The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-26
'TORpEOOES' POILUS TO MAKE THEM WELL
PhysiciAll's Electric Treat ment Hor Nervous Trou-
 bles> Causes Controversy.

Something sof a sensation has been caused in France a1d throughout Eu- rope by the nwelation, at a trial be- fore the military tribunal in Tours, of the great service rendered by French physician who has effected thousands of tcluressfn one of the grave forms of maEldy for~which it had been considered that no scure was known.
 X zouave named Deschamps was charged with refusing to allow an electric treatmt.nt ito be given to him by Dr. Clovis Vincent and with op- posing violence Ito the insistenee or the physician HThe case in it's first days aroused a gotod deal of popular feeling against thea physician, when IL was announced that the defendant, once a man of powerful physique, was now a crippled .wDeck, and that the treatment was impa5ed on the patient and that it,involved a form of almost nnhea ra,ble torture Swith electric cur rents.
 The case became& Goubly' interesting, and was made the subject of con- troyersy inA medico-legal circles when [ if was learned thaththe defensesin be- half of the yzouave would rely on the principIe that a patient had an ln- alienable right to refuse form Of treatment wltich involved much sui fering. The Afact that the subject In this case was "a soldier furnished the basis for the controversy
 So much discussion was aroused on the subject and, so interested dH the general public become in the case' that Justin, Goddard, Under Secretary ofs State in ,charge of tthe sanitary ser vide depart1rnent, deemed it desirable -to publish an open letter eulog1zing the services of Dr. Vincent. 1n- str,1cteh by experience" he wrote to the doctor, "vou need mot take into account the emotions oftan ill-inform- ed public.'
 The Hospital Torpedo.
 The soldiers refer to pr. Vincent's 8 method of treat ment as "torpedoing. and to his elect1tc charges as "torpe- does" and these terms are now be- coming current with regard'to the new treatment"
 Tn brief terms sthe case which led nm to the publishing abroad of the very important discovery iby Dr. Vim cent and to thet Eorification Of this physician for his stgreat services was as follows: Deschan1ps, by Tall in trench at the Yser~ front, had suffer- ed a distortion off the ,spine. AS he considered the elactrici treatment to which Dr. Vincent desired, to subject him too painful, andi as fthe doctor insisted. he fell upon the latter and beat him severely. The soldier later explained that he was not aware of what he had done.
 The questions raised before the !, military court were the following: Has a soldier the right to sreject the treatment ordered by the military physicians? Can he refuse to allow operations to be performed on him Should his refusal receive the same consideration as in thei case of a civil ian?
 The court in the Deschamps case did not express an opinion on these points, but apparently gave them full consideration, as it condemned the soldier to only six months imprison- ment and even applied the law which allows a Nsentence to remain suspend ed and imperative.
 In view of the widespread interest shown in the case, one of the editors of the Paris Journal, Lucien Chas- eafgne, submitted himself to the tor pedo" treatment and writes his ex- perience of it in connection with an interesting account of Dr. Vincents s work
 "I have just undergone Dr. Vim cents torpedoing." he says. "On ac- count of the contradictory opinions which have been expressed in connec- ton with the condemnation of the Zouave Descramps I considered this the only way in which an authentic reasonable and experimental explana- ton could be laid before the public on the subject of the now famous treatment.
 Tn what does the treatment which Dr. Vincent conceived consist? He himself calls it Intensive re-educa tion' and besides intensive it might be termed Instantaneous It is intend. ed for men in whom a careful exam. ination reveals no organic lesion, but who show serious nervous troubles which oblige them to walk bent fir two and prevent them from raising their arms or legs and from bending their fingers. From the clinical poin, of view these are nervous cases where the will, above all, is affected. Ir general their troubles have arisen as a result of violent commotions, by be. ing blown up, or thrown to the ground by shells, or by suffering g severe fall.
 Heretofore the cure of such pa- tients was a long and tedious process and it generally failed. After months of treatment they were sent to their homes. inf1rm, incapable of earning their living. and lost to the army.
 "Dr. Vincent asked himself if fl would not be possible to re-estabIish this tottering will power, to shake UT this nervous system, fatigued and asleep, by giving to it brusk electric shock. From his very first trials he was satisfied that he was on the right path. In 10 minutes men, who for a year had been walking on crutches and bent at right angles, strengthened up and walked with a firm step.
 Treatment Is Painful.
 Undoubtedly the ereatment is painful, but the 'poilus." the French soldiers who had gone through man, another painful experience. clenched their teeth and submitted to it. The process is simple. In a wel1-lighted hall. without any scenery, Dr. Win. cent orders the patient to undress. IT corner is the electric table. The electrodes are two disks covered with { wet cloth about three-quarters of ar inch thick. The current is carefully measured; then the electrodes arc