Arizona republican., 1892-12-31
49,. -
naps a hundre
IS show us there
it must be con-
Try graceful, but
manage TO look
OLIVE HARPER,
,uRE5 NEURALGIA.

Among all the methods more or less
odd in appearance applied to the treat
ment of nervous diseases, there are few
more Original than the one that has been
employed for some time at the Salpe-
there By Professor Charcot 1t is the
treatment 10y mechanical vibrations,
There il = serioas disease of the nerv-
ous system. characterized by an inces-
SAINT trembling Of the hands, STOPPING
attitude and an odd gait, that makes it
seem rs if the invalid was going TO pre-
cipitate himself head foremost. It is
the trembling PALSY, also called Parkin-
sons disease, a sort of painful nervous
disorder THAI deprives the unfortunate
who is afflicted with il of rest and sleep.
Mr. CharcOt long time ago learned
from some iuvalids who We're troubled
with this intirinity that they derived de.
cided relief from long rides on railroad
or in II carriage. The more the vibra-
tons caused in the compartments by the
train running ut full speed, and the more
the carriage was jOlted over an uneven
pavement, the more the relief expert.
enced At the end of a days journey
they felt better and experienced an mex.
pressible comfort. One of them con.
ceived the idea of having himself
wheeled about for hours in one of those
heavy carts used for carrying paving
stones. Contrary to the experience Of
all travellers. those afflicted with trem
bling palsy felt fresher and more active
on alighting from the cars. The longer
the trip lasted, and the worse the line
the more durable was their improvement
Such testimony, coming from various
sources. was not lost. 1t was for Mr..
Charcot the starting point Of most
curious therapeutical application. Mr..
Charcot had an armchair constructed.
to which a to and fro motion was given
by means of an electrical windlass.
Long before the invention of the yibrat.
ing armchair DR.. Vigouroux conceived
theidea of submitting hysterical patients
to the vibration of huge tuning fork.
In this way he cured anRsthesias and
muscular stiff joints Other physicians
Boudet, Of Paris. and Mortimer, OF
Granville, applied vibrating rods to the
treatment of neuralgias facial neuralgia
in particularly and headaches. Granville
devised small electric hammer. anal.
ogous to the hammer of electric bells,
and that was applied to the painful
point, Under the infrence of the shock,
repeated hundreds Of times within o
short period. the pain ceased.
The method was some time ago singu.
larly improved by DR.. ellis de la Tour.
cite, pupil of Mr. Charcot. lie had an
apparatus constructed for the treatment
of megrims and nervous headaches; il
was the vibrating helmet. Imagine
helmet Of the model of that of old times,
and very analogous. as TO structure, tc
the conformation of hatters. Ii is in
fact formed of steel plates that permit
of its fitting the head perfectly. Upon
this helmet, in lieu Of crest. there is
small alternating current motor Of pc.
culiar construction that makes about
COO revolutions per minute, At every
revolution "A uniform vibration is propa
gated to the metallic plates, and is trans
mitted to the Uranium that they embrace |
The crauiuI walls thus vibrate in their |
ensemble, and the vibrations are natur. I.
ally transmitted to the entire cerebral /.
apparatus. The sensation is not dis. !
agreeable. The number and intensity
Of the vibrations moreover. may be
varied according to the tolerance Of the
subject. In Il few minutes a sort of gen.
eral lassitude is experienced with
tendency to sleep
The vibrating helmet has already been
applied to large number of neuras.
thenic invGlids. the majority of whom
have experienced good results from it,
The process succeeds also against hemi.
crania, and as this is quite a common
affection, for which no surely efficacious
remedy is known, the helmet will in
short time be seen to come into vogue
Nature.