Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-28
EDISON AS A DOCTOR.
He Finds a New Way of Utilizing
Electricity in Medicine.
SOLUTIONS TO BE ABSORBED
By Aid Of EndOsmOsis, Instead Of Taken
Through the Stomach.
IMPORTANT AS KOCFs DISCOVERY.

The celebrated electrician Edison is no
longer satisfied with reVoIutionizing indus
try, but has now begun to cast his ewes on
medicine, and his first attempt is too remark
able to be passed over in silence, especially
as it opens up to physicians an entirely new
line of treatment, of which the applications
may ultimately become innumerable, says
the New York Herald.
1t is well known that with equity patients
there are to be found in certain organs.
and especially in the joints, irregular in.
durations formed by a deposit of urate of
sodium. Lithia, which is commonly given
to gouty patients affected in this way, aims
to transform the urate Of sodium into urata
OF Ilthlum, which is more soluble, and con-
sequently more easily thrown off from the
organism by the natural ways OF excre-
tion. But since these salts of lithium ara
very trying to the stomach, and since the
results which they give are often incomplete
or doubtful, Edison suggests a new way Of
administering this drug, process to which
| ne has given the name of electric endosmosis.
This name is designed to express the prop
erty possessed by the electric current while
passing through porus diaphragm inter-
posed between two liquid solutions. of carry-
ing with it one of these solutions, from one
| compartment into the other. The electriecur.
rent, in word, seems to increase the osmotic
diffusion which takes place between two
| solutions that are separated by a porus dia-
| phragm, but this result of the current all
ways takes place in given direction, from
the positive to the negative pole.
HIS FIRST EXPERIMENT.,
Preceding experiments had demonstrated
the possibility OF efecting the diffusion of
lithium salts through an animal membrane
| by the use of the electric current. Starting
| from these experimental data Mr.. Edison
wished to satisfy himself that with healthy
person the process in question would pro-
| duce the appearance of lithia in the excreta
| Thls demonstration was made In October
1889, on young man 20 years of age, who
was employed in Mr.. Edison's laboratory,
Sitting in chair, with one hand in a solu-
| ton OF chloride of lithium up to his wrist.
while the other was plunged in a solution
of chloride of sodium, the latter solution
was placed in connection with the negative
| pole OF a battery, whereas the positive pole
| was connected with solution of lithia
| The strength OF the current used was four
mllllamperes, that is to say the maximum
that he could bear. These seances took
place every day for a week, and lasted two
hours each; in other words, the total length
of the experiment was about eleven hours.
| During this time the secretion of the kid
neys was collected and examined with the
greatest care. With the help of the spec
troscope it is possible to detect the presence
| of chloride of lithium in a solution even il
| this salt is only there in the proportion of
in 40, 900. Now, by using this liquid con-
centrated by evaporation, they found in the
spectrum which it gave the characteristics
band of lithium. In figures the result was
% centigrammes; that is to say, that the to-
tai amount of liquid contained 55 cent?
grammes of chloride of lithium-a sufficient
quantity to carry off 2.43 grammes Of uric
acid.
CHALK DEPOSITS IN equity PATIENTS.
| Mr.. Edison was not satisfied to stop at
this point, but went on and applied these
results to the treatment OF chalk deposits in
| gouty patients. His first attempt was made
on man 73 years of age, butler who had
had the gout for ten years. With the ex-
ception of the knees the greater part of the
joints of this patient were deformed BY large
deposits, which caused intense pain. The
little finger of the left hand measured eight
eentimetres in circumference; the little fn-
ger of the right hand was somewhat larger.
The patient was in a marked condition of
weakness and had trouble in walking.
The treatment was begun in the manner
above described, the lett hand being inn
mersed in a solution of chloride of lithium
(specifo weight 1.08), and the right hand in
solution OF chloride Of sodium. The pa-
tient had no difficulty in standing a current
OF 20 mllliamperes These seances were
continued six consecutive days, four hours
each time. AT the end of this period the
circumference of the left little finger onIv
measured 6.2 centimetres. From the be-
ginning Of the treatment on the patient was
freed from all pain in the joints. After this
he only underwent two seances of treatment
but in spite of this the size of the finger con-
tinued to decrease; at one time it was possi-
BILE to estimate that three cubic centimetres
| of urate of sodium had been absorbed in this
segment Of the limb, and the general con-
dition of the patient had improved in ad-
dition.
AVERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
From these researches Mr. Edison feels
authorized in inferring that the application
| of the principle of electric endosmosis to the
treatment of chalky deposits of gout is des-
tined to give most favorable results He
mentions in parenthesis that lithium salts,
when placed in contact with the pain in the
shape of solutions at all concentrated, pro-
| duee local irritation, which manifests itself
by the appearance of blisters, and that it is
for this reason not at all practicable to use
| these salts in the form of ordinary baths.
Besides this, in view of the slight absorbing
power of the skin, the use Of simple baths
| of lirhium salts is of very little account
The attention that has been awakened
throughout the world by the discovery of
Koch will probably prevent the experiment
of Edison attracting the notice it deserves.
For this reason 1 have no hesitation in de-
claring that the new method that has been
inaugurated BY the learned electrician de-
serves to be examined very closely, as its
practical consequences are incalculable.
Let each one consider the advantages to be
derived from giving BY electric endosmosis
drugs which the stomach will not stand or
| which il decomposes as they pass throuph