Observations on the properties of the air-pump vapour-bath, pointing out their efficacy in the cure of gout, rheumatism, palsy, &c. : With cursory remarks on factitious airs, and on the improved state of medical electricity, in all its branches, particularly in that of galvanism, and their efficacy in various diseases / by M. La Beaume.

  • La Beaume, Michael.
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the properties of the air-pump vapour-bath, pointing out their efficacy in the cure of gout, rheumatism, palsy, &c. : With cursory remarks on factitious airs, and on the improved state of medical electricity, in all its branches, particularly in that of galvanism, and their efficacy in various diseases / by M. La Beaume. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    lias the slightest injury resulted to the patient. On the contrary, I have found its beneficial ef- fects in almost every application, but particu- larly so in the delicate and painful diseases pe- culiar to females at certain critical periods of life—in rheumatism, in paralysis in all its varieties, in sciatica, lumbago, See. The modes 1 have adopted in the application of electricity, have been varied according to the age, constitution, habits, and sensibilities of the patient; and also by other circumstances connected with the na- ture and stage of his disorder. The old mode of electrifying was by giving powerful shocks of two-gallon jars, and since, the charge has been diminished to quarts and pints. I have, however, by a novel, and, I trust, a happy improvement, done away with the practice of shocks altogether, except in cases of great local insensibility, in which a strong action is neces- sary to 1 ouze the dormant powers. My general plan is to pour into the system a diluted stream of electricity in its mild and expansive form, di- recting the electric current to and through the dis- eased parts, without producing any of those shocks, which, where they do not injure, must at least agitate and alarm the timid. My system of treatment is founded on the law s of equilibrium, of action and re action ; my primary maxim being never to debilitate or oppress the natural energies, but to soothe the irritability of local inflammation, and to aid nature in awakening the