suppuration, but after the eleventh day it will become dry and black. 
 
 There is this difference between an eschar produced by electricity 
 and that by a chemical caustic; the former attains its maximum at 
 once and does not subsequently enlarge, while the latter acts in the op- 
 posite manner. Cicatrization takes place under a scab on the twentieth 
 to the twenty-fourth day. Varnishing has been tried to prevent the 
 local action on the external skin; but. according to the above writer cauteriz- 
 ing of the skin is produced by the use of unoxidizable needles (gold, plati- 
 num, etc.,) and by the use of a needle as the negative electrode, before it 
 
PHYSICS OF ELECTROLYSIS. I .'. 
 
 has been surrounded by a clot which lias been formed by the action of the 
 positive electrode upon the blood. The best insulation of the surround- 
 ing tissues is that which is furnished by the black oxide of iron. A 
 battery should be employed, winch possesses the least possible tension 
 
 combined with considerable chemical power, as well as tension. Ciniselli 
 prefers the arrangement of twenty to fifty discs, (coupled in series) like 
 Volta's pile. Each of these discs should have a diameter of live to ten 
 centimeters, and should be moistened with vinegar; this battery should 
 maintain an action for an hour, and the effect is not severe, and is easily 
 watched. 1 Ee refers to its application to cases of aneurism. Great current 
 tension will cause pain, and a rapid action from the battery will not be 
 limited to the selected portions of the tissues. According to this author, 
 two Bunsen cells or six DanielPs cells will afford a sufficiently strong cur- 
 rent and will not cause too strong heating action on the skin. It will be 
 advisable to test the strength before the application is made on a patient. 
 This can be calculated by decomposition of acidulated water. One 
 part sulphuric acid and thirty of water, when mixed together and sub- 
 mitted to electrolysis, should yield from 35.125 cubic millimeters of the 
 mixed gases of decomposition per minute. Gold or platinum needles 
 should be used for the purpose of powerful cauterization; in order to 
 obtain the best chemical effects the current should be constant; carbon 
 electrodes cannot conveniently be used because they develop heat from 
 their own resistance. The electrode should be adapted to as close a con- 
 tact with the skin as possible; if the epidermis should be hard and dry, a 
 local skin bath may be previously taken in order to soften it; the skin must 
 not be dripping wet, as the current will be dissipated. The same effect may 
 result with too feeble currents; for if the acids and alkalies are produced in 
 too small amounts to cauterise, they may irritate and cause a flow of serum 
 (sic ?) which will disperse the current. A continuous effect may be obtained 
 by a couple of metallic plates on the skin, preferably on a raw surface: the 
 greatest effect is under the zinc pole. The effect of the electric thermo- 
 cauterisation may be prevented by the occurrence of a hemorrhage. The 
 apparatus required to heat a platinum wire to a white heat is costly, diffi- 
 cult to manage, and its action can not easily be limited; the chemical 
 action on the other hand is easily managed even in long tracts surrounded 
 by important organs. The action in the latter case is slower and the 
 eschars more profound. Compared to chemical caustics, the effect is the 
 same in less time, without the same degree of pain; zinc and copper plal 
 
46 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 locally applied to skin are not usually to be preferred, because the action 
 will be too painful and slow; frequently there is no visible action except 
 under the zinc plates. These may be used as revulsants in profound articu- 
 lar alterations and in diseases of the nervous system; good effect some- 
 times follows their use in chronic ulcers. 
 
 Tripier ' discusses the question of electrolysis by propounding the query: 
 — What passes in the interpolar zone ? Can the theory of Grotthiis be ap- 
 plied here: that the terminal molecules of an electrolyte are decomposed, 
 the acid going to the positive and the alkali to the negative, while a re- 
 composition of the remaining elements continually goes on with adjacent 
 molecules? This is only an hypothesis; " it responds to nothing appar- 
 ent." If the positive pole be placed on the tongue an acid taste is devel- 
 oped; similarly an alkaline taste results from the negative pole. If now 
 the positive pole be placed on the cheek and the negative in the hand the 
 same effect is obtained, and similarly with the negative on the cheek; the 
 explanation of this fact seems to be in an extension of Grotthiis' theory, 
 that at (and also around) the poles there is an " atmosphere " of acid [or 
 alkali] developed. That is to say, that there is a territory around each 
 pole which partakes in chemical reaction of the characteristic of the 
 governing pole. This view is confirmed by the fact that if the two elec- 
 trodes are placed one on each cheek, a taste neither acid nor alkaline, but 
 metallic, is developed, which shows a neutral zone as might be expected; 
 the latter is intensified by the breaking of the current. Thus the current 
 extends beyond the poles, and it has the power to supply the tissues with 
 elements in their nascent condition. This excitement is not limited in 
 time to the duration of the current, because the polarised zone gives a 
 secondary reverse current after the cessation of the battery current. 
 Tripier thinks that the electrolytical theory is insufficient to account for 
 the work done in causing resorption of liquid tumors; this is due to the 
 reaction of the nervous apparatus and to the modification of the circula- 
 tory conditions. The nervous reaction develops slowly after cessation of 
 current. Thus from the passage of the current there result: 1, the elec- 
 trolytic decomposition, 2, the polarisation of the electrode, as was a priori 
 shown by Grotthiis and proved by Tripier's gustatory experiments. The 
 consecutive residts are: 1, the subsequent combination of the liberated 
 acids and alkalies with the tissues, and 2, to polarisation succeeds de- 
 
 1 Tripier, Galvano-caustique et electrolyse. Bull. Gen. de Therap., cl., p. 348, 
 1881. 
 
PHYSICS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 17 
 
 polarisation, which does Qot manifest itself under the conditions in prac- 
 tical medicine, and would occur unperoeived. But if the circnil Bhonld 
 be broken [the circuit of an interposed galvanometer remaining in contact 
 
 with the parts] the current resulting from the depolarisation becomes at 
 once evident from its inverse direction; the same result will occur when, 
 after the circuit is broken it be again closed. However, the current which 
 is obtained directly from the battery, that of polarisation, is the only one 
 of which we have any means of recognition in electro-therapeutics; the 
 greatest therapeutical effect, according to Tripier, is that which occurs 
 subsequent to the current. He has used the "tubular cauterization" 
 with good effect in the opening of buboes, abscesses, etc. He has experi- 
 enced very good results from this treatment in abscesses of the labia majora; 
 in two of these cases the cure was absolute, although in one of them the 
 return of the abscess would repeatedly recur after periodical spontaneous 
 openings. 
 
 From this review, it would appear that no very definite explanation of 
 the modus operandi of electrolysis in the action upon living tissues has re- 
 ceived the sanction of medical electricians. Very little attention seems 
 to have been paid to the effect of electricity in the life and nutrition of 
 the living cell, at least in the animal organism; more attention has, how- 
 ever, been paid to the effect of the action of electricity on the cultivation 
 of plant life. It would perhaps be advisable to close this present chapter 
 with a brief summary of the actual facts which may be gathered from the 
 various observations of authorities, the details of which have been re- 
 hearsed in the preceding pages. 
 
 First, there appear to be local actions of the electrodes upon their 
 points of contact with the living tissues. 
 
 (a) These local actions may be subdivided into the results which are 
 caused by the character of the electrodes employed; — if metallic electrodes 
 are applied to the surface of the dry skin, the current will pass with diffi- 
 culty through the circuit of the body, unless these metallic electrodes be 
 thoroughly moistened, so that the skin also is well wetted; consequently 
 the strength of the current must be increased, in order to drive a sufficient 
 tension of electrical impulse through the resistance of this skin; in this 
 case we shall obtain a different action from that of the electro-chemical 
 decomposition which is usually ascribed to true electrolysis. 
 
 (b) There appears to be another action than that of pure electrolysis 
 which has also its effects upon tissue changes: This is the physical effect 
 
48 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of electrical osmosis, or the cataphoric action of electricity; this peculiar 
 property is the same for all fluid bodies, and consists of the power of 
 actually transferring the particles of fluid towards the negative electrode. 
 There seems to be a sufficient amount of evidence adduced to show that 
 the particular form of the tissues in the human body is so arranged, by 
 means of porous mediums and the disposition of their contained water or 
 saline solutions, to favor especially this cataphoric action of electricity. 
 By means of this physical principle we may assume that there is an 
 accumulation of the saline and watery solutions at the negative electrode; 
 from this accumulation the effects of nutrition and metabolism of these 
 tissues nearest to the electrodes must be subjected to some action, which 
 may assist or retard the functional activity of cell life. At any rate, we 
 have the right to assume that the saline materials of the tissues must go 
 along with the water thus transferred by the process of electrical osmosis, 
 and it is these substances which affect the nutrition of the cells. 
 
 (c) If the electrodes are formed of metallic needles, which are inserted 
 into the deeper tissues, it is supposed by some authorities that the current 
 passes more readily through the human body from one electrode to the 
 other. Unfortunately for this theory of a different effect to be ascribed to 
 use of the electro-puncture, the current strength is no more readily conveyed 
 by this method than by the use of moistened electrodes which are applied 
 to the surface of the skin. 1 Ciniselli states that the skin should only be 
 moistened and not dripping wet, " for fear of dissipating the current." It 
 can readily be determined by any one who will make the trial, that a 
 weaker current is actually carried through the human body by means of 
 the electro-puncture, even when several needles are thus inserted, than 
 by the surface contact of sufficiently large moistened electrodes; a gal- 
 vanometer and a rheostat will easily bear witness to this fact, which has 
 frequently been observed in the author's experience. 
 
 (d) There is shown by the experience of most every observer that the 
 local action at the points of contact of the electrodes with the skin will be 
 followed by a different effect, dependent upon the strength of the current 
 employed. When the current is stronger, the eschars will be more marked 
 and in a shorter period of time than when the current strength is weaker. 
 A difference in the appearance of the eschars will depend upon the pole 
 
 1 This is proved by the comparative amount of deviation of the galvanometer 
 needle, which is placed within the external circuit in either ease. 
 
PHYSIOS OF ELECTROLYSIS. 49 
 
 which is observed; thai at the positive will be dry and small and hard, as 
 compared with that developed at the negative electrode, and vice verad. 
 
 (c) When the electrode is applied to the dry Bkin on a wel compress, the 
 primary action will consist of a rabefaction. CTnlessthe moistened contact 
 
 be allowed to become dry, no eschar, with currents such as ordinarily 
 are used, will be formed npon the skin in less than twenty minutes; and 
 only then, when the skin exposed to its action is what is generally called 
 tender. 
 
 (/*) When the electrodes are formed of metallic needles the degree of 
 local action will depend npon the metal of which these are composed. 
 If they be composed of iron or steel the oxidation of these metals at 
 the positive pole will cause their partial insulation; this will have the 
 effect of lessening their power of conduction, and consequently of weaken- 
 ing their local action, as, also, the strength of the resulting current. If 
 these metals be first annealed they will not so readily become oxidized. If 
 platinum be used as an electro-needle the current will be conducted more 
 readily, and the local action at the puncture through the skin will be 
 more intense; and, if the current be continued long enough, there may 
 result a local process of inflammation or of suppuration. If these 
 needles be made of gold or silver the same effects will follow. If these 
 needles be made of zinc, the local action will be more severe than in the 
 preceding cases; yet, the skin or its hypertrophied tissue will form at 
 the puncture a drier scab, which is equal in extent to that produced by 
 the previously mentioned metals offering good conduction. 
 
 Second, the effect upon the changes in the deeper lying tissues is also 
 dependent upon the character of the electrodes employed for their contact 
 with these tissues. 
 
 (a) The moistened electrodes applied to the surface of the skin appear 
 to produce some feeble action upon the deeper tissues which underlie 
 them. This action is rather feeble and slow, but still the preponderance of 
 the evidence will show that the action will result frequently in tissue 
 absorption, or of resolution of hypertrophied tissue growths, and ought to 
 be ascribed to the cataphoric action of electricity, which has heen pre- 
 viously described. In fact, the evidence is strongly in support of the 
 theory of promoting endermic absorption of medicinal substances in this 
 manner. 
 
 (b) The method of electro-puncture does certainly effect the destruc- 
 tion of that portion of the skin directly brought in contact with the elec- 
 
50 ELECTROLYSIS 
 
 trodes; and, where these tissues are particularly vascular, the destruction 
 is greater and is more rapidly accomplished; on the other hand, where the 
 tissue has less amount of blood supply, the process of destruction is more 
 feeble and more slowl}" accomplished. 
 
 (c) Electro-puncture produces a much more rapid resolution of hyper- 
 trophied structure than can be accomplished by the surface contact of 
 moistened electrodes applied to the skin; this resolution would appear to 
 be more easily effected, when the irritating action around the punctures 
 is not too intense; thus the long continued electrolytical effect of a weak 
 current will promote this resolution better than the short action of a 
 strong current. Another superior advantage to be gained from the pro- 
 longed action of a feeble current consists in restricting the effects of the 
 resolutive action to the tissue which is the especial object of attack, and 
 in this way the risk of causing the spread of inflammatory action beyond 
 the point selected for electrolysis will be lessened. 
 
 (d) Currents of high tension will undoubtedly cause a greater effect 
 upon the tissues embraced within the inter polar region, but their action 
 cannot always be restrained to this region, and the action upon the adjoin- 
 ing tissues may produce troubles of inflammation which, in the case of 
 serous membranes, may provoke dangers that should be avoided by the 
 operator; because the electrolytical action properly so-called is not due to 
 secondary effects of inflammation; or at least, it shoiild show its effects 
 upon the nutrition of the cell, and thus expend its energy in the effect 
 of quietly, and not violently, inducing destructive metabolism. 
 
 The effects of electrolysis, which are the result of the resistance which 
 the current meets in the tissues, can be more correctly understood in the 
 light of the knowledge of the physical laAvs of the resistance of electricity 
 and of dilfusion of currents. These are described in a following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE BATTEEIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The mistake is often made by those who have not Btudied into the 
 question, that an electrical battery is a simple matter of selection, and that 
 it should only answer the requirements of portability and convenience in 
 practical use. In the commercial uses of electricity, no battery has yel 
 been found that perfectly meets the requirements, yet in medicine physi- 
 cians seem content with apparatus which the commercial electrician has 
 discarded. The inconveniences of an electrical battery may be comprised 
 under the following heads. 
 
 first, the space required: — It is often a great inconvenience to place 
 a battery in a house or office, on account of the necessary amount of room 
 which is required for the large number of cells composing it. The battery 
 is often relegated to a closet or cellar; rather than to bring conducting 
 wires through the walls or floor of his office a physician is induced to buy 
 a cabinet battery. These batteries are often too costly for the regular 
 practitioner. It would be much wiser to buy the kind of battery which 
 should be contrived so as to furnish that particular form of current which 
 the practitioner will find most particularly fitted for his special require- 
 ments. Portability and effectiveness of the battery are generally incon- 
 venient inconsistencies; moreover, it is difficult for the physician to repair 
 u portable battery, which is liable to become unsuited for its work from 
 the warping of the wood of which the box is made, or from the corrosions 
 and oxidations of its various metallic connections. 
 
 Second, the destructibility of the battery electrodes: — If by accident 
 the terminals of the battery an; left in connection, the zinc elements will 
 naturally be wasted by the continuance of the chemical action in the 
 battery solution. This inconvenience can be obviated by placing the bat- 
 tery in such a position that its various parts can be easily overlooked and 
 examined without taking the battery down. 
 
 Thirds the evaporation or spilling of the liquid from the battery 
 cell: — This inconvenience is more likely to occur in the boxes of portable 
 batteries in which the cells are placed; and can he obviated by placing 
 
52 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the galvanic cells which form the battery in some cool damp place. If 
 the battery is inspected once a month, not enough water will evaporate 
 within that period to do any material damage. 
 
 Fourth, single fluid batteries: — These soon exhaust themselves when 
 not in use. To obviate this difficulty many of the older batteries, snch 
 as, the bichromate battery, Stohrer's, Trouve's, should be so arranged 
 that the battery elements (electrodes) could be removed from the solution 
 and thus stop the electro-chemical action when not required for use; most 
 of the modern batteries, however, are now so arranged that electro-chem- 
 ical action in the galvanic cells will cease when the terminal wires are 
 not in connection. 
 
 Fifth, variations in the electro-chemical action and inconstant strength 
 of the electrical current while the cells are in use: — This is one of the 
 most important inconveniences for a battery which is to be used for elec- 
 trolysis; because in some of its practical applications to medicine, a battery 
 may be kept in constant use for half an hour to two hours. This in- 
 convenience and objection can only be overcome by selecting that form 
 of galvanic cell, in which the electro-chemical action is tolerably constant 
 when at work. This objection will be more fully discussed later on. 
 (See page 57.) 
 
 The most suitable forms of battery used for electro-metallurgy cannot, 
 for obvious reasons, be adapted for electrolysis of living tissues. The 
 substances subjected to electrolysis in the arts are usually immersed in 
 the solutions contained in the galvanic cells. Daniell's sulphate of cop- 
 per cell, which, in its improved form, is used so generally in telegraphy, 
 has been until recently the most constant and uniform galvanic cell for 
 continuous service. It is, however, a dirty cell, and has to be kept con- 
 stantly under inspection, and the porous cell is apt to be incrusted with 
 copper. 
 
 The galvanic cell, sometimes known by the name of Callaud's, or gravi- 
 tation cell, has a very constant action, and is so arranged that the differ- 
 ence in the specific gravity of the resulting salts, of sulphate of copper 
 and sulphate of zinc, will keep these two solutions separated so that the 
 upper surface of one solution is in contact with the lower level of the 
 other; it thus provides for a continuous electro-chemical action so long 
 as the solutions are saturated, and the vessels containing them are at rest. 
 Its electro-motive force is about equal to that of the Daniel] cell. An 
 inconvenience is shown in the use of this cell bv the fact that the vessels 
 
THE BATTERIES FOR ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 53 
 
 should constantly remain in a state of rest to prevent the mixing of the 
 two solutions which arc kept apart only by their difference in specific 
 gravity. 
 
 The Bnnsen and Grove's cells are not convenient for medical use, 
 though their electro-motive force and constancy are all that can be desired; 
 these objections, and others besides those mentioned in respect to the 
 Daniel! and the gravitation cells, will naturally arise from the disadvan- 
 tage in the expense of maintenance and the necessity for their being dis- 
 mounted after each time they are used. The electromotive force of these 
 batteries is here given, because they art' referred to in other portions of 
 this treatise. Electromotive force of these cells as compared to that of 
 Grove's: — 
 
 Grove's cell taken as a unit, 
 Bunsen's, 
 Marie-Davy, 
 
 Daniell's, .... 
 Chloride of silver, 
 Smee's (when not in action), 
 " (when in action), . 
 
 100 
 76 
 76 
 56 
 62 
 57 
 
 Taken upon the unit of measurement, of a volt, which will be ex- 
 plained later on: 
 
 Grove's cell gives an electro-motive force of 
 
 . 2.00 volts 
 
 Bunsen's ...... 
 
 . 2.00 " 
 
 Marie-Davy .... 
 
 
 
 . 1.50 " 
 
 Daniell's .... 
 
 
 
 . 1.08 " 
 
 Smee's 
 
 
 
 . 1.00 " 
 
 Leclanche .... 
 
 
 
 . 1.50 " 
 
 Bichromate of Potassa 
 
 
 
 . 2.00 " 
 
 Chloride of silver 
 
 
 
 . 1.00 " 
 
 Gravitation cell 
 
 
 
 . 1.08 " 
 
 The chloride of silver battery is usually formed of many small cells; 
 consequently, it is the most convenient form of portable battery, is quite 
 durable, and has a constant action: in this battery the silver ribbon is 
 encased in chloride of silver covered with unsized paper, but unless it is 
 very carefully made it soon becomes useless. The materials of which it is 
 
54 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 made being naturally expensive, its initial cost is very high; the cost of 
 repair is also very great unless the materials are saved. Its internal re- 
 sistance is from four to seven ohms per cell, which is nearly six to twelve 
 times more than that of the Leclanche cell. Its electromotive force is 
 only two thirds of this latter cell. 
 
 As before stated, the most important consideration which should govern 
 the selection of a battery for purposes of electrolysis, is that of constancy. 
 The strength of the current, that is, its electromotive force divided by 
 the resistance of the circuit, may be regulated by the number of cells used 
 in proportion to the resistance in the external circuit. The matter of 
 constant or inconstant strength of current is one which can be governed 
 only by the form of the galvanic cell of which the battery is composed. 
 
 In the portion of this treatise devoted to the practical application of 
 electrolysis in diseased tissues, it will be noticed that the electromotive 
 force of a battery need not exceed thirty volts. It should be observed, 
 however, that where there is great resistance in the external circuit, there 
 should be sufficient current strength given by a galvanic battery, not only 
 to overcome this resistance, but also to be conveyed to and displayed in 
 that portion of the tissues which is selected for treatment. In the chap- 
 ter devoted to a consideration of the laws of resistance and diffusion of 
 current the reader will notice, that there may be cases where the trans- 
 mission of the electrical current meets with so much opposition, that it 
 becomes necessary to have an excess of the original current strength;, this 
 should be sufficient to induce chemical action through the resistance 
 in circuit. It will there be learned that the poorer the conductor of 
 electricity, the greater will have to be the initial strength of current to 
 convey a sufficient quantity to cause the physical changes which result in 
 the alteration of organic structures. It should, however, be here stated 
 that any peculiar difference in the effect of a current which may originate 
 from many cells, rather than from a single one, is not due to any difference 
 in the current itself, but should be ascribed to the difference of relation 
 which exists between the current within the galvanic cell and that in the 
 circuit which is external to the cell. In reality, two currents generated 
 from different sources, which give off equal quantities of electricity, must 
 be equal in power. The quantity of electricity is measured by the amount 
 of work which it accomplishes, and the strength of the current is repre- 
 sented by this amount of work done in a unit of time. 
 
 "We have already seen that an electricized body exerts a repelling force 
 
THE BATTERIES V(>\l ELECTROLYSIS. f>."> 
 
 upon ;i body Charged with a similar kind of electricity. In order to over- 
 come the opposing energy an expenditure of a definite amount of force 
 must be used, which will be greater according to the higher amount of 
 electricity with which the opposing energy is brought in opposition. 
 Now, in bringing up this opposing force against the repelling force, a 
 large amount of expenditure is required which is riot appreciable because 
 it is neutralized by the energy which it opposes. By way of illustration, 
 if we raise a pound a distance of one foot we store up an energy of one 
 foot power, which if it be allowed to fall, will itself perform one foot 
 power of work. In the same way, if we set free a negative unit of elec- 
 tricity which we have raised to a potential of one unit, we shall find that 
 we have stored up an amount of energy which is equal to the amount of 
 work required to accomplish this; for in obeying the force of repulsion 
 this unit will go off to an infinite distance, thereby performing one equiva- 
 lent of work. " The fact that work has been done either in raising a 
 weight or in electrifying a body to a certain potential shows that there 
 has been a forcible disturbance of equilibrium, which nature will restore 
 at the first opportunity. The weight, then, will fall as soon as released, 
 and the unit charged will also fall as soon as given a medium, or con- 
 ductor, through which it can fall. The reason will now be plain 
 why electricity will flow through some substances; for we see that it 
 is only endeavoring to expend energy by falling from a higher poten- 
 tial to one of lower potential; and that the conductor is merely a 
 medium through which it can fall, in the same way that air is a 
 medium through which a weight can fall." 1 Therefore, where the 
 body acts as a medium of conduction the amount of electricity which 
 flows into it from the point of origin, will, wherever it meets with 
 resistance, be continuously subjected to an expenditure of force, which 
 will be used up, or stored, as latent energy, and thus be deprived of its 
 power of acting as an electro-chemical equivalent in destroying the organic 
 compounds with which the electrode may be in contact. When, however, 
 this latent energy is free to act, it will perform work in some way or rather 
 upon living tissues whose composition forms a part of organic structures. 
 Therefore if an excess of current strength pass out from the body and 
 back into the galvanic cell from which it originated, its energy will be 
 expended in decomposing the chemical compositions which form this 
 
 1 Fisk: Electricity in Theory and Practice. New York, Van Nostrand, 1884. 
 
56 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 organic structure, or else the energy furnished by electricity will be ex- 
 pended in producing some other form of energy. 
 
 Galvanic Battery. — A galvanic battery is formed by the union of 
 two or more galvanic cells. The theory of the action of these cells and 
 their union in galvanic batteries has been explained in the second chapter. 
 The methods of using these batteries will be presented in this present chap- 
 ter. From what has been already mentioned it will naturally follow that the 
 selection of a proper form of galvanic cell will depend upon the circum- 
 stances upon which it will be used for practical purposes. • It is extremely 
 doubtful whether electrolysis can be used in tissues in which the process 
 of destruction by disease is already seated; it is hardly probable that the 
 process of suppuration, or even inflammation, can be modified by electro- 
 lysis; but it is equally certain that the products of this suppuration or in- 
 flammation may be destroyed by the contact of an electrode placed directly 
 upon them and that the healthy tissues underneath may be stimulated to 
 form a healthy growth; this is especially true in the use of the positive 
 electrode, because this terminal has the property of generating an acid 
 reaction and repelling moisture. Great caution should be exercised by the 
 physician in the use of electrolysis in the cases referred to, lest the very 
 processes of disease or decay may themselves be hastened or increased. 
 
 It is also a question of judgment as to what quantity or strength of 
 current should be selected for use in a given case presented for treatment; 
 for there is a risk of stimulating the growth of abnormal tissue, the setting 
 up of inflammation, or of suppuration, in these tissues or others near 
 them. A careful analysis of the cases which have been published, many 
 of which have been collected in this treatise for the reader's information, 
 shows the necessity of this suggestive caution. We have indeed a weapon 
 which we may use as a destroying agent; yet, fortunately, the very con- 
 ditions under which electricity manifests itself in organic structures can 
 be bandaged, as it were, by the very principles upon which these mani- 
 festations are founded; thus we may exercise a needed caution to prevent 
 harmful injury. Experience will not only tell us when to make use of, 
 and when to avoid the use of, electricity as a curative agent, but will also 
 show us how to use in a skilful manner an agent whose property is 
 probably, as it is now known to us, a destroying engine. We should 
 ^eek to employ it as a mechanic uses steam, remembering that the 
 very power which it possesses makes it useful only when restrained and 
 controlled by discretion. Hence, it is important to select that form of 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 07 
 
 galvanic oell in buttery which will be appropriate to the effects which are 
 desired. 
 
 Fbrm of Battery for Electrolysis. — It is commonly supposed by physi- 
 cians, that a battery of galvanic cells are always united together, zinc with 
 copper and copper with zinc; and that if we wish to increase the current 
 Btrength, we have only to multiply the number of cells or to increase the 
 surface of the battery elements in these galvanic cells, as well as the sur- 
 face of the exciting chemical fluid in them. The following quotation is pre- 
 sented from DeWatteville:' " In order to obtain the strongest current possi- 
 ble with a given number of elements through various external resistances, 
 we should be able to alter their arrangement with every change of external 
 resistance, so as to make in each case the internal resistance equal to the 
 external resistance. Some writers have committed the error of taking 
 this statement to mean that under any circumstances, the best battery is 
 one in which the internal resistance is equal to the external resistance to 
 be overcome. This is pure nonsense; the statement concerning the 
 advantage of making the internal resistance equal to the external applies 
 only to cases where a given number of given cells has to be used for a 
 certain purpose. Whenever we are free to choose, we shall evidently 
 prefer the cells in which, cceteris paribus, resistance is smallest." 
 
 Those batteries produce the best effects of electrolysis whose electro- 
 chemical producing qualities are the best attainable. According to Fara- 
 day's law (as mentioned in a previous chapter) each IOX has its own 
 electro-chemical equivalent, and a given quantity of electricity (whether 
 administered in large amounts in a short space of time or in smaller 
 amounts during a longer space of time) should separate a given amount 
 of that IOX. The equivalents of an inorganic compound and their com- 
 bination in chemical salts, have been definitely determined and arranged 
 in tables (see page 18) which give these electro-chemical combining 
 equivalents. This has not only been established for the simple IONS, but 
 has also been calculated and determined for the complex IOX; thus it has 
 been proved that the electro-chemical equivalents of a complex IOX is 
 the sum of the electro-chemical equivalents of its component simple IOXS. 
 Therefore, Avhere we have to deal with the compositions of the inorganic 
 kingdom, the rules laid down in physics for the decomposition of chemi- 
 cal compounds can be safely followed and the battery can be mechanically 
 
 1 Medical Electricity. London, lssf, p, S6 and fool note to p. 37. 
 
58 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 arranged to bring about these decompositions in a skilful and certain 
 manner; for this purpose the battery should be selected and arranged in 
 such a manner that it shall develop and deliver the electrical discharge or 
 disturbance in a constant manner and in sufficient volume, by means of 
 suitable conductors or conduits which will keep up a regular and uniform 
 decomposition. If we knew, as well, the physical laws which control the 
 composition of the elements of the organic kingdom, and if we did not 
 have such a variable conductor as the human body forms, we could formu- 
 late and arrange the amount of current strength which will cause the de- 
 composition of the elements from the definite structures which they form 
 in nature and life. Before we consider the question of the application 
 of the force of an electrical current in the decomposition of organic com- 
 pounds and their arrangement in the form of organic structure of living 
 tissue, it would be well to understand what is more positively known of 
 the arrangement of galvanic cells of a battery, and which are capable of 
 accomplishing most readily and conveniently the decomposition of inor- 
 ganic chemical compounds. It must be again remarked that the larger 
 the surface of the battery electrodes exposed to the chemical action of the 
 solution in the galvanic cells, cceterk paribus, the larger will be the quan- 
 tity of electrical force generated; this is again illustrated by the reservoir 
 governing the flow of water, for it is well known that the larger capacity 
 of a cistern the longer will be the supply of water; the higher also the 
 height of water in the cistern and the wider its outlet the greater 
 will be the quantity delivered in a unit of time. So, too, will be the effect 
 with the electrical current, or force, generated from the galvanic cell, if 
 the chemical action between metallic elements and the chemical com- 
 pound be more active, or, in other words, be less subject to variation in 
 the internal resistance of the galvanic cell. 
 
 It should be remembered that the disruption of the combining equiva- 
 lents will deliver up the latent energy which was stored in the original 
 combination, and that this liberated force must expend itself along the 
 path which the electrical current traverses, provided that path be unob- 
 structed. The force of the current would be expended in overcoming any 
 obstruction which it meets, and will appear in the display of some form of 
 energy. This latter effect is illustrated by the heating of a metallic wire, 
 platinum for instance, which is made small enough to oiler a resistance 
 to the flow of force exerted from too great a volume of electricity 
 which is discharged from the galvanic cell. In this case platinum acts as 
 
THE BATTERIES FOE ELECTROLYSIS. 59 
 
 a conductor of electricity, but the electrical force meets with 1 1 1 « - obstruc- 
 tion offered by a thin wire which is also shorl enough to condud the 
 current through the circuit; but in doing this, the platinum molecules 
 
 arc so disturbed and set in active motion that heat is generated, ami if 
 the wires he too small the heat will be so great as to fuse the platinum in 
 its thinnest part: it' the wire is shorter and the current force no stronger, 
 the force passes along the platinum molecules with so much greater ease 
 that the disturbance is not sufficient to actuate the rapid vibration of the 
 platinum molecules, which move more slowly and the heat will be so les- 
 sened as to become inappreciable. This same effect can also he known 
 from the common illustration of a string of wooden halls suspended in 
 air and so arranged that each is in contact with the other in a direct line; 
 a light blow upon either end hall is communicated to the next and so on 
 until it is expended, and the ball at the opposite end is unaffected and 
 remains at rest; or the force may he so violent that it sets in motion every 
 ball and may even pass hack again over the same route. To follow the 
 comparison closely the reader may imagine the platinum wire to be formed 
 of a large number of platinum molecules always in contact, and in this 
 way he may apply the principle to each case. 
 
 Electricity is simply a force transmitted and the effects of transmission 
 may be represented and seen in many ways. Thermo-cautery and electro- 
 lysis are each translations of the same force. A heated wire and a chemi- 
 cal cautery may each be destroyers of living tissues, but the former cuts 
 like a knife and the latter acts like a destroying chemical. To produce 
 a thermo-cautery a battery of galvanic cells must be so arranged that a 
 large surface of battery electrodes should be exposed to a large amount of 
 an exciting solution, and the circuit which is external to the battery, 
 must be closed by a metallic conductor which will conduct the force with 
 just such resistance that the molecules will be set in rapid vibration. It 
 makes no difference whether the battery elements be only two in one cell 
 or many couples in several cells, provided in the latter case that all similar 
 metals be connected together by metal connections; in other words, all 
 the zincs shall be united together, and all the coppers or carbons he united 
 together. In this case the chemical decomposition occurring in the cir- 
 cuit within the cell expends its latent energy upon one element, which 
 latter translates its combination with another chemical into the active de- 
 velopment of electrical force, and is transmitted through the external cir- 
 cuit back again *to the opposite elements. (See Chap. II., page 15). A 
 
60 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 qualification of this statement should be made which will be understood 
 by reference to page 58; viz., that if the couples of battery elements be 
 divided among a large number of cells rather than in one, for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining a larger surface of exposure to the chemical fluid, the 
 resistance occasioned by the distribution of the electrodes by metallic con- 
 nections is somewhat greater, than if they were in only one; because no 
 material substance is a perfect conductor of electricity. This is so evident 
 that it needs no further explanation. 
 
 In a general way it may be said that galvanic cells may be classified 
 under two varieties or classes, one of which contains the battery elements 
 and solutions in one vessel or cell; in the other class the two solutions 
 are separated in each cell by a porous medium, so that each element is 
 immersed in a separate solution. 
 
 ]Sfo single- fluid battery can give an electrical current of uniform con- 
 stancy of strength, on account of the polarization caused in the solution; 
 this polarization, as has been before remarked, causes an insulation of the 
 battery electrodes, from the fact that, in the electrical discharge which 
 results from changing the electro-chemical substances from a higher to a 
 lower potential, another current is excited in the opposite direction, in 
 order again to restore the equilibrium between the two kinds of electricity. 
 It must be understood that electrical motion in a conductor is simply due 
 to its being charged only with one kind of electricity which is seeking a 
 combination with its opposite to restore electrical equilibrium; the metallic 
 element which dips into the fluid would be charged with one kind of 
 electricity while the chemical fluid is charged with the opposite kind. 
 Unless, therefore, there be some means in the cell of continuously charg- 
 ing these two opposite conductors, the metal and solution, the electrical 
 current will not be transmitted in an uniform or constant manner. 
 Hydrogen and oxygen, which are the products of decomposition in the 
 galvanic cell, will not recombine to form water unless favored by a suita- 
 ble conductor; but, owing to the laws of dissipation of energy, not all the 
 molecules of these two gases can recombine, because some of the latent 
 energy used in the recombination will be dissipated. Pure water itself 
 opposes a much higher resistance to the conduction of electricity than 
 any of the chemical solutions employed in a galvanic cell; the addition of 
 sulphuric acid decreases the resistance of water, but this acid oxidizes the 
 zinc used as an electrode; on the other band, the resulting sulphate of 
 zinc does not alter the character of the electro-chemical constituents which 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. ,- >l 
 
 are usually employed in the exciting Said. Another serious objection 
 to Etingle-fluid galvanic cells will result from the tact <>f the continual 
 
 alteration, while the battery is in use. of the substance used in the solu- 
 tion as a depolarizer; in a cell which contains sulphuric acid solution this 
 acid will become gradually exhausted from use, and must be renewed 
 from time to time. 
 
 In the second class, the galvanic cell is so arranged that the materials 
 used in the exciting solution, as well as the depolarizing agent, are being 
 constantly renewed. In the Daniell cell, for instance, the zinc electrode 
 is immersed in a solution of sulphate of zinc, the copper electrode in a 
 saturated solution of sulphate of copper; the chemical reactions which 
 follow are, first: zinc combines with oxygen to form an oxide of zinc and 
 the latter comhining with sulphuric acid forms sulphate of zinc; second, 
 from the sulphate of copper in solution an oxide of copper is formed, 
 from which the oxygen is afterwards separated leaving metallic copper; 
 third, the oxygen collected at the zinc pole, and the hydrogen collected 
 at the copper pole, combine to form water; but owing to the fact, that 
 the decomposition and recomposition are constantly in process, this third 
 reaction neither adds to nor detracts from the electro-motive force of the 
 cell. The dynamic value produced in the Daniell cell by the combination 
 of one gramme of zinc with ox} r gen is equal to 1,301 heat units. 1.246 
 grammes of oxide of zinc combining with sulphuric acid is equal to 3G9 
 heat units. The equivalent quantity .9729 of a gramme of copper com- 
 bining with oxygen is equal to 5S8. 6 heat units. The combination of 1.22 1 
 grammes of oxide of copper with sulphuric acid is equal to 293 heat units. 
 The thermic equivalent of the wdiole chemical action to each gramme of 
 zinc is therefore 1301+3G9-(588.G+293) = :88.4. The electromotive 
 force of a Daniell cell is, furthermore, as calculated by Sir Wm. Thomson, 
 equal to about 112,000,000 heat units. 
 
 Siemens' and Halske's Battery. — This is a battery of the same kind as 
 the Daniell with the addition of a porous jar made of parchment paper. 
 This porous partition offers but little resistance. The copper in the shape 
 of a bell is placed at the bottom of a glass jar. Within the parchment 
 paper cell is placed a chimney within which is a mass of paper pulp. 
 which has been previously moistened with sulphuric acid and dried; the 
 zinc, made in the form of a very thick cylinder which is melted in a 
 mould, is then placed on top of the dried pulp. The supposed advantage 
 of this form of cell pertains to the fact, that the great thickness of the 
 
62 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 porous jar suppresses almost completely the diffusion of the sulphate of 
 copper; and consequently the waste chemical action and unnecessary con- 
 sumption of zinc and sulphate of copper are avoided. The internal re- 
 sistance of this galvanic cell, however, is very great. 
 
 Bichromate of Potassa. — This battery originated with Poggendorff, 
 and generally is in the following form: the porous jar containing carbon 
 is placed in a glass vessel, in the latter of which is amalgamated zinc. The 
 zinc is immersed in dilute sulphuric acid (1:10). In the porous jar in 
 which the carbon is placed is a solution containing three parts of bichro- 
 mate of potassa, four parts of sulphuric acid, and eighteen parts of water. 
 Bichromate of Potassa is formed of 
 
 KO .... 47.11, as an equivalence; 
 2Cr0 3 . . . 100.56, " 
 
 and results in 147.67, total combining equivalence. 
 
 Sulphuric acid is formed of: 
 
 H0 3 . . . 40. as an equivalence; 
 
 HO . . . . 9. 
 
 and results in 49. total combining equivalents. 
 
 Four equivalents of sulphuric acid (HO-S0 3 ) will have a weight equal 
 to 49x4=196. Thus the theoretical proportion is that of 147 to 196, or 
 as 3 to 4. 
 
 The chemical reaction would be represented by the following equa- 
 tion: 3Zn+K02Cr0 3 + 7S0 3 HO=3ZnOS0 3 + Cr 2 3 3S0 3 + KOS0 3 + 7HO. 
 Therefore one equivalent of bichromate of potassa (147.67) and seven 
 equivalents of sulphuric acid (49x7=343) are theoretically necessary. 
 The electromotive force of this battery at the beginning is about equal to 
 1. 77 to 1. 80, but the resistance within the cell increases very rapidly, so 
 that its action grows weaker and weaker after the first five minutes' use. 
 Puller's battery is a two-solution improved form of this bichromate 
 battery, and its electromotive force is about two volts, and its resistance 
 one ohm. The amalgamation of the zinc is an important modification of 
 this battery. A great objection to using this battery is the formation of 
 crystals of chrome alum, even when the battery is not at work. 
 
 A new form of battery has only recently been introduced, in which a 
 bichromate of soda solution is used instead of the bichromate of potassa. 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 63 
 
 This batter; is called "The Volta Pavia battery." It contains a large 
 
 amount of solution, about six quarts, which is bichromate oi 
 [Na s O a Cr 2 OJ in dilute sulphuric acid [411— O- -H(SO )]; the chrome solu- 
 tion is placed outside the porous cell in which the carbon or poaitiye pole is 
 
 immersed, and the porous cell holds the solution of dilute sulphuric, acid 
 in which is immersed the zinc; both of the battery elements present a 
 large surface to a large quantity of fluid. The chemical reaction is: 
 In outer jar, 
 
 Na,< U'r.,< ),+4II-0-II(S0 3 )=Na g CrA(S0 2 )4+4H-0-lI+30; 
 In the inner porous cup, 
 
 3H-Q-H(SO,)+3Zn=3ZnO(SO,)+3H-H. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 The electromotive force of this battery (open circuit), = 2.2 volts. 
 The internal resistance of this battery equals .05 ohm. 
 
 The electromotive force of this battery (closed circuit), after 6 hours 
 work = 1.9 volts. 
 
 If the electromotive force of this cell is 2.23 volts, as claimed by its 
 inventor; and if the internal resistance is only .05 ohm, this new cell 
 would give the current which passed through an external circuit of negli- 
 gible resistance 44.6 amperes; this would be capable of precipitating 
 178.4 grammes of silver per hour, or 5.31 grammes of copper, or of de- 
 composing .41646 gramme of water per Becond. It should be noticed 
 that this form of cell produces the strong ampere current from the fact 
 
64 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of the very small amount of its internal resistance which is claimed by its 
 inventor. In the case of the external resistance being greater the effect 
 would be caused of reducing this ampere strength by an amount corres- 
 ponding with this external resistance. There are other advantages claimed 
 for this particular form of cell; these consist of the constant and prolonged 
 action with smaller corresponding loss of current strength as compared with 
 other batteries. If the few trials which the author of this treatise has made of 
 this cell be of any value, it would certainly appear that the constant action 
 of this form of cell is the best of any of those which he has tried. It is 
 claimed as the working power of the bichromate of soda battery, that an 
 incandescent electric lamp of a low resistance can be maintained for three 
 hundred hours. 
 
 The various forms of battery are so numerous, that it would seem 
 hardly worth while to describe all of those which are in common use. 
 The above description of the two general classes into which the various 
 forms may be divided, will give a sufficient information, from which other 
 and newer forms of battery may be selected for the use of electrolysis in 
 medicine. 
 
 The great object to be desired in the application of electrolysis can be 
 met by any form of galvanic cell, in which the electrical current is kept 
 in motion in a constant manner and of sufficient volume, to keep up a 
 regular and uniform chemical action of the organic structures we seek to 
 modify. 
 
 Another convenient form of battery in the author's experience is made 
 up of what is called the cylinder cells. This cell is an improved modifica- 
 tion of that which is known under the name of the Leclanchc. In this 
 form of cell, illustrated in figure A, the zinc is immersed within the 
 carbon cylinder, as shown in the sectional view of plate B, of the same 
 illustration. The electromotive force of this cell in open circuit in ordi- 
 nary use measures 1.4 volts with an internal resistance of 1.5 ohms. A 
 description of this cell is given under the head of the Leclanchc- cell. 
 
 The two elements or battery electrodes should have the property of 
 being rapidly depolarized. In short, an effective battery should not allow 
 of the collection and adhesion to the cell elements of the ANIONS and 
 KA TI0N8 which would in such cases impede the flow of the electro- 
 chemical bodies to the elements, and thus obstruct their action, and 
 make the current discharge unequally and ineffectively. A cell which 
 contains as an exciting fluid a solution of bichromate of potassa is incon- 
 
TIIK BATTERIES FOR ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 65 
 
 venient for constancy of work, though its initial electromotive force is 
 very high as compared with other galvanic cells. This single-fluid eel] is 
 
 liable to become rapidly polarized, thus increasing its internal resistance, 
 when in use Cora lew moments. Agitation of the solution may remedy 
 temporarily this polarization, but the deposit of secondary chromate salts, 
 which is insoluble in a crystalline form around the battery electrodes 
 and on the glass cell, will soon increase the internal resistance of the ele- 
 ments within the cell, and in this way impede tin; chemical action; thus 
 
 Fig. 
 
 the frequent renewal of the exciting solution is required. Single-fluid 
 cells, of which this has been the most popular in use, have now quite 
 generally passed out of medical use. 
 
 The regular Leclanchc cell which is so generally knoAvn from its com- 
 mon use is not a convenient working battery for closed circuits, that is 
 for a continuous use of the electrical current. Its initial electromotive 
 force is higher than that of the Daniell cell previously mentioned, but 
 after a very few minutes of continuous work, its force will diminish and 
 gradually fade out; when at rest it soon will resume nearly its original 
 strength, and ordinarily will last in circuits of high resistance as long as 
 it is replenished with new /.inc. provided that its circuit is closed for a few 
 
66 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 moments at a time. Tn this form of cell the depolarizing agent, manganese 
 oxide, acts so slowly that the electro-chemical action with a closed circuit 
 keeps ahead of the depolarizing action contemplated by the inventor, thus 
 requiring a few moments for rest and depolarization. Of course, when 
 this battery works through a circuit containing high resistance the circuit 
 back to the battery is impeded, and consequently its electro-chemical 
 action will be better maintained. 
 
 M. M. Gaiffe and Clamond have also endeavored to obviate the dis- 
 advantages presented by the Leelanche cell, and have placed within the 
 
 ^iv^- 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 hollowed carbon the manganese oxide, and by means of small holes pierced, 
 the liquid is allowed to pass in and out of the carbon chamber to this 
 depolarizing agent. Then instead of using chloride of ammonium (sal 
 ammoniac) as the exciting solution, they use a neutral salt of chloride of 
 zinc, free from lead contamination. By this means they avoid the presence 
 of nitrogen, one of the components of the ammonium salt; and the forma- 
 tion of ammonia gas, as in the original Leelanche cell, is substituted by 
 the more simple chemical salt of chloride of zinc ami its decompositions. 
 The zinc chloride should form twenty per cent, of the solution and there- 
 fore supersaturates the water. This modified form of Leelanche cell has 
 an electromotive force nearly equal to the original, but has a higher 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 07 
 
 resistance within the cell. This Eorm of battery arranged in ;i portable 
 shape is shown in the figure. [J 'ig. 8.] 
 
 . One of these eel Is, which had Keen ill pretty constant use by I lie aut hor, 
 
 was recently measured, and found to have an electromotive force of L.35 
 volts and an internal resistance of 7.08 ohms, on open circuit in ordinary 
 
 use. 
 
 In the ordinary Leclanche cell the chemical reaction is as follows: 
 2Zn+2NH4Cl+2Mn0 3 = 2Zn (L+IIO+2 NH+Mn 9 0,. 
 
 This battery when used for medical purposes in small vessels has the dis- 
 advantage of depositing upon the zincs, even when not in use, crystalline 
 oxy-chloride of zinc together with a double salt of chloride of zinc and am- 
 monium; the ordinary form of the Leclanche cell is well adapted to medical 
 uses, and has accomplished good work where its use is required for short 
 periods of time for diagnosis; but for the purposes of electrolysis other forms 
 of cell, such as that of chloride of silver, are more generally used. Gaiffe's 
 and the cylinder cell are in the author's opinion much superior to both of 
 the former because their action is more constant. The cylinder cell is the 
 best of the Leclanche principle, because in this cell the amount of the solu- 
 tion and of the surface of the metals which are exposed to its action is very 
 much larger, and in this way the internal resistance is decreased; conse- 
 quently, the electro- chemical action is less liable to obstruction during 
 short periods than in the smaller cells of the same kind. 
 
 These cells will require the renewal of the zinc elements from time to 
 time according to the amount of use to which they are subjected. It will 
 be remembered that the work of a galvanic cell is measured by the amount 
 of zinc which enters into combination with the hydrochloric acid resulting 
 from the decomposition of the chloride of ammonium of the solution, 
 and therefore this element must be replenished as fast as it is used. The 
 action on this metal is principally at the level of the upper surface of the 
 solution, and consequently this should be the place of inspection of the 
 condition of the cells. Frequently the zinc may appear to be intact, when 
 really at this point it has become corroded, and it will suddenly break off 
 and interrupt the conductivity of the battery. If the cells of the battery 
 are connected in series the whole battery current may thus be cut off, and 
 made unserviceable. 
 
 The deposition of oxy-crystals interferes with the chemical action of 
 the zinc and salts in solution. Gaiffe's and Clamont's cells are practically 
 
68 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 free from this objection. One of their batteries purchased two years and 
 a half ago by the author in Paris, and used pretty constantly ever since, 
 is in as good condition as it was originally. The zincs and solutions have 
 been renewed twice and the battery is as strong as ever to measurements 
 by the Voltameter tests. This cell is represented of half its natural size 
 in figure 7. 
 
 The prism cell is made of pyrolusite formed by the moulding of man- 
 ganese oxide and powdered gas carbon in the form of prisms under a 
 temperature of 212° F. (100 C), and a hydraulic pressure of three hun- 
 dred atmospheres. This is also a modification of the Leclanche cell, and 
 is used without a porous cell, but unless it is kept wet with the solution 
 the pyrolusite becomes hard and impervious. 
 
 Fro. 9. 
 
 Holtzer's modification of the Leclanche cell, called the Cylinder cell 
 (Fig. 9), is formed of an agglomeration of carbon and manganese under 
 heat and hydraulic pressure of three hundred atmospheres. This element 
 is formed of an agglomeration under beat and hydraulic pressure of gas car- 
 bon and manganese which is moulded in cylindrical form with a top plate 
 of carbon. The zinc element is separated, or insulated, from this carbon 
 by a cork through which it passes within the cylinder, and is immersed 
 in the chemical solution of chloride of ammonium; unless, however, the 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 69 
 
 sides of the glass cella are made <>!' q bulging shape, adjacenl carbon co 1 
 are apt bo make connection by contact of the opposite terminals of the 
 
 cells. These glass vessels, therefore, are now made in this form. This 
 cylinder cell has the advantage of presenting a very large surface. 
 
 A few pieces of zinc at the bottom of the vessel will prevent the in- 
 crustation of crystals previously mentioned as one of the disadvantages of 
 
 the Leelanehe cell. The electromotive force of these cells is so much 
 greater than the Daniell's cell that 25 of Leelanehe are equal to 40 of 
 Daniell's, and to even more of the chloride of silver battery. 
 
 A closed circuit in any of these Leelanehe cells will soon cause the current 
 to be enfeebled. The amount of work done by any galvanic cell is marked 
 by the amount of zinc lost from the zinc element, as mentioned above, 
 and in a Leelanehe cell when this is used up a new zinc can be substituted 
 and the work of the battery again be renewed, water being added to make 
 up what may be lost from atmospheric evaporation. 
 
 If we assume that the resistance of the human body is 2,000 ohms it 
 will require about three of these cells to produce two milliamperes (see 
 p. 265), which is usually the smallest amount of electricity required in its 
 practical application in medicine. To illustrate the comparative power 
 contained in this form of galvanic cell, a six candle-power electric incan- 
 descent lamp (five ohms), can be maintained at an uniform bright glow 
 for about thirty minutes, after which the light will gradually diminish, 
 and in an hour will become of a dull red color, but after another hour's 
 rest the battery reassumes nearly its initial power. Twelve of these cells 
 in action for half an hour in constant use on patient, and for a second half 
 hour working through a voltameter, decomposed during the next fifteen 
 minutes 100 c.m.m. of mixed gases from a one per cent, acidulated solu- 
 tion of water; these same cells were allowed to rest for twenty-four hours, 
 anil then they decomposed 35 c.m.m. during the next four minutes, 
 working through a resistance of 2,000 ohms. The same cells at another 
 trial, being previously connected during an hour in a circuit having a 
 resistance of 2,000 ohms, then decomposed 35 c.m.m during four minutes. 
 This same operation was repeated with the same result, and then with no 
 resistance in the circuit, these same cells decomposed 125 c. m.m. in fifteen 
 minutes. These same cells at another trial were connected through 2,000 
 ohms resistance during eighty minutes, and with the same resistance of cir- 
 cuit decomposed 35 c.m.m. in four minutes, and immediately after, with- 
 out any resistance in circuit, decomposed lot) c.m.m. during four minutes. 
 
70 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 Batteries which are arranged only for open circuit, like the Leclan- 
 che, will quickly run down when used on a closed circuit, unless they are 
 working through pretty high resistances. These suggestions are impor- 
 tant, since it must be admitted that, up to the present time, no battery 
 has yet been found which will stand the test of working through a very 
 low resistance without rapidly running down. The nearest approach to 
 this is the action of the bichromate of soda cell, which has already been 
 mentioned on a preceding page. In this battery the zinc electrode weighs 
 nearly a pound. The action of the open circuit battery may be compared 
 to that of the main spring of a watch, the tension of which, after being 
 wound up, will keep the watch running uniformly for a certain period 
 of time; but if the balance wheel and escapement be removed, the watch 
 train will rapidly run down. In like manner, if a chemical battery is 
 connected with a poor conductor of electricity, or in a voltameter where 
 it is decomposing water, its action will continue for a longer or shorter 
 period of time, which will be commensurate with the amount of resistance 
 offered in the external resistance of the voltameter or other conducting 
 agent; whereas where easy transmission in a circuit of very low resistance 
 is afforded for the passage of electricity from one pole to the other, the 
 continuation of the chemical action in the galvanic cell will be short, be- 
 cause either the zinc is used up, or becomes covered with non-conducting 
 substance, or the solution will become polarized. 
 
 Gaiffe's battery of modified Leclanche cells has the advantage of port- 
 abilit)', over that of the Leclanche and the bichromate of soda battery; 
 the latter especially is unsuited for transportation, because the vessels 
 which hold the solution are made of lead and are consequently very heavy. 
 
 Gaiffe's box battery which has previously been described and illus- 
 trated occupies a space of eleven inches in height and length and seven 
 in width, and for the purpose of epilatory electroh'sis answers very well; 
 yet its current is not so suitable for the major operations in goitre or for 
 the removal of na?vi, warts, lupus, or for treatment of chronic abscesses, or 
 fistulous tracts and lymphatic enlargements; in these latter cases a battery 
 will be required which has greater strength of current. Tt is undoubt- 
 edly true in theory that the human body is a conductor of high resis- 
 tances; it therefore will require a current of high tension to over- 
 come this great resistance; yet, it is a fact derived from practical ex- 
 perience that the currents of high tension produce a local action at the 
 points of contact of the electrodes, which may be accompanied with in- 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 71 
 
 flammatory effects; these currents may therefore Bet up an irritation, 
 which may do one of two things: this action may provoke an incre 
 the formation of the growth which we are seeking to arrest or diminish, 
 or they may cause an inflammation which it, would be advisable to avoid. 
 
 In either of these cases a battery of more quantity and less intensity would 
 be more advantageously employed; 1 only in the latter instance the current 
 would meet with so much greater resistance that its action would have 
 to bo prolonged, in order to obtain the same physiological or chemical 
 effects. 'The teachings of physical science do not seem to be of ready 
 application in these eases, for the action of electrolysis is not the same as 
 it would be in purely chemical compounds, and will appear to have a 
 different effect upon structures which are endowed with the so-called 
 vital functions of organic cell life. 
 
 It is well known that there are two systems of electrical force by 
 means of which heat and illumination may be obtained from its action 
 upon the inorganic substance; reference is here made to the two methods 
 of procuring light from the passage of an electrical current through the 
 resistance of carbon, by means of a current of low tension and one of high, 
 tension in the arc light. In these physical illustrations carbons may be 
 heated to a state of incandescence by means of a current which passing 
 through the human body may destroy life, or which passing through the 
 human body at low tension (the Daft system), may not be felt by the 
 person acting as a conducting medium; in both instances the same 
 physical effect is produced upon the carbon, which is in a high state of 
 illumination. It makes no difference in its application whether the source 
 of electricity be derived from a chemical battery, or from a dynamo- 
 machine, provided the character of the transmitted force be the same. 
 
 Batteries are sometimes coupled for surface, or arranged for quantity, 
 as explained in the following chapter; for this purpose zincs should be con- 
 nect ed, either in groups or all together, for one pole, and the same num- 
 ber, either in groups or all together, of carbons connected for the other 
 pole; in such cases the battery is arranged like one or more single cells, 
 
 1 This use of the word quant ity is imi exactly correct; it is intended to convey 
 the idea thai the delivery of an electrical current through a resisting conductor 
 should pass slowly, anil that the initial strength of the battery should not he al- 
 lowed to accumulate al the connection between a good conductor and a feeble 
 conductor; in other words, the action within the battery should he slowly piinsj,- 
 on, so that the tension should not be dammed upal the connection of the metallic 
 rheophores with the human tissues. 
 
72 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 according to the number of groups. In these its internal resistance is 
 practically reduced to that of one cell, and the electromotive force of each 
 group is equal to that of one of these cells. The tension of the electrical 
 current is only equal to that offered by one cell ; because, according to 
 
 E 
 
 Ohm's law (I equals — ----- ), the tension is equal to the electromotive 
 
 K -f r 
 
 force divided by the resistance. This arrangement of battery, if in one 
 group, forms a simple circuit, or is coupled for surface; it may be consid- 
 ered as one large cell with two large elements having the electromotive 
 force of the particular form of cell used, say a Daniell's cell, which in that 
 case will be equal to about one volt, working through one ohm. 
 
 When, on the other hand, batteries are connected in series, that is, 
 each zinc connected with each successive carbon of the cell next in line, 
 the resulting current will be that of a compound circuit; according to 
 Ohm's law, this will be equal to the result obtained by multiplying the 
 number of cells used, and dividing the product obtained by multiplying 
 the internal resistance by this number of cells, and increased by the 
 amount of external resistance. 
 
 If, again, we desire our cells arranged in groups of two or more (whicn 
 groups we may afterwards combine in simple circuit), and then combine 
 these groups in series, we have a mixed form of battery. In this arrange- 
 ment we will find more internal resistance than in the simple circuit, and 
 less resistance than in the compound circuit. 
 
 For ordinary purposes, to obtain theoretically the best results from a 
 given battery, the number of cells used should be multiplied by the quo- 
 tient which will result from the external resistance divided by the inter- 
 nal resistance; then the number of cells, which result from extracting 
 the square root of this number, will determine the number of groups into 
 which the original cells should be divided. If the problem has been cor- 
 rectly solved it will be found that the internal resistance of such an 
 arrangement of cells will be about equal to the external resistance through 
 which the current ought to pass. 
 
 The application of the foregoing rules in physies is a simple matter as 
 compared to their application in the domain of physiology; in the former we 
 usually deal with simple chemical compounds whose physical properties 
 are to a limited degree within our control; in the latter there exists a 
 complicated structure of functionally active cells, the display of whose func- 
 tions under varying circumstances will produce different results, and the 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 7'.'> 
 
 character of which is almost unknown fco as. These cells are placed in 
 the midst of organic and inorganic chemical compounds; again, applica- 
 tion to natural physics of the effect of a current of definite strength can 
 usually be known and reproduced a second time almost exactly as at first, 
 while in living tissues a repetition of the circumstances and method* 
 manipulation may be attended with almost totally differenl effects upon the 
 conducting medium. We may add to this embarrassment thai the effect 
 of passing a current through the human body is still further complicated 
 by the fact, that this conducting medium is a complicated machine which 
 of itself will form an electrical battery of its component particles; this will 
 set up an opposing force which may counteract the original current, or 
 may oppose the latter so that it will become nugatory. 
 
 By the application of the foregoing rules of physics we may calculate 
 in advance the strength of current requi red to overcome a definite and 
 constant resistance of a chemical compound, whether it be organic or in- 
 organic, but the rule may not be applicable to portions of the human 
 body in the interpolar circuit. If we wish to heat a platinum wire for 
 use in the galvano-eautery. we may reduce the problem by means of the 
 above-mentioned formula; the use of this may show us how to arrange the 
 given number of cells so as to obtain a constant and uniform result; there- 
 fore we need not be surprised to find that the effect of galvano-eautery 
 lias its recognized place in surgery, and that electrolysis has yet to estab- 
 lish its position. Thermo-cautery, whether effected by a peculiarly me- 
 chanical mode of heating as by gas, or by a volatile fluid acting upon 
 metal, or by the use of an electrical generator acting upon a resisting con- 
 ductor of electricity, is a totally different therapeutical agent from electro- 
 lysis. In the former the action is that of a knife which will separate the 
 tissues by a more or less sharply dividing line of demarcation, while in 
 the latter the action is diffusive beyond its point of application. Conse- 
 quently, the form of battery and its arrangement in series or surface 
 method of coupling, will be different in each case; so, also, will be the 
 choice of the kind of cell required for use in either instance. If we wish 
 a current of electricity which will heat a wire and maintain this heat at 
 the requisite temperature, we ought to select a battery containing a Large 
 amount of surface elements in a large quantity of electro-chemical solu- 
 tion. On the other hand, if we shonld wish a current of an effective phy- 
 siological action which will work through a resistance of living cell struc- 
 ture, we must select that form of galvanic battery which will act in the 
 
74 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 interpolar region in a uniform manner; the strength and tension of the 
 current need be only sufficient to overcome the resistance of the feeble 
 conductor. Consequently, the matter of the internal resistance of such a 
 battery would theoretically be of small importance, unless this resistance 
 should be one which is the result of polarization within this battery cur- 
 rent; for in the latter case its effect would be to interfere with the con- 
 stancy of the electro-chemical action within the galvanic cells which form 
 the battery. This part of our subject is more fully discussed in another 
 chapter, and is only referred to here because a proper understanding of 
 the principles belongs more especially to the matter of selection of bat- 
 teries most suitable for electrolysis. 
 
 Formerly the method of thermo- cautery was applied to the treatment 
 of lupus. It will be readily seen that this method is not as applicable to the 
 radical cure of this disease as that by electrolysis, because the action of the 
 former is immediately exercised upon the tissues which are directly in 
 contact with the heated wire, and do not extend beyond this point, whereas 
 the latter has an action which will extend comparatively to a considerable 
 distance beyond the point of application. It has been found from the 
 practical experience of the author that the most appropriate and suitable 
 current for the purpose of electrolysis of the living tissues of the human 
 body will be obtained from an arrangement of the galvanic battery in sur- 
 face combined with series; this arrangement is more fully described in 
 the next chapter. The arrangement in series is not theoretically the best 
 adapted for driving a current of electricity through such high resistances 
 as that which is furnished by the tissues, but the current appears to pro- 
 duce very much less inflammatory effects upon the skin and its subjacent 
 parts at the points of contact of the electrodes, whether these are used by 
 electro-puncture or by surface application. This arrangement appears to 
 produce a sufficient physiological effect upon the tissues, and is followed 
 by equally as good results in inducing metabolisms as that which ensue 
 after the application of currents which have high tension. It is difficult 
 to explain the physical cause of this difference in the action of the current, 
 and it will probably be easier to understand the relative effects, when we 
 have studied the conditions of the electrolysis of chemical currents as ob- 
 served in laboratory experiments; we will, therefore, postpone the further 
 consideration of this matter until later. It will perhaps be advisable to 
 state here, however, that aii examination of the reports of the clinical ex- 
 perience of other observers will confirm this opinion of the present author. 
 
THE BATTERIES FOB ELECTROLYSIS. 7.'> 
 
 In order to have a constant electro-chemical net ion In the galvanic cell, 
 means <h«>uM be provided in the elements of which it is formed, so that 
 the resulting products of decomposition of the substances in the solution 
 shall find a ready and immediate recombination with other elementary 
 bodies. In this way the presence in the tissues of a number of ancombined 
 elements will set up an opposing current of electricity, which would 
 otherwise occur from the sudden change of potential energies of these 
 various elementary bodies. In other words a means of rapidly inducing 
 a depolarization within the galvanic cells of the IOXS which an' liberated 
 from their chemical combinations should be provided. This effect may 
 he accomplished in various ways, and it is upon these principles that the 
 many improvements in modern batteries are founded. For instance, the 
 Leclanchc is arranged so that a substance which is greedy for any liberated 
 hydrogen is incorporated with the carbon element; this substance is bin 
 oxide of manganese, which always stands ready to furnish a molecule of 
 oxygen to combine with the hydrogen liberated from the compound of 
 chloride of ammonium (NTI 4 01), and thus to form water; otherwise the 
 carbon pole would be surrounded with the IOX, hydrogen, in the solu- 
 tion. If the latter condition was constant it would result in the metallic 
 hydrogen being placed in a free condition, and thus seeking a substance 
 with which it might combine; this effect would change the condition of 
 the potential energies within the solution, and would incite another 
 electro-chemical action which would act in the opposite direction and pre- 
 vent the display of the original current. 
 
 Gaiffe's modification of the Leclanchc and the modification of Holt- 
 zer's, as has been referred to in the preceding pages, seek to still further 
 provide for the depolarization of these galvanic cells. Neither of these bat- 
 teries, however, entirely meet the requirements, because the depolarizing 
 action is too slow, unless there is a certain amount of resistance furnished 
 by the external circuit, which will also retard the electro-chemical action 
 within the galvanic cell, and in this way keep pace with the depolariza- 
 tion contemplate! 1. 
 
 Frommhold's battery, the use of which is mentioned in connection 
 with the clinical cases reported by Groh in the seventh chapter, is com- 
 posed of any number of galvanic cells, formed somewhat on the pattern 
 of Sniee*s: the battery elements in this form of galvanic cell are com- 
 posed of platinum, which are coated with lead, ami of heavy masses of 
 zinc. These elements are then immersed in a solution of sulphuric acid and 
 
76 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 mixed in the proportions of one part of the acid to sixty parts of water (1 to 
 60). The zinc plates measure one and three-quarters inches by seven inches, 
 and are, consequently, very heavy in weight. An objection to this form 
 of battery consists of its irregular action; for, if sulphuric acid is used 
 with the zinc, the formation of sulphate of lead will result, which is 
 insoluble, and consequently the electro-chemical action within the solution 
 will be prevented. Another objection to Frommhold's battery is the 
 great weight of the metallic elements. 
 
 Any further information in regard to batteries for application to elec- 
 trolysis can be more readily learned by a reference to standard works on 
 electricity, but for the convenience of the reader the following analysis of 
 practical results of the working power of chemical batteries and of their 
 components is borrowed from Hospitallier's Practical Formulary, translated 
 by Wigan, and will serve to conclude this part of one subject: 
 
 Chemical axd Electro-Chemical Equivalents. 
 
 Elements. 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 4 a 
 
 sis 
 
 * = 
 
 Elect ro-Cliemi- 
 ical Equiva- 
 lent in mille- 
 metres per 
 Coulomb, [z] 
 
 Number of 
 C o u 1 oin b s 
 necessary to 
 liberate one 
 gramme. 
 
 Weight i n 
 Gramea lib"- 
 rate by one 
 Ampere hour. 
 
 Electro-positive Elemen ts. 
 
 1 
 
 39.1 
 
 23 
 
 196.6 
 108 
 
 63 
 
 63 
 200 
 200 
 118 
 118 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 59 
 
 65 
 207 
 
 16 
 
 35.5 
 127 
 
 80 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 39.1 
 
 23 
 
 65.5 
 108 
 
 31.5 
 
 63 
 100 
 200 
 
 29.5 
 
 59 
 
 14 
 
 28 
 
 29.5 
 
 32.5 
 103.5 
 
 8 
 35.5 
 12 7 
 80 
 
 4.3 
 
 .0105 
 .4105 
 .2415 
 .6875 
 
 1.134 
 .3307 
 .6615 
 
 1.05 
 
 2.1 
 .3097 
 .6195 
 .147 
 .294 
 .3097 
 .3412 
 
 1.0867' 
 
 .084 
 .3727 
 1.3335 
 .84 
 .049 
 
 96.000 
 2,455 
 4.174 
 1.466 
 
 3,079 
 
 1,540 
 
 960 
 
 480 
 
 3.254 
 
 1,627 
 
 6.857 
 
 3,429 
 
 2,254 
 
 2.953 
 
 928 
 
 .0378 
 
 Potassium 
 
 1.468 
 
 Sodium 
 
 .8694 
 
 Gold 
 
 2.475 
 
 Silver 
 
 4.0824 
 
 Copper (cupn'ic) . . . ■ 
 
 1.19 
 
 " (cuprous) 
 
 2.38 
 
 Mercurv (mercuric) 
 
 3.78 
 
 (mercurous) 
 
 Tin (stannic) 
 
 7.56 
 
 1.1149 
 
 " (stannous) 
 
 2.2298 
 
 Iron (ferric* 
 
 .5292 
 
 " (ferrous) 
 
 1.0584 
 
 
 1.1249 
 
 Zinc 
 
 1.2283 
 
 Lead 
 
 3.9041 
 
 Electro-negative Elements. 
 Oxygen 
 
 
 Chlorine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nitrogen 
 
 
 
 
 The electromotive force of polarization of an electrolyte is a measure 
 
THE BATTERIES FOE ELECTROLYSIS. 77 
 
 of the electro-chemical work done by the current in its decomposition. 
 The principle of the conserval ion <>f energy will enable as to calculate this 
 electromotive force by determining the equality of the work done by the 
 current in overcoming this polarization, as compared with the mechanical 
 equivalent of the quantity of heat which the liberated element would dis- 
 engage in its recombination, so us to restore the electrical equilibrium of 
 the electrolyte 
 
 For the sake of illustration, let E be the electro-motive force required 
 for the polarization of an electrolyte (in volts), Q the number of coulombs 
 which has passed through it, the electro-chemical work of decomposition 
 will be: 
 
 QE .... 
 
 Oi kl1 gm - 
 
 If z be the electro-chemical equivalent of the liberated element, the 
 total weight liberated by Q coulombs will be equal to Qz. 
 
 Let II be the quantity of heat disengaged by one gramme of this ele- 
 ment in its combination to form the original electrolyte, then the heat 
 disengaged by the weight Qz of this element will be QzH. As the me- 
 chanical equivalent of heat is .424 kil'gm per calorie the heat disengaged. 
 by Qz grammes will be: 
 
 .424QzH. 
 
 The equation of these two terms will therefore be: 
 
 QE 
 ^rr kil'gm. =.424Q.zH, or finally, 
 
 E=4.10zH. 
 
 If we apply the above formula to the electrolysis of water, the heat 
 disengaged by the oxidation of one gramme of hydrogen is 34450 calories. 
 and the electro-chemical equivalent of hydrogen is .000010."), and we get: 
 
 E=4.16.X. 0000105X34450=1.5 volts. 
 
 The electromotive force required for polarization of water is thus L.5 
 volts. This will explain why one Darnell's cell is unable to decompose 
 water, since the electromotive force of one of these cells is about one volt, 
 and therefore two in series will be required. 
 
 If one of the elements or conductor used for the purpose of electrolysis, 
 for instance the anode, be immersed in a solution of pure salt of the same 
 
78 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 metallic conductor, in which the metal is soluble, there will be no polari- 
 zation; in this case the work done by the current is simply that of a trans- 
 portation of material from one metallic plate to the other, and this will 
 require only a very small expenditure of energy, which is practically 
 reduced to the heating effect produced by the passage or transmission of 
 electrical force. The amount of this required energy may be calculated 
 by means of Ohm's law; if W represent the work, 
 
 W= 7T~oT kil'gm. per second. 
 
 R in this case will be the resistance of the solution in ohms, and C the 
 strength of the current in amperes. Practically, hoAvever, no solution is 
 perfectly pure, and a certain amount of polarization must therefore take 
 place in the solution, and should be considered in the account. 
 
 By the equation above mentioned in regard to finding the electro- 
 motive force of the polarization of an electrolyte, the electromotive force 
 of a batter} 7 may also be theoretically calculated; in this calculation it will 
 be found that this electromotive force in the Darnell's cell will be equal 
 to the difference between the heat disengaged at the zinc and that absorbed 
 by the deposit of copper, or between the electro-chemical decomposition 
 of these two metals as found from their chemical equivalents, i.e., 
 2.36 — 1.21=. 115, the practical value being 1.079 volts. 
 
 With these general remarks on batteries Ave will pass on to the consid- 
 eration of the laws of resistance and the diffusion of the electrical current. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION OF THE ELECTRI- 
 CAL CURRENT.— THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRICITY AS 
 SHOWN BY THESE LAWS UPON THE HUMAN BODY. 
 
 Before proceeding to a discussion of the effects which are produced 
 by the passage of a current through a conductor, it might be advisable 
 to define what is usually meant by the word " CURRENT." 
 
 Definition of Cikkkxt. — A current of electrical force is the quan- 
 tity, or measured amount, of electricity which traverses during an unit 
 of time any section of the conductor through which this force is trans- 
 mit ted: if this unit of time is one second, and if the quantity which 
 traverses the section of the conductor is the unit, the measure of the 
 unit is represented by the resulting current. 
 
 A unit of current is assumed to traverse a conducting medium when 
 the unit quantity of this current has passed through any section during 
 the time of one second. 
 
 It has already been stated that a current of electricity will result in a 
 conducting medium when two points in that conductor are at different 
 potentials. According to Ohm's law, the current which passes between 
 any two points in a conductor is directly proportional to the difference in 
 potential energy which exists between the two points, provided that the 
 conducting medium which unites these points remain the same and in the 
 same original condition. If the chemical state or the temperature of the 
 conductor is constant, the current will be also constant; it should be par- 
 ticularly remembered that the constancy of the physical condition should 
 remain the same throughout the whole circuit, internal and external. 
 Mention has been made in the previous chapter of the internal resistance 
 which occurs in the galvanic cells and their arrangement in battery, as 
 well as the modifications which are produced by it in the current of elec- 
 tricity inside of the cell. It has there been shown, also, how the current 
 in an external circuit containing no comparative resistance will have the 
 character of its original strength. 
 
 The nature and complications of the resistances in the external circuit,. 
 
80 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 which is outside of the cell, are of equal importance in their effect upon 
 the current with those which occur in the internal circuit, that within 
 the battery. It has. also,, been there shown that, in order to complete 
 the circuit and to continue the electrical current which results from the 
 electro-chemical action within the galvanic cell, the two poles of a battery 
 should be united by a conducting medium; the current which proceeds 
 from the zinc to the copper within the cell will flow from the copper to 
 the zinc without the cell. The former of these is called the internal cir- 
 cuit, and the latter the external circuit. 
 
 The zinc element is the positive pole of the battery, and the carbon 
 is the negative pole of the battery; ordinarily in medicine, when the ex- 
 ternal circuit is closed, these terms are transposed; and to distinguish 
 this change the wire coming from the electro-negative element, carbon, 
 js called the positive electrode; in the same way, the wire coming from 
 the electro-positive element, zinc, is called the negative electrode. The 
 explanation of this confusing use of these terms is based upon the change 
 of direction of the currents in the two circuits. 
 
 In general, it may be said that no electro-chemical action takes place 
 within the cell unless the circuit be closed; yet, this is not exactly true 
 in the case of some batteries, as the Daniell's, in which the electro-chemi- 
 cal action will continue even while the circuit is open. Usually, batteries 
 arranged for medical use have little or no action when the poles are not 
 connected, in which the circuit is open. 
 
 It would be a hopeless task to present in this treatise a synopsis of all 
 that has been investigated, or written upon the subject of external resis- 
 tance, and our attention will be occupied only with that portion which 
 concerns the use of electrical apparatus in medicine. 
 
 We should bear in mind that the flow, or transmission of electricity. 
 can be best understood by the commonly used comparison with the move- 
 ments of a fluid, like water. We must not suppose that electricity, which 
 is a force, is a ponderable body, but that it is a kinetic energy (so called), 
 whose properties are recognized by the disturbances which the transmis- 
 sion of this force produces in its conducting mediums. 
 
 Electrical flow therefore resembles, or is analagous to, the flow of 
 
 water from one cistern into another by means of conduits or pipes; if the 
 
 elevation of one is on a higher level than that of the other, the flow will 
 
 be toward the lower level; or, in other words, the movement of electricity 
 
 , proceeds from the higher potent ial of energy to a lower. The energy, which 
 
RESISTANCE \\l> DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY, - s I 
 
 is produced by the decomposition of zinc with the acid combined as ;i salt 
 
 in solution, is at a higher potential than that produced by the decompo- 
 sition of the ralphate of copper solution and the oxidation of copper, and 
 the subsequent deposit of metallic copper at the other pole. As in the 
 comparison with water, in which the strength of the flow will depend 
 upon the comparative difference in the level of the two reservoirs, so in 
 electrical flow or circuit, the greater the difference between the potential 
 energy of the bodies which are charged with opposite kinds of elec- 
 tricity, the greater will be the electromotive force and strength of the 
 current. Again, as the amount of water flowing from one cistern to 
 another will be influenced by the diameter of the conducting pipe, so, 
 too, will the transmission of electricity be favored or hindered by the 
 conductibility of the medium through which this force is made to traverse, 
 the resistance of the conductor acting as an obstruction. Therefore, the 
 resulting strength of the current will depend upon these two factors: viz., 
 the difference in the potentials and the ratio of conduction in the conduct- 
 ing medium. If we suppose the difference in potential to be the same, 
 the relative conductivity of two mediums produce a resulting current, 
 which is stronger or weaker, and which will be inversely as the ratio of 
 conductibility; or, in other words, the resistance which the electrical cur- 
 rent meets in the conductor will decrease the initial strength of the 
 electro-chemical force. Now, all bodies offer more or less resistance to 
 the transmission of electricity, and the amount of resistance affects the 
 stability, if we may use the words, or the equanimity of the molecules of 
 which such a body is composed. This same interference in physical 
 stability of quiescence of bodies is caused by other forms of energy; as, 
 for instance, in the production of heat, which will be greater or less 
 according to the rapidity of molecular vibrations produced in the body by 
 a force transmitted to it by some external agency. 
 
 The resistance of a wire, or other conductor, is proportional to 
 its length. 
 
 This resistance will be inversely proportional to, or, in other words, 
 will diminish with every increase of, the area of its own section. The 
 resistance of a conductor of given length and diameter will depend upon 
 the material of which it is made, that is, upon the Specific RESISTANCE 
 of the material. J 
 
 i DeWatteville, op. cit., p. 11. 
 
82 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The late Professor Ohm had established, by researches and experiments, 
 the theoretical conditions which regulate the action of the galvanic or 
 voltaic current, and since his time these experiments have been confirmed 
 by their practical application at the hands of other distinguished scien- 
 tists, among whom may be mentioned Wheatstone, Fechner, Daniell, and 
 De la Rive. The force by which electricity is set in action through, the 
 galvanic current is called the Electromotive Force, and the amount, 
 or quantity, which is transmitted through a section of the circuit is called 
 the Intensity, or Tension, of the Current. This intensity or ten- 
 sion is the same in all parts of a given circuit, no matter of what mate- 
 rials it may be composed. It is known, also, that the same current which 
 traverses a short wire will produce a greater deviation or deflection of a 
 galvanometrical needle from a neutral point than the same current which 
 traverses a longer circuit of the same wire; hence, the expression of Ohm's 
 law is: 
 
 *' The resistance is inversely proportional to the intensity of 
 the current," and " the intensity of the current is equal 
 to the electromotive force divided by the resistance." 
 
 This law is usually expressed by the simple formula: 
 
 1_ R 
 
 I representing the intensity. of the current, E the electro-motive force 
 and R the resistance of the circuit within the galvanic cell. 
 
 Now, the less the conducting property which an electrical conductor 
 possesses, the greater will be its resistance; hence: 
 
 "The intensity of a current will be inversely proportional to 
 the length of the conductor, and directly proportional to 
 
 its section- are a and conductivity." 
 
 When a galvanic battery is formed of several cells, the intensity of the 
 resulting current will be equal to the sum of the electromotive force of all 
 the couples (elements), divided by the sum of their resistances. A battery 
 which is formed of the same kind of cell, will always have the same 
 electromotive force ami the same interna] resistance. The external, or 
 intcrpolar, resistance will depend upon the medium, which acts as the 
 conductor between the two terminals of the battery, the resulting resist- 
 
RESISTANCE A\l> DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY. 83 
 
 tance being the same in all parts <»t' the circuit. The interna] resistance 
 of tlic battery has been described in the preceding chapter. Treal 
 electricity express the internal resistance of a battery by the symbol It; 
 the in terpolar resistance, or external resistance is usually expressed by r. 
 Ohm's law of interpreting the tension ^\ tin resulting current in view 
 of the two resistances is expressed by the formula: 
 
 i=, E 
 
 ■R-j-r 
 
 Now, when any number, n, of a similar kind of galvanic cell arc joined 
 together in series, the resulting current tension of the circuit will be n 
 
 times the two resistances. Again, if the interpolar, or external, circuil 
 be closed by a short wire which may have a good conductivity, like copper, 
 /• is so small in comparison with It that it may be neglected, the formula 
 to find the resulting current of tension being then expressed: 
 
 T »E E 
 
 1 = — i> or — ,,- 
 nil 11 
 
 or, in other words, when the ' y resistance within each cell is equal, the 
 
 tension of the current will not be increased by an increase in the number 
 of couples. When, on the other hand, the interpolar, or external, resis- 
 tance r is great, as in the case of a small thin wire, or in a solution, the 
 tension of the current is usually about equal to the number of couples 
 used for the battery. 
 
 Again, if the surface of the battery ''elements" be increased, there will 
 be no increase in the original electromotive force; yet the internal resis- 
 tance of each cell will be diminished, owing to the exposure of an increased 
 surface area to a larger surface of the exciting solution, and consequently 
 the intensity of the current will be practically increased because the in- 
 ternal resistance within the battery is decreased. The expression of this 
 fact is represented in the formula by 
 
 E 
 1= \{+r or =- 
 
 — ■ — - ll-f-mr, ■ 
 
 when 1 in re: resents the increase in the surface measurement of the bat- 
 tery elements; we shall find that this increase of tension is influenced by 
 thp fact that the external resistance, R, decreases in proportion to the 
 
84 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 amount of r, or external resistance, and the tension will always be about 
 as expressed in the formula 
 
 1 = 
 
 or will be equal to the electromotive force of the cell divided by the re- 
 sistance in the external, or interpolar, circuit. 
 
 Thus, for the purpose of regulating the relation between the two resis- 
 tances within and without the cell, we may arrange a battery as for instance 
 of six cells in three different ways, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. First, 
 we may arrange in a single series (A), in which the copper of each gal- 
 
 Fio. 10. 
 
 vanic cell is connected with zinc of the succeeding cell; second, in groups 
 of two cells, each group being formed by uniting two zincs (B), and two 
 coppers, or carbons, of every two cells and then by connecting the zincs 
 of each group of two cells to the copper, or carbon, of the next group in 
 line; or we may arrange them in groups of three cells (C), or of any de- 
 sired number. The third system is that in which all the zincs are united 
 together in parallel, all the coppers together, and is the usual method for 
 producing the heat current for thermocautery, because we may in this 
 
RESISTANCE \M> DIFFUSION OF ELECTEICITT. 85 
 
 way reduce the Internal resistance to its smallest amount, and so obtain 
 the full current strength of a giveu form of battery (D). We may, also, 
 arrange bo that we may decrease the tension and at the same time increase 
 the effective quantity in a given circuit: for instance, we may use in com- 
 bination two of these arrangements, one of which is " coupled *' for quan- 
 tity and the other for tension; and we may thus arrange for a quantity 
 of ten cells with a tension of six, or of any desired combination. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 It is, oftentimes, desirable to use a current which may be nicely grad- 
 uated to increase, or diminish, the original electromotive force, at the 
 pleasure of the operator. The principle of the laws of resistance, as above 
 described, may be mechanically arranged, so that we may place more or 
 less resistance in the circuit. It can, of course, be seen, if these princi- 
 ples have been properly explained and correctly understood, that it will 
 make no difference in what part of the circuit Ave may interpose the re- 
 sistance, because its obstructing effect will be manifested in every part 
 of the circuit. 
 
 One of the earliest and simplest mechanical forms of resistance coil, or 
 Rheostat (flow-arrester), is that which was invented by Wheatstone (illus- 
 trated in Fig. 12). ' 
 
 >In this instrument a longer or shorter piece of wire, made of a feeble 
 ■Ganot's Physics, 1869, i>. 817. 
 
8(3 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 metal lie conductor (German silver alloy), is interposed in the external 
 circuit by winding, or unwinding, from one brass spool on to another 
 spool made of insulated material like hard rubber. This coarse method 
 of interposing various amounts of resistance will not produce very nice or 
 accurate means of measurements, nor is it a convenient instrument for 
 practical work; it has, therefore, been superseded by other more compact 
 forms of mechanical arrangement which will be obvious from their de- 
 scription, but the principle of these instruments remains the same. It 
 is not so necessary for medical uses to have an accurate measurement as 
 to have some contrivance of easy application. None are perfectly accurate, 
 
 Fig. V2. 
 
 and the nearer they approach accuracy the more costly they become. A 
 resistance box which can be made to interpose measured units of resis- 
 tance, within an error of one hundredth of the whole amount used, is 
 sufficient for all practical purposes, because the variations in the conduc- 
 tibility of the human body are so great, that an error of an hundredth is 
 comparatively very small. 
 
 Oftentimes, a fluid rheostat will answer the purposes equally well; 
 though the action of this form of interposed resistance is objectionable, 
 because it has the disadvantage which arises from a varying amount of 
 corrosion, which attacks the metallic conducting surfaces, and will thus 
 produce irregular obstructions to the transmission of the electrical current, 
 A liquid rheostat can be extemporized out of a short piece of glass tubing, 
 which may be tilled with water to produce high resistances, or, with a 
 solution of sulphate of copper which acts as a moderately good conduct- 
 ing fluid (the stronger the solution the better conductor, and vice versd 
 for less resistances.) In the use of a liquid rheostat the conducting points 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY 
 
 87 
 
 of tin 1 wire Bhould be immersed in the column of liquid, these points 
 }n<i n lt approximated to increase, or being separated to diminish, the re- 
 sistance to tlif circuit. For medical ubos, however, where variations in 
 the current passing through living tissues are uol uniform, a rheostat of 
 the kind presented in the illustration (Fig: 13), answers a very good 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 purpose. The introduction of the various resistances from one ohm to 
 20,000 ohms is made by unscrewing the thumb screw connecting adjacent 
 brass plates, to each of which is attached German silver wire from the resis- 
 tance bobbins, which have measured resistances; each of these adjacent brass 
 plates have resistances which differ from each other by a fixed value, so that 
 
 2° 2° 1° 
 
 Fig. 15.— Set of resistance coils. Measured resistances 
 are introduced into the circuit by placing into it the coils 
 marked i, ~. 8, 5, 10. SS, binding screws for rheophores. 
 A, B, C, handles for putting the resistance in and out of 
 circuit. 
 
 the attachment of the resistance wires to the several bobbins (Fig. 15) are 
 separated, unless the connecting screws of the several divisions are screwed 
 home to make a contact over each separation between the brass plates. 
 The accompanying illustration is borrowed from De Watteville. This 
 
88 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 figure (Fig. 15), represents a set of resistance coils from one ohm to ten; 
 these coils are made of German silver wire because this metal gives 
 approximately accurate measurements, which are not dependent upon 
 atmospheric or thermo-metrical changes 
 
 In most boxes the contact between the brass plates is accurately made 
 by nicely fitting and tapering brass plugs; to these plates the terminal wires 
 of tbe several resistance bobbins are soldered carefully with resin; after 
 all the mechanical work is finished, the amount of resistance of the several 
 connections is carefully measured and compared with a standard measure- 
 ment The constant error of a rheostat of this style may vary .0001 of 
 the units of resistance which are placed within the circuit, and may be 
 adjusted even more accurately than this; thus, with a resistance of 20,000 
 ohms the error would be about two ohms; for a similar resistance given 
 by the preceding instrument the error would be about 200 ohms. When 
 the resistance is formed in the external circuit by metallic conductors, in 
 which the amount can be easily reckoned and allowed for in a physical 
 experiment, the electromotive force resulting will be found simply by a 
 mathematical calculation ; but, when the human body, in part or as a 
 whole, forms the conductor of electricity the resulting factor is not always 
 so easily found; because the conductivity of the body is variable; added to 
 this are physiological problems which the current itself sets in action by 
 secondary electrical disturbances. These are caused by chemical action 
 in the living tissues of which the human body is composed. 
 
 The human body, used as a conductor of electricity, should be con- 
 sidered as a large fluid whose conductibility is hindered or increased 
 according to the various chemical compounds which are contained in its 
 solution. Moreover, it should also be considered as a chemical fluid, the 
 compounds of which are influenced by the electrical current to undergo 
 decompositions, and to form new combinations. These decompositions and 
 reformations of chemical compounds are accompanied by forms of energy 
 and dissipation of energy, both of which may produce in this semi-fluid 
 conductor the display of electrical disturbance, which may hinder or favor 
 the conduction of electrical force which is transmitted through them by 
 an electrical generator outside of the body. We must suppose that the 
 alterations of chemical compounds will result in the formations of poten- 
 tialsof different degrees, some of which by dissipation of energy are of an 
 intermediate character on account of the varying degrees of potentials 
 between the chemical elements. Estore has presented certain experi- 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION <>F ELECTRICITY. 89 
 
 ments ' to determine fche variation in the resistance in the human tissues. 
 In all of these experiments tlie positive electrode was placed upon the 
 
 cutaneous surface of the sternum, ami the negative on the surface of some 
 point on the forearm. The strength of the current was sufficiently feeble 
 to be conveniently endured for some time, ten cells. The exact moment 
 
 was noted at winch the current was closed, as also the number of degrees 
 of deflection of the galvanometric needle; the readings of the deflections 
 of the needle were observed at their maximum deviation. From the 
 many experiments which were made he determined the occurrence of two 
 kinds of variations: " first, as usually happened during these experiments, 
 the maximum of deviation will vary; second, the maximum of deviation 
 will be attained at unequal periods of time." Vigoroux has shown that 
 in the hemi-ansesthesia of hysterical patients the conductivity of the 
 tissues is less on the affected than on the sound side. He confirmed the 
 results of his experiments by placing the positive electrode in the axilla, 
 in <»rder to prevent the transmission of the current through healthy tissue, 
 and the negative electrode was placed upon the forearm. The electrodes 
 were small and of a flat shape to insure close contact with the skin; every 
 precaution was taken to avoid accidental errors. The details of his obser- 
 vations were as follows: 
 
 Maximum deviation. 
 
 No. of Case. Right. Left. Time Right. Time Left. Remarks. 
 
 1. 25 18 1 min. 3 min. L. side (12 ele- 
 
 ments). 
 
 2 Similar results. E. side. 
 
 3 j 1st. 50 40 12 " 9 " Lside. 
 ( 2nd. 55 55 At once. 2 " 
 
 Anaesthesia diminished and disappeared on left side and then on right. 
 3rd. 40 50 11 " 12 " 
 
 1st. G5 05 6 " 8 " L. side (10 ele- 
 
 ments). 
 2nd. 70 70 9 " 4 " Changed to L. 
 
 1 1 v | >era?s- 
 thesia. 
 5. No di (Terence, not a case of true hysterical hemianesthesia. 
 
 In order to test the resistance of electrolytes many kinds o( apparatus 
 have been devised, and the following method deserves mention: 
 
 1 A. Estore. Note sur la resistance electrique de tissues, etudi^e au double 
 point de vue physiologicale et practicale. Gaz.Hebd.deSc. Med. Montpel., 1882, 
 IV., 877. 
 
90 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 Der Stromverzweiger * (literally "the current divider"). 
 
 Kohlrausch's former experiments Were'made by the means of a rheo- 
 stat whose resistance equalled that of the electrolyte. In substituting the 
 telephone for the dynanometer excursions, it is preferable to have a re- 
 sistance mechanism with continued variation in preference to the (Stoep- 
 selrheostat) resistance wire rheostat. 
 
 Kohlransch used instead of a very thin or long wire, one which was 
 coiled. Such a coil he considers very convenient. The machine is made 
 in serpentine form to rapidly equalize alterations of temperature. It is 
 45 cm. long and 100 mm. in diameter. On the cylinder is cut a screw 
 in 10 spirals. In the groove is wound a new silver wire 0.2 mm. thick 
 and 3 m. long. As in Siemen's universal galvanometer, the movable 
 contact is a small roll. Its motion is from a rod standing parallel to the 
 axis of the cylinder and is pressed by two springs against the wire coil. 
 As in the old rheostat of Jacobi, the circumference of the small roll (or 
 disk), has a traveller by which it follows the movements of the wire. The 
 small roll and its support are of new silver to avoid heat currents. The 
 springs attached to the rod of the small roll conduct the current from the 
 latter. The current is carried from the machine by the brush contact 
 as in the modern induction machines. In the wooden base of the instru- 
 ment are four resistances of 1, 10, 100, 1,000, QE, so connected that they 
 may be used separately or in combination; thus a resistance of 0.3 to 
 3,000, QE, may be measured. Besides five metallic pole-cups there are 
 two others which conduct the wires from the coil. Between two of the 
 end pole-cups the electrolyte wires can be inserted, and the others dis- 
 connected except from the coil which is used as a comparison. 
 
 The vessels to contain fluids whose resistance is to be measured, have 
 a conducting tube 100 mm. long. Of course, for different fluids different 
 lengths are needed, whose measurements are in relation to their conduct- 
 ing power. If the narrowest tube has a diameter of 8 mm., the best elec- 
 trolyte gives 30 QE. Tubes of 14 to 25 mm. may be used, and for feeble 
 conductor one which has a curved length of 45 mm. Electrodes should 
 be made of platinum or plated silver, with insulated gutta percha handles. 
 The vessels are held in a wire stand, and this latter is immersed in a water- 
 bath to procure the proper temperature. The resistance of the vessels is 
 
 1 Einfache Methoden u. Instrumente zur Widerstandsmessung insbesondere in 
 Elektrolyten. Verhdl. d. Phys. Med. Gesellsch. in Wih-zb., 1881, XV., v . 94-100. 
 
RESISTANCE AM) DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY. 91 
 
 determined bj thai of a known fluid, E.g., t equals temperature; K, con- 
 ducting power: with dilute ll,s<> ( 30.4 per cent. (sp. gr. L.224), K = 
 0.00006914+0.0000045 (t— 18 ). With solution Bodium chloride (N 
 26.4percent., (sp.gr. 1.201), K= 0.00002015 +0.00000045 (t-18 ). With 
 solution magnesium sulphate (MgSOJ 17.3 percent., (sp. gr. 1.18?) K= 
 0.00000456 | 0.00000012 (t— 18°). 9 H 4 O s 16.6 percent., (sp. gr. L.022) 
 K=0.000000152+0.0000000021 (t— 18°). 
 
 A fluid in tin- vessels has a resistance of WQE.; the resistance of 
 the vessels for mercury is 0°y=WK. If another fluid has the value W. 
 we find its equivalent for unit of mercury to he K=-/ 
 
 Instead of the vertical galvanometer of Siemen's and Halske in these 
 experiments. Wiedermann's is substituted; also a Pohl's current reverser. 
 The current was of constant strength. When a prism of coagulated egg- 
 albumen of a given size is connected with the poles of a battery (20 
 Grove's cells), the following results: 
 
 o = closure, t=time, ordinals represent scale divisions of the current 
 strength; t,=2t, dropping most in 10 to 20 minutes. Current reversed, 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 a small negative deflection until at t 9 ,=t„ and then a drop. This is due 
 to the resistance produced by the action of one current being suspended 
 by the action of another. 
 
 It may thus be seen that the tissues of the human body, like other 
 electrolytes, should be considered as a conductor containing various 
 chemical substances in solution, and, in consequence of this, being n body 
 of high resistances, the current strength must he varied to suit these cir- 
 cumstances. The resulting strength of a battery as well as the tension of 
 
 1 E. du Bois Reymond. Ueber den secundaeren Widerstand, em durch den 
 Strom bewirktes Widerstand phsenomen. an feuchten poroesen Koerpen. (On 
 tin- secondary resistance, a currenl phenomenon in moist porous bodies.) Mole- 
 Behott, Untersuehungen, 354, viii., 1862. 
 
02 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the electrical current, will depend upon the power resulting from the 
 transmission of the current against a resistance which is in the circuit. 
 The quantity is different from the electromotive force, and is measured 
 hy the amount of chemical work which is accomplished in the interpolar 
 circuit. It has heen shown in chapter third how the quantity and ten- 
 sion of a battery may he arranged so as to provide for a combination by 
 which we may obtain the best effects for a given purpose. "We may now 
 understand why we cannot obtain a very large quantity of electrical force, 
 no matter how many cells may be connected, when the resistance in a 
 given circuit is very great; for the same resistance will act throughout the 
 whole circuit, and will decrease the original current strength of the par- 
 ticular form of battery which has been selected for our work. The quan- 
 tity of electricity which can be obtained from a frictional machine for the 
 purpose of decomposing water is by no means comparable to the amount 
 which is produced by a piece of wire one-eighth of an inch in diameter, 
 and dipped into dilute sulphuric acid to the depth of half an inch. It 
 should always be remembered that an increase in the area surface of the 
 metallic elements of a galvanic cell will increase the quantity of electricity, 
 but not its tension; while an increase in the number of these cells will 
 increase the tension, but not the quantity. By this mode of reasoning, 
 we must inevitably arrive at the conclusion that the amount of chemical 
 action in the human tissues to be accomplished by electricity is not so 
 much to be sought for by the use of a battery which possesses great power, 
 as by the use of a feeble current which may be continued for a longer time 
 in those cases where it is desired to produce an increased amount of 
 physico-chemical action. This application of electricity to electrolysis of 
 living tissues requires a clear explanation, since the use of the terms, 
 "quantity and tension," are so often misunderstood. 
 
 To make this matter clearer it will be advantageous to compare the 
 transmission of electricity through conducting mediums with that of the 
 movements of liquids, always remembering, however, that electricity is 
 not a fluid but a force acting through matter. Let us suppose that a quan- 
 tity of water is stored within a cistern, from which it is conducted by 
 means of pipes or conduits having different diameters, lengths and outlets; 
 in this case the flow of water will be governed by the relation of these 
 diameters, lengths, and surface friction, and will depend upon the size 
 which each bears to the others. Following this analogy, it is easy to 
 understand that the transmission of anelectrical force from its point of 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY. 93 
 
 origin will he regulated by, and will be proportional to, the resistance 
 offered b] the conducting medium, and to the escape of the current from 
 this conductor, as well as the strength of the current which is dependent 
 upon the difference in the potential energy of the original electricising 
 
 bodies. 
 
 As in the case of the flow of water, the currents of electricity will also 
 be in a measure affected by the number of the various conductors, as well 
 as by their relative conductivity; in other words, there maybe several 
 conductors for the same current. . . This divided system of currents 
 is called the system of derived currents, and is illustrated by Figure 17, 
 which is borrowed from De Watteville. 
 
 The current ' is supposed to originate from the battery E and to pass 
 through two conductors, DRGE, and DR'GE; in the former channel 
 
 Fig. 17.— The use of this method in electrotherapeutics was first advocated by me in a paper in 
 the Medical Times, Sept., 1S77. It has since been applied to the investigation by Tsohiriew and my- 
 self of the excitability of cutaneous nerves (Brain, 1879) and to that by Waller and myself of the 
 Electrotonus of man. (Philosophical Traruaciiona of the Royal Society, 1881.) 
 
 a resistance-box, R, is in circuit; and a galvanometer, G and G', is placed 
 in the path of each derived current, or circuit. If the resistance of the 
 human body, R', is in circuit, as R', and taken at 2000 ohms, a resistance 
 of 2000 ohms produced in the rheostat, R, in the first circuit will be equal 
 to that in the second circuit; but, if the resistance in the rheostat be in- 
 creased to 3000 or 4000 ohms, the deflections of the galvanometer needle 
 will show a stronger derived current in the circuit through the body, of a 
 ratio of 2:3 or 2:4; if, on the other hand, the resistance produced by the 
 rheostat should be diminished to L,000 or to 500 the deflections of the gal- 
 vanometric needle will show that the current is weaker in that circuit 
 
 1 Op. Cit., p. 40. 
 
94 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 which includes the human body, or as 2:1 or 2:^. Finally, a •galvanometer 
 which is placed in the circuit EBD will show that the current will be 
 equal to the sum of the other two derived currents. 
 
 The application of these phenomena to the case of the human body 
 alone, in the external circuit, will be obvious; for the human body is formed 
 of various kinds of tissue some of which present a much higher resistance 
 than others to the transmission of the electrical current, and the sum of 
 the derived current being always equal to the current which flows through 
 both rheophores between the body and the battery, the derived currents 
 which traverse the body tissues will be in an inverse proportion to the 
 varying resistances of the different kinds of tissue which act as conduc- 
 tors, thus passing more readily through the blood vessels and through 
 tissues largely composed of saline materials held in solution. 
 
 Another complication by which the distribution of the electrical force 
 through the human body is affected, is that relating to electrical Density. 
 The word density is derived from its use in frictional electricity, in which 
 is represented the quantity of electricity per square centimeter on a charged 
 conductor. In its application to electricity which is derived from chemi- 
 cal decomposition in a galvanic cell, it is used to specify the proportional 
 charge of electrical force between opposing bodies, and is measured by 
 the quantity of electricity which is transmitted per second of time through 
 a unit of the sectional area of the substance conducting the electricity^ if 
 two conductors having a difference of potential energy are brought together 
 in contact, a redistribution of the charge must occur, which will produce 
 the resulting intermediate potential of the two conducting mediums. This 
 unit quantity of electricity is that on a sphere having a diameter of two 
 centimetres, and which receives the electricity delivered from one pole of 
 a battery, formed of 268 Daniell's cells, arranged in series, the other pole 
 of this battery being connected with the earth. This unit of quantity is 
 called a Farad. An ampere is equal to one tenth of a farad, and repre- 
 sents a current which conveys that unit quantity of electricity [a farad] 
 during a period of one second's time; one thousandth of an ampere is 
 known in medical electricity as one milliampcre. The terms, weber and 
 milliweber, are now obsolete, because these absolute units were not used 
 for a measure of electrical quantity passing in a unit of time, but were 
 intruded to express an absolute measurement. The unit of resistance is 
 styled an olnn, 1,000,000,000 absolute units. The unit of capacity [also, 
 quantity] is styled a farad, T.TnrTT.nnrr.TnnT oi an absolute unit. The unit of 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY. 95 
 
 current is one brad per second, but in general use the time is omitted, it 
 being called simply a farad. 
 
 The use of absolute units for measuremenl is qo1 generally approved 
 by the besl writers on electricity, and instead of these units of measure- 
 ment per units of time arc generally employed, as for instance, 
 
 ampere, milli-ampere; 
 volt, micro-voltj 
 ohm, micr-ohm. 
 
 The question of density will enter into the matter of the diffusion of 
 current passing through conductors. Without attempting to give a de- 
 tailed description of the laws of diffusion, which the reader can obtain 
 from any good text-book upon electrical measurements, it will be sufficient 
 for our purposes to note how the human body, as a conductor of electricity, 
 is affected by the result of these laws. 
 
 That form of tissue which opposes the most resistance to the trans- 
 mission of electricity is dry skin, and that which is perforated with fewest 
 sweat-and sebaceous-ducts. If one portion of the subjacent and subcu- 
 taneous tissue is more fully charged with blood than another, equal 
 currents of electricity passing from an electrode, closely adapted to its 
 surface, will meet with less resistance and, consecpiently, will transmit 
 electricity more freely than others which are less fully charged with blood. 
 It should be remembered that an electrical current will select through 
 various conductors that one which offers the readiest conduction. If the 
 skin be thoroughly moistened with hot salt water, and an electrode then 
 applied to this moistened surface, the electrical current will pass to the 
 subcutaneous and deeper tissues, and will pass with the more readiness 
 when the condition of electrode and skin surfaces are more thoroughly 
 saturated with moisture. Again the larger the surface of electrode and 
 skin thus moistened and brought in contact, the more readily the current 
 will pass to the deeper tissues. This latter effect can be better understood 
 by remembering that the resistance of a conductor is in inverse ratio to 
 its diameter, and hence the larger the surfaces of the contact, within 
 proper limits, the larger becomes the capacity of the conductor. So. also 
 the more perfect the contact, that is by pressure of the electrode nearer 
 to the skin, the better the conduction, or in other words, the less the 
 nice. Even under the best of circumstances the resistance of the 
 human body as a conductor will vary from 1,000 to 12,000 ohms. 
 
 The same effects of polarization of the tissues of the human body 
 
96 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 occur as in the polarization of liquids or of substances in solution around 
 the electrodes, and secondary effects of polarization are set up in opposi- 
 tion to the first. In consequence of this effect the electro-chemical action 
 in the tissues, to which the electrodes convey the electricity, is of a com- 
 plicated character not by any means fully understood in respect to living 
 tissues. 
 
 The laws of diffusion of the current are, however, better understood 
 because these laws are founded upon the same principles as these derived 
 from observations upon other mixed conductors. The human body, being- 
 composed of various tissues whose conduction depends upon the propor- 
 tion of water and saline materials of which these tissues are composed, 
 will convey or transmit the current according to the conducting power of 
 these various tissues. In the succeeding chapter the composition of 
 these tissues will be described in accordance with the teachings of 
 physiology. No table of the conductivity of the human tissues in relative 
 order would be of any value, since these tissues themselves would vary 
 according to many circumstances, such as the relative amounts of saline 
 materials and fluids contained in them; and in most cases the conduction 
 would be modified by the laws of diffusion of currents, which would 
 control this question of conductivity of the tissues, much more than the 
 property of conduction inherent in themselves. But by diminishing the 
 resistance offered by the skin by means of moisture and a close coaption 
 of the electrode, we may reduce the resistance to one half; so that in the 
 first instance if the skin's resistance should be 5,000 ohms, we may reduce 
 this resistance to 2,500; and since this number forms the largest part of 
 the denominator in Ohm's formula, it can be easily seen that by this means 
 we have greatly increased the tension of current. 
 
 By the words Diffusion of Current is meant the distribution of electro- 
 motive force through a conductor. We have seen in the case of the thin 
 platinum wire that the current does not pass through this conductor with- 
 out producing perturbations in the molecules by which the current is 
 transmitted. "When we have a conducting medium, composed of different 
 properties of conduction, we have seen that there are derived currents; 
 and these influence the path through which the current will follow. 
 Electricity of one kind will always go in the direction from the higher to 
 the lower potential. 
 
 Consequently where the conducting medium is composed of substances 
 having various potentials, the currents of distribution will have many 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION <>!•' ELECTRICITY. 9 i 
 
 directions, but will finally emerge in one direction; ami the currenl <>f 
 emergence from the conductor must always he equal to the current of en- 
 trance into the conductor; since we have seen t hat, flic sum <>f i he derived 
 currents must always he equal to the original current. 
 
 In the human body the diffusion of the currenl is from the poinl of 
 contact of one electrode, and out at the point of contact of the second 
 electrode: now the distribution of the current between these two points 
 is not by any means in a regular uniform path: some of the current will 
 pass by an easy channel, some by one less easy, or in technical language 
 
 Fig. 18.— If A and B are the positive and negative poles respectively, the bulk of the current 
 flows in more or less curved lines from A to B through the tissues enclosed between them. Exter- 
 nally to this iiit'ijMilar region, the direction of the derived currents proceeding from each electrode 
 is opposed to the main current in the region, A to o, and B to b. We assume here that the body is 
 made up of a uniformly conducting substance. The thick lines denote the region of greatest cur- 
 rent density. The occurrence of cerebral symptoms (giddiness, flashes of light, the galvanic last.-, 
 when one of the electrodes is applied to the upper part of the back, is due likewise to the diffusion of 
 the current upwards. 
 
 the current passes through substances which are not equi-potential; thus 
 the current will pass more readily through the blood ami the blood vessels, 
 through the nerve tissues, etc.. and less readily through the bones and 
 tendons. The current does not pass directly between the two points in- 
 
98 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 eluded between the electrodes, but will be diffused in unequal proportions 
 through the whole body, owing to the production of differential and 
 intermediate resistances of the component parts of the living tissues. 
 The diagram borrowed from De WatteviUe represents this more clearly. 
 This law of diffusion of currents applies as Avell to electrolysis. A 
 sufficient number of cells will increase the electromotive force. Each 
 cell that is added of course interposes its own internal resistance, but with 
 the large resistance offered by the human body, the internal resistance of 
 each cell is insignificant. The quantity of the electricity which will flow 
 through the resistance of the human body will increase with the number 
 of cells; for we have seen that according to Ohm's law 
 
 E 
 
 
 R+r 
 
 Illustrating this law in the given case of the human body, we will take 
 the tension of a current coming from ten Leclanche cells, each having an 
 electromotive force of 1.4 volts, and each an internal resistance of .4 
 volts; by connecting these in series we have a result of 14 volts divided 
 by 4 volts, or 3.5 volts, for the electromotive force of the cells with their 
 own resistance which, passing through a human body of 2,000 ohms, will 
 give a current strength of 
 
 3.5 1 
 
 or about volt, 
 
 2,000 700 
 
 whereas, if we take one cell, the resulting current strength will be only 
 
 1 
 volt. 
 
 2,000 
 
 It will thus be seen that, in order to obtain the strongest effect of the 
 action of a battery, where electrolysis is to accomplish its work through a 
 great resistance of the human body, the galvanic cells must be theoreti- 
 cally coupled in battery in series for tension. In this way the resistance 
 may be overcome by forcing the current at a high tension through the 
 obstructing resistance. The same object may be accomplished by passing 
 a current of lower tension for a longer period of time, and a further 
 advantage may be gained from the latter method; the current will not 
 only produce less pain at the points of resistance in contact with the 
 electrodes, where the resistance offered by the tissues is greatest, but will 
 
RESISTANCE AND DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY. 99 
 
 also produce less inflammatory actioD in these tissues. This latter may 
 stimulate tin- growth of abnormalities, or maj even cause a dangerous in- 
 flammatory process in neighboring tissues, such as the Berous membran 
 which may be a worse condition than that which the physician was called 
 upon to relieve. It will be remembered that the amount of physical 
 action any current may produce, provided that it is strong enough to 
 overcome the resistance offered by the circuit, is simply a question of 
 time: for a given amount of electricity will decompose a certain amount 
 of a chemical compound, whether it he of low or high tension; ami a 
 slow action in mixed organic structures, such as that furnished by li\ ing 
 tissues, is more desirable than a rapid action; because the slower pro- 
 cesses of retrograde changes are less likely to be followed by the inflamma- 
 tory effects which follow rapid or sudden destructions of healthy tissues, 
 as, for instance, the action of burns either from chemical or mechanical 
 agents. This view of the matter will explain the experience offered by 
 Ciniselli [see chap. VI 1.] who advised the use of batteries having a feeble 
 or slow action for the cure of aneurisms. The mistake of using too strong 
 currents is very often made by those who have not learned by experience 
 that " haste makes waste." The use of too strong currents is often caused 
 by the fact that the operator finds his battery is not working at an uni- 
 form rate, and consequently undertakes to correct one error by increasing 
 the current strength: he thus falls into the other error of using too strong 
 a current which may then be followed by local inflammations and suppura- 
 tive processes. Other writers than Ciniselli have cautioned against this 
 danger, but too little stress has been laid upon it in the larger works on 
 electricity. This injurious effect of strong currents has been pointed out 
 by a very experienced as well as a bold operator, Xeftel of New York, 
 wdio has applied the continuous current for the electrolysis of uterine and 
 abdominal tumors; in some of his cases it would appear that the inflam- 
 mation consequent upon the operation might be explained by the supposi- 
 tion of the use of too strong a current, or by the fact that there was a 
 latent inflammatory process in the serous membrane which was aroused 
 from its quiescence by the eleotrolvtical treatment. The attention of the 
 reader is called to the reports of cases which are presented in detail in 
 the chapter on the applications of electrolysis to therapeutics. 
 
 In this way may be explained the small suppurative sores which are 
 so apt to follow the use of electrolysis in the treatment of hypertrichosis. 
 In this case, where the operator has to deal with a very sensitive skin, or 
 
100 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 where the needle-punctures are too close together, the neighboring tissue 
 seems to be the seat of an inflammatory process which is often followed 
 by a suppuration, and sometimes by a scar; this may leave a red mark 
 for a long time, and often will deter some patients from continuing the 
 treatment, for fear that the scar will be permanent. It is undoubtedly 
 true that, owing to a want of proper knowledge of this portion of our 
 subject, the use of electricity as applied by means of the electro-puncture 
 has not been more largely employed in medicine. It is to be hoped that 
 a more extended knowledge of the principles which govern the practical 
 application of electrolysis to the destruction of abnormal tissue-growths 
 will result in a more successful treatment of certain cases, in which the 
 knife cannot be conveniently used. 
 
 Following out these general laws in reference to conducting mediunfs, 
 their application to the use of electrolysis in the tissues of the living body 
 should be carefully studied, if we desire to know how we may best avoid 
 the evils of this therapeutical agent, and how we may best utilize the 
 benefits to be derived from it. 
 
 We have seen in the first part of this chapter, that the difference in 
 potential between two points in a conducting medium of electrichy will 
 establish the display of electrical energy, and that the amount of this 
 energy Avill be in proportion to the amount of this difference in potential. 
 Under the law of conservation and dissipation of energ}', this difference 
 in potential must be represented by some work, either that of chemical 
 change or of its transmutation into heat or of some other force; we will 
 lay aside for the present any discussion of what are called vital or catalytic 
 changes, because these terms only represent, but do not explain any physi- 
 ological phenomena. 
 
 It must be recognized from the physiological experiments, as well 
 as from physical experiment, that a polarization of the tissues is estab- 
 lished in the interpolar region, that is, between the points of contact 
 between the two electrodes.in the structure of the human body subjected 
 to the action of the electrical current. Now, with the understanding 
 which we have obtained in regard to the laws of resistance and of diffusion 
 of the electrical current, it is quite clear that this condition of polariza- 
 tion is really a new galvanic cell which, acting in opposition to that of 
 our original battery, will diminish its force and thus reduce the original 
 electro-chemical action. Moreover, we can easily comprehend why the 
 intensity of the interpolar current will be expended upon those tissues 
 
RESISTANCE \M> DIFFUSION OF I I I' I JtlC ! i \ ! 101 
 
 which offer the most opposition to the transmission of the current through 
 and beyond them; in other words, at those points where the difference 
 between these potentials is greatest, the strength of the opposing current 
 will be greatest, and the amount of chemical action or its correlative will 
 be the most active. In the application of this teaching we can conceive 
 that the difference in conductivity between the skin and those tissues 
 which produce the polarization more readily, or the opposition of a current 
 going in a direction opposite to the original electro-motive force, will be 
 more marked. 
 
 To illustrate this in a practical manner, let ns suppose that we are 
 passing a current of constant action though a portion of the skin, which 
 has been moistened with hot salt water for the purpose of increasing its 
 conducting power, and make the outgoing current pass back to the gal- 
 vanic battery by means of the best metallic conductor obtainable, platinum 
 or gold; these metals, offering the property of the best conductor for the 
 human tissues, are introduced through the skin and into the underlying 
 muscles or other tissues, which are plentifully supplied with saline fluids. 
 We shall see in such a case by means of a properly arranged galvanometer 
 that the current employed almost immediately after the establishment of 
 the circuit, will be weakened; in other words, the interpolar circuit is the 
 seat of an incomplete polarization. The effect of such a circuit will tend 
 to exhaust most of the electrical action upon the cutaneous covering, that 
 which offers the highest resistance to the transmission of the electrical 
 force. If this incomplete conductor were composed of an unchanging 
 physical formation its resistance would be a constant factor, and the only 
 effect it would have upon the electrical circuit would be to obstruct the 
 electro-chemical action in the battery; but it is composed of alterable 
 chemical combinations, and its action upon the electricity in circuit will 
 produce a variable current, which will be in accord with the varying 
 amount of succeeding effects produced by the polarized condition of the 
 tissues. 
 
 It has been proposed by some of the physicians who have employed 
 the methods of electrolysis in living tissue, to cover the needles used for 
 this purpose with an insulated coating of rubber; but the best observers 
 have found that the difficulties of the consequent polarization were not 
 thus overcome. It has been proposed by such good observers as Ciniselli 
 to use steel needles, which should first have been oxidized by passing a 
 current through them as positive electrodes. This practice has been re- 
 
1 ( > '2' ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 peated by Groh, as will be seen in the chapter on electro-therapeutics 
 [Chap. VI.]. Grohhas also used zinc needles, on the supposition that this 
 metal combines with the results of decomposition, and thus acts more effi- 
 ciently as a destroyer of tissue. It can be readily understood that an insu- 
 lated covering would not answer the purpose of limiting the action of the 
 electrode to its needle point, because this is plunged into a chemically 
 acting solution such as that which is offered by the semi-fluid tissues 
 themselves. The effects of electrical osmosis must not be overlooked. 
 
 The presence of needles, or of the material of which they are com- 
 posed, will set up an electro-chemical action in the tissues by means of 
 the chemical reagents in solution in these tissues; this would appear to 
 cause a better physiological effect of change in the structure of tissue 
 formations; whether this effect is still further enhanced by the conditions 
 offered by the resistance in their power of conductivity may be an open 
 question; and, yet, it would seem that the results of practice in these 
 cases would support such a theory. 
 
 It should, also, be mentioned that the physical effect of electrical 
 osmosis, which has previously been referred to in chapter second, is more 
 favorably influenced by those fluid conductors which offer a high resist- 
 ance to the passage of electricity; the tissues of the human body are con- 
 ductors of this character, and the reader is especially referred to a re- 
 perusal of that portion of our subject in this connection, as well as to the 
 next chapter on the theory of the destruction of living tissues by electro- 
 lysis. 
 
 Before, however, passing to the next chapter it would be advisable to 
 call attention to another effect of the diffusion of the current, which has 
 been particularly mentioned by De Watteville. When a current of elec- 
 tricity passes through the human body from a large surface of an electrode 
 in contact with the tissues, the current which is included in the circuit 
 is of a uniform strength, as has been previously stated; and consequently 
 if the electrode which the same current passes back to the battery is much 
 smaller, the current at the latter point must have greater density than at 
 the point of ingress. This physical fact may be more easily understood 
 by a reference to the illustration which is borrowed from De Watteville's 
 treatise. 
 
 The diffusion of a current in a conductor is regulated by the laws of 
 derived currents; according to these laws, if the electrical force is trans- 
 mitted through a conducting medium having a homogeneous substance, 
 
RESISTANCE AMI DIFFUSION OF ELECTRICITY 
 
 103 
 
 thf diminution of the resulting force will be in proportion to the Length 
 through which it traverses. This result is due to an increase of resistance 
 caused by the increased Length of the path of the current. When the con- 
 ducting medium consists of a substance which is not uniformly pervaded 
 by a current, it may be looked upon, as is truly mentioned by Do Watte- 
 
 A B 
 
 Fig. 10. —This diagram is intended to illustrate the application of two surface electrodes, AR to 
 
 the skin; the current passing through the interpolar region exerts the most powerful influence where 
 it is the densest, or under the smaller electrode. S is supposed to represent the surface of the skin 
 which overlies muscular or other tissue. M. The shorter the distance of the interpolar region be- 
 tween A and B, the greater will he the proportion of the current flowing through the tissues imme- 
 diately beneath them; the longer the distance, the more this current will diffuse itself through the 
 whole of M. The amount of internal tissue, which is included between the electrodes, does not 
 materially interfere with the strength of the current (this being regulated by the resistance offered 
 by the epidermis); yet it dues govern the distribution <>f the current, or its density, in that portion 
 of the human In >dy which is traversed. When the interval between A and B is wider, the difference 
 between the extent of the direct path from A to B, as well as the resistance of the more circuitous 
 path, ACB, will diminish in proportion. 
 
 Fig. 20.— The diagram represents a rectangular conductor, a b c d, with which the rheophoree 
 of a battery C Z are brought in contact at the point P and at N. The whole conductor is then per- 
 meated with currents, the general direction of which is represented by the lines joining PN. By 
 means of an electrometer or galvanometer, it can i»- shown that the distribution of potentials in the 
 conductor is somewhat as shown by the lines 4-66, h 5 5, etc., 00,— 1 1,-22, etc. If a b c d repre- 
 sents a piece of glass covered with a thin metallic film and dusted over with iron filings, when the 
 electrodes are applied at 1' X. the filings will arrange themselves SO as to have their long diameters 
 along the equipotential lines*;, t;. :>. 5, etc., etc. The line of direction P N, should cut the equipoten- 
 tial lines always at right angle, and not as in the figure. 
 
 ville. from whom we have borrowed the annexed illustration [Fig. 20], as 
 if it were Formed of equipotential surfaces, somewhat like those repre- 
 sented by the curves 6 6, 5 5, etc., 0, —1 — 1, etc. Now. in order that the 
 
 electricity should be transmitted from one point to another, there must 
 
104 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 be a difference in potential between these two points; consequently these 
 latter are present at various parts of the conducting medium. In a cylin- 
 drical conductor, like that of a wire, every point of the surface exposed 
 by a transverse section will be at the same potential; this is an eqtdpoten- 
 tial surface. 
 
 When the diffusion of the current is in the human body, the whole 
 structure has its potential changed, and the distribution of these changed 
 potentials is not unlike that in rectangular conductors. These equipoten- 
 tial lines are very irregular, as might be supposed from the variability in 
 the resistance of the different tissues, which has been previously men- 
 tioned.* The diffusion of the current is however throughout the whole 
 body, becoming weaker at the most distant and least conducting tissues, 
 notwithstanding how close together the electrodes may be situated. The 
 illustration from De Watteville on page 9? [Fig. 18] is intended to 
 show how the current diffuses itself throughout the human body, what- 
 ever the points of application of the electrodes may be. Absolute locali- 
 zation is impossible. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THEORY OF DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES BY 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 Electrolysis being the decomposition of compound bodies by the 
 •action of an electrical force, can be applied to the destruction of living 
 tissue by interposing this latter between the terminals of an electrical 
 circuit. This electrical circuit should be furnished by an electrical current 
 which is continuous and has a constant strength. We have seen that it 
 is not necessary that the structure to be subjected to electrolysis should be 
 in a perfectly fluid state. It is also well known thai pnre water offers so 
 high a resistance to electrical conductivity that most physicists believe it to 
 be undecomposable by electricity; yet, saline and other inorganic substances 
 which are dissolved in water will increase its conductivity., and electroly-i- 
 can be accomplished, in a semi-fluid material which contains a large amount 
 of water. According to Gamgee, 1 the normal quantity of water in the 
 blood of man varies in amount from seventy-eight per cent, to eighty-eight 
 per cent. In the former case this percentage would be met with in health, 
 and in the latter, in starvation, a percentage of eighty per cent. ; conse- 
 quently the blood containing such a large proportion of water as well as 
 saline materials in solution would act as a comparatively favorable medium 
 for the conduction of electricity. 
 
 Practical experience confirms the above theory that the relative con- 
 ductivity of the tissues of the human body offers a pretty fair transmission 
 for an electrical current. 
 
 In order to understand the property which electricity possesses in caus- 
 ing changes in living tissue by what is termed Electrolysis, the reader 
 must carefully have understood the teachings of laboratory experimenta- 
 tion as related in a preceding chapter on the physics of electrolysis, as 
 well as the fact of the property of electrical osmosis. 
 
 The laws of physics as determined and translated by the great ma- 
 ters of science should then be applied to the teachings of Biology as 
 
 » Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, pp. 139 ami 389. 
 
10() ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 known in physiological chemistry and in the histology of the living 
 tissues. 
 
 First, let us take up the teachings of physiological chemistry. The 
 tissues are formed of what are called proteid or albuminous bodies. Prof. 
 Gamgee states:' " Our very conception of a living functionally active cell, 
 whether vegetable or animal, is necessarily associated with the integrity of 
 its protoplasm, of which the invariable organic constituents are proteid s. 
 
 . We may indeed say that the material substratum of the animal organ- 
 ism is proteid, and that it is through the agency of structures essentially 
 proteid in nature that the chemical and mechanical processes of the body 
 are effected . . We may confidently affirm of the proteids that they 
 are indispensable constituents of every living, active, animal tissue, and 
 indissolubly connected with every manifestation of animal activity." 
 
 It is well admitted that the proteid bodies are non-crystallizable com- 
 pounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur, and that 
 these compounds are in a partially solid form or in solution in nearly all 
 the tissues of the body. They are all derived from the vegetable king- 
 dom, which in their turn construct them out of very simple chemical 
 forms which they absorb from the sources of nature. This property of 
 constructing the proteid compounds appears to belong solely to the vege- 
 table organism, while the property of conversion of these compounds into 
 living tissues belongs to the animal organism. 
 
 It is also admitted that the sources of nature by which the vegetable 
 organism constructs these proteid compounds from simple chemical com- 
 pounds ami elementary substances are heat and light. 
 
 Without necessarily rehearsing the minute details of physiology, we 
 should remember that these proteid bodies are mechanically introduced 
 into the animal organism by the primes vice and carried through the 
 various tissues by the circulating medium. By this means they are used 
 up partially in reconstructing the slowly wasting structure of which these 
 tissues are formed, and partially are subjected to rapid decomposition or 
 Metabolism, which decompositions result finally by the retrograde meta- 
 morphoses into carbonic acid, water, and other bodies called organic; these 
 products are more or less the results of oxidation or combustion, and they 
 contain all of the nitrogen which was originally present in the proteids. 
 
 These proteids also contain many of the chemical salts originally found 
 in nature, such as. the chlorides, phosphates, sulphates and alkalies. 
 
 1 Physiological Chemistry <>!' tin' Human Body, vol. i. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING Tissi E8 l. ELEOTEOLY8IS. 1(>7 
 
 The products of decomposition of the proteid bodies, though not 
 
 definitely undersl 1 by the study of laboratory experiments, arc known 
 
 to be the result of oxidation; these products are chiefly compounded of 
 carbon, oxygen, water and certain nitrogenous bodies, such as urea. 
 
 The constructive processes of organic life have qo1 been satisfactorily 
 initiated outside of the living organism, though Dreschel has succeeded 
 in producing urea from solutions of carbonate of ammonia [one of the 
 products of the chemical decomposition of urea in the living body] by 
 means of the use of electrolysis with changing electrical currents. 
 
 The cell life in the animal organism is the seat of the oxidation 
 processes above preferred to. The viscous material of which this eel] is 
 con i posed has a very similar character to the egg -albumen, except that 
 the latter when dried may exist for years, while the former rapidly 
 perishes. 
 
 The fluid which circulates in the tissues of the living body contains 
 all the elements of which the cell is formed, and by this same fluid the 
 products of decomposition are carried off until the organic processes re- 
 move them from the organism. The blood which circulates through the 
 body is subject to coagulation when removed and exposed to the air. 
 This coagulation occurs first on the surface exposed to the air or to the 
 sides of the vessel which holds it. The time required for this coagulation 
 varies from three minutes to twelve minutes, and is due to the separation 
 of Fibrin from the Plasma of the blood. 
 
 According to Prof. Gamgee [op. cit. ] coagulation of the blood will be 
 hastened by exposure to a temperature higher than that of the human 
 body; by contact with foreign matter; by the effect of agitation: by the 
 dilution of the blood with not more than twice its volume of water; or by 
 the addition of minute quantities of sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, or 
 other neutral salt, while on the other hand, sufficiently large quantities 
 of the same salts will delay or prevent coagulation. 
 
 According to Hammarsten, proteid bodies form more than seven per 
 cent, of the serum obtained from the human blood. 
 
 The saline materials of the blood are found in the serum in the pro- 
 portion of about seven-tenths of one percent, of its weight. Farther, 
 according to Prof. Gamgee [op. cit.] the amount and conditions of gases 
 contained in the blood as a whole, may be summed up in the following 
 six statements: — 
 
 " 1. The blood, when admitted into an empty space and exposed t< i t he 
 
108 ELECTRO LYSIS. 
 
 temperature of the body, readily gives up more than half its volume of 
 mixed gases, consisting of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. 
 
 " 2. The first [oxygen] is present in much larger quantities than could 
 be held in simple solution by the water of the blood, and, as will be after- 
 wards proved, is mainly held in feeble combination by the haemoglobin of 
 the colored blood corpuscles; only a trace of it is, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, held in solution in the liquor sanguinis. 
 
 " 3. The second [carbon dioxide], whilst not existing in larger quantity 
 in blood than it could do if simply dissolved by the water of that fluid, is 
 partly in a state of chemical combination, but chiefly in a state of simple 
 solution. It is contained in great part in the liquor sanguinis and serum, 
 but in part also in the corpuscles. 
 
 " 4. The nitrogen is held in a state of simple solution in the liquor 
 sanguinis. 
 
 5. Arterial blood of a dog of mean composition yields for every hun- 
 dred volumes fifty-eight and three-tenths of mixed gases [measured at 
 0° C. and 760 mm.] composed of 22.2 volumes of oxygen (0), 34.3 vol- 
 umes of carbolic dioxide (CO a ) and 1.8 volumes of nitrogen (N), the 
 maximum of amount of oxygen observed having been 25.4 volumes 
 (Pfluger.) 
 
 "6. As venous blood differs in composition according to the vascular 
 area whence it is obtained, it is impossible to state the mean composition 
 of its gases; the following facts are however correct: — the nitrogen is 
 present in the same proportion as in arterial blood, the oxygen is less in 
 amount (from 8 to 12 volumes per 100 in blood) and carbon dioxide greater 
 (from 40 to 50 volumes per 100 of blood)." 
 
 We may quote again from another author. 1 "There are only two 
 ways in which energy is set free from the body: mechanical labor and 
 heat. Wherever metabolism of protoplasm is going on, heat is being set 
 free. In growth and in repair, in the deposition of new material, in the 
 constructive metabolism of the body, in the transformation of lifeless 
 pabulum into living tissue, heat may be undoubtedly to a certain extent 
 absorbed and rendered latent — so that the whole metabolism, the whole 
 cycle of change from the lifeless pabulum through the living tissue back 
 to the lifeless products of vital action, is eminently a source of heat. 
 Next to the muscles in importance come the various secreting glands. In 
 
 1 Text-Book of Physiology, by M. Foster London, L884. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES BY ELECTROLYSIS. L09 
 
 these the protoplasm, at the periods of secretion at all events, is in a state 
 
 of metabolic activity, which activity as elsewhere must give rise to heat. 
 
 The blood itself cannot be regarded as a Bonrce of any considerable 
 
 amonnt of heat, since, as we have so frequently urged, the oxidations or 
 other metabolic changes taking place in it are comparatively slight. 
 
 It is evident therefore that the mechanisms which co-ordinate the loss 
 with the production of heat mnst be exceedingly sensitive . . . Fur- 
 ther, though the matter has not been fully worked out, the centre of this 
 thermotaxic reflex mechanism appears to be placed above the medulla 
 oblongata, possibly in the region of the pons varolii. . . Whether we 
 should conclude that the working of this reflex mechanism is of such a 
 kind that cold to the skin excites the centre to a heat-producing activity. 
 or of snch a kind that warmth to the skin inhibits a previous existing 
 automatic activity of the centre, may be left for the present undetermined. " 
 These and other considerations tend most clearly to support the view, 
 that the nervous system has a more or less direct influence upon metabolic 
 actions, those of a destructive, as well as constructive, change. This view 
 is well supported in the effects and results of certain diseases: it is hardly 
 necessary to speak in detail of these, but it is well known that diabetes \a 
 directly influenced by the nervous system; the case of the atrophy of a 
 gland when its nerves are separated is another example. We should be 
 hardly justified in the statement that the nutrition of tissues is entirely 
 dependent upon the guidance of the nervous system. We may. however. 
 understand that the complicated mechanism known as the nutrition of 
 the tissues is so far dependent upon the nervous system, "that, when 
 those influences are permanently withdrawn, these are thrown out of 
 equilibrium; its molecular processes, so to speak, run loose, since the bit 
 has been removed from their mouths. Pathological phenomena are un- 
 doubtedly dependent upon the nervous system; of these phenomena 
 inflammation itself cannot be understood, except when regarded as the 
 result of nervous action. Examples might be mentioned, as the wasting 
 of the tissues which are the result of lesions of the central nervous system : 
 the atrophy and loss of the muscular contractility of muscles, which follow 
 the contusions of nerves more rapidly than after section of the nerves; 
 the appearance of certain lesions of the skin which accompany lesions of 
 the spine or brain: experiments on animals also show that certain destruc- 
 tive changes in the living animal tissues follow after section of the nerves 
 which are distributed to these tissues, though it has been contended by 
 
110 ELECTROLYSiS. 
 
 some writers that these changes are rather due to the destruction of reflex 
 action, and that, as a consequence, foreign bodies are left in contact with 
 the mucous surfaces, and thus produce an irritation upon which destruc- 
 tive changes will ensue. ' Taking all things into consideration, we may- 
 venture to say that the numerous phenomena of disease, joined to the 
 facts mentioned above, turn the scale by the amount of evidence in favor 
 of the view that some more or less direct influence of the nervous system 
 on metabolic actions, and so on nutrition, will be established by future 
 inquiries." 
 
 If we should incline to the theory that the action of electrolysis is 
 purely of a chemical nature in the animal organism, there is sufficient evi- 
 dence furnished by the above borrowed facts of physiology to show that: 
 —as the proteid bodies are the result of the conversion of chemical com- 
 pounds of vegetable origin, so any interference from an outside source 
 which would decompose these chemical bodies into their elementary con- 
 ditions might interrupt the process of physiological nutrition, and in this 
 way the construction of new tissue might be prevented. 
 
 Again, it has been shown that the retrograde metamorphosis is effected 
 by the decomposition of the proteid bodies into carbonic acid, water and 
 organic compounds. Sufficient evidence has been shown, in the chapter 
 on the chemical decompositions of inorganic and organic chemical com- 
 pounds, to prove that electrolysis can produce the decompositions of a 
 similar nature, and which warrant a theory that the same effects may be 
 produced in living tissue; and that in consequence of this artificial decom- 
 position an increase in retrograde metamorphosis may decrease the tissue 
 formation. 
 
 Again, an elevated temperature, as well as dilution of blood with twice 
 its volume of water, will hasten the coagulation, which latter result is the 
 effect of the separation of fibrin from the plasma of the blood. The effect 
 of an electrical current in contact with the blood will, as shown in a previous 
 chapter, result in the formation of a fibrinous deposit on or around the 
 electrodes, and sometimes will increase the amount of water in the blood. 
 
 AVhen we add to these facts that oxygen exists in the blood in a feeble 
 state of combination with the haemoglobin, and that the effect of the 
 presence of an electro-negative needle in contact with the blood results in 
 the collection of hydrogen, we might naturally presume on the establish- 
 ment of an hypothesis: viz., that the oxygen will combine with hydrogen 
 
 1 Op. cit. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES B"Y BLECTBOLY8I8. Ill 
 
 to form water. Now, this combination, as well as the combination oi oxy- 
 gen and carbon, will produce beat, and this production oi beat must do 
 some work. Possibly, and indeed probably, this work is partly explained 
 in the effect of the coagulation of blood; and coagulated blood loses its 
 
 property of conveying nutrition to the tissues which should he fed by the 
 blood in its active condition. 
 
 There is sufficient reason in the ahove arrangement of causes and 
 effects to account in part for the destroying action of electrolysis on tip- 
 life of the tissues, hut, before carrying this mode of argument further, it 
 would be advisable to obtain some other facts in relation to the natural 
 decadence of the tissues. We can obtain this information from a 
 pathologist of no mean reputation and in his own words in regard to 
 the nature, purposes, and conditions of nutrition: ' 
 
 " It is, further, probable that no part of the body is exempt from the 
 second source of impairment; that, namely, which consists in the natural 
 death or deterioration of the parts [independent of the death or decay of 
 the whole body] after a certain period of their life. It may be proved. 
 partly by demonstration, partly by analogy, that each integral or elemental 
 part of the human body is formed for a certain period of existence in the 
 ordinary conditions of active life, at the end of which period, if not pre- 
 viously destroyed by outward force or exercise, it degenerates and is ab- 
 sorbed, or dies and is cast out; needing, in either case, to be replaced 
 for the maintenance of health. 2 The simplest examples of this that I can 
 adduce are in the hair and the teeth: and in the process which] shall 
 describe, and illustrate with the annexed diagram, we seem to have an 
 image in which are plainly marked, though, as it were, in rough outline. 
 all the great features of the process by which certain tissues are maintained. 
 
 "An eyelash which naturally falls out or which can be drawn out with- 
 out pain, is one that has lived its natural time, and has died, and been 
 separated from the living parts. In its bulb such an one can be found 
 very different from those which are living in any period of their age. In 
 the early period of the growth of a dark eyelash, we find its outer end 
 almost uniformly dark, marked only with darker short linear streaks and 
 exhibiting no distinction of cortical and medullary substance. Not far 
 from its end, however, this distinction is plainly marked. Dark as the 
 
 •Lectures on Surgical Pathology, Sir James Paget, M.D. Third Am. Ed. 
 Lindsay & Blakiston, Phila., 186"), pp. 286. 
 
 - Dr. Carpenter, Principles of Human Physiology. 
 
112 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 cortical substance may be, the medullary appears like an interior cylinder 
 of much darker granular substance; and in a young hair this condition is 
 continued down to its deepest part where it enlarges to form the bulb 
 (Fig. 21, A). Now this enlargement, which is of nearly a cup-like form, 
 appears to depend on the accumulation of round and plump nucleated 
 cells, which, according to their position, are either, by narrowing and 
 elongation, to form the dry fibro-cells of the outer part of the growing and 
 further protruding shaft, or are to be transformed into the air- holding 
 cells of the medullary portion. At this time of most active growth, both 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 cells and nuclei contain abundant pigment matter, and the whole bulb 
 looks black. The sources of the material out of which the cells form 
 themselves are, at least, two; namely, the inner surface of the sheath, or 
 capsule, which envelops the hair, and the surface of the vascular pulp, 
 which fits in a conical cavity in the bottom of the hair bulb. 1 
 
 " Such is the state of parts so long as the hair is all dark. But as it 
 approaches the end of its existence, it seems to give tokens of advancing age, 
 by becoming gray (Fig. 21, B, C.) Instead of the almost sudden enlarge- 
 ment at its bulb, the hair only swells a little, and then tapers nearly to a 
 point; the conical cavity in its base is contracted, and hardly demonstra- 
 ble, and the cells produced on the inner surface of the capsule contain no 
 
 1 Our author here probably refers to the papilla of the hair. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES B? ELECTROLYSIS. 1 I 1 3 
 
 particle of pigment. Still, !'<>r some time it- oontinues thue bo live and 
 grow, and we find thai the vigor of the conical pulp" (papilla?) "lasts 
 rather longer than that of the sheath and capsule: for it continues t<> pro- 
 duce pigment-matter some time after the cortical substance of the hair 
 has been entirely white, and it is still distinct, because of the pigment-cells 
 covering its surface. 
 
 "At length the pulp can he no longer discerned, and uncolored cells 
 alone are produced, and maintain the latest growth of the hair. With 
 these it appears to grow yet some further distance, for we see traces of 
 their elongation into fibres or fihro-cells, in lines running from the inner 
 surface of the capsule inwards and along the surface of the hair; and we 
 can always observe that the dark column of medullary air-containing sub- 
 si a nee ceases at some distance above the lower end of the contracted hair 
 bulb (C, D). 
 
 " The end of all is the complete closure of the conical cavity in which 
 the hair-pulp " (papilla?) " was lodged; the cessation of the production of 
 new cells; and the consequent detachment of the hair as a dead part, 
 which now falls by the first accident; falls, sometimes, quite bare and 
 smooth on the whole surface of its white bulb, but sometimes bringing 
 with it a layer of cells detached from the inner surface of the capsule (D). 
 
 " Such is the life of the hair and such its death; which death, you see, 
 is natural, spontaneous, independent of exercise, or of any mechanical 
 external force, the natural termination of a certain period of life. Yet 
 before it dies, provision is made for its successor; for when its growth is 
 failing, you often find, just below the base of the old hair, a dark spot, 
 the germ or young pulp of the new one; it is covered with cells contain- 
 ing pigment, and often connected by a series of pigment-cells with the 
 old pulp or capsule (Fig. 21, C). And this appears to be produced by an 
 increase in the growth of the cells at the bottom of the hair-follicle, which 
 cells Kolliker's observations have shown to be derived partly from the 
 soft round cells of the hair bulb, and partly from the adjacent outer root- 
 sheath. By the subsequent elongation and differentiation of these cells 
 the new hair is formed. I believe we may assume an intimate analogy 
 between the process of successive life and death, which is here shown, 
 and that which is believed to maintain the ordinary nutrition of a part." 
 
 Such was the description given twenty years ago by this eminent sur- 
 gical pathologist in regard to the process by which the growth of a hair 
 
 is maintained, and from want of which its death ensues. The application 
 8 
 
114 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of his views and the anatomy of the root-sheath in relation to its sur- 
 rounding parts will be found in a subsequent chapter. (See Chap. X.) 
 
 This foregoing synopsis of the conditions of life and the reconstructive 
 elements of living tissue is briefly recited in order to show its bearing 
 upon the subject before us. We have seen in this brief review, that the 
 blood is the carrier of materials whose purpose it is to reconstruct and 
 repair living tissue, the latter of which is the seat of certain processes 
 which expend the organic material of which it is composed. These 
 processes, which for want of a better word we call vital, are carried on by 
 living cells; these are the seat of chemical changes, commonly called com- 
 bustion or oxidation, as also the seat of other changes which result either 
 in the reproduction of organic structures, likewise cells, by assimilation 
 of appropriate materials, or which result in the elimination of waste 
 material which they cannot assimilate. In other words, these cells are 
 the seat of constructive metamorphosis [metabolism] and destructive 
 metamorphosis of tissue. 
 
 The cells therefore constitute what is called living tissue, and are pos- 
 sessed with functions of life, and when these latter cease the cells perish. 
 It should here be remembered that the blood corpuscles are likewise cells, 
 and are endowed with living functions, and hence are to be considered also 
 as living tissue; disorders of nutrition may affect the latter as well as the 
 former class of cells. If the normal constituents of the blood undergo a 
 change, especially if it be in the direction of retrograde metamorphosis, 
 the cells of the tissues which contain a smaller amount of water, (and in 
 consequence are less likely to allow of motion of the component particles, ) 
 will also receive new materials or elements from which to select their pe- 
 culiar sustenance or with which to carry on their functions of life or of 
 reproduction. Prof. Gamgee * states that the normal quantity of water 
 in man's blood varies in amount from seventy-eight to eighty-eight per 
 cent, of its weight; the smaller proportion would be met with in health 
 and the larger proportion in the condition of starvation or after hemor- 
 rhage; a percentage of eighty to eighty-two or even higher is met with in 
 the case of anaemia or in an impoverishment of the blood, which is often 
 the concomitant of disease, such as abundant suppuration, chronic diar- 
 rhoea, malarial diseases, lead and mercurial poisoning, in cancerous and 
 tubercular affections. A decrease in the quantity of water in the blood 
 
 1 Op. Cit. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES Bl ELECTROLYSIS. L15 
 
 occurs in articular rheumatism, in erysipelas, in puerperal fever and espe- 
 cially in cholera. The proportion of water in muscle varies between 
 seventy-four and eighty per rent. 
 
 The proportion of water in the nervous tissues is from sixty-four to 
 eighty-five per cent. 
 
 The saline materials in the blood vary from seven to nine parts in a 
 thousand, and in muscle about the same, whereas nerve tissue may have 
 only half this amount. 
 
 It being understood that electrolysis is not limited simply to fluids, but 
 can act upon substances of which fluids form a large proportion, we can 
 readily understand that the effects of electrolytical action can easily be 
 recognized in any of the tissues above mentioned. Other things being 
 equal, we can also understand why a substance which is so largely com- 
 posed of water, as blood, muscle and nerve tissue, can itself be the seal 
 of electrolysis, and undergo changes by decomposition and reformation 
 of the original structure. 
 
 While attempting to study these changes of living tissue in the human 
 body, we might borrow from recent theories in the department of Botany, 
 in which great advances have been made in tin- knowledge of the causes 
 which promote cell-formation. Plants grow from the formation of new 
 cells or from the increase in size of the cells already formed. The forma- 
 tion of new cells takes place in the protoplasm of highly active cells, 
 under certain definite conditions; and the process of formation, although 
 differing somewhat in different cases, presents certain definite phenomena. 
 These phenomena have been carefully observed by the aid of very high 
 magnifving powers of the microscope, and by the means of tissue staining: 
 in this process some parts of the cell are more deeply stained than others. 
 These changes, as observed, appear somewhat as follows: — the protoplasm 
 contains a nucleus, a comparatively dense body, which passes through regu- 
 lar transformations; in these transformations this nucleus becomes sooner 
 or later separated by a sort of thin plate of cell-wall into two parts, the thin 
 plate itself forming a common septum between the two halves into which 
 the original divides by the process of segmentation. This nucleus appears 
 to have the power of arranging in regular forms the food-materials, chemi- 
 cal substances, which being placed at definite points would be. otherwise. 
 diffused throughout the protoplasm: the nucleus appears to have the 
 power of making out cf these materials a thin cell-wall, which is situated 
 at a given place with reference to the rest of the cell. The successive 
 
116 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 new walls are thus produced out of the division-walls which are formed 
 by the segmentation of the older nuclei. These new walls are so disposed 
 with reference to the others that regular forms of the successive organs 
 are developed in their proper order. 
 
 Certain of the filaments which are in the nucleus, during its segmen- 
 tation, form themselves in numerous and orderly arrangement into lines 
 which may be compared to those on the earth's meridian, and constitute 
 what are called by the technical name of karyokinetic figures. These 
 karyokinetic lines, or figures, are the same as those which are formed in 
 the segmentation of cells in the animal kingdom. The increase in the 
 size of the cells is supposed to arise from the deposition of particles of 
 cell-wall which are thrust in between older particles; though some 
 authorities suppose this increase to be caused by the stretching of the ex- 
 isting wall, which becomes thicker by the placing of new particles on the 
 inner surface. The resulting forms of cells are governed, of course, by 
 the character of the organs which they compose; but only by the arrange- 
 ments in such shapes as would result from their more convenient occupa- 
 tion of the space into which they are obliged to be confined; the shapes 
 of these cells are apparently related to the office they are to perform in 
 the structure. The diversity of these shapes is very great, but is more or 
 less related to the given number of cells which are limited in a given 
 space; the larger the space and the fewer the cells the more rectangular 
 will be the resulting shape, and, vice versa, the smaller the space into 
 which a larger number of cells are squeezed the narrower and longer will 
 be the resulting shape. 
 
 As essentials to their growth, the cell-structure needs as its food oxygen 
 and a certain amount of warmth. In the plant life the degree of warmth 
 recpuired for a healthy growth varies in different cases; while in the living 
 animal the degree of heat required for the maintenance of health and 
 growth is within a very small range, and must be maintained at the 
 expense of chemical action within the living organism. 
 
 In the study of botany many instruments have been devised for the 
 measurement of the rate of growth of plants. The observations of these 
 ehronographic instruments show that different plants have precisely the 
 same needs for growth; but that, under the same conditions, the same 
 plant will not always grow at exactly the same rate. While there are 
 certain conditions which are indispensable to rapid growth, there are some 
 internal influences at work in plants by which these conditions are more 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES BT ELECTROLYSIS. 11< 
 
 or less afEected in their efficiency; thus, plants exposed to an unvarying 
 degree of temperature will exhibit marked differences in their rate of 
 growth, which are, at present, unaccounted for, and which are nol de- 
 pendent upon any known external influences. Moreover, these differ- 
 ences cannot be explained by any ancestral peculiarity. 
 
 In continuation of these modern studies on the growth of plants Prof. 
 Goodale states, 1 that plants uot only require a certain amount of oxygen 
 and water, but must also have proper food. It is customary to speak of 
 the food of plants as wholly inorganic; that is, that it comes entirely from 
 the earth and air: yet. it is more in accordance with modern views of 
 physiological students to state the matter thus:— From inorganic materials 
 taken from the earth and air. plants prepare their food, and when thus 
 prepared and ready for use, this food is as truly organic as is the food of 
 animals. 
 
 All organic food represents a certain amount of treasured energy; the 
 great difference between plants and animals (excluding a few doubtful 
 exceptions) is this: under the influence of light, plants can treasure up 
 energy at first hand, so to speak, whereas animals have only that which 
 they have appropriated at second hand from plants or from other animals. 
 From this point of view plants should be considered as machines for storing 
 up solar radiance for themselves and for all other organisms on the face of 
 the earth. Plants stand midway between animals and starvation. The 
 animal has all the materials of food that the plant possesses, viz., carbonic 
 acid, water, and the traces of earthy matters, but under no known condi- 
 tions can the animal directly utilize them. It is not requisite to speak of 
 a few exceptions to this statement, since we are only speaking of the sub- 
 ject in general: every plant which possesses green coloring matter, chloro- 
 phyll, which is combined with its protoplasmic contents, can take these 
 inorganic matters and convert them into food, only however in the light. 
 
 Any intense white light, for instance the electric light, will answer 
 for solar light, but of course to a less degree. Siemens in England has 
 raised very delicious fruits under the electric lamp. A few plants, mush- 
 rooms for instance, have no green matter in their cells, and do not pO£ 
 the power of creating the food from inorganic, matter. They, like ani- 
 mals, must take their food from some prepared supply, as in this case 
 from decomposing matters of organic origin; they cannot subsist upon 
 inorganic matter alone any more than animals can. 
 
 1 Lowell Lectures. L886, Boston, Mass. 
 
118 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 We are taught that the growth of animals is a growth of the individual 
 cells, which multiply by the segmentation of their nuclei; and the animal 
 cells are fed from the sources of nature which are furnished to them by 
 the work of the vegetable plant life. The source of energy is from the 
 sunshine or from the energy which is latent in the organic kingdom, as 
 well as from that which has been stored up in inorganic chemical com- 
 pounds. We have seen in a study of the electro-chemical action of these 
 compounds in the galvanic cells, that this energ} T may be transmitted in 
 the form of electricity, in our present case electrolysis, which by its action 
 must also perform some work, either in constructing or tearing down 
 structures, when passing through the living organism. 
 
 "We have seen, also that the action of electricity, when passing through 
 its conducting mediums offering resistances, may develop this energy in 
 the form of heat or of light. We also know from the study of disease 
 in the case of abnormal elevation of temperature, that living tissues 
 undergo a loss of substance from the destruction of cell life, and that 
 the products of this definite destruction are found in the form of lower 
 organic chemical compounds or of the higher inorganic compounds. "We 
 also know that pathological lesions in the nerve centres are usually marked 
 by disturbance of nutrition in those tissues which derive their innervation 
 from these centres. Now, it seems reasonable to assume that the trans- 
 mission of electricity through these conducting mediums, whether con- 
 ducting easily or with difficulty, must be accompanied with some marked 
 effect upon the integrity or functional activity of the structures conducting 
 this energy. 
 
 Let us now turn from these studies in botany to some of the more 
 recent investigations of animal cell propagation. It must first be stated 
 that we are progressing somewhat beyond the region of exact science 
 towards the rather doubtful position of speculative theory; but we cannot 
 do otherwise, if we desire to advance our knowledge, for a theory is 
 nothing without its practical application, and will fall by its own weight 
 unless the applications bear out the principles upon which it is founded. 
 The facts of observation are none the less true, whether the resulting 
 theory be admitted or not. Histology has long been occupied with the 
 processes by Avhich the propagation and consequent increase in the num- 
 ber of cells of a given tissue are effected; the principle and fact of the 
 segmentation of the primordial cells is now generally admitted; the details 
 of the method in which these segmentations occur are hardly established, 
 
DESTRUCTION <>F UYI.\<; TISSUES BY ELECTROLY8I8. 11!' 
 
 We have seen in the account which oas been presented by Professor 
 Goodale in his course of lectures on recent progress in the knowledge of 
 cell multiplication in the plant life, thai botanists are disposed to admit 
 certain plant of the formation of new cells out of the older nuclei: 
 students of histology of animal tissue formation have also occupied their 
 at i cut ion with the details of the process of cell multiplication in the living 
 structures of the human body, hi a recent article entitled Karyokinesis' 
 Waldeyer presented ;i communication to the Society of Medicine of Berlin 
 in November, 1885, upon the subjecl of cell segmentation. This author, 
 in mentioning the increasing interest shown in the study of this process 
 in the animal organism, reported some new investigations of a practical 
 nature upon this point. 
 
 He states that according to the theory of Remak, which is substantiated 
 by Tilhard, Schultzer, Ranvier and himself, it is believed that when a cell 
 performs its functions of segmentation, the work is done by the nucleolus, 
 which subdivides in two parts, and which process is afterwards continued 
 by the nucleus; this latter ends finally in the division of the cell into two 
 portions. Since the time when the above mentioned process was admitted 
 by histologists as a fact, anew method of segmentation has been recog- 
 nized, which upon the initial proposition of Schleicher, has received the 
 name of karyokinesis. 
 
 According to the recent investigations of Fleuring, of Hertwig and of 
 other histologists, the cell nucleus comprises a kind of limited space 
 (frame) which is defined by large filaments; these thrust out slender fila- 
 ments which anastomose in form of meshes. The nucleus is surrounded 
 by a thin membrane, which is formed, according to the opinion of some 
 authorities, by the terminal expansions of these slender filaments, while 
 according to other authorities, it is a true membrane. A substance (uni- 
 nucleary of Hertwig) fills the network of these meshes. In the midst of 
 this fluid material (jus) are found the nucleoli, suspended to the filaments 
 of this space; and, in the opinion of certain authorities, these latter are 
 only enlargements of the framework. 
 
 The above described nucleus is called " the nucleus in a state of repose," 
 When the phenomenon of segmentation begins, which follows the charac- 
 ter of karyokinetic, certain methods of peculiar transformations are pro- 
 duced. It must first be understood that the areolar space and the nucleoli, 
 
 1 Nbuvelles Archives d'Obstetrique el de Gynecologie, 35Feb., L886,p. LIS. 
 
1 20 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 both of which are colored by certain pigments, receive the name of chro- 
 matic substance, in contradistinction to the nucleary fluid (sic) which is 
 not susceptible to coloration by the same pigment and consequently is called 
 achromatic substance. When segmentation begins, the fasciculi of the 
 space, which were not arranged in any order beforehand, in the state of 
 repose, will afterwards arrange themselves in regular groups (Kalb). The 
 lateral expansions then extend into this space, and the areolar arrange- 
 ment and the nucleoli disappear. 
 
 The large filaments which remain, then form loops with their convexi- 
 ties directed towards one half (polar) of the cell, and their concavities 
 directed towards the other half (polar). Kalb is of the opinion that this 
 arrangement of filaments in loops had existed during the state of repose, 
 but that it was masked by the lateral expansions; this same writer is the 
 authority for the belief that the nucleus originally contained several iso- 
 lated filaments; Fleuring and Strassburger, on the other hand, incline to 
 the belief that a single filament only exists and from this the several loops 
 are described. 
 
 In a later phase these filaments become contracted in their lengths and 
 consequently are thickened; from this thickening these filaments segmen- 
 tate in such a manner that several loops spring from a single loop; the 
 same primitive loop will always give origin to the same number of second- 
 ary loops. During this second phase the filaments will segmentate as a 
 fundamental phenomenon in the direction of their length (Fleuring 
 Hauser, Kalb, Strassburger.) 
 
 The third period is then reached, which is characterized by the fact 
 that the primary chromatic figure of the nucleus will give place to another 
 arrangement, which has been recognized for a long time (Kowalewski), 
 and which is named the achromatic figure in spindle shape. This latter 
 figure is formed from very delicate filaments and has the appearance of a 
 regular shaped spindle, which, according to Kalb, occupies an eccentric 
 position within the nucleus, its equatorial line being turned towards the 
 pole of the nucleus. The loops of the chromatic figure face towards the 
 equatorial line of the achromatic figure, and thus become reunited along 
 the length of the equator of the latter. The position of the spindle im- 
 mediately changes in such wise that its poles suddenly coincide with those 
 of the nucleus. The period of the first stage, called stage of sphericity 
 (pelotonnement) is then attained. It should he noted that towards the 
 cud of this stage a small corpuscle (polar corpuscle) "will appear at each 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES r.Y ELECTROLYSIS. 1 2 1 
 
 polo of the f usif orm body; from this corpuscle radiating striee originate 
 which penetrate into fche protoplasm of the cell; this fact seems to indi- 
 cate that the protoplasm itself shares in the action. 
 
 A second stage succeeds to that which has been described above, and 
 to which Kail) was the first to call attention: — The segmentation occurs, 
 as has been mentioned, during the stage of sphericity; at this period the 
 two filaments of the second generation become separated in order to attach 
 themselves each to a pole of the fusiform body; soon the loops arc grouped 
 around the poles in a manner to form a stellate figure {asteroid stage). 
 Then the filaments of the achromatic figure are drawn within those points, 
 by which the equatorial line of the spindle is defined, and. in this way, 
 prescribe the limit of the area of segmentation; this process of division 
 follows that of the body of the cell. It should be remarked that the 
 limiting membrane disappears during the above described stage, and that 
 a new membrane is formed around each polar mass. 
 
 If these two stellate figures be examined during this period, the same 
 configuration will be found as in the primary nucleus: — that is, the loops 
 are curved with their convexities directed towards a pole, and secondary 
 anastomotic filaments will become detached from the larger filaments, and 
 in this way are formed a new plot {trame), a nucleolus, etc. 
 
 The behavior of the nucleary fluid {jus) during these metamorphoses is 
 not yet estahlished. According to the authority of Strassburger. it per- 
 forms no other part in the work of segmentation than this; while mingling 
 with the protoplasm of the cell at the moment of the desi ruction of the nu- 
 cleus, it would assist by this union in giving to the achromatic figure its 
 spindle shape. 
 
 Fleuring assumes that the achromatic figure is formed of certain por- 
 tions of the chromatic figure which are recognized as distinct from the 
 rest by not being susceptible of coloration. Kalb supports this same 
 opinion, but believes, ki addition, that the nucleary fluid partakes in the 
 formation of the fusiform figure, and does not change its condition in the 
 protoplasm. There are then some grounds for the support of the hypoth- 
 esis of Remak in the presumption of a new structure of the nucleus. 
 
 We do not know what becomes of the limiting membrane of the 
 nucleus, nor of the part which the fusiform body plays in the process of 
 segmentation. 
 
 W'aldever advances the statement that the knowledge of this method 
 has already furnished its first fruits. He believes that a cell is in condi- 
 
122 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 tion of segmentation when several nuclei are found in its interior; seg- 
 mentation should only be admitted as occurring when proof is afforded 
 of the succession of those changes which constitute the process of karyo- 
 kinesis. Moreo\er, when these changes are proceeding in several nuclei, 
 which are restricted to a small compass, we may be able to conclude that 
 a tissue is in course of active proliferation directly under our observation. 
 
 AVe see that botanists and histologists, both in each department of 
 microscopical observations, are strongly inclined to the belief of certain 
 movements of the minute organic particles, and that these must proceed 
 in regular order to cause the process of cell multiplication, or prolifera- 
 tion; from their mode of reasoning we are entitled to conclude that any 
 interference with this process of assuming regular motions will interrupt 
 the process of segmentation, which is now generally admitted to be neces- 
 sary to an increase in the formation of new cells, and, consequently, of 
 new tissue. "Without attempting to carry this train of thought into the 
 grand processes of tissue nutrition, we may continue its study in the ap- 
 plication to the subject now before us. 
 
 It must be admitted from the teachings of chemistry, that every 
 process of building up a higher inorganic or organic structure consumes 
 energy, and that every process of a higher organism, falling to a lower 
 stage from its previous higher form of structure, is accompanied with a 
 liberation of latent energy which may be transferred into motion ; there- 
 fore in a complicated organism, like that of the plant or animal life, these 
 processes of repair must be accompanied with the consumption of latent 
 energy; on the other hand, decompositions of the higher structures con- 
 tained in these same organisms must be followed by the liberation of the 
 previous latent energy. We must also admit that motion is the result of 
 the display of a force. We have seen in the latest exposition of the 
 process of segmentation, that this latter is accompanied with the physical 
 property of motion, a motion of a decidedly active* and delicate character, 
 which must consume a considerable amount of energy. We know, also, 
 that the analysis of the results of destructive changes of the tissues show 
 a decomposition by descent to lower forms of chemical compounds: these 
 are marked by the presence in the excreta from the human body of these 
 compounds, and they are, moreover, found in larger amounts in the con- 
 ditions of the body which are concomitant with the waste of tissue. 
 
 It lias been shown in a previous chapter that electricity is simply a 
 natural force, and that this force is the result of the decomposition of 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES KY ELECTROLYSIS. 123 
 
 chemical compounds, and is the transmutation of a latent energy. It has 
 
 also been previously shown that the presence of this electrical force iii 
 organic solutions produces their decompositions. It naturally follows 
 
 from this mode of reasoning thai the introduction from without of a 
 force would produce some action upon the complicated processes of tissue 
 formation; impulse would lead us to suppose that the direction of thie 
 influence should favor the processes of nutrition: on the other hand, prac- 
 tical experience proves the opposite effect. We cannot assume that the 
 effe< t of the electrical cm-rent acts as it does in the laboratory experiment. 
 We must seek some other analogy. A simple fact is offered from which 
 we may start; the introduction of a sharp-pointed instrument within the 
 medulla oblongata is immediately followed by an arrest of its functional 
 activity, and this is suddenly followed by death. This is a simple act, and 
 there will be no occasion for an elaborate discussion to prove the effect 
 from a cause; the medulla is the seat of the nerve centre which presides 
 over the animal functions of life, the central organ of the motion of the 
 blood circulation, as well as that of respiration; there is no need of enter- 
 ing into the matter of explaining in this connection that probably the 
 medulla receives its reflex impressions from the presence of carbonic di- 
 oxide in the blood, because the result which follows the puncture is too 
 rapid to be explained on this supposition. The injury to a very limited 
 portion of this nerve centre produces fatal effects. The illustration is 
 presented to sIioav merely how the simplest interference with the integ- 
 rity of an important organ may destroy its function. 
 
 A simple needle puncture within a living tissue need not necessarily 
 destroy its vitality; indeed, it may stimulate its nutrition by inviting a 
 freer flow of blood to promote its nutrition; the transfixing of a hair folli- 
 cle by a needle will not destroy its vitality nor impair the growth of the 
 hair, unless it induces an active inflammation which is attended with a 
 loss of the tissue which surrounds the follicle, and from which the hair 
 receives its nutrient material; pulling out of the hair does not prevent 
 another one from growing within the same sheath and from its papilla. 
 A puncture within an hypertrophied growth of tissue does not destroy its 
 hypertrophied cell formation, nor will the puncture from several needles 
 produce a decrease in its extent; yet, an electro-puncture into the hair 
 follicle will, if the electrical current be continued long enough to destroy 
 its surrounding tissue, cause a follicular destruction; the evidence is also 
 sufficient to prove that an electro-puncture into a glandular tissue will be 
 
124 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 followed by the same result, provided that similar conditions accompany 
 this interference with its integrity. This result is more sure to follow 
 the effect when the tissue is made up of that kind of cell formation which 
 closely resembles the embryonic cell formation. On the other hand, 
 practical experience would appear to show that where the hypertrophy of 
 growth is in that form of cell multiplication which corresponds with a 
 lower scale of vitality, as, for instance, that of cancer, the application of 
 the electro-puncture is not followed by an arrest of this cell formation; 
 so, again, where we have to deal with a collection of the products of de- 
 composed cell formations, as, for instance, that of a fluid contained in a 
 cyst, or with purulent materials, the electro-puncture does not effect an 
 arrest of the products of decomposition. ' 
 
 This position will be more fully understood in the perusal of the cases 
 detailed in a subsequent chapter. Now it would seem that a proper ex- 
 planation of the causes which effect a decrease in the production of cell 
 multiplication would lie in the direction of a knowledge of the methods 
 in which the particular form of cell is propagated, and which is more un- 
 favorably affected by the electrolytical action. The theory of the karyo- 
 kinetic configuration and the accompanying segmentation of the nuclei 
 would appear to furnish a basis for the proper explanation of the effects 
 of electrolysis of the glandular hypertrophy; and the most satisfactory 
 way of continuing this study would be in this direction. The method of 
 action of the electrical current in the treatment of cystic tumors is more 
 particularly mentioned in the seventh chapter, in relation to the clinical 
 history of these cases; in the author's opinion this explanation need not 
 rely upon the same basis as that of the cell destruction of hypertrophied 
 growths. 
 
 There is another phase of the present question which is not only of 
 importance in our theoretical discussion, but also of paramount importance 
 in regard to the practical application of the therapeutics of electrolysis; 
 the action of a strong current to the destruction of the embryonic eel] 
 multiplication is rarely followed by the same satisfactory results, as from 
 the long continued action of feeble currents; especially is this true when 
 the Latter have the character of what is known by the name of currents 
 having large quantity, or, what should better be called, by the name of 
 
 1 We do not here refer to the secondary effects which may be otherwise ex- 
 plained, as the stimulating action to a chronic inflamed tissue which results in 
 the formation of pyogenic membrane. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES BY ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 L25 
 
 runvnts possessed with the property <>f producing a Large amount of 
 chemical action. 
 
 Another physical effect of electrical action upon fluids, which has been 
 referred to in these previous pages, deserves more than the passing notice 
 which many writers on electricity in medicine have given to it; viz., cata- 
 phoric action of electricity (electrical osmosis). This physical property is 
 
 11 
 
 J- 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 so well described in a comparatively recent work that no apology is offered 
 for borrowing this description. 1 " Let a narrow glass cell A as in Fig. 22 
 be divided by a wall of porous earthenware B, and let electrodes of 
 platinum-foil C and D be connected with Zn and Cu, the respective poles 
 of a 10- cell Grove's battery. 
 
 Place pure water in the cell A, so that it stands at exactly the same 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 level in both divisions. Scarcely any gas will be evolved, the water being 
 so bad a conductor. But in the course of a few hours, the water around 
 the negative (— ) pole will be found higher than that around the positive 
 (+) P°l° ('*)• Witli dilute sulphuric acid, or sulphate of copper, the amount 
 of electrolysis is very much greater, but the difference of level is found 
 
 1 Magnetism and Electricity, Guthrie, p. 168. 
 
126 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 to be less, while with alcohol and other liquids, which conduct even worse 
 than water, the passage towards the negative pole is greater. A series of 
 exact experiments have been made with the apparatus shown in Fig. 23, 
 which exhibits all the parts as though they were transparent. The 
 outer cylinder A is open at the top. B is the anode in the form of a 
 cylindrical sheet of platinum (or in the case of alcohol, copper). C is a 
 cylindrical porous earthenware cell, fastened above to a short cylinder of 
 glass E of the same size, which carries a cork F. 
 
 Through the cork F passes a platinum wire, protected from contact 
 with the cork by being fused into a glass tube, and carrying below the 
 copper or platinum cathode D. Through the cork F also passes tube G, 
 whose inner end dips into a liquid in the porous cell. On connecting the 
 electrodes with the battery, as indicated by the signs, the current passes 
 from B to D, and the liquid moves with it. The whole of the porous cell 
 and glass cylinder, up to the cork, and the tube G, being perfectly full, 
 the quantity of liquid which escapes from is the same as that which has 
 been moved by electrical osmosis. The gas is evolved in the case of alco- 
 hol or sulphate of copper, and an exceedingly small quantity in the case 
 of water; such gas (H) may be collected and measured if necessary. It is 
 found that the amount of electrical osmosis is proportional to the strength 
 of the current of the battery and that it is also proportional to the resist- 
 ance of the liquid. The total quantity of the electricity which passes 
 through the cell may be measured by interposing a cell of sulphate of 
 copper in the circuit, and weighing the amount of metallic copper de- 
 posited on the cathode of the interposed cell." 
 
 It will be noticed that the amount of fluid transported to the 
 negative pole by means of an electrical current is proportional to the 
 strength of the current and to the resistance of the fluid conductor; it 
 would naturally follow from this that the movement of fluids within the 
 human body would take place towards the surface upon which the nega- 
 tive electrode is in contact, and that when the resistance is greater from 
 the chemical character of the solution, the movement of transportation 
 will be more active. The clinical experience of von Ehrenstein, Semele- 
 der, Fieber, and others, which is more especially mentioned in chapter 
 seventh, would seem to show that the fluids of a cyst within the abdominal 
 walls will be absorbed and disappear under the treatment of electrolysis, 
 particularly when the combined use of diuretics, hydragogue cathartics, 
 and diaphoretics produce a voluminous discharge of watery materials from 
 
DESTRUCTION OF LIVING TISSUES BY ELECTROLYSIS. 127 
 
 the body. It would be unreasonable to attempl to explain the absorption 
 of watery materials from a cystic tumor by the assumption that the cell 
 format ions arc disturbed by the destructive agency of electrolysis, or that 
 the chemical decomposition of the water or saline substances in its solu- 
 tion are formed into gaseous elements; because the total results of this 
 physiological and chemical action are not commensurate cither with the 
 whole effect to be ascribed to the electro-chemical decomposition, or to 
 the whole amount of the resulting absorption of the fluids. It would not 
 be reasonable to suppose that the cataphoric action could account for this 
 large amount of Liquid absorption, at least, simply to ascribe this absorp- 
 tion to the physical effects of transportation of the mass of fluid towards 
 the negative electrode; for the strength of the electrical current is not 
 sufficient to account for the rapid effects of the electrical current, In the 
 preceding experiment we have seen that it requires several hours for the 
 transportation of a considerable mass of fluid. On the other hand, it is 
 known that the disappearance of large quantities of fluid, either in ascites 
 or in cysts, from the abdominal cavity has occurred spontaneously, or by 
 the aid of the same medicinal remedies -which are above mentioned; yet, 
 it should not be overlooked that these same medicinal remedies frequently 
 have not accomplished the removal of liquid effusions unless the treat- 
 ment has been combined with that of electrolysis. It must, therefore, 
 be admitted that the action of electricity has a considerable share in 
 effecting the absorption of effusions. As it would require an illustration 
 from clinical experience to understand the method by which these effu- 
 sions are absorbed, as also the theory which would satisfactorily explain 
 the process, its further discussion will be reserved until after these cases 
 have been reported in detail. 
 
 There are, therefore, four methods by which electricity can be sup- 
 posed to interfere with interstitial nutrition,' and in consequence of this 
 interference, destroy the life of the cells, viz. : — 
 
 1. By producing a true decomposition of the chemical compounds, 
 upon whose combination the integrity of the living structures depends. 
 
 2. By interfering with the natural processes of cell segmentation, by 
 which their proliferation and increase is etfected; this interference would 
 thus prevent the repair and multiplication of the cells whose living func- 
 tions are essential to the growth of the living tissues. 
 
 3. By promoting a movement of the mass of fluid in the living tissues 
 towards the negative electrode, and thus interfering with constructive 
 
1 28 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 metabolisms upon which interstitial nutrition depends, In regard to this 
 method, we would refer our readers to the extract from Sir James Paget's 
 lecture to show that, at least in the case of the nutrition of the hair, the 
 increase of the destructive changes, which occur after typhoid and other 
 conditions of disease, may not unreasonably be supposed to effect similar 
 attending phenomena which occur in the natural processes of decay. 
 
 4. The acid and alkaline reactions at the positive and negative elec- 
 trodes, respectively, from which a caustic action upon the tissues is effected 
 through contact of these two different chemical reactions. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS IN THE LIVING 
 
 TISSUES. 
 
 Recognizing that the object of the application of electrolysis in the 
 living tissues is that it may be used for the purposes of their destruction, 
 and for nothing else, the methods of its application arc theoretically sim- 
 ple. We have seen in the preceding chapters that we have to deal with 
 physiological as well as physical processes, and that the electrolytical action 
 of this form of electricity is to be expended in order to arrest the recon- 
 structive metabolisms. We have also seen that the action of electrolysis 
 is accompanied with the acid reaction at the positive pole and an alkaline 
 reaction at the negative pole; again, that the cataphoric action, whereby 
 a transportation en masse of the fluids through a porous septum, occurs 
 towards the negative pole; the fluid condition in these tissues is to all 
 intents and purposes in porous septums, and is undoubtedly under similar 
 circumstances susceptible to the same process of transportation as that of 
 fluids in other porous septums outside of the body. We have also seen 
 that the presence of an electrical force within these tissues may be accom- 
 panied with the display of electro-chemical actions, by which the chemical 
 structure of these tissues may be broken up into its elementary characters. 
 
 All of these processes of the effects of electrical action are not to be 
 ascribed to that of electrolysis, viewed simply as a chemical reaction, but 
 they are none the less concerned with the subject of this treatise, and 
 deserve the same consideration as the display of simple electrolysis; in 
 other words, since the therapeutical action of the so-called electrolysis has 
 been considered in books on the application of this method of cure in 
 tumors, as well as other conditions of diseased tissues, the study of its 
 action and practical application requires that these different phases of 
 electrical display should be severally mentioned. 
 
 The application of this treatment will depend upon the nature of the 
 disturbed condition which we may be called upon to correct; for instance, 
 to take the simplest condition, that of a chronic suppuration of an inflamed 
 tissue, the tract of a sinus or fistula; in these conditions of an unhealthy 
 
1 30 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 tissue the indications for treatment, as in those of a chronic ulcer of the 
 skin, is to destroy the results of inflammation or of suppuration, and hy a 
 process of stimulation of the inflamed and vitiated surface to substitute a 
 healthier interstitial repair, by means of which the process of healing of 
 this surface may be naturally restored. For this purpose the local action of 
 a stimulating caustic may be employed, and previously to this to cause a 
 removal of the accumulated and vicious secretions; the positive electrode 
 should therefore be applied to the deteriorated tissue, for by means of the 
 cataphoric action produced from the positive as well as towards the nega- 
 tive pole the watery materials will pass away from this surface; the acid 
 which will collect around the positive electrode will stimulate the under- 
 lying tissue, and as a result there will be formed a dry and small scab, 
 under which the reparative processes may be encouraged. This same 
 positive electrode should also be applied to the diseased conditions known 
 as lupus, of which some cases are reported in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 On the other hand, if the indications are for the prevention of the 
 formations of the embryonic cell growths, by the increase of which hyper- 
 trophy will occur, the negative electrode should be selected for applica- 
 tion. For this electrode invites the appearance of water around it and 
 will, otherwise, cause the disturbed conditions of the process necessary to 
 the segmentation of the embryonic cells, and in this way, will prevent 
 the constructive metabolisms which cause an increase and multiplication 
 of these cells, and thus produce the hypertrophy. 
 
 If, again, we should desire to effect an absorption of a fluid within the 
 cavities of the body, we should then seek to apply the cataphoric action 
 •of electricity, by which the fluid is transported towards the negative elec- 
 trode, and by this means cause the absorption of the fluid by the processes 
 which would convey the fluid towards the periphery, to those tissues which 
 act as absorbents. The combined use of diuretics and other medicinal 
 agents would materially assist in removing by the emunctories the fluid 
 thus transported by the agency of electricity. AVe must not overlook the 
 fact that the action of rubefacients, vesicants and otlier similar medica- 
 ments are employed sometimes for the same purpose; and possibly we 
 might account in part for the action of electricity as a cataphoric agent 
 by the same explanation of counter irritation; but this will not account 
 for all of the action, because the application of electricity has been fol- 
 lowed by absorption of the effused fluid, when the use of the medicinal 
 means, without the aid of electricity, has not been thus successful. 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS. I ■"> 1 
 
 These Receding remarks will suggest that the methods of employing 
 electricity, as well as the other physical properties which are inherent in 
 electricity, will necessarily be varied to snit the purposes of the indication 
 in each class of cases. 
 
 To effect the absorption of effused liquids within the cavities of the 
 body a current strength should be selected, which should have considera- 
 ble tension, as well as a strong chemical action; the galvanic cells should 
 consequently be coupled for tension in series, hut the elements would be 
 also advantageously arranged to present a large surface to the exciting 
 solution within these cells; it may even hi! advisable to combine the sys- 
 tem of the arrangement of cells in battery, so that we may employ a mixed 
 combination of two or more groups which combine the parallel, or the 
 multiple, with the series system, as explained in a preceding chapter, or 
 as shown in the accompanying diagram: 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 When it is remembered tbat the effusion of fluids into a cavity is the 
 result of a vitiated condition of the tissues, it might be supposed that the 
 use of an agent which has been assumed to effect changes of a destructive 
 character could with difficulty be assumed to act as a curative agent. 
 \\ bile admitting the truth of this apparent paradox it should, also, be re- 
 membered that the cataphoric action of electricity would have the effect 
 of setting in motion a mass of fluid; as a consequence of this active motion, 
 the processes of absorption would be accelerated towards the porous 
 mediums, and these latter would therefore remove the effusion by the 
 natural process in healthy tissues from the cavitynearer to the emunctory 
 apparatus. The object in using a current of strong chemical power is 
 obvious from the fact, which has already been illustrated, that the cata- 
 phoric action increases with this power combined with the resistance 
 
132 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 offered by the fluid, or partially fluid, condition; a current of very high 
 tension might overcome this resistance and produce other inflammatory 
 effects, which might counteract those of an osmotic character; as a result 
 the local changes in the absorbing tissues might be different from what 
 had been contemplated. To produce the best effects in the absorption of 
 abnormal effusions within the living tissues, the strength of the current 
 should not exceed that of fifteen or twenty milliamperes, and the applica- 
 tion of the current should not be prolonged beyond a half hour's sitting, 
 because a current stronger than this produces local inflammatory processes 
 which oppose osmosis. As it is known that the resistance of the human 
 body in different individuals, or in the same individual, varies Avidely ac- 
 cording to the circumstances of the atmospheric condition or of the con- 
 ditions of the tissues submitted to the electrodes, it is readily seen that 
 the appropriate strength and tension of the current would be a matter of 
 experimental test in each case, as well as at each sitting. This question 
 has not been sufficiently dwelt upon in works on medical electricity, and 
 the attention of the reader is particularly directed to its application in 
 clinical experience. 
 
 Where the indications for treatment are simply upon the external 
 tissues, for abnormal growths in or on the skin, the application of appro- 
 priate strength of current is not much different from that in the case of 
 effusions. In the treatment of these marks or growths in the skin the 
 action of electricity is simply used for the effect of their local destruction; 
 and proper caution should be exercised to limit the destroying action to 
 the abnormal growth; for, otherwise, the healing mark of the loss of sur- 
 face may extend over too large a space and be more apparent than the 
 nature of the case may require. As a natural consequence the indica- 
 tions are thus to limit the action of the destroying agent; and, since the 
 electrode should touch the most minute portion of the skin other than 
 that of the abnormal growth, the electrode should, therefore, be made of 
 the best conducting material, should be unalterable to the chemical 
 products of decomposition, and should have a sufficient stillness, com- 
 bined with sufficient pliability. Steel and iron have been used, but gold 
 and platinum are so much better conductors that they are preferable. 
 An alloy of platinum and iridium is now a commercial article in the form 
 of fine wire, and can very readily be adapted to our purposes; the platinum 
 bas only a sufficient amount of iridium alloyed with it to make the wire 
 stiff as well as partly pliable; this appears not to diminish its power of 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS. L33 
 
 conductibility. We owe to the ingenuity of I>r. Bardaway, of St. Louis, 
 tlic application of this alloy t<» the purposes of electrolysis. 
 
 If we desire bo remove a warty growth in the skin, and this may have 
 a hanl. horny consistence and dryness, it should be remembered that 
 these conditions offer the worst form of conductivity, as compared with 
 the softer tissues of the human body; it will, therefore, be found desira- 
 ble to use another metallic form of electrode, so that the action of the 
 electrical current may be more extensive than in many cases of skin ab- 
 normalities. Zinc presents a good metallic electrode for this purpose, and 
 if it has been thoroughly amalgamated with mercury, it does not very 
 readily become alterable or polarizable. Where one of the electrodes is 
 formed of zinc, and the other of platinum, the action of electrical osmosis 
 is doubled in the same period of time, as compared with the use of elec- 
 trodes both of which are made of platinum. For these and other reasons 
 zinc furnishes an excellent material for causing a more diffused action in 
 destroying Marts, which are often deep-seated and difficult of eradication 
 by chemical caustics; the action of limiting the destructive effects is quite 
 as much within the control of the operator. As we have to deal with a 
 tissue of high resistance, and, as our object should be to concentrate the 
 electrical action, it is advantageous to use a current of high tension, or 
 great strength, equal to that of thirty or forty amperes; but even in this 
 case it is desirable to have a strong chemical action; the arrangement of 
 thirty-two Leclanche cells in eight series of groups of four cells is a con- 
 venient arrangement; with such a battery the author destroyed in one 
 sitting of ten minutes a wart which was in the skin surrounding the 
 thumb nail, and which could not be easily removed by the knife or chemi- 
 cal caustic; this wart measured over two centimetres in length and one 
 in breadth; two amalgamated zinc (positive) and two irido-platinum 
 (negative) needles were transfixed through the margins of this hypertro- 
 phied growth, and in three weeks the eschar and wart came off without 
 violence. Xo scar was left on the skin where the wart previously was 
 located. It was observed in this instance that a very large amount of 
 fluid collected at the negative electrode, and that the ebullition was very 
 active, much more so than in cases where other metallic needles had been 
 used'. It is absolutely important that the wart shall not be irritated so as 
 to induce the tearing of the adjacent sound tissue, but the dried eschar 
 should separate without being injured by rubbing, scratching or pulling 
 it off from the underlying healthy tissue. 
 
134 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 Several cases of the removal of nsevus by the similar method are de- 
 tailed in chapter seventh, as the) r were reported by Groh, and they show 
 the efficiency of the treatment without a blemishing scar or deep destruction 
 of tissue. 
 
 When, however, the object of destruction is that of a fibroid tumor 
 near serous membrane or inflamed tissue the current should have a very 
 feeble strength, less than five milliamperes; but in these cases the feeble 
 current would produce a mild chemical and slight cataphoric action, and 
 the sittings must consequently be of longer duration, perhaps of half an 
 hour to an hour, and repeated at intervals of once in five or six days; in 
 these cases probably quite as much should be expected from the cataphoric, 
 as from the chemical action of electricity; because the electro-chemical 
 action is too slight to have the destruction of the hypertrophied growth 
 attributed to the latter effect of the current. 
 
 If the object of treatment be the .removal of a cancerous growth, 
 Beard's method of transfixing the base of the tumor by several electro- 
 punctures offers the best means of application of the destroying action of 
 electricity; and for this purpose currents of great strength should be 
 used, for the purpose of thermic effects, in order to produce a rapid 
 destruction and to separate the diseased from the adjacent tissues; the 
 object of this treatment is to thoroughly destroy all the local portions of 
 the diseased mass, as there can hardly be any expectation of removing the 
 cancerous constitutional taint. 
 
 If the object of treatment be to reduce a vascular swelling of an hyper- 
 trophied growth, like that of some classes of goitre, the strength of the cur- 
 rent should be feeble, three to seven milliamperes, and should be continued 
 for sittings of about twenty minutes; local inflammatory action should 
 be especially avoided. On this account, also, the sittings should not occur 
 more than twice a week, and the use of surface and stabile applieations 
 should be employed every day; these latter applications are probably of 
 benefit on account of inducing a cataphoric action in the hypertrophied 
 growth, a derivation of water from the deeper tissues to that part of the 
 subcutaneous tissue which can readily absorb the fluids transmitted to 
 its surface by the electrical action: for it, docs not, appear to make much 
 difference in the results of treatment, whether the contact be directly over 
 the cervical ganglions, or at the malar region, provided the negative elec- 
 trode be of large surface and he applied upon the Bkin which overlies the 
 tumor. The electro-punctures should not be connected with both battery 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS. 1 35 
 
 poles but the aegative «>uly. The electrodes Bhould be made of irido- 
 platinum, because the use of zinc will cause too much irritation or even 
 may induce inflammatory action, which may stimulate an increase in the 
 growth of the tinner. One pole should be selected for the puncture; this 
 Bhould be preferably the negative, for the conveyance of water to the 
 cell nuclei may derange segmentation. To relieve the exophthalmos the 
 surface application and negative electrode should be used with currents 
 of moderate strength, about ton milliamperes, the negative in contact 
 with the eyelids for daily sittings of ten minutes' duration. This will 
 drive the water from the deeper tissues behind the orbit to the subcuta- 
 neous surface of the eyelids, where it may be absorbed. 
 
 In cases of hypertrichosis very fine irido-platinum needles (negative) 
 should be inserted to the bottom of, not through, the hair follicle, and the 
 object should be to convey the electrical action directly in contact with 
 the papilla of the hair bulb and the surrounding connective tissue next to 
 the follicle, and thus destroy its vitality and power of reproduction by 
 nucleated cell formation of a second hair. The battery should have the 
 strongest chemical action and be of very low tension. For this purpose a 
 large amount of surface area in a large amount of an exciting solution 
 should be preferred, as in this arrangement the inflammatory action upon 
 the skin may be avoided, and hardly any scar or pitting of the surface will 
 result. The destruction of the skin is in the form of a cone whose apex 
 is towards the papilla, and the base at epidermal surface; hence the 
 reparative process does not generally extend to much depth, unless several 
 adjacent hairs are selected and the destruction of tissue be thus extended. 
 
 The strength of the resulting current should not exceed five milliam- 
 peres, and in some cases of very delicate skin it should not be more than 
 two or three milliamperes. If proper care be employed to use these feeble 
 currents, and to strike the papilla, mid not to forcibly pull out the hair, 
 no new growth of the hair, mid rarely inflammation of the skin, win recur. 
 
 It should be here stated that the healing of wounds in the skin which 
 are produced by the action of electrolysis are rarely followed by deep or 
 pitted cicatrices, and this is explained by the character of the resulting 
 wound which has previously been described. 
 
 The theory of the use of electrolysis in the cure of tumors is discussed 
 in detail in another chapter, but it may be desirable to mention some of 
 the reasons for selecting a certain strength of current. The theory IS 
 assumed that the electrolvtical action is due to the interference with cell 
 
1 ?> < ) ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 proliferation; if, then, the current should he too strong to effect this in- 
 terference and should excite an inflammation, suppuration will ensue and 
 the action of the electricity as a caustic may be localized upon the parts of 
 the tissue immediately in contact with the electrode. The products of sup- 
 puration prevent the transfer of the electrical action to any distance from 
 the point of application. The effect of a localized inflammation in the 
 tissue surrounding a tumor causes the attraction of a larger amount of 
 blood than will suffice for the simple nutrition of the tumor. Consequently 
 as there is an increased amount of nutritive material, the tumor has the 
 tendency to grow larger. For these reasons, the strength of current re- 
 quired to effect the slow absorption of tumors should have a feeble tension 
 and small chemical action, and the duration of each sitting should be pro- 
 longed. In this method of using electrolysis the period of time will make 
 up for deficient strength and tension of the current. 
 
 Resolution of Tumors. Among the earlier recorded papers on the 
 application of electricity is one which is presented as a criticism upon an 
 address by Scoutetten, to whose words reference has been previously made. 
 The criticism offered by Tripier ' is that the term " resolution " should be 
 preferred to that of electrical absorption, which was used by Scoutetten, 
 as a result of the treatment of tumors by electrolysis. 
 
 Tripier claims that he was the first to have called attention to 
 the fact which he observed to follow the application of the elec- 
 trodes to the region of the nerves of taste: — if the positive electrode 
 be applied to the tongue, and the negative be placed upon some in- 
 different spot on the outside of the skin, an acid taste is experienced; 
 if the position of the electrodes be then reversed, an alkaline taste is 
 experienced; if both electrodes be then applied to the skin overlying 
 the cheeks, a metallic taste is experienced which will persist for some 
 moments after the electrodes have been removed. In the former two 
 observations the acid and alkaline taste were present only during the 
 passage of the current; the metallic taste noticed in the third case was 
 intensified on breaking the circuit. If, again, a large electrode be ap- 
 plied to a distant portion of the body, connected as positive, and the 
 negative electrode be applied to the skin of the cheek, the alkaline taste 
 will be repeated; reversing the position of the electrodes will develop the 
 acid taste. These observations were made from the use of a current from 
 
 'Electrolyse und Resolution, in Allg. Wein. Med. Zeitung, 1862, |>i>. 18 and 85. 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING EHCCTBOLY8I8. 1 37 
 
 a battery of twelve couples, and are well known to every electrician who 
 utilizes this £act for determining the direction of a currenl in an electrical 
 circuit. It is extremely probable that these effects of electricity upon the 
 gustatory nerves are due to the movements of the fluids through thi 
 vary glands, and can be explained by the physical property of electrical 
 
 osmosis. 
 
 A comparison is offered with the action of anaesthetics, for during the 
 pre-anaesthetic stage and during the post-anaesthetic stage the metallic 
 taste is experienced, and is explainable in this latter instance as being due 
 to the arrest and subsequent motion of the blood in the capillary circula- 
 tion; the effect is much more marked in the anaesthesia of the so-called 
 administration of laughing gas (protoxide of nitrogen), during which there 
 is a true capillary stasis. This comparison is presented here to show that 
 the action of electricity, even when applied hy surface contact,, has a 
 decided physical action, which can he recognized by our senses. The 
 osmotic action of electricity is made available in the application of the so- 
 called electrolysis of cystic tumors; the method of application should be 
 properly by the surface contact of the negative electrode over the region 
 of the fluid, while the positive electrode should he formed of a metallic 
 needle of the best conductivity, and this should be inserted within the 
 sac which surrounds the fluid. To guard against the local action of the 
 contact of the metal with the skin the precaution may be taken of intro- 
 ducing the electro- needle through a rubber or ivory canula. Many writers 
 advise the coating of the needles with hard rubber or with shellac for the 
 purpose of insulation; experience of the best operators have shown that 
 this method of insulation is ineffective. The reason of the inefficiency 
 of the hard rubber coating is very obvious, for the collection of moisture 
 around the needle electrode will assist in the conduction of the current to 
 those tissues which Ave may especially wish to avoid — for instance, the 
 skin and other superficial layers. On the other hand, if the canula of a 
 non-conducting material be employed, the fluid will pass between the 
 needle and the canula, and the cutaneous tissues will remain sufficiently 
 dry to act as an insulating substance; the use of vaseline or the officinal 
 petrolatum upon and in the canula will not impede the escape of fluids, 
 and will assist in the insulation of the epidermis. It is probably on this 
 account that the positive electrode is the mosl suitable for the puncture 
 into cysts or aneurysmal sacs, for the cataphoric action of electricity trans- 
 ports the mass of fluid away from the positive towards the negative elec- 
 
138 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 trodej this action is increased by the coating of the iron needles with an 
 oxide of iron, since the latter compound will introduce a higher resistance 
 than in the case of a gold or platinum electrode, which metals offer a better 
 conductivity. Canulas of this form have been used by the author of this 
 treatise for some time, and have in his experience entirely removed the 
 disagreeable effect of causing pain from the metallic contact with the skin, 
 as well as have prevented the subsequent inflammatory action, which is 
 so liable to follow the insertion of uninsulated needles. His experience 
 has demonstrated that hard rubber coating upon the electro-needles is 
 usually followed by local points of inflammation and of subsequent sup- 
 puration, at least in the use of strong currents. 
 
 Were it not for the inconvenience in using unpolarizable needles, an 
 illustration of which is presented in the annexed figures (Figs. 26, 27), it 
 
 m 
 
 Fig. 26. Fig. 27. 
 
 Fig. 26.— Non-polarizable electrodes of DuBois Reymond. Z, zinc wire ; A', cork; o, zinc sul- 
 phate solution; t, t, clay points. From Dr. L. Landois 1 Manual of Human Physiology, translated 
 by Wm. Stirling. Phila.: P. Blakiston. Son & Company, 1885, p. 736. 
 
 Fig. 27.— Non-polarizable electrodes. Z, zinc rods; a, glass tube; Zs. solution of sulphate of 
 zinc; h, clips for holding the electrodes; ch, c, moulders' clay mixed with solution of common salt; 
 c\ c', points of clay protruding from glass tubes for application of the electrodes to living tissues. 
 
 would be better to introduce these within the tissue, and thus convey the 
 electrical action to the deeper tissues in which we may desire to concentrate 
 the action of electrolysis or of osmosis. 
 
 Extra-uterine foetation oilers the most favorable indication for the 
 electrolytical treatment; this is the more evident in view of the fact that 
 electrolysis in therapeutics should be used for its destructive agency. 
 There are a sufficient number of cases which have been reported to prove 
 that the interrupted, as well as the constant, current has caused the death 
 of a fa'tus which has been fecundated within the Fallopian tubes, and 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS. L39 
 
 this without injury, provided that the current has been of a rery feeble 
 strength. It cannot be too of ten repeated that a feeble current will nol 
 cause inflammation, when it is properly applied, and that the same de- 
 structive action to the cell life will follow its use, when the period of time 
 is prolonged sufficiently to interfere with the cell proliferation, upon 
 which the growth of living tissue entirely depends. The objection to the 
 use of the interrupted or Earadaic current, is its uncertain distribution to 
 the cell whose segmentation we seek to disturb. One application of the 
 electro-puncture should theoretically cause the destruction of the foetus, 
 whether it is within or without the uterus; but, the puncture should be 
 directed at the seat of the cell segmentation, upon which the integrity of 
 the ovum depends, exactly in the same manner that the life of a hair bull) 
 is destroyed. A current of feeble strength from a constant battery is the 
 most suitable, and this strength should not exceed that of five to thirty 
 milliamperes. 
 
 If, however, it is desired to use a current of changing polarity, it 
 should be so arranged that the current strength should be within the 
 control of the operator, and the feebler strength could be employed in 
 order to guard against the evils of inflammatory action which follow the 
 application of currents of too great strength. An apparatus has been 
 devised by Kohlrausch 1 for the measurement of the induced current. 
 
 (Siromerreger) Induction Apparatus. — It should be desirable to make 
 ami break the current uniformly. Instead of the usual bundle of soft wire 
 within the helix of the induction coil, a soft iron cylinder is substituted; 
 this should be 100 mm. in length and 16 mm. in diameter; the induction 
 wire is wound around this in six layers of 522 spirals, and the size of this 
 wire should be 0.8 mm. in diameter. One end of this wire is connected with 
 a Xeef's hammer, the point of which is coated with platinum and can be im- 
 mersed in a cup of mercury; the contact is made by dipping into and out of 
 this mercury. The mercury should have a layer of water to protect its 
 upper surface from oxidation by contact with the air. The platinum point 
 should be attached to a steel spring in the usual manner; the spring 
 should vibrate 100 times per second, and thus cause 300 interruptions per 
 second. The spring may be loaded down with a piece of iron weight. 
 This iron acts as an armature and should be adjustable by means of a tine 
 screw. The induced wire is wound over the inner coil, and should have 
 
 1 Einfache Methoden und Instrumenten zur Widerstandsmessung insbesondere 
 in Elektrolyten. Verlid. d. pliys. med. Gesellsch. in Wuerzb., L881, pp. 93-100. 
 
140 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 a diameter of 0.4 mm. insulated by a silk covering, and should be wound 
 in 2,800 turns. This last coil is divided into two parts, which, by an ap- 
 propriate connecting mechanism, can be used separately, in combination, 
 or alternately. The battery for this apparatus may be two Bunsen, or 
 three Daniell, or six Smee cells. 
 
 The above-described induction apparatus can be used with the dyna- 
 nometer just as the rotation inductor. If the two dynanometer columns- 
 are not placed vertically, one over the other, the interrupted current is 
 induced from the one to the other and may be a serious source of error. 
 To find the vertical position is not difficult. One column is linked to the 
 inductor, the other to itself; no variation should result. For our pur- 
 poses Weber's dynanometer may be modified for convenience, by the use 
 of only one attaching wire, the other being replaced by an electrode at- 
 tached at the base and dipping into dilute sulphuric acid. This makes 
 the instrument more sensitive and more portable. The outer column is 
 divided into two halves, the inner is lighter and vibrates more rapidly. 
 To compensate for the loss of sensibility resulting from the last modifica- 
 tion the reduced size is to be considered. One of the simplest means of 
 measuring the current is by means of a Bell's telephone. When an 
 induced current is transmitted through this instrument the disk vibrates 
 and this forms a delicate test of its presence. By the use of this form of 
 induction apparatus currents may be transmitted of a measured strength. 
 
 But the method of electro-puncture is preferable to that of any in- 
 duced current, and should be used with the constant battery; in this way 
 we may limit the action of electroylsis to a selected tissue and not dis- 
 tribute the effect of the current to more distant parts; we may also com- 
 bine the chemical with the cataphoric action, which we have seen 1ms a 
 definite influence over the matter of metabolisms. It is extremely doubt- 
 ful whether the induced current acts cataphorically any better than it 
 does chemically. 
 
 It is alleged that an urethral stricture can be readily overcome by the 
 use of electrolysis; for this purpose the negative electrode should form 
 the contact within the stricture, because the fluids of the hardened tissue 
 will collect around this pole, and thus render the possibility of stretch- 
 in-' without tearing the stricture. The electrode should be made of a 
 metallic catheter, which is insulated down to the tip, and in this way the 
 whole strength of the current will be brought to bear upon the strictures, 
 provided there is no mucous ulcer; in the latter case it would be advisa- 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLYSIS. Ill 
 
 ble to apply the positive electrode Cor the healing purposes. The positive 
 electrode Bhould be preferred in this latter case on accounl of tin- fact 
 
 that this pole will drive away the moisture from the diseased t issue, and thus 
 form a dry eschar under which the natural process of healing would 
 
 occur; later on, it would be appropriate treatment to employ the nega- 
 tive electrode to the constricted tissue, unless the previous method of ap- 
 plication has made this unnecessary. It should not he overlooked that in 
 the removal of the positive electrode-catheter, there would lie a tendency 
 for the metallic conductor to adhere to the hardened eschar, and therefore 
 for a moment or two before its removal it would be advisable to change 
 the polarity of the catheter to the negative; this would have the effect of 
 loosening the adherent metal, or rather the cicatricial tissue, and prevent 
 the accident of pulling off the eschar which had heen recently formed. 
 The catheter should be withdrawn gently by a rotary motion on its own 
 axis. 
 
 Aneurisms. The treatment of aneurisms by electrolysis has not, up 
 to the present time, met with many permanent cures. The methods 
 of application are empirical, and details of reported cases are reproduced 
 in a subsequent chapter. A study of these cases would seem to show that 
 no particular theory of the action of electrolysis has been followed, except 
 the supposable coagulation caused by means of the positive electrode. 
 
 The method wdiich has been pursued by Ciniselli appears to have met 
 A>ith the ii lost promising expectations, but even in his experience, the re- 
 sults of cure have rarely been permanent. His method of treatment is dis- 
 cribed in detail in chapter seventh. Bartholow states in his work on medi- 
 cal electricity 1 that Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, has presented a statistical 
 table of the results of the treatment by electrolysis of 
 
 
 < ases. 
 
 Cures. 
 
 Drat lis 
 
 Aneurism of aorta, . 
 
 . 37 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 Of innominata, carotid, subclavian. 
 
 . 13 
 
 3 
 
 « c 
 
 External iliac, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 Femoral, popliteal, brachial, 
 
 . 29 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 Smaller vessels, 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 89 :;-J 12 
 
 Since Dr. Duncan's report, Dr. Bartholow has collected 21 additional 
 cases of aneurism which were similarly treated; nine of these were re- 
 ported as improved, but whether permanent cures were effected it is diffi- 
 
 1 Henry C. Lea's Son & Co., Phila., 1883. 
 
142 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 cult to determine. We are rather surprised that the above-named author 
 recommends the use of strong currents of high tension, since the experi- 
 ence of Ciniselli was decidedly the reverse of this. Dr. Rartholow appears 
 to follow the lead of Robin, and would apparently favor the use of a cur- 
 rent of 45 milliamperes, one which disengaged in a voltameter a cubic 
 centimetre of mixed gases in two minutes. 
 
 The method of the use of electrolysis in the cure of aneurisms would 
 appear to offer promises of success, but as yet these promises are unful- 
 filled; this want of success is undoubtedly due to two reasons: 1, the cause 
 of the formation of an aneurysmal sac is inherent in the faulty nutrition 
 and strength of the coats of the blood vessels, and the appearance of the 
 dilatation at some definite point in the artery may be only in part reme- 
 died; while the conditions of the primary cause are not removed; 2, most of 
 the operators who have sought for the coagulating effects of electrolysis 
 have used currents of too great strength; and consequently the local in- 
 flammatory action has complicated the result; in some of the cases which 
 have been reported it will be noticed that this inflammatory process has 
 caused a fatal conclusion, and which was due to the use of strong as well 
 as high tension currents. Ciniselli's rule that the strength of the current 
 shall not exceed that of the disengagement of the mixed gases of the 
 decomposition of water in a voltameter to the amount of two or three 
 centimetres' volume during five minutes, is probably the safe guide to the 
 strength of the current; yet, if the cataphoric action (the driving away 
 the water of the blood) is the cause of the hardening of the clot, the cur- 
 rent might be somewhat increased, but should not exceed two or three 
 milliamperes, that is, one which will cause the disengagement of '20 to 30 
 cubic millimetres of the mixed gases in a minute of time; if the weaker 
 current should be employed, the duration of the sitting ought to be pro- 
 longed to a period of half an hour. In any case, an insulated canula of a 
 length of half an inch, or less, if the aneurism is more superficial, should 
 surround and protect the electro-needle during the whole sitting; there 
 would then be hardly any pain resulting from the passage of the current. 
 
 The method of treatment of chronic and indolent ulcers of tin' skin 
 should embrace the special indications in each case; for instance, if the 
 surface of the ulcer is covered with moist secretions, the positive electrode 
 should lie applied for the purpose of drying up these secretions and for 
 the production of a dry eschar. The process of subsequent healing would 
 then proceed in a natural manner. It would seem as if many of the cases 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTBOLYS. L43 
 
 of chronic eczema might be successfully treated by this method. <m the 
 other band, it' the ulcer has a dry, Bcurfy, <>r scabby surface, the negative 
 electrode should be preferred for application to the points of disea 
 
 The application of these principles te the treatment of fistulous tracts 
 
 and sinus will naturally follow from what precedes, and will need no fur- 
 ther discussion. 
 
 Varicose tumors, which contain fluid masses, would naturally re- 
 quire the application of the positive electrode. This should be electro- 
 needles, because the objective point of attack is under the cutaneous cover- 
 ing; the number of electro-punctures will depend upon the extent of the 
 tumor, and they should not be inserted nearer together than one and a 
 half to two centimetres apart. Feeble currents, two to five milliamperes, 
 should be passed for several hours at a sitting, and the battery should be 
 arranged for a continuous and uniform current of as low tension as may 
 lie convenient; the pain of the metallic contact with the skin may be al- 
 most overcome by the use of hard rubber or ivory canulas, which should 
 fit loosely around the needles and thus allow the escape of the fluids which 
 might collect around the puncture. 
 
 The needles should always be carefully withdrawn with a rotary motion 
 to prevent disturbing the hardened coagulum. The patient should be 
 kept perfectly quiet to prevent afflux of blood to the venous enlargement. 
 
 It should be remembered that the use of surface application probably 
 utilizes only the cataphoric action of electricity. As a consequence of 
 this transportation of fluid through the tissues the secondary effects of 
 physico-chemical and physiological action are produced in those tissues 
 which are embraced within the interpolar circuit. The application of the 
 electro-puncture will convey the application of the current to the tissues 
 which are in direct contact with the metallic electrodes. The combined 
 effects of electrical osmosis and of the electro-chemical action of electricity 
 would naturally follow the electro-puncture. The surface of contact can 
 be conveniently coml tinea 1 with the preceding effects by the use of another 
 battery of higher tension than is required for the latter action of the 
 puncture, and they will not operate in antagonism. The current for the 
 administration of surface and stabile electricity should not be of a less 
 strength than that of twenty to fifty milliamperes, and can be continued 
 during an hour, provided that the electrodes arc well moistened, and that 
 their contact with the same portion of the skin be not prolonged beyond 
 a period of fifteen minutes. 
 
144 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The choice of the position of either or both electrodes will depend 
 npon whether Ave wish to convey much or little of the electrical current 
 directly to the point selected for electrolysis. If a large mass of the human 
 body intervenes, the current will pass through a larger portion of a re- 
 sisting medium of various tissues; if the contact of the electrode with the 
 surface of the body be dry rather than moist the resistance will be ex- 
 tremely great: if, however, the body's surface be moistened and the elec- 
 trode also be kept wet with water, this resistance will be materially les- 
 sened. If again the skin and the electrode each be moistened with a hot 
 saline solution, the resistance to the conductivity of the electrical current 
 will be still more materially lessened. 
 
 The other terminal electrode can then be applied, either by surface or 
 by insertion through the skin, to the selected point, and the conductivity 
 of the tissues be lessened or increased by the same methods. It will add 
 greatly to the knowledge of the amount of current passing, if a galvanome- 
 ter of the kind to be described in a subsequent chapter be used to measure 
 the current, and this instrument should be placed in the same circuit with 
 the patient's body. 
 
 AVe have seen that the negative electrode or kathodal terminal is the 
 most convenient agent in resolving the elements whose composition 
 forms the abnormal structure which Ave seek to destroy. Therefore the 
 negatiA'e electrode should be placed upon the surface nearest the groAvth, 
 and the electrical current may then be made to pass into the body by the 
 anodal terminal, orpositiA r e electrode, and out of the body by the kathodal 
 terminal or negative electrode, and so complete the electrical circuit back 
 to the battery. If the galvanometer be placed in the path of the current 
 from the battery terminal (copper or carbon) to the body, the needle Avill 
 be deflected towards the Xorth pole on closing the circuit, or if a vertical 
 needle be used the needle Avill be deflected to the left; if the galvanometer 
 be placed in the circuit which goes within the galvanic cells from the zinc 
 to the copper, the needle will point in the same direction as first mentioned. 
 
 Xoav if the current appears to be too strong for the patient to bear 
 with tolerable comfort, a rheostat may be connected with either circuit 
 and thus interpose a resistance which can be increased or diminished at 
 the will of the operator. 
 
 This surface method of applying the principles of electroh'sis is not 
 very effective, because the resistances offered to the flow or passage of the 
 current must pass through epidermal tissues which of themselves vary 
 
METHODS OF EMPLOYING ELECTROLY8I8. 
 
 1 15 
 
 in power "t" conductivity. The current meets with a very poor conductor 
 of electricity, the skin, which in itself feels the discomfort of pain at the 
 point of contact j and if this is not the tissue which we seek to destroy, its 
 effects are there wasted and not carried to the underlying tissue which is 
 our objeel ive point of attack. 
 
 To obviate this difficulty a good metallic conductor, made preferably 
 of gold, silver, or platinum, or irido-platinum alloy, may be thrust through 
 the skin and into the very structure of the pathological formation. It is 
 desirable to use a metal of high conducting power in order to use an in- 
 strument of small diameter. [f we desnv to increase the surface of the 
 electrode it is more convenient for obvious reasons to do so by multiplying 
 
 Fig. 28. 
 
 the number of the electro-metallic needles than to use one of larger 
 
 diameter. We gain more effect by increasing the surface than by using 
 
 the weight of the metal. Platinum and silver needles are inconvenient 
 
 on account of their too great flexibility. Gold is stiffer and irido-platinum 
 
 is better yet, on account of the same property and smaller size. These 
 
 needles are represented in the Figure 28, as also the multiple-connecting 
 
 rheophore with which we may use any desired number. 
 
 Gas carbon furnishes a very convenient material for surface electrodes, 
 
 and this can be shaped in any desired form; but this material is better 
 10 
 
146 ELECTEOLYSIS. 
 
 suited for use in the contact method of application, and unless, we should 
 desire to utilize the burning effects of the contact of this dry metal with 
 the selected tissue, it should have a moistened soft texture, such as is 
 offered by absorbent cotton, chamois skin, or a wet compress, to mitigate 
 the local escharotic effects of the contact. 
 
 The application of electrolysis to epilation in hypertrichosis deserves 
 its mention in a separate chapter (chapter tenth), since this treatment has 
 recently become quite extensively employed in this unsightly affection on 
 women's faces, and because it offers a perfect cure in the removal of the 
 
 hairs. 
 
 The application of this same treatment to warty and other abnormal 
 growths is presented in the next chapter. 
 
 The various mechanical contrivances for the practical manipulation 
 of electrolytical action will be exhibited in the twelfth chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS TO THE TREAT- 
 MENT OF DISEASES. 
 
 The indications for the use of electrolysis in disease are governed by 
 certain general facts: — where there is an hypertrophied growth due to a 
 multiplication of normal cells of a certain tissue; or where the growth may 
 be due to an increase in the normal connective-tissue structure; or where 
 the excessive deposition of healthy granulations may overlie certain sur- 
 faces which on close adaptation will form the definite union of these 
 opposing surfaces; or where a destruction is desired of the boundary 
 between healthy and unhealthy tissues; or in certain cases where under 
 abnormal circumstances healthy structure is misplaced by other healthy 
 structure, which is an unusual transposition; or where an excess of certain 
 healthy tissues are obnoxious deformations to the individual. It is contra- 
 indicated: — where inflammatory action is already seated in these growths, 
 or in their immediate vicinity, unless great caution is exercised by the 
 operator in the use of currents of very feeble strength; and in hyper- 
 trophies caused by degeneration cells or neoformations. According to 
 one writer, 1 electrolysis is indicated: 
 
 1, In the exudation process, either with or without cell-formation, 
 as in certain hyperplasia? (lymphomata); and in diseases of cerebral and 
 peripheral nervous system; in tumors, hemorrhages and neuritis; 
 
 2, In exudation-process in muscles, in tendon-sheaths and connective 
 tissue; also, within the membrana tympani, and in opacities of the 
 cornea; 
 
 3, In diseases of joints and their surrounding parts; in hydrops ar- 
 ticulorum, and in plastic infiltration (not caries or arthritis deformans); 
 
 •A, In goitre, parenchymatous and vascular; in chronic splenic tumors. 
 
 1 Zancopulos, of Greece, ueber die electrolytischen u. katalytischen Heilwirk- 
 ungen galvanischen Stroma; in Archiv. f. kliu. Med., band p. 502, 1878. 
 
148 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 This writer explains the curative effects in the above classes of disease 
 as due to what he calls kaialysis. This word is so often used to explain 
 some unknown action that it seems hardly wise to apply it to any curative 
 agency. He probably intended by its application to refer to some electro- 
 chemical agency which could not well be demonstrated; the use of this 
 word has been deprecated in a previous chapter, and there is no need 
 here for any further comment. 
 
 This same writer describes the application of electrolysis to: 
 
 1. Aneurisms. In these cases the electric needles should, in his opin- 
 ion, be insulated nearly to the tip with a coating of shellac. 
 
 2. Tumors. He considers that the application in these cases, pro- 
 duces an action like that of a chemical caustic. Strong currents should 
 be used during anaesthesia for a period of time of an hour or more. 
 He quotes the authority of Groh in support of a statement that a 
 weak current will stimulate growth of cancerous tumors. He proposes 
 this treatment for a destruction of small tumors which are inaccessible to 
 the knife; also, where they exist in anaemic patients or in those who have 
 a great dread of the knife. 
 
 It should be remembered that this communication was presented thir- 
 teen years ago; and that these statements would be necessarily qualified 
 by the more recent experience of those more familiar with the application 
 and action of electrolysis upon living tissue. The use of strong currents 
 of electricity appears to excite an inflammatory action, especially in those 
 structures of the body which offer the highest resistance to its conduc- 
 tion. The insulation of the needles with a coating of shellac, or even 
 with rubber, does not appear to prevent this local inflammation and irri- 
 tation of the skin and other structures of feeble conducting power; and 
 it is quite probable that the resistance offered by tissues of low conductiv- 
 ity are so influenced by the action of electrical force, that -a current of 
 strong tension may cause an arrest of the physiological functions of meta- 
 bolism, by means of which the natural processes of tissue changes are 
 quietly conducted, and thus without producing abrupt disturbances ol 
 the natural processes of the organism. 
 
 The effects of electricity when passing through the body at high ten- 
 sion, like that of high tension dynamo machines and lightning shock, are 
 too well known to produce death of the living organism, both in plant 
 and animal life. Mention has already been made, in Chapter IV. of the 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L49 
 
 fan ihat electro-chemical changea <>r definite amounts can be accom- 
 plished by the long continuance of feeble currents, as well as by the use 
 of strong currents continued for a Bhorl period of time; this Is well estab- 
 lished bothin the inorganiiMuul organic chemical compounds; it isequally 
 true iii the living organism as shown by tin' results of clinical experience. 
 Ciniselli has especially mentioned this fad in relation to his application 
 of electrolysis to the treatment of aneurism. Even this careful observer 
 arranged his battery in scries for tension, "as in Volta's pile" ami while 
 it is probable that, an effective treatmenl in aneurisms may require certain 
 dynamic actions which really belong to currents of definite tension; yet, 
 it should be borne in mind that, up to the present time, the application 
 of electrolysis to the treatment of aneurisms has produced few radical 
 cures. 
 
 Writers on the subject of electrolysis appear not to have paid sufficient 
 attention to the comparative value of the use of currents of low tension 
 continued for a longer period with those of high tension continued for a 
 short period. It is certainly true that the use of a feeble continuous gal- 
 vanic current can rarely work any serious injury upon the living organ- 
 ism; but secondary effects caused by the irritation and subsequent in- 
 flammatory and suppurative processes may provoke, not only an active 
 increase of pathological action in tissues which are the seat of degenera- 
 tion, but may also induce an extending inflammatory processes in tissues 
 of a lower order of vitality, such as the serous membranes; this may. 
 and has, induced serious accidents and even occasional death. This action 
 is similar to that produced by the local application of medicinal irritants 
 and chemical caustics to growths which are in the vicinity of serous mem- 
 branes. 
 
 It will be perhaps advisable to call the attention of the reader, at the 
 outset of this chapter, to a list of published cases, which were collected 
 and presented in the communication of Zancopulos before referred to. 
 It will be noticed that in the long list of about thirty reporters, the treat- 
 ment of similar eases by electrolysis was not followed invariably by similar 
 results. An explanation of this discrepancy is suggested in view of these 
 preceding remarks; for instance, one reporter, Chvostek, mentions the 
 treatment of thirty cases of goitre, all of which were cured: another 
 writer. Althaus, mentions eight cases of goitre, four of which only were 
 cured; another writer, Groh, mentions eleven cases of naevus (angioma) 
 
150 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 all of which were cured, and Althaus mentions twelve cases of the same 
 disease, seven of which only were cured; again, Althaus mentions two 
 cases of scirrhus, both of which were cured, and Groh reports one case of 
 carcinoma, also of the breast, which ivas not followed by a favorable re- 
 sult. Other comparisons can be drawn of a similar nature by a close study 
 of this list. 
 
 This table is arranged in the first column with the reporters' names, 
 in the second and third columns the number of their cases reported and 
 the nature of the disease treated by electrolysis, and in the fourth column 
 the results of this treatment. The details of some of these cases are pre- 
 sented in the text, farther on in this chapter; those cases thus referred 
 to are marked with a *. 
 
 Table I. of Eeported Cases Treated by Electrolysis. 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Reported by 
 
 Re- 
 
 Nature of Disease. 
 
 Result of Treatment. 
 
 
 ported 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Benedikt. 
 
 8 
 
 Arthritis deformans and anky- 
 losis. 
 
 Improved. 
 
 2 
 
 M. Meyer. 
 
 1 
 
 Arthritis nodosa.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 3 
 
 Chvostek. 
 
 9 
 
 Gonorrheal orchitis.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 4 
 
 Groh. 
 
 1 
 
 Carcinoma mammae.* 
 
 No result. 
 
 5 
 
 Benedikt. 
 
 21 
 
 Chronic diseases of joints, 1 
 
 17 cured. 
 
 
 
 
 4 improved. 
 
 6 
 
 Cheron. 
 
 7 
 
 Chronic arthritic rheumatism. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 7 
 
 Bartholow. 
 
 3 
 
 Chronic infarctus of uterus. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 8 
 
 Scoutetten. 
 
 5 
 
 Ganglia.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 9 
 
 Althaus. 
 
 1 
 
 Ganglion. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 10 
 
 Groh. 
 
 (1 
 
 Gonitis rheumatica. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 (1 
 
 Gonitis traumatica. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 11 
 
 Benedikt. 
 
 9 
 
 Hydrarthrosis. 
 
 Cured or improved. 
 
 12 
 
 Groh. 
 
 1 
 
 Hydrosarcocele.* 
 
 Improved. 
 
 13 
 
 Brims. 
 
 4 
 
 Hydrocele.* 
 
 Not cured. 
 
 14 
 
 Arcoleo. 
 
 (9 
 
 Hypopion. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 
 
 } 1 
 
 Corneal abscess. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 15 
 
 Chvostek. 
 
 1 
 
 Traumatic infiltration in leg. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 16 
 
 Chvostek. 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 Indolent inguinal buboes. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 17 
 
 M. Meyer. 
 
 Lymphoma. 
 
 Nearly made to dis- 
 
 
 
 
 
 appear. 
 
 18 
 
 M. Meyer. 
 
 1 
 
 Lymphoma. 
 
 Cu red. 
 
 1!) 
 
 Groh. 
 
 1 
 
 Melano-sarcoma 
 
 Failed. 
 
 20 
 
 Rudolli. 
 
 2 
 
 Ophthalmia, granular. 
 
 Improved. 
 
 21 
 
 Chvostek. 
 
 1 
 
 Pan n us. 
 
 Improved. 
 
 22 
 
 Wolf & Cheron. 
 
 17 
 
 Enlarged prostate. 
 
 ( lured. 
 
 23 
 
 Birch. 
 
 2 
 
 Pseudarl hrosis. 
 
 ( lured. 
 
 2-1 
 
 Sell \v;il in. 
 
 2 
 
 Extensive chancroid. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 25 
 
 Chvostek. 
 
 30 
 
 ( roil re.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 •.'<; 
 
 Mendel. 
 
 2 
 
 Traumatic tetanus. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 •-■; 
 
 Benedikt. 
 
 o 
 
 Trismus. 
 
 Improved. 
 
 28 Wiesner. 
 
 2 
 
 Prosopalgia. 
 
 Cured. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELE< TROL1 918. 1 5 I 
 
 Table II. of Reported Cases' in wbioh Electrolysis was dsed. 
 
 :' 
 
 K: PORT! D BY 
 
 No. 
 Re- 
 
 Nature i i 
 
 : o» Treatment. 
 
 y 
 
 
 ported 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ( liniselli. 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 Aneurism thoracic aorta.* 
 \ si ending aorta. 
 
 4 cured. 
 t lured. 
 
 2 
 
 Pel requin. 
 
 1 
 
 Aneuris traumatism of temple. 
 
 2 cured. 
 
 8 
 
 (il-oli. 
 
 11 
 
 Angioma* (navus 
 
 ( lured. 
 
 4 
 
 Alliums. 
 
 1 
 
 Angioma, lower lid.* 
 
 i lured. 
 
 5 
 
 Juenken. 
 
 1 
 
 Angioma.* 
 
 Improved. 
 
 (i 
 
 Manfredini. 
 
 1 
 
 Villous cancer in leg. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 7 
 
 NefteL 
 
 1 
 
 i lancer. 
 
 ( lured. 
 
 8 
 
 ( Iron. 
 
 18 
 
 ( lancer.* 
 
 14 cured. 
 
 1 
 
 < londyloma. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 9 
 
 Fieber. 
 
 1 
 
 ( (varian Cyst. 
 
 1 (esl roved. 
 
 10 
 
 Lincoln. 
 
 1 
 
 Erectile tumor in supra-orbital 
 fossa. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 11 
 
 Klaine. 
 
 1 
 
 Fibroid of left trochanter. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 v: 
 
 Groh. 
 
 1 
 
 1 [emorrhoids. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 i:; 
 
 Billroth. 
 
 1 
 
 I 'i-a' --patellar Hydrops. 
 
 Failed. 
 
 14 
 
 Billroth. 
 
 a fe w 
 
 Hydroceles.* 
 
 Not permanently 
 cured. 
 
 15 
 
 Dittel. 
 
 1 
 
 Hydrocele.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 L6 
 
 Scoutetten. 
 
 1 
 
 Lymphoma, neck. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 IT 
 
 1 temarquay. 
 
 1 
 
 Submaxillary. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 18 
 
 Groh. 
 
 1 
 
 Scrof. lupus in upper lip.* 
 
 Cured. 
 
 lit 
 
 Hilton, Fagge and 
 Durham. 
 
 1 
 
 Hydatid liver. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 20 
 
 C. Foster. 
 
 1 
 
 Hydatid liver. 
 
 Failed. 
 
 21 
 
 Groh. 
 
 
 Myxo-sarcoma. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 og 
 
 Althaus. 
 
 11 
 
 Naevi 
 
 7 cured. 
 
 28 
 
 Ehrenstein. 
 
 1 
 
 Osteo-enchondroma of clavicle. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 24 
 
 Bruns. 
 
 3 
 
 Pseudarthrosis. 
 
 Failed. 
 
 25 
 
 X tMat on. 
 
 5 
 
 Pbaryngo-nasal polypi. 
 
 3 cured. 
 
 26 
 
 Bruns. 
 
 1 
 
 Polypus of fauces. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 27 
 
 Althaus. 
 
 8 
 
 Goitre. 
 
 4 cured. 
 
 28 
 
 Gherini. 
 
 7 
 
 ( 'ystic goitre. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 29 
 
 Althaus. 
 Grolf 
 
 2 
 
 Scirrhus mammae. 
 
 Cured. 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 Sarcoma.* 
 
 All cured. 
 
 31 
 
 Bruns. 
 
 '> 
 
 Urethral stricture. 
 
 1 cured. 
 
 32 
 
 Tripier and Mallez. 
 
 40 
 
 Urethral stricture. 
 
 All cu'd or improVd 
 
 33 
 
 Couriard. 
 
 12 
 
 1 rrethral stricture. 
 
 10 improved. 
 
 34 
 
 Althaus. 
 
 16 
 
 Sebaceous tumors. 
 
 15 cured. 
 
 :;:. 
 
 Billroth. 
 
 1 
 
 Telangiectasis of cheek. 
 
 Faded. 
 
 36 
 
 Dittel. 
 
 5 
 
 Varices.* 
 
 All cured. 
 
 In addition to the above list which is thus transcribed, Ciniselli first 
 employed electrolysis to effect a cure of a neuroma in the leg. 
 
 Broca reports its use and cure in a case of an erectile tumor of the lip. 
 
 Nelaton reports the cure of a polypus in the naso-pharyngeal space. 
 
 Chvostek reports six cases of the cure by means of electrolysis of indo- 
 lent bubo, after the failure of other treatment. 
 
 Neftel reports a case of a tumor in the left mamma of a man, aged 
 fifty-six, which was pronounced to be a cancer by several surgeons; among 
 them was Marion Sims, by whom it was originally removed by the use of 
 
 1 Details of these cases are prevented in this chapter further «>n. 
 
152 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the knife; another similar tumor appeared in the right mamma which was 
 treated by means of the method of electro-puncture by Neftel, who used 
 gold needles with strong currents at weekly sittings which lasted from 
 two to ten minutes each. Though the tumor at first increased in size, it 
 afterwards became softer and more elastic, and the general condition of 
 the patient gradually improved. There was no fever following the great 
 pain of the operation, and the tumor began slowly to grow smaller by 
 degrees until at the end of three months there was only its vestige re- 
 maining; the last report is that of a complete cure. 
 
 Thirty-two cases of aneurism were collected by Boinet in which treat- 
 ment by electrolysis was followed. Twenty-one of his cases were failures 
 and ten were followed by successful cures. There was no report in one 
 case. Other methods of treatment had been unsuccessfully tried. 
 
 Ciniselli collected in 1856 fifty cases of this treatment in aneurism. 
 These aneurisms were located in nearly all the large arteries, aorta, caro- 
 tids, subclavian and popliteal. Twenty-three of these cases are reported 
 as cured. 
 
 Writers, who have had experience in the use of the electro-puncture, 
 report that frequently eschars will form in the superficial tissues, and this 
 in spite of every known precaution; there is, also, danger that a similar 
 inflammation will occur in the walls of aneurismal sacs. Broca claims 
 that this interior and local inflammatory action may be avoided by the use 
 of currents of low tension and of large quantity. It is difficult to under- 
 stand exactly what he means by this statement, because where we have 
 such high resistances as those which are offered by the living tissues, we 
 can hardly expect to convey through them currents of large quantity; for 
 by a reference to the former discussion of this subject in the preceding 
 chapter, the reader will comprehend that currents of large quantity can 
 only pass through a conducting medium which has a large section area of 
 low resistance, and the human body is not a conductor of this character. 
 Probably Broca would refer to weak or feeble currents, which could be 
 readily conveyed by mediums of conduction, in which the transmission 
 of the electrical force would be effected slowly and with feeble chemical 
 or physical action. It should always be remembered that the resistance 
 in either the internal circuit of the battery, or of the external path of the 
 conducting medium, along which the electricity flows back to the opposite 
 pole of the battery, will affect the rapidity of the electro-chemical action 
 in the battery. This author may, however, have referred to the local 
 
APPLICATION «>r ELECTROLYSIS. I •>•> 
 
 effect of a Btrong current which would produce a Bevere caustic action at 
 the pointe of contact of the electrodes with the skin; the Bame action 
 would, however, be caused by a long-continued contact with feeble cur- 
 rents. Ciniselli states that no cure of aneurisms is possible without some 
 inflammation in the aneurismal sac. 
 
 Electrolysis is equally useful in telangiectasis, venous tumors, etc., 
 because its local action can be so readily circumscribed. 1 Wilheim 1 re- 
 ports a case in which he first tapped an ovarian cyst, and after a second 
 tapping, lie inserted an electro-positive needle to the depth of two inches, 
 and completed the circuit by means of a flat metallic plate (current from 
 live cells for five minutes), which was followed by great pain ami by no 
 improvement or reaction; the cyst refilled. A second application was 
 made this time with the negative 'pole connected with a battery of ten 
 cells, and kept in place for ten minutes; this was followed by no improve- 
 ment and produced considerable pain; an increase in the dyspnoea neces- 
 sitated tapping, and six pints of a frothy albuminous liquid were removed. 
 Death occurred two days later. Post-mortem examination revealed peri- 
 toneal cancer and ascites. In regard to the foregoing case, it should be 
 remarked that cancer of the peritoneal surface would naturally be attended 
 with inflammatory action of this tissue, which is of a low order of vitality. 
 The increase of inflammation which would follow electro-puncture, pro- 
 ducing also the irritation which naturally would be expected from so strong 
 a battery power, would increase this inflammatory action. 
 
 Male, aged thirty-six years, with chronic hydrocele; this was situated 
 on the left side; a platinum needle connected with the negative pole was 
 inserted into the sac. The escape of the contained fluid, although pre- 
 vention was attempted, was unavoidable. Subsequently, the amount of 
 fluid diminished and parenchymatous inflammation ensued, but, later on, 
 the hydrocele returned and was subjected eventually to ordinary treatment. 
 
 Female, aged forty-eight, cellular polypus of uterus; (this patient 
 was also under treatment for paresis of legs); the polypus was accom- 
 panied with hemorrhage. The positive pole, a needle, was inserted to the 
 depth of half an inch into the polypus, which protruded from the cervix 
 uteri, and the negative pole was placed on the surface of the thigh. A 
 current from a battery of ten cells was continued for five minutes. The 
 
 1 Consult Ciniselli"s, Broca's, and the writings of the other authors, previously 
 referred to. 
 
 - Die Electrolyse u. ihre Labredner. 1877. 
 
154 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 color of the tumor changed from red to green, and emitted the odor of 
 sulphuretted hydrogen; after three sittings of this same treatment the 
 tumor became shrivelled and gangrenous; but after the last sitting para- 
 metritis ensued and the patient remained weak and sickly for six months. 
 She became finally cured. 
 
 Female, carcimona uteri: two applications with no favorable results. 
 
 Female, aged fifty, hygroma praepatellare: the circumference of the 
 tumor measured two inches. In this case the two electrodes were applied 
 upon the surface of the skin, electro-puncture not used; this treatment 
 was followed with no favorable result. Afterwards, bipolar electrolysis, 
 both electrodes being electro-puncture, was tried for a sitting of twenty 
 minutes; the current was derived from a battery of ten cells (Bunsen). 
 This current strength is equal to twenty volts, or a total amount of four- 
 hundred volts during twenty minutes. Taking into consideration the 
 resistance of the tissues in the interpolar circuit, the resulting current 
 would be equal to . 20 of this original strength. This treatment was followed 
 by inflammation of the joint around the punctures. After three weeks 
 of this method of treatment for relief of the inflammation, which con- 
 fined the woman to the house, the tumor was reduced to one half its 
 original size. 
 
 Five cases of lymphatic tumors. In one of these cases Frommhold's 
 method of insertion of the negative needle-electrode only, was used. The 
 tumor, which was situated under the lower jaw, was hard and unyielding. 
 All the tumors grew softer under that treatment, but did not disappear. 
 Two cases of chronic ulcers of the leg, treated by surface application of 
 the electrodes, met with no success comparable to that of transplantation. 
 A flat platinum disk over the ulcer was combined with the application of 
 the other electrode upon some indifferent spot; this was attended with 
 pain, but treatment was continued for a period of five months. 
 
 Colley 1 mentions the introduction of electrobysis into medicine in 
 Russia thirty years ago. This introduction resulted from the studies of 
 G. Crusell, of Filmland, who being favored by Pirogoff, founded a hospital 
 in Moscow. Colley ascribes to Crusell the first application of the " hydro- 
 lytic" current of measured strength, and of the "heal development" of 
 galvanism in therapeutics. 152 patients were treated in his hospital, of 
 whom 8 died and (!4 were cured. Electrolysis was found useful in the 
 
 1 Die Electrolytschen Heilanstalt in Moscow. Med. Zeitung Russlands, iv., p. 
 2041, 1847. 
 
IPPLH \TI<».\ OF ELB0TROLYSI8. L55 
 
 treatmeni of scirrhus, Cungus hsematodes, fungus medullaris, gangrene, 
 primary syphilis, urethral strictures, tumors, and ulcere; also, in leucoma 
 and cataract. 
 
 Billroth ' was bo much impressed with an <>ral statement of Socin, thai 
 he employed electrolysis in the treatment of a case of hydrocele. Ee used 
 a Stohrer's (bichromate) battery formed from twelve couples. The sacof 
 the hydrocele at once grew tympanitic and in three or four weeks a cure 
 waseffected. The whole procedure involved hut little pain. Billroth did 
 not consider the cure permanent, as in one of these eases the hydrocele 
 soon returned, in hydrops bursa- prsepatellaris the same treatment re- 
 sulted in suppuration, which required free incision for the escape of pus. 
 
 Dittel ' reports a ease of hydrocele which was situated on the left side, 
 and was of two years' duration. This case was treated by electro-puncture 
 (positive electrode). The needles were inserted into the sac. The negative 
 electrode was applied by means of a sponge on the surface of the scrotum. 
 Very little pain accompanied the puncture. On removing the needles 
 some serum escaped and an oedema of the scrotum ensued. The patient 
 complained of pain in the region of the vas deferens., and the temperature 
 was slightly elevated (38.5 C°) and the pulse became 92. The insertion 
 of three needles (positive) was continued at the second sitting for thirteen 
 minutes, a platinum plate being used for the other electrode. Closure of 
 the wound was followed by pain, wdiich continued for five days; the tem- 
 perature varied from 37.-4 to 38.6 C°. After a week the swelling dimin- 
 ished. At the third sitting a battery (Grove's) of two couples only, was 
 used for the current strength in place of the three which were used at the 
 first sitting. Five days later, the sac Avas shrivelled and was as small as 
 after treatment by iodine injection in eight days. The patient was dis- 
 charged with the tumor one-fourth its original size. 
 
 Male, aged thirty-seven, with bilateral varicocele. Four needles were 
 connected with three Grove's cells and these were thrust into the right 
 veins. A sponge electrode was placed upon the surface of the right groin; 
 the veins grew smaller at once, and the scrotum became shrivelled and its 
 surface corrugated. No local rise in temperature occurred, and the veins 
 shrunk in the course of three days to a small, hard and painful knot. 
 The pain was relieved by cold applications, and in three weeks the pre- 
 viously swollen veins appeared as hard empty strands. There was no fur- 
 
 1 Open letter Th. Billroth to Prof. O. Weber. Deutsche Klinik. xviii. 
 »(Esterich. ztschr. f. prakt. Hlkde., No. 17. 1869. 
 
156 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 ther sign of the varicocele. The patient ran away to avoid treatment of 
 left side. The needles were inserted into, and not through the veins. 
 The writer did not notice formation of a thrombus and did not consider 
 the cure permanent. 
 
 Female, aged sixty-one, with varicose ulcers which had existed for 
 sixteen years; these were in the left leg and there was a varicosity of the 
 saphena major. Three needles were connected with a current from three 
 Grove's cells, and these were inserted for sixteen minutes. The veins were 
 compressed above and below the needle puncture ; moderate burning pain 
 followed the application of the electricity; the coats of the veins became 
 thicker and their width narrower. The patient was discharged improved. 
 
 A similar case is reported in a man of forty-two years Avho had varicose 
 ulcers, which had existed for fourteen years; this was similarly treated 
 and the treatment was followed by the same result. 
 
 Male, aged sixty-five; similar case and treatment. The ulcer healed and 
 the vein was narrowed. 
 
 Male, aged forty-two years, with varicose ulcer of twenty years' dura- 
 tion. Two sittings with the electro-puncture. After the first, the patient 
 had pain which was accompanied with a chill (temp. 39.2 C°)j the ulcer 
 was cured in about two weeks. 
 
 Male, aged twenty-seven years, with cavernous subcutaneous tumor. 
 This was situated just below the tuberosity of the tibia having the size of a 
 walnut. It could be increased in size by pressure upon the saphena above; 
 four needles were inserted into the tumor. This grew harder but soon re- 
 turned to its original condition; after the second sitting, the periphery 
 became hard and small. When the patient was discharged hardly a ves- 
 tige remained. 
 
 Scoutetten ' reports the use of electrolysis in the following nine cases. 
 This was applied by the use of electro-puncture. 
 
 1. Four cysts in the wrist, one of which was in a young man and the 
 others in young women. These all completely disappeared in a very short 
 time. 
 
 2. Two cases of hydrocele, which had existed .seven ami t wenty-six years 
 respectively. The later case required two sittings ami. in the former, one 
 sitting was sufficient. There is no report of the recurrence. 
 
 3. Sebaceous tumors of head. Two of these cases were in men, and 
 
 1 Sur la methode electrolytique dans ses applications aux operations chirurgi- 
 cates. Bull., Acad, de Med., Paris, 1864-5, xxx.. p. 969. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. l-'< 
 
 one in a woman. Each case required two sittings of fifteen minnt 
 duration, and a cure was effected. 
 
 I. A cyst <>n tli*' outer border of the lefl eyebrow was qo1 successfully 
 treated. 
 
 ;.. A cancerous tumor in a male aged sixty-six years, continued to 
 -r.>w, notwithstanding the application of electrolysis for six sitting: 
 finally death ensued. 
 
 6. Three soft lymphatic ganglia of the neck were successfully treated. 
 
 7. A fibrous tumor situated under the jaw. righi side, of a man. aged 
 thirty-seven. All of these latter were unsuccessfully treated, for five 
 sittings, with a currenl derived from three Hansen's cells. 
 
 8. An indurated ganglion on the anterior portion of the auditory 
 meatus, left side, was successfully treated by a current of the same 
 strength as in ease seven. Scoutetten gives no other details of apparatus 
 used by him. It is not improbable, as lias been before remarked, that in- 
 flammatory and suppurative processes existed in his cases. The use of too 
 strong current in tissues previously inflamed and degenerated may have 
 increased the local inflammation, and so have hastened death in the case 
 of the cancerous tumor above reported. 
 
 Onimus ' produced a softening in several cases of lipoma, but the 
 treatment of electrolysis was discontinued on account of objections from 
 the patients. In one of these cases, the lipoma disappeared after several 
 sittings. The treatment of this case was attended with oily discharges, 
 which was followed by an interstitial abscess caused by emphysema. 
 
 A venous tumor in a man of twenty-one years of age was treated by the 
 same method; this was situated in the forearm. A current strength from 
 fourteen Daniell cells, probably arranged for tension, was employed for 
 one minute with no apparent effect. At the second sitting, a battery of 
 twenty DanielTs employed during three minutes apparently produced no 
 effect. At the third sitting the use of thirty of these same cells was fol- 
 lowed by complete coagulation of the blood in the venous sac. 
 
 It may be well at this point to present certain results of experiments 
 on animals reported by Abeille. 2 Eleven of these experiments were on 
 animals, one sheep and ten dogs. In the first experiment on the dog the 
 
 1 Quelques faits chirurgicales relatif aux acu-punctures electriques. France 
 Med., xxiv., 769. 
 
 2 L'electricite appliqu6e a la therapeutique chirurgicale. Par M. le Dr. J. 
 Abeille. 
 
158 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 crural artery was pierced by the electrodes; the operation was successfully 
 pel-formed without isolating the blood vessel; the duration of the current 
 was for five minutes. On the next day, an unsuccessful attempt was made 
 to pierce the left crural artery. The animal was killed two days later; 
 the right artery was found to be occluded by a firm clot, which was ad- 
 herent to the sides of the vessel, and the coagulation was arranged in con- 
 centric layers. 
 
 In the second experiment on a large dog, an electro-puncture into the 
 blood vessel caused so much struggling that the needle became disengaged. 
 This operation was followed by spurts of blood. On again being introduced 
 the hemorrhage was immediately arrested, the blood " boiling and coagu- 
 lating" around the electrodes; the duration of the current was for five 
 minutes. A hard body was felt in the track of the artery at the seat of 
 the operation. On the next day a similar attempt was successfully per- 
 formed on the corresponding artery of the opposite side, and twenty-four 
 hours later the dog was killed. Both arteries were found to be occluded, 
 the passage of a stylet being impossible; the clot presented the same con- 
 centric layers. The second clot was red, and the first rose-color; the 
 color appeared to depend upon the length of time after the operation at 
 which the animal was killed. As in the third experiment, when the animal 
 was killed later, the clot was paler, and its color was still paler in the fifth 
 experiment, in which the animal was killed at a later period. In the last 
 experiment the color had completely disappeared, except at a central spot, 
 which proved that decoloration proceeds from the circumference to the 
 centre. The other experiments on dogs, the details of which are not 
 given, produced similar results. The experiment on the sheep was con- 
 ducted with difficulty; four attempts were made to find the artery, and it 
 was thought in none had the electrode pierced the vessel. The animal 
 was killed fifteen days later, however, and after careful search among the 
 hardened tissues, four inches of the vessel were exsected. The artery was 
 found flattened like a ribbon and would not admit of the passage of the 
 stylet; in the interior of the artery a remnant of a clot, which adhered 
 to the walls of the vessel, was found. It was remarkable that the clot 
 formed so rapidly. According to these authors, it is supposed by many 
 physiologists that the result of the coagulation of blood should be attri- 
 buted to the effect of heat; but this theory cannot be true, from the fact 
 that the clot is so firm and so adherent to the walls of the blood vessel 
 that it can only be removed by violence. The action of heat alone would 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L59 
 
 in their opinion result in an embolus. The action of electrolysis differs 
 fr,,m thai of heat in causing no direct inflammation. This may be ex- 
 plained on the ground that the walls of the blood vessels, being bad con- 
 ductors, insulate the current from adjacent tissues. Neither, according to 
 this writer, can simple needle punctures in the resBels produce the same 
 effects; because, unless these needles ad as electrodes, experiment Bhows 
 that similar coagulating results cannot be obtained, other observers 
 claim that the blood of the lower animals is more plastic than that of man. 
 because some authorities have shown that a clot will form in the animal 
 at the opening of a divided artery. Amussat has, however, shown that the 
 same will occur in man, and that, at the most, the only difference lies in 
 the fact that a longer time is required for its formation. 
 
 With the introduction of these detailed experiments the application of 
 electrolysis to the treatment of aneurisms and venous enlargements may 
 justly he compared. Abeille presents the following case of aneurism 
 treated by electrolysis: 
 
 Mile. P. de G., set. 65, the aneurism Avas situated in the left sub- 
 clavian artery. When first seen it had the size of a pullet's egg; the pulsa- 
 tion was expansile and was synchronous with the heart's beat. The tumor 
 had a medium hardness, and was partially emptied by digital pressure, at 
 the same time giving a trembling sensation to the fingers; compression of 
 the subclavian above the tumor arrested the pulsation. Compression of the 
 axillary artery increased the size of tumor. The diagnosis of aneurism 
 was confirmed by several physicians. The bulk of the tumor was visible 
 between the scaleni muscles. Operation. — Patient was etherized in the 
 recumbent position, and the head was turned to the right to render the 
 tumor more prominent. Four needles were introduced to a depth which, 
 from the diminution of resistance and increased freedom of their move- 
 ment, showed that they had penetrated the sac. Duration of the current 
 was for thirty-seven minutes; the tumor grew hard and pulsation ceased, 
 as shown by palpation over aneurismal sac and in radial artery. Several 
 small drops of blood followed the withdrawal of the needles and light 
 eschars formed in the skin around these needles. At the close of the 
 operation there was apparent absence of pulsation over the aneurismal 
 sac; but the bruit was the same. This was formerly distinctly audible. On 
 very careful pal pation a feeble pulsation could be detected in the axillary 
 and radial arteries. The wounds from the puncture were covered with 
 n wet compress of cold water, and a weight of one kilogram (about two 
 
160 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 pounds), was placed over the subclavian artery above the tumor, where it 
 remained for ten hours. 
 
 On the second day there was light vibration, but no radial pulse; the 
 hands and fingers were cold; and there was loss of muscular power in the 
 fingers. On this and the day following the compress was kept in place, 
 and the patient slept well. 
 
 On the third day ointment was applied to the wounds of the punctures 
 and the compress was removed. 
 
 On the fourth and fifth days pulsation reappeared in the radial artery, 
 though small and feeble. The tumor was very hard and incompressible, 
 and its shape was regular and oval. The patient had intense headache, 
 flushed face and injection of conjunctiva. During the next two or three 
 days the hand regained its normal warmth and usefulness. 
 
 On the thirteenth day the tumor had diminished to more than half of 
 its original size. 
 
 On the seventeenth day after the operation the skin was no longer 
 elevated, and strong pressure developed the sensation of a hard metallic 
 plate. The artery above the aneurism was enlarged and gave off three dis- 
 tinctly visible branches, which were supposed to be the inferior thyroid, 
 the vertebral and posterior scapular. 
 
 The following cases were reported by Groh: 1 1. Aneurism of right sub- 
 clavian artery. In this case six zinc needles were used for one electrode, 
 while the other was applied on the skin over the aneurismal sac, and the 
 battery was formed of six zinc elements. After duration of the current for 
 thirty minutes there was no pulsation to be perceived by palpation in the 
 aneurism; but the subsequent history of the case was uncertain. 
 
 A case of aneurism of the arch of the aorta is reported by Eivet: a 
 Man, aged forty-five years, was admitted to the hospital in February, 
 1878, with a large aneurism in the ascending portion of the arch of the 
 aorta, which communicated with this vessel by a narrow orifice. Two nega- 
 tive electrodes were applied on the surface of the chest and thigh. A 
 needle, positive electrode, was thrust into the second intercostal space 
 seven centimetres from the median line to a depth of five centimetres; 
 a second needle was thrust into the third intercostal space. The duration 
 of the current lasted for ten minutes. 
 
 1 Die Elektrolyse inder Chirurgie, Wien, 1871. 
 
 3 Aneunsme de lacrosse de l'acn-te traite par l'electro-puncture. Med., Paris, 
 1878, xxv., \k 241-:!. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. 161 
 
 On the Becond day the subjective symptoms were somewhat more 
 favorable, as well as the objective BymptomB, 
 
 On the thirty-second day three needles were inserted during thirty 
 minutes. For the uexl few days the symptoms were greatly relieved, the 
 arterial impulse was diminished and venous stasis, formerly very marked, 
 was also relieved: the bruit, though sometimes absent, was about the same. 
 At the date of writing (one month later), the author does not specify the 
 result. 
 
 Bucquoy ' reports the following case of an aortal aneurism in a woman 
 of fifty-eight years of age: The measurements of the aneurism were eight 
 eentimetres in the vertical line, ten to twelve centimetres in the transverse 
 diameter. There was no vestige of the second, third, or fourth ribs, or 
 their cartilages. The first sitting was on June 12, 1878, in the presence 
 of Dujardin-Reaumetz. Two needles were inserted, which were con- 
 nected, one at a time, with the positive pole into the most prominent 
 part of the tumor to the depth of two and half centimeters (one inch). 
 The negative electrode was applied to the thigh; the current was applied 
 for twenty minutes; great pain and inflammatory swelling followed this 
 application. These symptoms, however, disappeared at a later period. At 
 the second sitting, two weeks later, there was further improvement. 
 After three more sittings the tumor was in great part solidified, and the 
 patient left the hospital for the purpose of resuming work. The tumor 
 again reappeared two months later, but not in its original dimensions. 
 After four applications the aneurism was reduced to a hard fibrous charac- 
 ter. This case appeared to the author to present every reason to hope 
 for a permanent cure. He thinks the method of treatment would be of 
 great benefit when the aneurism is in communication with the artery 
 by a narrow orifice. 
 
 (iniselli 2 divides his cases of aneurism into two classes: nine of the 
 cases were between 184G and 18G6, and fourteen cases were between 
 1868 and 1870. The former cases were those treated without expe- 
 rience, the latter were treated in the light of the former results. 
 The first cases were voluminous tumors, in one of which the blood 
 had begun to escape; all of the cases were threatened with rupture and 
 gangrene, and were thus very far advanced, being beyond the reach 
 of nature and art. Three case< were ameliorated. In one the result was 
 
 Bull, de PAcad. de Med., 2me., viii., p. 55, 1879. ■ Op. cit. 
 
 11 
 
162 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 not known, and the remainder died of rupture. As this first series was 
 experimental, the improper methods used, probably, had something to do 
 with the results. Thus in two cases the induced or faradaic current was 
 employed, which subsequent experience shows to be the worst possible 
 form of current. In other cases, Bunsen's and Wallaston's elements were 
 used, giviDg too great current tension, and causing phlegmonous inflam- 
 mation, gangrene and fatal hemorrhage. From an analysis of twenty- 
 three cases, this author is convinced that when the aneurism is still within 
 the cavity of the chest, is of medium size, lateral to the artery, and com- 
 munieatino with it by a limited opening, and when no complications exist 
 menacing life, galvano-puncture offers fair prospects of success. 
 
 Of the second series, seven were characterized by bulging of the inter- 
 costal spaces only, the remainder in addition being attended by more or 
 less erosion of the chest walls; seven were uncomplicated, three being in 
 the ascending aorta, three at the arch, and one in the innominate. They 
 were diagnosed to be lateral to the artery, except one which had an uni- 
 formly enlarged bulging on both sides of the sternum. This latter re- 
 quired two applications of electrolysis while one only sufficed for the 
 ethers. The other seven were complicated with secondary external aneur- 
 isms, three being in the ascending aorta and four at the arch. These 
 communicated with the vessel by wide orifices. Aggravated subjective 
 symptoms usually were present. 
 
 Ciniselli used the previously described voltaic pile; this pile was formed 
 of thirty couples; the zinc and copper plates were each ten centimeters 
 square, each disc-element being separated by cloths wet with salt water. 
 He used the poles alternately to avoid the local effect of either the alkaline 
 or acid reaction, which belong to each respective pole. By this method the 
 author considered that no accidents would occur from the predominance 
 of either reaction. In one case only was it necessary to use anesthetics. 
 
 The local irritations due to the contact of the electrode were always 
 easily controlled by ice and lead water. Ciniselli considered that the local 
 cauterization is produced by too long-continued application of the elec- 
 trode, or to a chemical action which is too great. The irritation should 
 never be more than superficial and slight. The first seven cases showed 
 immediately apparent improvement; this was marked by a diminution of 
 extent of pulsation, by increased consistence and firmness of the tumor, and 
 decrease in size; then; was increased regularity of circulation. The general 
 symptoms of neuralgic pain and dyspnoea diminished or disappeared; the 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L63 
 
 patienl was aide to lie in positions thai were formerly impossible, and 
 decided improvements recurred in tranquil sleep and In muscular 
 strengt h. 
 
 This author states in regard to the recurrence of aneurism in hi 
 perience: — in six of these cases there was qo return for seventeen months, 
 eighl months, Four months, three months, and three months, respectively. 
 
 In the first ease a second operation was required twenty months after 
 the first temporary cure; the walls of the chest wwr eroded and the tumor 
 was of immense dimension. 
 
 Another ease recurred in four months, but was still confined within 
 the walls of the chest; a second operation was a complete success, and 
 there was no evidence of the aneurism at the close of eight months later. 
 
 In the seventh ease there was marked and prompt improvement, but 
 a rupture of the sac caused death eighteen days later. 
 
 The same methods of procedure were followed in the six remaining 
 cases. Two of these cases required a second operation, immediate results 
 of which were the same: viz., increased consistence and firmness, and 
 diminution of the size of the tumor, with improvement in the general con- 
 stitutional symptoms. There was no general constitutional disturbance 
 and very slight local irritation. The greatest advantage possessed by this 
 operation as compared with other means of treatment is its short dura- 
 tion. In two of the cases the tumor was of considerable size, which sub- 
 sequent to the operation became suddenly enlarged and softened; gan- 
 grene, rupture and death resulted in forty-two and fifty-two days respec- 
 tively after the operation. 
 
 In the seventh case the occurrence of gangrene and hemorrhage re- 
 sulted from local cauterization which was caused by a current of too great 
 strength. Post-mortem examination showed in some of the fatal cases 
 organic alterations which would preclude success; while in the others the 
 beneficial effects of the operation were shown by consistent clots. 
 
 Ciniselli draws some conclusions from his experience in this method of 
 treatment of aneurisms. Before presenting this summary it Avould be 
 well to call attention to the large number of cases from which his experi- 
 ence was gathered, and to note in advance of his conclusions, that many 
 of his cases presented more unfavorable aspects of treatment than some 
 of those which are quoted from other authorities. It would be well also 
 to remark that the voltaic pile, used by him, gives a galvanic current of 
 very low tension and a feeble chemical action. The current from this pile 
 
104 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 has not the property of a tolerably constant action for long-continued use. 
 The batteries most generally employed for electrolytical treatment of 
 aneurisms on the European continent, as well as in this country, appear 
 to be those which afford strong currents of a high tension. 
 
 The conclusions of Ciniselli are summarized in the following valuable 
 suggestions for the indications and methods of treatment of aneurisms: 
 
 The favorable indications for the use of electrolysis are: entire enclos- 
 ure of the aneurismal sac within the cavity of the chest, the only external 
 manifestations being a pulsation and bulging of the intercostal spaces; the 
 seat of the aneurism should be lateral to the arterial wall; the aneurism 
 should not be too extended nor have formed in a very short period of time. 
 There should be no evidence of disease in the organs of respiration or of 
 the circulation other than that shown by the symptoms of the aneurism 
 itself. 
 
 The above symptoms demand the use of the electro-puncture. As the 
 most common cause of aneurism is that of atheroma of the arteries and its 
 tendency to progress, the permanence of the cure will depend upon the 
 progress of this arterial lesion. If the aneurism should recur, and if the 
 same favorable symptoms persist, the operation should be repeated. 
 
 On the other hand, in the case of peripheral aneurisms, and of those 
 which show a tendency to progress very rapidly, and in secondary aneu- 
 risms, or in those complicated by erosions of the thoracic walls, the electro- 
 puncture is contra-indicated. It is useless and may be followed by danger- 
 ous consequences. 
 
 He would especially caution against the use of too strong a current (of 
 high tension). In his opinion, the best form of battery is furnished by the 
 Voltaic pile. One serious objection to this form of battery is the fact that 
 its electro-chemical action is not continuous for a sufficient period of time, 
 and consequently the force of the current decreases very rapidly. If an- 
 other form of galvanic cell is used in battery, the current should not have 
 a greater force than that of the initial strength of the Voltaic pile. The 
 strength of the current should be equal to that which will decompose a 
 mixture of sulphuric acid and water in the proportion of one part of the 
 acid to thirty of water, and which will give in five minutes two or three 
 cu. cent, of the mixed gases resulting from the electrolysis. 
 
 He recommends polisbed steel needles which are one millimetre or 
 more in diameter. These should be inserted, to the number of two or 
 four, not nearer together than an interval of one and a half to two cent., 
 
APPLICATION OF III ■:< TROLl SIB. 1 65 
 
 ftor to a depth of oyer two to tour cent. The ourrenl should be reversed 
 at regular intervala in order to obtain a firm clot, and abrupl shocks may 
 be prevented by having pins in the handles of the eleotrodea At Brat 
 the negative should be applied on the- surface of the skin by means of a 
 wet compress, and the electro-positive oeedles should be connected one 
 after the other In Buoh a manner that each needle is connected first with 
 tin- positive and afterwards with the negative electrode, when the direo* 
 tion of the current is reversed. The needles should not be allowed to con- 
 nect with the negative electrode until after they have been acted upon by 
 the positive. His reason for this precaution is that he desires to coat the 
 needles with oxidized iron so that they are practically insulated before 
 being used to convey the negative electricity. The current, after acting 
 upon the skin should be changed, so that the former positive needle shall 
 he used as negative on changing the direction of the current. 
 
 The current should be reversed as soon as a little black circle shows 
 itself at the positive pole, as this indicates the commencement of the 
 caustic action. The appearance that indicates that cauterization is about 
 to take place around the negative pole (which has formerly been positive) 
 is the substitution for the red zone surrounding the black circle of a pale 
 and subsequently a cadaverous hue. This will inevitably be followed by 
 an eschar and ulceration unless the action of the current be terminated. 
 The sittings will last from 30 to 45 minutes, according to the number of 
 needles and the number of times each is employed. 
 
 Dujardin-Beaumetz 1 refers to a later collection by Ciniselli of thirty- 
 eight cases of aneurism. In no case had a permanent cure been effected. 
 In eleven cases the cure persisted for IS, 27, 23, 21, IT, 16, 7, 7, G, 4, 1 
 months respectively. In seven cases the amelioration persisted at the date 
 of writing (28, 16, 12, 8, G, 3, 3 months after the operation). This quota- 
 tion is from a letter of Ciniselli to Dr. Bacchi. Dujardin-Beaumetz puts 
 a case on record witnessed by Dr. Bemutz. This was an aneurism of the 
 aortal arch. The patient after apparent cure from the treatment returned 
 to work at the forge, and died suddenly two weeks later. There was no 
 post-mortem examination in this case. 
 
 Another case is reported by Dujardin-Beaumetz which was in a man 
 aet. 37; aneurism of ascending portion of the arch, with insufficiency of 
 aortal valves. When admitt d March L7, 1877, the patient stated that he 
 
 1 Note Bur un cas d'aneurysme de la crosse de i'aorta tniit£ par I'electro-punc- 
 
 ture. Bull. gen. de therap., xciii, p. 1. 
 
166 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 never had syphilis, nor had he been addicted to alcoholic excess; no report 
 of rheumatism; his father died of cerebral hemorrhage, his mother was 
 living and in good health. This patient had apparently from the reported 
 history an attack of parenchymatous nephritis at the age of fourteen years, 
 which was not recovered from for six months. Four years ago he was 
 suddenly attacked with violent pain in chest, which disappeared after some 
 days. Two years ago without appreciable cause he was attacked with pain 
 which radiated into the arms, especially the right; this was soon followed 
 by a palpitation so severe as to compel him to stop work. Decubitus on 
 the left side caused intense dyspnoea. About one year ago he noticed a 
 pulsation on the surface of the chest, between the fourth and fifth ribs. 
 He was treated for this symptom at a hospital in Bordeaux by ice and 
 iodide of potassium. On examination visible pulsation was most marked 
 in the third intercostal space. A bruit could be heard at the apex on the 
 mammary vertical line in the sixth intercostal space. Iodide of potassium 
 and refrigerants were tried unsuccessfully, and as this case presented the 
 favorable symptoms for treatment by electrolysis mentioned by Ciniselli, 
 this method was determined upon. Gaiffe's battery of twenty-six couples, 
 was used, producing 2c. c. of mixed gases in five minutes from the acid- 
 ulated water of Ciniselli. A rheostat was available so that the current 
 strength could be increased at will. Needles were varnished for one half of 
 their length. One positive needle was inserted at a distance of three cent, to 
 the right of the sternum, the second needle was introduced at a distance 
 of four cent, from the sternum. The positive needles were used singly 
 and in succession. To avoid shock the current was diminished each time 
 a needle was inserted ; each needle was twice acted upon in the way 
 recommended by Ciniselli. The sitting lasted half an hour. An ice 
 bag was applied after the withdrawal of the needles. Four hours later, 
 the force of the impulse beat of the tumor had diminished, and its 
 increased consistence showed that a clot had formed. This author 
 concludes that, if Ciniselli's directions are followed, two-thirds of the 
 cases will be ameliorated. 
 
 In the Gazette des Hopitaux ' Dujardin-Beaumetz reports the continu- 
 ance of the treatment in this same case; second sitting, about one month 
 after the first. Three needles were inserted in the fourth intercostal 
 space, which was followed by an amelioration even more marked than 
 
 'Paris, 1877, p. 1004. 
 
APPLICATION 01 i l.i I rBOLI 318. 1 67 
 
 before. The pulsation was perceived only (and there with difficulty) al the 
 borders of the tumor; bul in proportion to the improvement in bhe aneur- 
 ism the cardiac symptoms increased in Beverity, dyspnoea, enlargement of 
 
 the liver, a ml < edema appearing. Death took place one and a half months 
 after tin- sec. Mul operation. Posl mortem Bhoweda pear-shaped aneurism, 
 of the firsi portion of the vessel; this aneurism rested on the liver, mount- 
 ing to the third intercostal space". There was insufficiency of the aortal 
 valve-; the sac was lined by a clot one cent, in thickness. The author 
 thinks that it would be impossible to produce complete occlusion of a 
 cavity of Buch a size by electro-puncture. Some erosion of the chest, walls 
 was also present. 
 
 Ciniselli ' says that formerly he used varnish to prevent cauterization, 
 but found this to be useless, as the tissues were cauterized by " the elec- 
 tricity acting by induction across the intervening stratum." Also that 
 cauterization takes place around negative needles, but not wdien they have 
 pre\ iously been positive. It is more difficult to obtain a clot with the nega- 
 tive pole applied over a wet compress. He has shown by experiments on 
 animals that the negative pole does not dissolve a positive clot. On the 
 contrary, it produces an increase in its consistence and renders it a better 
 conductor. These clots are chemical and can be prevented by the use of 
 oxidizable electrodes. The best insulator for the tissues is the black circle 
 of oxide formed on a steel positive needle, and this is the reason for never 
 using a needle as the negative electrode which has not previously been 
 positive. Induction will, however, take place after a while around this 
 circle, and the sign of this is — pallor replacing the redness that formerly 
 existed around the dark circle. He now employs, first a positive needle, 
 second the negative, and third positive for 8-10 minutes. This ensures a 
 better clot, of a drier character, and prevents hemorrhage. A light com- 
 press is placed over the vessel and an ice bag on top of that. 5 
 
 .Male. act. 44, thoracic aneurism. Four new silver negative needles 
 were inserted in sac and positive leather-covered electrode moistened ap- 
 plied on skin. Pain and discomfort at once lessened, improvement con- 
 tinued for several days. 
 
 Male, act. 45, aneurism of thoracic aorta. Seven positive needles in- 
 troduced into sac. A current from thirty Daniell's cells was applied for 
 
 1 Loiter to M. Dujardin-Beaumetz. Bull. gen. detherap. xciii, p. 177. 
 '-' Z. de Kauer. Qalvano-plastischen Behandlung- der aorten Aneurismen. St. 
 Petersburg Ztschr., xv, p. 29. 
 
108 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 eighteen minutes; temporary improvement ensued. The operation was 
 repeated seven times, and the patient died. ' 
 
 Heidenreich states that the current decomposes blood thus: at the 
 positive pole, albumen, fibrin and fat, acids (HC1, etc.); at the negative 
 pole, watery and alcoholic extracts, alkaline and earthy bases, iron, pig- 
 ments, etc. 
 
 Axgioma (Naevus). 
 
 The treatment of naevus by the use of electrolysis has been attended 
 with great success, and, like almost all those resulting from the local 
 action of electricity, the scars on the skin are of so slight a character that 
 hardly any visible blemish remains. The treatment of this class of skin 
 deformity by the use of chemical caustics, or by means of skin trans- 
 plantation is most generally followed by white scars; these leave ugly cica- 
 trices and, consequently, are very objectionable. A number of these cases 
 were successfully treated by Groh. 8 
 
 1. Male child of five months. The size of this naevus was that of a 
 walnut and situated in the skin of the left cheek. It was cured in one 
 sitting. 
 
 2. Male child of six months with a cavernous naevus of the same size 
 as in the preceding case; this was situated in the skin of the left upper 
 eyelid and extended to the temple, where it was flat and of the size of a 
 silver dollar. This was cured by electrolysis in three sittings. 
 
 3. Two cases of naevi were cured in five minutes and three minutes 
 respectively. One of these was situated at the left angle of the mouth 
 and had the size of a bean; the other was below the right clavicle and was 
 the size of a pea. 
 
 4. Another naevus in a child eight months old was equal in size to a 
 pigeon's egg; this was situated upon the upper lip. It was cured in three 
 sittings. 
 
 5. Another case of cavernous naevus was situated near the left eyebrow 
 and was the size of a walnut. This was cured in three sittings. 
 
 G. A child of ten months had a cavernous naevus situated on the left 
 side of the neck over the region of the larynx; this was twenty-one lines 
 
 1 Frommhold. Ueber coagulation des Eiweisses durch Electrischen Stroeme 
 mit Bcziehung auf die Heilung von Aneurisinen und ueber Aulloesung von 
 Barnroehren Stricturen durch Electricitast. Oest. Ztschr. f. prakt. Hlkde. \i.. I860, 
 p. 514. » Op. cit 
 
APPLICATION OF BLEOTROLY8I8. 1 <J!> 
 
 Long And fifteen lines broad. This naevus could be diminished by pressure, 
 and was increased with muscular efforts of the child. A lou-- and thin 
 needle (positive electrode) was connected with Frommhold's battery. 1 
 The negative electrode, a steel needle, was inserted parallel to the surface 
 
 of the skin first above and then below the transfixed positive ueedle, and 
 then in other parts of the tumor. In eighteen minutes the whole mass 
 
 was a slough. The positive needle was held so firmly by the tumor that 
 it was allowed to remain. The slough separated in eight days, and its 
 only remains was a linear cicatrice. 
 
 8. Another case of cavernous naevus was situated in the skiu of the 
 cheek, involving also the right eyelid; this was treated by electroh 
 the dimensions of this naevus were eighteen lines vertically and twenty-one 
 lilies transversely. The patient's age was six months. As it was the 
 author's intention to produce obliteration of successive portions in the 
 hope of preventing a distorted scar, a batterywas used of twenty-two 
 couples, the elements of which had an area of 160 square inches. The ap- 
 plications extended over seven sittings and the treatment was followed by 
 favorable results. 
 
 9. A female child of five months presented a very large naevus on the 
 right side of the face, which extended forwards six and a half centimeters 
 (two and a half inches) from the tragus and six centimeters (two and a 
 quarter inches) in a vertical line. This case was cured after a number 
 of sittings. 
 
 10. A naevus in a boy of thirteen months, a walnut's size, situated 
 below the umbilicus, was cured after two sittings. 
 
 These blood tumors were either cured by the coagulation of the blood 
 or by the production of a slough. Groh had a practical difficulty in pro- 
 curing insulated zinc needles. A number of zinc needles were used for 
 the purpose of procuring a distribution of several points and these were 
 used for the positive electrode. The negative electrode was formed of a 
 moistened conductor applied on the surface of the skin or by needles 
 inserted into the growth. To produce a shrivelling of the growth the 
 needle should remain only for a few moments. In order to produce 
 sloughing the needles should remain for a longer time. Groh, from his 
 experience, ascribes great value to the treatment of angiomata (naevus) 
 by electrolysis. 
 
 'This battery lias been described in chapter iii. 
 
170 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The following case reported by Wilheim, assistant, was observed and 
 reported m Fieber's ' Clinic. Though it presents an unfavorable result 
 as compared with the experience of Groh, it should be observed that this 
 naevus was not treated by his method nor by an operator who placed much 
 confidence in cures by electrolysis. The naevus was situated below the 
 left clavicle of an hysterical girl; a gold needle, used as a positive elec- 
 trode, was inserted into the tumor; the negative electrode was applied 
 over the surface of the skin in the region of the deltoid muscle. The 
 current was derived from a battery of six Bunsen's cells. The treatment 
 produced no favorable result. 
 
 Two cases of leucoma were reported by the same observer, one of which 
 was partially and the other wholly cured. 
 
 1. Leucoma (a white opacity of the cornea), was situated on the left 
 eye of a woman. In this case a needle, as the negative electrode, was 
 placed in the centre of the opaque spot for a little less than two minutes. 
 This was followed by a cure. 
 
 2. In this case of leucoma the negative electrode was a wet sponge 
 which was placed over the eye; the positive electrode was held in the 
 hand. There was no cure. It will be observed that in one of these 
 cases which was followed by a cure, the electro-negative needle was di- 
 rectly applied to the spot; the other case which was treated by surface 
 contact of a moistened electrode, was not followed by a cure. The 
 naevus which was treated by the insertion of an electro-negative gold needle 
 into the growth was followed by a cure. The impartial reader will 
 naturally infer from the preceding cases that naevus can most generally be 
 removed by proper application of treatment by electrolysis. 
 
 It is not right to assume that every case should be treated in the same 
 way, or by the use of only one kind of electrode. These electrodes should 
 be adapted for each especial case. Generally speaking, the destroying 
 action which follows the insertion of an electro-positive gold needle is 
 slower than that which follows the insertion of the electro-negative gold 
 needle, and the accompanying inflammation in the former case is greater, 
 perhaps from the acid reaction or exosmosis. The use of zinc electrodes 
 would appear to be followed by a more rapidly destroying action. Groh as- 
 sumes that this result is on account of the formation of a destroying caustic 
 action produced by a caustic zinc compound, or else by promoting chemi- 
 
 1 Die Elektrolyse und ihre Lobredner. Allg. Wien Mod. Ztg., xxii, pp. 30, 40, 
 56, 93. 1877. 
 
LPPLIOATION OF ELBOTROL i 171 
 
 oal decompositions by establishing a subsidiary electro-chemical action by 
 the decomposition of zinc within the tissues. (See Chap. Kill.) 
 
 The Action of Electrolysis in Tumors. — The following cases of the 
 action of electrolysis in promoting the absorption of sacculated tumors 
 are quoted: 1 
 
 A laborer, aged thirty-nine years, with a hydrosarcocele, which had 
 existed for many years, was six indies long by twit inches broad, ami was 
 situate.! near the external ring. 
 
 First sitting, a varying number of cells was used for sixteen minutes; 
 this was followed by much pain; the firmness and consistence of the 
 tumor was softened. 
 
 Second day " feels well." 
 
 Fourth day the tumor is smaller. 
 
 Fifth day, patient was discharged from the hospital with the tumor 
 reduced to half of its original size. 
 
 Female, aged twenty-three, with a tumor of medium size. In this 
 case* the tumor extended a distance of seventy-eight centimeters, from 
 one iliac spine to the opposite. 
 
 Two needles, separated ten centimetres apart, were connected with a 
 current from a Bunsen battery and were inserted during ten minutes. 
 As fever, abdominal pain and other symptoms of peritonitis developed the 
 operation was not repeated. There was no immediate signs of diminution 
 in the size of the tumor. 
 
 Ovarian Cysts. — The following eight cases of ovarian cysts treated 
 by electrolysis are reported by Ehrenstein: 3 
 
 Abdominal measurement. 
 Before. After. 
 
 1. 178.62 89.75 
 
 2. 110.75 60.75 
 
 3. 90.00 60.75 
 
 4. 79.75 56.37 
 
 5. 127.12 87.50 
 
 6. 75.25 58.25 
 
 7. 109.75 87.75 
 
 8. 77.25 ';:;.75 
 
 The following case is reported by Fieber ' of an ovarian cyst of the size 
 of a man's head. The age of the patient was thirty years, and the diag- 
 
 1 Groh., op. cit. ' Scoutetten, Qaz. d. Hop., Paris, 1865, p 354. 
 
 3 Allg. Med. Cent Ztg., 1876, 608. 4 Wien Died. Presse, 1871, p. 372. 
 
172 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 nosis wus confirmed by Curl Braun. The cyst was multilocular with non- 
 fluid contents and was not suited for an operation. A battery of twenty 
 Daniell's cells was employed. A gold needle, connected with the copper 
 element of battery (positive electrode) was thrust into the tumor. This 
 treatment Avas repeated at eleven sittings, and ultimately reduced the size 
 of the tumor to that of a small apple. Negative electrode was applied to 
 surface of skin. 
 
 The same author reports ' another case of a tumor of the left ovary 
 which had existed for three years; this was first punctured after a consulta- 
 tion with Spath, and four litres of fluid removed; then, percutaneous 
 faradization was employed; but the cyst refilled. Afterwards, the patient 
 was treated at four sittings with the galvano-puncture. This was followed 
 by a little pain, and after some weeks the tumor was reduced to the size 
 of an apple. 
 
 The use of electrolysis in the treatment of ovarian tumors has been 
 the subject of a careful and critical study by Dr. Munde of New York. 
 The general tone of his article would appear to lend support to the 
 belief that he was disposed to consider this method of treatment so 
 much inferior to that of the more popular ovariotomy that it should 
 hardly ever be used in place of the latter capital operation. We do not 
 desire to make any comparison of the two methods; it avouM scarcely be 
 in keeping with the purposes of this treatise, which is simply intended 
 for a description of electrolysis, and not a treatise to defend this treat- 
 ment, which should stand upon its own merits, even in those cases of disease 
 whose details have been given in this chapter. The history of the reported 
 cases should simply be used for the purpose of illustration, and their study 
 will furnish us with information such as may be usefully employed to 
 obtain a knowledge of the most appropriate means to be used in the ap- 
 plication of this remedial measure for the treatment of diseased tissues, 
 no matter in what part of the human body they may be found. 
 
 In this article of Dr. Munde's we find a collection of fifty-one cases of 
 abdominal cystic tumors which were treated by the method of electrolysis 
 or by "electro-catalysis." Twenty-eight of these cases (55 per cent.) have 
 been completely cured; nine of them ended fatally, and four of them were 
 followed by dangerous symptoms. We can hardly forbear mentioning in 
 this relation that the first few years during which the capital operation 
 of ovariotomy was practised, the mortality from it was so great that but 
 
 1 All.-. Wien Ztg., 1876, p, 433. 
 
Al'Pl.K IATTOM «»F BLBOTROLY8I8. 1 7.J 
 
 few surgeons would undertake the risk of operating. A.t one time, in 
 tin' early period of this operation, if memory is correct, about Eour out 
 of every five cases of ovariotomy performed ended finally; and yet, in 
 spite of this record, the greal Bkill and care of the eminent Burgeons who 
 brought the rate of mortality down to nine per cent, mighl have hern far 
 otherwise, if the objections which are nowurged by Dr. Munde" againsl 
 electrolysis of cystic tumors had prevailed to *\<>\> the efforts of Spencer 
 Wells and other Burgeons from studying the best means of performing 
 ovariotomy with successful results. 
 
 In a letter which is given at length in the article before us from Von 
 Ehrenstein, it is stated that the latter had treated two hundred and twenty 
 cases of abdominal tumors having liquid contents, and that all of these 
 were cured with the single exception of one patient who left before the 
 completion of the treatment. In some of these cured cases, about thirty 
 or forty, after two to five years, the tumors returned, but were invariably 
 removed a second time when the treatment was administered in his 
 establishment. One case of recurrence, on the other hand, which was 
 treated by a North German physician with electrolysis only, without 
 regard to Von Ehrenstein's method, terminated fatally under his care. 
 This physician especially cautions against the use of tapping prior to elec- 
 trical treatment, and also against employing both electrodes as electro- 
 puncture^ he employs for the latter only the " cathode or positive pole," (?) 
 and uses sulphite of magnesia or magnesia sulplmrosa to prevent any sup- 
 purative fever. Though* it may be somewhat out of place to discuss this 
 particular form of treatment, the details of which are especially withheld 
 by Von Ehrenstein from our knowledge, yet it seems to be advisable to 
 make a little digression, in order that the obscurity may possibly be cleared 
 while the question is su] 1 before our thoughts. 
 
 Reference has been made in a previous chapter (see chapter second) 
 to the cataphoric action of electricity, electrical osmosis, and it should be 
 remembered that the effect of this action results in a transmission of the 
 fluid, acted upon by a current, en masse towards the negative electrode. 
 From the information incompletely furnished above from Von Ehrenstein, 
 it would appear that his method required the insertion of only one pole, 
 the positive, into the sac which contained the fluid. While the negative 
 was applied to the surface of the overlying skin; the effect of this manner 
 of application of the electrodes would resrdt in pushing the contained fluid 
 towards the secreting membrane of the sac, and would probably help the 
 
1 74 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 natural absorption of this fluid. It should also he noticed that the ad- 
 ministration of an active hydragogue cathartic, like sulphate of magnesia, 
 which is also a diuretic, would increase the physical osmosis from the ab- 
 dominal tissues. In this way we may suppose that the fluids which are 
 contained in the pelvis may be drained out of the body. This mere hy- 
 pothesis is certainly not established; and yet it is a well-known fact that 
 ascites is frequenth T relieved by the active medication of diuretics and 
 cathartics; moreover, the spontaneous disappearance of cystic abdominal 
 tumors is sometimes accomplished in the same manner. In support of 
 this supposition we would refer to a few details of some of the cases which 
 are reported in Dr. Munde's article. 1 In regard to Case III., which was 
 published by Von Ehrenstein: 2 "After the third sitting an unaccounta- 
 ble profuse diuresis took place, accompanied by a marked decrease of the 
 abdomen. No cystic fluid escaped through the abdominal walls at any 
 time, but the originally tense abdominal parietes became lax, after the 
 third day, particularly in their upper portion, so as to render the formerly 
 hidden points of the false ribs easily palpable, and a splashing motion 
 became perceptible in the abdomen of the patient at each movement. 
 These attacks of profuse micturition were repeated during the whole 
 month of August, at intervals of twelve hours to three days, without, 
 hoAvever, producing debility; because the development of a strong appetite 
 rendered the patient better able to bear the drain on her system, and the 
 improved condition of the blood prevented the rapid refilling of the cyst 
 by transudation of its watery constituents. The usual (sic) diaphoretic 
 tendency did not appear in this case, but on August 29, an intense itch- 
 ing of the abdominal epidermis showed itself, unaccompanied by an erup- 
 tion, or by a change of temperature or color. But the dry hand or a dry 
 warm plate of glass applied to the skin at once demonstrated the presence 
 of a continuous, almost imperceptible moisture, which was neither actual 
 perspiration, nor transudation from a puncture, and could be looked upon 
 as nothing else than so-called " perspiratio sensibilis." The beneficial 
 diuresis having ceased in the meanwhile, Ehrenstein restored it by a mix- 
 ture of squills, digitalis, and oil of juniper. The results of eight other 
 cases are mentioned by Ehrenstein, but the details of the symptoms of 
 treatment an; not given. They all completely recovered. 
 
 Another case (No. XIX.), is reported in detail by I >i\ Minnie, in which 
 
 1 Transactions of the American Gynecological Society, vol. ii. p. 377. 1877. 
 • Alls. Mel. Central Zeitg., 1876. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. 1 ■ 5 
 
 the tumor recurred two years later and resulted fatally, thai reported by 
 Dr. Haves of Chicago. The chief point of interesl to us in this case is, 
 
 however, that a subsidence in the size of the turner, each time during its 
 treatment by electrolysis, was marked by a previous appearance el' dia- 
 phoresis and diuresis. 
 
 Dr. Semeleder, of the city of Mexico, publishes 1 eighteen eases of ab- 
 dominal tumors which lie treated by electrolysis. His method was the 
 insertion of positive steel knitting needles into the sac of the cyst, and 
 the negative elect rode was applied to the surface of the abdomen. I le used 
 a Calland's battery of twelve elements of zinc and copper, the surface of 
 the zincs measuring two by sixty square centimetres. For the battery solu- 
 tion he used water in which sulphate of copper was dissolved. The ele- 
 ments were arranged in series for tension. Four to twelve galvanic cells 
 were employed as his battery in different cases. The negative electrode 
 was formed of carbon, or of sponge, or of wet blotting paper. Twelve of 
 his eases are reported as cured, one with no especial result, two wen- im- 
 proved, and three died. Two other cases reported by him were not treated 
 with a sufficient number of sittings to furnish any especial matter of 
 interest. His sittings occurred almost daily, and lasted from five to ten 
 minutes. The number of these sittings was from six to one hundred and 
 three, and the time of the whole treatment lasted from one to six months. 
 
 Tumors. — Wilheim reports a case of ganglionic tumor in the wrist 
 joint treated by electrolysis. 2 After this treatment, points of gangrene 
 supervened and the hand became cedematous, and lymphangitis occurred, 
 which required treatment for six weeks. It should again be remarked 
 that this writer used currents of too great strength, and probably did not 
 exercise the same careful use of electrolysis that other operators of larger 
 experience had especially observed in their cases. Too much stress 
 cannot be laid on this subject of the use of feeble currents continued for 
 longer sittings. It should always be remembered that the same chemical 
 effects can be produced by the long continuance of feeble currents as by 
 the use of strong currents in a short period of time, and without the 
 danger of exciting inflammatory action; this chemical effect and law lias 
 been mentioned in the statement of the behavior of electrolysis in the de- 
 composition of inorganic chemical compounds, and is equally true for the 
 electro-chemical action in the living tissue. This same author reports two 
 
 1 The American Journal of Obstetrics. July. IN*',', Vol. xv., No. ■), \>. 518. 
 5 Op. . n. 
 
17<i ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 more cases of the use of electrolysis, in which he notes a failure of cure: 
 one, a thickening of the false vocal cords, and the other a case of sarcoma- 
 in the larynx. 
 
 Tripier ' quotes the following three cases reported by Ciniselli: — 
 
 1. A hard round cutaneous tumor in the right leg of a woman, aged 
 twenty. Forty couples of discs, each ten cent, square, were arranged in 
 Voltaic pile and were separated by pads moistened in sulphuric acid di- 
 luted (1 to 20). A positive electro-needle was inserted into the tumor 
 and the negative electrode was applied to the surface of the skin on a wet 
 compress on the leg. Great pain followed this treatment, but the tumor 
 came away with the eschar in eight days, and a smooth cicatrix was left 
 in twenty days. 
 
 2. A tumor of the size of a hazel-nut in the left arm of a boy of four- 
 teen years of age, was electrolyzed with a current from a voltaic pile of 
 thirty couples. The discs used were half the size of the preceding; in 
 other respects the application of the treatment was the same. The patient 
 complained of the attending pain. The eschar separated on the thirteenth 
 day leaving half of the tumor; at the second sitting, electro-puncture, 
 platinum for positive and steel for negative were employed for five 
 minutes, and the remainder of the tumor separated on the tenth da}',, 
 producing a complete cure. 
 
 3. An erectile tumor, of the size of a large walnut, was situated on 
 the nose of a child of eight months' age. One electro-positive platinum 
 needle and two electro-negative steel needles were inserted into the 
 tumor, and these were connected with a current from a voltaic pile of fifty 
 couples for ten minutes. The local inflammation and fever which followed 
 this treatment ceased on the sixth day, and the separation of the eschar 
 on the ninth to the twelfth day. Erysipelas supervened and the child 
 died on the nineteenth day. It should be noticed that the current used 
 with this third case was not only four times the strength of the preced- 
 ing case, but even still stronger. It should be remembered that, after the 
 current has counterbalanced the resistance offered by the human body, 
 the addition of added couples will practically increase the tension of the 
 current by that of each additional pair. 
 
 Tripier 2 reports a case of a niultiparous married woman, in whom an 
 interstitial fibroid tumor, with metrorrhagia, was appropriately treated 
 
 1 Archiv. gon. de. Med., 18GG, vii., p. 48. 5 Op. cit 
 
Al'l'l.K A'l'loN ok BLB0TR0LYBI8. I i 7 
 
 for the relief of the hemorrhage. After this had ceased acute bronchitis 
 occurred and continued throughout tin- winter, which, in the opinion of 
 her attending physician, was caused by tuberculosis. In March, 1881, 
 Tripier discovered a fluctuating tumor in the margin of the side of the 
 anus, which was two ami a hall' cent, in diameter and bulged out t<» an 
 extent of one cent. Tins was punctured with a trocar, and on the with- 
 drawal of the trocar a little pus, blood and a large quantity of tenacious 
 pus was spontaneously expelled; the depth of the cavity measured five 
 centimetres. A sound was then introduced and the interior of the sac 
 was suhjected to the action of a current equal to ten inilliwebcrs (milliam- 
 peres?) for twenty minutes duration, the closure of the circuit being 
 formed by an electrode placed on the surface of the thigh. There was 
 no dressing applied to the opening of the wound; cicatrization occurred 
 on the fourth day, and there was no return of the abscess. 
 
 Dr. Neftel ' reports cases of tumors, mostly cancerous, which in his ex- 
 perience were treated by electrolysis. 
 
 1. In a man of fifty-six years of age, atheromatous, lately troubled 
 w T ith rheumatic neuralgia. His maternal aunt died of cancer. The man 
 had noticed for some years an induration in the left mamma, which he 
 supposed was caused by a local irritation, because a blister was applied 
 some time previously. After which three boils had appeared, two of 
 which had since healed; the third remained in an ulcerated condition and 
 subsequently had become painful. The diagnosis was formed of a scir- 
 rhous cancer, which involved the axillary glands, as well as the cervical 
 glands; this diagnosis was confirmed by Nelaton, Marion Sims and In- 
 several European physicians. Dr. Sims removed the diseased structures, 
 after which healing occurred by first intention, though the general con- 
 dition was not much improved. A year later, the glands had enlarged 
 to a considerable size. Dr. Sims removed these enlarged glands, the 
 subsequent cicatrization of which was retarded by the appearance of ery- 
 sipelas. Later on, a tumor as large as an orange was found in the right 
 mamma. The patient was then too much reduced to admit of an opera- 
 tion by the knife. Dr. Xeftel proposed the use of electrolysis, which he 
 applied for eleven sittings; the negative platinum needle was introduced 
 into the tumor, and the positive electrode was applied as a wet compress 
 
 1 Die electrolytischen Behandlung Boesartiger geschueltste. Reprinted from 
 Virchow's Archiv., lxxv. 
 12 
 
178 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 on the skin. A labile application ' was made for fifteen minutes. At the 
 second sitting, an electro-positive gold needle was introduced into the 
 tumor, the circuit being closed by the application of a surface electrode, 
 and the full intensity of a current from fourteen Siemen's (Krueger- 
 Hirschmann) battery was continued for two- minutes. 
 
 Three days later, two negative needles were introduced. 
 
 Four days later and five days later, electro puncture was used as nega- 
 tive electrode, and the positive electrode was applied by means of a broad 
 surface to different points of the skin, with a current derived from a bat- 
 tery of thirty Siemen's couples, during a period of five to fifteen minutes; 
 a frothy foam appeared around the electro-punctures. The pain attend- 
 ing the operation was intense, and immediately after the tumor increased 
 in size and became softened. The patient continued the use of weak cur- 
 rents, from a Daniell's battery of two cells, which he applied himself daily 
 for fifteen to twenty minutes. After the second introduction of the 
 needles the tumor began gradually to diminish, and in three months had 
 entirely disappeared. The patient continued the applications of the weak 
 currents to himself for a longer period. He was seen three years later 
 by Neftel, Sims and Mott, of New York, and no evidence could be de- 
 tected of the return of the tumor, or of enlargement of the glands; the 
 skin over the mammary region was soft and movable. The patient died 
 of some other disease at Washington. 
 
 Dr. Neftel states that the electro-punctures with strong currents into 
 ■cancerous tumors will not suffice for a cure ; but the subsequent and con- 
 tinued application of weak currents are, also, necessary. His reasons for 
 this statement are based on the supposition that strong currents attack 
 the tissues violently around a small space, while weak currents will radiate 
 with the production of a milder local action. It has already been noticed 
 by the writer of this treatise, as well as upon the authority of Ciniselli 
 and other observers, that the use of strong currents by electro-punctures 
 in the tissues will cause an irritation and inflammation at the point of 
 application, which may even extend to the adjacent tissues, and provoke 
 suppurative processes; these may induce the spread of the cancerous de- 
 generation beyond its original seat. Moreover, even if suppuration does 
 not follow the electro-puncture, the irritation may act as a stimulating 
 cause for the enlargement and further growth of non-cancerous tumors, 
 
 1 Labile application is made by the continuous movement of the electrode; the 
 stabile method is made by keeping hot!) electrodes stationary. 
 
aiti.k \ l'H>N OF ELECTRON SI8. 1 7!) 
 
 which are forms of neoformations. I'r. Neftel states, farther, thai the 
 electro-puncture affords the besl possible conductor of the run-cut into 
 the deeper tissues, and thai the tumor will soften at these points of appli- 
 cation. He would advise that the order of procedure should be: — first, 
 to provoke an energetic decomposition, and second, to induce a alow 
 absorption by the application of surface contact of the electrode to the 
 skin through the long-continued action of weak currents. He presents 
 the history of the following recited rases to show the inefficiency of the 
 use of strong currents to effect a cure of cancerous affections: — 
 
 1. Unmarried woman of fifty years; the growth of the patient had 
 been stunted; kyphoscoliosis; menstruation had been absent for twelve 
 years. The right mamma had been amputated on account of a scirrhous 
 tumor. Two months after this operation the axillary glands began to en- 
 large. He began treatment of these enlarged glands, six months' after 
 the amputation of the breast; he employed the electro-negative puncture 
 into the axillary glands, closing the circuit by means of a broad positive 
 electrode applied to the surface. The current was gradually increased to 
 that from fifteen Siemen's couples, applied for fifteen minutes, and then 
 gradually diminished. At the next three sittings, at intervals of a week, 
 the current from twenty couples was applied during fifteen minutes; then, 
 that from twenty to thirty couples (Siemen's) for fifteen minutes. The 
 same electrodes were employed as in the preceding sitting, and in the 
 same manner. The enlarged gland, which had previously been as large 
 as an egg, then disappeared from the axilla gradually during the next two 
 months, as well as the cervical glands which had been treated in the same 
 way; the patient's condition was good and she went home. In less than 
 a month she returned for advice on account of a diffuse hardness in the 
 right subclavian fossa; this tumor had the size of a walnut. A current 
 from twenty Siemen's couples was employed, as before, during twenty- 
 five to thirty minutes for four sittings. Tins treatment produced so 
 much irritation that a confluent slough appeared which covered the place 
 of the tumor; this afterwards disappeared and the tumor diminished in 
 size; the axillary swelling also decreased and the patient went home. 
 Four months later she again returned with nodules of the size of a pea 
 on the anterior wall of the thorax; there was. also, diffuse induration in 
 the axillary space. At eight sittings, each nodule, one only at a sitting, 
 was punctured by the electro-negative needle with a current from twenty- 
 live to thirty Siemen's couples for thirty minutes, lie was intimidated 
 
180 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 from inserting the needles in the axillary space on account of the numer- 
 ous vessels. The axillary induration gradually increased in that region as 
 well as an edematous condition of the whole forearm. This case illus- 
 trates the rapid disappearance and rapid recurrence of the cancerous con- 
 dition under this treatment. 
 
 2. Married woman of fifty-two years of age; menstruation had ceased 
 two years ago; her maternal aunt had died from cancer of the breast. In 
 the present case there was a hard knot in the right mammary gland of the 
 size of an hen's egg, which he had noticed within the preceding six 
 months. There were also swollen glands in the right axillary region. 
 Both the tumor and glands were extirpated, after which pleuro-pneumonia 
 of the right side developed . Cicatrization was followed by a stiffness and 
 pain in the right arm, and the fingers were immovable. There remained 
 two hard nodules under the cicatrix. These latter became hard and in- 
 flamed. Three electro-negative needles were inserted during anaesthesia 
 into these nodules, the circuit being closed by the surface contact of the 
 positive electrode on the skin of the breast; a current from thirty Sie- 
 men's cell, arranged for tension, was passed through the circuit for 
 twenty-five minutes. On recovery from anaesthesia there was no pain 
 and no local inflammation, and the patient felt much improved. Three 
 days later, at the second sitting, the insertion of the same needles caused 
 no pain; the hardness was less. 
 
 Third sitting, same treatment was repeated. 
 
 For the next two months a current from thirty Siemen's couples was 
 applied by means of surface contact of the two electrodes for twenty min- 
 utes, but without electro-puncture. The patient regained the use of her 
 arm and hand. Six weeks later the induration had returned and was 
 rapidly increasing; four needles were then introduced with a current from 
 forty Siemen's couples for twenty minutes, which seemed in a few days 
 to soften and reduce the pre-existing induration; the hardness of the cica- 
 trix still remained, as well as the enlargement of the cervical glands of 
 the right side. Strong currents then became unbearable, as they caused 
 great pain and vertigo; consequently, only a current from eight to ten 
 couples was u seil. Precordial pain and an irregular pulse followed even 
 this mild current application, and death occurred after a collapse. The 
 post-mortem confirmed the original diagnosis. 
 
 3. A married woman of forty years of age received a blow upon the 
 breast, which was followed soon after by the appearance of a tumor in 
 
APPLICATION OF ELEOTBOLY8J8. L81 
 
 the mamma (left) accompanied with lancinating pains; the skin was in- 
 volved with, and adherent to the tumor; the pain extended over to the 
 other (right) arm; the patient bad a cachectic appearance. Of late the 
 tumor had Increased to the size of an orange, and was accompanied with 
 indurated glands in the axillary region. The electro-puncture from a 
 battery oi thirty Siemen's couples was applied in the same manner as in 
 the preceding cases, and under chloroform, for thirty minutes, (ireat 
 improvement in the patient's condition followed the first applications of 
 electrolysis, and the use of daily and weak currents were then, imme- 
 diately, begun; these currents varied in strength from six to ten couples, 
 and, in duration of application, from fifteen to thirty minutes. Under 
 this method of treatment the tumor gradually decreased in size and finally 
 disappeared entirely. This author insists upon the imperative rule, that 
 the applications of electro-puncture should be made at short intervals, and 
 should be followed up by the application of weak currents; because, if 
 the intervals between these applications are long, the effect of the electro- 
 lysis will be to stimulate the growth of the tumor. 
 
 4. A married woman of forty-eight years of age; the patient's family 
 history was good. She had received a blow on the breast (left); soon 
 after this a tumor had appeared which was accompanied with lancinating 
 pains. When seen by Dr. Xeftelthe tumor involved the whole breast, and 
 was adherent to the surrounding structures as well as to the skin. The 
 axillary glands were also enlarged and there was pain accompanying vol- 
 untary motions of the arm. Under chloroform, a current from thirty 
 Siemen's couples was applied for twenty minutes by the method of 
 electro-puncture, as in the other cases, but through three needles used 
 as the negative electrode. 
 
 Four days later the tumor was softer and smaller; the electrolysis was 
 repeated in the same manner and with the same current strength. 
 
 Twenty-three days later the tumor had still further decreased; electro- 
 lysis was again repeated; the decrease in the size of the tumor was fol- 
 lowed by a subsequent increase in size. 
 
 Eight days later, as the patient had been suffering rheumatism for 
 the past four months and was somewhat worse, Dr. Neftel did not like 
 to proceed with the electro-punctures, and, therefore, applied the surface 
 contact daily for thirty to fifty minutes with a current strength of twenty 
 to thirty couples. Later on, lie employed the electro-puncture fourteen 
 tines, during a period of thirty minutes at each sitting, with a current 
 
182 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 strength of forty couples. The surface application of the current was 
 daily continued for the following eight days with a current strength from 
 twenty to thirty couples, and, later, with that froni four couples. The 
 patient began to improve, and the electro-puncture was then resumed. 
 This treatment was followed by varying methods of electrical treatment, 
 and at the date of the report the patient Avas in a very unfavorable con- 
 dition. 
 
 5. A married woman of thirty-eight years of age with a good family 
 history; the tumor in this case was situated under the surface of the left 
 breast, and was of the size of a pigeon's egg; in a few months it had in- 
 volved the whole gland. At present all the adjacent tissues were involved 
 and the axillary glands formed one hard swelling. The mammary tumor 
 was in size as large as a child's head and the breast itself was hard ; a peri- 
 pheral ulceration extended under the tumor. The case was recognized 
 as cancerous by several consulting physicians. Under chloroform one 
 electro -positive needle was inserted vertically into the breast, and four 
 electro-negative needles were inserted into the tissue around the peri- 
 phery at intervals of half an inch ; these needles were connected with a 
 battery formed of forty couples ( Siemen's). The electro-negative needles 
 were re-introduced, one after another, until the whole mass was under- 
 mined; the tumor became livid, the next day it was black, and in nine 
 days it sloughed off; after this the pain was gone and the patient could 
 sleep; her general health improved greatly. Strong and medium currents 
 were continued for a year; but it was evident that the disease was not, 
 and could not, be cured, and the patient gave up treatment and went 
 home. When last heard from she was in a feeble condition. 
 
 These cases are given in detail, and, certainly, as the author specifies, 
 do illustrate the dangers of using currents for electro-puncture of too 
 great a current strength. We have the authority of Bruns for the state- 
 ment that, though the case reported ' by him had a relapse after a period of 
 three years, he has since cured others by electrolysis. In his opinion, if 
 the primary affection of cancer be treated by this method, and before it 
 should become a constitutional infection, after Virehow's views, the cancer 
 will not recur. Bruns believes this to be true, as he has seen it proved 
 in his practice, because electrolysis extends somewhat into the tissues 
 which surround the electro-puncture. Ciniselli 2 claims that the caustic 
 
 1 Op. eit. - Op. «it. 
 
/APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L83 
 
 aotion of electrolysis is of Borne importance in the treatment of malignant 
 tumors and their relapses, either as curative or palliative. Qrdh ' recom- 
 mends the most powerful currents for the treatment of cancerous affec- 
 tions, and advises the battery arrangement of the couples in batteries Cor 
 ourrents of high tension; he speaks Eavorably of his own experience with 
 the use of four large and four smaller Grove's colls. He urges the use of 
 these Strong currents to extend the action, as with extirpation by tho 
 knife, to as Ear as possible into the tissue surrounding tho scat of the 
 cancerous degeneration, lie succeeded best by undermining the tumor 
 by the use of curved needles. In smaller tumors lie advises that a zinc 
 needle should be used with which to perforate the base, and that steel 
 needles should be employed to puncture the; surface. The electrolysis 
 must, in his opinion, be continued until every portion of the affected and 
 adjacent tissues have been completely destroyed. 
 He presents the history of the following cases: — 
 
 1. Epithelioma of the head, having an area equal in extent to twice 
 the size of a silver dollar; this was cured in two sittings. He employed, 
 as the negative and positive electrodes, three zinc needles attached to each 
 electrode. This case was in a young woman. 
 
 2. Epithelial cancer of the size of a walnut directly under the lip; this 
 tumor was destroyed in one sitting of twenty minutes. 
 
 3. A case of epithelial cancer, which was very extensive, situated in 
 the under lip of a man aged seventy-four. Groh attempted to destroy 
 this tumor by passing a curved electro-negative needle under its base, the 
 circuit being closed by surface contact of a sponge positive electrode, and 
 a battery of twenty couples (Grove's?). Though this strength was well 
 tolerated by the patient without anaesthesia, it was not sufficient to destroy 
 the tumor. Then zinc and steel needles were used, respectively, in place 
 of the curved needle and the sponge electrodes. The operation was once 
 repeated for a slight return, after which a cure was effected. 
 
 4. Epithelial cancer in middle of the lower lip of a man of fifty-six 
 years of age; three applications, similar to the preceding treatment sufficed 
 for a cure. 
 
 5. Case similar to the preceding in a man of sixty years of age was 
 cured by four applications. This cancer afterwards recurred with a terri- 
 ble relapse. The whole of the gum, lower lip, and chin was a mass of 
 cancer; his teeth were loose and the submaxillary -lands were also in- 
 
 1 Op. < if. 
 
184 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 volved. The patient requested a repetition of the previous treatment; 
 and a positive curved zinc needle was inserted at the right angle of the 
 mouth and beneath the bone across to the opposite side, the electro nega- 
 tive being formed of three steel needles which were inserted about three 
 lines apart; the electro-punctures were continued from the periphery to 
 the bone; a current was employed from four large and four smaller 
 Grove's cells. The action of electrolysis was very powerful, the whole 
 mass swelling from the development of gas in the tissues and from the 
 local inflammation of the parts. 
 
 The swelling subsided in an hour and the swelling of the submaxillary 
 glands disappeared in six days. The sitting lasted an hour under chloro- 
 form. The disease reappeared a second time, and required another sit- 
 ting. A battery of thirty Frommhold's cells was used with the same 
 electrodes as before; three needles were inserted for fifty-eight minutes, 
 and subsequently for three more sittings of thirty minutes each. As a 
 result the whole of the lower jaw over the seat of the disease was exposed, 
 followed by rapidly spreading and healthy granulations, and a cure re- 
 sulted with brilliant effect. 
 
 6. A case similar to No. 4 was cured in four sittings. 
 
 7. A case of epithelial cancer in a man of seventy years of age; this 
 cancer involved the whole of the lower lip. A Frommhold battery having 
 a surface of two hundred and ten square inches was used under chloro- 
 form; an electro-positive zinc needle, two and a half inches long, was in- 
 serted through the middle of the tumor, and an electro-negative curved 
 steel needle (forming a segment of a circumference of a circle having a 
 diameter of three inches) was also inserted at the margin of the tumor at 
 the angle of the mouth; a frothy foam developed rapidly over the surface 
 of the diseased tissue. The sitting lasted for twenty-five minutes, and 
 effected a permanent cure. 
 
 8. A case of epithelioma which involved the chin, lower lip, and al- 
 veoli of a man aged sixty- four; the positive electrode was formed of three 
 long zinc needles, which were inserted from the left side to the centre of 
 the tumor; the negative electrode was formed of three other needles, 
 which were inserted also into the cancerous mass; the current was con- 
 tinued for seventy-three minutes. At the second sitting, the facial artery 
 was punctured and a severe hemorrhage followed, which was stopped by 
 inserting the positive electrode at the point of the flow of blood; the 
 patient then absconded much improved, hut not permanently cured. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L85 
 
 9. A rase of epithelioma in righl lower eyelid extending over the 
 zygomatic region. r rii<' patient refused more than one application. 
 
 10. A ease of epithelioma in the left cheek of an old woman, which 
 was equal in size to that of a hazel nut. A cure was effected in one sit- 
 ting of twelve minutes. 
 
 11. A case of Hat epithelial cancer in the lefl check of ;i woman of 
 forty years of age. Five needles were inserted into the cancer about three 
 lines apart, which he lias since concluded is too wide a separation and now 
 places the needles closer together. 'The positive electrode was a thick zinc 
 needle. This patient wus cured in one sitting. 
 
 12. A case of cancer of tlie parotid (on right side) as large as an apple 
 in a woman of the age of eighty-four years. This patient was much ex- 
 hausted by her age, by suppuration, and by hemorrhage. Each electrode 
 was formed of three needles, which were inserted parallel to and alter- 
 nately, the positive placed from behind forwards, and the negative from 
 before baekwards. A current from thirty-two Frommhold's cells was em- 
 ployed for forty-four minutes. The cancerous affection was much im- 
 proved, but the woman died of colliquative diarrhoea. 
 
 13. A case of a man, aged forty-eight; there Avas epithelioma of the 
 tongue, including the lower jaw and the floor of the mouth, the enlarge- 
 ment of submaxillary glands; there was some sloughing from the can- 
 cerous mass. A battery of thirty-three Smee-cells was added to the 
 Frommhold battery, previously referred to, thus making the whole sur- 
 face of the couples exposed to the action of the exciting fluid equal to 
 four hundred square inches. 1 Groh was averse to the use of chloroform 
 in this case from the fear that the collection of mucus in the air passages 
 might interfere with respiration. This collection of mucus was very 
 abundant and had to be frequently removed by the use of sponges ami 
 forceps during the operation. Two zinc needles were fixed info the 
 middle of the tongue for the positive electrode, and the electro-negative 
 needle was formed of steel; the latter was used to separate the healthy 
 from the diseased tissues. Two electro-negative steel needles were thrust 
 into the floor of the mouth, and between these a zinc needle, connected 
 as positive, was also placed. The first sitting lasted six minutes, bit 
 
 1 It is doubtful whether this combination of two batteries would give a very 
 much stronger currenl than either one used alone, because the junction of differ- 
 ent kinds of cells is apt to complicate the electro-chemical action in each, and the 
 result of their combined effect is disadvantageous. 
 
186 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 was interrupted by the falling out of two steel needles; then tw r o zinc 
 needles were inserted into the tongue and a third in the lower jaw; six 
 electro-negative steel needles were arranged in a circle at various points* 
 each receiving the current for a period of fifteen to thirty seconds; when 
 this had continued for three minutes and a half, the sitting was inter- 
 rupted by the cessation of action in the battery. Then a battery of 
 thirty-three Smee-cells was employed, and with this current a long and 
 curved zinc needle was inserted into the tongue, and another similar 
 needle of the opposite pole was thrust into the floor of the mouth, dur- 
 ing six minutes. This was followed by a cessation of the pain, and after- 
 wards sloughing ensued. As there was some induration remaining, a 
 second sitting was required during which two zinc needles were inserted 
 for an hour at three different points; a battery surface varying from fifty 
 to two hundred square inches was used. The size of the glands decreased, 
 but a relapse recurred which required another sitting; at this third sit- 
 ting two zinc needle-electrodes were used for twenty-seven minutes, the 
 negative being inserted at three different points, and the positive being 
 held firmly fixed in the tissue. This was removed afterwards in the even - 
 ing by gentle rotation. At the fourth sitting, which lasted seventeen 
 minutes, for the treatment of some nodules which had appeared near the 
 lower jaw, the same plan was followed, after which granulation and cica- 
 trization occurred; this was, however, followed by another relapse in three 
 weeks. The patient very naturally refused to submit to any further use 
 of the strong currents, so that only those of a weak character were em- 
 ployed with the hope of retarding the rapid advance. The final result is 
 not stated. 
 
 14. A case of scirrhus which involved both mammary glands, and 
 which was accompanied by swollen glands in the axilla; on the left side 
 there was a disseminated mass (lenticular) which included also the skin. 
 The first three sittings were occupied by the employment of the surface 
 contact, without any electro-puncture, using weak currents with moist 
 electrodes. Then in a series of frequent and consecutive sittings, the 
 cancer of the right breast and the adjacent nodules were destroyed by the 
 electro -puncture. No anaesthesia was used because only weak currents 
 were employed. After the sloughs had separated, cicatrization was has- 
 tened by dusting the surface with fresh gypsum. Though during this 
 time the tumor on the left side did not progress, death occurred six 
 months later from the disease. 
 
MTLU'ATluN OF ELECTROLYSIS. I s < 
 
 L5. A case of cancer nodules in a cicatrix from an amputated breast; 
 in this case one sine needle was inserted in the nodule of the mamm a r y 
 cicatrix, and three steel needles in the nodule in the axillary region, A 
 Frommhold battery was used, having a Bquare surface of one hundred 
 square inches, for one sitting of fifty-eighi minutes. Both of the nodules 
 were destroyed. The only distress shown by the patient appeared to be 
 chiefly from fright. 
 
 L6. In another ease, an extensive cancer which included the uterus 
 and vagina, the electro-puncture produced so much pain that the treat- 
 ment was Btopped, and the patient was discharged, unimproved. 
 
 i;. A ease of extensive cancer in a man of fifty-two years of age, 
 which was situated in the rectum and was surrounded with infiltrated 
 tissue around the anus, and which extended two inches up the gut; no 
 anaesthetic was used. Electrolysis of the external growth was accom- 
 plished hy the current from a Frommhold battery which had a surface of 
 ninety square inches, the treatment being continued for forty- two min- 
 utes. Immediately afterwards a number of electro-negative needles were 
 used, instead of the one which was employed at the first sitting, during 
 forty-two minutes; this treatment was followed by the relief of the pre- 
 viousy existing great pain, and his sleep and appetite returned; the offen- 
 sive odor of the discharges was also much lessened. At the second sitting, 
 which lasted for thirty-three minutes, a larger Frommhold battery was 
 used having a surface of one hundred and thirty to one hundred and sixty 
 square inches, with the insertion of electro-positive zinc needles, the punc- 
 ture was made through the base of the rectal tumor, and parallel to it. 
 Half an inch apart from these, electro-negative steel needles were inserted, 
 removed, and reinserted, into the tumor, until the whole circumference 
 of the mass was completely destroyed. Subsequently, an old-fashioned 
 brass electrical conductor was placed in the rectum and an electro-positive 
 zinc needle was inserted into the anal tissue; this was accompanied by a 
 great deal of pain, but the patient was discharged cured. 
 
 These seventeen cases of cancer treated by CJ-roli are presented in all 
 their details, for the purpose of illustrating the destructive action of cur- 
 rents, having high tension, acting as a mild thermo-cautery upon cancerous 
 tumors. The attention of the reader is again called to what has been 
 previously mentioned in this book, that electrolysis is liable to increase 
 inflammatory action, especially the suppurative processes, which may have 
 already been established. Consequently it is not desirable to attack such a 
 
188 ELECTROLYSIS 
 
 diseased condition with electro-puncture, unless this be used to separate 
 the healthy from cancerous tissue. If these and the other cases be ex- 
 amined with especial reference to this view of the matter, it would seem 
 as if the local inflammatory condition would act as a contra-indication to 
 the use of electrolysis in such cases. It is, moreover, doubtful if the use 
 of weak currents will cause the destruction of cancers, which are under- 
 going a process of inflammation and suppuration. This part of our sub- 
 ject has been so particularly discussed in the chapter on the action of 
 electrolysis of the tissues, that it is hardly worth while to mention it 
 further in this place. , ■ 
 
 Groh in the work from which we have so largely quoted proceeds to a 
 report of the practical effects of weak currents. Their long-continued 
 action, in his opinion, produces startling results. He recommends the 
 use of the DanielPs cell for obtaining a constant action of electricity with 
 weak currents. This cell has been described in chapter third, in which 
 its electro-motive force was stated to be about one volt, or two-thirds of 
 that furnished by the Leclanche, or one-half of that furnished by the 
 Grove's on an open circuit. The chloride of silver cell would, however, 
 supply the same amount of electromotive force, and though its internal 
 resistance is high, about seven ohms, this would not be of much account 
 in reference to the very high resistance which the human body presents 
 in the external circuit. As but few cells are required to produce weak 
 currents the transportation of the Daniell's cells need not deter their use 
 in this object. It should be remembered that, to obtain any chemical or 
 physical effects on the living tissues from the continued use of weak cur- 
 rents, the action of the battery should be maintained at a constant point. 
 The electrodes should be of such a kind as could be easily handled by the 
 patient himself, and which would not easily get out of order. The ad- 
 vantage according to Groh to be derived from the use of weak currents: — 
 
 1. That of avoiding the expense to the patient of frequent consulta- 
 tions at the physician's office. 
 
 2. The avoidance of the pain which accompanies the use of currents 
 of high tension and of great power. 
 
 3. That many diseases may be subjected to the slow action of a weak 
 chemical current, which would otherwise not receive any treatment, ex- 
 cept at great expense or with great pain. 
 
 Groh first attempted this method in 1851 for the cure of varicose 
 ulcers. He reports three cases treated in this way: — 
 
APPLICATION OF ELE< TROLY8IS. 
 
 189 
 
 1. Myxosarcoma in a man of thirty-two years of age. This was situ- 
 ated in the Left leg and was in rise equal to a child's bead. There was sup- 
 puration and hemorrhage from two points of the ulcer. The tnmor was 
 vcrv painful and the patient was much reduced; the ulcer covered an 
 extent of two and a half inches in one direction by four inches in another, 
 and was twelve inches in circumference, Eeroic treatment wasthought 
 to be contra-indicated on account of the patient's weak condition. A 
 Daniell's battery of six cells was suggested, and for rheophores, or con- 
 ductors, insulated copper wires which ended in spirals of thick copper 
 (about two millimetres thick) measuring three cent, in diameter. The 
 two ulcers were filled with zinc filings and the copper discs placed in 
 contact with these filings and then covered with more filings; then each 
 ulcer received the current from the Daniell's battery; a moderate burning 
 sensation was experienced which soon disappeared on closing the circuit; 
 the current was continued constantly for twenty-four hours. There was 
 then found on the electrode connected with the zinc pole of the battery 
 (positive) at the end of this period a reddish-brown froth; the other 
 (negative) electrode was dry; on removing the filings of the latter a 
 horny white slough was noticed; on removing the zinc electrode the cavity 
 appeared black but was not sensitive; the copper disc was almost eaten 
 through. On the next day the electrodes were applied in the inverse 
 order; twenty-four hours later the conditions of the ulcers were reversed. 
 On the third day the middle of the tumor appeared to be destroyed, and 
 the general condition of the patient was much improved. At the fourth 
 visit electro-puncture was employed, the electro-positive at the lower and 
 the electro-negative at the upper part of the varicose swelling; the pain 
 from these punctures was so considerable that the number of the cells 
 was decreased to four. The slow action of electrolysis was then resumed 
 for twenty-four hours, as before. When, at the end of this period, the 
 electrodes were removed, there appeared at each of them about one and a 
 half inches of slough, together with, at the positive, a greenish-grey Eroth, 
 and at the negative, a greyish-white firmer tissue. The appearance was 
 that of an excavated ulcer. The slow method of electrolysis was again 
 repeated until the swelling was entirely gone. The patient was discharged 
 with this ulcer nearly healed. Groh remarks that this treatment took 
 fifteen days and was apparently attended with no discomfort to the patient. 
 
 2. Osteo-sarcoma in the right thigh of a woman of twenty-two years 
 of age. This tumor was larger than a child's head and was situated on the 
 
190 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 outer side and on the lower third of the thigh; it measured three and 
 three-quarter inches on the vertical line and five inches transversely. This 
 patient was very much reduced by hemorrhage and suppuration. Nine 
 fine and seven thicker needles were thrust into the tumor to a depth of 
 over two inches; the thicker needles which were introduced from below 
 upwards, were connected with the positive for the purposes of providing 
 for corrosion, and the fine needles, as the negative, were inserted into the 
 upper portion. The tumor was destroyed in three days, but did not heal 
 for three and a half months. The tumor showed no tendency to reform, 
 but an annular ulcer with healthy granulations remained, which was two 
 and a half inches in diameter. 
 
 3. A case of a cancerous nodule which formed to the size of a hazel 
 nut in the cicatrix of an amputated breast. As in the other cases of elec- 
 trolysis four fine electro-positive and six thicker electro-negative needles 
 destroyed this nodule, and in half an hour's time. 
 
 A careful examination of these last three cases reported by Groh will 
 show that the local action of a weak current of electricity will accomplish 
 a destruction of tissue with as much facility as the stronger currents, 
 though the action must be longer maintained. It is perfectly compre- 
 hensible in view of the original truths laid down by the physicists, who 
 have declared and confirmed by experiments that the electro-chemical 
 action in a galvanic cell will develop an equal amount of chemical action 
 in the external circuit, provided this circuit be formed of chemical com- 
 pounds in solution in this circuit; the resistance in the circuit can only 
 affect the result by weakening the current, and, in consequence, the 
 original electro-chemical action in the battery. It is rather a matter for 
 regret that Groh did not record the measurement of the currents actually 
 used by him in each case; this would furnish a basis upon which other 
 operators could compare their experience with his. His report was, how- 
 ever, presented in 1871, when the matter of measurements of currents 
 was not so much in vogue. 
 
 Groh reports four cases of sarcomata which he treated by electrolysis; 
 all of these were successfully destroyed. 
 
 1. A case of myxo-sarcoma, 
 
 2. And a case of melano-sarcoma, both of which were cured in sittings 
 of fifteen minutes each. 
 
 3. Sarcomatous epulis, excrescence on the gum, of the size of a hazel 
 nut ; this was electrolyzed by two positive zinc and one negative steel needle. 
 
tfPPLIOATIOM OF ELECTROLYSIS. 191 
 
 One Bitting effected only a temporary cure, as the excrescence recurred 
 
 four months later, the patienl having complained of being sensitive to 
 draughts of air during this interval. The size of bhe tumor had mean- 
 while increased. Thirty-three Smee cells were then added bo the pre- 
 viously used Frommhold battery, thus giving an area of four hundred 
 square inches of Burface. In this second Bitting the whole mass was de- 
 stroyed in seven minutes, the excrescence slouching off with a thin lamella 
 
 of hone. 
 
 4. A case of tihro-sareoma in the nose which had developed from the 
 nasal septum and from the wall of the left nasal cavity. This case, which 
 was in a girl of sixteen years of age. was temporarily euivd in one sitting; 
 but it recurred nine months later and was then permanently destroyed in 
 a sitting of live minutes' duration by the use of platinum needles used as 
 electrodes. There was no further recurrence in this ease. 
 
 Groh reports two cases of lupus which were successfully treated by 
 electrolysis. 
 
 •1. The lupus in this case covered the space of a square inch on the 
 upper lip; the electro-positive zinc needle and seven steel electro-negative 
 needles, was connected with, at first, ten, afterwards with thirty-two cells. 
 These needles were arranged around the circumference of the ulcerating 
 surface at one sitting of nine minutes, and they were separated three lines 
 apart. This sufficed for a cure. 
 
 2. This case, in a boy of fourteen years, involved the upper lip and 
 nose. Six electro-negative needles were inserted into the mass, separated 
 two lines apart, the positive electrode being formed by a wet sponge. 
 The lupus was punctured again and again, the needles remaining in the 
 same place for tw r enty seconds. The diseased growth was destroyed in 
 twelve minutes; after two weeks had elapsed only a few small hard knots 
 remained at the periphery. This case was reported cured. 
 
 A few cases have been reported where electrolysis has been used for 
 inciting a healthy growth over a suppurating surface. In these cases 
 care should invariably be exercised to use the current only for a very few 
 moments at a sitting: and it would seem advisable, even then, to employ 
 this treatment only in those cases where the suppuration has been suffi- 
 ciently prolonged to be called a chronic abscess, or only in those cases 
 where there is a sinus or a fistulous tract. 
 
 1. A case of anal fistula in a woman of twenty-three years of age. 
 This fistula dated from four years before, ami after her confinement; the 
 
1 9 2 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 pain was so troublesome that it prevented sleep; forcible dilatation had 
 never been tried. The patient reported that many kinds of cauterization 
 had been tried, but that all had failed to relieve her. Ciniselli ' made an 
 examination and found an elliptical ulcer on the right margin of the anus, 
 which was one and a half inches square; he performed an operation for a 
 superficial galvanic cauterization lasting for three minutes, with a current 
 strength of fifteen milliwebers (milliamperes ?) ; in one Aveek after this 
 operation the patient reported that there had been a steady diminution 
 of her pain, though this had not entirely disappeared; a tender cicatrix 
 was then present. One week later the pain had completely ceased and 
 the cicatrization was perfect. 
 
 Tripier ' reports the treatment by electrolysis in two cases of chronic 
 abscesses of the axilla; the suppuration of these glands is often a very 
 tedious affair, one after another undergoing inflammatory and suppurative 
 processes. These abscesses were operated upon by his method of tubular 
 cauterization, which has been previously described in this chapter, and 
 cicatrization occurred within a few days. There was no return of the 
 abscesses. He advises the use of this method in the so-called cold abscess, 
 and especially in Pott's disease; he does not attempt in the latter to evacu- 
 ate the contents of the abscess at one sitting, but to make of this " a 
 means of treatment of the affection. " 
 
 This same writer reports the beneficial results in improving the con- 
 dition of an ulcer in the cervical canal of the uterus; also, for the enlarge- 
 ment of the calibre of this canal in a case in which it had become so 
 obliterated that the uterine sound could not be passed. He recommends 
 this method in the case of wens and in the opening of buboes, in the 
 latter of which he endorses it as the best treatment. He advises the 
 employment of electro-negative electrodes as the better pole for the intro- 
 duction into lachrymal tumors and fistulas. This may also be used as a 
 means of cauterizing the opening into the Eustachian tube, as also, some 
 portions of this canal. He would recommend its employment for the 
 removal of cutaneous tumors, and as well also in the dilatation of urethral 
 strictures. 
 
 Tripier reports also a case of fistula in ano, which he treated by elec- 
 trolysis. The details are thus given by this writer:— 
 
 Three months after the second labor of a young woman an abscess ap- 
 peared at the right margin of the anus, and eleven months later she pre- 
 
 •Op. cit. 'Op. cit., 1881. 
 
APPLICATION OF ELECTROLYSIS. L93 
 
 Bented herself for the treatmeni of a fistula, three centimeters (one inch) 
 long, which communicated with the rectum; an olive-pointed Bound whs 
 employed as the positive electrode with the hope of healing the opening 
 of the fistula into the rectum, and it was therefore passed as Ear as possi- 
 ble within the tract, and the negative surface electrode was applied upon 
 the skin of the thigh. A current strength of eight milliamperes was 
 continued for ten minutes; .an examination seven days later showed only 
 a sero-purulent discharge without any admixture of faecal matter; on this 
 same day the procedure of the previous week was pursued; ten days later 
 the fistula was in about the same condition, as also at an examination a 
 fortnight later. Another application of the same current strength was 
 tried for five minutes, and again one week afterwards for eight minutes; 
 eleven days later the same strength of current was repeated for three 
 minutes, the electrode being inserted to the depth of eight millimetres, 
 and a month later to a depth of one centimeter. Frequent repetitions 
 wire made, but with apparently no further benefit to the patient, as she 
 left for the country. 
 
 A comparison of this case of fistula, with the report on a previous page 
 (p. 192), will show that Tripier did not employ a current of sufficient 
 strength to obtain the cauterization by means of the positive pole (ACID), 
 which is especially mentioned by Ciniselli as the proper method for the 
 use of electrolysis in the repair of suppurative surfaces of long standing. 
 It will be noticed that the current strength used by Tripier was only half 
 of that used by Ciniselli, and in the cases reported by Grdh for the heal- 
 ing of indolent ulcers the current was even much stronger than that used 
 by Ciniselli, or else was used for several hours' duration. 
 
 Before closing this chapter which has been devoted to the clinical ap- 
 plications of electrolysis, it should be mentioned that no allusion has been 
 made to the action of the galvano-cautery, except as for comparison with 
 the special subject of which this book treats, for the reason that: — 
 
 Galvano-cautery, like thermo-cautery, deals with the destruction of 
 the tissue by a cutting edge; while electrolysis acts upon the tissue by 
 disturbing the chemical or physiological integrity which maintains the 
 composition of the structures of which these tissues are composed. 
 
 It probablv has been noticed that Groh employed zinc and steel elec- 
 trodes for the destruction of the degenerative tissue of cancerous and 
 similar growths. The effect of the contact of these metals, endowed with 
 
 opposite polarities of electricity, appeals to have produced very extensive 
 13 
 
194 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 destruction even in tissues in which the inflammatory and suppurative 
 action had already existed. His experience is so different from that of 
 other operators by this method of electrolysis, that his results may have 
 been influenced by the materials of which the electro-needles were 
 formed. 
 
 This subject will be more fully discussed in the final chapter, but it 
 may be as well to anticipate the matter somewhat at this point. 
 
 The cataphoric action of electricity is very much more active when the 
 metallic electrodes are formed of zinc for one terminal and platinum or 
 steel for the opposite pole. This can be easily seen by making a compara- 
 tive experiment with electrodes made from these different metals. 
 
 Groh apparently is of the opinion that the zinc electrodes act as caustic 
 destroyers of tissue by means of an alteration which is due to the chemical 
 reaction of the zinc metal in presence of an acid at the positive electrode. 
 In the experience of the author of this present treatise, it will make no 
 difference in the destroying action upon living tissue, whether the zinc 
 needle forms the positive or the negative terminal of the battery. ' There 
 is certainly no doubt that the use of zinc for its local contact with the 
 abnormal tissue produces a stronger action upon these than if platinum 
 or gold needles should be inserted. When the use of zinc electrodes is 
 combined with the use of such strong currents as were employed by Groh, 
 the destructive action upon tissue may reasonably be supposed to be also 
 very much increased. We very much doubt, however, whether it is 
 correct to assume that the action is entirely due to a chemical cause. We 
 have seen that the introduction of irritating medicinal agents into tumors 
 may arrest for a time the increasing size of these growths, but experience 
 has taught us that the arrested growth is only a temporary effect. Acetic 
 acid, hydrochloric acid, caustic alkalies, gastric juice have all had their 
 fashionable day of local treatment. It is difficult to believe that the local 
 action of an "alterable electrode" should produce a destroying action 
 which is explicable on chemical grounds. We must look farther for a 
 proper explanation of the effect, because it can hardly be possible to dis- 
 credit the successful results which this and a few other authors have re- 
 ported so much in detail. 
 
 We may possibly obtain some inkling of the cause of the action of elec- 
 
 'It should be understood that we are speaking only of those cases where both 
 electrodes are used for electro-puncture, and not in those cases where one is used 
 for surface application and the other for a puncture beneath the skin. 
 
APPLICATION 01 ELEOTROLYSI8. L95 
 
 tricity in destroying the activity of living tissues by an examination into 
 the cause which promotes their growth. The study of the enlargement 
 of tlif thyroid body, and the growth of uew hairs from their papilla? or 
 from the adjacent connective (issue, ofiEer a fair field, because the his- 
 tological knowledge of their formation and development has received bo 
 serious attention by competent and faithful observers. 
 
 The next ohapter may present some of the results of this study which 
 will perhaps be useful in our present inquiry, it will treat of the various 
 forms of goitrous tumors, their growth and natural retrocessions. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE APPLICATIONS OF ELECTROLYSIS TO BASEDOW'S. 
 OR GRAVE'S DISEASE, COMMONLY CALLED EXOPH- 
 THALMIC GOITRE. 
 
 Befoke describing the therapeutical application of electrolysis to the 
 treatment of this disease, it would be well to pass in review the pathology 
 of the different forms of goitre, in order to learn, if possible, what effect 
 this kind of treatment will have in limiting and reducing the abnormal 
 growth in this glandular enlargement. The author of this treatise will 
 be pardoned if the description must necessarily occupy considerable 
 space in the presentation of these details. 
 
 Exophthalmic Goitre, or Basedow's disease, is found to exist and to be 
 recognized by the pronounced symptoms of anaemia, exophthalmos (pro- 
 trusion of the eyeballs), palpitation, and very rapid action of the heart, 
 and by an enlargement of the thyroid gland or body. This enlargement 
 may involve either or botli of its alse, or wings (or bodies), as well as the 
 isthmus which connects these two wings. 
 
 The pathological enlargement of the thyroid body ' may be due to a 
 hypertrophy of the thyroid body, to adenoma, to cystic adenoma, to carci- 
 noma, and to sarcoma of the thyroid body. The hypertrophy of the thyroid 
 may be formed by simple hypertrophy of the acini, or of the follicles in 
 the gland, or by an increase in the normal contents of the glandular vesi- 
 cles. These hypertrophies are distinguished from adenoma, from the fact 
 that these latter are not seen in the embryonic tissue, and that the vesi- 
 cles, which may be filled with colloid substance, are clearly defined by the 
 vessels and connective tissue. Wolffler describes two varieties, parenchy- 
 matous and gelatinous hypertrophy, and states that these two forms may 
 coexist. 
 
 Adenoma of the thyroid body is composed of epithelial neoplasms 
 which originate from the embryonic glandular formations without typical 
 vascularizations, which sometimes retain the embryonic conditions, and 
 
 4 Ucber die Entwicklung u. den Bau des Kopfes, A. Wolffler in die Arehiv. f. 
 klinischen Chirurgie, Band 29, p. 1 and 754, 1883. 
 
ITS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 197 
 
 sometimes arc transformed into glandular tissue of normal appearance. 
 Many of these tumors are congenital, while others may be developed during 
 puberty or during pregnancy. They often attain an enormous size and 
 are generally benignant; yet sometimes they give place to metastatic 
 changes. It is sometimes impossible to differentiate between simple and 
 cancerous hypertrophy. Wolffler describes several varieties of adenoma: 
 — foetal, interacinous, gelatinous or\;olloid goitre with two Bubdivisionsj — 
 in\ xomatous adenoma, and cylindro-cellular adenoma. 
 
 Cystic adenoma is divided into the inter-acinous cystic adenoma and 
 the papillar cystic adenoma. 
 
 Carcinoma of the thyroid gland is met with under three forms: alveo- 
 lar, which is the most common; epithelioma with cylinder cells; and epi- 
 thelioma with pavement cells. These last, Wolffler thinks, are developed 
 by including a portion of the external fold of the blastoderms in the gland. 
 
 Sarcomata arc met with of several varieties: — sarcoma, angio-cavernous 
 sarcoma with fusiform cells, a sarcoma with giant cells, an alveolar angio- 
 cavernous sarcoma with trabecular of muscular iibres, and finally a sarcoma 
 having round cells. 
 
 According to Ortli 1 ''Goitre, in the more restricted sense, comprises en- 
 largements originating either in the glandular or interstitial tissues, or in 
 the vessels. The first of these varieties is called parenchymatous or hyper- 
 plastic; though, in accordance with the more modern nomenclature, it 
 should perhaps be classed among the adenomata, and consists in simple 
 hyperplasia of the glandular alveoli. Its cut surface appears granular 
 and of uniform brownish-red color. The most common form is called 
 gelatinous or colloid, and is characterized by a dilatation and distention 
 of the alveoli with a translucent yellowish or brownish substance, the col- 
 lections of Avhich project slightly above the level of the cut surface, and 
 are larger in proportion as the process is more advanced. The entire 
 gland may be affected, or only limited portions, which are usually sur- 
 rounded by capsules of fibrous tissue. This is closely allied to the cystic 
 form, also originating in the glandular alveoli, which are filled with a soft 
 or even fluid substance, and are greatly dilated. These cysts may be the 
 seat of hemorrhage, which imparts a brownish-red color to their contents: 
 — hemorrhagic bronchocele. 
 
 The variety of bronchocele, which is characterized as fibrous or osseous, 
 
 1 Diagnosis <>t Pathological Anatomy, translated by F. C. Shattuck, G. K. Sa- 
 bine, EL H. Fitz. Hurd and Houghton, Cambridge, 1878, p. 178. 
 
198 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 originates and runs its course chiefly in the interstitial tissue, which be- 
 comes greatly increased in amount, and dense, gradually replacing the 
 glandular elements more and more, and finally may become calcified. 
 Any or all of the above-mentioned forms are often found in combination, 
 and, in fact, scarcely any two bronchoceles are exactly alike. 
 
 We now come to the third variety, comprising those forms which 
 originate in the vessels. These may be further subdivided into aneuris- 
 mal and varicose bronchoceles, according as the dilatation is arterial or 
 venous. The latter form is very apt to be combined with some one or 
 more of the preceding forms. Amyloid bronchocele is the result of amy- 
 loid degeneration of the arteries, and may also occur in the form of en- 
 capsulated nodules. " 
 
 Another writer ' in a recent communication describes the normal 
 anatomy of the thyroid gland. He also states that complete hypertrophy 
 is rare; that the right lobe is oftener involved; and that the tumor may 
 be attached to the remainder of the gland by a pedicle. Poland, Billroth 
 and Pitha, say that this enlargement is never due to new development of 
 thyroid tissue, but to hypertrophy of the tongue-like process, or to the 
 remains of glandular cells. The tumor is chiefly found between the hyoid 
 bone and the thyroid cartilage, on the side of the oesophagus. This hitter 
 is sometimes compressed by it, though not often; it may lie in front of 
 the arch of the aorta, and has sometimes been mistaken for lymphatic 
 enlargements (Albers). The surface may be smooth or lumpy, and the 
 consistence of the interior structure often varies. The onset of the disease 
 is obscure, the first symptom being an increase of the size of the gland; 
 the progress is slow and painless, and the swelling increases by paroxysms 
 which, in women, correspond to the menstrual periods and to that of 
 pregnane)^. Certain varieties, especially the colloid, possess an indefinite 
 period of development. Others, as the fibroid, after reaching a certain 
 stage, remain stationary. There is also much diversity as regards the 
 form of goitre in the individual cases. Vascular goitre increases most 
 rapidly (Nelaton). The cystic likewise increases rapidly, and also by 
 paroxysmal growth; this latter is due to effusions of blood, spontaneously 
 or not. Certain goitres remain stationary for life, others grow for a few 
 years, and then undergo secondary degenerations. To these changes 
 probably are to be referred the varieties described by Savoyen as hyper- 
 
 1 Krishaber. Diet. Eiicycl. des Sciences Medicales, Art. Goitre, 4. s., ix., p. 
 489, 1883. 
 
IIS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 
 
 L99 
 
 Bemic and ansemic All authorities recognize resolution as our of the 
 natural modes oi its tennination. Fatty degeneration occurs and isfol- 
 lowed by reabsorption. This latter mode occnrred In a few ca ct of 
 small dimensions, and were of apparenl parenchymatous character. 
 
 A. Wolffler 1 states that congenital goitre is positively proven to occur 
 both in the endemic and sporadic tonus, both in man and animals, cattle, 
 horse, goat, sheep, ami dog. [n all oases this form represents the anatomi- 
 cal basis of the pathology of the thyroid -land in the festal State. The 
 temporary hyperemia of the -land, which subsides a few days after birth, 
 is to be excluded from the true goitre. The development of this form 
 may occur very early in life, tumors of largo size having been found with 
 foetuses in a very early state of development. 2 Some cases are forms of 
 pure hypertrophy, others are telangiectasia (Mondini, Cammerer) or cystic. 
 According to Friedreich, Boucher, Bednar, Bubbauer, Loddein, Adel- 
 mann, and Dcmme, this variety sometimes begins as a colloid infiltration; 
 also as a fibroid (Demme); also as adenomatous (W. Mueller). While 
 it is not proven that every case of goitre is embryological and tbat it only 
 begins to develop between the ages of eight or fourteen to that of forty to 
 Bixty years of age, "it seems probable that in many cases of adenomatous 
 goitre the origin is embryological. Foetal localized atrophy of the thyroid, 
 and abnormalities of position of single or distinct parts, point to the con- 
 clusion that embryological pathology is not without significance in the 
 development and formation of goitre. Hypertrophy of the thyroid is 
 understood to be a multiplication of, and an increase in, the solid gland 
 follicles or vesicles as regards their normal growth (not as regards embry- 
 onic development), or it may be consequent upon the increase of the nor- 
 mal contents of the vesicles. This form is commonly found to consist of 
 hypertrophy of the parenchyma, or colloid infiltration, or both together. 
 Wolffler has recently proved that the normal development of the gland 
 vesicle is by destruction of the central cells of the gland mass or by en- 
 dogenous nucleus-division. In hypertrophic goitre the growth is clue to 
 multiplication of the gland cells into gland masses and the change of the 
 masses into vesicles, or by direct endogenous proliferation of the single 
 gland cell. Tts microscopical characters distinguish hypertrophic goitre 
 from adenomatous, especially by the absence in the former of glandular 
 
 1 Ueber die Entwickelung u. den Ban des Kropfes. Berlin, 1883. 
 * Cases Mondini, Nov. Comment. Acad. Sc. hist. Bononiensis, t. hi., 1829; 
 Danyau, Gaz. d. TTop., p. 77, 1861; Virchow, Demme, Hecker. * 
 
200 j<:lkotrolysis. 
 
 structures of an embryonic character. We judge of this distinction by the 
 conformation of the gland masses, whether atypically large and vascular, 
 or long and much branched, or normally round gland masses. Hyper- 
 trophic goitre is not infrequently congenital ; many mild cases are over- 
 looked. Rokitansky considered this to be the only form, and thought 
 that the other varieties were only degenerations. Neither he nor 
 Virchow distinguished this from the adenomatous form. A pure exam- 
 ple of gelatinous (colloid) hypertrophic goitre can hardly be found, as the 
 specimens indicate either an adenomatous nature or an atrophic change. 
 
 Adenoma of the thyroid is an epithelial new formation developed 
 from embryonic atypically vasciilar gland structure, pre-existing or as the 
 metamorphosis of apparent normal tissue. It is often difficult to distin- 
 guish from true hypertrophic goitre, but yet distinctions do exist. This 
 form may b^e congenital, or develop during pregnancy; and may grow 
 so large as to produce danger of suffocation from compression of the air 
 tubes. In this respect the largest cysto-adenomata are not so serious as 
 the adenomata of puberty and pregnancy, which are succulent and rich 
 in cells. Apparently benignant adenomata may become metastatic; many 
 return after extirpation, but so slowly that a second operation is seldom 
 demanded. This return confirms the fact that the smallest trace of thy- 
 roid tissue may not have been destroyed but continues to grow. In some 
 adenomata, on the contrary, spontaneous retrogression occurs and the 
 gland may afterwards again increase with future attacks. In a case of an 
 oldish woman every pregnancy produced an increase in size. This was 
 followed by decrease after delivery. On one occasion of increase, symp- 
 toms of suffocation demanded and compelled extirpation; the tumor 
 showed the different stages of increase and decline (hemorrhages, cysts, 
 fibroid degeneration, etc.) No positive distinction can be made between 
 adenoma, carcinoma, and sarcoma, many transition forms occurring. 
 
 Fcetal adenoma develops with the embryonic thyroid, and later on 
 retains its embryonic structure and undergoes all its stages of develop- 
 ment. These tumors are the seats of capillary hemorrhages and of larger 
 luematomata; also cavernous spaces and ampullar)- dilatation of the capil- 
 laries; the walls, however, are not lined with endothelium. Large areas 
 of blood extravasation cause the tissues to assume a hyaline appearance, 
 due to alterations of the effused blood, and this change produces an in- 
 creased growth of tin; adenomatous mass. 1 This hyaline substance be- 
 
 1 Zieg'ler, Path. Anatomie, Art. Metaplasise. 
 
rrs APPLICATION IN' BXOPHUHALMIO GOITRE. 201 
 
 oomes vascular and ia bhe intermediate nutrition-apparatus of the adeno- 
 matous formation. 
 
 Si mmaky- l. The EoBtal adenomata develop, ae a rule, a1 puberty 
 from congenital deposits. 2. The size yariea from thai ol a pin-point to 
 that of a goose-egg. 3. Through lacunar vascularization, diffused or cir 
 cumscribed apoplexies are common. 4. A cortical layer (capsule) is found 
 but is notsoevidenl as in other goitres. 5. A variety of descriptive terms 
 can he applied to these tumors in their different Btagesand degenerations, 
 e.g., Adenoma tot. vaaculosum, aeinosum, myxomatosum, fibrosum, 
 angio-cavernosum, and papilliforme. 
 
 Gelatinous goitre (Adenoma gelatinosum) consists of larger or smaller 
 new-formed, colloid-holding gland vesicles derived from embryronic ele- 
 ments. Unlike the total adenoma this is not in the form of circum- 
 scribed nodules. The surface is smooth or rough; involving one lobe or 
 the entire gland. This variety is usually called colloid goitre. The his- 
 tological boundary of adenomatous goitre is hypertrophy; the two pass, 
 however, into each other; in the opposite direction is medullary or alveolar 
 carcinoma; between the two extremes lie different forms of adenomatous 
 goitre, some of them growing to the size of a child's head. The gelatin- 
 ous presents the following forms:— (1.) Interacinous, the most common 
 form, which presents abundant proliferation of gland cells, between the 
 gland vesicles; and as most of the class are benignant, many eases pro- 
 duce no inconvenience; their very slow growth depends upon the slight 
 amount of vascularity. (2.) Cystic adenoma consists of cysts which may 
 have the size of a lentil to that of an egg; these contain much gelatinous 
 fluid. Unlike the last variety there is little proliferation in the septa of the 
 follicles; the cell-walls are liable to fatty or colloid degeneration. The 
 large cystic sacs are frequently the seat of glandular neoplasms (Kokitan- 
 sky); these are exogenous or intra -acinous; they may be found both to- 
 gether or singly in a goitre. (3.) Adenoma which have a papillary pro- 
 liferation of the limiting epithelium of the gland vesicles; the papillary 
 excrescences are found normally in the dog and ape. This form constitutes 
 the congenital goitre of the goat and calf. Papillary cysto-adenoma is 
 
 more rare. 
 
 Adenoma myxomatosum (folliculare et tubulare). This has a struct- 
 ureless hyaline appearance, of basement tissue, which substance can- 
 not be stained. It contains groups of gland cells of different sizes; it 
 may present fibroid or calcareous degeneration in certain portions. The 
 
202 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 higher stages of development of this form of goitre may possess solid or 
 hollow tubes, or projections. It belongs to the adenomatous group be- 
 cause of its well-marked embryonic tissues,' it can attain considerable size 
 and may occur in the young and old. Its glandular masses develop with 
 the hyaline matrix and arise from the division of the nuclei of the gland 
 cells. Its growth, as in the others, occurs at puberty, during the menstrual 
 periods, or during pregnancy, and the rate of its growth depends upon the 
 degree of vascularity; later when this becomes deficient the parts undergo 
 the degenerations before mentioned. Increase of the blood supply is fol- 
 lowed by increase of the solid gland masses and the proportionate diminu- 
 tion of the hyaline matrix. Finally the larger gland masses may liquify. 
 Adenoma cylindro-cellulare. He examined one specimen but without 
 conclusive results. It is difficult to distinguish this form from carcinoma 
 cylindro-cellulare, which latter, however, specially possesses papillary and 
 dendritic vegetations, and the interstitial tissue is infiltrated with small 
 cells. The preceding are the benignant forms of thyroid tumors; however 
 prominent degenerations may appear it is not necessary for that reason to 
 make them special forms of goitre. As regards vascular goitre (struma 
 vasculosa, struma aneurysmatica, struma angio-cavernosa, struma pul- 
 sans), Liicke l has shown that capillaries, veins, or arteries may be per- 
 manently or only temporarily dilated, but that in all such cases there is a 
 goitrous formation, and that the condition of the vessels does not consti- 
 tute the disease. It cannot be determined whether all adenomata of the 
 thyroid are of congenital origin; it is difficult to determine whether all 
 embryonic structures date from their foetal origin. 
 
 Malignant forms of goitre may be classed as follows: — 
 
 1. Malignant adenomata of the thyroid. 2. Carcinoma of the thyroid. 
 
 3. Fibroid tumors of the thyroid. A. There is no record of Fibroma in 
 literature, but the author of the article referred to has seen one specimen. 
 
 4. A. Lipoma. B. Enchondroma; there is no recorded case; a few cases 
 have been seen of osteo-enchondroma; true osteoma of the gland is doubt- 
 ful. 5. Sarcoma. Wolffler reports cases of angio- cavernous and of giant- 
 celled sarcoma, of alveolar angio-cavernous and of nmnd-celled sarcoma. 
 G. Tuberculosis and syphilitic disease of the thyroid; a few of these eases 
 are reported. 
 
 Hemorrhages occur in goitre in the growth, and not in the normal 
 gland tissue; all except traumatic effusions, are due to results of the dis- 
 
 1 Quoted by Billroth & Pit I m. 1 Ian. 11,. d. all-, u. spec.Chir., Bd. 3,abt. 1, 1875. 
 
ITS APPLICATION TO EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 'H)'6 
 
 ease. They may be in the form of points, spots, or streaks; may be mis- 
 taken for Inflammation owing to their dark-blood appearance; bleeding 
 occurs much lesB rarely at one spot and which then diffuses. 'The areas 
 of hemorrhage extend gradually at times; at others it occurs suddenly 
 with symptoms of dyspnoea. In six reported cases where hemorrhages 
 were present, no increase was noticed in the size of the tumor at periods 
 of hemorrhage; all were women who hail had the disease for years. Blood 
 extravasations replace the medullary suhstance of the gland. 
 
 The rule is for the hemorrhages to be confined to the cortical layer; 
 this is a thick capsule which sometimes itself contains medullary tissue. 
 The resistance of this thick capsule prevents external rupture; this latter 
 only occurs when the hemorrhage takes place in thin- walled cysts. It is 
 often possible to shell out the gland from the capsule easily and without 
 loss of hlood; and at other times free bleeding is encountered in the case 
 of normal parenchyma. The subsequent changes in the extravasation are 
 the same as are found in other organs (fatty degeneration, Cohnheinvs 
 coagulation-necrosis). Hemorrhagic goitres in time become cystic. The 
 hemorrhages produce more or less tissue-necrosis. If the extravasation 
 he small, usually a regeneration of tissue takes place from the remains of 
 the gland masses and the trabecule, the hemorrhagic spots changing to a 
 structureless hyaline substance. In proportion to the excess of connnec- 
 tive tissue and small mass of parenchyma will the hemorrhage produce a 
 cicatricial structure which in time becomes calcareous; thus the hyaline 
 substance is the matrix for regenerative and degenerative changes. If the 
 degeneration is extensive, the area of infarction is destroyed; the spaces 
 or alveoli in these cases will then be full of blood corpuscles and fibrin 
 meshes. The cortical layer may present evidences of inflammation 
 (chronic). Finally what remains of the parenchyma is a fatty degenera- 
 tion, a soft yellowish-white smeary mass. Not infrequently all of these 
 changes are met with in the same case. Hemorrhage is caused by the ex- 
 ceeding thinness of the walls of the vessels, especially the veins. Fibroid 
 degeneration, like hemorrhage, maybe confined to a very small ana or 
 may he diffused; it increases with prolonged growth of the tumor, hut is 
 not rare in young and vascular adenomata. The form of degeneration is 
 often radiate or stellar; this is due to the fact that in goitre the vitality 
 and activity of the degenerative changes have (as it were) their nuclear 
 centres in the gland masses. The fibroid change extends to the periphery 
 along the interalveohir spaces. The hardest fibroid masses resemble carti- 
 
20-4 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 lage, from which they are only to he distinguished by the microscope. Two 
 forms exist: — (1), induration (diffused); (2), the circumscribed fibroid de- 
 generation; the cartilage-like masses belong to the former. The second 
 variety develops around an extravasation. Calcification is not rare; it is 
 as frequent as the fibroid change; it exists in the form of lumps or sand. 
 The larger pieces in the interlobular fibrous tissue form irregular masses, 
 or stalactitic processes, or may have a gland-like aggregation; this change 
 may also be confined to the gland cells and masses. This may be distin- 
 guished as acinous calcification, the other forms being the interacinous. 
 Cases are recorded where each lobe was a chalk stone the size of a hen's 
 egg or of a fist; in others the chalky deposit formed the cyst-wall. The 
 jelly-like degeneration is probably the result of secretion; it occurs where 
 active adenomatous proliferation has taken place. The number of the 
 blood vessels is diminished. It seems most plausible to refer the struma 
 gelatinosa to degenerative changes in a previously formed adenoma; an 
 arrest of development occurring in the gland parenchyma and the limit- 
 ing epithelium becomes flattened by the increase of the gelatinous sub- 
 stance. This explains how such goitres are borne without inconvenience. 
 In parenchymatous goitre an atrophy and disappearance of the gland 
 parenchyma takes place, and is accompanied by a transformation of the in- 
 teracinous connective tissue into the gelatinous substance; the increase of 
 the goitre at puberty and during pregnancy is due to increase of this sub- 
 stance which is at those times profusely secreted. Multilocular cystoma 
 belong to parenchymatous atrophy, there being usually no further increase 
 in the size of the gland. If the gelatinous (colloid) vesicles burst, the 
 connective tissue presents a shining yellowish-brown appearance; a cys- 
 toma results, or, if diffused, a fibroid tissue. Large cysts may rupture 
 through the skin or into the larynx or trachea (Bruchmann). The fibroid 
 change is a reparative process. 
 
 Pathogenesis. In regard to the cause of this disease the opinion of 
 authorities is at wide variance. The attention of the reader is especially 
 directed to the article by Eulenberg in Ziemssen's Cyclopaedia of Medicine 
 for a synopsis of these authorities. Since his article was written further 
 investigations and observations have been made, which may lend some as- 
 sistance in establishing the theory of the formation of exophthalmic goitre. 
 In the treatment by electrolysis it would, be necessary, if we are to apply 
 this in a rational manner, to know something of the causes which promote 
 the growth of the tumor as well as the way in which the natural resources 
 
ITS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 203 
 
 of the body affect its absorption. It lb by do means certain that the tumor 
 itself is the scat of the disease, nor can it be said wit li equal trul h that t be 
 symptoms of t he disease as shown by anaemia, irregular pulsations -of the 
 
 heart, or the plot fusions of the eves, will cause the appearance of the 
 
 growth of the enlarged thyroid gland. There is a strong probability from 
 the investigations of the most careful observers, that the cause of this 
 disease will he found cither in the central nervous system, the sympathetic 
 ganglia, or in the nervous periphery which takes its origin from either or 
 both of these. 
 
 The pathogenesis is important in the indications for electrolysis. 
 
 Filehne 1 is of the opinion that exophthalmic goitre is preceded by a 
 paralysis of the thyroid vessels as well as those of the orbit, and that this 
 is due to a functional or organic (pathotogic) paralysis of the fibres of the 
 vagus nerve which innervate the heart; the latter cause would thus account 
 for the irregular pulsations of the heart. According to this writer, the 
 symptoms may be developed in rabbits after traumatic destruction of the 
 anterior fourth portion of the corpora restiforma. For this purpose he 
 used a knife formed of the galvano-cautery. Some of the chief symptoms, 
 but not all, of exophthalmic goitre will be developed by this operation. 
 Previous section of the sympathetic would not prevent the development 
 of the exophthalmos in these animals; and the pupil was not influenced. 
 When a slight increase of the thyroid gland was developed after this ex- 
 periment, it was caused by an increased determination of blood to this 
 organ. 
 
 Filehne concludes from his experiments: — 1. That the disease can 
 be produced by the paralysis of certain nerve-areas which pass through 
 the medulla oblongata, and whose paths lie in the restiform bodies. 2. 
 The exophthalmos and enlarged thyroid are both due to a dilatation of 
 the blood vessels. 3. The rapid and irregular action of the heart by the 
 disturbance of the inhibitory (suspension of the tonus) action of the vagus 
 nerve. 4. From these three he makes the deduction, that the cause of 
 the disease in man will be found in the study of pathological changes in 
 the medulla and the vagus. 
 
 Symptomatology. Eulenburg and Van Dusch have observed that, after 
 the disappearance of the exophthalmos, the symptoms of cardiac dis- 
 fcurbance may remain. This discrepancy might be ascribed to the supposi- 
 
 1 Zur Pathogenese d. Bascdow'schen Krankheit, Silzungsber. d. phys. M. Soc. 
 u. Erlangen, 1878-9. 
 
206 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 tion that the extreme anaemia, as well as the relaxation of the vascular and 
 heart tonus may combine in preventing the proper filling of the blood 
 vessels; consequently these symptoms will persist. 
 
 Lescaux ' in a recent thesis quotes Jaccoud for his authority in assum- 
 ing that palpitations are essential to constitute this disease. He states 
 that in the opinion of G-. See the palpitations always are present at some 
 period; while Burls found these absent in four out of fifty cases; while 
 Beni-Barde found these absent in two out of twenty cases. 
 
 With regard to the sequence of the symptoms in this disease: — on the 
 authority of Stokes and of Jaccoud, the writer of this thesis claims that 
 the palpitations occur first and the goitrous tumor subsequently; the ocular 
 phenomena are referred to generally as occurring after the other two 
 symptoms. Jaccoud positively infers that, from their subsequent appear- 
 ance, these ocular symptoms are produced by a disturbance of the circula- 
 tory phenomena. On the other hand, the authority of Trousseau is ad- 
 duced for the opinion that the palpitations are the first symptom which 
 attract the attention of the patient. Bruck is credited with the opinion 
 that the ocular symptoms occur first, and that many patients seek advice 
 from the oculist first; while See states definitely that the ocular are the 
 only symptoms at the beginning of the disease. Lescaux reports one case 
 in which the ocular preceded the cardiac symptoms by an interval of five 
 months; while in another case the goitre preceded the cardiac symptoms 
 by an interval of ten months; he quotes the authority of Story for a case 
 in which goitre and the exophthalmos occurred five years before any 
 cardiac palpitation. He describes the character of these palpitations as 
 follows:— Increase in intensity, often paroxysmal, with the progress of the 
 disease; these paroxysms may Occur during the night and awaken the 
 patient; a very peculiar feature is their continuance during the interval 
 between the paroxysms; and the frequency of these palpitations is greater 
 than in cases which are due to other causes. 
 
 A comparison of the character of these palpitations shows that they 
 closely resemble those which accompany an attack of cardiac thrombosis, 
 or those which follow the section of the par vagum. When the patient 
 has not previously been subjected to muscular exertion, or in the intervals 
 of repose, the rate of the pulse may be as rapid as 100-120 beats per 
 minute, even l-iO-150, and during a paroxysm its rate may be 200 or more; 
 Beni-Barde reports the sphygmographic tracings in a case to have almost a 
 
 1 Des pertubatious cardiaques dans le goitre exophthalmiques, Paris, 1885. 
 
ITS APPLICATION IX EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 207 
 
 continuous line: the force of the pulse is oftentimes greatly increased, but 
 sometimes it is quite feeble. The subjective sensations maj be so exc 
 sive thai there ia some basis for accepting RendVs theory of an nyper- 
 sesthesia of the walls of the thorax. Some writers have questioned whether 
 there could be a hypertrophied heart; this would explain the increased 
 area of dullness over the region of the heart, as well as the increase in the 
 arterial impulse. Lescaux would attribute the latter as due to the in- 
 creased force of the cardiac pulsation, and the former as due to the exhaus- 
 tion of the heart by the rapid action in palpitations, lie states thai be 
 has made careful and daily observations, and has found that the area of 
 dullness was smaller during the time when the arterial pulsations were the 
 most energetic; consequently, he would infer that increased area of dull- 
 ness noted at other times would be caused by the relaxation of the myo- 
 cardium from fatigue. This same writer reports that there were bruits 
 to be heard in one-half of bis cases, and that these resembled those of 
 valvular disease. These were nearly always systolic, soft or harsh, and were 
 beard both at the base and apex, the point of preference for the basic 
 murmur being at the second intercostal space (over pulmonary artery). 
 These bruits resembled those which are usually associated with anaemia, 
 but were louder. The murmur beard at the apex would, in his opinion, 
 denote a relative insufficiency, which he attributed to cardiac dilatation. 
 On the other hand, Stokes, Trousseau and Teissier attribute no particu- 
 lar significance to the systolic bruits, though there may be a diffused and 
 non-localizable murmur. Durozier attributes this murmur to paralysis 
 of the vaso-constrictor nerves, and states that it is produced in the coronary 
 artery. See explains it as an incomplete action of the papillary muscles. 
 Again we have a conflict of opinion in regard to the causation of the 
 irregularity in the cardiac pulsations. Constantino Paul states that regu- 
 larity in the heart's beat is the special function of the myocardium, which 
 is not under the control of the nervous system, and consequently, the 
 irregularity is always due to an affection of the myocardium. See thinks 
 that the irregularity is caused frequently by valvular disease; Letulle (in 
 a thesis) attributes the irregularity associated with this disease to some 
 impairment of the vagus nerve and the ganglion of Ludwig. Asystolia 
 (or that condition of incomplete contraction in which the ventricles do 
 not free themselves of their received blood) may in fact occur independent 
 of previous valvular disease; for in a patient of Trousseau's this occurred 
 to a partial extent after a paroxysm which was accompanied with oedema 
 
208 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of the legs and with ascites; the latter soon disappeared. Asystolia may be 
 partial or complete in this disease. The post-mortem examinations show 
 nearly all the well-known forms of cardiac disease. 
 
 Cardiac diseases apparently confer no immunity from exophthalmic 
 goitre. Jaccoud at one time used to differentiate between his cases of 
 goitre, those having cardiac complications and those without them; but 
 latterly he has admitted a functional disturbance in those cases of apparent 
 valvular disease which is associated with exophthalmos and goitre. See 
 considers that there is always a basis for cardiac disease (whether organic 
 or from a neurosis) in exophthalmic goitre; Stokes thinks this improba- 
 ble on account of the frequency of cardiac diseases and the comparative 
 rarity of exophthalmic goitre, and would prefer to consider that the car- 
 diac complications in goitre are due to the prolonged functional disturb- 
 ance. Kendu admits that organic cardiac disease frequently is associated 
 with exophthalmic goitre, while Trousseau admits that this occurs only 
 "in some rare instances" of very long standing, in which opinion both 
 Lavareau and Teissier agree. See reports one case in which there was no 
 increase in the blood pressure; in this instance, at least, the abnormal work 
 of the heart was to the normal work as the ratio of the rate of the pulse 
 in the two cases (120 to 200: 60 to 80). Enlargement of the capacity of 
 the arterial system is frequently met with, and in these cases the enlarge- 
 ment of the arterioles is so great that a venous pulse will be heard inde- 
 pendently of the tricuspid regurgitation. 
 
 Dilatation is more frequent than hypertrophy; this is supposed to be 
 due to the fact that nutrition cannot keep pace with dis-assimilation on 
 account of the rapid action of the heart, and consequently, its long con- 
 tinuance and exhaustion will cause myocardial dilatation. Occasionally its 
 nutrition may keep in pace, and this theory would explain the compara- 
 tively few cases of increased area of cardiac dullness; probably, frequent 
 respite from the hurried action of the heart-beats will explain why dilata- 
 tion has not occurred in every case. If the theory of trophic centres in 
 the heart is upheld, their impairment or immunity would affect this dis- 
 cussion. Beau cites a case of a man who met with a severe fright, which 
 was immediately followed by palpitations and dyspnoea. Two months later 
 he observed cyanosis of the lips, distension of the jugular veins, small and 
 irregular pulse; the cardiac beats became irregular in rhythm and in- 
 tensity; his dyspnoea increased on the slightest exertion and death occurred 
 in three weeks. The autopsy showed a dilated heart, with no hypertrophy 
 
ns APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 209 
 
 nor valvular disease. < Mher cases are on record where hypertrophy existed 
 in some cases of disease of bhe apper portion «>f the spinal cord. Raynaud 
 reports a case in which asystolia occurred in bulbar paralysis, and in which 
 the autopsy Bhowed an enormous dilatation of the heart, while the lungs 
 
 and cardiac valves were perfectly normal. 1 
 
 That the sympathetic plays an important role in the production of the 
 
 phenomena of this disease is evident from a consideration of the principal 
 symptoms; the cardiac disturbances, and the goitre and exophthalmos. 
 The forcible heart-heats (Herzklopfen) indicate an irritation, while the 
 goitre and exophthalmos apparently indicate those of an opposite nature 
 (depression). To avoid this contradiction Benedikt supposes the goitre 
 and exophthalmos to be due to excitation of vaso-dilator fibres, whose 
 existence has been shown by Bernard, Ludwig, and Schiff. Eulenburg 
 assumes a trophic centre alteration causing glandular hyperplasia and in- 
 crease of the retro-bulbar connective tissue. A corroborative symptom is 
 the immobility, or restrictive mobility, of the eyelids; this, in their opinion, 
 is caused by the disturbed innervation of the smooth muscular fibres, 
 which were discovered in the eyelids by H. Mueller; this has been shown 
 to exist in some of the lighter cases of this disease, and was first described 
 by Graefe; these fibres are innervated by the sympathetic. Another argu- 
 ment in support of this theory is shown from the satisfactory results in 
 the cure of this disease by galvanization of the sympathetic in the cervical 
 region. 
 
 In a thesis by P. Gros 2 a table is given of the comparative frequency 
 of this disease in the two sexes. 
 
 
 Frequence in the Two 
 
 Sexes. 
 
 
 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Cheadle 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 Taylor 
 
 , 
 
 . — 
 
 25 
 
 Prael 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 Vithuisen 
 
 , 
 
 . 8 
 
 42 
 
 Graefe 
 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 Emmert 
 
 . 
 
 . 10 
 
 80 
 
 Hammond 
 
 . 
 
 . — 
 
 11 
 
 Romberg and Henoch 
 
 3 
 
 •M 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 . 24 
 
 206 
 
 4 M. Meyer. Ueber Galvanisation des Sympathicus bei der Basedow'schen 
 Krankheit. Verhdlg. d. Berlin Med. Gesellsch., (1871-8) 1S74, iv., pt. 1, 110. 
 ■ Etude but le goitre exophthalmique, Paris. 
 14 
 
210 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 In the same thesis of Letulle it is shown that the most frequent occur- 
 rence of this disease originates in the years between twenty and fifty; 
 most of the exceptions to this rule originate after fifty years of age. It 
 always attacks those who have neurotic temperaments. The principle 
 predisposing causes are heredity; and this disease is apt to alternate 
 with other nervous diseases. Eheumatism is a frequent antecedent. There 
 seems to be a connection between goitre and chorea; the author quotes 
 cases of exophthalmic goitre which have supervened upon the cure of 
 chorea, and vice versd. He also cites cases of various nervous affections 
 which have alternated with this disease, both in the individual and in the 
 family. He cites cases which show that the onset of the disease some- 
 times occurs suddenly. He describes the symptomatology very much as 
 does Lescaux: the cardiac murmurs do not usually indicate organic disease 
 of the heart. The appearance and progress of goitre is very variable, some- 
 times proceeding rapidly and at other times slowly; the tumor may be 
 confined to one side, which is usually the right. In its first stages the 
 expanding movements of the tumor and its bruit are due to hyperemia; 
 subsequently these symptoms may be followed by " disorders of nutrition 
 and indelible lesions." 
 
 Natural Retrocession. In an article written thirty years ago Bach 1 
 describes the following course of the natural retrocession of the goitrous 
 tumor. After parenchymatous goitre has reached its maximum, three 
 changes may take place in the enlarged thyroid gland: — (1.) Fatty de- 
 feneration. (2.) Osseous transformation. (3.) Calcareous degeneration. 
 
 In cystic goitre the wall of the cyst frequently undergoes cartilaginous 
 or osseous degeneration. 
 
 According to a more recent writer the disappearance of the tumor 
 will often occur without medical aid."' 
 
 In cases of struma hypertrophica the growth disappears spontaneously 
 or under the influence of absorbent agents, such as iodine and potass, 
 iodide. Spontaneous disappearance is established and is due to resorption 
 into its constituent parts; hence this author claims that the morbid growth 
 must be in solution, or be soluble and that it is not formed of organized 
 tissue elements. Since neither suppuration nor calcification occur, nor 
 
 1 De l'anatomie pathologique des diflferentes especes do goitre. Mem. del' Acad, 
 de Med. de Paris, 1855, pp. 338-4iiti. 
 
 2 K. Stoerck. Beitrag zur Heilung des Parenchym und Cystenkropfes. Er- 
 langen, 1874. 
 
ITS APPLICATION l\ EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. -11 
 
 any other degeneration, it mnsl be supposed thai Borne other unknown 
 agency produces the change which is Followed by absorption. Hundre 
 of rases demonstrate thai this spontaneous resolution i.- harmless; il is 
 therefore to be supposed that this resolution consists of a reabsorptiou of 
 the colloid infiltration-substance. It is remarkable thai this was doubted 
 until recently. Rbser and Virchow believe thai the absorption is injuri- 
 ous to the organism of the body. Lebert also seems to think so. Thus, 
 it will lie seen that there is a natural tendency for the enlarged thyroid to 
 disappear under the normal processes which reside in the living tissues. 
 
 Surgical ablation of the goitrous tumor by the knife has frequently 
 been accomplished without causing the death of the patient. The opera- 
 tion is, however, a very bloody one, and is not unattended with risk- 
 to the life of the patient during its performance. Many of the reported 
 cases' show the fatality of this operation. Julliard gives thirty-live cas 
 two of which died during the operation, two others from embolus and 
 pneumonia, while the fifth died without ascertainable cause. The remain- 
 ing twenty-six operations were followed with healing by first intention. 
 Liebrecht reports three hundred and sixty-one cases which he gathered 
 Let ween the years 1850 to 1882, of which sixty-eight died, in two the 
 result was not stated, in two the operation was not completed. This author 
 finds that during the last few years the mortality lias only been eight per 
 cent.; out of 164 cases which he collected between 1ST T and 1881 there 
 were 140 cures and ".'4 deaths. 
 
 Rapin ' bases his remarks upon the recent works by Reverdin, Kocher, 
 and Julliard, and arrives at the following conclusions: — that there exists 
 a cretinism which follows the ablation of the tumors, and which is charac- 
 terized by a dullness of the intelligence and by an arrest of the animal 
 development. This happens after the excision of the whole thyroid gland, 
 especially when this operation has been performed during the period of 
 adolescence, that is to say between live ami twenty years of age. There 
 is also observed, after these operations, muscular feebleness, bloating of 
 the countenance, a chilliness ami also a certain stupidity in the intellectual 
 faculties, though to a slighl extent. The integrity of the functions of the 
 thyroid gland appears to have an important influence upon the normal 
 development of the animal body, as well as upon that of the intellectual 
 
 1 Revue de chir., 11 aout, 1883. Bull, de PAcad. de Med. de Belgique, no-. :; 
 et 4. 1883. 
 
 • Revue med. de la Suisse romande, iii. p. 413, juillet, L883. 
 
212 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 faculties during youth, and of the maintenance of these in adult life. 
 Why may we not assume that the retardation in the development of the 
 animal tissues may be explained by the interference with nutrition coin- 
 cident with the anaemia ? The proximate cause may still he explained by 
 the alteration of the cell functions in the trophic centres, be these where 
 they may. 
 
 Exophthalmos. Juler states' in regard to its cause that the eyes them- 
 selves are not enlarged, but are simply pushed forwards by the vascular 
 distension of the fatty tissue at the back of the orbit. There is a venous 
 stasis of this tissue, which causes it to become turgid like erectile tissue, 
 a simile used by Graves himself. Though true hypertrophy of the retro- 
 bulbar tissue is sometimes found, the eyeballs usually recede after death. 
 He also refers to the loss of the association of movement between the upper 
 lid and that of the globe, explaining this deficiency of co-ordination in 
 Graves' disease as due to an interference with the action of the fibres of 
 Mueller, which has been mentioned before in this chapter as being the 
 opinion of many. Juler refers to a case reported by Cheadle in St. 
 George's Hospital Reports, in which were found post mortem considerable 
 dilatation of the capillaries of the medulla oblongata and upper portion 
 of the spinal cord, but without atrophy or cellular lesions, thus showing 
 simpiy increased vascularization. No lesions were found elsewhere, neither 
 in the viscera nor in the cervical sympathetic. "The singular nervous 
 sensibility, which is so early and constant a symptom, and which in some 
 cases has even gone on to mania after the cure of both the exophthalmos 
 and the goitre, would seem to point to the brain itself as the initial seat, 
 of the disease." 
 
 Stokes considered the whole disease as caused by anaemia: however, 
 cases have occurred without any anaemia (Frissier), and many cases of 
 anaemia have occurred without the goitre and without the exophthalmos. 
 
 The pathogenesis of Graves' disease has been described in the foregoing 
 pages so especially in detail for a definite purpose. It has not been the 
 writer's object to give a synopsis of the pathology simply as a matter of 
 diagnosis of goitre, but in order to illustrate in the treatment of this dis- 
 ease the principles of the action of electrolysis in effecting a degenerative 
 change of living tissue. The attention of the reader is particularly called 
 to the subject of electrical osmosis and to experiments which have been 
 
 4 Handbook of Ophthalmic Science and Practice. 
 
lis AMPLICATION l\ EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. l' 1 .'i 
 
 mentioned in a previous chapter (Chap. II.). in regard to the * • tT» ** - 1 which 
 electrolysis possesses of producing a decomposition in the chemical 
 organic combinationa His attention is also called to a consideration of the 
 modern teachings of the way in which the formation and multiplication 
 of cells is accomplished in planl life (see Chap. V.). Professor Goodale 
 has shown, as before referred to. that in the opinion of modern botanists 
 the growth of vegetable cells takes place by segmental ion, of proliferation, 
 and by a thickening on the inside of the cell walls and, perhaps, by the 
 deposition of new material on the inside of these walls, which have been 
 previously stretched by the result of receiving more food supply from out- 
 side influences. The same principles govern, in a measure, the growth of 
 cells in the animal life, and we have seen that certain pathologists explain 
 the increase in the structure of the thyroid gland by a thickening of 
 the connective tissue (in which the inter-acinous septum occupies more 
 space than in the normal condition), and, perhaps, also, by the swelling 
 of the acini themselves, and perhaps also, by the storing up in them of a 
 degenerated colloid material. It will, moreover, he noticed that in both 
 of these suppositions a large number of observers join in the assertion that 
 the blood vessels which supply the thyroid with its nutrition are enlarged; 
 that in consequence, this gland (or organ) receives a much larger amount 
 of material from which it may build faster than it grows naturally: or 
 else, we may suppose that the tissues are so crowded with blood tint the 
 materials of destruction accumulate more rapidly than tiny can be re- 
 moved. "Whichever of these hypotheses may be established, the fact re- 
 mains that we may have a very large variety of forms of tissue which are 
 recognized as goitre. 
 
 We have also seen that many observers unite in the statement that 
 certain cases of goitre have spontaneously been reduced without treatment 
 by a natural process of resorption, and some of these observers have sup- 
 posed that the resorption has resulted from a diminution in the supply 
 of blood to this thyroid body. 
 
 It is not necessary at this stage of the discussion to speak of the cause 
 which it is believed the nervous centres, or their periphery, play in the 
 regulation of the supply of blood to this gland. We are, at present, con- 
 cerned with the subject of the alteration of tissue growth in its relation 
 to pathological formations, as also to the physical effects of the so-called 
 vital processes. 
 
 What are these so-called vital processes' Formerly it was supposed 
 
214 ELECTEOLYSIS. 
 
 that the substances peculiar to the plant and animal kingdom possessed a 
 different composition from that of the mineral kingdom. This supposi- 
 tion was based on the theory that organic bodies could not be formed by 
 synthesis out of the elements. Since the time when that opinion pre- 
 vailed, Wohler artificially prepared urea by synthesis (1828), and later still 
 other organic bodies have been artificially prepared in the same manner, 
 which are even of a much more complicated structure than the composi- 
 tion of urea. It was also, and until quite recently, considered that the 
 chemical elements in the living body were subject to other laws than those 
 of inanimate nature, and that structures of the living body were formed 
 by the operation of "vital" forces, which behaved differently in living 
 nature than in inorganic chemical compounds. Since the time when that 
 opinion prevailed, successful experiments have demonstrated that even 
 the lower orders of vegetable structures may be artificially prepared by 
 use of chemical agencies, and the boundary line between organic and 
 inorganic chemistry no longer exists; moreover, it is also difficult at the 
 present time to state where the boundary line exists between structureless 
 organic bodies and bodies of formed structure. It is well known that an 
 organic substance, acyteline, can be formed in the presence of hydrogen 
 between the pure carbon electrodes of the arc, which is produced by the 
 passage of electricity, and that from this body a form of fat may be obtained 
 from which alcohol may be made. 
 
 We have the authority of Professor M. Foster for the presumption that 
 in all forms of living protoplasm, the proteid base is found upon analy- 
 sis to have some carbo-hydrate and some kind of fat associated with it. 
 We may, also upon his authority, state that protoplasm gives rise by 
 metabolism to carbo-hydrates, fats and proteids, and the two former are 
 probably formed out of the proteid food by the agency of some living- 
 tissue; while the result of the destructive changes is particularly repre- 
 sented, among other organic crystalline bodies, by urea. Mention has 
 already been made in the previous pages that Drechsel has made by 
 means of electrolysis this latter substance, and that it is highly probable 
 that this same agency is at work in the living body in the formation of 
 urea. 
 
 The chemical formations of the living tissues, of organic bodies having 
 a peculiar structure in the form of functionally active cells, is now ad- 
 mitted to be influenced by the chemistry of the carbon compounds. What- 
 ever may be the conception between organic and organized bodies, we 
 
ITS AlTUCATh'N IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 215 
 
 know that different carbon compounds possess the power of assuming 
 in the living organism an organized structure in the Conn of cells. We 
 do not know what causes are at work which produce these results. 
 
 Some of the proteids are soluble in water and some are not; those 
 which are soluble, the peptones excepted, are changed by heat. 
 
 Proteids are divided into various forms of albumin, anion-- which 
 may be mentioned the acid-albumin and the alkali-albumin, which are 
 probably nothing more than solutions of the albumin in an acid or an 
 alkali, hut there is reason to suppose that in addition to their solution 
 there is formed a combination with either reagent. Acid albumin is a 
 Berum-albumin which was soluble in water, or in a neutral fluid containing 
 only a small amount of neutral salts, and which has afterwards become 
 converted by a very weak acid into a substance insoluble in the neutral 
 fluid. 
 
 There are substances contained in the proteids which differ from the 
 albumins in not being soluble in water alone, but which require for their 
 solution the presence of a small but appreciable amount of a neutral saline 
 material like that of common salt. These are also soluble in dilute acids and 
 alkalis,, and in that case are changed into acid or alkali-albumin, unless 
 these reagents are exceedingly dilute. 
 
 Paraglobulin, when in solution in dilute common salt, may be pre- 
 cipitated from this solution by the addition of a very extended dilution of 
 acetic acid, but if the acid is strong, this precipitate will be converted 
 into acid-albumin. Paraglobulin is insoluble in pure water which is free 
 from oxygen, but if this gas be present, its solution readily takes place, 
 and it may then be converted into an alkali-albumin from its solution by 
 the presence of an alkali in the strength of over one per cent. 
 
 The proteids form the principal solid portions of the glandular tissues, 
 and their chemical combination is composed (Hoppe-Seyles): 
 
 0. B. N. C. S. 
 
 from --20.9 6.9 15.2 51.5 0.3 
 
 to 23.5 to:.:; to 17.0 to 54.5 to 2.0 
 
 It will thus be noticed that the proteids differ from urea [(XIIJ.CO] 
 containing very much more oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, as well as a, 
 small amount of sulphur. The urea, is the simpler nitrogenous com- 
 pound, and is, moreover, the result of the waste products of the tissues. 
 Foster states that Pflueger " has called attention to the great energy of the 
 
216 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 cyanogen compounds, and lias suggested that the functional metabolism 
 of protoplasm by which energy is set free, may be compared to the con- 
 version of the energetic unstable cyanogen compounds into the less ener- 
 getic and more stable amides. In other words, ammonium cyanate is a 
 type of the living, and urea of dead nitrogen, and the conversion of the 
 former into the latter is an image of the essential change which takes 
 place when a living proteid dies." We have no means of knoAving exactly 
 what occurs in a particular form of tissue when it loses its functional 
 activity, nor do we knew what may arrest its power of making, out of pro- 
 toplasm, other forms similar to that which itself possesses; we do know 
 that the building of higher forms of organic compounds requires the 
 presence of some latent energy, and that the decomposition of the higher 
 organic bodies is attended with the evolution of energy. The hydration 
 resulting from the formation of water by the combination of oxygen and 
 hydrogen consumes energy. The functional activity of a cell requires the 
 supply and expenditure of energy, and those which are most actively en- 
 gaged in, the performance of their functions require a more liberal supply 
 of nutritive material by which they may accomplish their object. This 
 nutritive material is, in general terms, blood, and that kind which is found 
 in the arterial system. It has been found that, if the blood vessels which 
 supply the enlarged thyroid body with this blood, be ligatured, while the 
 recurrent veins be left patent, that in many instances the enlargement 
 will become reduced. 
 
 Electrolysis Applied to Treatment of Goitre. 
 
 The inconveniences attending this mode of treatment do not recom- 
 mend it to the surgeon, but their results from the capital operation may 
 be used by us for a comparison with the treatment by electrolysis. This 
 comparison will incline us to assume that a proper explanation of the 
 benefits to be derived from the use of this form of electricity ought to lie 
 in the effects of control of the nutrition of the tissues. It will be shown 
 in some of the cases reported, especially those of Chvostek, that the sur- 
 face application of the galvanic, or constant, current has been followed 
 by a retrocession of the goitrous tumor, as well as by an improvement in 
 the general symptoms; this has been so marked that many observers have 
 advanced the theory that Grave's disease is either a lesion of the medulla 
 oblongata, of the restiform bodies, or of an alteration in either the sym- 
 pathetic nerve centres or in the vagus nerve. It would be iliflieult to 
 
ITS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. Zli 
 
 explain the improvemenl which follows this mode of treatmenl in those 
 cases where only the enlarged thyroid exists, in the absence of the other 
 general symptoms which are more particularly associated with the nervous 
 system, [t is equally difficult to explain these latter symptoms as being 
 caused by the local enlargemenl ol the goitre. We have another means 
 of Learning something of the relation which exists between these two 
 divisions, viz., that the use of certain medicinal agents, digitalis, veratrum 
 viride, will produce no amelioration in the cardiac symptoms; and othi 
 iron compounds, cod-liver oil, iodide of potassium, will not promote the 
 same hema-poietic and reconstituent properties of the organism which usu- 
 ally accompany this disease which they will accomplish in other eases of 
 anaemia; moreover, medicinal agents do not produce that improvemenl 
 in the irritable nervous system, as they will do in those cases in which 
 these same symptoms exist without the symptoms of this particular disease. 
 The inconsistencies which mark the causation of goitre and goitrous 
 affections are too palpable to he overlooked, and show that the actual con- 
 dition of our knowledge is far from being based on solid information. It 
 is not so remarkable in consideration of the fact, that as yet physiologists 
 have not solved the functions of the thyroid body; in fact, they have not 
 even agreed as to whether this body is a gland or something else. It may 
 be absurd to call it an organ which in some way or other presides over the 
 function of nutrition, or a trophic centre. It is certainly true that the 
 loss of this body is followed by disturbances in the nutritive function, and 
 is often associated with derangement of the intellectual faculties. It has 
 been noticed by careful observers that hypertrophy of this organ is ac- 
 companied by the same disturbances of nutrition and the production of 
 intellectual deficiency. On the other hand, a case occurred in the author*- 
 experience, where the hypertrophy was on the left side, and yet the patient 
 lived beyond the age of seventy years and suffered little discomfort from 
 any other symptom than that of the increased size of the tumor. 
 
 The evidence seems to point to one fact which may be useful in settling 
 an apparent obscurity: — the best treatment to relieve the general symp- 
 toms appears to be that which is directed to a reduction, not the entire 
 ablation, of the enlarged goitre. It would seem as if it made little differ- 
 ence in what way this result is reached, whether by the natural means of 
 retrocession, by electrolysis, by electrical catalysis (so called) by the 
 use of external irritation from some stimulating medicinal agent, or by the 
 incomplete ablation of the surgeon's knife. In India a well-known method 
 
218 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of treatment, which is reputed as often successful, is pursued by the 
 smearing of the cutaneous surface of the goitre with a strong iodiu9 
 ointment; and the patient then obliged to lie on the back in the full sun- 
 shine, or in winter before a hot fire. 
 
 Other methods of treatment by the modern surgeons seem to be di- 
 rected to the injection of stimulating medicinal agents, which are supposed 
 to induce changes in the tissue growth within the capsule of the goitre. 
 Some prefer the use of iodine hypodermically introduced (Mackenzie), and 
 another (Agnew) 1ms lately used carbolic acid similarly introduced. 
 
 The general constitutional treatment by the internal administration of 
 iodide of potassium would appear to act, in the few cases in which it has 
 been supposed to have had a curative effect, by an interstitial change of 
 tissues and in the general condition of nutrition of the whole body. 
 
 T. Kocher ' mentions the impropriety of the use of injections into 
 some of the forms of tumor of the thyroid body, and illustrates the evil 
 effects of this treatment. He shows that this injection of irritating sub- 
 stances into these tumors may be followed by the appearance of subsequent 
 acute and chronic inflammatory, as well as suppurative, processes. He 
 quotes the authority of Luecke for the advantage to be derived from these 
 injections in cases of struma hyperplastica, in which connective tissue and 
 follicular growth occur to the same extent. The treatment by injection 
 is also recommended by Kocher in cases of struma fibrosa or calcarea 
 (goitre); as also treatment by surgical extirpation. The two forms of 
 struma fibrosa and calcarea, which exist either, as (1) diffuse hypertrophy 
 or (2) tuberous hypertrophy, present great clinical but no anatomical dif- 
 ferences, according to this author. The diffuse calls for the internal and 
 local use of iodine, while the tuberous calls for the local use of iodine by 
 injection. He is also of the opinion that the latter rarely reaches the size 
 of a cherry without undergoing a softening, which is probably caused by 
 disturbances in the vascular supply. The earliest changes are those which 
 are the result of punctate or infiltrated hemorrhages or the encapsulation 
 in cysts. He agrees with Yirchow, however, that hemorrhages do cause 
 cysts; these latter and their capsules are due to a cellular degeneration, 
 or disintegration. An acute inflammation of the thyroid occurs only as 
 the result of a predisposition, from which originates an anatomical change 
 in the tissues. The most usual change of this kind is a hyperplasia with 
 
 1 Zur Pathologie u. Therapie des Kropfs. Deutsch. Ztschr. f. Chirurg. u. 
 Therap., 1873-4, p. 417. 
 
ITS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 219 
 
 throrabij hemorrhages represent subsequent degenerations, Buch as those 
 of a colloid or Catty character; the most common predisposing can 
 these changes is that of tissue-necrosis. A rapid development of this 
 predisposition is caused by traumatic irritation or in consequence of that 
 produced by the injection of irritating substances in goitre. 
 
 Many observers believe this disease to be an affection of the sympathetic 
 nervous s\ stein. Chvostek is inclined to the opinion that the seat of the 
 lesion is in the medulla oblongata, and that it is either a functional neurosis 
 or at mosta lesion accompanied with only very slight anatomical alterations. 
 The continued current has played a very important part in the treatment 
 of goitre. Remak applied the constant current to the cervical sympathetic 
 ganglia, and especially to that of the superior cervical. Priedrich thinks 
 that galvanism of the cervical sympathetic and to the upper portion of 
 the spinal cord is well worthy of more serious consideration. Yon Dusch ' 
 reports a cure which followed the use of a constant current from a battery 
 composed of ten to twenty Meidinger cells. In this case one electrode was 
 applied to the inner border of the Bterno-mastoid muscle and the other to 
 the nape of the neck: this treatment was followed in a very short time by 
 a reduction in the rate of the pulse., which fell in eight days from 130 to 
 70-G4. Simultaneously with this improvement in the arterial circulation 
 there was a decrease in the exophthalmos, and the patient enjoyed a quiet 
 sleep. This improvement continued at the end of four months. 
 
 Luecke- mentions the obsolete method of the ligature of the afferent 
 arteries of the goitre, especially that of the superior thyroid artery, which 
 is condemned by Koenig. The method of the operation does not concern 
 us in our present discussion, except on the principle which was involved: 
 viz., that of interrupting the means of nutrition of the enlarged growth. 
 'Idie dangers of the operation for cutting off the blood supply by means of 
 ligature of the arteries has too often resulted in serious, and not unfre- 
 quently, fatal hemorrhages, which have also sometimes been followed by 
 other secondary and serious effects. Therefore this difficult operation 
 has been supplanted at the hands of the later surgeons by the injection 
 of tincture of iodine and of other irritating medicinal substances, or by 
 the capital operation of extirpation; both of these methods have been pre- 
 
 1 Lehr. d. Herzkrankheiten, Leipzig, 1868. 
 
 •In Handbuchder allgemeinen u. speciellen Chirurgie, redigiri von Pitha u< 
 Billroth. Stuttgart, L880, Abschnitl iv., No. 4., p. 75. 
 
220 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 viously discussed. The principle of the method of ligaturing the arterial 
 supply seems to be based upon the interruption of the vascular supply to 
 the hypertrophiecl tissue formation; its success would doubtless depend 
 upon the degree to which this effect could be carried, without causing suffi- 
 cient inflammatory action to counterbalance the benefit to be obtained from 
 the slight disturbance originally incited. There can be no doubt that the 
 action of electrolysis may accomplish the same object as in the treatment 
 by these other means, whether it is supposed to be the result of the simple 
 method of restraining the amount of blood supply, or whether it is sup- 
 posed that some more subtle effect is produced in the prevention of the 
 formation of cell growth, or whether it be supposed that the process of 
 re-absorption of the already formed cell is encouraged. It will naturally 
 be supposed by some of our readers that many of the attempts for the cure 
 of an enlarged thyroid have been undertaken with a view to secure the ab- 
 sorption of the fluid material in the goitre; for upon this ground elec- 
 trolysis has been attempted for the absorption of the fluid in hydrocele, 
 as well as in varicocele; a careful examination of these latter reported 
 cases would show that, though the absorption of the transuded fluid 
 occurred at first, the transudation again took place subsequently, and that 
 the first promise of the permanent cure was not always sustained. A 
 comparison of those cases which are reported of successful treatment of 
 goitre by electrolysis, whether by surface contact of moistened electrodes 
 with the skin or by the method of electro-puncture, will show that the 
 temporary cure within the growth has not been followed by a return of 
 the goitre. This evidence would seem to prove, that the cure of the en- 
 larged growth by electrolysis is brought about, not only by a reduction in 
 the blood supply to the tissue, but also by some effect produced in these 
 tissues themselves. 
 
 The chemical composition of the thyroid seems to be but little known 
 to the best investigators in physiological chemistry. This may not be of 
 much consequence in the light of our present enquiry; yet, because the 
 treatment by electrolysis is naturally supposed by many physicians to be 
 explained upon the ground of a pure chemical nature, it maybe advisable 
 to reproduce one of the later chemical investigations into the composition 
 of the tissue of this " ductless gland ": — 
 
 Bubnow of St. Petersburg, 1 after giving the views of various authors 
 
 1 Zeitselnil'1 ti'ir }>hys. Cheinie, Band viii., ]>. 1, 1881. 
 
ITS APPLICATION IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 
 
 221 
 
 upon the composition of the thyroid gland, in which he shows the 
 divergence of these opinions, gives the results of his own researches. He 
 
 subjected the Bubstant f the gland to various chemical processes by 
 
 which be found it was composed of xanthine, hypoxanthine, paralactic 
 acid and other substances which he called by the name of thyreoprotine. 
 To obtain this latter from the thyroid of a man, and from animals, the 
 gland should be cul up into little pieces, and then washed with water until 
 they are decolorized: then these pieces were treated by him with several 
 washings of water containing LO per cent, of sea salt; then a precipitate 
 was formed by acetic acid, which represented the first thyreoprotine. 
 The gland was then washed immediately with a cold solution of potassa, 
 (1 per cent.) for an hour. The filtered solution was then precipitated by 
 acetic acid, and this voluminous precipitate was his second thyreoprotine. 
 Finally the solution was again washed with a solution of potassa, and the 
 addition of acetic acid gave another voluminous precipitate. Thyreopro- 
 tine. which he thus obtained, when boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, did 
 not furnish a suhstance capable of reducing the salts of copper. 
 
 The three precipitates thus obtained were washed with water and suc- 
 cessively purified by alcohol, 80°, by ether, absolute alcohol, and dried in 
 a vacuum. Their elementary composition is given by him as follows: — 
 
 
 First Thyreoprotine. 
 
 Second Thyreoprotine, 
 
 Third Thyreoprotine. 
 
 
 Man. Beef. 
 
 Man. 
 
 Beef. 
 
 Man. 
 
 Beef. 
 
 c 
 
 49.53 49.36 
 6.30 6.45 
 
 15.90 16.04 
 1.38 1 1.38 
 
 26.89 36.77 
 
 50.27 
 6.47 
 
 15.80 
 1.35 
 
 26.11 
 
 50.20 
 6.31 
 
 16.90 
 1.34 
 
 26-02 
 
 49.15 
 6.45 
 
 16.68 
 
 1.39 
 
 26.33 
 
 49.27 
 
 H 
 
 6.29 
 
 N 
 
 1G.68 
 
 S 
 
 1.40 
 
 
 
 26.36 
 
 
 
 "Whether this chemical substance is a different form from that which 
 is recognized in other tissues of the internal organs may not be easy to 
 say; still, the elementary composition varies from that of the proteids as 
 given by Hoppe-Seyler. It contains a little less carbon, very little less hy- 
 drogen, about the same amount of nitrogen, more oxygen and more sul- 
 phur. It is hardly probable that the action of electrolysis, whether accom- 
 plished by electro- puncture or by the method of surface application, may 
 be explained as concerned with the organic chemical changes of the tissues 
 in the thyroid body. It would be mere presumption to state exactly in 
 what these changes consist; for we have no means of ascertaining what 
 
222 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the natural chemical changes of any living tissue consist. We do know, 
 however, that the use of electrolysis will accomplish the slow absorption 
 of proliferous cell growth when it acts upon those portions of the human 
 body which are visible to the eye — in warts and moles upon the skin — and 
 that this may occur without the process of any inflammatory action. The 
 induction of changes of tissues which are subcutaneous is certainly accom- 
 plished by the surface application of the ordinary moistened electrodes; 
 this is shown in the cases of Chvostek, which are soon to be detailed. The 
 experience furnished from most of the cases in which he caused the ab- 
 sorption of the goitrous affection, as well as in the cases of others who 
 have successively accomplished the same effect, would show that it seems 
 to make little difference in the result, whether the application is made at 
 one particular point in the neck or head or at another, provided that one 
 of the electrodes is placed over the skin upon the tumor; it has been also 
 shown in a previous chapter that the electrical current will produce a 
 transmission of its manifestations through a portion of the human body, 
 whether the connection with the battery poles is made by surface con- 
 tact or by subcutaneous needles; the only difference would seem to be, 
 that the action in the former case is very much more slowly accomplished 
 than in the method of electro-puncture. It has probably been noticed by 
 the attentive reader in the detailed account given on a previous page, 
 that the behavior of the proteid bodies, especially the para-globulins, will 
 vary in the presence of a very weak acid or alkali. It is fair to presume 
 from this laboratory experience, that the use of very strong elestrolyfcical 
 currents (by which it has also been learned in the laboratory that the 
 strength of acid or alkali collecting around the interpolar region is pro- 
 portionally greater) may produce a different action than that of very weak 
 currents. This may account for some of the conflicting reports presented 
 by various writers. 
 
 It is stated by Erb, 1 that the cataphoric (electrical osmosis) action 
 of electricity in its application to the removals of growths like those 
 of goitre, has been overlooked by many writers; and we should not 
 forget that, in the case of these enlargements of tissue growth which 
 arc attended with the presence of a very large proportion of saline 
 and neutral solutions, and which are also accompanied with increased 
 amount of blood, this action of the transference of these watery solu- 
 tions may be followed by a very great increase of activity in the 
 
 1 Handbook of Electro-Therapeutics. 
 
ITS APPLICATION IX EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. --•> 
 
 promotion of metabolism, especially in those tissues included in the 
 . 'Menial circuit. It should be remembered that this transportation of 
 liquid goes from the positive electrode to the negative, and thai the 
 empirical use of electricity tends to prove thai the negative electrode 
 should be applied to thai portion of the tissues nearest to the growth 
 whose absorption it is our objecl to accomplish; it is highly probable that 
 this particular function of the current is adapted to the use of the surface 
 application. Vet. in the latter method, there is not the same op- 
 portunity for the escape of the gaseous or watery products which result 
 from the chemical decompositions, bul in electro-puncture we can seethe 
 escape around the needle punctures of water and of gases. 
 
 It has been thought advisable to precede the detailed reports of cases 
 of tin' treatment of goitre by electrolysis with this somewhat Lengthy dis- 
 cussion of causes and effects both in the disease, as well as with the assumed 
 explanation of the modus operandi of the natural and artificial curative 
 agencies. It is hoped that their applications to the study of the clinical 
 experience will show that this discussion has not been irrelative. 
 
 This cataphoric action of electricity deserves more than a passing 
 word in relation to the subjed of the treatment of simple goitre. This 
 disease has been purposely selected as atypical application for the treat- 
 ment by the so-called electrolysis, for we can readily understand that the 
 basis of the effect must have a uniform action, which may be applied as 
 a special therapeutical agency. 
 
 A simple vascular goitre results from a multiplication of the cell growth, 
 and the latest and best authorities appear to be agreed upon the character 
 of the growth. This growth is formed by segmentation of the nuclei. In 
 .another portion of this treatise the method of the segmentation of 
 embryonic cells has been portrayed as that which is due to the endogenous 
 segmentation of the nucleoli. Simultaneously with this segmentation, 
 fibrillar are thrust out in regularly defined figures, and this harmony of 
 action is probably essential to the proliferation of new cells. 
 
 The increase of the enlarged thyroid body must be dependent for its 
 growth upon the multiplication of these embryonic cells, because it is 
 clearly shown in the preceding panes that a simple growth, like that ob- 
 served in Basedow's disease, is in no way a neoformation. We must 
 exclude from the curable tumor of exophthalmic goitre all those other 
 forms of tumors of the thyroid region, whose pathological structure belong 
 to the class of tumors the cell formation of which is nol of the embryonic 
 type. 
 
2 2 4 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 It will be evident that any process of treatment which will prevent the 
 multiplication of cells by their natural method of segmentation will, also, 
 stop the increase of the enlargement of the thyroid tumor. The reverse 
 must also be true. If electrolytical treatment can arrest sarcomatous or 
 other malignant forms of tumors by application to them, it would be 
 unreasonable to assume that its curative agency can be explained upon the 
 simple process of a physical basis, which is antagonistic to that of the 
 physiological process. It may be fairly assumed that a cancerous growth 
 is one of a degenerative charater. The simple goitre is not a degenera- 
 tive growth. 
 
 Now, it may be asked, in what Avay does electrolysis arrest the growth 
 of this goitre by interfering with its cell proliferation ? The answer to 
 such a question lies in the reference to the chemical changes produced by 
 this form of electrical force, but more especially to the physical effect of 
 electrical osmosis. In our opinion the latter is the more important of 
 the two effects. Let any one of our readers try this simple experiment, 
 and he will be surprised at the magnitude of the result: — - 
 
 Place a porous cup of pure water in a glass vessel, and observe that the 
 level of the water in each vessel is as nearly as possible at the same 
 height; then place two irido-platinum needles, which are connected with 
 the negative pole of a battery, and two others, connected with the positive 
 pole, in the outer vessel; let on the battery current from ten cells. In 
 the course of one or two hours, according to the constancy and strength 
 of the current, the water of the inner cell will rise to more than an inch 
 higher level than that within the outer vessel (provided the diameter of 
 the porous cup does not exceed an inch in measurement) and the level of 
 the water in the latter will be correspondingly lowered from its original 
 height. 
 
 The chemical action upon pure water from the action of electricity 
 is very slight, if any. Yet, it will be observed that the ebullition in both 
 vessels immediately around the metallic electrodes will be very active from 
 the motion of the fluid and gaseous particles in the water. 
 
 No one, who has performed this simple experiment, can fail to realize 
 that its application to the porous tissues within the body must be followed 
 by correspondingly great disturbances in the movements of the fluids of 
 the human tissues. It is very natural to conclude that the disturbances 
 within these tissues must play havoc with the normal physiological 
 changes which are essential to the proliferation of the cells. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TKKAT.MKNT OF EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE BY THE METHOD 
 OF ELECTROLYSIS, AND THE REPORTS OF CASES. 
 
 We will commence this chapter with the published reports of cases 
 
 Which have been treated by electrolysis. 
 
 Cask I. (Eulenberg). This was of a woman; this patient was treated 
 by the surface application of the electrodes by the method recommended 
 by Chvostek, and with weak currents; the pulse rate was thus reduced 
 from that of 108-130 down to 84-70; the force of the arterial impulse 
 was much decreased in the carotid and radial arteries, and there was also 
 a decided improvement in the subjective symptoms; since this case he has 
 reported six others which were treated by the same method of galvaniza- 
 tion of both sympathetics in the neck, either simultaneously or alter- 
 nately; the application of the negative electrode was over the superior 
 cervical ganglion, and was followed by an abatement in the force of the 
 arterial beat, and an improvement in the symptoms connected with the 
 nervous system. Eulenberg did not find that the employment of electro- 
 puncture was followed with certain results. 
 
 Case VIII. (Chvostek). An unmarried woman, of nineteen years of 
 age; menstruation ceased three or four years previously from "taking 
 cold." The patient was quite anaemic, and had forcible cardiac pulsation 
 with rapid i but feeble pulse; the symptoms of chlorosis were very pro- 
 nounced. The goitre and exophthalmos were of one year's standing; the 
 protrusion of the right eyeball was so great that approximation of the lids 
 failed by an extent of from one to two lines; the movements of this eyeball 
 were particularly restricted. The lobe of the thyroid on the right side was 
 equal to the size of a pear, that on the left side to the size of a plum. 
 Chvostek applied by means of surface electrodes the use of weak currents 
 for the duration of two or three minutes over the position of the cervical 
 sympathetic ganglion on both sides: one electrode was either on the tumor, 
 eyelids or submaxillary region; improvement in the general symptoms and 
 the retrocession of the tumor began after the first few sittings. After 
 
 the twentieth sitting the eyes could be entirely closed, and the goitrous 
 15 
 
226 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 tumor was much diminished; but the greatest improvement seemed to he 
 in the general condition and in the color of the face. After fifty-two 
 sittings the eyes had returned within their orbits, the tumor was greatly 
 diminished in size; the menstruations, which had been absent four years 
 nearly, returned for a period of six days, and were subsequently regular 
 in their recurrence. No other treatment was pursued. The patient went 
 home and died six or eight months later from over-exertion, which was 
 probably induced by dancing all night. 
 
 Case IX. A married woman of thirty-eight years of age, who had 
 seven children; four years after her last delivery she was the victim of 
 extreme nervous irritability and anaemia; for the relief of these symptoms 
 she resorted to some French baths, and considerably improved, although 
 she did not completely recover. The Franco-Prussian war obliged her to 
 return home, and during this time her previous symptoms recurred. An 
 examination at this time showed the development of goitrous tumor and 
 exophthalmos; the menses had also become scanty. The enlarged thyroid 
 extended from the lower jaw to the clavicle and in shape resembled a 
 pear elongated; the middle lobe was as large as a plum; she complained 
 of distressing cardiac palpitations, 120-130 per minute. After twenty- 
 four sittings the goitre was reduced to about one-third of its original size, 
 the exophthalmos was also very much diminished and allowed the eyes to 
 close with facility; the general condition was very much improved, the 
 cardiac pulsations causing less distress. After seventy- two sittings there 
 was a complete cure, no distressing palpitations, disappearance of nervous 
 irritability and of the pre-existing exophthalmos; but the goitrous enlarge- 
 ment still remained. 
 
 Case X. A feeble, slightly built female servant, aged thirty, who 
 commenced her menstruation at the age of fifteen, then became chlorotic 
 and two years later had gastric fever; subsequently she was troubled with 
 violent cardiac pulsations. An examination showed an enormous goitre 
 on the right side, which measured eighteen centimeters in its transverse 
 diameter, and exophthalmos; there was also a strong pulsation in the 
 arteries and veins. The surface electrodes were placed one upon the eyes 
 and the other on the tumor; the goitre and the exophthalmos underwent 
 niu-r a course of thirty-six sittings a diminution in size, but the cardiac 
 symptoms persisted; the menstrual flow still remained scanty. The goitre 
 and exophthalmos subsequently, after sixty sittings, disappeared; but the 
 
TREATMENT IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 227 
 
 anaemia, violent cardiac pulsation and a pre-existing slee] still re- 
 
 mained. 
 
 Case XI. An anmarried woman of the age of forty-six; this pal 
 had been a sufferer for many years before with diseases of the abdominal 
 viscera. A month after the use of the baths of Kreusnach, in L870, she 
 was attacked with pain in the head and about the cardiac region, which 
 was also associated with a troublesome itching of the eyes ami excessive 
 lachrymal How: these ocular symptoms were more marked with the righl 
 eye and were followed by a protrusion of the globe, which was, continually 
 increasing. These and other symptoms of a burning pain in the eyes 
 and bead were somewhat relieved by the use of bromide of potassium, 
 excepl at the menstrual periods, at which time they became intense and 
 were accompanied by a stiffness in the neck. Examination revealed a 
 very marked exophthalmos of the right eye, the lids not approximating 
 by the width of two or three lines, and those of the left eye by that of one 
 or one and a half lines; the vision was frequently that of two superposed 
 images, owing to a restricted movement of the downward mobility of the 
 globe; there was no evidence of a goitrous tumor. A perceptible dimin- 
 ution of the exophthalmos occurred in fourteen days after the use of 
 galvanism like that practised in the preceding cases, and the premenstrual 
 pain was also diminished; some days before the period of menstruation 
 the protrusion of the globe from its orbit was more pronounced, as well 
 as the cardiac distress and the stiffness in the neck. There continued 
 to be after eighty-four sittings a diminution of the peculiar ocular look, 
 but there was no decrease in the pulse rate nor in the cardiac palpitations. 1 
 
 These and other cases, in all amounting to the number of thirty, 
 reported by Chvostek in detail as being subjected to the treatment of gal- 
 vanism (surface contact of moistened electrodes in the cervical and the 
 region of the malar protuberances) appear to have given credit to the 
 opinion that this method, if continued for a sufficient length of time, will 
 effect a cure of this disease which is now under our consideration, 
 (hvostek's method was based on the supposition that exophthalmic 
 goitre has its seat of lesion in the medulla oblongata or in the cervical 
 and vagus nervous tissue, and that the ocular symptoms were caused by a 
 
 1 These last four cases are reported by Chvostek in an article published in Die 
 Therapie der Basedow'schen Krankheit. Zt'schr. f. Ther. mit EHnbzhung der 
 Elektro. a, Bydro-therapie, 1. 'sis:,. 
 
228 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 disturbance of Mueller's fibres in the eyelid. Consequently he passed 
 transverse and oblique currents for short periods of time, frequently re- 
 peated on succeeding days, through the head for the purpose of affecting 
 the medulla oblongata, the cervical sympathetic and the vagus nerve; for 
 this object he used very weak currents. He also passed the same kind of 
 currents through the temples, from temple to orbits, and from the nape 
 of the neck to the closed eyelids, for the relief of the exophthalmos; he 
 does not venture to say, however, how much benefit has been derived 
 from this mode of treatment. ' 
 
 M. Meyer 2 has obtained remarkable results in the rapid diminution of 
 exophthalmos and goitre by placing one electrode on the closed eyelids 
 and the other over the submaxillary region; decreased frequency of pulse 
 also has followed this treatment in his experience, as well as an improvement 
 in the regularity of the cardiac pulsation. Others have passed the current 
 over the cutaneous covering of the superior cervical ganglion and to the 
 closed eyelids. Many of these cases, which were at first reported as im- 
 proved at the date of the report, have since demonstrated a permanent 
 cure. 
 
 Case XII. 3 A maiden lady of the age of thirty- two years, a native 
 of Devonshire, presented herself for treatment of cystic goitre which had 
 existed for about ten years. He inserted three needles into the cyst and 
 passed a current through them from fifteen galvanic cells for ten 
 minutes. This operation was repeated nine days later, and again fif- 
 teen days later. At the third sitting the size of the tumor was so much 
 reduced that it was scarcely perceptible. On the twenty-sixth day after 
 
 4 Chvostek's method; an ascending' current to the cervical sympathetic, each 
 side, stabile, not longer than one minute, the negative pole being on the superior 
 cervical ganglion; also an ascending current to the cord, the positive pole on the 
 5th dorsal vertebra, and the negative high up on the vertebral column; also 
 through the occiput, one pole being placed on each mastoid process; also through 
 temples, stabile, not longer than one minute and feeble currents; just sufficient 
 to produce a sensation of burning; strong currents have not seldom been followed 
 by patient's getting - worse. At the height of the disease he has frequently seen a 
 hyperesthesia of the head (manifested by burning sensation with only one or two 
 Siemen-Halske elements) which disappears as improvement takes place. He em- 
 ploys transverse galvanization of the temples for sleeplessness, physical irritability 
 or great exophthalmus; also applies the stabile to the tumor with very weak cur- 
 sents reversing every minute, daily sittings. 
 
 2 Ueber die Galvanisirung des sympathicus in Basedow'schen Krankheit. Berl. 
 Klin. Woehenschr., 1872, No. 39. 
 
 S H. Campbell, Electro-Surgery, etc. W. Alexander, London, 1872. 
 
TREATMENT IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 229 
 
 the first sitting there was no remaining yestige other than a slight thicken- 
 ing of the integuments over the original seal of the disease, and which 
 marked the former position of the sac; a1 this time no trace of the tnmor 
 could be discovered. A year later the tumor had not returned. 
 
 Case XIII. (Idem.) A native of North Germany, bu1 resident in 
 
 London for many years. She was fifty-two years of age. 'This patient 
 had a " bronchocele " which, by its pressure, gave rise to some very 
 unpleasant symptoms. Six needles were inserted into the mass ami were 
 connected with a galvanic battery of fifteen couples, which were gradually 
 increased to thirty, and the current was passed through them for twenty 
 minutes. This same procedure was repeated weekly for two months, at 
 the end of which period it had almost entirely disappeared, leaving the 
 overlying skin wrinkled and shrivelled. Immediately after the com- 
 mencement of the electro-punctures it grew softer and decreased in size 
 week by week. 
 
 Case XIV. 1 A man aged sixty-four, with a tumor of the neck of thirty 
 years standing. This tumor was the size of a walnut one year before, 
 but then began to enlarge, grow painful and at the time of examina- 
 tion it extended from behind and below the clavicle to the superior border 
 of the thyroid cartilage. It was supposed to be a fibrous tumor of the right 
 lobe of the thyroid body; its greatest diameter measured eight centimetres. 
 Two platinum needles were used for electro-puncture with a current from 
 five Bunsen cells with a surface area equal to nine square centimetres for 
 each couple; one needle was connected with the opposite poles of the 
 battery. The first sitting lasted for thirty minutes. The second sitting, 
 ten days later, lasted for twenty minutes. The third sitting, eight days 
 later, lasted fifteen minutes. The diminution in the size of the tumor 
 commenced with the third sitting: the freedom of the movements of the 
 neck and arm returned. The patient went off to his work as a mason 
 with the tumor reduced to one quarter of its original size. 
 
 CASE XV.' A man of the age of sixty years with a moderate 
 goitre was treated by the method of electro-puncture: a battery of 
 twenty-five 'Frommhold's cells (lead and platinum) was used for fifteen 
 minutes; subsequently, it was increased to thirty-two cells and this cur- 
 rent was employed for two minutes; this treatment was followed by pain, 
 
 Rouge, Hull, de la Sui>s ( . Rom., Lausanne, 1869, iii. 128. ■ Groh, op. cit. 
 
230 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 but the tumor began to flatten at either electrode, and it grew smaller 
 at the end of a few days. 
 
 To these cases which are above reported ma}* be added three which are 
 mentioned in Beard and Rockwell's book on Medical and Surgical Electri- 
 city, as well as those which are referred to in the table in chapter seventh 
 of this present treatise, making a total of about sixty cases cured by electri- 
 city. 
 
 In addition to the cases which have been published by others the 
 author of this treatise has met with six cases in his private practice; two 
 of these were supposed to be of the fibrous character and four of the 
 vascular form. One of these was that of an elderly woman who had a 
 fibrous tumor for several years; it was unilateral (left) and, as it was 
 before the author had seriously turned his attention to any special treat- 
 ment of this kind of disease, it never received any particular care; the case 
 was under his observation for a number of years until the year before the 
 patient died, and at this time he was absent from the country and conse- 
 quently there was no post-mortem examination. The patient was a 
 married woman and had rather a feeble amount of intellectual capacity, 
 but otherwise than this she did not suffer any particular inconvenience 
 from the large size of the tumor. Neither this case nor that of the other 
 case of fibroid enlargement of the thyroid had any symptom of circulatory 
 disturbance except that of genemia and, possibly, a slight nervous irrita- 
 bility, one mark of which was a sleeplessness and neuralgia of the face and 
 head. Of the other cases which were supposed to belong to the vascular 
 type, stroma hyperplasia of some authors, two occurred so early in his pro- 
 fessional career that they received only the then classical treatment of 
 iodide of potassium and electrical treatment by the faradaic, or intermit- 
 ting rapid changes of the poles from an induction-coil; neither of these 
 two cases were in the least benefitted by either treatment, so far as could 
 be determined. 
 
 The other four cases have been treated with great care and in the 
 light of careful observation. Two of these received long-continued medi- 
 cation from iodide of potassium, but without any special benefit, and each 
 of these was a case of fibrous hypertrophy and of vascular enlargement 
 respectively. The first three cases being of no particular value in the 
 matter of electrolytical application are not presented here. 
 
 Case I. A young girl of twenty years of age. In this case ex- 
 
TREATMENT IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. -•»! 
 
 ophthalmos was the firsl Bymptom which attracted attention, and about 
 
 :i year afterwards the swelling of the thyroid gland with the attending 
 Bjmptoms of frequentand irregular action of the hear! was noticed and 
 led the patienl to Beek advice. With these Bymptoma there was a good 
 deal of hysterical tendency as well as ueuralgia, sleeplessness, lachryma- 
 tion and a very pronounced anaemia. This latter symptom did not yield 
 to ferruginous tonics or to iodide of potassium. This patient was jo 
 anxious for the relief of her symptoms thai it was thought desirable to 
 t,-v the action of electrolysis. For this purpose the current from a 
 dynamo-machine, which was arranged for low tension, was passed through 
 a good sized gilded brass needle, which was insulated nearly to the tip 
 with hard rubber and which was inserted into the tumor to the depth of 
 a quarter to half an inch, and the positive electrode was either held in the 
 hand or placed upon the skin in the cervical region; the weak cur- 
 rent was continued twice a week during fifteen or twenty minutes 
 for sixteen sittings. The improvement was not as great as could be 
 wished, and. therefore, this mode of treatment was discontinued; however, 
 after its discontinuance the patient was under observation, and at the end 
 of three or four months, the eyes were very much less prominent, her 
 color was improved and the tumor was reduced to half of its original size. 
 It should he remarked that the strength of the current used in this case 
 was very feeble in its chemical action, and yet, when connected with the 
 needle, it caused considerable amount of pain. After each sitting the 
 galvanic, and sometimes the faradaic current, was applied by means of 
 moistened electrodes in contact with the skin over the region of the 
 superior cervical ganglion and near the angle of the jaw. 
 
 Case II. This was a case of supposed vascular enlargment of the thyroid 
 body, and was very carefully examined by Dr. J. 0. Warren in the fall of 
 1884, as also during the progress of the treatment. This was. like the 
 previous case, that of a young woman of about twenty years of age. The 
 exophthalmos and the violent action in the arterial circulation were not, 
 however, noticed until the appearance of the thyroid enlargement. The 
 patient was anaemic, had inappetence, was emaciated, had fainting turns, 
 was sleepless, and emotional (crying) on the least exoitment; the catame- 
 nia were too frequent, but scanty. At the first visit a measurement 
 around the neck at the upper margin of the goitre was equal to thirty-six 
 centimeters. She was ordered to take daily doses of iodide of potassium to 
 
2 •' 1 2 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the amount of ten to twenty grains well diluted in water, and she went 
 from Boston to her home in Nova Scotia for a three months visit. This 
 patient had been a resident of Cambridge for several months before this 
 consultation, and it was hoped that a change of air would benefit her 
 general condition. On her return to Boston she reported that she had 
 faithfully taken the iodide in the largest doses until the local effects of 
 coryza had compelled her to reduce the daily dose to fifteen grains. The 
 examination of the neck showed no improvement in the shape or size of 
 the goitre, which measured thirty-six centimeters in circumference at the 
 upper margin of the thyroid enlargement, thirty-nine at the middle, and 
 forty at the lower margin. She then wore a collar of the size of sixteen. 
 There was by means of palpation no evidence of any cysts, but it seemed 
 that there was a general parenchymatous growth, which was firm and un- 
 yielding and incompressible. The two lobes were enlarged, the right 
 rather more than the left, and the isthmus was quite distinctly marked. 
 After a pretty thorough digital examination the skin would become red- 
 dened and the tumor would swell for several hours. 
 
 Dr. Warren had advised against an operation for extirpation of the 
 gland. The treatment pursued was that by electro-puncture, and the 
 battery selected was that of Gaiffe's modified small Leclanche of twenty- 
 four cells, which has been described in Chapter III, in which the internal 
 resistance measured about seven ohms, and the electromotive force of 
 each cell was about 1. 35 volts. These cells were arranged in twelve groups 
 of two, so that each pair would give with no appreciable resistance in the 
 external circuit about one-third of an ampere, and with the twelve double 
 pairs, counting the particular resistance of this patient, a current strength 
 equal to about fifteen milliamperes. (It will be remembered that the 
 milliampere unit is measured by the minute of time the current is 
 passing. ) 
 
 The needles used were made of gold wire .022, .015, .011, of an inch 
 respectively. These electro-negative needles were inserted into the tumor 
 to the depth of half an inch, and the circuit was closed by a carbon cylinder 
 electrode (positive), which was moistened and held in the hand. The 
 current strength was gradually increased until the whole power of the 
 battery was in action, and was applied for twenty minutes duration. The 
 pain of the electro-puncture was sharp but not unbearable' and soon gave 
 way to a sense of numbness. The electro-punctures were repeated on 
 the fifth, eighth, eleventh, fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second, thirty- 
 
TREATMENT IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. _•>•> 
 
 sixth, thirty-ninth, forty-first, forty-fifth, fifty-first, fifty-fifth, fifth-ninth 
 days and for the Bame duration of time and with the currenl strength. 
 
 During the continuance of this treatmenl the tumor gradually grew 
 smaller and the protrusion of the globes disappeared, the circulatory dis- 
 turbances were improved, but the anasmia and the uervous irritability 
 still persisted. At the close of the fourteenth sitting the patienl went 
 hark to her homo in an improved condition, and under the use of iron 
 tonics gained in health and strength and in color and weight. Six months 
 after this time she reported herself as being perfectly well, that the tumor 
 and other symptoms hud entirely disappeared. She had been so much re- 
 duced in strength and was so anaemic before the treatment that after walk- 
 ing a very short distance she would become so short-breathed that she was 
 obliged to rest; this symptom had also disappeared. The annexed illus- 
 
 Fio. 29. 
 
 trations, which are photo-lithographed from her photograph, present a 
 good idea of her appearance before, and after, the treatment by electroly- 
 sis. She was so much impresssed with the results of her cure that she 
 sent me the next case from her town, which is under treatment at the 
 present time of writing. 
 
 Cask ITT. This patient was born and resides in a town in Nova Scotia. 
 and is twenty-nine years of age, unmarried. Twelve years ago. Jan.. 1874, 
 she had a choking sensation and a sense of fullness in the throat, which the 
 "doctors told her at that time was imaginary." About two years ago | L884) 
 "when living in Boston she noticed a small swelling in the centre of her 
 throat; since then, it has grown to the present size (see Figure); at that 
 same time she noticed a projection of the eyeballs, difficulty in swallowing, 
 nervous irritability, dyspmea irregular and too frequent catemenia. 
 
I>o4 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 which were never less often than once in four weeks and during the 
 last two years as often as once in every two weeks, tumultuous action of 
 the heart and especially after the slightest exertion; in short, the history 
 of the symptoms familiarly known to us under the name of exophthalmic 
 goitre. An aunt, still living, has had a similar swelling in her throat 
 for thirty years, which is much smaller than that of this patient, hut with 
 none of the other attending symptoms. She* knows of no other member 
 of her family who has had a similar tumor. 
 
 This patient presented the appearance of a tall and rather thin woman 
 with a long neck. The goitre is very marked and was about the size and 
 shape of a large Florida orange. It was quite symmetrical and evidently 
 involved the isthmus and portions of the two lobes of the thyroid body. 
 
 Fig. 30.— This photo-lithograph was reproduced from a photograph taken at this first visit (Jan. 38). 
 
 There was no sense of fluctuation or appearance of cysts, and the swelling 
 was firm and unyielding to compression; the tumor was freely movable on 
 manipulation. The size of the two alae measured respectively four centi- 
 metres in transverse diameters, and five centimetres in the vertical axis, 
 making the combined goitre, including the isthmus, about twelve centi- 
 metres in its transverse measurement and five in the vertical line. It was 
 somewhat difficult to take accurate measurements on account of the 
 blending of the margins of the tissue of the tumor with the adjacent 
 softer tissues, thus making the boundary ill defined to tactile sensation. 
 The circumference around the whole neck measured thirty-five centi- 
 metres. 
 
 First sitting (Jan. 28, 1886); the electro-negative needle was inserted 
 only just through the skin and connected with a weak current, about. 
 
TREATMENT IN' EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. -•'•> 
 
 one milliampere,' because the patient was tired with a long railway journey 
 and was Bomewhal apprehensive of the " electric Bhock." 
 
 Second Bitting, torn- days later. The largesl sized electro-needle was 
 inserted into the right hali of the goitre to the depth of half an inch, and 
 was connected as negative with a currenl of aboul three milliamperes' 
 Btrength, the circuh" being closed with a carbon cylinder moistened elec 
 fcrode (positive) held in the hand; the circuit was kepi closed Eorten 
 minutes, and then another electro-negative needle (also gold) was inserted 
 for ten minutes longer, the current thus passing through one needle f or 
 twenty and through both Eor ten minutes; the total amount of current 
 used ;it this sitting would be therefore equal to sixty milliamperes, which 
 would have the electro-chemical power of decomposing the equivalent of 
 about 620cm.m. of the combined gases which combine to form water. 
 This half of the goitre became softer and reduced in volume; the circum- 
 ference of the whole neck measured thirty-four centimetres. 
 
 Third sitting (two days later). The same method of treatment as in 
 the previous sittings, hut three needles were inserted and a weaker current 
 (only one milliampere) was used for the same length of time. Consequently, 
 the whole amount of current at this sitting would be equal to twenty mil- 
 liamperes. The puncture at this sitting was made into the left lobe of the 
 thyroid. The battery in use was the cylinder cell which is described at 
 length in the third chapter. 
 
 Fourth sitting (two days later). The skin of the neck is somewhat 
 shrivelled from the shrinking of the thyroid enlargement; the exophthal- 
 mos is also less pronounced; the patient is less nervous and sleeps more 
 and can lie lower in bed without the previous sensation of suffocation; the 
 tumor is much softer to palpation and there is no appearance of cutaneous 
 inflammation around the needle punctures. Three gold needles were in- 
 serted as before, to the depth of half an inch below the skin, on the lower 
 margin of the tumor; a gradually increasing strength of current was 
 passed through these as negative, the circuit being closed as in the previ- 
 ous sittings by a moistened electrode. The strongest current used was 
 equal to fourteen milliamperes, and the whole sitting lasted twenty 
 minutes; the total amount of current used for this application was equal 
 to 2S0 milliamperes. The resistance of this patient's body amounted to 
 2000 ohms, and after the sitting the current from the same number of 
 cells passing through this same resistance was tested by a water voltameter 
 
 1 The current should always be measured with the total resistance m circuit. 
 
236 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 for twenty minutes' time: this was for the purpose of comparing the mea- 
 surement with that of the galvanometer used during the time of the opera- 
 tion; this test showed that any error of current strength, if any, was very 
 trivial. After the conclusion of the electrolysis the tumor measured eleven 
 centimetres in the transverse diameter and in the vertical line, on right 
 lobe four and three-quarters centimetres, and on left lobe four and a half 
 centimetres. 
 
 Fifth sitting (six days later). The three smallest needles of those 
 which are described on a previous page (page 232) were thrust into the 
 left lobe of the thyroid to the depth of a quarter, three-quarters, and 
 seven-eighths of an inch, respectively; a current of a strength equal to 
 forty milliamperes was passed through these, the positive being a moistened 
 surface electrode. The tumor at this time had become so soft that the 
 needles could be inserted with the greatest facility. The duration of this 
 sitting was twenty minutes. 
 
 Sixth sitting (two days later). The tumor before this sitting measured 
 in transverse diameter ten centimetres and in the vertical line three and 
 three-quarters centimetres. A photograph taken of the profile of the 
 tumor at this time was compared with one which had been taken on the 
 first visit; the comparison showed a diminution in the depth of the enlarge- 
 ment of at least two millimetres and the size of the width and height 
 of the tumor had been very much decreased. The strength of current 
 used at this sitting was equal to two milliamperes and was applied during 
 fifteen minutes through the electro-negative needles, which were inserted 
 to the depth of half an inch; afterwards compared with the water volta- 
 meter with a resistance in the external circuit equal to that of this patient 
 the total current would be equal to thirty-three milliamperes. 
 
 Seventh sitting (four days later). The tumor had now become still 
 more softened and was easily compressed by palpation. There was so 
 little depth to the enlargement that the fine needles were inserted at 
 about a quarter of an inch below the surface of the skin and parallel to 
 it; the entrance was made on the right margin of the tumor and at the 
 outer border of the sterno mastoid muscle, and just above the clavicle, 
 and were pushed nearly to the median line into the isthmus. A current 
 strength of two milliamperes only was used, and the application was con- 
 tinued for fifteen minutes. During the continuance of the passage of the 
 current, the tumor would almost entirely disappear, and at the close of 
 the sitting what remained of it was very soft and almost diffluent. 
 
TREATMENT l\ EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 237 
 
 Eighth Bitting (two days Later). The tumor is still very .-oft and com- 
 pressible and is smaller ami thinner; the exophthalmos has been reduced 
 to a very remarkable degree, and the circulatory and emotional symptoms 
 are scarcely 1 1< > t i* t-:tl »1< • to the patient; the dyspnoea is so much Less that 
 
 the patient had almost forgotten that she had complained of it. Tin' 
 
 same treatment by the electro-punctures was repeated, hut with very 
 much stronger strength of current equal to seven milliamperes; the total 
 amount used at this sitting would be equal to 200 milliamperes. 
 
 Ninth Bitting (six days later). The same strength and amount of cur- 
 rent was employed as at the last Bitting, and the boiling and escape of the 
 gases resulting from the intense chemical and physical action was very 
 strong. A photograph, which was taken at this visit and compared with 
 that taken before the sixth sitting, showed a still further decrease both in 
 the size of the tumor and in exophthalmos. The tumultuous and irreg- 
 ular action of the cardiac pulsation was very much diminished. 
 
 Tenth, eleventh and twelfth sittings (at intervals of five or six days). 
 The current strength used at these sittings was much increased by the 
 use of hot salt water on the moistened positive electrodes; the conse- 
 quence was an increase in the amount of pain caused by the action; this 
 Avas followed by signs of local inflammation and by a slight oedematous 
 infiltration of the skin accompanied with tenderness; these would subside 
 in four or five days. The eschars produced by the punctures w r ere much 
 larger than when the weaker current had been used. The scars of the 
 first punctures had all entirely healed, leaving only red marks which were 
 on a level with the skin, and not pitted. The sittings were then inter- 
 mitted for two weeks. 
 
 Thirteenth sitting (fourteen days later). No treatment since the pre- 
 vious report. Photographs were taken,, and, on comparison with that 
 taken on the ninth sitting, showed very little, if any, diminution in the size 
 and extent of the tumor. This was supposed to have been caused by the use 
 of currents of too great intensity, which may have irritated and stimulated 
 the growth by the result of inflammatory action. It is well known that 
 the use of chemical caustics on warts, or of any similar method of irrita- 
 tion on growths of this character, which do not completely destroy the 
 adventitious growth, are apt to be followed by an increase in size. There- 
 fore it was thought advisable to apply the constant current only by means 
 of surface electrodes, which were moistened in hot salt water; one of large 
 surface was placed in contact with the skin in the form of a covered 
 
238 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 metallic tinplate, which was connected with the carbon element of the bat- 
 tery (negative) and was applied to the surface over the right lobe, and the 
 positive electrode was held in the patient's hand. A current strength of 
 five milliamperes was passed through this circuit for fifteen minutes. 
 The effect of this current reduced the tumor during its use, but in a few 
 moments after the conclusion of the sitting it resumed the shape and size 
 which it showed before. 
 
 The next three sittings were occupied with the same system of electro- 
 puncture as had been previously described. 
 
 Nineteenth sitting. The tumor was very much reduced in size, and 
 a photograph was taken before the operation. The exophthalmos was 
 also much diminished, but the rapid action of the heart was not changed. 
 At this sitting, which lasted half an hour, three electro-positive zinc 
 needles and two electro-negative irido-platinum needles were inserted 
 into the lower margin of the tumor, the former to the depth of quarter of 
 an inch, and the latter to the depth of an inch, parallel to the surface 
 of the skin and about half an inch below. There was some slight swelling 
 around the zinc electro- punctures, but none around those of the platinum, 
 the whole skin between the needle punctures was quite red during the 
 continuance of electrolysis; but the redness around one of these disap- 
 peared five minutes after the conclusion of the sitting. 
 
 Twentieth sitting (seven days later). The tumor is reduced to a flat 
 shape, is very much softer, its circumference is smaller, and its consis- 
 tence is so much softer that it can almost be compressed out of sight; the 
 exophthalmos is very less noticeable to her friends as well as to herself; the 
 patient sleeps all night without waking, and the palpitation and irregular 
 action of the heart is slight, but the palpitations occur as often as once a 
 day (never, as formerly, during the night,) but last only for a few 
 moments; these palpitations, which before treatment used to occur 
 several times a day while the patient was sitting and occupied with sew- 
 ing, now only come after exercise; the patient's appetite has improved 
 greatly, and the anaemia is also much less; the "bruit de diable" is very 
 marked when a stethoscope is placed on the tumor; when this was lis- 
 tened to at the first visit it was scarcely audible, and it would seem now 
 that the circulation through the vessels of the goitre is of a different char- 
 acter than before the treat incut. 
 
 At this treatment four electro-punctures wen; made, two with zinc 
 (positive electrode) needles, and two (negative electrode) with irido- 
 
TREATMENT IN EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. 239 
 
 platinum needles. All of these needles were protected from the skiii by 
 means <>f bard rubber canulas, which fitted Loosely around these aeedles. 
 A current strength of four milliamperes was employed for twenty minufc 
 
 Twentv-tirst sitting, (on bhe following day). There is hardly any mark 
 of inflammation visible from the punctures of the previous day. and the 
 tumor ia even softer than on that. day. Chvostek's method of Burface 
 contacl was em]. loved with a current strength of thirty milliampei 
 during twenty-five minutes, and the direction of the current was changed 
 every five minutes. The skin upon which the electrodes were placed in 
 contact was pretty thoroughly reddened after the close of this sitting. 
 
 Twenty-second sitting (four days later). The transverse axis at the 
 Widest part of the tumor measures nine and a half centimetres, and the 
 vertical axis of the larger wing (on the left side) is only three and a half 
 centimetres: the skin over the thyroid body, which at the first visit was 
 tense, is now very loose and can be picked up in the lingers: the outer 
 margin of the right lobe, which extended beyond the outer margin of the 
 sternoid muscle is now fairly within the inner border of this muscle. 
 Surface electrodes were applied with a current strength of twelve milliam- 
 peres, a large moistened covered block-tin plate, as negative, covering the 
 whole thyroid region, and the positive being a covered carbon electrode 
 (its segment surface measuring four centimetres) overlying the position 
 of the left superior cervical ganglion; another circuit of ten milliamperes 
 was formed by two electrodes having the same surface size as the smaller 
 of the two preceding, the negative of which was in contact with the right 
 malar process and the positive on the opposite malar process; the applica- 
 tion of this surface contact of the four electrode.s was continued for six- 
 teen minutes. A separate battery was used for each pair of electrodes, 
 and all the points of contact were kept moist with salt and Water. The 
 patient reports that she had been entirely free from palpitations since the 
 last visit except that there has been a slightly increased frequency of the 
 pulse beats after rapid walking. 
 
 Twenty-third sitting (three days later). A current from a Volta- 
 Pavia battery, arranged for surface, of four cells, which furnished a 
 strength of one milliampcre only, was applied by means of two electro- 
 positive Deedles inserted at the left outer margin of the thyroid enlarge- 
 ment and two electro-negative needles inserted at the right outer margin: 
 each needle was made of iridio -platinum alloy, was inserted about quarter 
 of an inch deep into the subcutaneous tissue through the sac. and then 
 
240 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 thrust to the length of three quarters of an inch parallel to the surface 
 of the skin; each puncture of the skin was first made by means of a small 
 exploring trochar which was then withdrawn; a small ivory canula 
 was afterwards inserted into the same opening; the needles were then 
 introduced within the canula, so that the skin should he protected during 
 the sitting from the contact of the metal; the action of the electrolysis 
 was continued for twenty minutes, during which time the direction of 
 the current was changed twice. No pain accompanied the passage of the 
 current except when its direction was abruptly changed. A slight rose- 
 colored efflorescence of the skin spread for about one and a half inches 
 from each puncture, which disappeared within a few moments after the 
 sitting was concluded. There was no particular change in the appearance 
 or size of the tumor to be noticed since the last report. The skin over 
 the thyroid region was very loose, so that it was difficult to insert the 
 needles, unless the skin was made tense. 
 
 Twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sittings (at intervals of 
 two or three days). During these sittings Chvostek's method was re- 
 peated, but so little change in the size of the tumor ensued that, at the 
 patient's own request, the method of electro-puncture was resumed ;it 
 intervals of three and four days. The decrease in the goitre and in the 
 exophthalmos continued after the resumption of the punctures. Some- 
 times four needles and sometimes only two or three needles were employed 
 as the electrodes, and the current was sent through these needles, which 
 were used both as positive and negative, the circuit being completed by 
 the electro-punctures and not through surface contact. The metallic 
 contact with the skin was shielded by the insulating canulas previously 
 described. When the insulation was complete, no subsequent inflamma- 
 tion occurred in the skin. The catamenia reappeared on the expiration 
 of the third month of treatment and lasted but one day. 
 
 After five more sittings of twenty minutes duration, the tumor had 
 almost entirely disappeared, and the palpitations and exophthalmos were 
 cured. At the last few sittings it was noticed that immediately after the 
 current began to pass through the circuit, the tumor would entirely 
 shrink away, leaving the skin shrivelled. During the subsequent day the 
 skin around the punctures would become slightly cedematous, and at the 
 next visit the size of the tumor had noticeably decreased. The patient 
 was then discharged with the expectation that the subsidence of the en- 
 largement would continue as in the preceding case. The final disappear- 
 
TREATMENT IN EX< MMI II [ A Ml If Tkl. 
 
 241 
 
 once of the goitre should no1 be expected to occur in adults for three or 
 four months after the discontinuance of the electrolysis. It is noi neces- 
 sary to continue thetreatmenl until the lasi vestige of the tumor 1ms gone, 
 because when once arrested its decrease will g<> on spontaneously. The 
 treatment was concluded at the time of going to press. The accompany- 
 ing woodcut taken from a photograph represents (Fig. 31) the appear- 
 ance of the tumor at the close of treatment by electrolysis. 
 
 In.. 31. -After treatment by electrolysis. 
 
 It will be noticed that the position of the head in this photograph 
 was more erect than in the first (Fig. 30, page 234), and that the chin 
 is depressed; consequently the skin over the tumor is not tense. The 
 engraver has not presented the details shown in the photograph, so that 
 the marginal outlines of the lateral portions of the tumor do not appear 
 in this last figure (Fig. 31). The difference in appearance between 
 these two photographs is very marked, showing that the goitre had been 
 very materially reduced in size. 
 
 A ease of a supposed goitre, and which afterwards turned out to be a 
 
 sarcomatous tumor was not even arrested in its growth. Electrolysis is 
 
 not applicable to malignant growths, except when used as thermo-cautery 
 
 for a separation of diseased from the adjacent healthy tissues very much in 
 
 the same way as can be done by the knife. 
 16 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HYPERTRICHOSIS, AND ITS TREATMENT BY ELECTRO- 
 LYSIS. 
 
 Hypertrichosis, or the excess of a growth of hair, may occur upon 
 the skin of the face and produce a very serious disfigurement. Hairy 
 moles may also grow upon the face and produce a repulsive appearance. 
 We owe to Dr. Hardaway, of St. Louis, the introduction of the successful 
 and permanent cure of this obnoxious growth. The natural causes which 
 operate in the gradual decay and loss of the hair have been described in 
 the fifth chapter. In order to understand the way by which electrolysis 
 may destroy the life of the hair it will be necessary to present the histology 
 of the hair and its follicle. 
 
 According to Satterthwaite ' the hair proper is a cylindrical structure 
 which is seated upon the papilla of the hair within its follicle. Its base 
 is embedded in the subcutaneous connective tissue or in the corium. 
 That portion of the hair which is within the follicle is called the root of 
 the hair, and the remaining portion is its shaft. The true hair-follicle 
 includes all that of the hair-sac below the place where the sebaceous duct 
 enters the hair-follicle. It is of very variable size, and consists of the 
 blind extremity and a funnel-shaped orifice (a). A constriction of the 
 follicle occurs just below this orifice and this is the neck of the hair folli- 
 cle (b); into this neck the duct from the sebaceous gland enters. Below 
 this neck the hair-follicle increases in size, and its largest diameter is at 
 the lowest end, and at this point it rests upon the papilla. The follicle 
 and the hair-root are below the neck. 
 
 The follicle consists of the external, middle and internal sheaths, but 
 it is hardly important for our purposes to describe these in detail. 
 
 The hair-papilla is formed from the stroma of these sheaths, especially 
 that of the middle sheath. Numerous round cells may be seen in the 
 connective tissue fibres of this papilla, which latter is separated from the 
 hair-root by the internal follicle sheath. Within the papilla one or more 
 
 1 Manual of Histology, Thomas E. Satterthwaite, New York. William Wood 
 & Company, 1881. 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. 
 
 arteries, veins and non-medullated nerve fibres are found. The genera] 
 appearance of bhe papilla ia delineated in the figure. 
 
 The root, of the hair is for our purposes of study the mosl Importanl 
 portion of these tissues, Bince a hair ceases to be reproduced when no new 
 
 Fig. 32.- Hair from beard: a, canal of exit; b, neck- of hair follicle; c, lower part of follicle; d, 
 external sheath of hair follicle; e, internal sheal h of hair follicle; /, external root sheath of hair; ,;- 
 internal root-sheath of hair; ft, cortical substance; fc, medulla of hair; I, root of hair: m, fa) cells! 
 »i,arectorpili; o, papillae of skin; p, papilla of hair; s, rete mucosum; t, sebaceous gland; ep, sua 
 turn corneum, which is continued into the follicle. 
 
1>44 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 cells are formed in it. These cells bear a close resemblance to those of 
 the rete mucosum; those which are seated directly upon the basement 
 membrane of the papilla are cylindrical and those which are more super- 
 ficial are polyhedral in shape. In the upper part of the hair-root the ex- 
 ternal portion of the bulb contains oblong, spindle-shaped cells, and these 
 are, finally, lengthened out in fibres; in this condition they form the 
 fibrous portion of the hair shaft. 
 
 The shaft of the hair is formed of the medullary substance and a fibrous 
 portion, which latter is covered by the cuticle of the hair. This medulla 
 consists of polyhedral cells which contain fat and pigment granules. 
 Toward the free end of the hair this medulla becomes smaller, and termi- 
 nates near the point. The fibrous portion is the principal part of its 
 shaft, and consists of flattened fusiform cells, which latter contain numer- 
 ous spindle-shaped granules. 
 
 Fig. 33. — Transverse section of the hair beneath the neck of the hair follicle, a, external sheat b 
 of the hair follicle ; 6, transversely cut blood vessels ; c, inner sheath of the hair f oil icle ; d, basement 
 membrane of hair follicle; e, external root sheath; /, cells of Henle's layer; g, of Huxley's layer; 
 /(, cuticle; I, hair shaft. 
 
 From the foregoing description it will be noticed that the appearance 
 of a transverse section of the hair will depend upon the portion of the 
 hair which may furnish this section, the reproduction of the accompany- 
 ing figure from Biesiadecki will illustrate one of these sections. 
 
 A hair increases in length by the formation of new elements in its 
 root, which elongate and push the shaft of the hair and its cuticle before 
 these elements. 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. 
 
 2 I 5 
 
 When a hair which is at firs! fine, gives place to a thick growth, the 
 external root-sheath penetrates downwards, and thus Conns the papilla; 
 then this papilla becomes atrophied, the hair falls ont, and its place is 
 ooonpied by the new and thicker growth- IF a hair has reached its natural 
 growth, it will fall out and will be replaced by a new hair whirl, grows 
 
 from the Old papilla. The last cells which are formed and converted into 
 the hair proper, will appear as a conical or knohhed extremity at the lower 
 end of the hair-shaft. 
 
 The hair follicles and the hairs do not stand at right angles to the 
 surface of the skin; their direction of growth is oblique from this surface. 
 After they have been frequently evulsed the direction of their growth 
 may he quite tortuous, and sometimes the hair-root may lie at right 
 angles to the shaft of the hair. 
 
 When a hair has been forcibly evulsed, withont previous electrolysis, 
 it will appear like the accompanying illustration (Fig. 3-i, B), a reproduc- 
 tion of a micro-photograph, which was taken by the author. This hair was 
 
 U 
 
 Fig. 34— A, Hair removed after incomplete electrolysis, e, cortical substance of the shaft : l n 
 medulla of shaft; m, corium. B, Hair pulled from man's beard: I, medulla; s, cortical substance of 
 the shaft; in, corium. 
 
 pulled out of the beard of a man. In the same plate is shown (Fig. 34, A) 
 a hair which was removed by the forceps after incomplete electrolysis; this 
 is also from the beard, and viewed side by side with the other, shows that 
 all of the hair shaft, external and internal root sheaths, have been removed, 
 but without the hair-root or the sheaths of the follicle, or the papilla. 
 
 From what has been previously mentioned in the fifth chapter and 
 what has been descrihed in the present chapter, in regard t<> the natural 
 life and the natural decay of the hair, it will be noticed that an operation 
 for the destruction of a hair must destroy the hair-root, the papilla, the 
 
246 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 sheaths of the follicle and the adjacent tissue within the corium. Any 
 operation which will accomplish the destruction of all of these structures 
 will destroy the life of the hair and prevent its reproduction. Formerly, 
 the introduction of an instrument and of some chemical substance, which 
 could set up an inflammatory or suppurative action, would destroy all of 
 these tissues; but great pain attends this mode of procedure, and an ugly 
 pitted scar would mark the spot, which will remain through life. The local 
 effect of an electro-puncture, as has been previously remarked in a pre- 
 ceding chapter, will produce in the skin a conical mark of destructive 
 action, with the base of the cone at the external surface and its apex a 
 little deeper, in the subcutaneous tissue at the point of the needle. 
 
 We have seen in a preceding chapter that the segmentation of the cellsj 
 upon which depends their proliferation, is accomplished by the segmenta- 
 tion of the nucleolus, and that this is preceded or accompanied by a pro- 
 longation of certain fibrilla? in karyokinetic figures. We may assume that 
 an interruption of these processes of nutrition will more or less, according 
 to the extent of this interruption, interfere with the cell proliferation. It 
 is also observed by histologists that a lowered state of vitality is usually 
 accompanied with an increased quantity of water in the tissues, hydrsemia, 
 in which condition the processes of general nutrition are seriously re- 
 tarded. We have also seen that the introduction of an electrode within a 
 fluid conductor, which offers a high resistance to the transmission of an 
 electrical current, will collect a mass of the fluid around the negative 
 electrode. Empirical experience teaches that the negative electrode is 
 the most efficient destroyer of the nutrition and growth of the hair. It 
 is undoubtedly true that the introduction of the positive electro- needle will 
 also destroy the tissues, but not without a caustic action, and the charac- 
 ter of this destructive local effect is that of a dry eschar. It would seem 
 from these considerations that the destroying action of the negative elec- 
 tro-puncture into the pilous follicle should be attributed, as much to the 
 cataphoric, as to the electrolytical action of electricity. The evidence of 
 this is shown, moreover, in the large amount of water which collects 
 around the puncture; the amount of this water which is there collected 
 cannot be entirely accounted for on the supposition that it is the result 
 of the combination of the oxygen with the hydrogen, which gases are sup- 
 posed to be the products of decomposition. It is undoubtedly true that 
 these gases come from changes into the chemical elements of the com- 
 posite organic structures of the living tissues, and it has been shown from 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. lM 7 
 
 the experiments of Burgoin in the Becond chapter thai the phenomena of 
 electrolysis are as simple in the organic as in the inorganic structures. 
 We cannoi bul admil thai the disruption of the hydrogen elements from 
 carbo-hydrate combinations, of which the living tissues are largely com 
 posed on the authority of the besl physiological chemists, would be a 
 serious blow to their integrity; yet, the conditions which would attend 
 such a fundamental change as to account [or simple chemical decomposi- 
 tions of these structures, are nol those which we see in the simple destru(> 
 tion of life of the hair. In this ease the destruction goes on most fre- 
 quently without any. or hardly any. inflammatory process or suppuration; 
 indeed, we mighl with good reason say that if the electrical operation has 
 been properly done, very little inflammatory, and no suppuratory effeel 
 should follow. Now. it is well known that the diseases which accom- 
 pany, or are the cause of, deficient general nutrition of the tissues, are 
 most commonly attended with inflammatory processes of -these tissues; this 
 is especially the case with those diseases in which disturbances within the 
 interstitial tissues are most noticeable. What more common instance 
 than that of diabetes in elderly people, or in the gouty and rheumatic 
 constitutional taint, is seen than to have local inflammations of the tissues, 
 such as inflamed joints, furuncuous or carbuncular affections, and the 
 like? 
 
 It has been stated that, if the operation of electrolysis, so-called, is 
 properly performed, there should not follow any serious inflammatory 
 local process. The proper conduct of this operation should depend, in 
 our opinion, upon this very theory of electrical osmosis, which has re- 
 ceived the name of the cataphoric action of electricity by medical electri- 
 cians. The tissues of the human body are especially adapted for the display 
 of this peculiar physical process. As has been over and over again men- 
 tioned in these pages, our bodies offer a very high resistance to the transmis- 
 sion of electrical force through its tissues. This resisting conductor of elec- 
 tricity is largely composed of fluids, and these fluids are of the very kind 
 which possess the property of potentials of variable degree; in fact, many 
 physiologists appear to hold to the opinion t hat t hese tissues have in them- 
 selves or their chemical constitution, the characteristics of local electrical 
 batteries. If we bear in mind that the process of nutrition is a matter 
 which requires a constant dissipation of the natural forces in order to 
 continue the reproduction of cell proliferation, it will not be difficult to 
 understand that any disturbance of the liquids, or its motions between 
 
248 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the interstitial tissues, will seriously interfere with the functional activity 
 of the embryonic cells. We should not for a moment lose sight of the 
 fact of chemical changes in these tissues, but they are of far less impor- 
 tance than the physiological functions of the cell life. 
 
 The cataphoric action being of the first importance, when we desire 
 to employ electricity for the destruction of a tissue whose nutrition de- 
 pends upon the rapid performance of cell segmentation, the character of 
 the current demands our most serious consideration. 
 
 It will have been noticed that an electrical current may have what is 
 called either a low tension or a high tension. In order to produce a cur- 
 rent of strong chemical action through a conductor which offers a high 
 resistance to passage of electricity, we should, theoretically, use a current 
 of high tension; in other words, we should drive the force at high pressure 
 through the resisting medium. The effect of this would be to intensify 
 the action in order to overcome the resistance, and the strength of the cur- 
 rent would be principally exerted upon that part of the conducting medium 
 which would offer an obstruction to the transmission. We have already 
 seen that the fine wire, which offers a higher resistance than a wire of 
 larger diameter of the same composition, will often become heated by a 
 current of high tension. The result of passing a current of this character 
 through the dry skin will show the local irritating effect upon this resist- 
 ing medium. On the other hand, if we attempt to pass a current of large 
 volume through the resisting tissues its action will be displayed more 
 slowly, and the chemical action in the same period of time will be much 
 less. The cataphoric action, however, will be greater with a current 
 passing through a resisting fluid conductor. This fact has been shown in 
 a previous chapter. 
 
 It will thus be noticed that the current should be one of low tension 
 and of as much quantity as can be conveniently obtained. The battery 
 should, therefore, be arranged with its elements of large surface exposed 
 to a large body of exciting fluid, and this fluid should be so selected as 
 not to obstruct the electro-chemical action within the galvanic cells. The 
 battery should, also, be one whose internal resistance should be at the 
 smallest minimum practicable; in other words, the best battery for epila- 
 tion should be one that has a high electromotive force. It may seem as 
 if this conclusion was paradoxical, because it is directly opposed in theory 
 In Ohm's law, that the electromotive force will be decreased by the in- 
 equality between the two resistances in the circuit. There is no doubt 
 
BYPEBTBI0H08I8. 2 19 
 
 tliat the initial electromotive force of the battery will be reduced by the 
 additional resistance of the external circuit; bni the conducting medium 
 in tliis case is a medium of constantly varying resistances, and it is this very 
 resistance which wean- utilizing Cor our purposes; we should, therefore, 
 have a battery which should give out an excess <>i' a Low tension of current. 
 We do not want a stream of high pressure, but we want a large volume. 
 
 The effects of the two characters of the electrical current is -ecu in 
 practice: the high tension current will redden the skin during the process 
 of epilation, and in order to prevent a confluent in fl a mm atory effect upon 
 the skin, we should be obliged to select the hairs for epilation which are 
 far apart; on the other hand, if we use a current of large quantity ' the 
 reddening local action is very much less, and the amount of water which 
 will collect around the electro-negative needle puncture will be more 
 voluminous. The time which will be required to destroy the hair may 
 be probably a trifle longer, but this difference is inappreciable and may. 
 even, lie imaginary, because it is not easy to state exactly how long a time 
 is required for a destruction of a particular hair; from thirty to forty 
 hairs can be destroyed within an hour by either current. With either 
 kind of current the same primary effect is produced on the cutaneous 
 tissue: — a central depressed point surrounded by a circular cedematous 
 swelling whose diameter is about half a centimetre; if a current of high 
 tension has been employed, forty eight hours later a soft eschar will have 
 formed of the same size as the original " bee sting," which will dry up 
 and form a small scab; if left to come off by a natural process, and if it is 
 not picked off by the finger nail, this will be replaced by a red spot, which 
 is smaller than the original mark, and which usually disappears by the 
 tenth day. If, on the other hand, a current of low r tension has been em- 
 ployed, usually on the second day only a small dry scab will form, which 
 is about one-third of the size of that which followed the use of the other 
 kind of current, and when this scab falls off naturally, only a slight mark 
 is left, which will have the same color as the surrounding skin; in the 
 latter case, the scab most generally falls off within six days. If a current 
 of high tension is used, that is, wdiere one or more cells are connected to- 
 gether in series or groups of two in series, the current strength should 
 not exceed five or six milliainperes, because a stronger current than this 
 
 1 Though the word "quantity'* is a misnoma, Ave are obliged to use it because 
 it probably will be better understood in this case than another term which may 
 
 be more exact. . 
 
250 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 will cause too much local inflammatory action; if a current of low tension 
 is used three milliamperes will he sufficiently strong, and hardly any pain 
 will follow the latter kind; the former current causes so much pain 
 that usually patients will prefer to have cocaine pricked into the skin 
 punctures for the numbing sensation it will usually occasion. 
 
 Many operators use for the puncture into the hair follicle a watch- 
 maker's (steel) broche, from which the temper has been drawn to prevent 
 oxidation and consequent insulation of the steel. Gold or the alloy of 
 irido-platinum furnishes a very much better material for this needle, be- 
 cause these needles are much better conductors of the current, and the 
 collection of water around these latter electrodes is more voluminous. 
 The needle should have as fine a point as possible, and can be readily 
 sharpened on very fine emery paper or on a piece of Arkansas stone. In 
 order to clean them after use with a patient, the gold or irido-platinum 
 needles may be heated in an alcohol flame. 
 
 It should be remembered that the hair root and its follicle do not lie 
 at right angle to the surface of the skin, but that these are at an oblique 
 angle; consequently the electro-puncture should follow the opening at the 
 root of the hair through the duet of the skin and the needle may often be 
 bent to suit the inclination of this opening; it should not be thrust in 
 deeper than the bottom of the follicle, which can usually be felt after a 
 little practice. Where a hair has been frequently removed by the forceps, 
 its root is often at right angles to the apparent growth of the shaft, and 
 in these cases, it is better to bend the point of the needle to suit the un- 
 natural position of the hair; again, in these cases, the bottom of the folli- 
 cle will be found at a deeper point than in those which have not been 
 forcibly evulsed. 
 
 The positive electrode should be applied by being firmly held in the 
 hand of the patient. The best form of this electrode is that which is 
 furnished by a cylinder of gas-carbon, through the centre of which a brass 
 tube is fitted, and into which latter the metallic point of the rheophore 
 may be tightly adjusted. This cylinder should be thoroughly soaked in 
 hot water and surrounded with a wad of absorbent cotton, in order to 
 make a more perfect conductor for the current; the skin should be as 
 thoroughly soaked as possible, but not dripping wet. The cylinder of 
 carbon may have a diameter of about three-quarters of an inch and a 
 length of four inches. Salt dissolved in the water makes the skin a better 
 conductor, but it has the disadvantage of corroding the brass connections. 
 
II \ PERTRU HOSIS. 
 
 The accompanying illustration will Bhow the relative parte of the 
 Btrnoture of the akin and the openings of the various ducts. It veil] be 
 observed thai there is a depression in the skin, which surrounds the hair 
 Bhaft. The electro- puncture should follow the direction of this Bhafl and 
 penetrate as far as the hair-root, and a little below this point; tli 
 tance will be found to have a depth of one-tenth to one-fifth of an inch. 
 Some physicians recommend that the currenl should not be connected in 
 
 »t«F«=' 
 
 Fig. 35.— Section of normal skin, a, stratum corneum of the epidermis; b, stratum mueosum; 
 c, corium, with papilla?; fc, papilla with vascular loop; I, sebaceous gland; h, sweat gland: e, sub- 
 cutaneous connective tissue; t % shaft of hair protruding from the skin. 
 
 the circuit until after the puncture has been made; in practice, however, 
 it will be found more convenient to keep the electrical circuit closed 
 except when the needle is withdrawn, and to close the circuit only bj 
 means of the puncture; the pain which attends the passage of a currenl 
 of low tension is not commensurate with the momentary prick of the 
 needle, and the time lost in removing the positive electrode, as well as the 
 cooling of the surface of the skin and electrode, makes this practice in- 
 convenient and useless. 
 
 When the electro-puncture has been made, and the circuit closed be- 
 tween the two electrodes, bubbles of pas and drops of water will collect 
 
252 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 around the needle electrode if this is the negative terminal, but not if it 
 is the positive, and in a period of time varying from half a minute to a 
 minute the hair will be loosened from its lair, and can be easily with- 
 drawn. 
 
 The hair which has been removed will have the appearance which is 
 presented in the accompanying illustrations (Fig. 36), which are repro- 
 ductions by photolithography of micro-photographs taken by the author of 
 hairs which had been destroyed by the action of electrolysis. These hairs 
 immediately after their removal, were stained with a solution in glycerine 
 and aniline "fast blue," and afterwards in a glycerine solution of an 
 aniline orange, "coralline"; by this method of staining the outline of 
 the various parts are sensitive to the ordinary bromo-iodide plate for 
 photograpby. 
 
 Fig. 36.— A, Hair removed by electrolysis. S, shaft of hair; L, medulla; P, external root-sheath 
 of hair; P, hair papilla; M, root of hair; B, subcutaneous connective tissue. 
 
 B, Another hair, in which is shown at P the opening into which the papilla was supposed to have 
 fitted: below this point Is represented the subcutaneous tissue; P, hair root. 
 
 C, A third hair with the bulb and root bent almost at right angles to the shaft; P, papilla of hair. 
 
 D, A hair, similar in appearance to the former, magnified with a No. 7 Hartuack objective, a, 
 point of intersection shaft with the hair root; 31, fibrous portion of the shaft; P, papilla. 
 
 These micro-photographs were obtained by the use of a Hartnack ob- 
 jective, No. 4, with the exception of D, which was photographed with his 
 No. 7 ; therefore, as no eye piece was used the magnifying power was not 
 strong enough to show the cell structure, except in that of D. The 
 papilla was well recognized with the eye piece, hut too little light would 
 pass through the latter to allow a distinct image to be taken photographi- 
 cally with this combined with the objective. A large number of hairs, 
 which were removed by the use of electrolysis, were repeatedly examined 
 by the aid of a microscope. The result of these examinations would prove 
 that any hair will return after the incomplete use of the electrolysis, un- 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. 
 
 253 
 
 less the microscope will show that the adjacent tissue which Burrounds 
 the papilla of the hair, in which the papilla is often recognized, ••nines 
 out with the hair and its clubbed end. None of the hairs which arc 
 figured in the illustration have since (a period of six months) returned. 
 
 Extreme care in following the directions which have been above de- 
 tailed will result in destroying permanently ninety-five per cent, of all the 
 hairs operated upon. It is claimed by many of the most prominent opera- 
 tors for epilation by this method, that the usual result of their experience 
 -will show a permanent destruction of eighty-five to ninety per cent, of ail 
 the hairs electrolyzed. 
 
 The accompanying illustrations of a case of hypertrichosis will serve 
 to exhibit certain points of interest in the treatment of this disfigurement 
 by means of electrolysis. These are all photo-lithographs, which were 
 taken by the author as original photographs from the face of a female 
 patient. The first illustration (Fig. 37), represents the appearance of 
 the woman's face after about three hundred hairs had been removed. 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 Treatment was intormitted between the first of June and the first of 
 October. At the former date 2500 hairs had been removed. On the 
 fourth of October the second photograph was taken, of which a repre- 
 sentation is presented in the photo-lithograph of Fig. 38. This photo- 
 graph was taken immediately after the sitting on that day, and some of 
 the marks of the electro-punctures can be seen in the figure. The hair 
 low down on the throat has been cut shorter than at the time of the pre- 
 vious photograph. 
 
254 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The next illustration (Fig. 39) was taken seven days later, and in this 
 interval four long sittings had been given, during all of which about two 
 hundred hairs more had been removed. This photograph was taken im- 
 mediately after the fourth sitting and the marks of the punctures are 
 plainly visible upon the right side of the chin. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 The last of this series of illustrations was photographed in the early 
 part of January, and in this may be seen several scars of the punctures at 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 a sitting three days previous. It will be noticed in this figure (Fig. 40) 
 that the hair under the chin has been allowed to grow long, and that there 
 arc but few marks of the punctures to be seen. These details, of course, 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. 
 
 255 
 
 arc not so noticeable in a print as they appear in the original negati 
 the photograph. It will, also, be noticed thai the hairs od the upper lip 
 are few and far between. A calculation was kept of the number of hairs 
 removed up to this time, and the number was nearly 4000; this occupied 
 
 about 110 hours, and the work is still in process. It will thus be observed 
 that a vast amount of patience is required for this method of treatment, 
 both on the part of operator and patient. 
 
 Fig. ii. 
 
 A patient who was in great haste to have all of her facial hairs re- 
 moved, and who devoted six hours a week for five weeks to the operation 
 had some very ugly scars; she was, also, ambitious to have a current of 
 strong intensity. The result of this work is shown in the portrait 
 which is represented in the above figure (Fig. 41). It should be stated 
 that her skin does not appear as badly marred and pitted as this 
 
1 ) ")<> ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 illustration would seem to show. This engraving should act as a warning 
 to such severe and hurried operations. This case of hypertrichosis was 
 especially aggravated, for the hairs were deeply rooted, some to a depth 
 of over one-third of an inch, and were as stiff as is often seen in a man's 
 beard. This woman was of a blonde complexion, while the preceding case 
 was in a dark brunette. It is usually supposed that the pitted marks in 
 a blonde are not so likely to follow the electro puncture as in a brunette. 
 
 A delicate skin should always be favored by the use of a milder strength 
 of current, and this will require a relatively longer sitting than Avhen a' 
 stronger current is employed. This consideration is important in fore- 
 casting the time requisite for the removal of a definite number of hairs; 
 more allowance should be made for those patients who have tender skins. 
 
 No application of a soothing character is needed after treatment by 
 electrolysis, unless the strength of the current has been great, or unless 
 the weather is severely cold and high drying winds are prevalent; in these 
 cases it wdl be advantageous to apply a little vaseline or the petrolatum 
 of the U. S. P. immediately after the conclusion of the sitting, and before 
 the patient exposes her face to the outer air. 
 
 It should be mentioned that the skin is drier during the dry and cold 
 weather of winter, and in consequence of this condition, the conductivity 
 of the skin is much less than in the warm and moist air of the summer; 
 on this account one will be tempted to the employment of stronger cur- 
 rents than may be desirable, because intensity of the action will be largely 
 expended upon the most resisting portion of the electrical circuit, viz., 
 the skin. The intense action on the skin is liable to be followed by local 
 inflammatory effects. 
 
 It is always much wiser not to repeat the operation oftener than once 
 or twice a week, and especially in cases of delicate skin. It is far wiser 
 to give a sitting of two hours' length in these latter conditions than to 
 repeat the sittings too closely together. 
 
 The operation of electrolysis should always be performed with a gal- 
 vanometer in the main circuit, by whose deviations the strength of the 
 employed current can be under the observation of the operator. A gal- 
 vanometer should be used which will measure proportional strengths of 
 the current. This question of the measurement of currents is of sufficient 
 importance to lie discussed in a separate chapter. 
 
 Hair moles may very readily be removed by this method of treatment, 
 and, when properly performed scarcely any disfiguring mark is left. The 
 
HYPERTRICHOSIS. 257 
 
 annexed illustration from a photograph shows fche extent of the resulting 
 space occupied by a slightly whiter portion of the skin, from which a bair 
 mole of over twice this surface was removed at a single sitting «>f an hour 
 and a half. (Fig. 4'2). 
 
 Fig. 42.— The round spot is simply to show where the mole existed, because in the photographic 
 print it was even more indistinct than in nature. A very close inspection of the face would be re- 
 quired to find the scar made by the operation on the skin. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE METHODS OF MEASUREMENT OF A CURRENT OF 
 
 ELECTRICITY. 
 
 The principle by which the strength of a given current is measured 
 should naturally be based on the amount of work accomplished by the 
 display of its force. Formerly this unit of measurement was absolute 
 without the relation of the time in which this definite amount of work 
 was done. 
 
 The International Electrical Congress, held at Paris in September, 
 1881, agreed upon certain units which are now pretty universally adopted. 
 In order to understand the significance of these units, we should be first 
 familiar with certain primary ideas: 
 
 (1). Potential, or the condition of electricity contained in a body; 
 
 (2). Electromotive force, or the power which a galvanic cell exerts of 
 transferring electrical force from one point to another in a conducting 
 
 body; 
 
 (3). Electrical conductivity, or the property possessed by a conduct- 
 ing medium of allowing the transmission of the electrical force, in contra- 
 distinction to its resistance; 
 
 (4). Resistance, or the relative degree of obstruction which a conduct- 
 ing medium opposes to the transmission of the electrical force; 
 
 (5). Intensity, or the resulting strength of a current in the combined 
 circuit of a battery and its conducting intermediums; this is directly pro- 
 portional to the electromotive force and inversely to the resistance of the 
 conducting mediums; 
 
 (6). Quantity, or the resulting strength of the current during the period 
 in which it is acting; 
 
 (?). Cajmcity, or the charge of one kind of electricity which accumu- 
 lates upon an electricized body as the result of a difference in potential be- 
 tween the electricizing and electricized bodies, or the quantity of electricity 
 required to raise the potential from zero to unity. 
 
 This Congress adopted the following resolutions: — 
 
 (1). In electrical measurements, the three fundamental units shall be 
 centimetre, gramme and second; these are usually expressed in electrical 
 works as (C.Gr.S.) 
 
MEASUREMENT OF 0UEBENT8 "1 ELECTRICITY. 259 
 
 (■.'). The absolute units, fche ohm and the volt, will preserve bheir actual 
 
 value. 
 
 (:;). The unit of resistance, the ohm, will be represented by a column 
 of mercury of our square millimetre section, al centigrade. 
 
 (4). Establishes a commissaion to determine the Length of this preced- 
 ing column. 
 
 (5). The current produced by a volt and passing through the res 
 ance of one ohm shall be called an ampere. 
 
 (6). The quantity of an ampere current which is produced per second 
 of time shall constitute a coulomb. 
 
 (7). A farad shall he the capacity which answers to the condition that 
 a coulomb in a farad will give the resistance of one volt. 
 
 It should he noticed that the difference in potential and the electro- 
 motive force are not synonymous terms, and that the ordinary misconcep- 
 tion of the term "Quantity current" cannot be applied to the character 
 of a current in relation to its chemical action or its low tension. The 
 quantity of a current is the amount of electricity which is produced 
 from a battery in a given period of time. This will depend upon the 
 size of the battery elements, of their area of surface; if, however, the 
 resistance of the external conductor is greater than that within the 
 o-alvanic cells, it is clearly evident that the amount of the resulting 
 current in a given period of time (its quantity) will be decreased in 
 proportion to the amount of resistance which is offered by the conduct- 
 ing medium. This matter has been sufficiently explained in a preceding 
 chapter. 
 
 The quantity of a current may be measured in various ways; the 
 method of these should he dependent upon instrumental measurements, 
 which are based upon the unit of measurement and are a matter of 
 uniform agreement; that is, an initial electromotive force which may 
 originate in a galvanic cell may pass through indefinite number of units 
 of resistance in the external circuit; these latter may be calculated by a 
 comparison of the same original current strength which may he made to 
 pass a known number of units of resistance. The amount of work ac- 
 complished by the current in a unit of time may be measured by the 
 amount of chemical decomposition of a known chemical compound, 
 through which the same strength of current may be made to net always 
 through the same units of resistance. It is known that a coulomb will 
 decompose from a one per cent, solution of sulphuric acid in distilled 
 
260 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 water a mixed volume of hydrogen and oxygen, which is equal to .176 
 cubic centimetre. 
 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 Upon this known fact Volta devised his voltameter, which is illustrated 
 in accompanying figure (Fig. 43); the voltameter which is here shown 
 
MEASUREMENT OF 0UBBENT8 OF ELECTRICITY. 261 
 
 collects tlir gases separately, the oxygen at the positive terminal (<>). and 
 the hydrogen at the negative (II) terminal. It should always be remem- 
 bered thai this total amount of mixed gases as calculated for the coulomb 
 is evolved in a second of time. A more convenient form of voltameter 
 for use in measuring the strength of a current for medical uses has been 
 
 devised by (Jaill'e. 'This form <>f instrument, of course, is not accurate 
 in theoretical application for several reasons: — the oxygen gas will have 
 intermixed with it a certain portion of nascent oxygen, ozone, which is 
 the form of this gas when first liberated, and this will recombine with 
 some of the hydrogen to reform water, thus reducing in a slight degree 
 the primary products of decomposition; it is sufficiently accurate. 
 however, for practical purposes. The instrument, which is shown in 
 Figure 44, is composed of an inner tube into the bottom of which the 
 two platinum electrodes are sealed in a glass stem, b; this inner tube is en- 
 closed by an outer glass tube, and which is filled with a one per cent, acid 
 solution of distilled water. In order to fill the inner from the outer tube, a 
 cork may be withdrawn by means of a wire, A, which passes out of the outer 
 cork. The current is then transmitted through the two electrodes into 
 the bottom of the inner tube, and the evolved gases will then bubble up 
 through the inner solution and be collected at the top of this tube. The 
 fluid will then be forced out at the bottom of the inner tube by means of 
 two outlets and will be received back into the outer tube. The time dur- 
 ing which the gases are being evolved is then noted, and so, also, the 
 amount of the mixed gases collected in one, two, or three or ten minutes. 
 The amount of the mixed gases can then be calculated by means of the 
 graduated scale, in cubic centimetres on the right hand side, or in fifths 
 of cubic millimetres on the left side. Since one milliampere will liberate 
 10.3 cubic millimetres of the. mixed gases in a minute of time, we may 
 approximately determine the strength of any current by dividing the total 
 number of cubic centimetres of gas set free, in, say, ten minutes by ten; 
 if the time of the liberation of the gases was one minute, the amount of 
 cubic millimetres set free should be divided by one. It should be re- 
 marked here that probably in most of the voltameters in use. the trans- 
 ference of fluid i'ii masse by cataphoric action has not been taken into ac- 
 count in the chemical decomposition of the liquid. 
 
 A few illustrations will exemplify this method of calculation: — suppose 
 we have employed a strength of current which, working through all the 
 resistance in the circuit, would liberate during twenty minutes a volume 
 
262 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 of mixed gases equal to the amount of twelve subdivisions of the left hand 
 scale, or sixty cubic millimetres, the calculation would then be 60 : 20=3 
 milliamperes. 
 
 A more convenient method of measuring the strength of the employed 
 current may be obtained by the use of a galvanometer, which may be 
 placed in the same circuit with the patient's body; the advantage of this 
 method consists of a constant comparison of the strength of current while 
 in operation. 
 
 The principle of all galvanometers is the same, and is based on the fact 
 that a magnetized piece of steel, when freely suspended or hung on a pivot, 
 will have one of its free points directed to the north pole and the other 
 towards the south pole. It will be evident that this needle should be 
 equally balanced in order to be freely movable, and that it may hang on 
 a pivot, be suspended from a silk fibre, or be hung on a knife edge which 
 is supported on a bearing of a smooth bar or hardened piece of steel. 
 
 If an electrical current be made to traverse a piece of a conducting 
 wire, which passes above the magnetized needle, in a direction from south 
 to north, the north point of this magnet will be deflected towards the west. 
 
 If the current traverse this wire, passing in a plane below that of the 
 needle and in the same direction as in the preceding case, the north point 
 of the magnet will be deflected towards the east. 
 
 If, instead of passing in the above-named direction, the current trav- 
 erses in an opposite direction, the magnet will also reverse its direction. 
 
 Ampere's rule of this deflection was: — if we suppose a man to be swim- 
 ming in the electrical circuit, so that the current shall enter by his head 
 and leave by his feet, when he faces towards the needle its north point 
 will turn to his right hand; under the same circumstances, when the cur- 
 rent enters by his feet, the north point will be deflected to his left. 
 
 In order to increase the momentum of the galvanometric needle, a 
 coil of wire is protected by an insulation of silk thread wound around the 
 wire to prevent its contact with the surface of the metal in its various 
 parts; this coil then is itself wound in such wise that each one of its turns 
 shall lie in a plane as nearly as possible perpendicular to the axis of the 
 undeflected needle. The transmission of an electrical force, traversing 
 this coiled and insulated wire, will induce in the magnetic field of the mag- 
 netized needle lines of force, the direction of whose action will depend upon 
 that of the transmitted current. Now, it should be remembered that the 
 earth is itself a magnet and exerts its magnetizing effect upon the needle, 
 
MEASUREMENT <>F CURRENTS OF ELECTRICITY. 263 
 
 bo thai this latter will point in the same direction as the magnetic influ- 
 ence of the earth. The magnetic influence of the earth resulta in linee of 
 force which are very nearly north and south, of course varying with the 
 position <mi the globe in which the magnet may be situated. The south 
 pole of the magnel is what we call the negative pole. The neighbor- 
 hood of a magnet is called a magnetic field, because any other magnel 
 brought into that region experiences a peculiar force. 
 
 In a certain class of galvanometers, in which the magnetic needle is 
 suspended in a horizontal plane, the resulting lines of force from the 
 magnetism of the earth will act upon the magnet equally, and no increase 
 in the momentum will increase its sensibility; hut the smaller the wire and 
 the shorter its coiled length, within a certain relation, in proportion to 
 the light weight of the suspended needle, the less will be its inertia; con- 
 sequently, the quicker will the needle find its maximum deviation, and 
 the more rapidly it will come to rest, than if it were a heavy magnet 
 wound with larger wire; its inertia being, also, more easily overcome, it 
 will indicate lighter and more transient currents. This class of gal- 
 vanometers will evidently not be so useful in medical applications on ac- 
 count of the great resistance which the current meets in the human body. 
 
 VI 
 
 -? p 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 The direction of the lines of force is represented in the foregoing 
 illustration (Fig. 45); a b represents the magnet suspended from a thread 
 c; the current enters at m and passes in the direction n o and returns by 
 the path p q; the arrows show the resulting line of force by the parallelo- 
 gram n o p q. 
 
 A still more sensitive galvanometer, known as astatic, may be formed 
 by suspending from one system two magnetized needles, arranged in such 
 a manner that the north pole of one overlies the south pole of another. 
 This is represented in Figure 40; in this illustration a b represents one 
 needle and a' b' represents the other, with its poles in a reversed position. 
 
264 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 If, instead of placing the wire through which the current traverses a 
 straight line in a direction either above, or below, the needle, it should 
 be carried both above and below this needle so that the current shall be 
 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 made to pass around the needle in a vertical line, the direction of the force 
 will traverse the wire in opposite directions (Fig. 47). The deflecting 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
 action will then be doubled. If, again, the wire be made to take one or 
 more turns this action will be still more increased, and in proportion to 
 the number of these turns (Fig. 48). 
 
 If, again, the upper needle of an astatic pair be placed above the coil, 
 and the other lower one be placed within the coil, its deflection will be 
 increased more than that of a single needle, on account of the needle being 
 retained in its position by a smaller power, and because the force of the 
 current is exerted upon two needles instead of upon only one. 
 
MEASUREMENT OF CURRENTS OF ELECTRICITY. 265 
 
 The angle of deviation of these forms of galvanometer is not, however, 
 proportional to the strength of the electrical currenl which traverses the 
 coils surrounding the needles. 'This tact can be easily understood by re- 
 membering that the lines of foroe exerted by the earth's magnetism, which 
 tend to bring the magnetized needles back to their proper position, are 
 proportional to the sines of the angles of deviation, and not to these angles 
 
 themselves; therefore, the farther outside of the COils these needles are 
 
 moved the difference between the are of their motion and its sine becomes 
 
 greater. The sine and tangent-galvanometer were devised to overcome 
 these errors, but their use in medical electricity are not of sufficient im- 
 portance to require a detailed description of the principles upon which 
 these instruments are based. 
 
 The use of some form of galvanometer, or galvanoscope, which will 
 measure proportional strengths of current has been urged so strongly by 
 medical electricians, and so ably presented by De Watteville in the work 
 to which we have so often referred, that no apology is offered for repro- 
 ducing the excellent description of an instrument from his book: 
 
 " The milliampere is the most practical unit of measurement, for its 
 multiples correspond to the strength of the currents used in medical ap- 
 plications. With the resistance of the human body included between elec- 
 trodes of medium size and applied to the spots commonly selected, a 
 current of one milliampere (about two to four Daniel's cells) is about 
 the weakest ever used therapeutically or diagnostically. Likewise its 
 multiples 5, 10, 20 express currents yielded by 10 to 30 or 80 cells under 
 similar conditions. It is apparent that in the milliampere we have a con- 
 venient unit by which to express the electrical doses, as it were, adminis- 
 tered to patients; or, the current strengths necessary to obtain muscular 
 contractions in electro-diagnosis. And this in terms enabling us to not 
 only compare the results obtained by ourselves on the same galvanometer, 
 with one another, but also with those obtained by other observers on 
 galvanometers of any construction, but graduated in absolute units. An 
 idea of the peculiarities of the absolute galvanometer, 1 contrasted with 
 the galvanoscope,''' will be obtained by a glance at the diagram. It 
 
 1 We object to the use of this term, absolute galvanometer, because the meas- 
 urements obtained by the use of galvanometers of any description are simply com- 
 parative and not absolute. 
 
 '-' The galvanoscope is strictly speaking a galvanometer which does not. neces- 
 sarily, show variations in the strength of the current, but simply its direction. 
 
260 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 (Fig. 49) represents the dial of an instrument divided in its upper half 
 into degrees, in its lower half into milliamperes. The principle that the 
 angle of deflection does not increase proportionally to the current strength, 
 is ilhistrated by the fact that, whilst for instance a current of 30 milliam- 
 peres deflects the needle to about 45°, a current of 150 milliamperes is 
 required to deflect it to 70°. 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 The simplest method of graduating a dial of a galvanoscope into sub- 
 divisions of an ampere, is to place the instrument in the same circuit as 
 a tangent galvanometer of which the reduction factor is known (or of a 
 galvanoscope already so graduated) along with a constant cell and a box 
 of resistance coils. By means of the latter the current is modified so as 
 to produce a deviation of 1, 2, 3, etc., to 20 or more milliamperes as 
 measured on the standard galvanometer. The corresponding deviations 
 of the galvanoscope are indicated on the dial, and their value in milliam- 
 peres written down. 
 
 In the absence of a standard galvanometer, a large standard cell is 
 taken of known electromotive force. The most convenient for this pur- 
 pose is the Daniel, in which the sulphate of copper is replaced by nitrate 
 of copper. The electromotive force of such a cell is as near as possible 
 one volt. 1 Placing the cell in a circuit with our galvanoscope the resist- 
 
 1 The cell with dilute sulphuric mid (1: 4) has an electromotive force of 1.79 
 volts; with dilute sulphuric acid (1:13) .978 volt; with dilute sodium chloride, 
 
MEASUREMENT OF CURRENTS OF ELECTRICITY. 267 
 
 ance of which musl be known (call it 50 ohms) and a rheostat. The eel] 
 being large its internal resistance may be neglected. 
 
 We then introduce 950, 450, 200, and 50 ohms in the circuit. The 
 enrrent in each ease will be (Ohm's law): 
 
 950T50 = - 001 ' 4:>oU> = -° -' 200T50=- 004 ' 5bT50 = * 0ia 
 
 In other words, 1. 2, 4, L0, milliamperes. The cell acting through the 
 galvanometer will give ^=.020 milliamperes. The intermediate sub- 
 divisions are obtained in the same manner. 
 
 The operation should he repeated with the current flowing in the 
 opposite direction through the galvanoscope, but, owing to irregularities of 
 construction, such instruments give different deviations on either side of 
 the zero with the same current. 
 
 The reduction factor of every galvanometer (horizontal) contains a 
 variable element, viz., the magnetic force at the particular point of the 
 earth's surface, which enters into account in the graduation of galvano- 
 scopes. Hence this graduation is absolute only for such places where 
 the magnetic force is the same as that of the locality where the graduation 
 has been performed. For medical purposes, however, this source of error 
 would be felt only if a graduated galvanometer were to be used in a place 
 far distant from that where it had been graduated. 
 
 The intensity of the terrestrial magnetism varies also at the same place, 
 from year to year, but in an amount altogether negligible when approxi- 
 mate measurements only are required. This amount is about. 004 yearly. 
 To give an idea of the variations of the earth's magnetism, I subjoin 
 the following table of the approximate magnetic intensities in various 
 European cities. 
 
 Intheyear 1870 1875 1880 
 
 In Pans 1.04 L.96 1.98 
 
 "London 1.78 L80 1.82 
 
 "Leipzig 1.86 1.88 1.90 
 
 "Darmstadt 1.91 1.!':! 1.95 
 
 "Edinburgh 1.62 1.64 1.66 
 
 (1:4) of 1.06 volts. Either of the latter might be taken, allowance being made for 
 the slight difference between its electromotive force and the volt, (adding 5 ohms 
 to every 100 in the first instance; subtracting 2 ohms in the second.) 
 
268 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 In the year 1870 1875 1880 
 
 In Zurich 2.00 2.02 2.04 
 
 "Dublin 1.67 1.69 1.79 
 
 "Turin 2.07 2.09 2.11 
 
 " Vienna 2.05 2.07 2.09 
 
 " Koenigsberg 1.79 1.80 1.83 
 
 The angle produced by a given current on a given galvanometer being 
 inversely proportional to the directive influence of the magnetic force act- 
 ing on the needle, it is obvious that the indication of a galvanometer 
 graduated in London, for instance, would be excessive when used in 
 Turin or Vienna, (in the proportion of 182 to 211 and 209 respectively), 
 deficient when used in Edinburg or Dublin, (in the proportion of 182 to 
 166 and 171 respectively). It will be noticed that the magnetic intensity 
 goes on increasing as one goes eastwards and southwards from London." 
 
 This "absolute" galvanometer referred to by De Watteville is devised 
 by Gaiffe of Paris. 
 
 Fig. 50.— B, box containing the apparatus; D,D, metallic circle which connects the galvano- 
 meter with the battery, and which can be circled on its axis so that the needle will be outside of the 
 coil and point at the O when at rest; H, multiplied coil which is placed underneath in the smaller 
 size of the instrument which is attached to the portable battery. 
 
 Instead of placing the magnetic needle on a horizontal plane, it is often 
 placed in a vertical line, and the coils correspondingly in the same axis; 
 but, in this form of arrangement the needle should always be magnetized 
 with the same intensity, and which it is obviously impossible to do, as 
 
MEASUREMENT <»F CURRENTS OF ELECTRICITY. 
 
 2G9 
 
 magnets lose their maximum intensity From constanl use or from their 
 proximity to other magnetio influences. These vertical needles are doI 
 liable to the variations which are due to their geographical positions. 
 
 In another class of galvanometers, the directive influence is not due 
 to magnetism, but to weight. The magnet may be pivoted like the balan- 
 cing beam of a balance. This short and heavy magnet rests on pivoted knife 
 edges and a weight is hung under its centre of gravity, bo that a vertical 
 pointing needle., made of light aluminum, may be deflected from a central 
 on a scale from left to right, or to the opposite according to the direct- 
 ing influence from the current. The magnet beam is surrounded by a 
 multiplied coil above its steel bearings, and another coil of the same length 
 below these bearings; its movements are so restrained that the oscillations 
 never permit the beam to pass outside of these coils. This instrument 
 was devised by Lorenzoni and (Fig. 51) is constructed upon the principle 
 
 Fig. 51.— Galvanometer for proportional currents. A, heavy magnet pivoted on knife edges like 
 the beam of a balance; E, weighted ball hung to the magnet to carry the weight below its pivots; 
 B, B', two coils wound around the magnetic field of the pivoted magnet; C, C, wires connecting tin- 
 two coils, to allow the upper one to be removed and to disclose the magnet; D y needle fixed to the 
 magnetic beam to allow proper reading of the oscillation. 
 
 that any increase in the magnetic movement of the magnet increases its 
 sensibility, assuming the counterbalance or directing weight to remain 
 constant. As the vertical component of the earth's magnetism exerts a 
 certain directive force upon the magnet, this should be magnetized to 
 saturation, but its effect is usually not in comparison to the weight of 
 the magnet. These instruments are not intended for the indication of 
 
2 70 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 yery small currents, but are very convenient in measurements of propor- 
 tional strengths of currents when the interpolar region, like that of the 
 human body, offers high resistance. That one which has been used by 
 the author for the last two years gives a deviation of five degrees to each 
 milliampere strength, while the graduations of Gaiffe's instrument will 
 give only one degree. The subdivisions of the scale are also uniform and 
 so far apart that these can be easily read at a distance. 
 
 Whatever form of galvanometer may be selected for use, the conveni- 
 ence of introducing a resistance box in the circuit will add material assist- 
 unci- to the graduation of the strength of the current. 
 
(MIA PT E R X I 1. 
 
 APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS USED IX TREATMENT 
 FOR ELECTROLYSIS OF THE LIVING TISSUES. 
 
 The various forms of battery have already been described. It will 
 add much to the convenience of the operator if some form of switch- 
 board be adopted by which the strength of the electrical current can be 
 increased, or diminished, at will; it is naturally inconvenient to change 
 connections by the simple process of attachment of wires to the pole- of n 
 series of galvanic cells. 
 
 Various mechanical contrivances have been devised by which a larger 
 or a smaller number of these cells can be introduced into the circuit with- 
 out removal of the electrodes from the patient. 
 
 The Sledge Collector, — One of these devices, the sledge collector, 
 is familiarly known in its attachment to the Stoehrer's zinc-carl ><>n bat- 
 tery. In this arrangement a sledge runs in a groove, carrying with it 
 a spring on its under surface, which makes contact with metallic 
 pieces arranged in two rows. Wires from the cells are attached to these 
 metallic buttons. On its upper surface two screw-cups are connected with 
 the springs, into which the rheophores, or flexible conducting wires, may 
 be inserted. The cells can thus be taken in twos. 
 
 Fir;. 62. 
 
 A simple sledge collector (Fig. 52) consists of a stiff metallic bar and 
 is arranged to allow a slide, C, to make connection with brass studs, which 
 latter are numbered for convenience. A binding post for one of the 
 rheophores is connected at the negative, o, with the first zinc. A second 
 binding post is connected by means of the bar and slide with any one of 
 
272 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 the studs; these latter are severally connected with the copper or carbon 
 element with the cells, which compose the battery. Thus, the slide being 
 in connection with a selected number on the bar will indicate how many 
 cells are in use. 
 
 The Dial Collector is an apparatus devised by Gaiffe for selecting 
 any particular pair of cells of a battery. The advantage of this arrange- 
 ment is obvious, because if the same pair of cells are always selected for 
 use when only a very small current is required, this pair would be worn 
 out long before the remainder of the cells. The contact springs are so 
 constructed that they make contacts without causing a break in the cir- 
 cuit; before leaving their first metallic button the spring touches the next 
 
 Fig. 53.— The double collector is formed by two dials. The studs on each dial are num- 
 bered alike, and these numbers correspond with the pairs of cells, as shown in the figure. The 
 zinc of the first pair is connected with the stud numbered 0. The carbon of the last group, marked 
 48 on the dial, is connected with that stud on the left-hand dial, and also, with number 48 on the 
 right-hand dial. This last connection forms the positive terminal of the battery for either dial. 
 The first connection, attached to of the left-hand dial and also to of the right-hand dial, forms 
 with either dial the positive terminal. Both of these twofold connections are made by a transverse 
 wire which runs across from the same number of stud to each dial. In this manner the various 
 couples, or groups used as couples, are connected throughout the whole system, each numbered 
 stud of one dial being short connected on to the same number of stud in the other dial. M M 1 are 
 circular handles which may be swung on to any desired stud and thus form a connection with any 
 number of the cells. M of the left hand dial is connected with the pole cup R for the insertion of a 
 rheophore. M 1 of the right hand dial is connected with R' of the same side for the insertion of the 
 other rheophore. Provided the current reverser C C is placed in the position which is shown in the 
 figure, that dial on which the switch indicates the smaller numbered stud will render the pole cup of 
 the same side the negative terminal; but, if the current reverser be turned to the left, the polarity 
 of the rheophores will be correspondingly reversed. Again, the number of cells included between 
 the studs on which the switches are in contact will indicate the number of cells in use; for instance 
 as shown in the figure, the switch of the right hand dial indicates the connection of the second pair, 
 and that on the left indicates twelfth pair; therefore ten pairs are in use. 
 
 button, and so the strength of the current may be gradually increased 
 without interruption of the connection with any pair. This system 
 
AIT\i: VH s AND INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 273 
 
 is quite simply arranged and may be easily understood by the illustrations 
 (Figs. •"' I and 55), 
 
 Fig. 54.— This diagram shows the. disposition of twenty-four cells arranged in groups of two and 
 their arrangement in series. The N-o forms the negative terminal of the battery, and is attached to 
 the first zinc. The wire 24 P forms the positive terminal of the batter}', and is attached to the last 
 carbon element. 
 
 Fig. 55.— Twelve cells are supposed to be connected in 
 simple series to twelve metallic buttons, and air also Bhorl 
 connected by transverse wire 0, 1, 2, to 11, 12. The zinc of 
 the first couple is attached to the last carbon in the battery. 
 Two metallic slides A, B, by sliding along the rods a o, b b, 
 will make contact with the buttons which are numbered in 
 succession. The electrodes A and B form the negative ter- 
 minals N and P respectively. This diagram clearly shows 
 thai the number of cells in the selected circuit will always 
 be those which are included between the two slides, or from 
 3 to 9, making a battery of six cells. As the cells are con 
 nected, as it were, in a circle, the polarity of the terminals 
 will depend on the relative position of the slides: it' the rel- 
 ative position of these latter is transposed from that shown 
 in the diagram, the polarity of the terminals N' and P' 
 would be likewise reversed. Thus the electrode which is 
 ci innected with the smaller number on a button would form 
 the negative pole. If this same scheme were compared 
 
 with the arrangement as described in regard to the double 
 
 collector its meaning would be made clear. 
 
274 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 It is always convenient to reduce the number of metallic studs, so that 
 groups rather than single cells shall be connected, and then used as pairs; 
 for in this way a smaller box may be used, and the extra size of the sur- 
 face of the"elements may be increased by the arrangement in groups of 
 two or more cells. 
 
 In a preceding diagram (Fig. 54) the arrangement of groups of two 
 cells, which are afterwards arranged in series, shows the manner in which 
 Gaiffe disposes his batteries for medical use. 
 
 Gaiffe's battery with the dial collector and graduated, or " absolute," 
 galvanometer is represented in the figure (Fig. 56). 
 
 It is often convenient, especially for electrolysis, to have some system 
 by which the operator may quickly arrange his battery for coupling the cells 
 
 ^^z^ 
 
 Fig. 56. 
 
 either for series or groups or for mixed arrangements. This may be done 
 readily by a switch board like that shown in the annexed illustration 
 (Fig. 57). 
 
 The first desideratum of apparatus should be that of simplicity and 
 easy application. As most of the operations for electrolysis are of such a 
 nature that they will naturally be performed in a physician's office or at a 
 hospital, it is not essential that the battery should be in a portable form. 
 Portable batteries are expensive, and when some of the auxiliary appara- 
 
APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 !'<•) 
 
 tus which baa been described in the preoeding pages are combined in a 
 portable form, they increase the expense very materially. 
 
 A battery of twelve cells should Dot cosi a greal many dollars, and the 
 Bwitch board previously mentioned can be easily made for five dollars. 
 
 A voltameter Cor measuring the current strength is a cheap matter, and 
 a galvanometer with a roughly made resistance box or a water rheostal 
 can be obtained for a few dollars more. 
 
 Fia. 5".— This diagram is intended t<» represeDl a combinationswitcb board. A A are two strips 
 of brass, each of which is connected with a pole cup, P C, to which the rheophores may be attached. 
 B Bis the battery: the zinc of the first cell Zu 1, isconnected with the brass knob, 1; the copper ele- 
 ment, c 8, is connected with the brass strip, A; the copper element of the last cell, c8,is connected 
 with the brass knob c8, and the zinc of the same couple, Zu 7, is connected with the last knob c7; 
 the intermediate battery elements are connected as marked in the diagram. It will be evident that 
 brass plugs introduced in the various holes between the metallic strips and the numbered knobs will 
 make a connection in any desired combination; for instance, plugs inserted in a a a and 4 will con- 
 nect the four cells in simple series; and plugs inserted in b b. bb, b b, and 4, will connect the cells for 
 surface, that is, all the zincs will be connected directly together for the negative electrode, and all 
 the coppers will be connected together for the positive electrode. 
 
 It is often convenient to apply two or more needles for electro-puncture 
 which are connected with the same pole of the battery. Hard rubber 
 cylinders may be fitted with brass inner tubes into which the ends of the 
 rheophores may be inserted, and there held by means of set-screws; at 
 the other open end of these cylinders a copper wire may be also held by 
 .set-screws; these copper uninsulated wires from two or more of these 
 cylinders may be carefully twisted .together to form a single rheophore to 
 be connected with the battery pole cups. It will add to the convenience 
 of their manipulation, if the wires should be first coiled by winding around 
 a pencil, and then withdrawing the pencil. In this way a flexible rheo- 
 phore is converted out of a comparatively inflexible wire. 
 
276 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 The needles used in electro-puncture can be made from a wire of the 
 irido-platinum alloy by filing the point of a coarse wire into a bayonet 
 tip, or like a glover's needle. This needle can then be fastened by a set- 
 screw into a piece of thin brass tube, which is covered with a hard rubber 
 hollow cylinder; the rheophore can be fastened by the same method in 
 the other end. 
 
 Needles for hypertrichosis should be as fine as possible, and these may 
 be filed on a piece of emery paper from the finest purchasable irido-platinum 
 wire, and afterwards can be sharpened on a piece of Arkansas stone. 
 
 The positive electrode may be easily manufactured from a piece of gas- 
 carbon, and fitted with a small piece of metallic tube for the reception of 
 the rheophore; a wad of wet absorbent cotton should be interposed be- 
 tween the carbon and the skin, preferably moistened with hot water. 
 
 In operating for hypertrichosis it is desirable to have a magnifying 
 glass fitted to the operating chair. This will make the hairs and the 
 opening into the skin along the hair shaft more readily seen. The mag- 
 nifying glass can be fitted into a ball and socket joint, which latter may 
 be attached to a rod which is itself movable in a collar; in this way the 
 glass may be moved up and down in a vertical plane and, also, may be ad- 
 justed nearer to, or farther from, the patient's face. 
 
OHAPTEB XIII. 
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. A DIS< issiox OF SOME OF THE 
 CAUSES OF THE RESOLUTIVE ACTION FROM GALVAN- 
 1S.M OF THE TISSUES BY SURFACE APPLICATION OF 
 THE ELECTRODES, OB FROM THEIB ELECTRO-PUNCT- 
 URE. 
 
 Tn B effects of what is called electrolysis upon the ahsorption of certain 
 hypertrophied growths of the structures of the animal organism have been 
 presented in the preceding chapters. It should have been observed that, 
 the theory of true electrolysis — viz., electro-chemical changes of the consti- 
 tuents of the organic structures — is not appropriately applied to explain 
 the resolution of certain hypertrophied structures of living tissues. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the animal organism should be considered as 
 a solution of certain chemical compounds. It is not improbable that the 
 transmission of an electrical current through these dissolved substances 
 may he attended with the same phenomena which are observed in the 
 chemical laboratory. The tissues of the animal organism are constantly 
 undergoing chemical transformations, the extent of which is not known 
 to science. 
 
 The therapeutical applications of electrolysis, or, as we should rather 
 prefer to consider it, electricity locally applied to the tissues, cannot be 
 intelligently understood without having first a clearer knowledge of the 
 natural processes in operation in these structures, than is usually pre- 
 sented in the treatment of diseases by the ordinary medicinal agents. It 
 should not he supposed that we intend to cover the whole ground of this 
 discussion, but it should be remembered that in the application of this 
 agent, called electricity, we are principally concerned with. the growth of 
 normal tissues. The treatment of pathological formations in them is a 
 more complicated affair. It is undoubtedly true that the use of medi- 
 cinal agents for the relief of diseased tissue, and its restoration to a normal 
 condition, lias occupied the attention of careful students from time im- 
 memorial. Even at this later date observers of disease have accused the 
 practitioner of medicine of attributing the results of his cure to art. 
 
278 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 when in reality the restoration of the unhealthy tissue should be ex- 
 plained upon the grounds of the natural resources, the vis medicatrix 
 natures, which are inherent in the organism. 
 
 In our opinion the subject before us should be discussed upon those 
 natural facts which are revealed to us in histological formations, and 
 should not be viewed in the same light as that of medicinal agents which 
 are used to combat pathological formations. We should seek, if possible, 
 to grasp the simple truths of natural formation before we attempt to 
 understand the more complex phenomena of anomalous changes. The 
 former are sufficiently intricate and of doubtful character to occupy the 
 whole of our attention. It would indeed be bold to forecast a permanent 
 settlement of these doubts from the small amount of evidence now in the 
 hands of our physiologists. Yet we may be pardoned for our presump- 
 tion in the attempt to occupy the ground which is recognized at present 
 as a state of probable truth, provided that we confine ourselves to these 
 as problematical hypotheses, rather than to accepted facts. 
 
 We will first consider the application of electricity, simply upon some 
 of the chemical problems at work in the tissues. The knowledge of these 
 chemical processes is necessarily limited to a very small circle of informa- 
 tion. Most of the study of these chemical phenomena has been directed 
 to the analysis of dead organic matter, from the very fact of the difficulty 
 of observing these effects in constantly changing living matter. 
 
 The vague use of the term ELECTROLYSIS has been by common 
 consent transferred from its known effects upon chemical compounds in 
 solution within the chemical laboratory to the structures of living tissue. 
 This incorrect use of the term has grown out of the empirical application 
 of electricity to the tissues of the human body. The inconsistencies of 
 the results of its empirical use have puzzled the operator, and he has 
 sought from the mass of chemical research to obtain what would recon- 
 cile these conflicting effects. 
 
 We frequently hear the explanation of the action of "electrolysis" to 
 a destruction of the normal hair growth as being ascribed to the decom- 
 position of the structure into its elementary chemical gases. This ex- 
 planation is based upon the teachings of chemists, whose experiments 
 have been performed upon tissues which have ceased to be functionally 
 active. It cannot be denied that the application of the electro-puncture 
 to the hair follicles is attended with the evolution of bubbles of gas. and 
 that these accumulate around the needle electrodes; yet no published 
 
GENERAL BUMM \i;v. 279 
 
 report has 1 nprodu I to show the exact proportions of bhese decom- 
 positions into elementary gases, <n- their relation to the organic ohemical 
 compounds which belong to the organized structures. In the absence of 
 such information it is impossible to draw correct conclusions of the modus 
 operandi ot the eleotrolytical action upon direct chemical changes in the 
 living tissues. 
 
 It should constantly be borne in mind that in the consideration of this 
 question we arc merely discussing the action of electricity as modifying 
 the results of hypertrophy of normal tissues; it cannot be denied that 
 many of these hypertrophies are easily reduced by a very feeble current 
 of electricity, when the electrodes are brought in direct contact with 
 these growths. 
 
 It would seem as if many writers who treat of the application of elec- 
 tricity to the arrest of growths had attached far too great importance to 
 the chemical decompositions of organic compounds. We find the same 
 peculiarity in treating of the physiological relations of the histological 
 formations of tissues. Among one class of writers it may be observed 
 that the chemical formations are considered of higher importance than 
 the biological formations. On the other hand, it will be observed that 
 the functions of the cells are more highly exaggerated than the behavior 
 of organic chemical structures in the nutrition, repair and dis-assimilation 
 of the elementary formation of these composite tissues. It is extremely 
 difficult in the midst of this uncertain knowledge which we possess of the 
 causes which are at work in forming and destroying the effects of met- 
 abolisms of the human tissues, to separate the causes from effects in these 
 processes. If this be the case in the general subject of histology and the 
 physiology of the living tissues, it will be evident that the problem of 
 therapeutics, which is even more complicated than the normal processes 
 of repair and waste, is far more difficult of solution. 
 
 Electrolysis of the inorganic and organic chemical structures has 
 occupied our attention in the second chapter, and the details of labora- 
 tory experiments have been carefully described in that portion of this 
 treatise. The electro-chemical reactions in the galvanic cell are well 
 known to us, and the interference which is offered by polarization of the 
 elements and the solutions in these cells, is an important factor, which 
 enters in the resulting current of electrical action. 
 
 The electro-chemical effects which are produced by this electrical 
 current in the intimate structure of the tissues of the human body, com- 
 
280 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 prised in the interpolar zone, are even of a more complicated character 
 than those which are observed in the galvanic cells themselves. We have 
 seen that the chemical effects in this interpolar zone must be equal to the 
 chemical effects in the galvanic battery; because this is the very basis 
 upon which scientific facts rely. We measure the strength of the current 
 of electricity by the amount of decomposition of the chemical compounds 
 in all the cells which form our galvanic battery: — as well by the deposition 
 of the metallic elements of copper, and the reformations of zinc salts, as 
 by the evolution of the gaseous elements which are set free. 
 
 When this electrical force is transmitted through a conducting medium 
 comprised between the two terminals of the galvanic battery, and whose 
 chemical structure is well known to the physicist, it is an easy matter to 
 trace the transmission by the amount of destruction of the composite 
 material of the known conductor; provided that the latter is susceptible 
 of chemical analysis, and provided that this conducting medium is formed 
 of inorganic chemical compounds. In this case the energy of these com- 
 pound bodies, stored up in a latent form, is computable from a knowledge 
 of the units of combining equivalence (see page 18) of the elements whose 
 union forms the compound inorganic structures. 
 
 We may compare the effects of this combination with the regular forms 
 of bricks which are used by the artisan to make a definite simple struc- 
 ture. A repetition of their orderly arrangement according to a definite 
 plan will always reproduce a simple structure, and one Avhose shape is 
 recognizable. On the other hand, if we can imagine that the materials 
 of a formed structure (though in their elementary composition Ave may 
 separate the simple bodies entering into the combination and count the 
 number of each of these elements) are formed into a mass of uniform 
 similar shape to that of the bricks, and yet of some compressible material 
 like soft peat or mud, the resulting structure may not be reproduced a 
 second time by the artisan; because the materials are constantly liable to 
 alteration. 
 
 Though this illustration is crude and perhaps not exactly applicable 
 to the case before us, yet its suggestive relations may not be inapplicable 
 to a study of the effects of electricity upon organic chemical compounds 
 whose composition has been determined by the chemical expert He has 
 not only found the elements which compose organic compound, but he 
 has also determined in what way the introduction of an electrical force of 
 measured amount will change the form of the combination of these ele- 
 
GENERAL BUMMARY. 
 
 281 
 
 ments; bo thai the same elements will produce an organic structure which 
 has a , different shape from thai combination which is formed withoul this 
 
 added force. 
 
 Now, the action <>f electricity, or electrolysis as it is called, upon a 
 simple inorganic chemical compound like thai of hydrochloric acid can 
 the separation of hydrogen al the kathode and chlorine at the anode. 
 The chemist knows m advance of his experiment that he will obtain 
 thirty-five times by weight as many parts of chlorine at the anodal 
 terminal, as he will obtain in hydrogen at the kathodal terminal. He 
 knows, moreover, that this will always happen on a repetition of the same 
 experiment. 
 
 When the chemical compound is an organic body the chemist knows 
 in advance of his experiment that the substance, camphoric acid for 
 instance, will split up by the action of electrolysis into a camphor- 
 anhydride at the positive pole, and potassium at the negative pole; hut 
 he also knows that camphor-anhydride has by this decomposition two 
 uncombined elements of oxygen which are not satisfied; in other words he 
 lias some nascent oxygen which is seeking for a combination with some 
 other element and may combine with both carbon and hydrogen. When 
 the chemical operation is restricted in the laboratory to a reaction with 
 the organizations which the chemist may bring into their neighborhood, 
 the resulting decomposition may be definite and calculated; but where the 
 reaction is in living tissues, the complex materials which compose the 
 latter may change the resulting decompositions and reformations. Thus 
 the more complicated the structure the more complicated are the resulting 
 decompositions and reformations. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these facts, the statement is true that the same 
 law governs both inorganic and organic chemical structures. The appar- 
 ent difference between the reactions is due to the difference of the com- 
 pounds themselves, and is explicable on the ground that secondary 
 decompositions occur subsequently to those which are first observed. 
 
 The gases which collect at the two opposite electrodes in the living 
 tissues are in a free state, and may combine to form other secondary com- 
 pounds with the gases or elements which are in solution within the tissues 
 ■comprised within the interpolar zone. 
 
 Again, the decompositions which occur in the organic chemical com- 
 pounds are not finished at the first moment of electrolysis, but may go on 
 
282 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 after the original cause of disturbance has been removed. The exact 
 limit of reaction has not yet been determined. 
 
 Another complication of electrolysis of organic compounds should be 
 pointed out in contradistinction to that of the inorganic compounds: — 
 The variable concentration of an inorganic substance in solution will not 
 vary the result of its decomposition by electrolysis, while this is not true 
 of the organic compounds. Concentrated acetic acid is more rebellious 
 to electrolysis than a weak dilution of this acid. 
 
 It should be remarked that we have been discussing the behavior of 
 organic substances apart from the living organism. It can readily be 
 supposed that in the latter instance the complications are even more 
 complex, because we are dealing with force employed against other forces. 
 We can thus suppose that much of the introduced force has been expended 
 in overcoming the forces which are constantly at work in the living tissues. 
 We have seen (page 55) that the dissipation of energy in overcoming the 
 potential energy at work in a given case is enormous as compared with 
 those cases in which it meets with no opposing force. We cannot esti- 
 mate the loss thus occasioned by the use of an electrical current in the 
 living tissues, because we are unable to calculate the amount of force at 
 work in the tissues, when no electrical disturbance is transmitted through 
 them. When a muscle lifts a ten-pound weight it is known that this 
 force must be expended in the tissues which accomplish this power. The 
 amount of force required for the lifting of this weight by means of elec- 
 tricity is of course calculable; but it would be absurd to suppose that the 
 transmission of an equivalent amount of electricity would be required to 
 neutralize the power necessary to lift this weight. It would be found that 
 the application of a rapidly interrupted current of a feeble strength would 
 paralyze the muscular contraction so that the lifting of the weight would 
 be impossible. 
 
 It is not necessary to assume that the effects of electrolysis must be 
 displayed to such an extent as completely to destroy the chemical in- 
 tegrity of the living tissue. A feeble chemical action in these struc- 
 tures, when of a character to oppose the processes usually displayed 
 in the organism, may so disarrange these normal actions as to interfere 
 with the organic combinations which are essential to the repair of these 
 tissues. If, then, we are to assume that the whole effects of electro- 
 lysis as presented in these foregoing pages relates only to the chemi- 
 cal basis of life, we cannot suppose that an amount of chemical action 
 
GENERAL BUMMABT. 283 
 
 is required equal to thai which decomposes dead structures in the 
 laboratory. 
 
 This mode of reasoning would naturally lead to th osideration of 
 
 other efiEects of electricity than simply those of a chemical nature. The 
 teachings of physiology show us that living structures are endowed with 
 functions, whose action may result in very opposite effects. Chemistry is 
 a science which rests upon data, which arc sufficient to allow the chemist 
 to formulate its teachings upon certain mathematical rules, the applica- 
 tion of which will most generally produce similar results. Physiology, on 
 the contrary, is not a science and probably never will rest upon mathe- 
 matical formulas; its teachings are constantly attesting the error of pre- 
 viously established theories. Therapeutics, again, rests upon the two 
 preceding and other classes of natural observations; consequently its 
 foundation is never secure, and never stable, and shifts on the sands of 
 
 time. 
 
 At present, the very essence of the teachings of physiology, apart from 
 the study of chemistry, is founded upon the functions of living cells. 
 "Our information in reference to the chemistry of the connective tissue 
 cell is, necessarily, of the most limited character and is almost confined 
 to a knowledge that the protoplasm is proteid in nature and that the 
 nucleus shares the characters of nuclei elsewhere and has probably the 
 same composition." ' 
 
 "Speaking broadly we may, however, say that the epithelium cover- 
 ing the external surface of the body is composed of cells which are, even 
 in their most active stages, the seat of but slow and unimportant chemi- 
 cal changes, whilst a large number of them cease to be the seat of any 
 material exchanges whatever, or to manifest any phenomena which 
 characterize them as living, long before they cease to form part of the 
 living body." 3 
 
 Speaking in a general sense in regard to the nutrition and formation 
 of healthy tissue of the body we may classify these under two principal 
 heads:— that of metabolism, which comprises the whole range of trans- 
 formations under the influence of chemical processes, and by means of 
 which the proteid substance undergoes its many changes; and that of 
 CELL PROLIFERATION, by means of which the cells are multiplied. 
 
 1 ( ramgee, op. cit. p. 25L. 
 - Idem, p. 294. 
 
284 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 In regard to the first of these, we must undoubtedly admit that lower 
 forms of organic structure are raised by some process of synthesis into 
 higher forms of organic structure. 
 
 In regard to the second, it is difficult to believe that one form of cell 
 can be changed into a second form of cell which is endowed with a higher 
 kind of function. 
 
 The first-named class partakes of the chemical characteristics, while 
 the last named is purely biological. We can thus suppose that the former 
 passes down the steps, as it were, by successive chemical stages in its 
 destructive career, whilst the latter dies and is immediately carried off as 
 detritus. Moreover, when the second loses its existence it ordinarily 
 carries along with it an unborn child, the nucleus, upon whose separate 
 existence depends the perpetuation of the tissue; the former, on the con- 
 trary, can again receive new energy in its arrested path, by which it can 
 be built up again into a similar structure. 
 
 When the current of electricity, even though its strength is equal to 
 eight or ten milliamperes, is brought into action for a few moments 
 within the hypertrophied connective tissue growth with papillary forma- 
 tions of the skin, as for instance a wart, the vitality of this tissue is 
 arrested, and within a few days it will fall off from the neighboring liv- 
 ing tissue as a dry eschar. The underlying tissue is healthy and no cica- 
 trix results which is commensurate with the original extent of the hyper- 
 trophy. In this case it is extremely difficult to suppose that the Avhole 
 effect of the destruction is explainable upon a simple chemical decomposi- 
 tion of the living structure. There must be some more remote cause than 
 this. 
 
 Again, the electro- puncture into a hypertrophied vascular tumor, 
 which is composed simply of an increased amount of connective tissue 
 growth or embryonic cell formation, like that of a simple goitrous enlarge- 
 ment, is followed by a diminution in its size, but not immediately after 
 the puncture. The first effect to follow the application of electricity, is 
 an infiltration with water of the subcutaneous tissue which overlies the 
 hypertrophied growth, so that the flesh looks swollen. Secondarily a slow 
 retrogression of the enlargement ensues with a shrivelled condition of the 
 cutaneous covering. Repetition of the treatment is succeeded by a con- 
 tinued shrinking of the growth, which may be prolonged for several days 
 after the enlargement has begun to retrograde'. This effect follows the 
 introduction of the electro-negative needle, but not that of the electro- 
 
GKNERAI simm \i:v. 285 
 
 positive needle; but it also follows the application Of the positive electrode 
 
 to the surface of the skin, the negative only being inserted into the 
 growth. A reference to the cases reported by Chvostek, where both elec- 
 trodes were applied simply to the surface of the skin, and where neither 
 polo was inserted into the growth, shows that by his method the retro- 
 gression of the tumor will also result. 
 
 We are (piite aware that many writers are led to believe that the can-' 
 of the cure of goitre by Chvostek's method of application is to be attributed 
 to the improvement through stimulation of the ganglionic nerve centres, 
 including also that of the nerve filaments which pass through the resti- 
 form bodies or the medulla oblongata. The cases of cure which have 
 been reported as following the electro-puncture, where the positive elec- 
 trode has been held in the palm of the hand, as well as those which fol- 
 lowed treatment by the introduction of carbolic acid into the growth, and 
 those which followed the irritating applications of strong tincture of iodine 
 to the surface of the skin on exposure to the hot sun or to a hot fire: — none 
 of these cures can be explained on the supposition that the goitrous affec- 
 tion is caused by some peculiar enervation of ganglionic or other nerve 
 centres; nor can it be reasonably inferred that these cures were caused by 
 some stimulating effect upon these nerve centres. 
 
 Let us turn for a moment back again to the chemical explanation of 
 electrolysis as applied to living tissues. 
 
 It has been shown in detail that the action of electricity produces 
 similar changes in organic chemical compounds which have been observed 
 in the inorganic kingdom. The human body however, is not simply an 
 aggregation of organic chemical compounds in solution; other processes 
 than those of chemical transformations are going on in the living tissues. 
 These latter processes are of a biological character and are more intricate 
 than those of chemical changes. These metabolisms, whether of the con- 
 structive or destructive character, are chiefly performed by functionally 
 active cells. These cells are multiplied by functions inherent in them- 
 selves, and their food or nutrition may be received (we do not say posi- 
 tively that they are received) from the chemical substances which arc- 
 dissolved in the fluids in which these tissues are bathed. It may indeed 
 be doubtful whether the cell multiplication can be performed except in 
 the presence of these dissolved chemical substances. 
 
 It may be reasonable to suppose that any interference with the stability 
 of these chemical compounds, from which the cells might receive their 
 
286 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 food, may arrest the process of cell multiplication. It may even be sup- 
 posed that the presence of a force in opposition to that evolved in the 
 healthy tissues, may cause a degraded condition of- this food supply, in 
 consequence of which a degraded cell formation may ensue. These hy- 
 potheses may be reasonable, but yet they rest upon too slender a founda- 
 tion at present to receive much credit. 
 
 The explanation of the reduction in the extent of hypertrophied nor- 
 mal tissue by means of the display of an electrical force, transmitted from 
 without through these tissues, does not seem to rest simply upon chemical 
 grounds. The amount of chemical action caused by the presence of elec- 
 tricity in the living tissue is too insignificant to have the whole weight of 
 evidence in its favor. We have seen that these chemical changes, as shown 
 in the third chapter, are as positive with the organic compounds in solu- 
 tion as with the inorganic compounds in solution; but we have also seen 
 that the amount of these chemical changes is in proportion to the strength 
 of the electrical action; we have also seen that to produce these chemical 
 decompositions in sohation to any great extent, the conducting medium 
 for electrical action must offer a ready transmission of electricity and that 
 the resistance in a conductor will reduce the strength of the electrical 
 current in proportion to its resistance. 
 
 There is another view of the question which is of serious importance 
 in this discussion. If the effects of so-called electrolysis are simply of a 
 chemical nature, why does it happen that a certain class of hypertrophied 
 tissue is amenable to the action of electricity, while another class is not 
 only rebellious to this form of treatment, but even seems to be favored by 
 electrical display in these degraded forms of tissue growths ? We have 
 seen that those tissues whose nutrition or growth are concerned by 
 multiplication of the embryonic cell are ordinarily dissolved by electricity, 
 while those growths which seem to be increased by multiplication of a 
 degraded cell-formation, and are neoformations, are stimulated by elec- 
 tricity. 
 
 It must be distinctly understood that we are not speaking of the use 
 of the heat of thermo-cautery by means of strong currents, by wbich the 
 diseased growths can be marked off and separated, as by a knife, from the 
 adjacent healthy tissue. This effect is not that of electrolysis in any 
 sense of the word. We are discussing the property which electricity pos- 
 sesses of causing an arrest of growth of the cell formation, from the 
 hypertrophy of which the normal tissue may form a benign tumor. The 
 
GENERAL SUMMARY. 28 i 
 
 cases reported from clinical record bring this question most prominently 
 before as. 
 
 It would seem, therefore, that the cause of the arrest of hypertrophied 
 or normal growths of the animal tissues should be attributed to Bome ol her 
 causes than those of a chemical nature, and that electrolysis is a misnoma 
 when applied to this treatment. 
 
 If the chemical explanation of the action of electrolysis in living tissue 
 is applicable to those cases of hypertrophy of tissue growth, it would be 
 reasonable to suppose that all forms of tumor should be amenable to the 
 action of electrolysis; because the same rules of chemical decomposition 
 
 would apply in malignant as in benignant growths. In both of these 
 classes the organic living structures ought to be destroyed by the chemical 
 decomposition of the compound elementary organization. Again, if this 
 mode of explanation is applicable we might even suppose that a degrade. 1 
 form of organic structure of the simple hypertrophy of normal tissue would 
 follow treatment of a benign tumor by electrolysis; in this case the growth 
 would be changed into a neoformation from an alteration in the elementary 
 structure, a benign tumor might be secondarily a malignant growth. It 
 is generally admitted that neoformations of cancerous character are simply 
 a degraded-form of tissue. If electrolysis causes a decomposition of the 
 organic compounds in healthy tissue, we would have good reason for the 
 supposition that its display in normal tissues would change the latter into a 
 degraded cell formation; or if the latent energy set free by these chemical 
 decompositions is free to act upon their living structures, it would stimu- 
 late cell proliferation. 
 
 We have also seen in the preceding chapters that electrolysis, so-called, 
 induces coagulation of blood in the vessels, and that this effect has been 
 applied to the cure of erectile vascular tumors, to varicose enlargement of 
 veins and to arterial enlargements or aneurisms. In the two former in- 
 stances the therapeutical applications are most generally followed by suc- 
 cessful cures, provided that the application has been properly conducted. 
 Many clinical observers have been led to explain the process of cure on 
 the supposition that an acid reaction of positive electricity causes a coagu- 
 lation by the presence of the acid evolved from this electrode. Reference 
 to chapter second (p. 23) will demonstrate that the amount of acid set 
 free at the positive electrode is very inconsiderable. Moreover, it is 
 shown in the same chapter that the liberated acid is only immediately 
 in the vicinity of the electrode, and cannot penetrate deeply into the 
 
988 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 blood; while, on the other hand, the coagulation extends beyond the pos- 
 sible point of acid penetration. 
 
 These and other considerations presented in the preceding portions of 
 this treatise would appear to show that the action of electrolysis in living 
 tissue does not rest upon the simple basis of decomposition of the organic 
 chemical compounds of animal structure. How can the absorption of the 
 fluid contents of a cyst, as in hydrocele,' sebaceous wens, and ovarian 
 dropsy be explained simply upon the decomposition of these fluids? 
 There is no doubt reason for believing that these cystic tumors have been 
 cured, not only by the electro-puncture, but also by the surface applica- 
 tions of the electrodes in these abnormal growths. 2 
 
 The cure of these effusions is not entirely to be credited to the simple 
 action of electricity acting in living tissues any further than in supposing 
 that a pleuritic effusion can be absorbed simply by a rubefacient. In 
 fact, we find that, besides the electrical treatment, the combined medica- 
 tion of hydragogue cathartics and diuretic adjuvants are required to 
 assist the emunctories in getting rid of these fluids from the cavities of 
 the body. 
 
 Von Ehrenstein apparently considers that the draining effects of 
 hydragogue medicinal agents are of importance in causing the absorption 
 and elimination of watery tumors from the abdominal cavity. We see, 
 therefore, that the successful operators by electrolysis are not content to 
 admit that the employment of electricity alone can effect the cure of 
 effusions. We find, also, that some of those operators who employ this 
 method in the treatment of goitrous affections, prescribe the advantage 
 of its combination with the medicinal use of iodide of potassium. The 
 theory of the action of this last-named drug is supposed to favor the 
 chemical decompositions within the tissues, but the grounds for this 
 hypothesis evidently are not established, and it would be more reasonable 
 to attribute any beneficent effects to the interstitial action of this drug. 
 
 That iodide of potassium acts as a diuretic is well shown by Dr. Kinger s 
 Avho reports the increase of a scanty uresis from 30 to 50, to 60 and even 
 to 120 ounces in twenty-four hours; at the same time the dropsy of the 
 
 1 Rodolfi, in Virehow und Hirsch, Jahresbericht, 1872; Erhardt, Ibid.; Frank, 
 Archives of Electrology, vol. i., p. 17". 
 
 - Von Ehrenstein Allg. Med. Central Ltn., 1876; Semeleder, Am. Jour. Obs., 
 
 July, 1882. 
 
 3 HandbooK of Therapeutics, lltli edition, Wm, Wood & Co., 18S6. 
 
'■I \l.i: W. -I MM \K\. 289 
 
 patient who bad Brightfs disease disappeared in a fortnight, "every 
 vestige of it." He was lcil to suppose that in these cases there was a 
 Byphilitic taint, but in some of them "there was no reason to conclude 
 
 that the patients were syphilitic." In one of his cases he gave 200 grains 
 daily before the dropsical effusion had been eliminated. 
 
 The coincidence in the effects of iodide of potassium treatment I'm- the 
 cure of bronchocele (goitre), aneurism and dropsical effusions or cystic 
 
 tumors, with relief following the use of electrolysis is somewhat striking; 
 yet it may not be so very remarkable in view of the action of both 
 remedies being attributed to the influence of interstitial osmosis. While 
 avc may he accused of anticipating a novel explanation of the action of 
 iodide of potassium, the same accusation in respect to the action of elec- 
 tricity cannot lie in the face of the opinion advanced on the authority 
 offered by Tripier, Frommhold, Yon Ehrenstein and others, which has 
 been referred to in a preceding chapter. 
 
 The action of osmosis within the tissues of the body has not received 
 the attention of physiological students which the matter demands. The 
 observations and suggestions of Dr. Headland many years ago have ap- 
 parently not attracted the attention of therapeutists of more modern 
 times. He has shown how large a quantity of water is thrown into the 
 intestinal canal after the administration of certain brisk saline cathartics, 
 like sulphate of magnesia, and thus draining off the fluids of the bodv. 
 More recently the use of Carlsbad salts, phosphate of soda, etc., are used 
 to relieve the pressure within the tissues, caused by a passive hyperemia 
 or stasis. This treatment pursued now so generally in oxaluria, in 
 uraemia, and in the gouty diathesis, has produced some very brilliant 
 cures, or a temporary relief to symptoms of oppression and malaise so 
 commonly met with in modern days. It is highly improbable that the 
 great improvement in these symptoms should be attributed to the in- 
 creased metamorphosis of tissue, because the quantity of urea eliminated 
 by this form of treatment is not commensurate with the improvement and 
 oftentimes with the loss of flesh in the cases of concomitant obesity. On 
 the other hand, it is highly probable that the mode of action is due to the 
 increase of the osmotic currents within the interstitial tissues. It is also 
 probable that the elimination of poisonous materials within these tissues, 
 such as that of lead and of syphilis, is materially influenced by the pro- 
 motion of osmosis by means of the medical use of iodide of potassium. 
 
 The reputation of an ''alterative" possessed bv this drug is certainly not 
 
 1«> 
 
290 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 ill-founded; and, with this explanation of its mode of action, is certainly 
 rational. 
 
 It would be idle to assume that the action of electricity conveyed by 
 the electrodes directly to the subcutaneous tissues is entirely free from 
 the production of chemical changes. The purpose of the author would 
 be entirely misconstrued, if such deduction be gathered from these re- 
 marks. It is, however, wrong to attribute the whole action of electrolysis 
 upon living tissues to the chemical decompositions of their organic com- 
 pounds. 
 
 We cannot explain the destruction of the foetus in extra-uterine foeta- 
 tion on the supposition that electrolyisis induces a chemical decomposition 
 of the organic structures which compose this living tissue. 
 
 We cannot explain the destruction of the hair root, its papilla and sac, 
 on a chemical decomposition of the structures composing these tissues. 
 For in both of these instances a total quantity of electricity equal to 100 
 or 300 milliamperes' strength is too inappreciable to account for the per- 
 manent death of the tissues. 
 
 So far as the physical properties of electricity which are displayed in 
 living tissue are concerned, we must be content for the present in assuming 
 that the destructive action by this agent is in the main limited by the 
 power of electrical osmosis, or the cataphoric action of electricity. By 
 means of this physical property, which is recognized in fluid substances 
 confined in porous septums, and which may be endowed with great pow- 
 ers of resisting the transmission of electrical force, we may explain many 
 of the interferences with the nutrition as well us the proliferation of cell 
 formation. It is not only that electricity may transport fluid particles en 
 masse from the positive to the negative electrode; but this transportation 
 of fluids may induce organic changes, by the rapid removal of the pabu- 
 lum upon which these cells depend for their maintenance and propaga- 
 tion. 
 
 The character of the proliferation of cells by the movements of the 
 nucleolus and the karyokinetic formations of the fibrillae has been care- 
 fully detailed in a preceding chapter (p. 118). The effects of interference 
 in these processes must be followed by an interruption in the biological 
 formations. If this hypothesis rest upon a permanent basis, we have 
 grounds for an explanation of the so-called action of living tissue as arrest- 
 ing the hypertrophy of normal tissue. We may assume that any healthy 
 tissue, which depends for its nutrition upon the proliferation of cells, will 
 
GENERAL 81 RIMAR1 . 291 
 
 always be restricted by the presence of too little or too large ;i quantity of 
 fluid in the intimate structure of these tissues. 
 
 The pathological relations upon which depend the growth of aeofor- 
 mations, which we must admit are a degraded form of cell multiplication, 
 have not yet been formulated upon the hypothesis of the karyokinetic 
 movements. We cannot therefore anticipate their application, aor can 
 we explain why the so-called electrolysis should stimulate their cell-multi- 
 plication. It may be possible to assume, as in other biological procee 
 that the presence of too much fluid within their cell structure may accel- 
 erate the peculiar cell-growth which makes the distinction between a 
 malignant and benignant hypertrophied mass. 
 
 Histology teaches us that a, functionally active cell of embryonic type 
 may become by a retrograde process a cell ■without power of reproduction, 
 and that in these instances it may be changed into a fatty cell, or may 
 form with other retrograde cell-formations, a fluid substance, as for in- 
 stance that of a secretion. Upon this hypothesis and with a better know- 
 ledge of the physical laws of electrical osmosis, we may, at some future 
 period, be enabled to apply in the living tissues the laws of electrical dis- 
 play in such a manner as either to increase, or to diminish, the amount 
 of the fluid within the cell structure. 
 
 It must be certainly admitted by careful students of the literature of 
 medical electricity that the application of the theory of true electrolysis, 
 either for the nutrition or destruction of living tissue, has not made much 
 progress, though its chemical relations have been studied by expert phys- 
 icists and chemists. It would seem advisable to turn our attention to the 
 display of electrical force as effecting the fluids of the body, which is shown 
 in its modification of the physical laws of osmosis, rather than in those of 
 chemical reactions. 
 
 The action of electrical osmosis in a porous medium can be shown by 
 a very simple experiment, which can readily be repeated. 
 
 If two platinum electrodes should be connected with a constant gal- 
 vanic current from ten or twelve cells, and then be immersed in pure 
 water, the negative or zinc terminal within a porous vessel, and the posi- 
 tive or carbon terminal outside of this porous medium, the water in the 
 inner vessel will accumulate in two hours to a level about one-sixth higher 
 than that in the outside. If instead of using two platinum electrodes, the 
 negative should be formed of zinc, and the positive of platinum, electrical 
 osmosis will be more than twice as rapidly performed as in the first 
 instance. 
 
292 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 By referring to chapter second (p. 18) it will be observed that 
 the chemical combining equivalents of platinum or iridium, as com- 
 pared with that of zinc, is in the proportion of 197: 65; therefore 
 Ave might expect that the energetic action between the oppositely 
 charged conductors of platinum and zinc would be three times greater 
 than with the electrodes made of the same kind of metal, provided the 
 diameters and lengths of the conducting mediums be the same. Another 
 factor, that of resistance of the conductivity of the metals should also 
 enter into the problem; the comparative resistance of the platinum and 
 zinc for the same dimensions bears the ratio of 116:72, the conductivity of 
 zinc being the greater. It has been shown that the higher the resistance 
 of the conductors, within certain limits, the greater will be the cataphoric 
 action of the transmitted electricity. 
 
 The subject of electrical action on electrolytes in solution has recently * 
 received renewed attention from E. Semmola, and is of interest in show- 
 ing that an increase of electrolytical action may take place in a fluid con- 
 ductor where different metals are used for the introduction of electricity 
 into the solution. In his experiments a third metallic conductor was ar- 
 ranged within the fluid, neither end of which was connected with the 
 terminals from the battery. His voltameter was composed of a vessel 
 partially filled with water acidulated by sulphuric acid, and into the glass 
 sides of which two platinum ribbons were sealed and immersed in the 
 solution; an arc of metallic ribbon in length about two-thirds of the 
 diameter of the vessel was immersed also in the solution, the ends of 
 which were not in contact with the platinum electrodes. Semmola ob- 
 served that the passage of an electrical force through the solution between 
 the platinum electrodes induced a secondary electrolysis at the poles of 
 the third metallic conductor, the arc above described, but that more 
 hydrogen will collect at the kathodal end of the third conductor, viz., that 
 end which is nearest to the kathode from the battery; while if the third 
 conductor be formed of zinc, the oxygen, which ought to be liberated at 
 the anode in equivalent proportion to the hydrogen at its opposite pole, 
 combines with the zinc, and does not therefore appear as a free gas. It 
 is not necessary to immerse the whole arc, but only its terminals, within 
 the solution. 
 
 In some of his experiments with this form of apparatus, where the 
 
 1 La Lumiere Electrique. 
 
«. in i-.i: \l. BUMMARY. 
 
 galvanic currenl was thai which was generated from a battery of six or 
 Beyen Bunsen cells coupled for tension, he obtained ~>.»i< s cubic met< 
 hydrogen with the third conductor, and 5.65 cubic meters withoul it: 13 
 cubic meters with this conductor, and L3.2 without it; in.;,; cubic meters 
 with, ami 10.73 cubic meters without this third conductor, 'rinse ex- 
 periments were performed, however, on a solution whose acidulation was 
 variable. Eis conclusions from experimentation lead him to assert that, 
 when the third conductor is employed and in the same strength of solu- 
 tion, the total amount of hydrogen liberated is more than without this 
 conductor; therefore electrolytical decomposition of a solution is increased 
 under these circumstances. 
 
 The intensity of " secondary electrolysis/' according to Semmola. varies 
 with the chemical nature of the third conductor, with its dimensions and 
 the position it occupies in relation to the primary electrodes; and also with 
 tin' proportion of acidity of the solution, the strength of the current, and 
 the section of the containing vessel. 
 
 If the secondary electrodal arc be made of platinum, a feeble disen- 
 gagement of oxygen gas appears at its anode, and when a current from 
 ten Bunsen cells is transmitted. If this electrode be made of gold or 
 silver a feeble gaseous decomposition of hydrogen Mill collect around the 
 negative, but no oxygen appears at the positive pole, when a current from 
 six Bunsen cells is transmitted. 
 
 If, on the other hand, an easily oxidizable metal like copper, iron, 
 brass or zinc, be used for the secondary electrode, the hydrogen only will 
 be disengaged, and that at the negative pole of the arc, and this after 
 making due allowance for the action of the acidulated water upon the oxi- 
 dizable metal. On the latter account, Professor Semmola preferred to 
 use amalgated zinc for the electrode'; in this case, the amount of gas 
 liberated increases from the centre, or node of the arc, to the kathodal 
 terminal, where it was abundantly disengaged. 
 
 The amount of electrolytical action was determined when a battery of 
 seven Bunsen cells was coupled for tension: a solution of sulphuric acid 
 and water (1:20) in the voltameter, arranged with a zinc arc for secondary 
 electrolysis, decomposed in one minute of time 6.2 cubic centimeters of 
 hydrogen at the primary electrode and 1 cubic centimeter at the secondary 
 electrode. The same apparatus with copper for the arc developed 0.6 
 cubic centimeters of hydrogen at the secondary electrode, and with silver, 
 0.1 cubic centimeter. If the secondary electrode be formed of several 
 
204 
 
 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 arcs, arranged in line one with another, a secondary electrolysis will occur 
 at each kathodal end, but the amount of electrolytical action decreases 
 with the decreased length of these electrodes. The best effects of this 
 secondary decomposition is observed when the secondary electrode is in 
 the axial line between the two primary electrodes, and the maximum 
 action decreases in relation to the angle of deviation from this axial line 
 and at a right angle entirely disappears. This effect is similar to that ob- 
 served in the polarization of magnets. 
 
 Another interesting result of his experiments appears to be the most 
 important to our present discussion. 
 
 The annexed table shows that in non-acidulated water the proportion 
 of decomposition of gas at the secondary electrode is greater than in the 
 stronger acid solution, and that this increased ratio is due to the increased 
 amount of gas liberated at the primary electrode in the case of the stronger 
 acidulated water. 
 
 Strength of acid solution. 
 
 Quantity of Hydro- 
 gen gas liberated at 
 kathode of primary 
 electrode. 
 
 Quantity of Hydro- 
 gen gas liberated at 
 kathode of second- 
 ary electrode. 
 
 Ratio of amounts 
 liberated between 
 the two electrodes. 
 
 One part in fifty parts 
 
 One part in twenty parts. . . 
 
 1.7 
 
 6. 
 
 9.5 
 
 12. 
 
 0.6 
 1.4 
 1.8 
 1.0 
 
 0.35 
 0.23 
 0.19 
 0.08 
 
 Semmola remarks, however, that there is a certain limit in which the 
 primary electrolysis alone increases, while the secondary electrolysis de- 
 creases. 
 
 The explanation of this induced action in the secondary electrode is 
 an illustration of polarization, and the tension of the current in the elec- 
 trolyte is shown by means of a sine-galvanometer to vary in proportion to 
 the nature and dimensions of the third electrode. 
 
 This author presents these experiments as proof of the principle ad- 
 vocated by Becquerel that 
 
 STRONG CHEMICAL AFFINITIES MAY BE OVERCOME BY THE SIMULTANEOUS 
 USE OF VERY FEEBLE ELECTRICAL FORCE AND APPROPRIATE SELEC- 
 TION' OF THE GIVEN CHEMICAL AFFINITIES. 
 
 We submit that the above case will explain some of the peculiarities in 
 the selection of zinc electrodes for physiological polarization of the tissues, 
 and that probably the cataphoric action of electricity is another name for 
 induced electrical action within soluble electrolytes, and that the increased 
 
GENERAL BUMMARY. •_ ), .»."> 
 
 electrical action in these men' resisting fluid mediums of conduction will 
 be displayed under the head of motion of its molecular composition. 
 
 We mighl make a rude illustration, winch, though no1 exact, maj be 
 an apt way of helping us to understand the case; cataphoric action repre- 
 sents what active agitation or Btirring in a chemical fluid of composite 
 character will do in assisting molecular action. 
 
 An extended investigation of the laws of electrical osmosis in a con- 
 ducting medium would be an important consideration of this question of 
 the resolutive action hy electricity upon living tissues. This inquiry 
 should be directed not only to the conductors of electricity used in the 
 apparatus, but also to the kind of tissue within the interpolar zone com- 
 prised between the points of contact of the electrodes. The question of 
 variations in temperature should also be considered. 
 
 It may he found that the lower grades of cell-life are endowed with 
 different resistances of conductivity as compared with those of healthy 
 tissue. This question is touched upon here as offering an important field 
 for investigation, which is certainly within the scope of this treatise, hut 
 is not within the power of the author to present at the present time. 
 
 The elucidation of such an inquiry would probahly bear strongly in 
 explanation of the so-called electrolysis in living tissue, and afford a more 
 fruitful field than the true electrolysis based solely upon chemical problems. 
 A correct explanation of the modus operandi of electricity in living 
 tissue would lend material aid in showing the true therapeutical applica- 
 tions of the so-called electrolysis, and lift the latter from the dangerous 
 and unsatisfactory grounds of empiricism to the more trustworthy domains 
 of fact. It might, also, assist us in extending these therapeutical appli- 
 cations to other abnormal growths, which at present seem beyond our 
 skill. 
 
 So far as we know at present, the so-called electrolysis is a satisfactory 
 means of treatment in every form of hypertrophic normal growth, which 
 are not amenable to the surgical use of the knife; and the resulting 
 cicatrices should not be deformities, because the destructive action of the 
 so-called electrolysis is not attended with secondary inflammations or 
 healing of tissues by " secondary intention." 
 
 If the cataphoric action of electricity is t he agency used for the cure 
 of certain diseases, we can see the utility in not penetrating deeply into 
 the tissues from which we wish toabstract water, or into the tissues within 
 which we wish to convey water; we can also see why the introduction by 
 
29*3 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 means of electro-puncture need not be requisite for both poles, but why 
 it is essential that one electrode should be introduced under the subcuta- 
 neous tissue of an hypertrophied mass, the other being applied to the 
 cutaneous surface; we can also see why the combined use of medicines 
 may assist in stimulating the emunctories to absorb and remove accumu- 
 lation of fluids. 
 
 It will have been observed in the discussion concerning the cause of 
 destruction of living tissues by electrolysis (see Chapter Fifth), that the 
 proportion of water varies in the different tissues of the human body. 
 The application of the theory of electrical osmosis to these may suggest 
 that, as water will collect around the negative electrode, these tissues will 
 be in a relatively impoverished condition, which is the result of deficient 
 nutrition. Consequently, we may suppose that the multiplication of the 
 normal cell growth has been diminished. 
 
 The corium of the skin is naturally much drier than the overlying 
 subcutaneous tissue ; and if too large a quantity of water is poured out 
 in the former tissue, Ave may readily infer a disturbance of its functions 
 of nutrition. So, again, in regard to the nerve tissue, which in health 
 contains only sixty-four to eighty-four per cent, of water; an increase of 
 the watery character of this tissue may be accompanied with a distur- 
 bance of its nutrition and active functions. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the explanation of the destroying action of an 
 electrical current within the normal tissues of the human body, is suscep- 
 tible to the formation of other theories than that of simple decomposi- 
 tions of its chemical structure. 
 
 It would seem appropriate in this summary of the action of the so- 
 called electrolysis of living tissues to present a compendium of those kinds 
 of abnormal tissue growth in which its application is indicated. 
 
 Undoubtedly it would add much to the value of this treatise if it was 
 within our power to lay doAvn precise rules, which would guide us in the 
 use of this remedial measure. The state of our knowledge has not yet 
 warranted the presentation of any such rules, though the reader may 
 gather from the preceding chapters many important facts which will prove 
 a useful guide in the application of electrolysis. 
 
 Though running the risk of repeating much that has been previously 
 mentioned a certain allowance should be made in order to present this 
 practical information in concise language 
 
 Aneurisms. These are undoubtedly amenable to the action of elec- 
 
GENER \I- BUMHABY. 297 
 
 trolysis, but if they have proceeded t<> Bach an extenl as to have eroded 
 tin' adjacent tissues or bones, it might naturally be Bupposed thai the 
 aneurism will cover too much extent to receive a permanent cure. Again, 
 it' the communication between the aneurysmal sac and the artery runs 
 obliquely in the direction of the arterial flow, or is a very large; opening, 
 even a firm coagulum will not remain in situ and so occlude the com- 
 municating opening. The action of electrolysis is only that which causes 
 the establishment of a clot which in favorable cases may become adherent 
 to the walls of the blood vessel; consequently, the after treatment should 
 consist in perfect rest in a horizontal position, and the circulation will 
 naturally be much benefitted by the use of large doses of iodide of potas- 
 sium, and further control of the loosening of the clot will be accomplished 
 by the application, when practicable, of compresses over the region of 
 the aneurism. 
 
 Effusions. These are susceptible of treatment by means of electro- 
 lysis, provided that we bear in mind that its action is by osmosis. Since 
 the osmotic current is directed towards the negative electrode, it would 
 seem advisable to apply this electrode to those tissues which can absorb 
 the fluid and carry it onwards to the emunctory system. This latter can 
 then be stimulated by appropriate medicinal remedies, which will favor 
 the discharge of watery excreta by the eliminating organs. These medica- 
 ments are hydragogue cathartics and diuretics; iodide of potassium, also, 
 in large doses appears to assist in eliminating these secretions. This 
 theory of electrical action and method of application involves the neces- 
 sity of inserting the positive electrode into the interior of the fluid mass, 
 and the application of the negative electrode as near as practicable over 
 the tissues which contain the fluid. There is no record of the application 
 of electrolysis to the collection of serous fluids between the pleural mem- 
 branes, but there is every reason to suppose that its use in these cases is 
 indicated, provided that the explanation of its action by the promotion of 
 osmosis is correct. The effusion having primarily occurred through the 
 reversal of the natural laws of osmosis, any method which seeks to restore 
 the osmotic current to its normal condition would be entirely rational. 
 Probably the explanation of tapping the chest to relieve the pressure of 
 fluid from between the pleura surfaces is based on the counteraction of 
 the tendency to a continuance of the effusion. It is equally plausible that 
 the beneficial effects of iodide of potassium treatment for effusions is based 
 on the same principle. 
 
298 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 Hydroceles. Undoubtedly some of the cases reported as cures were 
 only temporarily relieved. This is equally true of the palliative treatment 
 by surgically tapping the sac which contains this serous fluid. The intro- 
 duction of iodine into the emptied sac completes the cure in many of these 
 last-named cases. The same benefit could be obtained by the proper use 
 of the electrolytical method, provided the same object be attempted, viz. , 
 to cause an irritation on the fluid side of the serous membrane, Avhich will 
 reverse the pre-existing condition of exosmosis. The reported cases of 
 cures by means of electrolysis can rationally be explained on this hypothe- 
 sis, and the failure of cures are equally susceptible of explanation. 
 
 Hematoceles AND A'aricoceles should likewise be amenable to the 
 same treatment, but in these cases we have a more complex condition of 
 the contained fluid. The blood should be coagulated, and by the process 
 of reversing the osmotic current this ought to be accomplished by a 
 rational use of the electricity. 
 
 Orchitis. It would seem plausible to expect the favorable action of 
 electrolysis in these and all other cases of swollen testicle, where there is 
 no suppuration, but simply a lymphatic deposit between the healthy 
 tubular structure of this organ, or an interstitial deposit of lymph. 
 
 Hypertrophy or Elephantiasis of the Scrotum ought under the 
 same theory of action to be susceptible of cure by the so-called electrolysis. 
 
 N.evi. The history of the cases which have been reported of the use 
 of electrolysis in these and other similar vascular tumors unmistakably 
 proves that they are entirely curable, provided that the strength of the 
 electrical current shall be correctly guaged. 
 
 Varicose Ulcers. In these cases the local action of metallic elec- 
 trodes removes the vitiated secretions and stimulates the underlying tissues 
 to a deposit of healthy granulations. 
 
 Eczema. It would seem as if this form of a defective nutrition of 
 the subcutaneous layers of tissue might be subjected to the effects of elec- 
 trolysis, by restoring the abnormal conditions of osmosis. The selection 
 of the proper terminal for application would depend upon the condition 
 of the tissues; where there is an excess of moisture, the positive electrode 
 should be applied; where there is a deficiency of moisture, the negative 
 should be applied. 
 
 The application to other skin diseases, such as acne punctata, lupus, or 
 those of a different character, would depend largely upon the causes at 
 work in tin 1 tissues which result in these affections. 
 
GENERAL SIMM KSTi . L". 1 '.* 
 
 \\ r AR*n growths are very readily destroyed by the electro-puncture. 
 Many needles may be used, connected a- negative, and imserted in various 
 portions of the growth, lateral to its surface and not below its base. The 
 positive electrode may be either a zinc needle inserted into the centre of 
 the wart, or may be held in the palm of the hand as a moistened and 
 covered piece of carbon. 
 
 Wens. Small Bebaceous wens can very readily be destroyed in one 
 Bitting, when they arc Beated nnder the dry skin, but when they arc situ- 
 ated in the seal)), several sittings are required, because the moisture of 
 the hairy scalp dissipates by its more ready conductivity the electrical 
 current. It would be of advantage in the latter condition to apply to the 
 surface of these tumors powdered chalk or moulder's clay before transfix- 
 ing the scalp with the needles, and thus render the scalp surface less 
 ready of conduetibility. 
 
 Fistula: and SlNUS. In these cases the use of electrolysis has been 
 satisfactorily attempted, but its advantages 'would be largely dependent 
 upon the object desired. If the surface of the tract is covered with 
 vitiated secretions due to an increase of the watery fluids from a depraved 
 surface, the application of a metallic positive electrode would cleanse the 
 wound, dry up the moisture and stimulate the surface to deposit healthy 
 granulations. The result should be a dry scab, under which healing 
 would occur, and a slow separation of the eschar. 
 
 Goitre, Hypertrichosis, Urethral Stricture, Cystic Tumors and 
 a list of diseases on pages 150 and 151 have been sufficiently enumerated 
 not to require separate mention in this place. 
 
 Extra-uterine Fcetation certainly presents one of the most promis- 
 ing fields for the application of electrolysis, but great caution should be 
 exercised to use currents of feeble strength, one to three milliamperes, 
 for three to five minutes at a sitting, and repeated at intervals of seven or 
 eight days. The use of the faradaic current cannot be relied upon to 
 destroy the life of the ovum. If the operator desires to use great caution. 
 he should confine electrical treatment to the surface application of gal 
 vanism. One electrode, the positive, should be applied over the supposed 
 habitat of the ovum, and the other, negative electrode should be applied 
 by a wad of absorbent cotton wound around a carbon cylinder and passed 
 into the vagina. By this method the cataphoric action of electricity 
 would set the osmotic current towards the vaginal orifice. This is simply 
 offered as a suggestion upon pure theoretical grounds, which would also 
 
300 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 prompt the physician to combine the hydragogue and diuretic action of 
 drugs, to increase the action of osmosis in the abdominal viscera. It 
 would seem advisable to repeat this treatment daily, unless some untoward 
 symptom should contra-indicate its use. It is difficult to imagine that 
 any injurious effects would accompany such a procedure. 
 
 The. applications of this method to other forms of disease are suffi- 
 ciently indicated by the assumed mode of action of electrolysis which has 
 been presented in this treatise. A comparison of the many cases reported 
 under this treatment, especially by a reference to the two tables enumerated 
 on pages 150 and 151, will enable the reader to judge in advance of the 
 probable success which would attend its application. 
 
 It should be specially remembered that the transmission of electricity 
 through a conducting medium, partly fluid and of a complex structure 
 like that of living tissues, must be followed by some changed condition of 
 this organism. Electricity is not a fluid, nor is the body arranged for 
 transmission of a force without changing the physical conditions of the 
 organic composition. As mentioned in the introductory chapter, the 
 display of force may be transmuted into chemical decomposition, elevation 
 of temperature, or into a motion of the fluid particles of which an organic 
 body is composed. The transference of this force into a motion of the 
 fluid particles of a liquid conductor of high electrical resistance is in an in- 
 verse ratio to the result of the chemical decomposition. 
 
 An increase in the strength of the current necessary for conduction in 
 a resisting medium, would naturally be followed by an increase in the 
 varying degrees of potentials of its component parts. Electrical conduc- 
 tivity is from a higher to a lower potential, and consequently where tliis 
 difference is greatest, the manifestation of the force in the conductor will 
 be more intense, and the effects of the display more evident. This por- 
 tion of our study needs very careful investigation at the hands of our 
 physiologists, for a more perfect knowledge of the physical laws which 
 govern the increase or diminution of the organic structures of living 
 tissues. Therapeutical application depends upon the position and cer- 
 tainty of physiological laws, and it is useless to speculate in advance of the 
 establishment of these facts. We must be satisfied to test our applica- 
 tions of electricity to empirical knowledge. It is hoped, however, that 
 the object of the writer in collecting the results of empiricism and the facts 
 of physical and chemical science may lead to further researches, because 
 
G I \ BE \l- >! MMAKY. 301 
 
 the promise oi cadi of these methods of observation is fruitful ><( advan- 
 tage in their application to disease. 
 
 The pathological conditions which accompany, or ensue as secondary 
 effects to the action of the local application of electricity called electro- 
 lysis, have only received a superficial examination. As an example of 
 this, attention is directed to the conditions nnder which ; i coagulum is 
 formed within the blood vessels under the local influence of electrolysis; 
 
 here it is seen that the clol becomes adherent to tile walls of these y 
 
 occasionally also after currents of greater strength, inflammation and 
 suppuration may supervene which result in a destruction of these limiting 
 tissues, and hemorrhage occurs through tho broken wall. Again, too, 
 the use of strong currents of electricity may set up an irritation and in- 
 flammatory action in the neighboring serous and mucous membranes. In 
 the latter case the foci of inflammatory action may radiate 1>y extending 
 beyond the point of contact of the electrodes. In the former case, the 
 action appears to he limited very cdosely to the position chosen for the 
 metallic contact with these tissues. These observations are important in 
 the application of electrolysis to uterine and pelvic surgery. On this 
 account empiricism has apparently suggested the use of the faradaic or in- 
 duced current of electricity in these cases. We have seen that the action 
 of so-called electrolysis is very slight in the presence of this latter form of 
 current, and that its power in producing chemical decomposition and 
 physical osmosis within the tissues is very feeble. The promise of harm 
 is as great as the promise of cure is small. Even with this form of elec- 
 trical display within the tissues some gynecologists have been tempted, 
 and with apparent success, to treat uterine fibroid tumors. Probably if 
 feeble currents of the constant battery were applied in these gynecologi- 
 cal cases instead of the uncertain and immeasurable currents from the 
 induction coil, the results of treatment would be more promising, and a 
 definite advance made in our clinical experience. 
 
 The mode of action by which electrolysis facilitates the absorption of 
 lymphatic engorgement and interstitial deposits of lymph, is susceptible 
 of an extended use in medicine. The lymphatic enlargement of the 
 lymph glands in leucocythemia, perhaps also in the more modern disease 
 called pernicious anosmia, should theoretically be improved under a proper 
 application of the electrical current through the tissues. 
 
 In drawing this work to a close, the author begs an indulgence from 
 his readers for the discursive way in which the subject of electrolysis has 
 
302 ELECTROLYSIS. 
 
 been treated. It will be justly said in extenuation, that no electrical 
 work to which he has had access has dealt with this subject exclusively 
 and that the various works on electricity which he has consulted do not 
 present the matter of electrolysis in a clearly defined manner. It is the 
 author's hope that the facts of clinical experience, of chemical science and 
 of physical knowledge, which he has gleaned from the best authorities, 
 will atone for any shortcomings of his original suggestions. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 37. — "decomposition" should read "evolution." 
 
 Page 38. — First line of second paragraph should read "by electrolysis" instead 
 of " of electrolysis." 
 
 Page 108. — Paragraph headed by "5" carbolic dioxide should read carbonic 
 dioxides. 
 
1 \ I > E X 
 
 Abscesses, chronic, electricity in, 19*3. 
 Absolute galvanometer, 265. 
 Adenoma of thyroid gland, 196. 
 malignant, 802. 
 
 Alkaline and acid reactions at elec- 
 trodes, 35. 
 .Ampere, 94. 
 Angioma (nsevus), 168. 
 Aneurysms, 296. 
 
 table of cases of cures of by elec- 
 tricity, 141. 
 experiments in lower animals to 
 
 illustrate, 157. 
 cases in detail of, 159. 
 Ciniselli on treatment of by elec- 
 tricity, 161. 
 Angle of deviation in a galvanometer, 
 
 265. 
 Anions and kations, 7. 
 Astatic needle of galvanometer, 263. 
 Atomic weights of elements, 18. 
 
 Battery, coupled for tension or sur- 
 face, 71. 
 Frommhold's and other forms of, 
 
 see "cells," 63 et seq. 
 galvanic, form of for electrolysis, 
 
 57. 
 poles of, 80. 
 single fluid, 60. 
 
 various arrangements of cells in, 
 71, 84, 131. 
 Blood, coagulation of, 107. 
 
 composition of, 107. 
 Bronchocele, 198. 
 
 see Goitre, 196. 
 Bur^oin, experiments in electrolysis of 
 organic compounds, 21. 
 
 Carcinoma of the Thyroid yland, 197. 
 Cardiac symptoms in goitre, 207. 
 
 ( latheterization by elecl rolysis, 42, 1 in. 
 Catalysis ami electrolysis compared, 
 
 ' :;»;. 
 
 Cataphoric action of electricity, 14, 27, 
 38, :::5, 40, 126. 
 in goitre, 222. 
 Cauterization "tubular," 47. 
 Cell, animal or living, the seat of oxi- 
 dation, 107. 
 (•.institutes living tissue, 114. 
 destruction of by elect ro-piiucture, 
 
 124. 
 proliferation and segmentation of, 
 
 118, 283, 290. 
 vegetable, segmentation and kary- 
 okinetic formation of, 116. 
 Cell, galvanic, bichromate of soda, 63. 
 bichromate of potassa, 62. 
 Callaud's, action in, 61. 
 Daniell's, action in, 61. 
 Gaiffe and Clamond's, 66. 
 Holtzer's cylinder, 68. 
 Leclanche and its modifications, 
 
 64. 
 Siemen's and Halske, 61. 
 single fluid, 60. 
 
 composition of thyroid gland, 221. 
 Chemical equivalence, 18. 
 equivalents, table of, 18. 
 substances, union of, 19. 
 Chvostek's method of application of 
 
 electricity to goitre, 226, 228. 
 Cicatrization under an eschar produced 
 
 by electricity, 44. 
 Ciniselli on aneurysms, 161. 
 Coagulation of blood, 17. 
 
 as effected by electricity, 35. 
 as effected by electrolysis, 287. 
 causes of, 107. 
 Collector, dial. 272. 
 sledge, 271. 
 
304 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Combination switch board, 275. 
 Conductivity of mediums, its influence 
 
 on electric current, 101. 
 Conduction of electricity may occur 
 with or without decomposition, 
 41. 
 Conduction of electricity dependent on 
 difference of potentials, 81. 
 the human body as a, 88. 
 Cornea, opacities of, treatment by 
 
 electrolysis, 170. 
 Current electrical, danger of using a 
 strong, 99. 
 definition of, 79. 
 derived, 93. 
 diffusion of, 95. 
 direction of internal and external 
 
 circuits, 17. 
 effects of strong, on hypertricho- 
 sis, 249. 
 from several cells, 82. 
 high and low tension, 248. 
 measurement of, 83. 
 opposing, 39. 
 
 Decomposition of water, 45. 
 
 products of from a galvanic cell, 60. 
 Density of electrical current, 94. 
 
 influenced by relative size of elec- 
 trodes, 103. 
 Depolarization within batteries, 75. 
 Derived currents, 93. 
 Diffusion of electrical current, in one or 
 more conductors, 93. 
 definition of, 96. 
 
 dependent on law of derived cur- 
 rent^, 102. 
 in the human body, 97. 
 law of, 98. 
 
 Eczema, electrolysis in, 298. 
 Electrical current, its relations to 
 chemical equivalence, 15. 
 
 Faraday's explanation of, 16. 
 
 "flow "of, 80. 
 
 density of, 94. 
 
 illustration of, 126. 
 
 in goitre, 222. 
 
 in hydrocele, 40. 
 
 in ovarian dropsy, 171. [224. 
 
 osmosis from, 14, 27, 28, 33, 40, 222, 
 
 tension of, Ohm's law of, 72. 
 
 Electricity, cataphoric action of, 14. 
 conduction of without decompos- 
 ition, 41. 
 
 four methods by which it may in- 
 terfere with interstitial nutri- 
 tion, 127. 
 
 interpolar action of, 26. 
 
 in equilibrium, 9. 
 
 its "flow," 10. . 
 
 its action in deeper tissues, 41. 
 
 local effects of, 32. 
 
 negative and positive, 9. 
 
 transmission of in equipotential 
 lines, 104. 
 Electrodes, 10. 
 
 for electro-puncture, 132. 
 
 non-polarizable, 138. 
 Electrolysis, a destructive agent, 129. 
 
 action upon electrodes, 20. 
 
 coagulation of blood, 21. 
 
 application of theory of Grotthiis 
 to, 13. 
 
 application of to goitre, 216. 
 
 as a rubefacient, 30. 
 
 chemical explanation of, in appli- 
 cation to the human tissues, 278. 
 
 dependent on amount of heat, 38. 
 
 due to a chemical action at elec- 
 trodes, 31. 
 
 effects on living tissue, 6. 
 
 effects upon organic chemical 
 compounds, 22. 
 
 electrical osmosis in its application 
 to goitre, 222. 
 
 favored by use of iodide of potas- 
 sium, 29. 
 
 favors the endermic absorption of 
 drugs, 28. 
 
 for absorption of effusions, 130, 
 297. 
 
 in aneurisms, 157. 
 
 in dead the same as in living tis- 
 sue, 34. 
 
 indications for use of, 147. 
 
 in living tissues not due to cauter- 
 ization, 36. 
 
 in urethral strictures, 42. 
 
 laws governing, 39, 281. 
 
 mode of action, 30. 
 
 modification of inflammation and 
 suppuration, 56. 
 
 nature of, 6, 37. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 305 
 
 Electricity aoi due to local chemical 
 art ion, 40, i ,; 
 of living tissue aa explained on 
 
 chemical basis, 1 lit. 
 physics of, 9. 
 ■• secondary " 298. 
 theory or, 46, 885. 
 therapeutical applications of, 277. 
 urea formed by means of, 2. 
 Electro-puncture, effects of in vascular 
 
 tumors, 28 1. 
 Electrolyte, 16. 
 
 electrical action, «>u recenl views of 
 
 Semmola, 292. 
 need not be a lluid, 1 15. 
 Electromotive force, a measure of elec- 
 tro-chemical work, 76. 
 method of determining amount to 
 
 overcome polarization, 78. 
 of certain batteries, table of, 53. 
 Energy liberated under forms of brat 
 and work, 108. 
 liberation el' Latent, transferred in- 
 to motion, 122. 
 Equal quantities of current, 54. 
 Equipotentials, 103. 
 Eschars caused by application of elec- 
 
 t miles, 36, 43, 44. 
 Exophthalmos, 205. 
 Extra-uterine fbetation, treatment by 
 electrolysis, 138, 299. 
 
 Farad, 94. 
 
 Fistula in ano, treatment by electroly- 
 sis, 192, 299. 
 Follicle, hair, position of in skin, 250, 
 Force, electricity a, 59. 
 
 motion the result of, 2. 
 repelling or opposing, work con- 
 sumed by, 55. 
 Frommhold, battery of, 75. 
 electrical osmosis, 27. 
 experiments of, on electrolysis of 
 
 living tissue, 26. 
 his theory that electro-catalysis is 
 due to electrical osmosis, 27. 
 
 Gaiffe's absolute galvanometer, 268. 
 Galvanic battery, description of, 56. 
 
 uniform current from, 60. 
 Galvanic cells, bichromate of potassa, 
 62. 
 
 Galvanic cells, bichromate of soda, 68. 
 
 < 'allauil's. or gravital ion, 52. 
 
 chloride of silver, 
 
 classification of, 60. 
 
 cylinder, Holtzer's, 87. 
 
 Daniell's, 61. 
 
 explanat ion of, 14, 
 
 Frommhold's, 75. 
 
 ( taiffe and < llamond's, 65. 
 
 Leclanche, prism, 68. 
 
 Siemen's-1 lalske, 61. 
 < lalvano-cautery, 7:!, 193. 
 i lalvanometers, "absolute " < taifl*e's,265. 
 
 astatic, 263. 
 
 direction of currenl in. 262. 
 
 Ampere's rule for, 262, 
 
 for proportional currents, 265, 269. 
 
 graduations of into milliamperes, 
 266. [in, 262. 
 
 principle which governs influence 
 
 Lorenzoni, 269. 
 
 reducl ion factor of, 207. 
 i ralvanoscope, 265. 
 ( iaseous condition of matter. 2. 
 Goitre, 196. 
 
 cases of, treated by electricity, 22 1. 
 
 congenital, 199. 
 
 exophthalmic, 205. 
 
 exophthalmos in, 212 
 
 gelatinous, 201. 
 
 hemorrhagic forms of, 203. 
 
 injections of medicinal substances 
 in, 219. [219. 
 
 ligature of vessels in treatment i if, 
 
 malignant forms of, 202. 
 
 natural retrogression of, 210. 
 
 palpitation in, 205. 
 
 pathogenesis of, 204. 
 
 pathology of, 196. 
 
 surgical ablation of, 211. 
 
 symptomatology, 205. 
 
 sequence of, 206. 
 
 vascular. 198, 223. 
 Grave's disease, see Goitre. 
 <; rot thus, hypothesis of, 12. 
 
 application of, to electrolysis, 13. 
 
 Hematocele, electrolysis in, 'J'.is. 
 1 [air, histology of, 243. 
 
 natural life and death of a. 111. 
 electrolysis in excessive growth of, 
 135. 
 
306 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hair, segmentation, effects of treat- 
 ment by electrolysis on, 245. 
 Hard rubber holders for several electro- 
 needles, 275. 
 Heat, 247. 
 
 the result of metabolism, 108. 
 Hydrocele, electrolysis in, net due to 
 chemical action, 40. 
 explanation of electrolytical action 
 
 in, 298. 
 cases of, 153, 155, 156. 
 Hypertrichosis, cases of electrolysis in, 
 135, 242, 252. 
 needles for, 276. 
 
 Induction apparatus, currents of 
 
 measured strength of, 139. 
 Interpolar action of electricity, 26. 
 destructive to living tissue, 27. 
 Ions, 16, 57. 
 
 Rations, 16. 
 
 Karyokinesis in plant life, 116. 
 in animal life, 118. 
 
 Laws governing electrolysis in living 
 
 tissue, 39. 
 Leucoma, cases of, 170. 
 Liquid condition of matter, 2. 
 Local effects of electrolysis on skin, 32. 
 
 MAGNET, influence of the earth on, 263. 
 direction of the lines of force in, 
 263. 
 Magnetic needle, 263. 
 Magnetism, variations in the intensity 
 
 of in different localities. 267. 
 Matter, conditions of, gaseous, liquid 
 
 and solid, 2. 
 Metabolism, 106, 283. 
 
 nervous influence on, 109. 
 Milliampere, 94. 
 
 use of galvanometer in measuring 
 the, 265. 
 Molecules and atoms, 20. 
 
 N-ffilvus, destruction of by electrolysis, 
 134. 
 
 cases of, 68. 
 Needles as electrodes, 43. 
 
 insulated, 44, 45. 
 
 Needles, oxidation of, 44. 
 
 for electro-puncture, 132, 145. 
 for hypertrichosis. 276. 
 zinc and steel, as used by Groli for 
 electrolysis, 193. 
 Nervous system controls metabolism. 
 109. 
 influencing pathological phenome- 
 na, 109. 
 Nutrition of cells, 213. 
 
 (Edema, comparison of chemical irri- 
 tants with that of electrolysis, 
 102. 
 Ohm, the, 95. 
 
 Ohm's law, tension of current accord- 
 ing to, 72. 
 Organic and inorganic bodies, 1. 
 chemical changes in, 21. 
 decomposition of by electrolysis, 
 
 22. 
 effects of electrolysis on, 21. 
 Orth on forms of goitre, 197. 
 Osmosis, electrical, 14, 28, 33, 34, 40. 
 289, 291. 
 increased by resistance in an elec- 
 trolyte, 102. 
 Ovarian cysts, electrolysis in, Munde, 
 172. 
 Semeleder, 175. 
 Von Ehrenstein, 171. 
 
 Papilla of .hair, 242. 
 
 its destruction by electrolysis, 252, 
 Pavaglobulin, 215. 
 Physical laws, phenomena regulating. 
 
 2. 
 Polarization, electro-chemical action 
 of, in living tissue, 46, 100. 
 in galvanic cell, 17. 
 of electrodes, 39. 
 of human body, 96. 
 Positive and negative electrodes, dif- 
 ference in action of. in living tis- 
 sue, 26. 
 Potentials, law concerning difference 
 
 of, 11. 
 Proteids, composition and nature of, 
 106. 
 form the principal solids of glands, 
 
 215. 
 
[NDEX. 
 
 :;«•; 
 
 Qi imtity of electricity how measured, 
 92. 
 
 Resistance, coil, 85. 
 
 externa] or interpolar, s - J. 
 
 in an electrolyte iacreasea osmosis, 
 
 102. 
 inversely proportion il to electrical 
 
 tension, 82. 
 Kohlrausch's method of testing in 
 
 electrolytes, 90. 
 of tissues of the human body, table 
 
 of, 39. 
 of water to electrical conduction, 
 
 60. 
 of wire, dependent on material of 
 
 which it is composed. 81. 
 secondary of electrolysis as calcu- 
 lated by Kohlrausch, 91. 
 Rheophores, 10. 
 flexible, 275. 
 Rheostat, 86. 
 liquid, 86. 
 
 Segmentation of living- cell, 119. 
 
 Sledge collector, 271. 
 
 Sinus, 299. 
 
 Solid condition of matter, 3. 
 
 Stricture, urethral, electrolysis in, 140. 
 
 Surface application of electricity for 
 
 electrolysis, 144. 
 Switch board, combination, 275. 
 
 Table, analytical, of decomposition of 
 
 organic chemical compounds, 
 
 24. 
 of atomic weights and combining 
 
 equivalents of elements, 18. 
 of cases of aneurism, treated b\ r 
 
 electrolysis, 141. 
 of diseases reported as treated by 
 
 electrolysis, 150, 151. 
 of cases of ovarian cyst, treated by 
 
 electrolysis, by Von Ehrenstein 
 
 171. 
 by Semeleder, 172. 
 of chemical and electro-chemical 
 
 equivalents. 
 of comparative electromotive force 
 
 of batteries, 53. 
 of goitre, frequency in sexes, 209. 
 
 Table of ratio of increase >>f electrolyl i 
 cal act ion in proport ion t.. 
 ductivityof electrolyte, 894 
 of resistances of the dead human 
 
 tissues, B9. 
 of resistances of Living human tis 
 Bues, 89. 
 Taste of electricity, 137. 
 Tension of current by Ohm's law, 72. 
 of current in relation to the con 
 ductor, 82, 148. 
 
 low. value of use of ciim-nt a Of, 1 19 
 
 Thermic effects produced in a conduc- 
 Thyreoprotine, 221. [tor, 58. 
 
 Thyroid gland, adenoma of, 200. 
 
 chemical composition of, 219. 
 
 hypertrophy of, 199. 
 
 its normal anatomy, 198. 
 Tumors, cancerous, electrolysis of, 1". 
 
 resolut ion of, 136. 
 
 treated by electrolysis, 177 el seq. 
 
 Ulcers of skin, chronic and indolent, 
 
 electrolysis in, 142. 
 Unit of capacity, 94. 
 of current, 95. 
 of density, 103. 
 of quantity, 94. 
 of resistance, the ohm. 95. 
 Urea formed by electrolysis from car- 
 bonate of ammonia, ','. 
 synthesis, 214. 
 
 Varicoceles, electrolysis in, 298. 
 Varicose tumors, electrolysis in, 143. 
 Varicocele, cases of, 155. 
 Voltaic pile, l". 
 
 used in surgery, 45. 
 
 strength of current from, 45. 
 Volta Pavia battery, 63. 
 
 Warts, electrolysis in, 133, 299. 
 Waldeyer's application of karyokinesis 
 
 to cell segmentation. 1 19. 
 Water, strong resistance of, to electric- 
 ity, 60, L08. 
 Weber and milliweber, 94. 
 Wens, electrolysis in, 399. 
 
 ZlNC and steel needles employed by 
 
 GrSh, 198. 
 

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