New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-02-17
OLD AGE POSTPONED {?
Electricity Used to PreCent Harden
ing of the 1rteries.

In addition 10 the redoubtahle microbes those
vigilaut foes ever on the alert to take advan-
tage OF any opening through which they may
effect an entry and achieve their deadly work
on our bodies. each OF US has to dread a
stilI more prolific source OF danger TO life
namely. the gradual and progressive hardening
Of our arteries. It is to this that the
deaths Of the immense majority OF living beings
ara due. The malady does not always wait for
old age before exercising It's ravages. How many
young men and women are there. apparently In
Furnishing health. who suddenly fatally
stricken down by maladles Of mysterious
origin which in reality. nothing but visible
manifestations OF the arterial hardening that
has been going on unknown TO the victim! Youth
however may escape these cetastrophes; old
age hardly ever does. II reconstitute the
physiological history of any invalid OF any one
who Is ged, OF any one whose death We have 70
mourn. shall discover the same character
istic IN every case. The pulse had too strong a
beat the blood circulated through channels that
were too narrow OF too hard This excess OF
pressure is the infallbe symptom OF the i'm
ulnent arterial hardening.
We shall understand the exact position Of AZ
fairs by imagining india rubber tube through
which ordinary lighting gas is passing Should
the tube be slightly damaged or In any way
blocked. an excessive pressure OF the gas VIII
tend 10 produce assures In the tube. Reduce the
pressure and the danger IS obviated So IL is
with our arteries; they are always In danger OF
the blood circulating IN them at too great a
pressure.
To moderate this pressure. after It has been
shown 10 exist by means of that delicate instru-
nent the sphygmometer. has long been one or the
desIderata of modern science. but so far every
thing has Iamentably failed to have any effect.
II seemed. in fact. that no possible escape exist
ed rom that sentence OF death pronounced. Rp-
parently, in irrevocable manner. against each
one Of us. once more. however science has
achieved q victory over what assumed TO
be the inevitable and has forced Nature to her
self deliver her prisoners and spare the victims
she had marked out for slaughter. Fifteen years
ago Professor dArSOnval constructed electrical
machines IN which the current was reversed
something like half a million times in the course
Of a second, and he discovered that animals.
such as rabbits and guinea pigs, submitted to
these seemingly terrible electrical discharges
suffered no inconvenience whatever; the only
effect that their arterial tension les
sened These results he communicated TO DR..
Moutier. who Immediately began 10 experiment
human beings, but without any appreCiabls
result The two savans next tried the effect of
electrical machines somewhat more powerful,
and found that human patients submitted TO the
discharges affected for the better. II the
treatment We're prolonged sufficiently. Now
they have wonderful machines in which the cur
rent is reversed something like a milliard times
in a second. which have produced the most
extraordinary effects on people suffering from
arterial scerosis. as II is termed. The danger
Gus pressure is reduced. often in a few moments,
by nearly One-half and the sick man receives,
q n were with this electrical baptism a guar
antee of prolonged life. The peculiar part Of the
matter is that the patient who undergoes the
treatment experiences no sensation whatever.
though tho electrical fluid in an instant has de-
moshed every impurity encumbering and block
ing up arteries and organs. BY suitable and
simple treatment the remains of these impuri-
ties. broken up by the waves OF electricity may
be permanently expelled from the system.
Thereafter the patient enters upon an entirely
new lease of life. There is no longer any reason
WHY he should either age or die The road to
permanent health. then, lies through careful
observation OF the arteries. those rivers which
bear life to all our members to every organ
rivers which a mystic has compared to the four
great rivers Of Paradise-Le Matin-