retroelectro
Retro Electro: Electricity or Ethereal Fire Considered
Electricity: the soul of the universe “This ethereal element, which I think is deservedly called the soul of the universe, assumes a variety of states and powers. I call it fire because when it expands, it is capable of giving flame to combustibles, as lightning will fire a tree, building, and many bodies. The spark from an electrical machine will give flame to spirit, and if the spark were sufficiently copious, it would produce all the effects of lightning.”
Written by David Ray, Cyber City Circuits
The following article is not intended to be medical advice and should not be used as such. It explores post-Revolutionary War America, the innovations surrounding medical technology, and the misconceived concepts of electricity and medicine. The author or DigiKey does not endorse the ideas or opinions in the books covered in this article. ‘Kind reader, I am determined to withhold nothing that shall be necessary to consummate your happiness and make you Master of the art of medical impractical electricity you shall reap the full harvest of all my labors for nearly 20 years on a subject that has engrossed my whole attention.’
access to trained physicians and an increased need for self-care education. Itinerant physicians would journey through the countryside by horse and buggy, pitching elixirs to cure the loss of vigor and snake oil to treat consumption. By the late 1700s, with the invention of the Leyden Jar, electricity had been added to the mix of concoctions and cure- alls. Soon after, Luigi Galvani’s writings introduced the concepts of ‘animal electricity’ and galvanism to the masses. For much of electricity’s youth, it was wrapped in mysticism, superstition, and other controversies. In 1802, Dr. T. Gale M.D. wrote an ambitious guidebook called ‘Electricity or Ethereal Fire Considered.’ It is thought by historians to be the very first electrotherapy or electrical medical
guidebook published in the New World. In it, Dr. Gale makes a great effort to teach every man, from doctor to farmer, how to use electricity to heal themselves and their communities. He served in Saratoga County, New York. This was a real frontier at the time, as the county had only been established ten years earlier. Very little is known about Dr. Gale himself, including his first name. All of this, it does seem, is lost to history, making this book the entirety of his surviving legacy. In the book, he alludes that he started practicing medicine as a traveling doctor in the 1780s, just as the American Revolution ended. In the book, Dr. Gale explains his views on electricity and how to build a machine to offer treatments for only two dollars in cost.
T. Gale M.D. and his vision Modern medicine includes various applications for electricity, from pulse oximeters and blood pressure cuffs to MRI machines and CT scans. Civilization’s ability to harness electricity revolutionized healthcare, curing diseases and extending lifespans. The American Revolution bloodied the late 18th century, along with the plagues of pestilence, famine, and disease that always follow war. Diseases that are rarely treated today were very common. Medical training was sparse, and the frontiers were vast. Commonplace medicines like penicillin wouldn’t be invented for over another hundred years. Medicine in post-revolution America was a trial, with limited
Figure 1. Itinerant Physician
we get technical
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