Manual of static electricity in x-ray and therapeutic uses / by S.H. Monell ; illustrated.
- Monell, S. H. (Samuel Howard), -1918
- Date:
- 1897
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Manual of static electricity in x-ray and therapeutic uses / by S.H. Monell ; illustrated. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![a large number of cases treated in the electrical room, I con- sider that the report of the results of their treatment would neither be useless nor unacceptable to the profession, especially as there does not exist, so far as I am aware, any account of modern date of the results of the application of electricity in this country on anything like an extended scale, save some that partake too much of empiricism to be worthy of confidence. Static electricity and galvanism, it must be borne in mind, are but different names of one and the same agent, the only real difference being that in the electricity of the electrical machine we have the peculiar imponderable matter in smaller quantity, but in a state of high tension or elasticity, while in galvanism we obtain it in enormous quantities but in a state of low ten- sion. [Here follows a description of the electric charge, or static bath, which I omit.] The evolution of heat during this silent discharge is sufficient to demonstrate the mode in which its physiological effects * alluded to are produced, and was, I believe, first pointed out by a pupil of my class, Mr. Thomas Smith, who performed the duties of clinical clerk in the electrical room with the greatest zeal and discretion during several months. This gentleman coated the bulb of a delicate air thermometer with tinfoil, and connected it with the conductor of an elec- trical machine. Silent discharge took place from the coated portion and the colored fluid fell in the tube upward of an inch from the expansion of the included air by the heat evolved. [Here follows a description of the spark and shock applications, which I omit.] The cases now reported occurred in the hospital from October, 1836, to December, 1840, inclusive. * During discharge heat is evolved, the circulation becomes quickened, the secretions generally become more active, and perspiration breaks out.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21067867_0528.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
