is the supreme manifestation, must not be associated for a moment with any idea of depression, for here we have none such. In addition to what I have already said in endeavoring to account for the hypnotic influence of the baths, I refer the reader for further information to the admirable and lucid remarks on this subject by Beard and Rockwell.[8]

The galvanic bath shares with other galvanic applications made in the cranial and upper spinal region, the effect of producing the galvanic taste, as also the flashes when the current is interrupted, showing that the

CRANIAL NERVES

come within the sphere of its influence.

A further effect peculiar to the galvanic bath is a sense of

ITCHING,

felt chiefly in the lower extremities and about the neck, and proportioned to the intensity of the current. Rather pleasant when mild or medium currents are used, under the influence of strong currents it may become so intense as to create an irresistible desire on the part of the bather to scratch especially the legs.

A negative effect of the galvanic bath, even where very intense currents are used, is the

ABSOLUTE FREEDOM FROM PAIN

throughout the entire process. I wish this to be understood of course as holding good only when currents within the ordinary limits of intensity are employed. The strongest that I have used, and on which I base my statement, was that from 48 Stöhrer or 60 Hill cells. As stronger currents are not required for therapeutic purposes, what I have asserted remains practically true as applied within these limits.

This absence of pain, which cannot be claimed for correspondingly intense local applications, is to be attributed to the diffusion of the current throughout the body and its surface, as well as through the water of the bath. The redness of the entire back after a galvanic bath, is among the proofs of this diffusion.

Freedom from pain is a characteristic likewise of the faradic bath, properly administered. When too strong a faradic current however is incautiously administered, the resulting muscular contractions are accompanied by an amount of local pain proportioned to the violence of the contractions. By keeping the faradic current within proper limits, all pain can be avoided.

With respect to

MUSCULAR CONTRACTIONS,

the effects of the electric bath may be distinguished from those obtained by other modes of faradization by their comprehensiveness. Many groups of muscles may be made simultaneously to contract by this means. The practical bearing of this on the therapeutics of pareses and paralyses, renders it an important characteristic of the bath.

The physiological effects on

THE MIND

of electric baths, is a natural result of the enhanced tone and vigor of the physical system, and keeps pace with this. Mental buoyancy and even exhilaration are among the most common sequences of electric baths. Although indirect, these results are none the less decided.

It has been my aim in the foregoing remarks to give the reader, as concisely as possible and within the limits which I set for myself in the beginning of the present chapter, a summary of the more important physiological effects of electric baths. As the isolated results of observations made in a limited field by one unaided individual, I trust the shortcomings of this chapter will be viewed indulgently. If what I have said of the physiological effects of electric baths proves the means of stimulating to further investigation more competent observers than myself, my labor, whatever its imperfections, will not have been in vain.