Chapter 7

Use the A D current, moderate force. Give _general tonic treatment_; then place P. P. with the feet, in a vessel of warm water, or place the sponge-roll P. P. at the soles of the feet, and treat the affected parts a few minutes with N. P., to quicken the absorbents. If the disease be in the feet or lower limbs, use _long cord_ with P. P. while treating them. Next place N. P. upon the lower part of the bladder, or, what is better, immediately below the pubic articulation, and treat over the kidneys three to five minutes with P. P. Repeat the treatments about three times a week.

NEURALGIA.

If the disease be general in the system, moving from place to place, or causing transient acute pains here and there, give general tonic treatment, three times a week, for several weeks--perhaps a month or two, provided the case be an old one. This will invigorate the nervous system and equalize the electric action. _Relief_ will be afforded soon; but for the sake of _cure_, the treatment of an old case should be continued as here directed. If the disease be _local_, use the B D current, with as much force as the patient can bear without irritating painfulness. Treat the affected part, or parts, with P. P., placing N. P., _long cord_, upon some approximate healthy part, at a point a little lower down than the part in pain. The spine, when convenient, is commonly the best point for it. In treating the painful part, pass the electrode more or less also over the nerves adjacent to the one principally affected. Treat five to eight minutes daily.

SCIATICA.

This is neuralgia in an ischiatic nerve, commonly the _great_ ischiatic.

Use the B D current, strong as the patient can well bear. Place the foot in warm water with N. P., or place the sponge-roll N. P. at the sole of the foot, (the former is the best,) and treat with P. P. over the painful part, and also, more or less, over adjacent parts. It is also well, in order to prevent too much exhaustion of the limb, to _reverse the poles_ every third or fourth time; but in so doing, use the _long cord_ with N. P.

PARALYSIS.

Take the B D current, medium force. If the paralysis be in a lower limb, place P. P., _long cord_, upon the lower lumbar vertebrae, so as to reach the hypogastric plexus, and treat with the metallic brush, N. P., five to eight minutes, over all the affected parts. Then close the sitting with _reversed poles_, about one to two minutes, having P. P., _long cord_, at the foot, and manipulating over the parts affected, and especially over the lumbar vertebrae, with N. P. This is to prevent depletion by _running off_ the electro-vital fluid too much, and to force the electric current through the nerves in an upward and inward tonic-giving direction. If the disease be in an arm or hand, treat it in a manner analogous to the above; extending the treatment from back of neck to the affected parts.

In case of _hemiplegia_ or _paraplegia_, run the current from the healthy _side_ of the spine, (in hemiplegia,) or from a healthy _part_ of the spine, (in paraplegia,) to and through the paralyzed parts, by placing P. P., _long cord_, on spine, and manipulating with N. P., metallic brush commonly, upon the parts paralyzed. Close the treatment with reversed poles for a moment or two, as in the preceding cases. _Old_ paralysis requires considerable _time_ to cure it. Treat about three times a week, occasionally omitting a week.

ERYSIPELAS.

Take the A. D. current, medium force, in all forms of the diseases.

1. When acute, and characterized by high inflammation, with bright, smooth swelling, and spreading gradually and sometimes rapidly to surrounding parts; or when small vesicles appear on the inflamed parts, which dry up in little branlike scales and fall off.

If it be located anywhere upon the face, place N. P., _long cord_, upon back of neck, and treat the parts affected with P. P. Treat about three to five minutes at a time, three or four times daily.

If it be located in the arm or hand, place the extremity in tepid water with N. P., _long cord_, and treat upon or just above the diseased part with P. P.

If it be in any part of the trunk, (which, in this form, is not so common,) place N. P., _long cord_, upon some point of the spine as near the diseased part as may be, but a little lower down, and treat the part affected with P. P.

In each of these cases, treat briefly, but frequently, as directed above.

2. When small, blister-like, serous vesicles--_phlyctaena_--appear, and the inflammation terminates in gangrene; or when there is such an infiltration of serum as to produce an [oe]dematous condition, place P. P., _long cord_, upon some convenient healthy part, (the spinal cord, or other nerve centre which gives nervous service to the part affected, is best,) and treat the lesion with N. P., _light force_, five to eight minutes daily.

ERUPTIVE CUTANEOUS DISEASES.

Take A D current, pretty _vigorous_ force in _acute_ cases; _mild_ in _chronic_ affections. If the eruption be inflamed and acute, use _long cord_ with N. P.; if sluggish and chronic, use _long cord_ with P. P. Move the two electrodes parallel to each other, upon the patient, about two or three inches apart; and pass them over all the affected surface. Repeat the treatment daily in acute affections, and three times a week in chronic cases.

COMMON CRAMP.

Although either the positive or the negative pole, applied to the healthy muscle, may produce spasmodic contraction, yet the negative pole contracts much more powerfully than the positive--a fact which shows an electrically _plus_ condition in the nerves and muscles involved. Yet we know that cramps are more apt to attend a _low_ condition of general vitality in the system than the opposite. From several considerations, which can not be detailed here, I am led to think that cramps are produced, generally, at least, by a temporary or spasmodic _reaction_ of the electro-vital force from an improperly negative to an excessively positive state in the parts affected.

My practice is, when the spasm is on, to treat the parts in cramp by momentary touches rapidly repeated, with the P. P. of the B D or A D current, good medium force, placing N. P. at the back of neck, if the disturbance be in an arm; or at the coccyx, if it be in a leg or in the abdomen or chest.

In treating parts subject to cramp while the spasm is _not_ on, give them, along with other parts of the system, _general tonic treatment_, as directed on page 95. This elevates and equalizes the electro-vital action, and relieves the difficulty.

TRISMUS. (_Lockjaw._)

For traumatic trismus, use the B D current, of vigorous force. Let the wound be kept open and clear, except that soothing emollients may be applied. Place N. P. at the coccyx, or near it on the spine; and then treat, by firm but momentary touches of the P. P., over the lower maxillary--_pterygoid_--muscles and nerves; indeed, over the _entire_ lower jaw and its articulations. Treat five to ten minutes, if necessary, or until the jaws relax.

TETANUS.

This is substantially the same thing as _trismus_, except that it extends to other parts, and often to nearly all the muscles of the organism. Under ordinary treatment, it is almost invariably fatal. I am not aware that it has been sufficiently submitted to _our_ electrical system to determine satisfactorily the question of its amenability to it. Yet I see no reason to doubt that, in the most of cases, when taken within reasonable time, it may be cured.

Use the B D current, in pretty strong force. Place the N. P., _long cord_, at the feet, and treat with P. P. from the medulla oblongata, or from the upper cervical vertebra, all along down the spine, for several minutes--say, three to five minutes. Then pass with P. P. over the whole trunk and limbs. Continue to treat until relaxation takes place, or all hope of relief departs.

CANCERS.

Cancers take on a variety of forms, distinguished by different names; but since they all require substantially the same electrical treatment, it is unnecessary here to describe them.

Begin with the A B current in pretty full volume. [The _volume_ of the current is increased by increasing the quantity of battery fluid.] Use this for several weeks, and then change to the A D current. Treat daily. The time for each treatment must be determined by the judgment of the practitioner; varying it according to the peculiar character and location of the disease.

If the cancer be on the face, or on any part of the head or breast, place P. P. on back of neck; but if it be in the stomach, uterus, or any of the abdominal viscera, place P. P. on spine, a little higher than the affected part. Then treat the disease with N. P., _long cord_, so as to run the current immediately _out_ from the lesion, and yet bring the latter on the _negative_ side[E] of the central point in the circuit; that is, within the negative half of the whole circuit.

ASPHYXIA. (_Suspended Animation._)

Use B D current, pretty strong force. Place P. P. at back of neck--second or third cervical vertebra, and treat with N. P., over all the chest and along the lower margin of the ribs, so as to excite the pectoral muscles, lungs and diaphragm.

RECENT WOUNDS, CONTUSIONS AND BURNS.

Use the B D current, strong force as can be borne. Bring the lesion under P. P., and place N. P. at discretion, in view of the location of the injury. Treat five to eight minutes, twice or thrice on the same day. Unless the injury is very severe, no further treatment will be required. Healing will take place with little or no soreness or swelling. In severe cases, repeat the treatment whenever inflammation gets too high. If _fungus_--"proud flesh"--should appear, treat that with a small-pointed electrode, N. P., placing P. P. on a healthy part, not remote, using A C current, in pretty strong force.

OLD ULCERS.

Take the A D current. If _torpid_, treat with mild force. Treat the sore with N. P., while P. P. is held upon some healthy part, and usually at a higher point. Treat five to ten minutes, three or four times a week. If _high inflammation_ be present, this must first be reduced by applying P. P., in pretty strong force, with N. P., on a healthy part not far away. For this purpose, treat some five to eight minutes daily. Then, when the inflammation is sufficiently subdued, treat as when _torpid_, with mild force and less frequently. It is best, when it can be done, to place the affected part in warm water along with N. P.; bringing the ulcer immediately above the surface of the water.

HEMORRHAGE.

Take B D current, strong force. Apply P. P. to the open blood-vessel, or as near to it as possible; placing N. P., _long cord_, to some adjacent part, and, as nearly as practicable, in the direction from which the blood chiefly comes.

CHLOROSIS. (_Green Sickness._)

This is a disease mostly or entirely peculiar to young women who have not menstruated, and disappears on the establishment of the monthly periods.

Take the A D current. If any symptoms exist of an effort of nature to bring on the menses, note the _time_ of them, and regard it, in the treatment, as the proper monthly period. If no symptoms of such a period are perceptible, the practitioner must _fix_ upon a time for it, and regard it accordingly. About four to six days before the periodic time, commence to treat as follows, using a _moderate force_: Insert the uterine electrode, N. P., wet in warm water, per vagina, until it meets the uterus; and manipulate with P. P. over the dorsal and first two lumbar vertebrae, and more or less over the back on both sides of the spinal column, some six or eight minutes daily, down to the period fixed upon for the catamenia to appear. If they do not start, let the patient rest for some four or five days, and then begin with _general tonic treatment_. (See page 95.) Continue this, three times a week, until within a little less than a week of the _periodic_ time, when the same treatment with the uterine electrode as was at first employed should be resumed, and again be continued to the time assigned for the menses. If no success should appear, return, after a few days, to _general tonic treatment_ as before. Let these forms of treatment be prosecuted until success crowns the effort. Ordinarily, not many months--perhaps not more than one or two months--will be required; especially, if the treatment be aided, on the part of the patient, by a good degree of moderate exercise in the open air, and a free, nourishing diet.

AMENORRH[OE]A. (_Suppressed Menstruation._)

Treat as for _chlorosis_. But if the case be recent--the effect of taking cold--begin, in the first few sittings, to treat eight or ten minutes as for common cold; then conclude the sitting by treating, about as many minutes, in the same manner as prescribed for chlorosis.

DYSMENORRH[OE]A. (_Painful Menstruation._)

If the disease be occasioned by uterine displacement, obstructing the _os uteri_, the organ must be restored to its normal position. This can best be done by mechanical action. But it is most commonly occasioned by irritation of the mucus membrane lining the interior cavity of the uterus. Mucus surfaces, under _chronic_ irritation, are electrically negative. Therefore, in this case, if it be an _old_ one, taking the A D current, _very mild force_, apply the uterine electrode, N. P., to the _os uteri_, and treat over the lower dorsal and upper lumbar vertebrae with P. P., _long cord_. Treat five to eight minutes, three times a week.

But I should add, that recovery from this infirmity, when occasioned by uterine irritation, will be much aided by commencing each sitting with a _general tonic treatment_ (see page 95), and closing with the treatment just above prescribed.

The last described form of dysmenorrh[oe]a is sometimes attended with spasmodic contraction of the _os uteri_, thus preventing the catamenial flow. This may be readily relieved by applying P. P. to uterus, and N. P. to lower dorsal and upper lumbar vertebrae.

MENORRHAGIA. (_Excessive Menstruation._)

If the menstrual flow is apt to terminate in hemorrhage, it is best to give _general tonic treatments_, about three times a week, between the periods; and during the last four or five days before color is expected to appear, to take the B D current, medium force, and treat the uterus directly, once a day, with the uterine electrode P. P., while moving N. P. over the dorsal vertebrae, about five to eight minutes, at the close of _general tonic treatment_.

If there be no _hemorrhage_, properly, but only too profuse or too long-continued flow of catamenia, the discharge may commonly be stopped by one or two treatments, of eight to ten minutes each, with the uterine electrode, as prescribed above.

PROLAPSUS UTERI. (_Falling of the Womb._)

Take the B D current, of good medium force, and give _general tonic treatment_ (see page 95), on alternate days, ten minutes, passing briefly over the several parts. After this, treat five to eight minutes with uterine electrode, in the manner prescribed for _menorrhagia_. Then close the sitting by removing the uterine instrument, substituting the sponge-cup as P. P., and treating with it externally, about five minutes, over the pelvic region, while N. P. is stationed on the spine, at the first or second dorsal vertebra.

On the _intervening_ days, treat only with the uterine electrode, as above prescribed.

LEUCORRH[OE]A. (_Whites._)

Take A D current, _very mild_ force. Introduce the vaginal electrode, N. P., until it meets the uterus, and manipulate with P. P. over the dorsal vertebrae five to eight minutes, three times a week. Once or twice a week, on the intervening days, give _general tonic treatment_. Omit treatment altogether, for one or two weeks, once in two to three months. Considerable time is often required for the cure of old cases.

SPERMATORRH[OE]A.

The points to be gained are, to reduce the action of the amatorial organs of the brain and the secretion of the _testes_, and to contract and strengthen the tissue of the seminal vesicles and the prostrate gland.

Take the B D current. First, treat the lowest part of the cerebellum, on both sides of the spinal cord, with a _mild_ force; using P. P. upon these organs of amativeness, and N. P. on the dorsal vertebrae. Treat so some three minutes. Next, increase the current to medium force; and, taking a handled cup or mug, holding a pint to a quart, mostly filled with tepid water, drop the _penis_ and _testicles_ into it, along with the tin electrode P. P., and move N. P., _long cord_, over the lumbar vertebrae. Treat in this manner about five minutes. Then place the P. P. on the pelvis, close above the penis, and again treat with N. P., _long cord_, over the small of the back, two or three minutes. Treat about three times a week.

IMPOTENCE.

Take B D current, moderate force. Treat exactly as in spermatorrh[oe]a, except with _reversed poles_, using the _long cord_ with P. P. Treat thrice a week.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] The _process_ of this will probably be explained if another edition should be called for. It is given in one of the author's Class Lectures.

[B] Study carefully _Polarization of the Circuit_, page 29.

[C] _Polarization of the Circuit_, page 29.

[D] By a current of _good medium strength_, I mean one which, in the hands, is ordinarily felt rather strongly, yet not sufficiently so to produce distress.

[E] See _Polarization of the Circuit_. Page 29.

Transcriber's Endnotes:

The following corrections have been made to the original text:

Contents & P. 123. "H[oe]morrhoids" amended to _Haemorrhoids_.

P. xix & P. 36. "faradaism" amended to _faradism_. This, however, could be an obscure variant as with Faradaic, Faradic.

P. 101. "pilorus" amended to _pylorus_.

P. 130. "[oe]demetous" amended to _[oe]dematous_.