. The medical and surgical uses of electricity. . lts are undoubtedlyobtained. The Holtz induction machine is dependent for satisfactory operationupon—(i) A means to charge it; (2) a means to revolve it. The lack of convenient and reliable means to serve these two pur-poses has long been the main obstacle to the use and popularity of staticelectricity rather than the commonly stated fact that the apparatus wasbulky and expensive. It is obvious that mere considerations of a fewcubic inches in the size of a valuable therapeutic appliance, or of a verysmall addition to its cost, cannot be serious
. The medical and surgical uses of electricity. . lts are undoubtedlyobtained. The Holtz induction machine is dependent for satisfactory operationupon—(i) A means to charge it; (2) a means to revolve it. The lack of convenient and reliable means to serve these two pur-poses has long been the main obstacle to the use and popularity of staticelectricity rather than the commonly stated fact that the apparatus wasbulky and expensive. It is obvious that mere considerations of a fewcubic inches in the size of a valuable therapeutic appliance, or of a verysmall addition to its cost, cannot be seriously regarded as outweighing thedemonstrated worth of an important curative agent and preventing its em-ployment in progressive medicine. A small frictional machine of the Wimshurst type has lately been pro-vided as a charger which entirely removes the chief cause of disappoint-ment in the former use of static electricity. This charger will produce acurrent by direct friction under all conditions of the atmosphere. It may STATIC ELECTRICITY. 351. 352 ELECTRO-THERAPEUTICS. be constructed inside the case of tlie Holtz machine, thus increasing itsdimensions materially, or it may be obtained in a separate, portable caseto be brought into use only when actually needed. Throughout ten months of the year in this climate a properly cared-for Holtz machine will rarely discharge itself and gives little or notrouble on this account, but inasmuch as it is utterly useless until it isrecharged, the importance of a ready means of doing this is equal to thetotal value of the major apparatus. With the Wimshurst charger at handwe no longer suffer annoyance in this respect. For means to turn the static machine we may employ an electric motorrun by a street current if it is available, or a water motor if facilities forusing it exist; or we may get equally good results by hand power, al-though in this case the necessity of an assistant or the presence in theoffice of a servant may at times be an ob
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1896
