A treatise on medical electricity, theoretical and practical and its use in the treatment of paralysis, neuralgia, and other diseases / by J. Althaus.

  • Julius Althaus
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on medical electricity, theoretical and practical and its use in the treatment of paralysis, neuralgia, and other diseases / by J. Althaus. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    been disappointed^ and have brought the remedy into undeserved contempt. We know that^ whatever may be the properties of the nerves^ they can be called into action by galvan- ism. But the effects are widely different according to the form of electricity that is used; again, the quantity and intensity of electricity are both of great importance ; not less so the mode in which it is trans- mitted to the human body, and the length of time during which its action is kept up. In fact, we are able, by merely varying the modes of applying elec- tricity, to arouse or to kill the vital power of the nerves, and to diminish or to increase their proper- ties. Hence electricity can only be expected to be of service in the treatment of disease, if we are guided in its use by an exact knowledge of the physiological effects which it will invariably produce. I have, therefore, been most anxious to render the physiolo- gical part of my work as complete and comprehensive as possible. That there is at present so little certainty respect- ing the physiological and therapeutical effects of elec- tricity, is in some measure due to the vast extent of the field that is to be explored, and to the com- paratively short time that has elapsed since scientific researches of this kind have been undertaken; also to the intentional falsehoods that have been pub- lished, even in the present time, about pretended cures by means of electricity; and especially to the small number of observers who have devoted them-
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