Electricity and Disease

There may be something in the report that Nikola Tesla has discovered a way in which diseases may be shaken out of the human system by electricity. Last week a New York electrician accidentally made himself a conductor for a current of electricity with an estimated strength of 2,000 volts, or 300 more volts than is developed by the machines at Sing Sing which electrocute condemned murderers. As will be seen by the account printed of the accident printed on our seventh page to-day, the electrician was thrown into convulsions by the shock, and for an entire day his life hung in the balance. But when he recovered he pronounced himself as feeling better than he did before the accident. He is experiencing a feeling of rejuvenation, like that which follows a long rest, and has lost a stubborn case of rheumatism which was the cause of much pain and suffering.

While the victim of the electrical accident was slowly recovering his equilibrium, the section on general medicine of the New York Academy of Medicine was discussing “The Theory and Treatment of Rheumatism,” and expressing opinions as to the cause of the disease. This discussion revealed the fact that the medical profession is inclining to the belief that rheumatism is caused by bacteria in the blood. One doctor pronounced the lactic acid theory untenable and declared that uric acid was only the ashes of the disease. If rheumatism is caused by microbes, and if electricity can kill the germs of the disease, why should not the fluid be of service in the destruction of the germs of other diseases.

One physician discussed rheumatism and gout and made an assertion of particular interest to consumers of beer. He said that prior to the introduction of lager beer in the United States there was no such thing as gout here; that gout follows closely in the track of fermented liquors; and that there was no such thing as gout in America when America took whiskey only — and took it “straight.” But gout does not appear to be a prevalent disease in beer-drinking communities. It is usually associated with good living; and men who “live high” generally drink liquor of a more aristocratic nature.