THE HEALING FORCE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 145, 25 July 1914, Page 12

THE HEALING FORCE.

Medicinal electricity. Everyone in these years knows something of the medical miracles wrought by electricity—they know, vaguely, perhaps, of the Roritgen Rays to which walls are no obstacle and which make this solid flesh seem mere insubstantiality. Most people have heard of the wonderful Violet Finsen Bays which heal lupus and dreaded diseases of the skin, of electric baths and sprays which bring overwrought nerves to health, but few other than medical men and their patients have any real knowledge of these systems which are taking the place of drugs. The idea that most people kave of medical electrical treatment is that one has to undergo the embarassment of lying more or less nude while an attendant runs electric rollers up and down the body, br fastens batteries to arms and legs, but nothing of the sort happens. Electricity is no respecter of clothing—it can penetrate through fabrics as easily as through the body.% There is a Medical Electrical Institute in Christehurch, and one well-known to the medical fraternity. It is in Armagh Street, to be precise, and is conducted by Mr G. Barham Morris, who is known as one of the foremost manipulators of Rontgen Rays in the Dominion.

To have the privilege of witnessing a demonstration in Mr Morris's rooms "is to feel oneself amongst marvels. The intricacies of these wonderful instruments for distributing healing energy in terms .of light and electricity are beyond the mere layman, but he can be impressed.hy. ikosx wonder..,,. The.|tay,S„. that blaze in golden glare from out a curious globe and will reveal one's own bones, and make boards transparent is a marvel, and the blinding violet brilliancy of the Finsen Rays that have saved many thousands from I disfigurement and death, this, too, is a; marvel. But these are not more mar-i vellous than those other instruments, also distributors of electric energy, which restore overworked nervous systems, bring back the neurasthenic to normal health, and revive the muscles crippled by paralysis, rheumatism, and such afflictions of the flesh.

In this institute all the power is generated on the premises, so as to avoid any fluctuations, and there is the remarkable High Frequency current, a remarkable invention whereby electric power which would kill were it taken direct, by grasping the uninsulated wires, for example, is" so contrived as to send out its healing vibrations in a series of rapid shocks so quick that dne feels them as a gentle, soothing and continuous current. One lies upon a couch, fully clothed, and the operator takes the "spray" in his hand and passes it to and fro over one's Ifody. It really is a spray, for one can see the current pouring from it as from the nozzle of a watering can, and yet one feels nothing but a pleasant relaxation, a relief of tired nerves. This high frequency treatment is one of the most remarkable medicinal uses ever devised of electricity. Then there are the baths for arms and feet, just water baths through which current is so passed as to very quietly, though rapidly, restore failing nerves. These ean be so applied as to act direct on the parts affected, and Mr Morris has cases sent to him from all over the South Island for this treatment, which is of particular value in cases of paralysis and rheumatism. There is yet another method by which nervous disorders may be treated, and that is by the vibrator. With this instrument in operation one lies, fully clothed, on a couch while the operator passes over continuously an attachment which sends quick, soothing throbbings which incline one to pleasant lassitude. This treatment is invaluable in cases of nervous and liver derangement. But, perhaps, one of the most remarkable pieces of electrical apparatus is that known as the "lonic Treatment"; which is actuated by its own batteries, is designed for the unique purpose of penetrating drugs into the part affected, and that part only. * Suppose that one has a tumour in one's arm, or localised rheumatism, the drug needed to effect the cure is not taken,, internally, where its effect would be distributed; it is soaked into lint pads attached to zinc plates connected with the batteries, the pads are clamped to the affected part, and the current switched on for such time as the doctor-may advise. The result is that the drug is carried into«the affected part by the current and affects no other part,'and it can be imagined that when narcotic drugs are to be used and a patient is not nervously strong,- the treatment has particular advantage. There are many other things to wonder at in this ' "bloodless surgery" which Mr Morris directs in Armagh Street, — a surgery full of little switches and brakes whereby the current may be regulated to an infiuitesmal degree—but considering the patient thought which modem medical science has brought to perfect them it is not wonderful that so much pain should be relieved by tliem, so many cures effected, and that it should have the co-operation of doctors and surgeons. —.(i.