Its great frequency, the pain and discomfort which it occasions, and its many, often dangerous _sequelæ_, added to its frequent obstinacy under the most varied treatment, render rheumatism one of the most formidable diseases that we have to encounter. The long list of remedies that have from time to time been employed in its treatment, bear witness by their very number to the little reliance that can be placed in any one of them. A remedy then which can be _relied on_ to exercise a favorable influence in all the forms of rheumatism—acute, subacute and chronic—as well as on most of its sequelæ, should of right become a welcome addition to our armamentarium in the treatment of this disease; and such is the electric bath. The treatment of the sequelæ I shall speak of under separate heads. The disease itself I will divide into three classes, viz: _a_) acute, _b_) subacute and _c_) chronic rheumatism. _a_) ACUTE RHEUMATISM.—A few years ago the use of electricity in acute inflammatory conditions was scouted by most of the profession, and had it not been for the quiet and patient labors of a few progressive spirits, we would at the present day be still deprived of the benefits which we reap from it in these conditions. Even to-day, the number of those who are satisfied of the utility of electricity in this respect is comparatively small. Only two years ago, I attended a gentleman who was suffering from a very severe attack of rheumatic gout. I had both a galvanic and a faradic battery at his house, which, in addition to appropriate medicinal treatment, I applied daily to the affected joints,—using mainly the faradic current. Being compelled at the time to go to the country, the case during my absence drifted into the hands of a gentleman, a professor at one of the medical colleges, of high standing in the profession and considered one of our leading medical men, who ridiculed and promptly discontinued the use of electricity in the case. He gave it as his opinion that it did more harm than good, and I have no doubt he did so conscientiously—however unprofessional his conduct may have been, in this as well as other respects. The contributions of others have since then vindicated my views in this respect. Among others, Dr. Drosdoff[10] of St. Petersburg has given a number of cases of acute articular rheumatism from the clinique of Professor Botkin, in which the faradic current was employed either alone or in conjunction with other treatment. From among the deductions which he makes from a series of careful experiments in this respect, I quote a few—such as bear directly on our subject, and to which I affix my own numbers.