The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-09-25 00:00:00

(For the other Letters on Medical Galvanism Invalids are so-
licited to send to Mr. Halse for his Pamphlet, which contains
them.)—See below.
HALSE'S LETIERS on MEDICAL GALVANISM.
LETTER H.
GALVANISM.—How does Galvanism act in the cure of
Diseases ? This is a question which is daily put to me, and the
following is my reply to it. Galvanism first acts by arousing
any nerve or organ from its torpid state, and Ulm supplies
those parts with nervous energy, until they have acquired such
a healthy state as no longer to require this extra supply. I
will explain myself still further. In cases of asthma and indi-
gestion, I invariably find that the nerves at the pit of the sto-
mach and at the top of the spine are in such a torpid state, that
the patient can bear a tremendous power without feeling the
least uncomfortable. In the course of a few days, however,
these nerves get roused, and the patient cannot bear half the
power; the nerves now conduct the galvanic fluid to those parts
which are deficient of it; an extra secretion of gastric juice
takes place, the accumulation of phlegm is prevented, and thus
both the digestion and breathing are improved. By and by the
nerves get into a still more active state, and the body now ge-
nerates a sufficient supply of nervous influence for all its
functions. This is how galvanism acts in cases of indigestion
and asthma. It acts differently, however, in some cases of
sciatica and rheumatism, particularly in chronic cases ; here
it acts by removing the obstructions which the nervous fluid
meets with in its passage along the nerves ; for it must be re-
ib±embered that the nervous fluid travels quicker than even
light travels, and it can be easily imagined that wherever there
is an obstruction to its passage in that spot must there be a
pain. In paralysis how does it act ? Just the same as it does
in cases of indigestion, or a paralysed stomach, for such it is.
It first arouses the nerves into action, and then supplies them
with nervous energy. Take a bar of iron, bend it in the shape
of a horse-shoe, coil some covered copper wire round it; try
its magnetic power; it has none : it wants galvanic or nervous
energy. Now apply the ends of a wire to a galvanic battery,
again try its magnetic power, and to ! it will sustain a ton
weight. The ungalvanized iron is the paralyzed limb, the
powerless limb : the galvanized iron the healthy limb, the
powerful limb. The great beauty of Galvanism is. that in
nineteen cases out of twenty, it shows its beneficial effects be-
fore the patient has been with me a fortnight ; and in ordinary
cases I find three or four weeks' galvanism quite sufficient.
How different this from all other systems I My recent cures
of obstinate cases of indigestion have been so astonishing as to
astonish myself ; and, I contend, that no man or woman who
suffers from this distressing malady should neglect a moment
to try the remedial powers of galvanism. Indigestion is in-
deed a distressing malady ; it is the cause of tic-doloureux,
sciatica, most nervous complaints, neuralgia, headaches, dim-
ness of sight, defective hearing ; in short, of almost every com-
plaint. I have had patients with the sensation of many hun-
dred weight on the top of the head ; others as if their brain
were continually stirred up with a spoon; others again, with
toads, serpents, and all sorts of noisome reptiles continually
before their eyes ; and others with a continual discharge of
artillery inside their heads; with an endless variety of the
oddest sensations imaginable, and which it would be almost
impossible for a person who has been in a state of continual
health to have any idea of. Now, in all those cases, I have
found that the cause was a derangement of the digestive
organs, and in proportion as the organs were restored to
health, so would all these odd fancies -vanish. I have lately
had a lady with me who had some knowledge of chemistry, and
this knowledge was tested in a very peculiar way. She knew
that the atmosphere was composed of oxygen and nitrogen
gases ; that the oxygen was the vital air, and the nitrogen the
poisonous air. Well, she took a fancy into her head that her
lungs and body bad such an affinity for the poisonous air, that
she breathed nothing else, and that her body was surrounded
by an atmosphere of nitrogen only. This, she said, was the
cause of all her sufferings ; and that unless I could alter the
electrical state of the body, so that she might have as much
affinity for the oxygen as the nitrogen, I should never cure
her. Her stomach was in a most dreadful state. I tried to
reason her out of her foolish ideas, but I found it would not do,
and I am convinced, for the hundredth time, that it is but la-
bour lost to argue with a deranged stomach. I galvanized the
stomach, and in one week she declared that the electrical con-
dition of her body was changed, and that s..e inhaled the oxy
gen as well as the nitrogen. The fact is, her stomach now
began to perfectly digest food, healthy blood was formed, and
healthy ideas manifested themselves. I think it right I should
state, that before this lady came to me, she had been using for
several weeks one of those ridiculous galvanic instruments
which shopkeepers are in the habit of selling at two pounds or
three pounds each. Its effect on her (as on all others who have
used them) was to aggravate her complaint exceedingly. I
cannot too stroi gly caution parties against the use of those
instruments. WILLIAM HOOPF.R HALSE,
22, Brunswick-square, London.

GALVANISM.—InvaIids are solicited to send to Mr. W. H.
HALSE, of 2?. Brunswick-square, for his pamphlet on MEDI-
CAL GALVANISM, which will be forwarded free on receipt of
two postage stamps. They will be astonished at its contents.
In it will be found the particulars of cures in cases of asthma,
rheumatism, sciatica, tic doloreux, paralysis, spinal complaints,
headaches, deficiency of
nervous energy, liver complaints, ge-
neral debility, indigestion, stiff joints, all sorts of nervous
disorders, Brc. Mr. Halse's method of aprlying the galvanic
fluid is quite free from all unplesant sensation ,• in fact, it is
rather pleasurable than otherwise, and many ladies are ex-
ceedingly fond of it. It quickly causes the patient to do with-
out medicine. Terms, One Guinea per week. The pamphlet
acintains•Mr. Halse's Letters on Medical Galvanism.