ON THE POWER OF GALVANISM AS APPLIED TO MEDICINE.
If the doctrine of Galvanism have thrown considerable light on various parts of philosophy and chemistry, it gives us reason to hope that it may also be of benefit to medicine. The labours indeed of Galvani, whose most ardent desire was that his discovery might be rendered useful to mankind, were at length directed to this object, and his wishes now begin to be realized; but I must request the reader not to be too sanguine in his expectations, or to imagine that I here mean to entertain him with a long series of wonderful or extraordinary cures performed by means of Galvanism. I have no intention to decorate the discovery of my late uncle with false glory. Though I possess neither the same depth of knowledge, nor the same superiority of talents, I have always endeavoured to imitate his moderation and prudence in the application of his theory. I am fully convinced that much still remains to be done, in order to discover the best methods of employing this new agent; and that the facts respecting
it, though numerous, have not been reduced to principles sufficiently certain and satisfactory. There are, nevertheless, some results and observations exceedingly curious, which, if confirmed by new experiments and researches, may enable us to obtain convincing proofs of its utility. New facts, however surprising, are not to be despised merely on account of their being different from any before observed. Those who reject them, as some have done, ought first to show that they are inconsistent with the principles of sound philosophy. Guided by these reflections, and desirous of contributing, as far as possible, towards the illustration of a new and very obscure subject, I shall lay before the reader the result of my researches in the following articles.
SECTION I.
Advantages which the medical administration of Galvanism has over that of common electricity.
Several reasons have induced me to prefer the medical administration of Galvanism by means of the pile, to that of artificial electricity. In regard to the action of the common electric machine, the difficulty of calling it forth properly during damp weather; the time required for exciting it; the necessity of charging the jar every time it is applied to the patient, are so many obstacles which render the administration of common electricity inconvenient; and on this account it is now much less used than formerly. On the other hand the pile, according to the observations which I have had an opportunity of making, acts in a uniform manner; is not sensible to the effects of moisture; and forms a sort of Leyden flask, which has a continued action that may be a long time employed. It may be considered as an apparatus, which in itself contains a series of jars charged in succession with different degrees of electricity.
I might here enumerate many differences which are found between the administration of Galvanism and that of electricity. If electricity be administered to a patient directly
from the conductor, he receives very little of its action; if a shock be given with the Leyden flask, the action is exceedingly strong, but not permanent. On the other hand, the pile has a strong and continued action, and occasions a powerful circulation of the Galvanic matter, which after some time produces very striking effects on the animal fluids. I might here refer, by way of example, to the experiments made with Galvanism on the blood, the bile, and the urine, which gave results I was never able to obtain by common electricity. I shall mention, in the last place, the great convenience of the pile, and the short space of time in which Galvanism may be administered by it to a great number of persons; and this advantage is sufficient, cæteris paribus, to render it preferable in this respect to common electricity.
SECTION II.
Application of Galvanism to the organs of hearing and of sight.
By applying Galvanism to different parts of the face, a flash of light is excited in the eyes, which is stronger or weaker according to the nature of the parts to which it is directed. These organs, though delicate, are always affected in such a manner that the mechanism of the eye sustains no injury from the metallic arcs when they are made to communicate with only two plates of different metals. I received an account of this phænomenon at Milan, several years ago, from the celebrated Volta, who produced it by applying a conductor of zinc in such a manner, that one end of it touched the bulb of the eye, and the other the tip of the tongue armed with a plate of tin. In administering Galvanism for diseases of the eyes, it is much better to employ the pile. To excite the appearance of a flash of light, it is not necessary that the eyes should be open; it takes place even if they are shut, and covered with a bandage in a darkened apartment. Some of the partisans of Euler, perhaps, may here maintain, that this phænomenon of Galvanism is a deception, and that no light can be really excited in such cases, as the production of light depends on the emanation
of rays from a luminous body which penetrate into the interior part of the eye. But without entering into the examination of this question, which is foreign to my principal object, I shall only observe, that long before the theory of Galvanism was known, the celebrated Darwin had found that when the eyes are shut, there are certain internal stimulants which are capable of producing the appearance of light and of colours.
In no case is the difference between Galvanism and electricity more apparent than in the application of the former to the sight. Very little benefit had been obtained by means of a metallic point inclosed in a glass tube, which directed the electric charge from a jar to the cornea; and besides, the shock of a Leyden jar applied directly to so delicate an organ as the eye could not but be attended with danger. Galvanism applied to the exterior part of the eye, in the same place where a stream of electricity would have had no influence whatever, has always produced a certain effect on the organ of sight, as is proved by the following experiments.
EXPERIMENT I.
If you touch with one hand the bottom of the pile, and at the same time apply to the summit different parts of the face moistened with salt water, a flash of light will be excited in the eyes. The same result will be obtained, if instead of touching the bottom of the pile with the hand you touch
it with the sole of your foot. No flash of light is observed when the Leyden flask is employed in the same manner.
EXPERIMENT II.
Having observed the preceding phænomenon in myself, and excited it in others, I was desirous of proving it in regard to several persons at the same time during the course of my public lectures, and for that purpose I made use of the following apparatus. I arranged two metallic plates in a horizontal position, at the distance of nine inches from each other, so that six persons with their hands dipped in salt water could touch the lower plate, and the upper one with the tips of their tongue. A charged Leyden flask placed between the two plates being then discharged, the whole of the persons experienced a violent shock, but perceived no flash of light. It is well known however that, when a similar arc is formed with the interposition of a very strong pile, a flash of light is constantly observed; though the force in the second case is much less than that excited by the explosion of the Leyden flask. The same result will be obtained by bringing the upper plate into contact with the nose.
EXPERIMENT III.
As my pupils took much interest in this research, some of them suspected that the light of the apartment might perhaps
have effaced that excited by the electricity. I therefore made the apartment entirely dark; and one of them taking a Leyden flask applied it to the point of the nose of another person with whom he was in communication, by laying hold of him with the other hand. By these means a very strong shock was given, but no flash of light was observed. This experiment was repeated, making the person who received the shock of the Leyden flask to remain some time before in the dark, that his eyes might be better enabled to perceive any faint light that might be excited: but the result was still the same. To those who refer Galvanism to the common laws of electricity, it will be difficult to comprehend the cause of the different action exercised by the latter on the organ of sight. But as it is not my intention at present to enter into any discussion on this subject, I shall leave it to philosophers to assign a reason for this phænomenon, and only observe, that the properties above indicated will be sufficient to authorize medical practitioners to prefer, in certain cases, the administration of Galvanism by the pile to that of common electricity.
Before I proceed directly to the medical administration of Galvanism to the organ of sight, I think it necessary to distinguish four classes of blind persons whose cases ought to be considered separately.
The first belongs to those who from their birth have been deprived of the valuable blessing of sight.
The second comprehends those become blind in consequence of some great læsion, or some derangement in the solids or in the fluids which constitute the mechanism of the eye.
The third, those who have become blind by some morbid action, though the mechanism of the eye has been little affected, and though no impediment has occurred but in regard to the action of the optic nerve.
The fourth class comprehends those who, though not actually deprived of sight, have it much weakened in consequence of disease, or of some other cause.
The administration of Galvanism does not hold forth much hope of a cure to persons belonging to the first two classes. I however resolved to attempt some experiments on this subject at Bologna; but though there were a great many blind in that city, I found that they had become so by the malignant influence of the small pox. This observation will, I hope, be of service to the pursuits of the celebrated Dr. Jenner, and of all those who exert themselves to promote the beneficial practice of vaccine inoculation.
Being deprived, at Bologna, of any opportunity of trying the effects of Galvanism in cases of persons born blind, I galvanised several who had lost their sight at a very early age. I first applied the Galvanism to the arms of five blind
persons, some of whom had lost their sight thirty, and others forty years and even more. By this method they were familiarised with the idea of its mechanical action, and learned to distinguish it from every other sensation. I then applied Galvanism to the lips, and to the tip of the nose, in a darkened apartment; but in three instances only the patients had a real perception of light, to which they had been so long strangers. I then applied it to cases of amaurosis, and at first had confident expectation of effecting a perfect cure. One of my patients was a woman, whom this disorder had deprived of the sight of one eye, while that of the other was much weakened. After administering the Galvanism different ways, I observed that the eye totally blind began to have a perception of light, and that the sight of the one which was weakened became much stronger. I then took a book, which I held at a considerable distance from her; and removing it gradually further as the Galvanism was administered, I observed, in consequence of this method, that the patient’s sight daily improved. But I must freely confess that the success obtained, though at first flattering, was not of long duration; and that when the Galvanism was discontinued a great deal of the benefit which had been obtained was again lost. On this account, I was discouraged from administering Galvanism any more in such cases. I am however of opinion, that by varying the method of administration it may be attended with some utility. I shall here observe, that having once had occasion to administer common electricity in a similar case of amaurosis, I was never able to
excite the perception of a flash in the eyes of the patient, though the electricity was applied directly to the eye itself.
I have had few opportunities of applying Galvanism in diseases of the organs of hearing. Besides, I thought it almost needless to try a method which had been already brought to a state of perfection by some of the most celebrated professors of Germany and Berlin. I admired in particular a very ingenious machine, invented for that purpose by a German philosopher, and lately constructed in England by Mr. John Cuthbertson, an eminent philosophical and mathematical instrument maker, and celebrated for having constructed the large electrical machine of Harlem. The apparatus consists of a metal lever, which by means of certain wheels and machinery rises and falls every minute or second, and at each time of falling forms a communication between certain parts of the patient and the pile. In consequence of this arrangement, the interrupted action of the Galvanism is renewed every time that the communication between the patient and the pile is re-established. Before my departure from London, I made several changes and improvements in the usual construction of this apparatus, in order to give it as much simplicity as possible. The following is the manner in which I caused it to be constructed lately for my own use. One extremity of the lever which forms the communication ([Plate III.] fig. 1.), is fixed to the base or negative end of the pile, and the other terminates in a small hammer, so placed as to strike a bell, which by means of a
bason of water is in communication with certain parts of the patient, while an arc extends from the patient to the summit or positive end of the pile. In consequence of this arrangement, every time that the small hammer strikes the bell the Galvanic action of the pile is repeated. In cases of deafness, I cause the patient to hold in one hand an insulated metallic arc, one end of which is brought into contact with the affected ear, and the other with the positive end of the pile; and to immerse the other hand in a bason of salt water placed above the bell. When this disposition has been made, the wheel-work is turned round, which gives motion to the lever; and every time that the hammer strikes the bell, a communication is formed between the positive and negative ends of the pile: consequently there will then be a circulation of the fluid, and the Galvanism will exercise a direct action on the organ of hearing. The apparatus, constructed in this manner, appears to me to be reduced to great simplicity: and therefore I propose to extend the use of it, by employing it to administer medical Galvanism to other diseased parts of the body.
Before I conclude this article, I must suggest a hint respecting the application of Galvanism to diseases of the teeth, founded on information communicated to me on this subject by Mr. Fowler, an eminent dentist of London. When the caries is concealed from the sight, Mr. Fowler employs the following method to discover the affected tooth. He first insulates the patient; and having put into his hand the electric
chain, he applies a small piece of wire to the dens sapientiæ, drawing it gradually over its surface: he then applies it to the next tooth, repeating the operation, and proceeds in like manner with the rest till he comes to the diseased tooth, which discovers itself by a violent pain producing an involuntary commotion in the body. It is always remarked, that when this tooth is extracted it exhibits a carious part not before visible. This method, therefore, is of great importance, as it frequently happens in such cases that the dentist, not being able to distinguish the diseased tooth from the rest, is obliged to draw some that are sound before he can discover it.
SECTION III.
Application of Galvanism in cases of asphyxia and drowning.
I mentioned in the second part of this work the great influence which Galvanism has in cases of asphyxia, and the preference which ought to be given to it in comparison of other stimulants. Though the observations offered in that part are sufficient to prove my proposition, I shall add to them the following experiments:
EXPERIMENT I.
Some dogs and cats were immersed in a large pond till they gave no external signs of respiration, or of muscular motion; and Galvanism being immediately administered to them, according to the methods already described, they were sometimes restored to life. I make use of the term ‘sometimes,’ because, if animals are immersed in water for a longer period than their organization can bear, and if the vital powers are really destroyed, it is evident that it will be impossible to restore them to life by any physical process whatever. I obtained the same results from to animals thrown into a state of asphyxia in different ways.
EXPERIMENT II.
Having applied Galvanism to the trunk of a dog, in the Hôpital de la Charité at Paris, air seemed to escape from the tracheal artery on every application of the arc. Being requested to repeat and confirm this interesting experiment, I found myself under the necessity of sacrificing a new victim to my Galvanic researches. As it was necessary to examine the phænomenon while the body was in that state of vitality most proper for the observation, I exposed the trunk of another dog recently killed to the Galvanic action; and having placed a taper near to the tracheal artery, it was extinguished twice in succession by two applications of Galvanism. By repeating this experiment, in Mr. Wilson’s anatomical theatre, Great Windmill-street, and in the theatres of Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, I found that the taper could be extinguished a greater number of times.
These experiments give me sufficient reason to hope that Galvanism may be administered with some advantage in cases of drowning. But as I never had an opportunity of trying the effects of this stimulant in such cases, I have requested several medical practitioners to pay attention to this application of Galvanism, which may be of the utmost importance to the cause of humanity. I have already mentioned that the method which I propose is exceedingly simple; that no anatomical operation whatever is required; that it is attended with no danger; and that the possibility of saving
the life is in every case respected. Nothing is necessary but to immerse in salt water one of the hands of the person subjected to the operation, and then to apply the Galvanic current to one of the ears and to the surface of the salt water.
Dr. Lettsom, a very zealous member of the Humane Society, having been present at some of my experiments, I requested that he would recommend the application of Galvanism in cases of drowning. He assured me that he would use his endeavours to cause my method to be tried, and I had several conferences with him on the subject, that I might communicate to him such information as might tend to facilitate the application of it. As the Galvanism in such cases ought to be administered with great promptitude, we agreed that the apparatus of the trough is preferable to that of the pile; and we contrived the plan of a portable box to contain a trough, two arcs, and a solution of common salt. Such an apparatus will be exceedingly convenient, and may easily be employed in all cases of drowning and of asphyxia.
SECTION IV.
Galvanism applied to the cure of melancholy madness.
Hospitals for lunatics present a spectacle which must excite compassion in every breast not void of humanity, as they are in general crowded with unfortunate beings, useless to themselves and dangerous to others; while little hope is left of their being ever restored to society. This is the case in particular with persons subject to melancholy madness; on some of whom I tried last year the effects of Galvanism. In consequence of a long series of painful and disagreeable experiments made on myself, I was induced to entertain great hopes from this remedy. I applied it to my ears and to different parts of the head, in order that I might form a just estimation of its power and influence on the brain. It is well known that the strength and energy of the operations of the mind depend on the state of the functions of the brain. It is well known also, that a violent fall, or strong impression on the head, has often occasioned great variations in the intellectual faculties. By such accidents some have entirely lost the power of imagination; while, on the other hand, some have acquired very great talents, or emerged from a state of complete stupidity. These considerations gave me reason to hope that the power of Galvanism
might perhaps be able to produce a salutary change in the brain in cases of melancholy madness. I communicated my thoughts on this subject to the physicians who superintend the hospital for lunatics at Bologna. They approved of my ideas, and gave me every assistance in their power to enable me to prosecute my researches. In their presence, and under their direction, I administered Galvanism to several lunatics, applying it different ways; and the result was the complete cure of two who had laboured under melancholy madness. As the method I followed in both cases was nearly the same, I shall here give a description of it, as it may serve as a general rule for the administration of this remedy under similar circumstances.
Louis Lanzarini, of a phlegmatic temperament, twenty-seven years of age, and a farmer by profession, fell into a state of deep melancholy, which first announced itself by an attack of fever; in consequence of which he was conveyed to the public hospital of St. Ursula on the 17th of May 1801. When he arrived there, he began to complain of the treatment he had received, and to show great uneasiness; by which means his melancholy increased so much, that it at length degenerated into real stupidity. While in this state, Professors Gentilli and Palazzi were so kind as to allow me to administer Galvanism to him; which I did in the presence of these physicians, and of several medical students who attended the hospital.
I had provided for this purpose a pile composed of eighty pieces of silver and zinc, and I at first administered the Galvanism gradually, forming the arc by means of the hands. Lanzarini, in a state of the utmost dejection, viewed the apparatus and the company present with his eyes fixed and motionless. When interrogated by the physicians and myself in regard to the origin of his malady, he gave laconic and confused answers, which seemed to indicate a great degree of stupidity and derangement. I first moistened his hands, and formed an arc with the pile at different heights, to accustom him to endure the action of the apparatus. No change, however, was produced in the patient by this operation. I then repeated the experiment, placing his hands, moistened with salt water, at the bottom of the pile; and conveying an arc from the summit of the pile to different parts of his face, moistened with the same solution. A change was soon observed in the patient’s countenance, and his whole demeanour seemed to indicate that the degree of his melancholy was somewhat lessened. The experiment was repeated several times with the same success; which seems to prove that Galvanism absolutely exercises an action in such diseases. The patient being interrogated next day, asserted that he had felt no inconvenience from the application of the Galvanism; and this account was confirmed by the keepers, who had been desired to give a report of the least change that might take place. Similar results were obtained by gradually administering the action of the pile with greater force for several days successively, and we soon
began to observe that it produced a very striking effect. The patient, on touching the apparatus, seemed to acquire new spirits; a smile appeared on his countenance, and a complete change took place in his eyes as well as in every feature of his face. Instead of showing any aversion to the pile, he readily obeyed whenever he was called to undergo the operation; and his whole conduct indicated that he found relief from the influence of the unknown agent which it excited. He began to converse with more readiness, sometimes respecting the machine, and sometimes on the flash of light which appeared in his eyes when the arc was applied; and on that account we conceived the most flattering hopes of a complete cure. The result of this operation induced me to administer the Galvanism even to the substance of the brain; being convinced, as I have already remarked, that the Galvanic fluid by this method of application exercises its action with greater energy. I communicated my design to the Professors of the hospital, and with their approbation began to try the effects of a pile composed of fifteen plates of copper and zinc. I formed an arc from one of the hands to one of the ears, and then from one ear to another, having first moistened them with a solution of muriate of soda. I increased the number of plates of which the pile was composed, and found that the patient was always more or less affected with a momentary impression exceedingly painful, which however seemed in the end to produce a good effect. When Galvanism was administered in this manner, I did not neglect to continue the application of the other method at
the same time; and I found that the progress of the cure became more rapid. But as I observed that the action of Galvanism on the ears was sometimes too violent, we thought proper to apply it in a more moderate and less dangerous manner. Several persons having been induced through curiosity to try this action, the result, besides a violent commotion of the whole substance of the brain against the skull, was a state of watchfulness which continued several days running, and which I experienced myself as well as others. We then conceived the idea of shaving the head above the suture of the parietal bone ([Plate III.] fig. 3.); and having moistened the shaven part with salt water, a piece of gold or silver coin was placed over it. The patient then touched with one of his hands the bottom of the pile, and at the same time an arc was established from the summit of the pile to the metallic armature placed on the head. By this arrangement the action of the Galvanism was rendered more moderate; the patient endured it for a long time, and seemed to be greatly relieved by it. I have always united this method with external application to different parts of the face, and have observed such sudden changes in the looks as seemed to announce a considerable abatement of the disease. Some of the physicians of Bologna, Professors Brugnatelli and Zola of Pavia, and several other foreigners, examined and confirmed the permanency of this effect. The patient, therefore, not only got the better of his melancholy, but began to relish his food, and at length recovered so much
strength that the physicians of the hospital thought nothing further was necessary to complete the cure.
No other remedy besides Galvanism was administered to him, lest the effects should be so confounded as to render it impossible to tell to which the cure ought to be ascribed. Two days, however, before he left the hospital a little blood was taken from him; as it was conceived that this operation might contribute to render the cure more certain.
On his leaving the hospital I carried him to my house, that he might be fitted by proper nourishment for resuming his former occupations. He remained with me eight days in the quality of a domestic, during which time he was exceedingly tractable, and performed his duty with great care and attention. I had several conversations with him, in the course of which I learned that his father, Fabian Lanzarini, had been attacked by the same disease, and that he had been admitted into the same hospital, where he died on the 12th of June 1790. By inspecting the registers of the hospital, I found this account to be perfectly correct.
Agreeably to the principles already established, in regard to the treatment of madness, I advised Lanzarini to spend the rest of his life at a distance from his native country, lest, having continually before his eyes those objects which had occasioned his disease, it might recur with double violence.
But though he had given me several proofs of his docility, I found it impossible to persuade him to make this sacrifice. A kind of nostalgia, perhaps, attached him to his former master, to whom he returned, after paying a visit to the curé of the parish. The latter, when he first saw him, imagined he had run away from the hospital; but by his conversation he was soon convinced of his being completely cured. After this period, I obtained a regular report respecting his behaviour and the state of his health, from the above curé, and from the person who had paid all the expenses of his residence in the hospital; and I learned, with great satisfaction, that he continued to enjoy good health, and to exercise his usual employment.
By the same treatment I cured, of a similar disorder, Charles Bellini, a labourer, who was restored to society in a shorter space of time, because the affection was not so violent as in the preceding case. The phænomena which took place when the patient was subjected to the action of the pile, when the Galvanism was applied to the brain, and during the whole progress of the cure, were nearly the same. I must, however, freely acknowledge, that two cures are not sufficient to establish the application of Galvanism as an universal remedy in such cases. But on this account it ought not to be rejected: at any rate it deserves further examination; for it is well known that all remedies require certain conditions before they can perform their effect. I have therefore several times found it impossible to obtain the same
result in other patients afflicted with melancholy madness, to whom I administered Galvanism; and in cases of raving madness I have even found it dangerous. In some instances, melancholy madness derives its origin from a certain general constitution of the animal machine, or from some great alteration in the brain; and it is evident that in such cases the action of Galvanism would be of no avail. But if the derangement of the intellectual functions depend only on some humour intercepted between the membranes and other parts of the brain, there is reason to hope that Galvanism, if prudently administered, may be attended with great benefit. The real cases in which it may be administered with success, can be ascertained only by experience. I must observe also, that the method of administering it is not yet reduced to that state of simplicity, which is necessary before it can be brought into regular use in large hospitals. The physicians, under whose care they are placed, have in general a great deal of private practice, and cannot conveniently attend to operations which require a continued labour for several months. Besides, the novelty of the remedy is sufficient to excite a clamour against it, and to awaken the prejudice of the assistants, who will even wish to proscribe it before it has been tried. For this reason, I think it necessary here to request, that those who preside over establishments destined for the reception of such patients would turn their attention to this subject, and endeavour to reduce the method of applying Galvanism to the utmost simplicity of which it is susceptible, in order that it
may be fit for being introduced into large hospitals. As the patient often shows an aversion to this strange remedy, it will be necessary to encourage him by every means possible. Sometimes on observing the flash of light, when the Galvanism is communicated, he cries out and is frightened; imagining that he sees a devouring fire ready to consume him, and on this account refuses to submit again to the operation. It will, therefore, be proper to conceal from him the apparatus, or to make a person show him the pile some time before as an object of amusement, and in this manner to prepare him for receiving its action. It will be of benefit also sometimes to modify the action of the pile, and to render it more moderate by a different method of application. In the case of female patients I have found the result the same, when the Galvanism, instead of being applied directly to the interior part of the ears, was directed externally to the gold pendents ([Plate III.] fig. 4.).
By considering the course generally pursued in curing melancholy madness, hints may be suggested for an useful application of Galvanism in that disease, and data may be obtained sufficient to establish the different modes of application best fitted to the different cases. These ideas have engaged a good deal of my attention; and when I have finished the observations I have been for some time collecting, I flatter myself that I shall be able to communicate to the public some interesting information on the subject.
In some cases of madness, as I found it impossible to apply
Galvanism to the hands, which were confined, I employed the action of an arc directed to the mouth ([Plate III.] fig. 2.), while another proceeded to one of the ears; or I applied a piece of money to the head, and communicated the Galvanism by the method already described ([Plate III.] fig. 3.).
It will even be necessary to try the effect of the Galvanic current, sometimes continued, and sometimes interrupted by means of the apparatus employed for diseases of the organs of hearing. It will be proper, in many cases, to combine moral with physical treatment, and not to neglect the other methods already known and practised, which may be used as very convenient auxiliaries.
SECTION V.
General reflections on the action and influence which Galvanism, considered in a medical point of view, exercises on the animal œconomy.
I shall not here speak of the variation in insensible perspiration, and of the increase of circulation, which, according to the observations of several physicians, are found to be produced by Galvanism. Similar phænomena, as is well known, take place during the administration of common electricity. I shall therefore confine myself to those effects which hitherto have been produced only by the action of Galvanism. I shall observe in the first place, that Galvanism, as already shown in the Experiments detailed in the Second Part, is capable of effecting a separation of the fluids, and even sometimes of protruding the fæcal matters from the body. In the case of the decapitated malefactor, I found that when the arc was applied to one ear and to the lips, a very sensible portion of saliva was discharged from the mouth. This observation was confirmed at Genoa on the head of an ox, and in several other places on the heads of sheep. The phænomenon of the extrusion of the fæcal matters from the trunk of an ox, by means of Galvanism, was
observed also by Professor Mojon of Genoa, and his brother, to take place in human bodies. Considering the animal fluids separately, I have found that very great variations are produced in them by Galvanism. But before I give an account of the experiments which I made on this subject, I shall describe the apparatus I employed.
The animal fluid destined to be exposed to the action of Galvanism is put into a glass vessel ([Plate III.] fig. 6.) covered by a wooden lid, having in it two holes equally distant from the centre. Two wires, one of brass and the other of plated copper, the upper extremities of which are bent into the form of a hook, pass through these holes in such a manner, that the lower extremities of them reach nearly to the bottom of the vessel, where they are bent at right angles, so that only a very small interval is left between them. The upper extremity of one is made to communicate with the bottom of the pile, and the other with the summit. In consequence of this arrangement the Galvanic fluid is obliged to traverse the animal fluid, by which means it exercises an action on it according to the distance of the wires, and by its action separates from its different strata sometimes one principle and sometimes another; and this secretion will be effected with more ease and in greater abundance, according as the action of the pile is stronger, and the capacity of the conductors more considerable.
EXPERIMENT I.
Having put into glass vessels four ounces of blood recently drawn from the vein of a person in good health, I left one of them exposed to the contact of the atmospheric air, and subjected the other to the action of the pile. In both these portions I observed a speedy coagulation of the crassamentum, and at the end of twenty-four hours the serous part was separated. The blood exposed to the action of the pile adhered so strongly to the two wires immersed in it, that it was difficult to separate them from the clot which was thus suspended in the aqueous fluid, but in the other vessel the clot remained at the bottom.
EXPERIMENT II.
I put two equal portions of bile, still warm, taken from the gall-bladder of an ox, into two glass vessels, exposed one of them to the contact of the air, and subjected the other to the action of the pile. After ten hours had elapsed, I observed that the bile in the latter had become so opake as no longer to afford a passage to the light; while the other portion, exposed to the atmosphere, retained its transparency and colour. I observed also a considerable disengagement of air, the nature of which I have not yet had an opportunity of examining.
EXPERIMENT III.
I took four ounces of urine, voided by a man in good health, exposed it to the action of the pile, and at the end of twenty-four hours found that the greater part of its constituent principles was separated. A portion of them was collected around the wires in such a manner as to form cylindric bodies of a considerable diameter, of which the wires were the axes. As the mass of the attracted matters increased, a portion fell to the bottom by its own weight. The cylinders were soon entirely destroyed, and the substances which formed them were precipitated by the least shock given to the vessel. I repeated this experiment lately in Mr. Wilson’s anatomical theatre in Windmill-street; and I observed, at the end of eighteen hours, a great quantity of the moleculæ furnished by the urine adhering to the two wires. But at length, not being able to withstand the effect of its gravitation, it began to fall down, forming a sort of wedge, the apex of which was at the surface of the urine, and the base at the bottom of the vessel.
EXPERIMENT IV.
Instead of putting the urine into a common apparatus, if a glass syphon with two platina wires be employed (Plate III. fig. 5.), the urine becomes limpid on the one side, and turbid on the other. The substance detached from the urine
afterwards appears in the form of flakes, which are attracted by the platina wires. I observed this phænomenon for the first time in the company of those celebrated chemists Fourcroy and Vauquelin, while they were performing Galvanic experiments in their own laboratory.
EXPERIMENT V.
The substance above mentioned, which was precipitated to the bottom, when separated by filtration and dried, weighed about the fourth of a grain, and the fluid separated from it was of a greenish colour. On examining the earthy deposit of this urine, we obtained sulphate of lime by adding to it sulphuric acid.
EXPERIMENT VI.
Having exposed to the action of the pile, in the same manner, four ounces of urine voided by a person with jaundice, I obtained an earthy sediment, the weight of which was nearly equal to that above mentioned. The liquor separated from it was transparent, inclining a little to black. By the same chemical process I obtained sulphate of lime, though the sediment of the urine was somewhat dark, and afforded a portion of carbon and bile which inflamed in the fire.
EXPERIMENT VII.
Having repeated the above experiments with different kinds of urine, I observed in general, that Galvanism, by a peculiar attraction, separates from urine the sulphates and muriates united to a portion of the bile, and also to carbon, which in a great part are precipitated to the bottom of the vessel: the other part, which remains attached to the wires, exhibits a regular saline crystallization, of so singular a form that it seems worthy of becoming an object of further research to chemists.
The examination of urine voided by persons labouring under different kinds of disease, seems to be an object sufficient to excite the curiosity of physicians. To expose to the action of Galvanism artificial aëriform fluids, analogous to those which act a part in the animal œconomy, might also be attended with advantage. For this purpose it will be convenient to employ the apparatus represented in [Plate III.] fig. 7, which was lately constructed, with great precision, by M. Dumoutier at Paris. The whole artifice consists in a vertical metal tube, which can be raised up or pushed down. It is furnished with a stop-cock, and the tub in which the apparatus is placed has another. If the inverted bell be filled with water, and connected, by means of the vertical tube, with the apparatus which is to supply the gas, on opening the lower cock, the water will descend in the bell,
and its place be supplied by the gas intended to be subjected to experiment.
From all the observations hitherto made, there seems to be reason to conclude, that the effects produced on the animal œconomy by common electricity and by the Galvanic pile are different. The phænomena of artificial Galvanism give us some right to suppose, that a similar action is exercised by the Galvanic fluid circulating in the fluids and in the organs of living animals. In this point of view Galvanic researches may one day throw great light on the nature of secretion; and it may perhaps be found necessary, when remedies are administered, to take its influence into consideration: for it is possible that the action of these remedies in the animal œconomy may depend on the establishment of such an arc between the system of the nerves and that of the muscles, as may not alter the natural state of the Galvanic fluid proper for the constitution of the individual to whom these remedies are administered. All this however is mere conjecture, and must be classed with many other things in the theory of Galvanism which are still involved in obscurity, and which we can hope to see explained only by new researches and new experiments.
Taking a general view of this Third Part, I must observe that the administration of Galvanism, when the above experiments are carefully examined, seems to appear in a much
more advantageous point of view than before. I have indeed proved:
1st. That Galvanism, on many occasions, exercises an influence different from that of common electricity, and that it may be administered in various cases with great ease and safety.
2d. That the action of Galvanism manifests itself by a sensible attraction between the nervous and muscular parts; which seems to confirm the hypothesis of Humboldt, who supposes a Galvanic atmosphere peculiar to these parts when in a state of perfect vitality.
3d. That the strong impression made by Galvanism on the brain seems to explain its power on the organ of hearing; and therefore the physicians of Berlin, and other parts of Germany, are entitled to great praise for their researches on this subject.
4th. That though medicine is capable of affording considerable aid in cases of drowning and of asphyxia, it presents us with no means so powerful as Galvanism. The experiments made at London, Jan. 17, 1803, on the body of Forster, executed for murder, have fully convinced me of the activity of this stimulant.
5th. That in cases of melancholy madness, when other
remedies fail, Galvanism may be employed with the greatest hopes of success, provided the disease does not proceed from a vitiated constitution, or a general derangement in the animal machine.
6th. That the current of the Galvanic fluid produces a great alteration in the animal fluids; separates a great many of their principles, and produces this effect in a particular manner in urine.
It is however much to be wished, that in addition to the knowledge already acquired in regard to Galvanism, some convenient method could be discovered of increasing or lessening its action on the animal fluids; by which means the advantages of the medical administration of this subtle agent would be rendered more certain and more effectual.