To a proper comprehension of the succeeding chapters, it is necessary
first of all to be familiar with the apparatus employed in carrying out
electro-balneological treatment, and I therefore proceed to give a
description of this.[1] It may conveniently be divided as follows, viz.
_a._ The tub;
_b._ The electrodes and connections;
_c._ The water;
_d._ Chemicals;
_e._ The batteries.
(_a_) _The Tub._ This must be made of a non-conducting material. Of
substances that will answer, I will mention: wood, porcelain, soapstone,
vulcanized rubber, or glass. In choosing one of these materials, regard
should be had to the facility of attaching the electrodes. In this
respect wood deserves the preference over all the others mentioned.
Where economy is to be studied, it has a further item in its favor.
The tubs, which I have now in use for nearly three years are made of
wood, and I find them to answer very well. It must not be forgotten,
however, that a wooden tub requires to be well painted on the inside, in
order to prevent its becoming water-soaked, because in that event it
would become a conductor of electricity, and interfere to some extent,
with the administration of the electric current in the bath.
The shape and size of the tub may be the same as those of an ordinary
bath tub. To suit individual cases however, its length may be made to
vary. The only peculiarity in its construction is at the head. Here,
instead of slanting, it is made square, and the slightly concave (from
side to side) board against which the back of the bather is to rest, is
fitted in afterwards. This is necessary, because it is very difficult to
make a wooden tub with a slanting back water-tight. If the length of
the tub from outside to outside is made to measure about five feet ten
inches, the back-rest fitted in at a proper slant will bring the inside
of the tub to about the right length for an average male adult. All
around the upper edge of the tub runs a wooden coping, which must not be
fastened down however until all the attachments for conducting the
current are _in situ_. Along that portion of the top of the tub where
required—and this will depend on the situation of the binding posts
presently to be mentioned—and underneath the coping, runs a groove for
the reception of the wires that are to connect the carbon electrodes on
the inside of the tub with the binding posts on the outside. This groove
is continued vertically along the inside of the back-rest and foot of
the tub respectively, to communicate at either end with the bed for the
reception of the carbon plates. These vertical grooves should at their
lower end be a little over ¼ inch deep, in order to admit of the wires
being introduced beneath the carbons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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